It was saddening to have to see Dr. Fauci put up with the nonsense he was subjected to yesterday. He handled himself well and I was proud of how he was able to keep calm considering how angry he was having to listen to these Rep. fools.
The presence, at a Republican chaired Congressional hearing, of a QAnon conspiracy theorist and a convicted Jan 6 rioter - seated prominently behind Dr. Fauci - seems to be a security breach inviting catastrophe.
All of today's Heather Letter makes Watergate seem quaint. This is nauseating and nothing like the country I've known all my life. If it's now a "banana republic," it's because of Banana Republicans.
Precisely sir. Repulicans have a way of turning up to down and left to right. MJT needs to be drummed out of there somehow. If her district won't do it, then a strong Democrat majority Congress maybe can step in.
Wow you have 9 likes? Why? Must be dopamine of the digital world. This executive action was long over due. Even if it’s not effective. It doesn’t matter don’t you understand politics? Whether you agree that there is a problem or not. Optics is the key word here. I happen to believe that we have sorely opened an ate that should nev have been opened. And I’m a democrat, btw.
Joe Walsh at the Troubadour....life doesn't get better than that. And two drum kits in that small space - must have been a rockin' might at that tiny club! Thanks for the link!
The butterflies are jealous, Bill Katz, that you credited the moths. If you get attacked by a battalion of tiger swallowtails, don't say I didn't warn you!
Reee-lax Bill.., it's exactly on time. And, certainly not too little too late. Unless, of course if you're ride'n on board the MpTy Greenes bus chanting: "everything’s rigged, the country’s falling into the sea, the economy’s terrible," Re, the Trump sales-pitch bomb which Colin Cowherd so nicely rolled onto the table where it exploded in listeners ears. This Administration knows, that anything they try to implement will be $kewered in the worst way by MAGott$ who are paid 'to $crew thing$ up'. We've read it right here today how #45s' "busine$$e$ & campaign committee$" funneled $ignificant financial benefits$ to at least nine witnesses. Hahahaa.., same 'tit' that punk Jordan, Lee, Scott and the rest of his clowns suck from. The sky is not falling.the earth is not flat, pay your fair share of taxes. Speaking of buss's... did you see the MAGA Bus wreck in NY a couple days ago? Unfortunately no clowns were on it.
Its all relative. The country is not falling. It is the sea rising to sink the country (at least part of it). Then as sea slowly rises over Mar-a-Lago, Trump will say "Build My Wall!" /s
As always these days - it goes to the courts - maybe we will be lucky and it wont be a trumpist!! Being able to blame the other "side"? That appears to be our only plus currently.
It's important to remember that 2,500 migrants may enter per day. (There have been 4,000 migrants daily on average.) Even the usually welcoming folks have said their resources are used up, including medical care, housing, and funding. I think a breather is necessary. Don't forget that not every migrant needs asylum, but there is a process to apply before crossing into the US. Some people are paying shady traffickers tens of thousands of dollars; they are coming from as far away as Africa, Syria, Russia, and China. As David H. says above, global warming and weather catastrophes cause migration worldwide, too. It would behoove all nations to contribute to solutions.
An additional point--which I inadvertently left out--is that the US, with its high per capita greenhouse emissions--is the worst place on the planet to put more people. 4000/day over a decade is 14.6 million--ever so slightly less than one and a half NY States. That's a huge number. But in 2023, the average number of border jumpers per day was 6849. That's 2.4 NY States per decade.
Meanwhile, in the last 60 years or so, the number of insects in the US has been cut in half, and birds, mammals, and other vertebrates have been similarly decimated. We are killing off nature. Two separate groups of biologists have warned in Nature, the premier scientific journal, that if the population keeps rising, more pandemics are going to emerge.
And as I said a couple of comments ago, the US--the major industrialized nation with the greatest per capita GH emissions--is the worst place on the planet to put more people. On the plus side, you've got grand stand seats for watching the quality of life in our country go down the tubes.
It's actually a sensible move. The US is the major industrialized nation with the greatest per capita GH emissions, and resource use, generally. The average immigrant's GH emissions rise threefold after arrival. If the rest of the world consumed at the same per capita rate as the US, it would take five earths to support that consumption.
Propublica warns that within several decades, MILLIONS of Americans will become climate refugees. And you're suggesting that in the face of that eventuality, we can allow millions more to settle here?
I really don’t understand this position on the border, with all respect. But more importantly, the country is deeply alarmed by the number of people crossing the border—illegally, as they cross between ports of entry.
But put aside who’s right and who’s wrong. The issue is the practicality of leadership. For the very progressive left who want the border open, let me remind you of the FDR quote: “The worst position for a leader is to pause, look back, and find no one in sight. You have left them behind.“
You have to get the country rallied to a new idea. Not every idea. But certainly one this important.
The immigration issue is a most complex one. It has always been thus, and will always be until the withering away of the concept of the Nation/State is finally upon us. Yes, I take a more progressive and/or left wing perspective. Yet it is not mine that is the radical position, as I am simply pointing out the fact of the matter with respect to this one aspect of immigration policy: Prez Joe's anticipated executive order sealing the border is in violation of existing law and would be a clear overreach of executive power. We would not allow that if a Republican President would do so, so we should not here either. Beyond that, it would mark a cruel departure from all previous American policies save for those briefly exercised by the Seditionist Sociopath which were properly shot down by the Courts. We are a Nation of Immigrants, and should stay that way.
This does NOT mean, as you seem to imply Tom, that I or those who agree with me are for "open borders". Nor David, does the environmental argument that you make apply herein, as there are no "millions more settling here" save in the fevered and bigoted imaginations of those at the Murdochian Ministry of Mendacity.
The various methods and policies offered up by Biden's previous attempts at border legislation, all of which were shot down by the Trumpistas in Congress, including perhaps lowering the number of eligible asylum seekers while modernizing the immigration system, would have been a reasonable step. Sealing the border absent a true emergency or war is most certainly not
And what did Convicted Felon Trump do in his 4 years as President. 47 miles of new "wall" or whatever you want to call it. I call it a sieve since it's been breached over 5000 times and counting. Talk about open borders -- Convicted Felon Trump PROMISED to hire 10,000 ICE agents and 5000 Border Patrol Agents. He signed a contract with Accenture to do the hiring for $300 million and when he left office they were only up fewer than 1000 total agents.
Talk about ART OF THE DEAL. Convicted Felon Trump is a total failure when it comes to making deals.
So before you denigrate the Biden WH for the border look at who totally lied to us about the Southern Border and what he would do in 2016.
Just keep saying Convicted Felon Trump, Gary. The bad policy, lies and incompetence didn't phase a single MAGAt, but CFT seems to be moving the needle.
I was kicked off a MAGA comment session today of a site called "Poll King". They ask poll questions like "Was the Trump Hush Money Trial rigged?" So I referred to Convicted Felon Trump as Convicted Felon Trump. Not surprisingly first amendment rights only refer to MAGAs and evangelicals. 😎 I was surprised it took almost a month before they banned me.
There may be people who don't vote for him because of it, but he's still going to win. We'll have another four years of decency and democracy at the helm with Biden.
If anyone had been censored, James, we wouldn't have MTG all over the tv emitting her toxins. If Biden were jury-rigging (pun intended) the DoJ, his son wouldn't be on trial. If you're not just trolling, and you really believe this nonsense, you're an idiot.
I sure hope he wins in November. He's the best president of my lifetime--which began the first summer of the Eisenhower Administration. Nonetheless, he's terrible on immigration, which is an issue that has concerned me since the mid-1990s, when I realized it was the greatest contributor to the US population explosion.
I think Biden get spooked during one of the debates, where the goddam moderator from a Spanish language publication told all the candidates all at once, "raise your hand if you promise not to deport any "unauthorized" (or some such) people from the US. The hands of all the candidates except Biden's shot up and stayed up. Biden's went up part way, then down a bit, and it was obvious he was extremely uncomfortable and didn't know what to do.
I'm waiting to see if they become as ridiculously desperate as Richard and Larry in "Weekend at Bernie's" (trying to make it appear their boss is still alive). Maybe their next trick will be like "Weekend at Bernie's 2" where they try Voodoo to bring him back half alive (as long as they can provide music to animate him).
Brandon Fellows, who is from upstate New York, has a history of bizarre behavior. He is (inexplicably) out on probation after serving a prison term due to his actions on January 6, 2021. He shouldn't be anywhere near Capitol Hill, let alone at a Congressional hearing.
And in the video clip shared by Ned McDoodle, these two were the embodiment of Isaac Asimov's statement: "Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’"
lin. I am glad Heather reported this as I was concentrating on him and not the people behind him. And yes, which of the MAGAs on the committee invited them and placed them directly behind him. I think he did an excellent professional job as he has always done while serving the country.
There is a story there that needs some good journalistic research. Who invited and placed those two “enemies of the state” behind Dr. faucet? She-who-needs-muzzling? Appalling.
The vitriol coming from M T Greene is something I'd expect out of North Korea, Iran or that totally self-destructive time of Chinese Cultural Revolution. That it's within the heart of our government is gravely concerning. How brave and good Dr Fauci is.
As John Bradshaw said years ago, when crazy enters the room, all cease what they are doing and pay attention to the shinny object. She is certifiably evil and just plain trashy..
Precisely. She made a fool out of herself with her rudeness to Dr. Fauci at the hearing and the expletive-laden interview in which she placed all her delusions front and center.
NC Rep Jeff Jackson has done a series of live videos about his term serving in the House. (Jeff's so effective they gerrymandered him out after he won.) In one of them he talked about members of Congress being perfectly reasonable in private, only to go full on outrageous when the cameras were on. They know what gets the publicity and the donor dollars.
I grew up in eastern NC and lived away for many years. I moved back home in 2009. Then came home the tea party backlash against Barack Obama in 2010. Horrible, destructive people have been elected since then. My congress critter is a quiet seditionist without an independent thought in his head. He sends out R talking points masquerading as a newsletter. Because I have donated to Jeff Jackson's campaign, I receive communications from him that keep informed about what been happening in Washington. He's a serious congressman. Marjorie three names thinks she is on some reality show and wants the most attention lest she be voted off the show.
I would love it if ConvictedFelonDonaldTrump picks her as his VP! The country at large seems to hate her. But she's (maybe) blond so she might get picked. She'd be a reassuring kindly presence for women who almost die because they can't get medical treatment. /s
Given that I hate being derogatory regarding some one's physical appearance (does not stop me from negative comments regarding myself...) I prefer to use MT Green, pronounced as you choose to. Mine sounds like "empty".
That we Americans who believe and live by morality have been tolerant of behavior befitting a low life thug is what we really should be contemplating about our own responsibility to our children!
Agreed. I have a copy of the pardon document issued to a slaveholder connected to my family who fought on the side of the confederates. Johnson's language was that he pardoned them "unconditionally and without reservation". Even the most retrograde confederates received "a full pardon and amnesty for the offense of treason against the United States...with restoration of all rights, privileges and immunities under the Constitution and the laws".
I imagine this is what DJT has in mind for the J6 crowd.
MTG is a disgrace. She's tactless and apparently a card carrying QAnon apostle. She's not averse to saying things patently untrue. I'm not sure I understand how she garners the steadfast support of her colleagues on the Republican side of the aisle, to say nothing of the Speaker of the House.
AOC is so, so very much smarter than MTG. You'd think that the voters of Georgia's 14th District would tire of her bombast. BTW - the 14th is just N and NW of Atlanta - so there's more than a few voters with college educations
Yeah Swbw..., Kinda makes one wonder just what 'tit' she's sucking on. I see that ProPublica reported, Trump’s businesses and campaign committees have funneled significant financial benefits to at least nine witnesses.., Whoaaaa!!! So could eMpTy Greene be on the end of one of those funnels too? There's got to be a'funnel-farm' out there for all those MAGA politicians. Must be. Can't wait till Jim Jones rises from the dead and mixes up a fresh batch of kool-aid for those clowns. Yuh think?? You see the MAGA bus wreck? D'you believe in miracles? D'you "Trust Jesus"? I think we're on our own here. Jesus has his hands full over in Israel, at the moment.
She is not. As I wrote in response elsewhere, she is perfectly in tune with Georgia’s Confederate roots in the Southern Antebellum period. it’s as if they were under a Brigadoon like spell, convinced they still live in the period of plantation owners with slaves and waving their Confederate flags in defiance of the “so called Federal government.” I am not from there, but know people who are. Atlanta may be more cosmopolitan, but Greenes district is still fighting the Civil War.
Georgia IS and always has been one of the most backwards Confederate states in the Union. Atlanta is the anomaly, put on the map by liberal Ted Turner. Greene’s district is apparently like Brigadoon, under a permanent spell of the Antebellum Southern period.
According to wikipedia:”a period in the history of the Southern United States that extended from the conclusion of the War of 1812 to the start of the American Civil War in 1861. This era was marked by the prevalent practice of slavery and the associated societal norms it cultivated.”
Greene, it seems, has cultivated its worst qualities.
I find mtg despicable and her behavior and words to be dramatic attempts to suck the air out of the House so that nothing can be done for the American people.
Can the “chairman” of the congressional gathering not reprimand Mrs Green for her behaviour, disrespect, and bad language and remove her from the proceedings? This carry on is unbelievable. I am a U.S. citizen living in England.
The chairman is way too busy proving to Trump that he's willing and able to weaponize his branch of the government. Just think what he could do if Trump were to give him a bigger playing field. Really, you can't be surprised that Gym Jordan (OH-4) epitomizes the worst of the swamp creatures in Washington.
Jim Jordan makes me sick, along with MTG and of course, the most sickening of all, the convicted felon who just might be our next president.
I know that states have different laws regarding the "rights" of felons, but most prohibit them from voting, traveling abroad, and owning firearms. Some states deny felons the right to hold office of any kind.
So, will there be any restrictions on Trump's "reckless campaign" (Heather writes that "David Warrington, sent ProPublica a cease-and-desist letter" warning reporters to stop their " reckless campaign of defamation" against Trump. Who's reckless here?? Who has defamed more people than Donald Trump??
Oh well. My flowers need watering and deadheading. While I pinch off the spent flowers, I'll pretend I'm pinching off the heads of Trump, MTG, and Jim Jordan. I might feel better for a while.
Samm, thank you. It always lessens the stress for me when I work in my yard. Being out in nature calms the soul, and I think Americans need calmness more than ever.
Totally agree with you. I’m so glad I left NYC in 2000 to live where the earth and water meet the sky. Being outdoors is also a balm for calm as you note, a prescription I agree our entire country needs.
Unfortunately some folks still work in conditions that largely exclude this as you too well know.
You have to understand the make-up of her constituents. Most of them could walk onto the set of Deliverance in their regular street clothes and blend in with the rest of the extras.
You'd think so. HIs 4th District is immediately N and NW of Columbus and has a lot of well educated voters in it. Gym Jordan has represented it since 2007. He founded the Freedom Caucus. But he was a voice crying in the wilderness until Trump gave him wings.
She's just toilet humor. There's just so much more to the 350 million of us Americans than that low noise level behavior. No different than the tabloid headline: Mars Alien found living in Queen Anne basement. There's so much more going on over here which keeeps this country running. Soap opera's get old. Even English ones. I liked Keeping up Appearances.
Please excuse my piggy-backing on leading comments. Here is an eleven minute excerpt from the grilling levelled at Dr Fauci. Could not delineate more graphically who is being vindictive and who is decent and thoughtful. 🤭💡😯⚖️😢
Thank you for the CNN clip. Dr Fauci and Rep Raskin stand firm for truth and responsibility during the bizarre barrage of bombast from Comer and the nodding, smirking mockery of two boneheads seated behind Dr Fauci.
Me too.....he was so dedicated and made complete sense during a time that the world was turned upside down. He was calming and as consistent as he could be. It will happen again, and we will need another Fauci to guide us through.
More problematic, it illustrates the sheer, if not willful depth of scientific ignorance in American politics. Likewise, climate change. Needless to say, ordinary folk depend on figures of authority on which they themselves lack the expertise and knowledge to make sound judgements. Isn't there a famous book on Paranoia in American Politics?
Anyone that looks to a Republican politician for scientific information is a fool.
In 1989 when my wife was finishing her degree in Chemical Engineering her class took a trip to the national convention of Chemical Engineers in D.C. The Senator from the state where she attended college met with her group.
The Senator make a comment to show off his engineering knowledge and one of the group replied, "Sir that would violate the 2nd law of thermodynamics."
With a straight face the Senator replied, "Well, then we should repeal it."
As your wife knows, Gary, the second law of thermodynamics states that heat will always move from a warmer body to a cooler body. Basically, the Senator was proposing that your coffee would never get cold.
This was an intentional and sleazy set up for the cameras. It brings to mind Trump’s assinine antics on stage, gesturing and smirking behind Hillary as she spoke during their debate. The GOP uses freedom as a tool to figure out what you can get away with while Biden uses it find ways to make things better for Americans.
He's such a hero, he's an amazing person as well as scientist. I hate to think how many more people would have died if he hadn't been able to influence a lot of what we did. Yeah, he made some mistakes but gee, first global pandemic in 100 years maybe you don't bat 1000 on each and every decision made.
I felt horrible watching the Repubs try to shred him. He kept his dignity but wow, the guy gave his life to help people - and DID - and finally retired after he was 80 -and this is what he gets?Disgraceful.
I keep hearing that....Fauci made mistakes. But he didn't. He did exactly what he was supposed to do. No one understood COVID. Medicine/public health ALWAYS over reacts until a disease is better understood. Then, as data comes in and understanding evolves on how to best protect the nation, strategies change.
I agree!!!Dr Fauci was only doing his job!TRUMPIE was busy telling everyone to vaccinate themselves with disinfectant as a solution for Covid-who are you to trust!A doctor or a deranged Con!
"Committee member Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who has skipped seven of the last ten hearings and who has expressed sympathy for QAnon in the past, attacked Fauci by saying he should be prosecuted: “You know what this committee should be doing? We should be writing a criminal referral because you should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity,” she said. “You belong in prison, Dr. Fauci.” For all the nastiness, the hearing turned up nothing."
Most MAGAts I know are not stupid, more likely to be ignorant, racist, misogynistic, “religious” to a fault, and greedily jealous. Some even have legitimate gripes and no common sense. True that some are in the lowest quartile and being used by smarter bears. The melting pot of fools and arses
Her kind of malevolence can not be attributed to stupidity. It betrays thought because there is a purposeful design to it. She has been plotting how to put her hatred to use a long time.
That would be TFG. I have a "flashbulb" memory of teen Greta Thunberg hate-staring TFG across a room. In that match-up, "the adult in the room was definitely a minor.
It really is disgusting. Worst part is that Americans are getting acclimated to this bool-sheet. EDIT: too bad that Representatives Jared Moskowitz and Daniel Goldman were not on this Kangaroo Kommittee. EDIT: Representative Moskowitz was also present. I had looked up the select committee on the inter-net and Representative Moskowitz was not listed or I missed the reference of his membership on this Kookoo Kangaroo Kommittee (K.K.K.). Apologies for the mistake.
James Comer is not the sharpest tool in the shed. His phony impeachment case against the president blew up when his chief witness, a Putin agent, got cauglt lying to the Feds.
I just watched Greene's ugly rant. She shows an e-mail from February 2020 when Dr Fauci first said that masks were not helpful. He got new information and changed the policy recommendation. Who would not change the policy? Then she shows a picture of kids wearing masks, almost certainly taken months or more than a year later. Interesting that these Republicans are going after the Bayh-Dole Law of 1980, considered one of the pivotal laws of the twentieth century.
I was a fan of Robert Galvin's support of CRADAs (Cooperative Research and Development Agreements), but fear few know the motives and objectives of some who want to use them to much, aiming too much for profitable products than basic research that can be the basis for even greater advances in science. To me, Herbert Hoover as Secretary of Commerce had struck an excellent balance in developing new technology and setting up standardized packaging for many products and interfaces such as for aircraft engine accessories that meant you didn't need the variations in different minor functions for accessories left up to so many different manufacturers that would do them differently (and use patents to limit competition too much).
We benefited greatly by such standardization as we entered WWII (plus a number of patents expiring). Military Spec trucks built by several manufacturers meant we had so many with interchangeable parts compared to the Germans who captured so many different types of factories and had an unmanageable mess trying to get the right parts to maintenance crews trying to work on something like 70 varieties of similar use vehicle (several even within one country they took over).
"...According to senior research scholar Mildred Cho of Stanford University states:
The Bayh-Dole Act has created opportunities for conflict of interest for university faculty members because academic-industry partnerships can offer direct financial rewards to individual faculty members in the form of consulting fees, royalties, and equity in companies while simultaneously funding these faculty members’ research. ([4] 16)
Many researchers have consulted for and worked for the private sector which creates ties to certain companies. This may lead researchers to favor certain companies when licensing out the patents, which would not promote fair competition. It may also lead to skewed research, which is another possibility that concerns critics of the act.
Universities have remained the main institutions where fundamental scientific research has taken place. With the passage of the Bayh-Dole Act there is much more incentive for universities to shy away from basic research which will produce less patents and applicable inventions, and move towards applied research to gain more royalties from patenting. Mildred Cho “asserts that university research is ‘skewed’ toward
marketable products and not basic research” ([4] 16). This issue seems like a viable possibility, but a study of 3,400 faculty at six major research institutions showed that the ratio of applied research projects to basic science research has not changed over the period between 1983 to 1999 ([5]). According to the National Science Foundation from 1980 to 2001 the percentage of basic science research actually increased from 66.6% to 74.1% and applied researched decreased from 33.4% to 25.9% ([1] 42). While conflicts of interest and a skewing in choice of research may be reasonable concerns associated with the Bayh-Dole Act, there has been insufficient proof of these issues creating actual negative effects..."
I’m a big fan of JPL but I do have (I hope minor), concerns about how they handle patents from what I’ve seen of work done by Michael Minovitch on Gravity Assist Propulsion, and Wally Rippel (whom I owe profuse apologies to on also developing hydrogen regenerative fuel cell systems as well as batteries) on pure research projects published and left on a shelf for far too long. Both were to me, much more interested in pure research beyond others and practical applications more for science’s sake than personal profit compared to those who sponsored or partnered with them.
When it comes to "bad-built body" Marjorie Traitor Goon, aka Potato Face, "if my thought dreams could be seen, they'd put my head in guillotine." Needless to say, should she ever be discovered face down in a dark alley, I will be popping champagne to celebrate her demise.
Trying to revisit and distract from likelihood that many thousands of the 1.2 million American deaths from covid were preventable. Of course, all this happened on Trump's watch.
How could any forget those horrid press conferences, the asinine suggestions (including bleach), and the hiding of facts he knew to be true. If we had had a lockdown at the very beginning, it could have been nipped in the bud. Like Obama’s plan of action recommended. It was one idiotic nightmare after another, but Fox never told a soul. Well, they did. Told their employees to get vaccinated, but not their audience. Blood red Rupert
Jeri, I like your comment about ugly in her soul. I often feel that the attacks on anyone’s looks are childish. Not that I can’t and haven’t laughed at some descriptions, but people are born with their features (some cannot be fixed or improved) and making fun of them seems mean to me. The ugliness is found and resides in their hearts, souls, and character. I will not disagree with that…and for that reason MTG is one ugly person!!!
I like to think that I see a realistic view when I look in the mirror. I don't think she has a clue. Also I imagine she sits on front row pew with no clue about her evil. I knew somebody like that once, she was an anomaly. No more
I need to send you some Yam People Inspired by the faces of DT and MTG the Yammies are crafted from clay and unfired. Simply toss them into water and watch them disappear back into the mud from whence they came. The Yam People, unlike their human counterparts, are designed to lower blood pressure and resist the temptation to commit the felonies these folks inspire.
The worst part of Margery Taylor Greene’s hideous behavior to Dr Fauci to whom we all owe a debt of grateful thanks..is that each time she behaves this way he tells us he and his family experience additional threats….
And gets away with it. We all become desensitized to it. After comes acceptance. Then participation. The ominous development is that the barriers against this type of behavior are being taken down.
What is it with these people and how they feel free to make threats against people? If you or I did something like that, we would rightly be held accountable, but somehow they feel free to do so and get away with it.
Spot on JL. I trust all Readers on LFAA are well aware there is NO appeal path to SCOTUS on a New York State verdict, 32 felonies with has no constitutional.questions. Todd's "Ineffective representation" will not work.
With the help from SCOTUS & the Loose Cannon, Defendant Trumps' 3 other pending criminal cases have been targets of delay-delay-delay to get past the November national election notably Trump's "Immunity" appeal --"whether or not & if so, to what extent does a former President enjoy 'presidential' immunity?
Hat tip to a panel discussion yesterday at The Brennan Center for JUSTICE of the urgent need to "Stop-the-Stay" & get a published Opinion on Trump's bogus 'Immunity' case AND the 29 to 31 other cases that have been argued this Term without any published opinions..
As usual, this Thursday, 6/6/24, after the "five minute bell" rings at 9:55 AM Eastern, several thousand folks and I will be LIVE at SCUTUSblog.com to hear the announced decisions. I will report the captions of the cases decided & the status of the Immunity Case sloth.
Please excuse my piggy-backing on leading comments. Here is an eleven minute excerpt from the grilling levelled at Dr Fauci. Could not delineate more graphically who is being vindictive and who is decent and thoughtful. 🤭💡😯⚖️😢
Dr. Fauci also gave a deserved testy rebuttal to Sen. Rand Paul when Paul falsely accused Dr. Fauci of doing all sorts of evil things. If you will remember, Paul was the senator who ran all around the Senate building (including the gym and pool) unmasked when he was in the contagious phase of COVID-19. Paul also didn’t bother to inform his fellow senators or the senate staff that he had COVID-19 until he had to stay home because of his symptoms.
I remember that exchange when Dr Fauci presented Senator Bland Gall's fund-raising web-site that featured these accusations by Gall plus a little side-box with a link to contribute the Senator's efforts. I alternated between hurling ancient Saxon words at Gall and cheering on Dr Fauci.
If anyone should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity, it should be Empty Greene--along with her hero worship object , the Melon Felon. Between the two of them, there might be, perhaps, one working brain cell. That may be a generous estimate, however.
The deliberate, cruel and so far as I know, not fully resolved separation of children from their families strikes me as a major crime against humanity. Not much accountability held for the perpetrators for that as far as I can see.
Thanks so much for bringing this all together for us Heather. As an expat living in Sweden I would have to spend all day and night looking and digesting this kind of news and I am so grateful for what you offer to us almost daily. Tusen Tack!
Must add that I do not miss the campaign ads (nor those in the vein of Viagra, personal injury, etc…).
I meant to also remark that it is stunning to see it all coalesced like this. Reassuring to know that journalists and commentators are digging deeper and airing the profound grift and corruption underlying the MAGA house of cards.
"The rights to free speech, peaceful assembly, and a free press are fundamental to what it means to be an American, but [a] gap in federal law has allowed corporations and bad actors to chill speech and dissent. This legislation will stop wealthy forces from weaponizing the law to protect selfish interests.”
- Jamie Raskin
The Trump camp's threat against ProPublica needs to be spotlighted. SLAPP suits - Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation - are brought with no legitimate expectation of legal success but with every intent to break and bankrupt vulnerable individuals and entities who challenge those with power and deep pockets. Anti-SLAPP legislation is state by state. With relatively few providing meaningful protections. (Maine recently significantly upgraded it's Anti-SLAPP law.) Two years ago Rep. Jamie Raskin introduced Federal protections. "The Bill Would Deter Corporations and Wealthy Individuals from Filing Meritless Lawsuits Designed to Stifle Speech, Silence Ordinary Citizens."
Thank Maryland for Rep. Raskin. And for Democratic Sen. Chris VanHollen who is in the lead pushing back against AIPAC and the Evangelicals, including working on writing and pushing for enforcing Biden's National Security Memorandum 20 expanding the Leahy Laws.
I have noticed how all of the independent press has to fundraise to deal with right-wing lawsuits of no merit, and they keep on keeping doing it. I know that Daily Koz is desperate for money because of a right-wing lawsuit, and one of the right-wingers doing this is Independent Candidate Kennedy. I myself also have gotten The Epoch Times. I read part of one article and told them they seemed like Russian Bots, and told them to stop sending it to me. Of course they do not, so I have to delete it. I wish I had not gotten it, and wonder what I need to do to get the to stop sending me articles.
This points to serious problems that have always plagued American Justice. It should not cost a lot of money to get rid of frivolous and vexatious lawsuits.
I think it is remarkable how Biden has shifted the paradigm from neoliberal to a more Roosevelt-four freedoms approach. Seems like the UK is going to do the same in July…flipping to a Labor leadership. Unfortunately here is Sweden the governing coalition is very much pursuing a neo liberal and almost-blatantly anti-Green agenda. It’s hard to stomach.
I can only pray so. I never worshipped at the altar of St. Ronnie. I wasn’t old enough to vote then (as I didn’t turn 18 until the year after the election, but even then I saw he was going to abandon and ruin the middle class and enable the accumulation of excess wealth. I wish I had been wrong about this.
Isn't MAGA trying to push for lower taxes still, cut social services, but increase military spending? Sounds Reagnomic to me. lol i got a spell check on that one!
I'm still surprised they were able to keep it going for so long!
Everything the grifters do is unsustainable - you can't grift, misappropriate, or lie the way they have forever. The system collapses at some point. But what's even more amazing to me is how rarely they've bothered to cover their tracks! Everything they did was done in public! Even if their scams might sometimes be convoluted they're never sophisticated, so it's like watching someone openly shoplifting. Calling it crude is being generous.
I was only going to add to my reply that is the thinktankers behind project 2025 that scare me. Honestly, Stephen Miller might be on the top of my list of the MAGA misanthropes that I would like to see completely sidelined…
They frighten me as well. The drafters of the Constitution certainly never contemplated having the government run by diktat from a private right wing think tank.
How about adding dumb-witted and addle-brained to crude. It really is a consolation to witness the Trump tribe’s tone-death, superficial I am in a mood today; maybe i should change to a more anonymous Substack handle.)
Of course ion the latter. However the Dems American Abroad newsletters turn me off as they are so oriented towards logistics and sort of milk toast political discourse…the Swedish branch at least.
I wanted to vote in the 2020 election, but the registration process presented me with insurmountable obstacles. (The state in question was Michigan - why am I not surprised?)
You didn’t mention the obstacles and thats ok, however, my next thought is……..Is it possible to find a lawyer to bring a lawsuit against the State and the obstacles? I know I wouldn’t have enough money to hire a lawyer but maybe i could find one willing to do pro-bono………. Just thoughts that come to me…..
NPR is on the ropes and continues to be in the crosshairs of the GOP et al.
CSPAN's funding is tied to cable revenues. (What cable pays to use the public airwaves for profit.) With the decline of cable, CSPAN has begun to ask for donations. Yikes!
Yikes, indeed. Repubs want Fox as our official mouthpiece. Dems had better gag that bastard and his evil son. Along with others of that ilk. Sorry Bill Maher, Mr. free Speech. Propaganda destroyed Germany, you know well that it can do the same to us.
Please excuse my piggy-backing on leading comments. Here is an eleven minute excerpt from the grilling levelled at Dr Fauci. Could not delineate more graphically who is being vindictive and who is decent and thoughtful. 🤭💡😯⚖️😢
Please excuse my piggy-backing on leading comments. Here is an eleven minute excerpt from the grilling levelled at Dr Fauci. Could not delineate more graphically who is being vindictive and who is decent and thoughtful. 🤭💡😯⚖️😢
Thanks Dr. Richardson. While Robert Mueller was still director of the FBI, he gave a speech about what he called the iron triangle. He described how corrupt politicians, unscrupulous businessmen, and career criminals worked together to organize a criminal enterprise. The businessman provides the money, the politicians provide influence in the government and the courts and the criminal element provides the know how on committing crimes. It was and is a very tough problem for the FBI. This iron triangle has perhaps reached the highest levels in this nation and many others. There is good cause to fear a mob boss style presidency both here and abroad. We can’t let that happen.
I had never heard this before, but it's absolutely obvious. It lives in the mafia, and was apparent in the Tea Bagger prelude to MAGA. And I'll remind folks that MAGA originated with Saint Ronnie, the idiot mouthpiece for general electric who destroyed American education.
There was an affable black guy outside the grocery yesterday signing up folks for a ballot measure to let Colorado citizens take their education tax dollars to private schools. Of course I got pissed about it, and he seemed astonished. People around who'd been considering signing it turned away when I said if you want to send your kid to some no-standards private school teaching magic sky daddy crap, you pay for it yourself. Public school money isn't yours , it's mine. I wanted to hang around all day.
I just wrote a note to my senior PA Senator about this very subject. Any parent is free to choose the school they want their kid to attend but not on my tax payer dollar. Supporting religious and other such schools through public tax dollars erodes our historical/constitutional right to a free public education for all by taking money away from public schools. I strongly object!
Jen, I WANT my tax dollars to go to public schools—love kids, yet I chose to be child-free. We all benefit as a society when we have an educated population….just wish that civics and critical thinking (at age appropriate levels) would be part of the curriculum.
How they can ignore the separation of church and state, which is in the constitution, is beyond me. Putting my taxes into religious instruction should be forbidden. The private schooling revitalizes the segregated school concept of separate but equal. Through the back door, Brown vs. Bd. Of Ed., has been neutralized. Welcome to the year 1954, or prior to May 17, 1954. If only the nation had the wisdom to accept that Supreme Court decision fully.
Alito should go but we have seen how ineffective the impeachment process is when one party backs him , no matter what. I hope the Democrats make Supreme Court reforms a priority. We have to hand them a big blue victory , come November.
Please excuse my piggy-backing on leading comments. Here is an eleven minute excerpt from the grilling levelled at Dr Fauci. Could not delineate more graphically who is being vindictive and who is decent and thoughtful. 🤭💡😯⚖️😢
While all the points made by political analysts are hopeful I cannot forget that while the Prison Apprentice lost the popular vote in 2016 and 2020, more people voted for him in 2020, knowing exactly what he was and is. Furthermore, his insidious impact upon the judiciary (along with Mitch McConnell) is clear whenever Aileen Cannon issues a ruling, Alito refers to witches in writing a majority opinion eviscerating the rights of women, or Thomas and his insurrectionist/lobbyist wife are enjoying luxurious gifts provided by Harlan Crow and others.
There is a mountain of work to do to preserve and then strengthen our societal aspirations of democracy, justice, and equality.
Good for Heather concluding with what former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann said.
He pointed out how indignant Republicans are that the state of New York seemed to tailor its prosecution of Trump against him personally.
Well, yes, said Weissmann. All cases delve as specifically as possible to the facts particularly alleged to have been done by any defendant.
Republicans hate this particularity. Their abstractions, for themselves, all others, trap them in the same thinking whereby all standardized testers also reduce “life” – to the binary, the linear, the chronological, the categorical.
These abstracting limitations also explain how Republicans serve their billionaires of, for, and by commercial “life” only. As consumer society divides everyone into consumer demographics, other elites also imagine only group identities, group stereotypes. All do this in proportion to how they’ve voided themselves of humanities which could mellow all that abstracting.
Crooked politicians try to avoid the specific. Look what happened to Trump when he said "I never said..." Sure, the MAGAs still believe, but historical video sure underlines his blatant dishonesty.
And, J L, it's just so continuous, his lying, the cult choruses to it.
Do you think Dems can overcome these perverse cult scripts just by sticking to the good programs for which Dems have stood?
Q #2 -- how about Dems appearing with each other in teams of two, three, and four and quoting each other, referring specifically, enthusiastically to the good which specific programs have done local constituents -- or the good other, needed programs might do?
In other words, J L, can Dems really campaign and touch hearts, in anything like the same proportion mindless cult Republicans touch hatreds, fears, and imaginary, delusional paranoias as sold by sensationalized demagoguery and lies?
Somehow, Jeri, I just don't think Dems can do negative.
That requires some lusty enjoyment of lying, attacking, framing hysteria, sucking-up-to-the convicted criminal, being a marble-mouthed, self-centered Marge, a sex-in-public-groping Lauren, a hypocritical, piety-huckstering House speaker, a dumb beyond dumb college football coach Tommy, an encouraging-the-mob then running-away-from-the-mob Josh, a running-away-from-winter-storm Ted, a sexual-abuse-then-look-the-other-way Jim, a lying-totally-about-Supreme-Court-nomination-timing Mitch.
Just quote them, in Texas they make no bones about their evil intent. Even repubs are afraid to quote chump without heavy editing. Dems had better learn how to fight back or we are toast. Ike is gone…. BTW, Repubs depend on Dems “taking the high road” and they laugh their arses off about it. Time for some hardball
The Dems could kill them with the truth if only they knew how to attract and keep the voters' attention. Since Americans love entertainment and the Dems have inroads in Hollywood, I expect them to dazzle us with truth in ways that Americans can't look away. They need to paint a picture of what our nation will look like with all of these hateful people in charge of our government, media, schools etc.
Trouble is, Dems went to school to the same places as did Republicans. So Dems have appreciably no more humanities than do Republicans. The latter can lie with their cult leader for sensationalism; the former have no such inclination.
Dems bore. They have more who'll do the post cards, phone calls, door-knocking. But Republicans have more billionaires who know self-interest to buy cynics and just beaten, hard-at-heels who'll do similar work.
Our schools (big win for Republicans) just have too many who've been beaten down by the standardized testers, all put in place exactly to kill awareness of actual human pain as our novelists, memoirists, film makers, musicians, and historians have testified.
And his videos undercut his claims he never said things like “lock her up” about Hillary Clinton. They also show when he inadvertently confesses to the truth about his shamelessly criminal and stupid misbehavior.
Please excuse my piggy-backing on leading comments. Here is an eleven minute excerpt from the grilling levelled at Dr Fauci. Could not delineate more graphically who is being vindictive and who is decent and thoughtful. 🤭💡😯⚖️😢
Many very fine people comment here. Sometimes different pairs of commenters go back-&-forth, but insights emerge for the rest of us.
Crap shoot? No, as many good levels of sincerity abound on Heather's site. I think we all feel a great debt to her for her assiduous work, her dedication to the annals, intricacies, sadness, human nuances of history. We all free ourselves a bit more thanks to her. Very different from "free-riding."
I agree 111% with your graciously stated affirmation of Dr Cox Richardson's work. It is indispensable for me and, I suspect, many others. Thank you for a gracious note to me, Phil. 😊⚖️😇
I am impressed that Dr Fauci restrained himself from responding to MTG using caustic language. Had she told me I don’t have the professional credentials I have and that I should be “in prison for crimes against humanity,” I might have told her to go frack herself.
George, she’s like a low-watt dim bulb….a fluorescent one that when it’s going bad makes that gratingly irritating noise that permeates the room like a mosquito that won’t go away.
I certainly would have been calling her Ms. Greene and making jokes about the candlestick in the library as opposed to calling her Congresswoman Taylor-Greene...
I think it's been quite a long time since the Republican Party has been concerned about "responsibilities" as opposed to "muh God-given rights as a real American"...
Please excuse my piggy-backing on leading comments. Here is an eleven minute excerpt from the grilling levelled at Dr Fauci. Could not delineate more graphically who is being vindictive and who is decent and thoughtful. 🤭💡😯⚖️😢
Please excuse my piggy-backing on leading comments. Here is an eleven minute excerpt from the grilling levelled at Dr Fauci. Could not delineate more graphically who is being vindictive and who is decent and thoughtful. 🤭💡😯⚖️😢
If he weren't so loathsome he'd be pitiful. "On Saturday, an image circulated on social media of Trump leaving Trump Tower and waving as if to a crowd, but there was no one there." Like the night he returned from his COVID holiday, sprinted up the floodlit steps to the Truman balcony, and took an endless salute, staring out into the darkness. There was no one there.
I continue to believe he has Lewy Body Dementia. My friend’s father had it. It is a buildup of proteins in the brain that oroduces a number of cognitive decline symptoms including hallucinations. My friend’s father, towards the very end of his decline, would stand in his living room convinced that he was back in the courtroom doing a cross examination on a case, and looking at his family members with no recognition, treating them as if they were his associates and clerks. Very much like Trump. Perhaps falling asleep in the courtroom is part of his cognitive decline also.
Please excuse my piggy-backing on leading comments. Here is an eleven minute excerpt from the grilling levelled at Dr Fauci. Could not delineate more graphically who is being vindictive and who is decent and thoughtful. 🤭💡😯⚖️😢
In the last few days, I have been verbally attacked, overtly and covertly, by Trump supporters for some of my opinions. Some of these interactions have been borderline unhinged and somewhat scary. Anyone else noticing the uptick in hostility?
It feels odd for me to “like “ these comments that describe despicable treatment of a poster like you Mary. Of course I am registering my support of you and not the conduct described.
I've created a cocoon around me that blocks most Trumplicans from interacting with me. For those who do slip through I'll toy with them like a cat with a dead mouse until I get bored and then I block them.
I am a recluse. Saddened to read that you are catching flak. I try to avoid those who are too far gone. I am hoping to speak with Trump supporters open to respectful dialogue. They are likely going no-profile to evade push-back.
Please excuse my piggy-backing on leading comments. Here is an eleven minute excerpt from the grilling levelled at Dr Fauci. Could not delineate more graphically who is being vindictive and who is decent and thoughtful. 🤭💡😯⚖️😢
You're funny. I looked at your "slideshow" from your travels in Eastern Europe. You're a very thorough documentarian. Given the dynamic situation, it would be helpful if you'd included dates or at least a date range. Cheers.
May the MSM step up and tell the evil tales that have been swamping our world without blathering about some hangnails of the Dems. And Dems, all you have to do is quote Repubs on your campaign ads. Stop with the normal campaign blather and nail them to the cross with their own words. It is a gift that you have ignored so far.
There are too many people who are "middle of the road" because, they say, they don't like extremists on either side.
It's more both-sides-ism.
What is objectionable about extremists on the right? Religious fundamentalism, election denialism, conspiracy theories, hatred of the "libs", immigrants and women. And gender non- conforming.
On the left? Hey, if you want to be called him or her or them or whatever, fine. Please vote. And Israel needs to stop creating more Hamas sympathizers by holding hostage Palestinians that Hamas doesn't care about, so what's the point?
I'd pick the left over the gun-brandishing right. There is no middle ground.
I sincerely hope that if or when Democrats ever get a majority in the House and the Senate, not to mention the presidency, they will be able to change the laws to prevent this disaster from ever happening again. I think mental health checks should be mandatory for anyone who wants to run for office. Maybe each candidate could equally be given a flat rate for campaign advertising and nothing else, no PACs allowed. All candidates should be required to participate in regularly scheduled debates. And, if only we could have voting laws like in Australia, where everyone is automatically registered to vote and it’s mandatory to vote. Is overcoming the blatant corruption of the GOP possible?
Move To Amend was inspired by the Supreme Court's infamous Citizens United v FEC decision in January, 2010. Ever since then, Move To Amend has been working hard to build support for a constitutional amendment to reserve first amendment rights to actual, living people.
Here in Europe we have elections for the EU this week. Turnout is much lower for these historically in Sweden and it is scary because the consensus is that the far right is going to make substantial headway relative to other parties/eu coalitions. The Right here The Swedish[‘]democrats[‘], who play footsie with neo-nazis, are super aggressive in leafleting and billboarding with a building walls against immigrants message. In fact we have only received campaign materials from them…if i could I would include pictures of their brochures. As to the structural enticement to vote we receive our ballots in the mail and have several days to choose from to vote. Astonishingly for me coming from a confidential voting booth experience in Maine, in the national elections you choose a ballot for a party right in front of all your neighbors when you vote in person.
Thank you Katherine. I appreciate your reporting on the ground in Sweden. It’s too easy to think that the rise of neo-fascism is an American phenomenon. We need to remain focused on this scourge wherever it raises its ugly head. I appreciate you.
Please excuse my piggy-backing on leading comments. Here is an eleven minute excerpt from the grilling levelled at Dr Fauci. Could not delineate more graphically who is being vindictive and who is decent and thoughtful. 🤭💡😯⚖️😢
We've been trying to do that for decades. Even got an option on the tax return form where you can give $3 to presidential campaigns. It's as far as we've gotten.
Having faced addiction in my family, I can attest to the living HELL that president Biden is enduring. Refusing to bail out an adult child is hard for people outside the news. Nonetheless, President Biden is doing what he should do: make his son face the music. Mr Hunter Biden is doing that, thus far with dignity. Hopefully, he will transcend the sleazy behaviors that accompany addiction and live a life free from his past and his shame. President Biden is proving his mettle here as a loving father.
💔🙏⚖️🤞💓
Contrast all of this nobility in the face of adversity to the free-floating scheiße flung around by M.A.G.A. nihilists with their needy narcissism; the choice in November should really be no choice. This N.Y.C. conviction is controversial, as 'The Economist' has argued. Yet twelve Americans from different walks of life, apparently well-informed, voted 'guilty' four hundred, eight times to zero.
🤢
The evident intimidation of the fine and refined Dr Fauci in today's appalling hearing will remain in history as an example of the United States at her detestable worst. One rap I hear about Dr Fauci was that he was incompetent for changing guidelines during the early part of the pandemic. A scientist who changes his or her opinion with new information strikes me as doing what a competent professional does.
🤬
¿Can you imagine what the M.A.G.A. fraggers would react has Dr Fauci decided not to change the guidance because he might look indecisive, only to see a million more deaths? My sense is a little stronger now that Mr Bobby Kennedy will peel off 'Reagan Democrats' from Trump as disgusted soon-to-be former Trumpers look for a new home. That is: R.F.K., Jr will aid in President Biden's re-election, if Trump stays on the ticket. Hopefully Trump remains on the ticket. 🤞
I know addiction too, and feel for him. However, his trial is a put up job because a plea deal was made until repubs decided that a political trial was needed.
Jen, have to dash in a couple of minutes, so can’t try to find the info to link regarding the buzz about legal case, ie; the applicable “law” he’s being charged with is unconstitutional….have heard it mentioned a couple of times, tho did not delve into the the info behind it. Also, you’d think those gung-ho (gun-ho?) 2nd amendment types would be clamoring to support him & decry his arrest! Go figure!
That's interesting. Appeal to the Extreme Court and see where Alito falls. Such conflict! What to do? He hates Democrats but oh how his undies get in a wad over gun rahts!
Me too. I feel like I ought to be above name-calling, but... This is a pretty informal assemblage, so why not? Name-calling from a professional position of public responsibility, cf MTG.
There is a fine, refined gentleman in the vicinity where I live who has trod the same path, though his 'bottom' may not have been as low as Mr Biden's. As an Ivy-league prep-schooled attorney, he has made a practice of defending alcohol and drug driven defendants. While doing so, he counsels these defendants toward abstinence and seeking support for that personal growth. This path sounds like a good one for Mr Biden to consider.
The path is fraught with potholes as anyone who has had knowledge of the travails can attest. If one is lucky, they don't wind up like George McGovern's daughter.
Senator McGovern was an acquired taste for me. As an eighth and ninth grade in 1972, I considered him a joke.
🤭🤝🗽✌️😇
Yet seven years later, there I was writing an essay for the little student Republican club news-letter singing the Senator's praises, particularly with his proposal of three billion dollars of reparations to Viêt Nam following the conclusion of that ghastly war several years before.
If memory serves, she died as a homeless alcoholic on the streets of Minneapolis. He was asked once if losing the election was his greatest disappointment, he said oh no, not being able to help my daughter is my greatest disappointment. Just checked Google, she died in Wisconsin. Reading the post, I feel that McGovern was the first real casualty of the Nixon juggernaut of evil. A man of integrity and competence, all his life, the jokes made about him now are one of politics greatest failures. He should be the hero for Dems. I’d vote for him in a heartbeat,
Yes, your take on Senator McGovern is accurate. So tragic to read about his daughter; thank you for researching that tragedy. I never liked Hunter Thompson as a celebrity gonzo journalist. Yet his portrayal of Senator McGovern in "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72" was sympathetic. Yes, Senator McGovern was a decent, good, brave man. He volunteered for the most dangerous aerial combat missions during the Second World War. A good reason why choosing character over policies is often the right way to go.
Also detestable is the outsized COVID death rate in what of should have been one of the best prepared, if not most prepared, to deal with a public health emergency. There seems to be little doubt that big lie politics was a major aggravating factor in the well over a million death toll. The big liars are still at it.
Obama had a pandemic preparedness office. Drumpf shut it down to appease the right wing no-money-for-stuff-we-don't -understand crowd. Even stopped the routine maintenance of expensive gear like....respirators. So when we needed them they didn't work.
More reasons not to make Jared head of the joint chiefs.
The modern "GOP" seems to be to perpetrate so scandals that corruption becomes the new normal, and overwhelms public outrage. Yeah, that was worthy of a (real) investigation, but what isn't these days? Trump only supports what he thinks will benefit him. He is as disgrace as an ordinary citizen, never mind an entrusted leader. The plutocratic patrons of the "GOP" appear to care nothing of conservative (SMALL "c") preparation for the expectable yet unpredictable: slash safety nets, let infrastructure rot, poison the future, and "Let them hate us so long as they fear us" here and abroad. Anything to maximize the take of the .1% as quickly as possible.
Reading about the prosecution's plans to present witnesses to testify that he was using drugs, which he has openly admitted, I felt that they were piling so much into the already confessed drug use they they were more likely to evoke pity from a jury.
Thank you for this observation, John. The man's mother died in his presence during his formative years and his illness has dragged him into the sleazy demi-monde of addiction. Mr Biden is doing his best to transcend all of that; give the guy a break, already.
QAnon conspiracy theorist Ivan Raiklin and convicted January 6 rioter Brandon Fellows were seated behind Fauci today ? I heard some of the hearing. Fauci had the demeanor and tone of voice of like, 'I know that this is bull$#!t, but I'm going to play nice and not incite these nut cases and get the f#ck out of here !'
This book was published on March 2, 2024. I first learned of it in THE GUARDIAN on June 3rd. I find it listed on Amazon with no reviews. I was unable to order a hard copy.
The Dutch author, Professor Henk de Berg, is at the University of Sheffield. I find his book a first-rate academic study. I set forth below some highlights from THE GUARDIAN review:
1) Berg examines the two men’s work ethic, management style, and narcissism, as well as such quirks as Hitler’s toothbrush mustache and Trump’s implausible blond hair.
2) He quotes George Burns: “The most important thing in acting is honesty. If you can fake that, you got it made.” Also, “The most important thing in populism is authenticity. The moment you’re able to rake that, you’re in.”
3) Hitler and Trump were and are political performance artists who speak only vaguely about policies. [Make Germany/America great again]They know how to draw attention using jokes, insults, and extreme language.
4) Their extremist statements are very deliberately meant to provoke.
5) Many voters are ready to blame a scapegoat—“the other.” [WW 1, immigrants] It decomplexifies the world. Instead of abstract social structures and history developments, you have one specific group that you can blame all your problems on.
6) In September, 2016 an Atlantic writer wrote: “The press takes Trump literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously , but not literally.”
7) “Both the more extreme followers and the less extreme or ‘moderate’ followers can recognize themselves in the speaker’s words.”
8) With Hitler many Germans said that Hitler was saying all those extreme things that he “really didn’t mean.” No one thought that Hitler took MEIN KAMPF as his bible.
9) “The idea behind the concept of the big lie is that if an untruth is sufficiently extreme, people are likely to accept it only because they cannot bring themselves to believe that anyone could lie in such an outrageous manner.”
10) The spectacle and social glue of mass rallies are also key. David Bowe said of Hitler “One of the first rock stars…He worked an audience. Good God1…he was a media artist. He used politics and theatrics and created this thing that governed and controlled for twelve years.”
11) Trump’s rallies are typically rollicking affairs—part circus, part concert, part sports, bringing like-minded people together as ritualistically as church.
12) At Trump rallies people share a collective sense of grievance and also find ways to have fun.
13) Conservative Germans said that Hitler manipulated them, and from there it all went disastrously wrong for German society.
14) “One of the most worrying things for me abut Trumpism is the way he has managed to transform what you thought were very right wing but ultimately rational politicians into people who have become basically Trumpists.”
15). “There is a method in Trump’s madness: the buffoonery, chaos, and word salad speeches may be more calculated than they appear.”
16) “I would like people to become more aware of how incredibly consciously Trump is going about what he is doing, how incredibly cunning and devious he’s been. People should absolutely not underestimate this guy.”
One aspect of the response to the MAGA performance concerns me. People I talk to commonly talk about how "stupid" the "MAGAts" are.
That is not helpful. Unfortunately, we are confronted with a very serious and very deliberate and very cunning and smart campaign to undermine pretty much all of the institutions that hold this imperfect, experimental republic together.
Vincent I know a 25-year old who recently ‘found’ God and buys into much of Trumpmania. Any discussion seems futile, because this seems a matter of ‘faith.’ Oh yea. Reminds me of Flip Wilson’s Church of the Here and Now.
I do not entirely disagree with you. Yes. I have met people like that. I try to end the conversation quickly.
However, one cannot assume that the next person you might meet is not willing to discuss issues and ask relevant questions and seek the truth. I have been doing some door-to-door neighborhood canvassing lately and I have been pleasantly surprised. A Bosnian couple (citizens - Muslim - 20 years in the US) I met are anxious to help Democrats this year. I think that they may be able to persuade their friends to see that the humanitarian calamity in Gaza since October should not by used to generate and justify a disaster in American government.
Sometimes it is hard to keep the faith, but this morning's Letter from an American certainly helps!
VINCENT Good for you! At 90 with four compression fractures of my lower back my ability to circulate is limited. I welcome the opportunity to write common sense on Heather’s blog and elsewhere.
Thanks, Keith. I strikes me though that this book reflects a “before” Trump persona. My MIL is accelerating into her dementia. I’m seeing the same with Trump. Will he make it through the convention?
Thank you for this input and for the reference work. To orchestrate a shitshow like this takes a lot of energy. Hitler was 44 when he took over. Trump is 77 and is circling the drain.
It was saddening to have to see Dr. Fauci put up with the nonsense he was subjected to yesterday. He handled himself well and I was proud of how he was able to keep calm considering how angry he was having to listen to these Rep. fools.
He is still one of my heroes.
The presence, at a Republican chaired Congressional hearing, of a QAnon conspiracy theorist and a convicted Jan 6 rioter - seated prominently behind Dr. Fauci - seems to be a security breach inviting catastrophe.
Deliberate, the provocation is always there in the most insidious ways. The threat is within.
All of today's Heather Letter makes Watergate seem quaint. This is nauseating and nothing like the country I've known all my life. If it's now a "banana republic," it's because of Banana Republicans.
They accuse Dems of what they do, just like Goebbels said
Precisely sir. Repulicans have a way of turning up to down and left to right. MJT needs to be drummed out of there somehow. If her district won't do it, then a strong Democrat majority Congress maybe can step in.
Great Pun!!
Reminds you of Trump stalking Hillary during the 2016 debates. That was like a scene form a B-rated horror movie.
It was a B-rated horror movie. The Republicans seem to have a soft spot for B-rated actors.
B-rated? That's pretty high if you ask me....
I've always fantasized that if I were Hillary, I would have turned around, shoved my arms towards him, and shouted, "BACK OFF!"
I'd like to think I would have turned around, looked him up and down, and said, "Got a problem, big fella?" and walked around him.
The moderators should not have allowed that
And finally Biden has taken executive action at the border. I’ve Ben repeating this for moths. Let’s hope it’s not too late to change the narrative l
The moths are circling the flames
Ya ya if I fix it now I lose my “likes.” That’s what happens when you post in the middle of the night with one eye opened.
Egads!!!! Your likes?? Really?
Ahhh, the dopamine of the digital world. Joe Walsh had something to say about that
Note. Editing so Bill can have my likes
👏👏👏
Wow you have 9 likes? Why? Must be dopamine of the digital world. This executive action was long over due. Even if it’s not effective. It doesn’t matter don’t you understand politics? Whether you agree that there is a problem or not. Optics is the key word here. I happen to believe that we have sorely opened an ate that should nev have been opened. And I’m a democrat, btw.
https://youtu.be/il1Byvn_vMA?si=SulS3r8NhuCMe6Kk
Joe Walsh at the Troubadour....life doesn't get better than that. And two drum kits in that small space - must have been a rockin' might at that tiny club! Thanks for the link!
Funny album name, when Joe is so awesome with his digits.
moths and moths can add up to yurts.
Early to bed, early to rise ..
LOL!
The butterflies are jealous, Bill Katz, that you credited the moths. If you get attacked by a battalion of tiger swallowtails, don't say I didn't warn you!
Humility. Love it
????
Clicks and likes in the digital world are dopamine generators for some. Joe is analog
Yes, indeed they are. Remember Moths who circle the flame, sooner or later fall into the flame, burn, and die.
The Icarus Society has a Moth Burn Unit Go Fund Me page
Dave, thanks for my first big smile this am.
Ah yes auto correct eh
dRussian12A
MadRussian12A’s Newsletter
just now
Reee-lax Bill.., it's exactly on time. And, certainly not too little too late. Unless, of course if you're ride'n on board the MpTy Greenes bus chanting: "everything’s rigged, the country’s falling into the sea, the economy’s terrible," Re, the Trump sales-pitch bomb which Colin Cowherd so nicely rolled onto the table where it exploded in listeners ears. This Administration knows, that anything they try to implement will be $kewered in the worst way by MAGott$ who are paid 'to $crew thing$ up'. We've read it right here today how #45s' "busine$$e$ & campaign committee$" funneled $ignificant financial benefits$ to at least nine witnesses. Hahahaa.., same 'tit' that punk Jordan, Lee, Scott and the rest of his clowns suck from. The sky is not falling.the earth is not flat, pay your fair share of taxes. Speaking of buss's... did you see the MAGA Bus wreck in NY a couple days ago? Unfortunately no clowns were on it.
She moans "the country’s falling into the sea"
Its all relative. The country is not falling. It is the sea rising to sink the country (at least part of it). Then as sea slowly rises over Mar-a-Lago, Trump will say "Build My Wall!" /s
Bill, if he’d done it earlier, the MAGA judges would have had time to reverse it before the election.
Intriguing thought. You could be right. It’s done and the issue is all but removed from the MAGAs.
Yes, if the courts shut him down before the election, he can blame the MAGA judge that started the case.
As always these days - it goes to the courts - maybe we will be lucky and it wont be a trumpist!! Being able to blame the other "side"? That appears to be our only plus currently.
Biden's sealing the border is a sadly disappointing cave to the ceaselessly braying jingoists on the Maga side, and certainly not to be commended
It's important to remember that 2,500 migrants may enter per day. (There have been 4,000 migrants daily on average.) Even the usually welcoming folks have said their resources are used up, including medical care, housing, and funding. I think a breather is necessary. Don't forget that not every migrant needs asylum, but there is a process to apply before crossing into the US. Some people are paying shady traffickers tens of thousands of dollars; they are coming from as far away as Africa, Syria, Russia, and China. As David H. says above, global warming and weather catastrophes cause migration worldwide, too. It would behoove all nations to contribute to solutions.
Good points, Hope, although the 4000 number seems hyperbolic.
Yet the overwhelming majority of desperate migrants are just that, and our asylum laws serve to protect them.
An additional point--which I inadvertently left out--is that the US, with its high per capita greenhouse emissions--is the worst place on the planet to put more people. 4000/day over a decade is 14.6 million--ever so slightly less than one and a half NY States. That's a huge number. But in 2023, the average number of border jumpers per day was 6849. That's 2.4 NY States per decade.
Meanwhile, in the last 60 years or so, the number of insects in the US has been cut in half, and birds, mammals, and other vertebrates have been similarly decimated. We are killing off nature. Two separate groups of biologists have warned in Nature, the premier scientific journal, that if the population keeps rising, more pandemics are going to emerge.
And as I said a couple of comments ago, the US--the major industrialized nation with the greatest per capita GH emissions--is the worst place on the planet to put more people. On the plus side, you've got grand stand seats for watching the quality of life in our country go down the tubes.
It's actually a sensible move. The US is the major industrialized nation with the greatest per capita GH emissions, and resource use, generally. The average immigrant's GH emissions rise threefold after arrival. If the rest of the world consumed at the same per capita rate as the US, it would take five earths to support that consumption.
https://overshoot.footprintnetwork.org/how-many-earths-or-countries-do-we-need/
Propublica warns that within several decades, MILLIONS of Americans will become climate refugees. And you're suggesting that in the face of that eventuality, we can allow millions more to settle here?
https://www.propublica.org/article/climate-change-will-force-a-new-american-migration
More people at a time when we're running out of groundwater, threatening our agricultural production--not a good idea
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/08/28/climate/groundwater-drying-climate-change.html
I really don’t understand this position on the border, with all respect. But more importantly, the country is deeply alarmed by the number of people crossing the border—illegally, as they cross between ports of entry.
But put aside who’s right and who’s wrong. The issue is the practicality of leadership. For the very progressive left who want the border open, let me remind you of the FDR quote: “The worst position for a leader is to pause, look back, and find no one in sight. You have left them behind.“
You have to get the country rallied to a new idea. Not every idea. But certainly one this important.
Dear David and Tom,
The immigration issue is a most complex one. It has always been thus, and will always be until the withering away of the concept of the Nation/State is finally upon us. Yes, I take a more progressive and/or left wing perspective. Yet it is not mine that is the radical position, as I am simply pointing out the fact of the matter with respect to this one aspect of immigration policy: Prez Joe's anticipated executive order sealing the border is in violation of existing law and would be a clear overreach of executive power. We would not allow that if a Republican President would do so, so we should not here either. Beyond that, it would mark a cruel departure from all previous American policies save for those briefly exercised by the Seditionist Sociopath which were properly shot down by the Courts. We are a Nation of Immigrants, and should stay that way.
This does NOT mean, as you seem to imply Tom, that I or those who agree with me are for "open borders". Nor David, does the environmental argument that you make apply herein, as there are no "millions more settling here" save in the fevered and bigoted imaginations of those at the Murdochian Ministry of Mendacity.
The various methods and policies offered up by Biden's previous attempts at border legislation, all of which were shot down by the Trumpistas in Congress, including perhaps lowering the number of eligible asylum seekers while modernizing the immigration system, would have been a reasonable step. Sealing the border absent a true emergency or war is most certainly not
Murdochian Ministry of Mendacity.... I am so stealing that!
I listed three emergencies. You denied them.
12 million people have invaded our country and you hope that you
can wrap a quick band aid on it and change the subject?
Biden is going to get punished in November for opening our borders. There is no way to change the narrative. You can try and lie about it.
And what did Convicted Felon Trump do in his 4 years as President. 47 miles of new "wall" or whatever you want to call it. I call it a sieve since it's been breached over 5000 times and counting. Talk about open borders -- Convicted Felon Trump PROMISED to hire 10,000 ICE agents and 5000 Border Patrol Agents. He signed a contract with Accenture to do the hiring for $300 million and when he left office they were only up fewer than 1000 total agents.
Talk about ART OF THE DEAL. Convicted Felon Trump is a total failure when it comes to making deals.
So before you denigrate the Biden WH for the border look at who totally lied to us about the Southern Border and what he would do in 2016.
Just keep saying Convicted Felon Trump, Gary. The bad policy, lies and incompetence didn't phase a single MAGAt, but CFT seems to be moving the needle.
I was kicked off a MAGA comment session today of a site called "Poll King". They ask poll questions like "Was the Trump Hush Money Trial rigged?" So I referred to Convicted Felon Trump as Convicted Felon Trump. Not surprisingly first amendment rights only refer to MAGAs and evangelicals. 😎 I was surprised it took almost a month before they banned me.
There may be people who don't vote for him because of it, but he's still going to win. We'll have another four years of decency and democracy at the helm with Biden.
Decency? You mean censoring speech? using the legal system to prosecute political opponents?
If anyone had been censored, James, we wouldn't have MTG all over the tv emitting her toxins. If Biden were jury-rigging (pun intended) the DoJ, his son wouldn't be on trial. If you're not just trolling, and you really believe this nonsense, you're an idiot.
Puhleeeeeeeeze stop with the disinformation. NOBODY believes this.
I sure hope he wins in November. He's the best president of my lifetime--which began the first summer of the Eisenhower Administration. Nonetheless, he's terrible on immigration, which is an issue that has concerned me since the mid-1990s, when I realized it was the greatest contributor to the US population explosion.
I think Biden get spooked during one of the debates, where the goddam moderator from a Spanish language publication told all the candidates all at once, "raise your hand if you promise not to deport any "unauthorized" (or some such) people from the US. The hands of all the candidates except Biden's shot up and stayed up. Biden's went up part way, then down a bit, and it was obvious he was extremely uncomfortable and didn't know what to do.
Reee-lax Bill.., it's exactly on time. And, certainly not too little too late.
Bill, what has been the response of the moths?
The butterflies are up in arms, chasing Bill for his having ignored them.
I agree but who among us didn’t know what these buffoons were doing and why? Just makes the GOP look desperate and ridiculous.
They don’t just look desperate and ridiculous; they are desperate and ridiculous.vote them out and move on.
I'm waiting to see if they become as ridiculously desperate as Richard and Larry in "Weekend at Bernie's" (trying to make it appear their boss is still alive). Maybe their next trick will be like "Weekend at Bernie's 2" where they try Voodoo to bring him back half alive (as long as they can provide music to animate him).
Agreed. But the poltroons who think he is the Second Coming of a fictional water walker lap it up and send him their welfare checks
If I had to guess… I’d say MTG had something to do with the prominently seated Q team behind Dr Fauci.
Brandon Fellows, who is from upstate New York, has a history of bizarre behavior. He is (inexplicably) out on probation after serving a prison term due to his actions on January 6, 2021. He shouldn't be anywhere near Capitol Hill, let alone at a Congressional hearing.
Bingo, Erin.
And in the video clip shared by Ned McDoodle, these two were the embodiment of Isaac Asimov's statement: "Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’"
The whole outfit is a security breach and Dr. Fauci proved once again that he has more courage than the whole lot of them put together.
It is the tactic of mobsters
lin. I am glad Heather reported this as I was concentrating on him and not the people behind him. And yes, which of the MAGAs on the committee invited them and placed them directly behind him. I think he did an excellent professional job as he has always done while serving the country.
There is a story there that needs some good journalistic research. Who invited and placed those two “enemies of the state” behind Dr. faucet? She-who-needs-muzzling? Appalling.
Dr, Fauci…I think the same people changed my words.
I can not believe someone did not stop it and get those idiots out ..how disgraceful and low can they keep going
Where was Frank Tanganele’s brother?
I agree
The vitriol coming from M T Greene is something I'd expect out of North Korea, Iran or that totally self-destructive time of Chinese Cultural Revolution. That it's within the heart of our government is gravely concerning. How brave and good Dr Fauci is.
She seems determined to validate her reputation as a rude, ignorant, asshat. The stupid is strong with this one.
As John Bradshaw said years ago, when crazy enters the room, all cease what they are doing and pay attention to the shinny object. She is certifiably evil and just plain trashy..
Her VP audition is so transparent.
Seems like a perfect VP for the poorest excuse for a human that the repubs could find.
Good description. It applies to a hefty number of that party. And the MAGAs love it. That's what's going to rule us if he wins. PRAY....
If he "wins" it will be by cheating in multiple ways. They are pulling out the stops to regain power. No one will be able to stop the cretins
Well just in case, we are getting ready to go to Greece and will be looking for property....
Precisely. She made a fool out of herself with her rudeness to Dr. Fauci at the hearing and the expletive-laden interview in which she placed all her delusions front and center.
She has learned that “being outrageous” gets her more notice in Congress than it did when she pulled the same stunts in gym class
For some reason, however, my space laser doesn't work on her.
IMHO she, Gym Jordan and MAGA Mike are gifts to Democrats. Human cartoon characters.
Al Capp. MTG is the second coming of Moonbeam McSwine -- the bleached out butch built version.
Gotta set the phaser to stun, Daniel.
Yes indeed, if Dems would just quote them.
NC Rep Jeff Jackson has done a series of live videos about his term serving in the House. (Jeff's so effective they gerrymandered him out after he won.) In one of them he talked about members of Congress being perfectly reasonable in private, only to go full on outrageous when the cameras were on. They know what gets the publicity and the donor dollars.
I grew up in eastern NC and lived away for many years. I moved back home in 2009. Then came home the tea party backlash against Barack Obama in 2010. Horrible, destructive people have been elected since then. My congress critter is a quiet seditionist without an independent thought in his head. He sends out R talking points masquerading as a newsletter. Because I have donated to Jeff Jackson's campaign, I receive communications from him that keep informed about what been happening in Washington. He's a serious congressman. Marjorie three names thinks she is on some reality show and wants the most attention lest she be voted off the show.
“Ted Nugent Syndrome”
And the media keep being drawn to the shiny objects
Knew plenty of attention getters when I worked at junior high. Most of them grew up, some never do
I would love it if ConvictedFelonDonaldTrump picks her as his VP! The country at large seems to hate her. But she's (maybe) blond so she might get picked. She'd be a reassuring kindly presence for women who almost die because they can't get medical treatment. /s
I can think of worse to call her.
Given that I hate being derogatory regarding some one's physical appearance (does not stop me from negative comments regarding myself...) I prefer to use MT Green, pronounced as you choose to. Mine sounds like "empty".
And empty she is from the neck up - regardless of how "fit" the rest of her is.
That we Americans who believe and live by morality have been tolerant of behavior befitting a low life thug is what we really should be contemplating about our own responsibility to our children!
Doesn't say much for the electorate which tolerates her in northwest? Georgia.
States to Stay Out Of for 500, Alex... ;-)
(I'm reduced to gallows humor these days)
Bring back Reconstruction!
At least roll back the egregious Holder-Shelby County decision by our hard right Justices who are now full on MAGA:
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/court-cases/shelby-county-v-holder
And do it right this time -- none of that Andy Johnson kissing the Confederates' behinds stuff.
Agreed. I have a copy of the pardon document issued to a slaveholder connected to my family who fought on the side of the confederates. Johnson's language was that he pardoned them "unconditionally and without reservation". Even the most retrograde confederates received "a full pardon and amnesty for the offense of treason against the United States...with restoration of all rights, privileges and immunities under the Constitution and the laws".
I imagine this is what DJT has in mind for the J6 crowd.
Yes! Only this time, let's do it correctly & thoroughly.
Thanks for the humor!!
Says a lot actually. None of it good
Sadly they walk among us.
All 4 votes were counted, Frank.
Agreed. I imagine she will be voted for in Nov. sigh.
Sure as shit doesn’t! Asshat…I like that word 😂
MTG is a disgrace. She's tactless and apparently a card carrying QAnon apostle. She's not averse to saying things patently untrue. I'm not sure I understand how she garners the steadfast support of her colleagues on the Republican side of the aisle, to say nothing of the Speaker of the House.
I love AOC's response to her when MTG was in attack mode, "Oh, baby girl."
AOC was soooooo mad, but that was her response.
AOC is so, so very much smarter than MTG. You'd think that the voters of Georgia's 14th District would tire of her bombast. BTW - the 14th is just N and NW of Atlanta - so there's more than a few voters with college educations
yup.. AOC is a seven BBBBBBB'er: Bronx Built Black-haired Brawler Baby.. Better B-careful.
Gary, yes yes. AOC is one of my favorite Reps. When I read what the crazy mtg said, my immediate response was ‘send her mouth to jail!’
Confession: I saw a clip of the faux trial last evening & had to turn the sound off it was so obviously more maga garbage.
Someone needs to take her out to the woodshed
Yeah Swbw..., Kinda makes one wonder just what 'tit' she's sucking on. I see that ProPublica reported, Trump’s businesses and campaign committees have funneled significant financial benefits to at least nine witnesses.., Whoaaaa!!! So could eMpTy Greene be on the end of one of those funnels too? There's got to be a'funnel-farm' out there for all those MAGA politicians. Must be. Can't wait till Jim Jones rises from the dead and mixes up a fresh batch of kool-aid for those clowns. Yuh think?? You see the MAGA bus wreck? D'you believe in miracles? D'you "Trust Jesus"? I think we're on our own here. Jesus has his hands full over in Israel, at the moment.
Randy Rainbow’s 🌈latest: Look At Me, I'm MTG! - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody
https://youtu.be/il57mgVOQF8
Thank you, Kathy. Randy always brightens my day!
That is a gem!! Thank you!
I was just scrolling through to see if anyone had posted this yet, and there it is! One of Randy's best!!
Kathy, THANK YOU for the laugh.
The question.to be explored is whether she is out of touch with the voters in her district. I would hope so
She is not. As I wrote in response elsewhere, she is perfectly in tune with Georgia’s Confederate roots in the Southern Antebellum period. it’s as if they were under a Brigadoon like spell, convinced they still live in the period of plantation owners with slaves and waving their Confederate flags in defiance of the “so called Federal government.” I am not from there, but know people who are. Atlanta may be more cosmopolitan, but Greenes district is still fighting the Civil War.
But she is so crude! There MUST be someone with intelligence there.
Thanks, Debra. I had read that information several years ago (or maybe just one, who can remember???) that she reflects her constituents' politics.
MTG denigrates her public with her tactless, factless, whingeing:
The Party of Trump continues it's HARPing at ever level-
H- hate
A- anger
R - resentment and/or revenge
P - propaganda
Georgia IS and always has been one of the most backwards Confederate states in the Union. Atlanta is the anomaly, put on the map by liberal Ted Turner. Greene’s district is apparently like Brigadoon, under a permanent spell of the Antebellum Southern period.
According to wikipedia:”a period in the history of the Southern United States that extended from the conclusion of the War of 1812 to the start of the American Civil War in 1861. This era was marked by the prevalent practice of slavery and the associated societal norms it cultivated.”
Greene, it seems, has cultivated its worst qualities.
MGT is a crude, rude, and socially unacceptable dingbat.
I find mtg despicable and her behavior and words to be dramatic attempts to suck the air out of the House so that nothing can be done for the American people.
Anathema
Or from a angry 2 year old (no offense to all the 2 year olds out there).
Dr Fauci is one of my heroes. Hard to come by when one (i.e., me) is older and living in the age of social meteors.
Can the “chairman” of the congressional gathering not reprimand Mrs Green for her behaviour, disrespect, and bad language and remove her from the proceedings? This carry on is unbelievable. I am a U.S. citizen living in England.
Rep. Jamie Raskin certainly tried to do it, but MTG is too stupid to know when to be quiet.
The chairman is way too busy proving to Trump that he's willing and able to weaponize his branch of the government. Just think what he could do if Trump were to give him a bigger playing field. Really, you can't be surprised that Gym Jordan (OH-4) epitomizes the worst of the swamp creatures in Washington.
Jim Jordan makes me sick, along with MTG and of course, the most sickening of all, the convicted felon who just might be our next president.
I know that states have different laws regarding the "rights" of felons, but most prohibit them from voting, traveling abroad, and owning firearms. Some states deny felons the right to hold office of any kind.
So, will there be any restrictions on Trump's "reckless campaign" (Heather writes that "David Warrington, sent ProPublica a cease-and-desist letter" warning reporters to stop their " reckless campaign of defamation" against Trump. Who's reckless here?? Who has defamed more people than Donald Trump??
Oh well. My flowers need watering and deadheading. While I pinch off the spent flowers, I'll pretend I'm pinching off the heads of Trump, MTG, and Jim Jordan. I might feel better for a while.
Applause 👋:-) And may your pretend
truly bring your flowers into power.
Samm, thank you. It always lessens the stress for me when I work in my yard. Being out in nature calms the soul, and I think Americans need calmness more than ever.
Totally agree with you. I’m so glad I left NYC in 2000 to live where the earth and water meet the sky. Being outdoors is also a balm for calm as you note, a prescription I agree our entire country needs.
Unfortunately some folks still work in conditions that largely exclude this as you too well know.
Ooooo, a great motivation to deadhead the iris and the rhododendrons!
☺️
Are his constituents not disgusted with him?
You have to understand the make-up of her constituents. Most of them could walk onto the set of Deliverance in their regular street clothes and blend in with the rest of the extras.
I seem to remember reading that Gym's District is heavily gerrymandered--He certainly doesn't appear to be worried about any political rivals.
I have the same recollection. There are so many "safe" districts and SCOTUS just made it easier for states to gerrymander last week.
You'd think so. HIs 4th District is immediately N and NW of Columbus and has a lot of well educated voters in it. Gym Jordan has represented it since 2007. He founded the Freedom Caucus. But he was a voice crying in the wilderness until Trump gave him wings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio's_4th_congressional_district
She certainly does brings the baggage.
I think he did.
She's just toilet humor. There's just so much more to the 350 million of us Americans than that low noise level behavior. No different than the tabloid headline: Mars Alien found living in Queen Anne basement. There's so much more going on over here which keeeps this country running. Soap opera's get old. Even English ones. I liked Keeping up Appearances.
Please excuse my piggy-backing on leading comments. Here is an eleven minute excerpt from the grilling levelled at Dr Fauci. Could not delineate more graphically who is being vindictive and who is decent and thoughtful. 🤭💡😯⚖️😢
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5119689/user-clip-dr-faucis-testimony-reps-comer-raskin
Thank you for the CNN clip. Dr Fauci and Rep Raskin stand firm for truth and responsibility during the bizarre barrage of bombast from Comer and the nodding, smirking mockery of two boneheads seated behind Dr Fauci.
Yeah those thugs looked like washed-up bar bouncers, maybe members of the Wagner or Blackwater mercenary groups.
LOL
Gym Jordan and MTG. Birds of a feather. You're known by the company you keep.
It was maddening
Me too.....he was so dedicated and made complete sense during a time that the world was turned upside down. He was calming and as consistent as he could be. It will happen again, and we will need another Fauci to guide us through.
More problematic, it illustrates the sheer, if not willful depth of scientific ignorance in American politics. Likewise, climate change. Needless to say, ordinary folk depend on figures of authority on which they themselves lack the expertise and knowledge to make sound judgements. Isn't there a famous book on Paranoia in American Politics?
Anyone that looks to a Republican politician for scientific information is a fool.
In 1989 when my wife was finishing her degree in Chemical Engineering her class took a trip to the national convention of Chemical Engineers in D.C. The Senator from the state where she attended college met with her group.
The Senator make a comment to show off his engineering knowledge and one of the group replied, "Sir that would violate the 2nd law of thermodynamics."
With a straight face the Senator replied, "Well, then we should repeal it."
As your wife knows, Gary, the second law of thermodynamics states that heat will always move from a warmer body to a cooler body. Basically, the Senator was proposing that your coffee would never get cold.
Now now. Of course . Richard Hofstadder. The Paranoid Style in American Politics.
On my shelf.
Hear, hear! Fauci is an exemplary American.
He did. Imagine if the GOP wins the presidency and the house. These “Stalin era” show trial will be continuous.
This was an intentional and sleazy set up for the cameras. It brings to mind Trump’s assinine antics on stage, gesturing and smirking behind Hillary as she spoke during their debate. The GOP uses freedom as a tool to figure out what you can get away with while Biden uses it find ways to make things better for Americans.
He's the reason most of us are still alive...
A member of the committee had to be the person who committed the security breach of putting the felons in the front row.
He's such a hero, he's an amazing person as well as scientist. I hate to think how many more people would have died if he hadn't been able to influence a lot of what we did. Yeah, he made some mistakes but gee, first global pandemic in 100 years maybe you don't bat 1000 on each and every decision made.
I felt horrible watching the Repubs try to shred him. He kept his dignity but wow, the guy gave his life to help people - and DID - and finally retired after he was 80 -and this is what he gets?Disgraceful.
I keep hearing that....Fauci made mistakes. But he didn't. He did exactly what he was supposed to do. No one understood COVID. Medicine/public health ALWAYS over reacts until a disease is better understood. Then, as data comes in and understanding evolves on how to best protect the nation, strategies change.
Please tell me what mistakes you think he made.
I agree!!!Dr Fauci was only doing his job!TRUMPIE was busy telling everyone to vaccinate themselves with disinfectant as a solution for Covid-who are you to trust!A doctor or a deranged Con!
Wasting time for nothing more than theatre. What a disgusting bunch of sickos.
"Committee member Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who has skipped seven of the last ten hearings and who has expressed sympathy for QAnon in the past, attacked Fauci by saying he should be prosecuted: “You know what this committee should be doing? We should be writing a criminal referral because you should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity,” she said. “You belong in prison, Dr. Fauci.” For all the nastiness, the hearing turned up nothing."
McCarthy 2.0. Even less decency.
MTG is a traitor to the ideals of America. She may also be a Russian tool, but if she is, she probably doesn’t realize it.
Either way MTG is the definition of a useful idiot.
Either way - the people in her district are the biggest fools of them all.
I think she does.
I was thinking her general comprehension is somewhat less than the average worm.
Most MAGAts I know are not stupid, more likely to be ignorant, racist, misogynistic, “religious” to a fault, and greedily jealous. Some even have legitimate gripes and no common sense. True that some are in the lowest quartile and being used by smarter bears. The melting pot of fools and arses
Her kind of malevolence can not be attributed to stupidity. It betrays thought because there is a purposeful design to it. She has been plotting how to put her hatred to use a long time.
Smells of personality disorder.
WoRm LibElz!
Russian or not, she's definitely a tool.
There’s no tool like an old tool!
That would be TFG. I have a "flashbulb" memory of teen Greta Thunberg hate-staring TFG across a room. In that match-up, "the adult in the room was definitely a minor.
She does at some low level. She presently serves without pay. But she is positioning herself to succeed Trump.
Why does she not receive pay Tyler?
Because Putin is not foolish enough to pay for something he can get for free.
Putin & Trump love bimbos
It really is disgusting. Worst part is that Americans are getting acclimated to this bool-sheet. EDIT: too bad that Representatives Jared Moskowitz and Daniel Goldman were not on this Kangaroo Kommittee. EDIT: Representative Moskowitz was also present. I had looked up the select committee on the inter-net and Representative Moskowitz was not listed or I missed the reference of his membership on this Kookoo Kangaroo Kommittee (K.K.K.). Apologies for the mistake.
Fortunately, Rep. Jamie Raskin was there.
I just splattered in several threads Representative Raskin's questioning versus Representative Coma's urinary olympics.
James Comer is not the sharpest tool in the shed. His phony impeachment case against the president blew up when his chief witness, a Putin agent, got cauglt lying to the Feds.
I just watched Greene's ugly rant. She shows an e-mail from February 2020 when Dr Fauci first said that masks were not helpful. He got new information and changed the policy recommendation. Who would not change the policy? Then she shows a picture of kids wearing masks, almost certainly taken months or more than a year later. Interesting that these Republicans are going after the Bayh-Dole Law of 1980, considered one of the pivotal laws of the twentieth century.
https://www.economist.com/technology-quarterly/2002/12/14/innovations-golden-goose
I was a fan of Robert Galvin's support of CRADAs (Cooperative Research and Development Agreements), but fear few know the motives and objectives of some who want to use them to much, aiming too much for profitable products than basic research that can be the basis for even greater advances in science. To me, Herbert Hoover as Secretary of Commerce had struck an excellent balance in developing new technology and setting up standardized packaging for many products and interfaces such as for aircraft engine accessories that meant you didn't need the variations in different minor functions for accessories left up to so many different manufacturers that would do them differently (and use patents to limit competition too much).
We benefited greatly by such standardization as we entered WWII (plus a number of patents expiring). Military Spec trucks built by several manufacturers meant we had so many with interchangeable parts compared to the Germans who captured so many different types of factories and had an unmanageable mess trying to get the right parts to maintenance crews trying to work on something like 70 varieties of similar use vehicle (several even within one country they took over).
Back to the Bayh-Dole Law, though. I don't know much about who wants to improve it vs abuse applications of it, but I did find a bit at https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/6-901-inventions-and-patents-fall-2005/517ea433346a46b22e9675dc41b1f2a3_bayh_dole.pdf
"...According to senior research scholar Mildred Cho of Stanford University states:
The Bayh-Dole Act has created opportunities for conflict of interest for university faculty members because academic-industry partnerships can offer direct financial rewards to individual faculty members in the form of consulting fees, royalties, and equity in companies while simultaneously funding these faculty members’ research. ([4] 16)
Many researchers have consulted for and worked for the private sector which creates ties to certain companies. This may lead researchers to favor certain companies when licensing out the patents, which would not promote fair competition. It may also lead to skewed research, which is another possibility that concerns critics of the act.
Universities have remained the main institutions where fundamental scientific research has taken place. With the passage of the Bayh-Dole Act there is much more incentive for universities to shy away from basic research which will produce less patents and applicable inventions, and move towards applied research to gain more royalties from patenting. Mildred Cho “asserts that university research is ‘skewed’ toward
marketable products and not basic research” ([4] 16). This issue seems like a viable possibility, but a study of 3,400 faculty at six major research institutions showed that the ratio of applied research projects to basic science research has not changed over the period between 1983 to 1999 ([5]). According to the National Science Foundation from 1980 to 2001 the percentage of basic science research actually increased from 66.6% to 74.1% and applied researched decreased from 33.4% to 25.9% ([1] 42). While conflicts of interest and a skewing in choice of research may be reasonable concerns associated with the Bayh-Dole Act, there has been insufficient proof of these issues creating actual negative effects..."
I’m a big fan of JPL but I do have (I hope minor), concerns about how they handle patents from what I’ve seen of work done by Michael Minovitch on Gravity Assist Propulsion, and Wally Rippel (whom I owe profuse apologies to on also developing hydrogen regenerative fuel cell systems as well as batteries) on pure research projects published and left on a shelf for far too long. Both were to me, much more interested in pure research beyond others and practical applications more for science’s sake than personal profit compared to those who sponsored or partnered with them.
Only the best liars for Trump.
Not to mention Representative Coma's whininess.
And pure idiocracy. She is clearly reprehensible 🤮
When it comes to "bad-built body" Marjorie Traitor Goon, aka Potato Face, "if my thought dreams could be seen, they'd put my head in guillotine." Needless to say, should she ever be discovered face down in a dark alley, I will be popping champagne to celebrate her demise.
She is only one, there are many. Maybe not as ugly (talking about her soul) but she is not alone in her treachery
Trying to revisit and distract from likelihood that many thousands of the 1.2 million American deaths from covid were preventable. Of course, all this happened on Trump's watch.
How could any forget those horrid press conferences, the asinine suggestions (including bleach), and the hiding of facts he knew to be true. If we had had a lockdown at the very beginning, it could have been nipped in the bud. Like Obama’s plan of action recommended. It was one idiotic nightmare after another, but Fox never told a soul. Well, they did. Told their employees to get vaccinated, but not their audience. Blood red Rupert
Exactly right!
Jeri, I like your comment about ugly in her soul. I often feel that the attacks on anyone’s looks are childish. Not that I can’t and haven’t laughed at some descriptions, but people are born with their features (some cannot be fixed or improved) and making fun of them seems mean to me. The ugliness is found and resides in their hearts, souls, and character. I will not disagree with that…and for that reason MTG is one ugly person!!!
I like to think that I see a realistic view when I look in the mirror. I don't think she has a clue. Also I imagine she sits on front row pew with no clue about her evil. I knew somebody like that once, she was an anomaly. No more
"Aka Potato Face" made me snort at the crack o' dawn, thanks TC!
I need to send you some Yam People Inspired by the faces of DT and MTG the Yammies are crafted from clay and unfired. Simply toss them into water and watch them disappear back into the mud from whence they came. The Yam People, unlike their human counterparts, are designed to lower blood pressure and resist the temptation to commit the felonies these folks inspire.
The worst part of Margery Taylor Greene’s hideous behavior to Dr Fauci to whom we all owe a debt of grateful thanks..is that each time she behaves this way he tells us he and his family experience additional threats….
She gets away with ‘potential murder’.
And gets away with it. We all become desensitized to it. After comes acceptance. Then participation. The ominous development is that the barriers against this type of behavior are being taken down.
Dr. Fauci testified to threats against him & his Family. Threats can be prosecuted.
What is it with these people and how they feel free to make threats against people? If you or I did something like that, we would rightly be held accountable, but somehow they feel free to do so and get away with it.
Spot on JL. I trust all Readers on LFAA are well aware there is NO appeal path to SCOTUS on a New York State verdict, 32 felonies with has no constitutional.questions. Todd's "Ineffective representation" will not work.
With the help from SCOTUS & the Loose Cannon, Defendant Trumps' 3 other pending criminal cases have been targets of delay-delay-delay to get past the November national election notably Trump's "Immunity" appeal --"whether or not & if so, to what extent does a former President enjoy 'presidential' immunity?
Hat tip to a panel discussion yesterday at The Brennan Center for JUSTICE of the urgent need to "Stop-the-Stay" & get a published Opinion on Trump's bogus 'Immunity' case AND the 29 to 31 other cases that have been argued this Term without any published opinions..
As usual, this Thursday, 6/6/24, after the "five minute bell" rings at 9:55 AM Eastern, several thousand folks and I will be LIVE at SCUTUSblog.com to hear the announced decisions. I will report the captions of the cases decided & the status of the Immunity Case sloth.
Stop the Stay.
Last day of the term.
Possibly into July but, before 7/4.
Please excuse my piggy-backing on leading comments. Here is an eleven minute excerpt from the grilling levelled at Dr Fauci. Could not delineate more graphically who is being vindictive and who is decent and thoughtful. 🤭💡😯⚖️😢
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5119689/user-clip-dr-faucis-testimony-reps-comer-raskin
Dr. Fauci also gave a deserved testy rebuttal to Sen. Rand Paul when Paul falsely accused Dr. Fauci of doing all sorts of evil things. If you will remember, Paul was the senator who ran all around the Senate building (including the gym and pool) unmasked when he was in the contagious phase of COVID-19. Paul also didn’t bother to inform his fellow senators or the senate staff that he had COVID-19 until he had to stay home because of his symptoms.
I remember that exchange when Dr Fauci presented Senator Bland Gall's fund-raising web-site that featured these accusations by Gall plus a little side-box with a link to contribute the Senator's efforts. I alternated between hurling ancient Saxon words at Gall and cheering on Dr Fauci.
Sorry about the block burning down. When my apartment caught fire. I could think of no reason to report it because it all belonged to the landlord.
Thank you Ned.
You are welcome, Bryan; I appreciate your courtesy.
If anyone should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity, it should be Empty Greene--along with her hero worship object , the Melon Felon. Between the two of them, there might be, perhaps, one working brain cell. That may be a generous estimate, however.
The deliberate, cruel and so far as I know, not fully resolved separation of children from their families strikes me as a major crime against humanity. Not much accountability held for the perpetrators for that as far as I can see.
And she is still using children as tools for her stupidity. She is utterly detestable, I cannot understand why anyone would vote for her.
Thanks so much for bringing this all together for us Heather. As an expat living in Sweden I would have to spend all day and night looking and digesting this kind of news and I am so grateful for what you offer to us almost daily. Tusen Tack!
Must add that I do not miss the campaign ads (nor those in the vein of Viagra, personal injury, etc…).
I meant to also remark that it is stunning to see it all coalesced like this. Reassuring to know that journalists and commentators are digging deeper and airing the profound grift and corruption underlying the MAGA house of cards.
"The rights to free speech, peaceful assembly, and a free press are fundamental to what it means to be an American, but [a] gap in federal law has allowed corporations and bad actors to chill speech and dissent. This legislation will stop wealthy forces from weaponizing the law to protect selfish interests.”
- Jamie Raskin
The Trump camp's threat against ProPublica needs to be spotlighted. SLAPP suits - Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation - are brought with no legitimate expectation of legal success but with every intent to break and bankrupt vulnerable individuals and entities who challenge those with power and deep pockets. Anti-SLAPP legislation is state by state. With relatively few providing meaningful protections. (Maine recently significantly upgraded it's Anti-SLAPP law.) Two years ago Rep. Jamie Raskin introduced Federal protections. "The Bill Would Deter Corporations and Wealthy Individuals from Filing Meritless Lawsuits Designed to Stifle Speech, Silence Ordinary Citizens."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_lawsuit_against_public_participation
https://www.rcfp.org/anti-slapp-legal-guide/
https://www.ifs.org/anti-slapp-report/
https://raskin.house.gov/2022/9/chairman-raskin-introduces-legislation-establishing-federal-anti-slapp-statute-to-protect-first-amendment-rights
Thank G-D for Representative Raskin.
Thank Maryland for Rep. Raskin. And for Democratic Sen. Chris VanHollen who is in the lead pushing back against AIPAC and the Evangelicals, including working on writing and pushing for enforcing Biden's National Security Memorandum 20 expanding the Leahy Laws.
Representative Mfume, also of Maryland, was impressive during this hearing; fiercely defending the good M.D. ✌️
I’m impressed with Mr. Raskin. He’s a former constitutional law professor and knows far more about how government is supposed to work than MTG does.
I am so jealous of Jamie Raskin's ability to think and retain. I love this man! When I feel like quitting I recall people like Jamie Raskin.
Kathy these two bear no comparison!
Sometimes it seems like he is fighting alone
I have noticed how all of the independent press has to fundraise to deal with right-wing lawsuits of no merit, and they keep on keeping doing it. I know that Daily Koz is desperate for money because of a right-wing lawsuit, and one of the right-wingers doing this is Independent Candidate Kennedy. I myself also have gotten The Epoch Times. I read part of one article and told them they seemed like Russian Bots, and told them to stop sending it to me. Of course they do not, so I have to delete it. I wish I had not gotten it, and wonder what I need to do to get the to stop sending me articles.
This points to serious problems that have always plagued American Justice. It should not cost a lot of money to get rid of frivolous and vexatious lawsuits.
Report ET to your states attorney general. Maybe they can point you to where to register a complaint. What ET is doing is illegal.
My Gmail allows me to block and report as spam. Poof! All gone…
Perhaps I am kidding myself, but it seems like a deathgrip of Reagnomic dogma may be slipping after four decades.
I think it is remarkable how Biden has shifted the paradigm from neoliberal to a more Roosevelt-four freedoms approach. Seems like the UK is going to do the same in July…flipping to a Labor leadership. Unfortunately here is Sweden the governing coalition is very much pursuing a neo liberal and almost-blatantly anti-Green agenda. It’s hard to stomach.
Anti-green, how can that be in Sweden?
So many myths about Sweden…one could do a Substack on busting them alone…with daily counterpoints. I could really vent..but I will spare you.
I think it’s because right-wingers have obtained more power due to the rise of anti-immigrant views.
Did Bannon travel to Sweden during his travels. He did a lot of damage worldwide with his pot-stirring. And there is always Erik Prince
Didn’t Sweden take an anti mask approach during Covid? That was a clue that not all was well there.
Have to check that, maybe that's how you form a coalition in Sweden these days - they just pushed over a billion in aid to Ukraine.
I can only pray so. I never worshipped at the altar of St. Ronnie. I wasn’t old enough to vote then (as I didn’t turn 18 until the year after the election, but even then I saw he was going to abandon and ruin the middle class and enable the accumulation of excess wealth. I wish I had been wrong about this.
I also was young but he always gave me a bad feeling too, right from the start. Americans are so gullible and easily influenced, it’s really sad.
He was a better actor than I thought. Played that folksy president to a tee while his underhanded evil was taking shape
Americans are smitten with celebrity. It wins out over competence.
NO counting chickens yet.
Isn't MAGA trying to push for lower taxes still, cut social services, but increase military spending? Sounds Reagnomic to me. lol i got a spell check on that one!
Of course MAGA is, but Biden is getting some good done anyway.
I'm still surprised they were able to keep it going for so long!
Everything the grifters do is unsustainable - you can't grift, misappropriate, or lie the way they have forever. The system collapses at some point. But what's even more amazing to me is how rarely they've bothered to cover their tracks! Everything they did was done in public! Even if their scams might sometimes be convoluted they're never sophisticated, so it's like watching someone openly shoplifting. Calling it crude is being generous.
I was only going to add to my reply that is the thinktankers behind project 2025 that scare me. Honestly, Stephen Miller might be on the top of my list of the MAGA misanthropes that I would like to see completely sidelined…
They frighten me as well. The drafters of the Constitution certainly never contemplated having the government run by diktat from a private right wing think tank.
Argued with my bro about this yesterday. He said, I don’t care. He is deliberately deaf.
How about adding dumb-witted and addle-brained to crude. It really is a consolation to witness the Trump tribe’s tone-death, superficial I am in a mood today; maybe i should change to a more anonymous Substack handle.)
Sorry didn’t complete that before it sent but you get my drift
I think that is their whole point… to make the system collapse so they can install a dictator.
Gosh and I should have included historians in the list of truth purveyors!
It is so way past time, that I hope it’s not too late.
I hope you are part of the movement to get American voters living overseas to vote!!! I hope you vote.
Of course ion the latter. However the Dems American Abroad newsletters turn me off as they are so oriented towards logistics and sort of milk toast political discourse…the Swedish branch at least.
I wanted to vote in the 2020 election, but the registration process presented me with insurmountable obstacles. (The state in question was Michigan - why am I not surprised?)
I suspect it’s easier in Michigan now so give it a try please!! Or write the Michigan Biden or Dem Party office and ask for assistance. Good luck!
Talia:
The website is www.michigandems.com.
I am sure that you can find accurate and helpful assistance through
https://mvic.sos.state.mi.us/
\Vince S
You didn’t mention the obstacles and thats ok, however, my next thought is……..Is it possible to find a lawyer to bring a lawsuit against the State and the obstacles? I know I wouldn’t have enough money to hire a lawyer but maybe i could find one willing to do pro-bono………. Just thoughts that come to me…..
Yes, Dr Cox Richardson may have saved by sanity.
It ain’t over til the fat, orange blimp is cooked. And the cult retreats. Don’t hold your breath…
May we someday have the gumption to clean up the miasma in our airways. The stench could reach you in Sweden.
NPR is on the ropes and continues to be in the crosshairs of the GOP et al.
CSPAN's funding is tied to cable revenues. (What cable pays to use the public airwaves for profit.) With the decline of cable, CSPAN has begun to ask for donations. Yikes!
Yikes, indeed. Repubs want Fox as our official mouthpiece. Dems had better gag that bastard and his evil son. Along with others of that ilk. Sorry Bill Maher, Mr. free Speech. Propaganda destroyed Germany, you know well that it can do the same to us.
As an expat livng in Australia, I wholeheartedly agree!
Please excuse my piggy-backing on leading comments. Here is an eleven minute excerpt from the grilling levelled at Dr Fauci. Could not delineate more graphically who is being vindictive and who is decent and thoughtful. 🤭💡😯⚖️😢
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5119689/user-clip-dr-faucis-testimony-reps-comer-raskin
Arming us with the facts is so empowering, Professor. A world of thanks.
You are so right, Lynell.
Please excuse my piggy-backing on leading comments. Here is an eleven minute excerpt from the grilling levelled at Dr Fauci. Could not delineate more graphically who is being vindictive and who is decent and thoughtful. 🤭💡😯⚖️😢
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5119689/user-clip-dr-faucis-testimony-reps-comer-raskin
Thanks, Ned!
You are welcome, Lynell; l appreciate your courtesy.
Well said.
Thanks Dr. Richardson. While Robert Mueller was still director of the FBI, he gave a speech about what he called the iron triangle. He described how corrupt politicians, unscrupulous businessmen, and career criminals worked together to organize a criminal enterprise. The businessman provides the money, the politicians provide influence in the government and the courts and the criminal element provides the know how on committing crimes. It was and is a very tough problem for the FBI. This iron triangle has perhaps reached the highest levels in this nation and many others. There is good cause to fear a mob boss style presidency both here and abroad. We can’t let that happen.
I had never heard this before, but it's absolutely obvious. It lives in the mafia, and was apparent in the Tea Bagger prelude to MAGA. And I'll remind folks that MAGA originated with Saint Ronnie, the idiot mouthpiece for general electric who destroyed American education.
There was an affable black guy outside the grocery yesterday signing up folks for a ballot measure to let Colorado citizens take their education tax dollars to private schools. Of course I got pissed about it, and he seemed astonished. People around who'd been considering signing it turned away when I said if you want to send your kid to some no-standards private school teaching magic sky daddy crap, you pay for it yourself. Public school money isn't yours , it's mine. I wanted to hang around all day.
I just wrote a note to my senior PA Senator about this very subject. Any parent is free to choose the school they want their kid to attend but not on my tax payer dollar. Supporting religious and other such schools through public tax dollars erodes our historical/constitutional right to a free public education for all by taking money away from public schools. I strongly object!
There's this fundamental selfishness among the richt who seem to think taxes are theirs to spend. They are clueless and selfish.
This is true of the people who say they shouldn't have their property taxes go to schools since they have no children.
There is a responsibility that goes along with the rights of citizenship. All they want to think of is their rights.
I have no responsibility to listen to them.
Jen, I WANT my tax dollars to go to public schools—love kids, yet I chose to be child-free. We all benefit as a society when we have an educated population….just wish that civics and critical thinking (at age appropriate levels) would be part of the curriculum.
I love you!
How they can ignore the separation of church and state, which is in the constitution, is beyond me. Putting my taxes into religious instruction should be forbidden. The private schooling revitalizes the segregated school concept of separate but equal. Through the back door, Brown vs. Bd. Of Ed., has been neutralized. Welcome to the year 1954, or prior to May 17, 1954. If only the nation had the wisdom to accept that Supreme Court decision fully.
Samuel alito has no interest in the Constitution, just power. He called us witches, after all, and flies a Christian nationalist flag from his house.
I refer you to pitchfork economics, it's all part of the same effort.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pitchfork-economics-with-nick-hanauer/id1445901378?i=1000657763028
Alito should go but we have seen how ineffective the impeachment process is when one party backs him , no matter what. I hope the Democrats make Supreme Court reforms a priority. We have to hand them a big blue victory , come November.
I always refer to an "Imaginary Sky Pilot", but I kinda like "magic sky daddy"...
Our father who art in heaven. Well no, he's not.
Neither is Santa Claus.
🤣
It’s already in the cards
I did not want to sound pessimistic. I agree that it is here now and something needs to be done about it.
How does that relate to 22 November 1963 and 27 October 1962?
November 22 has yet to be revealed to us. The Warren Report was incomplete with errors about JFK.
The Warren Report is white noise.
Another wonderful compilation of the desperate nature of MAGA. May they all go down with the captain of the ship, "He who must not be elected"!
Please excuse my piggy-backing on leading comments. Here is an eleven minute excerpt from the grilling levelled at Dr Fauci. Could not delineate more graphically who is being vindictive and who is decent and thoughtful. 🤭💡😯⚖️😢
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5119689/user-clip-dr-faucis-testimony-reps-comer-raskin
Thank you Professor Richardson.
While all the points made by political analysts are hopeful I cannot forget that while the Prison Apprentice lost the popular vote in 2016 and 2020, more people voted for him in 2020, knowing exactly what he was and is. Furthermore, his insidious impact upon the judiciary (along with Mitch McConnell) is clear whenever Aileen Cannon issues a ruling, Alito refers to witches in writing a majority opinion eviscerating the rights of women, or Thomas and his insurrectionist/lobbyist wife are enjoying luxurious gifts provided by Harlan Crow and others.
There is a mountain of work to do to preserve and then strengthen our societal aspirations of democracy, justice, and equality.
One day at a time.
Can you tell there are chew marks on my keyboard? 🤓
😂😂😂
🤣👍good one, George…gave me a much needed chuckle….think we can all commiserate!
I am here to serve. 🤓
Agreed.
Good for Heather concluding with what former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann said.
He pointed out how indignant Republicans are that the state of New York seemed to tailor its prosecution of Trump against him personally.
Well, yes, said Weissmann. All cases delve as specifically as possible to the facts particularly alleged to have been done by any defendant.
Republicans hate this particularity. Their abstractions, for themselves, all others, trap them in the same thinking whereby all standardized testers also reduce “life” – to the binary, the linear, the chronological, the categorical.
These abstracting limitations also explain how Republicans serve their billionaires of, for, and by commercial “life” only. As consumer society divides everyone into consumer demographics, other elites also imagine only group identities, group stereotypes. All do this in proportion to how they’ve voided themselves of humanities which could mellow all that abstracting.
Crooked politicians try to avoid the specific. Look what happened to Trump when he said "I never said..." Sure, the MAGAs still believe, but historical video sure underlines his blatant dishonesty.
And, J L, it's just so continuous, his lying, the cult choruses to it.
Do you think Dems can overcome these perverse cult scripts just by sticking to the good programs for which Dems have stood?
Q #2 -- how about Dems appearing with each other in teams of two, three, and four and quoting each other, referring specifically, enthusiastically to the good which specific programs have done local constituents -- or the good other, needed programs might do?
In other words, J L, can Dems really campaign and touch hearts, in anything like the same proportion mindless cult Republicans touch hatreds, fears, and imaginary, delusional paranoias as sold by sensationalized demagoguery and lies?
Dems need to quote the Repub insanity and hang them on their own sword. The worst blather gets ignored or swept under the rug. So does Project 2025.
Somehow, Jeri, I just don't think Dems can do negative.
That requires some lusty enjoyment of lying, attacking, framing hysteria, sucking-up-to-the convicted criminal, being a marble-mouthed, self-centered Marge, a sex-in-public-groping Lauren, a hypocritical, piety-huckstering House speaker, a dumb beyond dumb college football coach Tommy, an encouraging-the-mob then running-away-from-the-mob Josh, a running-away-from-winter-storm Ted, a sexual-abuse-then-look-the-other-way Jim, a lying-totally-about-Supreme-Court-nomination-timing Mitch.
Just quote them, in Texas they make no bones about their evil intent. Even repubs are afraid to quote chump without heavy editing. Dems had better learn how to fight back or we are toast. Ike is gone…. BTW, Repubs depend on Dems “taking the high road” and they laugh their arses off about it. Time for some hardball
The Dems could kill them with the truth if only they knew how to attract and keep the voters' attention. Since Americans love entertainment and the Dems have inroads in Hollywood, I expect them to dazzle us with truth in ways that Americans can't look away. They need to paint a picture of what our nation will look like with all of these hateful people in charge of our government, media, schools etc.
" . . . dazzle us with truth"?
Yes, Gina, they could. Or, theoretically so.
Trouble is, Dems went to school to the same places as did Republicans. So Dems have appreciably no more humanities than do Republicans. The latter can lie with their cult leader for sensationalism; the former have no such inclination.
Dems bore. They have more who'll do the post cards, phone calls, door-knocking. But Republicans have more billionaires who know self-interest to buy cynics and just beaten, hard-at-heels who'll do similar work.
Our schools (big win for Republicans) just have too many who've been beaten down by the standardized testers, all put in place exactly to kill awareness of actual human pain as our novelists, memoirists, film makers, musicians, and historians have testified.
Given his fondness for repeating himself, trying out different voices, the historical videos are very easy to find.
And his videos undercut his claims he never said things like “lock her up” about Hillary Clinton. They also show when he inadvertently confesses to the truth about his shamelessly criminal and stupid misbehavior.
It’s so utterly infuriating that. As you point out, the « magic »!supporters will hear and believe (!!!!) all those lies of tfg »……
Please excuse my piggy-backing on leading comments. Here is an eleven minute excerpt from the grilling levelled at Dr Fauci. Could not delineate more graphically who is being vindictive and who is decent and thoughtful. 🤭💡😯⚖️😢
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5119689/user-clip-dr-faucis-testimony-reps-comer-raskin
Yes, Ned -- those are the two sides.
Thank you for your patience with my free-riding, I am afraid I got a bee in my bonnet. 🤭
You're commenting, Ned, and I respect it.
Many very fine people comment here. Sometimes different pairs of commenters go back-&-forth, but insights emerge for the rest of us.
Crap shoot? No, as many good levels of sincerity abound on Heather's site. I think we all feel a great debt to her for her assiduous work, her dedication to the annals, intricacies, sadness, human nuances of history. We all free ourselves a bit more thanks to her. Very different from "free-riding."
I agree 111% with your graciously stated affirmation of Dr Cox Richardson's work. It is indispensable for me and, I suspect, many others. Thank you for a gracious note to me, Phil. 😊⚖️😇
I am impressed that Dr Fauci restrained himself from responding to MTG using caustic language. Had she told me I don’t have the professional credentials I have and that I should be “in prison for crimes against humanity,” I might have told her to go frack herself.
Indeed. Or at least point out that she is living up (down?) to her reputation for rudeness, ignorance, and shallow thought.
George, she’s like a low-watt dim bulb….a fluorescent one that when it’s going bad makes that gratingly irritating noise that permeates the room like a mosquito that won’t go away.
Well said.
I certainly would have been calling her Ms. Greene and making jokes about the candlestick in the library as opposed to calling her Congresswoman Taylor-Greene...
I think including her job title just underscores the absurdity that she is holding it. Theoretically it's a position of enormous responsibility.
I think it's been quite a long time since the Republican Party has been concerned about "responsibilities" as opposed to "muh God-given rights as a real American"...
Liked for the interesting use of the last verb in your post.
Thank you. It was said by Starbuck a lot, on board the Battlestar Galactica. 😊
Yes….took me right there….hmmm, maybe we could send her with them on their next mission! 🤞
Thanks. I didn't get the reference. :-)
You're welcome. The reimagined BSG was a great show!
I doubt you would be the first to deliver that response.
You and me, both, Steve.
Please excuse my piggy-backing on leading comments. Here is an eleven minute excerpt from the grilling levelled at Dr Fauci. Could not delineate more graphically who is being vindictive and who is decent and thoughtful. 🤭💡😯⚖️😢
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5119689/user-clip-dr-faucis-testimony-reps-comer-raskin
Please excuse my piggy-backing on leading comments. Here is an eleven minute excerpt from the grilling levelled at Dr Fauci. Could not delineate more graphically who is being vindictive and who is decent and thoughtful. 🤭💡😯⚖️😢
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5119689/user-clip-dr-faucis-testimony-reps-comer-raskin
If he weren't so loathsome he'd be pitiful. "On Saturday, an image circulated on social media of Trump leaving Trump Tower and waving as if to a crowd, but there was no one there." Like the night he returned from his COVID holiday, sprinted up the floodlit steps to the Truman balcony, and took an endless salute, staring out into the darkness. There was no one there.
No pity here, his evil took over long ago.
I continue to believe he has Lewy Body Dementia. My friend’s father had it. It is a buildup of proteins in the brain that oroduces a number of cognitive decline symptoms including hallucinations. My friend’s father, towards the very end of his decline, would stand in his living room convinced that he was back in the courtroom doing a cross examination on a case, and looking at his family members with no recognition, treating them as if they were his associates and clerks. Very much like Trump. Perhaps falling asleep in the courtroom is part of his cognitive decline also.
It seems to me that Lewy's Body strikes only the finest intellects, and not necessarily in old age. His is just plain old senile decay.
Please excuse my piggy-backing on leading comments. Here is an eleven minute excerpt from the grilling levelled at Dr Fauci. Could not delineate more graphically who is being vindictive and who is decent and thoughtful. 🤭💡😯⚖️😢
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5119689/user-clip-dr-faucis-testimony-reps-comer-raskin
……”I see dead people”…….😱
[dialog from the movie “The Sixth Sense”]
In the last few days, I have been verbally attacked, overtly and covertly, by Trump supporters for some of my opinions. Some of these interactions have been borderline unhinged and somewhat scary. Anyone else noticing the uptick in hostility?
It feels odd for me to “like “ these comments that describe despicable treatment of a poster like you Mary. Of course I am registering my support of you and not the conduct described.
You make a good point.
I've created a cocoon around me that blocks most Trumplicans from interacting with me. For those who do slip through I'll toy with them like a cat with a dead mouse until I get bored and then I block them.
Meow!
Morning, Lynell!
Morning, Ally! I'm awash in substacks trying to catch up. If you sent me another post, I've yet to see it.
I missed yesterday, so I thought I’d be sure to say hi today!
Indeed, I missed seeing you and wondered but didn't panic, Ally
As for today, after beaucoup hours of to'ing and fro'ing, I only have eyes for your posts, Ally. Hi, back!
It’s fun to take their arguments apart piece by piece. Then it’s down to “I don’t care, it’s how I feel”. The mouse is dead.
The hostility has been on a continuum for decades (especially after 2008), I hate to think what it will lead to
I am a recluse. Saddened to read that you are catching flak. I try to avoid those who are too far gone. I am hoping to speak with Trump supporters open to respectful dialogue. They are likely going no-profile to evade push-back.
Mr McDoodle:
Take the time to look into "Braver Angels." https://braverangels.org/attend-a-workshop/
They are doing what they can to bring about the respectful and mature dialogue that you want.
\Vince S
Thank you, Vince. Pulling up the site now. 🙏
Thank you, Ned. I appreciate your support.
You are welcome. We will all get through this year together.
Please excuse my piggy-backing on leading comments. Here is an eleven minute excerpt from the grilling levelled at Dr Fauci. Could not delineate more graphically who is being vindictive and who is decent and thoughtful. 🤭💡😯⚖️😢
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5119689/user-clip-dr-faucis-testimony-reps-comer-raskin
Thank you for that clip. How can it be that James Comer is a member of Congress, much less the chair of Oversight and Accountability?
You got me. These M.A.G.A. types sure believe in the work of Dr Arthur Janov and his primal scream therapy. 😉
Oy! Janov is a blast from the past. If only the MAGAts were interested in healing then their primal screams would be a public service. Alas.
Healing requires self-awareness; not there. Yes, there I go dating myself again . . . but . . . HELL . . . ¡nobody else will! 😅🤭😳🤔😢
You're funny. I looked at your "slideshow" from your travels in Eastern Europe. You're a very thorough documentarian. Given the dynamic situation, it would be helpful if you'd included dates or at least a date range. Cheers.
Hang in there Mary, stay safe…sending hugs your way!
May the MSM step up and tell the evil tales that have been swamping our world without blathering about some hangnails of the Dems. And Dems, all you have to do is quote Repubs on your campaign ads. Stop with the normal campaign blather and nail them to the cross with their own words. It is a gift that you have ignored so far.
There are too many people who are "middle of the road" because, they say, they don't like extremists on either side.
It's more both-sides-ism.
What is objectionable about extremists on the right? Religious fundamentalism, election denialism, conspiracy theories, hatred of the "libs", immigrants and women. And gender non- conforming.
On the left? Hey, if you want to be called him or her or them or whatever, fine. Please vote. And Israel needs to stop creating more Hamas sympathizers by holding hostage Palestinians that Hamas doesn't care about, so what's the point?
I'd pick the left over the gun-brandishing right. There is no middle ground.
If you're worried more about an individual's pronouns than you are about gun violence, you might be the problem.
Perfect
Thank you.
Absolutely no middle ground when the nazis have taken over the party. The both sides crap is just what Goebbels ordered. A little reality please
Profiles in cowardice.
Some Dem should be writing it. Or anybody…
I sincerely hope that if or when Democrats ever get a majority in the House and the Senate, not to mention the presidency, they will be able to change the laws to prevent this disaster from ever happening again. I think mental health checks should be mandatory for anyone who wants to run for office. Maybe each candidate could equally be given a flat rate for campaign advertising and nothing else, no PACs allowed. All candidates should be required to participate in regularly scheduled debates. And, if only we could have voting laws like in Australia, where everyone is automatically registered to vote and it’s mandatory to vote. Is overcoming the blatant corruption of the GOP possible?
Kristin:
It sounds as if you might want to consider joining the activists in Move To Amend:
https://www.movetoamend.org/get-involved
Move To Amend was inspired by the Supreme Court's infamous Citizens United v FEC decision in January, 2010. Ever since then, Move To Amend has been working hard to build support for a constitutional amendment to reserve first amendment rights to actual, living people.
\Vince S
Here in Europe we have elections for the EU this week. Turnout is much lower for these historically in Sweden and it is scary because the consensus is that the far right is going to make substantial headway relative to other parties/eu coalitions. The Right here The Swedish[‘]democrats[‘], who play footsie with neo-nazis, are super aggressive in leafleting and billboarding with a building walls against immigrants message. In fact we have only received campaign materials from them…if i could I would include pictures of their brochures. As to the structural enticement to vote we receive our ballots in the mail and have several days to choose from to vote. Astonishingly for me coming from a confidential voting booth experience in Maine, in the national elections you choose a ballot for a party right in front of all your neighbors when you vote in person.
Thank you Katherine. I appreciate your reporting on the ground in Sweden. It’s too easy to think that the rise of neo-fascism is an American phenomenon. We need to remain focused on this scourge wherever it raises its ugly head. I appreciate you.
Please excuse my piggy-backing on leading comments. Here is an eleven minute excerpt from the grilling levelled at Dr Fauci. Could not delineate more graphically who is being vindictive and who is decent and thoughtful. 🤭💡😯⚖️😢
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5119689/user-clip-dr-faucis-testimony-reps-comer-raskin
Kristen, I truly dislike our election system, its length, its cost, the droning on and on of candidates—kinda on par with Medicare Advantage & drug commercials. See this interesting article from a while back comparing USA to other countries: https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/10/21/450238156/canadas-11-week-campaign-reminds-us-that-american-elections-are-much-longer Citizen’s United only made it worse, much worse!
We've been trying to do that for decades. Even got an option on the tax return form where you can give $3 to presidential campaigns. It's as far as we've gotten.
Having faced addiction in my family, I can attest to the living HELL that president Biden is enduring. Refusing to bail out an adult child is hard for people outside the news. Nonetheless, President Biden is doing what he should do: make his son face the music. Mr Hunter Biden is doing that, thus far with dignity. Hopefully, he will transcend the sleazy behaviors that accompany addiction and live a life free from his past and his shame. President Biden is proving his mettle here as a loving father.
💔🙏⚖️🤞💓
Contrast all of this nobility in the face of adversity to the free-floating scheiße flung around by M.A.G.A. nihilists with their needy narcissism; the choice in November should really be no choice. This N.Y.C. conviction is controversial, as 'The Economist' has argued. Yet twelve Americans from different walks of life, apparently well-informed, voted 'guilty' four hundred, eight times to zero.
🤢
The evident intimidation of the fine and refined Dr Fauci in today's appalling hearing will remain in history as an example of the United States at her detestable worst. One rap I hear about Dr Fauci was that he was incompetent for changing guidelines during the early part of the pandemic. A scientist who changes his or her opinion with new information strikes me as doing what a competent professional does.
🤬
¿Can you imagine what the M.A.G.A. fraggers would react has Dr Fauci decided not to change the guidance because he might look indecisive, only to see a million more deaths? My sense is a little stronger now that Mr Bobby Kennedy will peel off 'Reagan Democrats' from Trump as disgusted soon-to-be former Trumpers look for a new home. That is: R.F.K., Jr will aid in President Biden's re-election, if Trump stays on the ticket. Hopefully Trump remains on the ticket. 🤞
I know addiction too, and feel for him. However, his trial is a put up job because a plea deal was made until repubs decided that a political trial was needed.
Several prosecutors say they never ever have brought charges against someone for lying on their gun application about drug use.
Jen, have to dash in a couple of minutes, so can’t try to find the info to link regarding the buzz about legal case, ie; the applicable “law” he’s being charged with is unconstitutional….have heard it mentioned a couple of times, tho did not delve into the the info behind it. Also, you’d think those gung-ho (gun-ho?) 2nd amendment types would be clamoring to support him & decry his arrest! Go figure!
That's interesting. Appeal to the Extreme Court and see where Alito falls. Such conflict! What to do? He hates Democrats but oh how his undies get in a wad over gun rahts!
"Extreme Court"! Love it!
Feel free to steal it; I'm sure I did.
Name calling just feels appropriate here
Me too. I feel like I ought to be above name-calling, but... This is a pretty informal assemblage, so why not? Name-calling from a professional position of public responsibility, cf MTG.
I think you can be sure that if one of their fold, surely one of Trumps spawn, was similarly charged, their would be outraged.
I heard that too, but repubs just wouldn't have that. A Dem trial was a necessity.
There is a fine, refined gentleman in the vicinity where I live who has trod the same path, though his 'bottom' may not have been as low as Mr Biden's. As an Ivy-league prep-schooled attorney, he has made a practice of defending alcohol and drug driven defendants. While doing so, he counsels these defendants toward abstinence and seeking support for that personal growth. This path sounds like a good one for Mr Biden to consider.
The path is fraught with potholes as anyone who has had knowledge of the travails can attest. If one is lucky, they don't wind up like George McGovern's daughter.
What happened to Senator McGovern's daughter?
😢💔😢
Senator McGovern was an acquired taste for me. As an eighth and ninth grade in 1972, I considered him a joke.
🤭🤝🗽✌️😇
Yet seven years later, there I was writing an essay for the little student Republican club news-letter singing the Senator's praises, particularly with his proposal of three billion dollars of reparations to Viêt Nam following the conclusion of that ghastly war several years before.
If memory serves, she died as a homeless alcoholic on the streets of Minneapolis. He was asked once if losing the election was his greatest disappointment, he said oh no, not being able to help my daughter is my greatest disappointment. Just checked Google, she died in Wisconsin. Reading the post, I feel that McGovern was the first real casualty of the Nixon juggernaut of evil. A man of integrity and competence, all his life, the jokes made about him now are one of politics greatest failures. He should be the hero for Dems. I’d vote for him in a heartbeat,
Yes, your take on Senator McGovern is accurate. So tragic to read about his daughter; thank you for researching that tragedy. I never liked Hunter Thompson as a celebrity gonzo journalist. Yet his portrayal of Senator McGovern in "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72" was sympathetic. Yes, Senator McGovern was a decent, good, brave man. He volunteered for the most dangerous aerial combat missions during the Second World War. A good reason why choosing character over policies is often the right way to go.
Show-trial is exactly right, Jeri; many thanks for the insight. 😢
Also detestable is the outsized COVID death rate in what of should have been one of the best prepared, if not most prepared, to deal with a public health emergency. There seems to be little doubt that big lie politics was a major aggravating factor in the well over a million death toll. The big liars are still at it.
Bloody hands all over repubs. I remember
Obama had a pandemic preparedness office. Drumpf shut it down to appease the right wing no-money-for-stuff-we-don't -understand crowd. Even stopped the routine maintenance of expensive gear like....respirators. So when we needed them they didn't work.
More reasons not to make Jared head of the joint chiefs.
The modern "GOP" seems to be to perpetrate so scandals that corruption becomes the new normal, and overwhelms public outrage. Yeah, that was worthy of a (real) investigation, but what isn't these days? Trump only supports what he thinks will benefit him. He is as disgrace as an ordinary citizen, never mind an entrusted leader. The plutocratic patrons of the "GOP" appear to care nothing of conservative (SMALL "c") preparation for the expectable yet unpredictable: slash safety nets, let infrastructure rot, poison the future, and "Let them hate us so long as they fear us" here and abroad. Anything to maximize the take of the .1% as quickly as possible.
Very perceptive and frightening insight, J.L. We need to stand up for our republic.
Reading about the prosecution's plans to present witnesses to testify that he was using drugs, which he has openly admitted, I felt that they were piling so much into the already confessed drug use they they were more likely to evoke pity from a jury.
Thank you for this observation, John. The man's mother died in his presence during his formative years and his illness has dragged him into the sleazy demi-monde of addiction. Mr Biden is doing his best to transcend all of that; give the guy a break, already.
And compare how Biden described himself as a father with tfg saying his son is tall, cool, etc. He’s even into central casting on his own SON!
Here is an eleven minute excerpt from the grilling levelled at Dr Fauci.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5119689/user-clip-dr-faucis-testimony-reps-comer-raskin
QAnon conspiracy theorist Ivan Raiklin and convicted January 6 rioter Brandon Fellows were seated behind Fauci today ? I heard some of the hearing. Fauci had the demeanor and tone of voice of like, 'I know that this is bull$#!t, but I'm going to play nice and not incite these nut cases and get the f#ck out of here !'
succinct summation
TRUMP AND HITLER: A COMPARATIVE STUDY IN LYING
This book was published on March 2, 2024. I first learned of it in THE GUARDIAN on June 3rd. I find it listed on Amazon with no reviews. I was unable to order a hard copy.
The Dutch author, Professor Henk de Berg, is at the University of Sheffield. I find his book a first-rate academic study. I set forth below some highlights from THE GUARDIAN review:
1) Berg examines the two men’s work ethic, management style, and narcissism, as well as such quirks as Hitler’s toothbrush mustache and Trump’s implausible blond hair.
2) He quotes George Burns: “The most important thing in acting is honesty. If you can fake that, you got it made.” Also, “The most important thing in populism is authenticity. The moment you’re able to rake that, you’re in.”
3) Hitler and Trump were and are political performance artists who speak only vaguely about policies. [Make Germany/America great again]They know how to draw attention using jokes, insults, and extreme language.
4) Their extremist statements are very deliberately meant to provoke.
5) Many voters are ready to blame a scapegoat—“the other.” [WW 1, immigrants] It decomplexifies the world. Instead of abstract social structures and history developments, you have one specific group that you can blame all your problems on.
6) In September, 2016 an Atlantic writer wrote: “The press takes Trump literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously , but not literally.”
7) “Both the more extreme followers and the less extreme or ‘moderate’ followers can recognize themselves in the speaker’s words.”
8) With Hitler many Germans said that Hitler was saying all those extreme things that he “really didn’t mean.” No one thought that Hitler took MEIN KAMPF as his bible.
9) “The idea behind the concept of the big lie is that if an untruth is sufficiently extreme, people are likely to accept it only because they cannot bring themselves to believe that anyone could lie in such an outrageous manner.”
10) The spectacle and social glue of mass rallies are also key. David Bowe said of Hitler “One of the first rock stars…He worked an audience. Good God1…he was a media artist. He used politics and theatrics and created this thing that governed and controlled for twelve years.”
11) Trump’s rallies are typically rollicking affairs—part circus, part concert, part sports, bringing like-minded people together as ritualistically as church.
12) At Trump rallies people share a collective sense of grievance and also find ways to have fun.
13) Conservative Germans said that Hitler manipulated them, and from there it all went disastrously wrong for German society.
14) “One of the most worrying things for me abut Trumpism is the way he has managed to transform what you thought were very right wing but ultimately rational politicians into people who have become basically Trumpists.”
15). “There is a method in Trump’s madness: the buffoonery, chaos, and word salad speeches may be more calculated than they appear.”
16) “I would like people to become more aware of how incredibly consciously Trump is going about what he is doing, how incredibly cunning and devious he’s been. People should absolutely not underestimate this guy.”
Mr Wheelock:
Thank you for your comprehensive review.
One aspect of the response to the MAGA performance concerns me. People I talk to commonly talk about how "stupid" the "MAGAts" are.
That is not helpful. Unfortunately, we are confronted with a very serious and very deliberate and very cunning and smart campaign to undermine pretty much all of the institutions that hold this imperfect, experimental republic together.
\Vince S
Vincent I know a 25-year old who recently ‘found’ God and buys into much of Trumpmania. Any discussion seems futile, because this seems a matter of ‘faith.’ Oh yea. Reminds me of Flip Wilson’s Church of the Here and Now.
Mr Wheelock:
I do not entirely disagree with you. Yes. I have met people like that. I try to end the conversation quickly.
However, one cannot assume that the next person you might meet is not willing to discuss issues and ask relevant questions and seek the truth. I have been doing some door-to-door neighborhood canvassing lately and I have been pleasantly surprised. A Bosnian couple (citizens - Muslim - 20 years in the US) I met are anxious to help Democrats this year. I think that they may be able to persuade their friends to see that the humanitarian calamity in Gaza since October should not by used to generate and justify a disaster in American government.
Sometimes it is hard to keep the faith, but this morning's Letter from an American certainly helps!
\Vince S
VINCENT Good for you! At 90 with four compression fractures of my lower back my ability to circulate is limited. I welcome the opportunity to write common sense on Heather’s blog and elsewhere.
Thanks, Keith. I strikes me though that this book reflects a “before” Trump persona. My MIL is accelerating into her dementia. I’m seeing the same with Trump. Will he make it through the convention?
Gail Time to flush ‘34’ before he reaches 78.
😂
GAIL While the Trump persona is getting worse and worse, he has been a basket case bastard for a long time.
Yep. I’ve despised him for decades. Waking up to his win was a very dark day.
Thank you for this input and for the reference work. To orchestrate a shitshow like this takes a lot of energy. Hitler was 44 when he took over. Trump is 77 and is circling the drain.