I grew up thinking the name Cheney was that of the devil, but I am now in deep deep respect and admiration for those Republicans who do stand up to the craziness. Yay Liz Cheney!
Putin wants to invade Ukraine and steal its valuable resources. Trump promised to end that war without saying how he would do it. Now we know how. He and Vance told Zelensky that they would "save" his country from Putin by having the United States invade Ukraine and steal its valuable recourses instead. Trump is making the US the scorn of the civilized world.
True. But it has been a long, long road for Mr. Bolton. Anyone remember Bolton's role In the "Brooks Brothers" DC intervention in the Florida National Election Gore-Bush count?
I recall Bolton was the poster Boy with beedy eyes & mustache looking up against light at a election ballot to inspect the infamous "hanging chad".
Or should I refer to the episode as the Bush-Gore-Stop-Counting Election? Reminder to Attorneys, SCOTUS ruled we cannot cite their Bush-Gore Opinion for anything much less "Black Letter" law.
Her father was anathema to me and the wing nut across the street looks and sounds like him. However, I am glad that Liz is speaking out as did Pence recently.
Remember that in the next election. Not all conservatives have horns and tails (and not all liberals have common sense.)
I'm still trying to figure out why most Republicans are going along with Trump's agenda. Are they really afraid (what liberals want to think) or are they truly fed up and find Trump a useful tool (what liberals can't fathom)?
That broad brush which liberals use to paint conservatives is part of the reason we just lost the election. I'm talking about voters that supported Republican candidates in the last several elections. Greed is not close to one of the adjectives of use.
Je: Have you bothered actually talking to any of them? Look at what the Dems agenda has done to America in the last 4 years:
UKRAINE: got us into a never-ending war because Biden gave Zelenski enough to keep fighting but not enough to win.
BORDER: deliberately let millions upon millions of people , most of whom cannot speak English and will need OUR social assistance dollars for the foreseeable future. loose in our country.
CRIME: allowed AGs across the country to NOT criminalize theft or violence and have also let many violent illegals loose; refuse to prosecute theft under $100 dollars, leading to invasions of shoplifters and locked-up merchandise.
RIOTS: Refused to lock up/prosecute BLM rioters who actually killed cops in summer 2020, while calling a few trespassers on Jan 6 "insurrectionists" when not one of them had a gun, and the 5 people who died that day were all non-violent Trump supporters.
LAWBREAKING: Siccing the DOJ and crooked lawyers/judges on any opposition politician who threatened to unseat Biden, ie Trump and RFKJr.
ELECTION: removed elected President without Dem voter input, then inserted Kamala Harris as candidate without Dem voter input, while blaming Trump for "threatening democracy".
REAL Republicans like Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Steve Schmidt, and the people at The Bulwark have been QUITE vocal in their opposition for years. I've seen strong denunciations by all three in the wake of this most recent disaster. I don't have time to watch long-winded, time-filling videos from Schmidt and the Bulwark folks, but they're all doing the right thing.
I've been watching the podcasts you mention, Jim Brown, the Lincoln Project for several years. I find their commentary more illuminating than staunch Dems in most cases, although I also watch Brian Tyler Cohen and the Meidas Bros. The interesting thing is that they're more or less of one voice: they're for trimming waste, fraud, and abuse from gov't spending, and they say frequently that Elump is only cutting programs that hurt the bottom to renew tax cuts for the top, that how they're doing it is illegal and unconstitutional, and that they are crass, crazy, greedy kleptocrats shoving money into their personal pockets. There are no different sides to the aisle when it comes to supporting the constitution or loving democracy. We're either for American ideals or against it. Elump is emphatically and shamefully against.
So true! The American people need to flood the regime with emails written in all caps reminding them that this is OUR MONEY and should not be redistributed to the wealthy. And the Repubs are going to fired for poor performance. Instead of the snarky subject line: “Fork in the Road,” our emails’ subject line should read: “Pitchforks in the Street.”
Stephanie, on alt national park service there was a post that said EPA workers are being treated like criminals with visits from the F.B.I. because they have been doing their jobs. Not only is the country is the country becoming a s...thole country in terms of foreign affairs, etc, but it will be literally a s...thole place to live...unless you are rich.
Dear Michele - I just read about the FBI coming down on the EPA as if it were a criminal organization. It is an alarming turn of events much like what happened to Zelensky in the Oval Office. This nation is devolving into a police state much like the Soviet Union was with the FBI becoming the American version of the KGB. I don't feel safe any longer. Who's next?
If one truly sought to trim waste, whether resulting from fraud, negligence, or slap dash purchasing protocols, why wouldn't one look first at the defense department spending? It is the largest item in the budget, and they have a long record of being unable to account for their assets or to pass an audit. This omission by the Muskrats is a clear signal that the waste cutting is just a smokescreen for their adoption of the 2025 agenda and their proposed tax cuts, which will transfer trillions from the middle and less well off classes to Uber wealthy billionaires and corporations.
I agree 100%, Fred Krasner. It's obvious to even the most casual observer that they have no interest in coming up with a better budget. They're looking in the couch cushions for enough change to cover the renewal of T1 tax cuts. And the irony is that they'd get there a bunch faster if they did look at military spending. But that would cut into Elon's take, which would never do.
Of course, the cost-cutting is just a smoke screen for the real reason Musk is firing staff in departments that oversee his businesses and the departments that Trump has a personal distaste for. What I find ironic is that Musk stood up at the first cabinet meeting talking about how much money is devoted to servicing the debt and yet Trump wants Congress to remove the debt ceiling limit. What a bunch of nitwits.
Oh, really? I've been following Steve Schmidt on Substack and like his writing and opinions. I was not aware that he's a Republican; he sure doesn't sound like one! So, I agree about Liz Cheney and now Steve Schmidt. I found the Bulwark to be incoherent, so I dropped my subscription to that.
He was McCain’s campaign manager and the person most responsible for choosing Sarah Palin as the VP candidate. He was also a principal supporter of the Dean Phillips candidacy against Biden in the 2024 primary.
To me, Schmidt seems to write in a sort of ersatz West Wing tone while practicing the usual Republican hackish politics.
I’ve always had the impression that he’s in it for himself. I was considering McCain as a candidate when they stuck Palin in there. I had great respect for the McCain family when I lived in Arizona. He would have been my first Republican vote.
Steve is not a Republican . He became a Democrat when Trump was elected. He did work for McCain but has stated repeatedly in his posts that he did not have anything to do with picking Palin..
Schmidt is one of the best friends the Resustance has.
Schmidt is a disillusioned Republican, and worked for John McCain’s campaign of late. Knows how it works within the public, was part of the initial Lincoln Project group.
Yesterday, I noted to a friend who was asking the same thing that there has seemingly always been this unspoken "code" amongst ex-Presidents that once they are out of office they refrain from any and all interference in succeeding administrations. The glaring exception to this, of course, is the current interloper in the White House, who has never avoided any opportunity to open his big yap. However, it would seem to me that the situation right now demands "all hands on deck" in defending our democracy, so any such "codes", or "gentlemen's agreements", should be put by the wayside.
I agree. I understand the traditional 'code' but, as you say, what's happening today is not traditional and is definitely endangering our country. My only hope is that the formers are silently gathering and preparing their own "Project 2025" to destroy this regime.
James Carville, from Louisiana, says we should roll over and play dead and let the Regime dig itself a ditch. But how to recover and how long to shovel all that dirt back in?
To paraphrase Ellen Glasgow, “The only difference between a ditch and a grave are the dimensions.”
Carville is older than the dirt removed from a ditch. He was once a brilliant strategist, but his strategies worked in a world that is very different from the one we live in now.
If Donald's handlers are allowed to wreak havoc at the pace they are currently keeping, humanity will not survive long enough to repair the damage.
The "Python" is wrong on his one. Pythons just keep squeezing. The Nation is stressed out.
You can almost feel the widespread anxiety. Anxiety breeds misperceptions then mis-reporting then more confusion. All that leads to PANIC as the nation witnessed yesterday at the Dallas TX, National Cheerleaders gathering. A "loud noise " turned into a "loud pop" which morphed into "pop, pop, pop" which triggered a police & ambulance overreaction from a "fight"
Do not Play Dead.
Like Rachel Maddow taught me ... go to a valid LOCAL news source. The Dallas Morning News:
"What we know about incident at the NCA cheer competition at Kay Bailey Hutchinson"
Byran, you can actually feel the anxiety and read about it. On Nextdoor yesterday, some poor soul worried about Medicare and a mess physically was calling for people to join her in a protest at the state capitol downtown..Salem, Oregon. Often I see wingnuts there.
Yesterday, I filed a Freedom of Information Request (FOIA) on the Social Security Administration to dig into SSA 's purported "employee reductions" & "plans".
Whenever I see someone mention, "Where are the past Dem Presidents?" I wonder how devastating this moment is to them. They were all civil servants who dedicated their lives to strengthening our country. And we elect a mobster conman who told us who he was for a decade as he built enough power to destroy our country. Why is it on them to fix our disastrous mess if we chose it? I understand their silence as a reasonable reaction to OUR absolute rejection of all their work, vision, and morality.
It is not on them to fix this mess. But it would be nice to know they are in favor of fixing it. Evil is allowed to flourish when good people stay silent.
Doing what? Howling into the void like the rest of us?
The Continuing Resolution (CR) to extend federal spending and avert a government shutdown ends March 14, 2025.
I suspect (hope!) Dems are waiting for the upcoming budget shit show in order to get more of the public on board. In this country, most people don't react until it affects them personally.
There are some - Jamie Raskin, AOC, Bernie Sanders, etc. - who are speaking out. The formers could join them if for nothing else to show they are against what trump is doing. After all, it is we the people who have to vote them out or protest them out or revolt them out. It would be good to know who all supports us.
Yes! Bernie is always the one I want for a leader. He was treated shamefully by the Democratic party which did all it could to stop him from becoming our president. A populist president, truly looking out for the people and the planet. Another ginormous error that we will never stop paying for.
Bernie was treated shamefully by the Dems? You do realize he is not a Democrat? And when he was losing, he tried to force a rule change—in the middle of the primaries—to benefit his candidacy? The party he disdains treated him shamelessly? And he then sat out the Clinton campaign acting angry and disaffected?
Bernie, who has never passed a significant piece of legislation he sponsored is to me a perfect example of why activists should not be elected to office.
Yes, I do realize that he is an Independent. I don't care about party affiliation--I focus on humanity, character, and heart. He is the only one I've seen in the sea of selfishness and ambition that is our 2 party system in decades. Carter was the last.
Tom, personally, I have never liked Bernie, but do like some of his ideas. I would have voted for him had he been the candidate. And had HRC won, we would not be in the mess. It was a dire enough situation in 2016 especially with the Supreme Court that people should have held their noses.
Hillary was more qualified. Period. However, in retrospect I believe Bernie may have been able to overcome the suddenly emboldened misogynistic crowd rejecting Hillary. She did win the popular vote.
You are exactly right, Gigi! This entire Trump mess lays at the feet of the Republican Party. GOP now stands for something like Gone Out Partying. Yes, there are a few vocal Republicans, but most (all?) of those in “power” are silent, publicly and, apparently, privately.
It’s going to take some time, but the Trump Demolition Squad (TDS, right?) will do enough damage to make taking action obvious and imperative.
In the meantime, We, the Shut Him Up Totally (SH!T) Brigade need to protect each other and those most vulnerable and do what we can to survive. This cleanup is not in the hands of the press or the late night comedians. We need to encourage (NOOE DEMAND) our Senators, Representatives, Governors - of all stripes - to get to work NOW!
Liz Cheny has spoken, not her father. As for the others, history will remember their silence. They are waiting to see if we revolt, so REVOLT (and call your congressperson)
In the 60s, we revolted. We were out in the street. We were sitting in. We were dragged away by the police. Why is everybody at home hoping someone else will do what we the people have to do?
because those of us who did all of that in the 60's are now in our 80's and doing as much as we can.....where are the younger people in the crowds that we were part of?
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), in a text to Axios, said Friday was "a bad day for America's foreign policy."
"Ukraine wants independence, free markets and rule of law. It wants to be part of the West. Russia hates us and our Western values. We should be clear that we stand for freedom," he said.
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), in a post on X, called the meeting "a disaster — especially for Ukraine," adding, "Sadly, the only winner of today is Vladimir Putin.
When either or both grow the balls to stand up in Congress, and publicly state their opposition to the Nazis, I'll believe them. Until then, they're nothing but publicity hounds, and false patriots.
If they had any guts they would quit the Republican caucus, call themselves the Independent Caucus and vote with the Dems in a coalition, dump Mike Johnson and vote to impeach Trump and Vance. I guess I can dream.
We have had 2 rallies at his local office. He was a no-show both times, or at least stayed in hiding. I've sent daily emails to him, with no response to this point. I've called almost daily, and am greeted by a semi-conscious maybe-human. The man is a spineless eunuch. Ms. Kaptor is in the Toledo area, so out of my district. And there was a large Ukrainian support rally in Parma yesterday that did get some local TV coverage, and I believe Ms. Kaptor attended. I could not - this time. As to Joyce, he talks a good game, but if he ever HAD to state a position, he would piss in his pants on the spot.
I was just wondering around to my husband yesterday about how all the Ukrainian Americans feel about this. My best friend was Ukrainian growing up and her mom was like a second mom to me. It was a massive community of some of the greatest people I had the opportunity to learn from.
I don’t understand how Republicans are still getting elected to office in Ohio.
Reagan set this up. He laid waste to the middle class, promoted hatred, homophobia and racism, and advanced the disastrous trickle-down theory. He and his policies were a precursor to every single thing the Republican Party is today. No wonder the Republican Party deifies him.
But let's not forget that the slide toward Trump began with Reagan (if not earlier, with Nixon's southern strategy and the now-famous Lewis Powell memo of 1971). The corporate tax cuts. The gutting of unions. The Clinton administration surely helped by repealing the Glass-Steagall Act, which had done a lot to keep corporate money in check. Then Bush II, along with being arguably the least competent president till Trump relieved him of the title, appointed John Roberts as chief justice of the Supreme Court and Samuel Alito as associate justice, which led to the godawful Citizens United decision (2010) even before we got the three McConnell-Trump appointees.
Susanna, and I can’t forget Clinton’s 1996 “welfare reform,” which converted a federal entitlement for poor families into a block grant for states. Red states chose to divert a lot of their block grants to surveillance of patents, and onerous requirements (like parenting classes, drug testing,etc) rather than the cash payments that paid rent. The whole country essentially froze benefits for the next quarter century. And that is when, for the first time, we experienced family homelessness. Once rents exceeded the entire cash benefit, homelessness increased in my county by 32% PER YEAR. THIS is what the GOP would love to see again.
Glass Steagall had absolutely nothing to do with keeping corporate money in check. It was passed in 1933 as a companion piece to establishing the FDIC.
It separated investment banking and commercial banking. It was written to protect depositor money by enduring that banks with depositor money could not engage in the inherently riskier activities of investment banking.
Its repeal was accompanied by substantially strengthened rules by the FDIC, the Fed, and the Comptroller of the Currency to limit the commingling of depositor money and investment banking activities.
But feel free to keep trying. Last time I read one of your comments, you blamed its repeal (and Clinton)—wrongly—for the real estate crisis.
So I guess the multiple marriages of investment banking and commercial banking had nothing to do with the wild speculation in derivatives (etc.) that led to the economic crash of the late Bush II administration? Asking for several friends . . .
As I have replied to you before, there was nothing in Glass Steagall that would have prevented banks from bundling shitty sub-prime mortgages and selling them as securities. Nor prevented investment brokers and investment bankers from buying them. Nor prevented insurance companies that went far beyond their capital adequacy from insuring them. Nor for corrupt rating agencies from assigning spuriously good investment grades as a way to curry favor with investment bankers.
This is a complicated subject and someone who doesn’t understand would not bother me. Except you sort of pretend you do, and get a snotty attitude when you’re challenged.
Thanks for your explanation. I go for the simple idea that there will always be people who are looking for holes, ways to make money, regardless of it being at the expense of others. There are not enough laws, and will never be, to cover the cleverness cum corruption/ill will of people who are so disposed. We have great example of that in the White House.
Thank you for this response. For those of us still learning our history...Clinton became President when I was in college. He was my first Presidential vote! While I was thrilled about that, I admit I didn't pay as much attention to some of his policies in real time.
Thanks! Gotta say, I'm exasperated with all the people who think this all started with Trump. Trump is the endgame -- but I don't think Reagan and his crew, or even Bush II and *his* crew, had any idea we'd end up where we are now. (I'm still having trouble believing it myself.)
It grew... with enough ignorance and disinformation. Trump stepped in and took this partisanship to the extreme. We got complacent and "triangulated" went along to get along. They were increasingly for absolute rule. And so we are here. This is a really tough situation.
Apache, I have been looking for a good nickname for JD....Mini-Me fits well. He and his family tried to go skiing in Vermont and they were met by protesters. One sign said Go ski in Russia.
Of course, that was a time when the US still believed in "we hold these truths to be self-evident...."; when we still had respect for order, good to the poor, trying not showing pride or prejudice. Today, our great leader fans the flames of hatred and espouses extremist aims.
Ronald Reagan would have been beyond Horrified by DJT, and Mini-Me JD...
I would like to hear some notable repubs be horrified—Bush,Pence, Romney, Cheney…hellooo?
Liz Cheney has gone on record as opposing what Trump has been doing.
I grew up thinking the name Cheney was that of the devil, but I am now in deep deep respect and admiration for those Republicans who do stand up to the craziness. Yay Liz Cheney!
Putin wants to invade Ukraine and steal its valuable resources. Trump promised to end that war without saying how he would do it. Now we know how. He and Vance told Zelensky that they would "save" his country from Putin by having the United States invade Ukraine and steal its valuable recourses instead. Trump is making the US the scorn of the civilized world.
Ahhh, the Art of the Deal David! ...the substance of a true shyster and grifter laid bare!
The Art of the Heel
Bravo!
Never thought "back then" i'd ever be cheering on the neocons Cheyneys including Liz.
Unless I have missed it, no neocon has spoken against Trump. There will be a place in history for them in the chapter titled, "Enablers."
I’m not exactly sure who qualifies as a neocon, but John Bolton has spoken out.
True. But it has been a long, long road for Mr. Bolton. Anyone remember Bolton's role In the "Brooks Brothers" DC intervention in the Florida National Election Gore-Bush count?
I recall Bolton was the poster Boy with beedy eyes & mustache looking up against light at a election ballot to inspect the infamous "hanging chad".
Or should I refer to the episode as the Bush-Gore-Stop-Counting Election? Reminder to Attorneys, SCOTUS ruled we cannot cite their Bush-Gore Opinion for anything much less "Black Letter" law.
Her father was anathema to me and the wing nut across the street looks and sounds like him. However, I am glad that Liz is speaking out as did Pence recently.
me too, ive been impressed by Pence of late, whatever the rest of it.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
Absolutely!!
Mao said this about allying with Chang Kai-shek against the Japanese invaders.
its a famous stratagem, played through history, often more like a multi-centred venn diagram.
Sharp Frank🎯
Back then, not long ago, I thought that nobody would be worse than them....I was so wrong....😫
Remember that in the next election. Not all conservatives have horns and tails (and not all liberals have common sense.)
I'm still trying to figure out why most Republicans are going along with Trump's agenda. Are they really afraid (what liberals want to think) or are they truly fed up and find Trump a useful tool (what liberals can't fathom)?
G.R.E.E.D.
Exactly 💯 %
That broad brush which liberals use to paint conservatives is part of the reason we just lost the election. I'm talking about voters that supported Republican candidates in the last several elections. Greed is not close to one of the adjectives of use.
Maybe stupidity?
Je: Have you bothered actually talking to any of them? Look at what the Dems agenda has done to America in the last 4 years:
UKRAINE: got us into a never-ending war because Biden gave Zelenski enough to keep fighting but not enough to win.
BORDER: deliberately let millions upon millions of people , most of whom cannot speak English and will need OUR social assistance dollars for the foreseeable future. loose in our country.
CRIME: allowed AGs across the country to NOT criminalize theft or violence and have also let many violent illegals loose; refuse to prosecute theft under $100 dollars, leading to invasions of shoplifters and locked-up merchandise.
RIOTS: Refused to lock up/prosecute BLM rioters who actually killed cops in summer 2020, while calling a few trespassers on Jan 6 "insurrectionists" when not one of them had a gun, and the 5 people who died that day were all non-violent Trump supporters.
LAWBREAKING: Siccing the DOJ and crooked lawyers/judges on any opposition politician who threatened to unseat Biden, ie Trump and RFKJr.
ELECTION: removed elected President without Dem voter input, then inserted Kamala Harris as candidate without Dem voter input, while blaming Trump for "threatening democracy".
Continued: There were only two choices in 2024. Why do you THINK we voted for Trump?
tell us, please. Why DID you vote for DJT.
But none of the rest of the Republican members of Congress.
Anything lately? I’m afraid she was threatened after Donnie’s last outburst. M
REAL Republicans like Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Steve Schmidt, and the people at The Bulwark have been QUITE vocal in their opposition for years. I've seen strong denunciations by all three in the wake of this most recent disaster. I don't have time to watch long-winded, time-filling videos from Schmidt and the Bulwark folks, but they're all doing the right thing.
I've been watching the podcasts you mention, Jim Brown, the Lincoln Project for several years. I find their commentary more illuminating than staunch Dems in most cases, although I also watch Brian Tyler Cohen and the Meidas Bros. The interesting thing is that they're more or less of one voice: they're for trimming waste, fraud, and abuse from gov't spending, and they say frequently that Elump is only cutting programs that hurt the bottom to renew tax cuts for the top, that how they're doing it is illegal and unconstitutional, and that they are crass, crazy, greedy kleptocrats shoving money into their personal pockets. There are no different sides to the aisle when it comes to supporting the constitution or loving democracy. We're either for American ideals or against it. Elump is emphatically and shamefully against.
So true! The American people need to flood the regime with emails written in all caps reminding them that this is OUR MONEY and should not be redistributed to the wealthy. And the Repubs are going to fired for poor performance. Instead of the snarky subject line: “Fork in the Road,” our emails’ subject line should read: “Pitchforks in the Street.”
Stephanie, on alt national park service there was a post that said EPA workers are being treated like criminals with visits from the F.B.I. because they have been doing their jobs. Not only is the country is the country becoming a s...thole country in terms of foreign affairs, etc, but it will be literally a s...thole place to live...unless you are rich.
Dear Michele - I just read about the FBI coming down on the EPA as if it were a criminal organization. It is an alarming turn of events much like what happened to Zelensky in the Oval Office. This nation is devolving into a police state much like the Soviet Union was with the FBI becoming the American version of the KGB. I don't feel safe any longer. Who's next?
L. we the people is next.
My husband just told me that little johnson thinks that Zelens'ky should resign. And muskrat think we should leave NATO and the UN. WTH.
Michele,let's get rich then. Problem solved 😄
Oh yeah.
If one truly sought to trim waste, whether resulting from fraud, negligence, or slap dash purchasing protocols, why wouldn't one look first at the defense department spending? It is the largest item in the budget, and they have a long record of being unable to account for their assets or to pass an audit. This omission by the Muskrats is a clear signal that the waste cutting is just a smokescreen for their adoption of the 2025 agenda and their proposed tax cuts, which will transfer trillions from the middle and less well off classes to Uber wealthy billionaires and corporations.
I agree 100%, Fred Krasner. It's obvious to even the most casual observer that they have no interest in coming up with a better budget. They're looking in the couch cushions for enough change to cover the renewal of T1 tax cuts. And the irony is that they'd get there a bunch faster if they did look at military spending. But that would cut into Elon's take, which would never do.
Of course, the cost-cutting is just a smoke screen for the real reason Musk is firing staff in departments that oversee his businesses and the departments that Trump has a personal distaste for. What I find ironic is that Musk stood up at the first cabinet meeting talking about how much money is devoted to servicing the debt and yet Trump wants Congress to remove the debt ceiling limit. What a bunch of nitwits.
They offer only sound not device ideas for actions! Sound will not change or cure.
Jim, interesting to hear your comments about the long videos. Me too. Schmidt has strong points but they to take forever to get to them
Sometimes it seems as if they're being paid by the minute.
Oh, really? I've been following Steve Schmidt on Substack and like his writing and opinions. I was not aware that he's a Republican; he sure doesn't sound like one! So, I agree about Liz Cheney and now Steve Schmidt. I found the Bulwark to be incoherent, so I dropped my subscription to that.
He was McCain’s campaign manager and the person most responsible for choosing Sarah Palin as the VP candidate. He was also a principal supporter of the Dean Phillips candidacy against Biden in the 2024 primary.
To me, Schmidt seems to write in a sort of ersatz West Wing tone while practicing the usual Republican hackish politics.
I’ve always had the impression that he’s in it for himself. I was considering McCain as a candidate when they stuck Palin in there. I had great respect for the McCain family when I lived in Arizona. He would have been my first Republican vote.
Steve is not a Republican . He became a Democrat when Trump was elected. He did work for McCain but has stated repeatedly in his posts that he did not have anything to do with picking Palin..
Schmidt is one of the best friends the Resustance has.
The choice of Palin caused my mother, a diehard Republican up to that point, to start voting for Democrats. She says she’s never going back.
Hmm, I didn't know those things about Schmidt. Thanks for mentioning it.
Steve Schmidt gave us Sarah Palin.
No.he did not. Go back to some of his posts and he talks at length about that
He was a founder of The Lincoln Project. He managed John McCain’s campaign.
Schmidt broke ranks in favor of Dean Phillips against Biden. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/steve-schmidt-advising-dean-phillips-1234864257/
btw, I just turned 84, so I'm no spring chicken, either, Kelly Brest van Kempen.
Schmidt used to be a Republican. Not anymore.
Schmidt is a disillusioned Republican, and worked for John McCain’s campaign of late. Knows how it works within the public, was part of the initial Lincoln Project group.
YES! Where are the Clintons, Bush, Biden, Harris, Obama????
Yesterday, I noted to a friend who was asking the same thing that there has seemingly always been this unspoken "code" amongst ex-Presidents that once they are out of office they refrain from any and all interference in succeeding administrations. The glaring exception to this, of course, is the current interloper in the White House, who has never avoided any opportunity to open his big yap. However, it would seem to me that the situation right now demands "all hands on deck" in defending our democracy, so any such "codes", or "gentlemen's agreements", should be put by the wayside.
I agree. I understand the traditional 'code' but, as you say, what's happening today is not traditional and is definitely endangering our country. My only hope is that the formers are silently gathering and preparing their own "Project 2025" to destroy this regime.
James Carville, from Louisiana, says we should roll over and play dead and let the Regime dig itself a ditch. But how to recover and how long to shovel all that dirt back in?
To paraphrase Ellen Glasgow, “The only difference between a ditch and a grave are the dimensions.”
Carville is older than the dirt removed from a ditch. He was once a brilliant strategist, but his strategies worked in a world that is very different from the one we live in now.
If Donald's handlers are allowed to wreak havoc at the pace they are currently keeping, humanity will not survive long enough to repair the damage.
I agree. Carville's idea may be workable, but we can't wait any longer. We've waited 9 years too long all ready.
The "Python" is wrong on his one. Pythons just keep squeezing. The Nation is stressed out.
You can almost feel the widespread anxiety. Anxiety breeds misperceptions then mis-reporting then more confusion. All that leads to PANIC as the nation witnessed yesterday at the Dallas TX, National Cheerleaders gathering. A "loud noise " turned into a "loud pop" which morphed into "pop, pop, pop" which triggered a police & ambulance overreaction from a "fight"
Do not Play Dead.
Like Rachel Maddow taught me ... go to a valid LOCAL news source. The Dallas Morning News:
"What we know about incident at the NCA cheer competition at Kay Bailey Hutchinson"
Byran, you can actually feel the anxiety and read about it. On Nextdoor yesterday, some poor soul worried about Medicare and a mess physically was calling for people to join her in a protest at the state capitol downtown..Salem, Oregon. Often I see wingnuts there.
Thank you Michele.
Yesterday, I filed a Freedom of Information Request (FOIA) on the Social Security Administration to dig into SSA 's purported "employee reductions" & "plans".
I will Litigate if necessary.
Kudos, Brian. Please keep us posted.
James Carville can eat dirt. I can't even listen to him. And the hubris....
Carville is wealthy. A lot of people can’t afford to just roll over.
This is a all hands on deck moment. I am disappointed beyond belief that the former Presidents and VP Harris, and Sec. Clinton are MIA.
Whenever I see someone mention, "Where are the past Dem Presidents?" I wonder how devastating this moment is to them. They were all civil servants who dedicated their lives to strengthening our country. And we elect a mobster conman who told us who he was for a decade as he built enough power to destroy our country. Why is it on them to fix our disastrous mess if we chose it? I understand their silence as a reasonable reaction to OUR absolute rejection of all their work, vision, and morality.
It is not on them to fix this mess. But it would be nice to know they are in favor of fixing it. Evil is allowed to flourish when good people stay silent.
I believe Obama has spoken out. Frankly, short of some special ops, I am not sure exactly what can be done.
They are the least of my worries. Every one of them are multi-millionaires. We elected?! No "we" did not.
Doing what? Howling into the void like the rest of us?
The Continuing Resolution (CR) to extend federal spending and avert a government shutdown ends March 14, 2025.
I suspect (hope!) Dems are waiting for the upcoming budget shit show in order to get more of the public on board. In this country, most people don't react until it affects them personally.
There are some - Jamie Raskin, AOC, Bernie Sanders, etc. - who are speaking out. The formers could join them if for nothing else to show they are against what trump is doing. After all, it is we the people who have to vote them out or protest them out or revolt them out. It would be good to know who all supports us.
Yes! Bernie is always the one I want for a leader. He was treated shamefully by the Democratic party which did all it could to stop him from becoming our president. A populist president, truly looking out for the people and the planet. Another ginormous error that we will never stop paying for.
Bernie was treated shamefully by the Dems? You do realize he is not a Democrat? And when he was losing, he tried to force a rule change—in the middle of the primaries—to benefit his candidacy? The party he disdains treated him shamelessly? And he then sat out the Clinton campaign acting angry and disaffected?
Bernie, who has never passed a significant piece of legislation he sponsored is to me a perfect example of why activists should not be elected to office.
Yes, I do realize that he is an Independent. I don't care about party affiliation--I focus on humanity, character, and heart. He is the only one I've seen in the sea of selfishness and ambition that is our 2 party system in decades. Carter was the last.
Tom, personally, I have never liked Bernie, but do like some of his ideas. I would have voted for him had he been the candidate. And had HRC won, we would not be in the mess. It was a dire enough situation in 2016 especially with the Supreme Court that people should have held their noses.
Hillary was more qualified. Period. However, in retrospect I believe Bernie may have been able to overcome the suddenly emboldened misogynistic crowd rejecting Hillary. She did win the popular vote.
becky, some of them are being affected personally including some of those who voted for death star.
Indeed! Where are they??? We need them to speak.
You are exactly right, Gigi! This entire Trump mess lays at the feet of the Republican Party. GOP now stands for something like Gone Out Partying. Yes, there are a few vocal Republicans, but most (all?) of those in “power” are silent, publicly and, apparently, privately.
It’s going to take some time, but the Trump Demolition Squad (TDS, right?) will do enough damage to make taking action obvious and imperative.
In the meantime, We, the Shut Him Up Totally (SH!T) Brigade need to protect each other and those most vulnerable and do what we can to survive. This cleanup is not in the hands of the press or the late night comedians. We need to encourage (NOOE DEMAND) our Senators, Representatives, Governors - of all stripes - to get to work NOW!
There're no more Republicans Gigi.
Either they are exiled in their houses or they arr msga. No other options for them.
They are Nazis. All of them.
Absolutely Daniel.
That is gaslighting.
Study a little history. This is a mirror to 1930’s Germany.
There are some true Republicans out there, somewhere.
Not anymore. Anywhere.
Liz Cheny has spoken, not her father. As for the others, history will remember their silence. They are waiting to see if we revolt, so REVOLT (and call your congressperson)
He did speak out, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro8rkZ4HQZQ
In the 60s, we revolted. We were out in the street. We were sitting in. We were dragged away by the police. Why is everybody at home hoping someone else will do what we the people have to do?
because those of us who did all of that in the 60's are now in our 80's and doing as much as we can.....where are the younger people in the crowds that we were part of?
All in hiding
Window of opportunity to pressure Congressional Republicans.......
Picket. Sit in. Call. Write.
From Axios.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), in a text to Axios, said Friday was "a bad day for America's foreign policy."
"Ukraine wants independence, free markets and rule of law. It wants to be part of the West. Russia hates us and our Western values. We should be clear that we stand for freedom," he said.
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), in a post on X, called the meeting "a disaster — especially for Ukraine," adding, "Sadly, the only winner of today is Vladimir Putin.
When either or both grow the balls to stand up in Congress, and publicly state their opposition to the Nazis, I'll believe them. Until then, they're nothing but publicity hounds, and false patriots.
If they had any guts they would quit the Republican caucus, call themselves the Independent Caucus and vote with the Dems in a coalition, dump Mike Johnson and vote to impeach Trump and Vance. I guess I can dream.
You live near one of the Republican House members who says he wants to work with Dems.
David Joyce: (202) 225-5731 D.C. —— (440) 352-3939 District Office
2065 Rayburn House Office Building -- Washington, DC 20515
District Office: 8500 Station Street, Suite 390 — Mentor, OH 44060
You also live near Marcy Katur's district and she is orgainizing resistance in the House -- is a Dem chair of a biparisan House Committee.
Parma has more Ukrainian Amdericans per square inch than any city in America. To parqaphrase,. it started in Parma and went all the way....
We have had 2 rallies at his local office. He was a no-show both times, or at least stayed in hiding. I've sent daily emails to him, with no response to this point. I've called almost daily, and am greeted by a semi-conscious maybe-human. The man is a spineless eunuch. Ms. Kaptor is in the Toledo area, so out of my district. And there was a large Ukrainian support rally in Parma yesterday that did get some local TV coverage, and I believe Ms. Kaptor attended. I could not - this time. As to Joyce, he talks a good game, but if he ever HAD to state a position, he would piss in his pants on the spot.
Keep up the pressure.... https://gopforukraine.com/legislator/david-joyce/?rc_ver=1.05
You know I will, Sir!!
Sounds like Tom Keane, Jr. (R-NJ) who never holds a Town Hall or meets with the Press. District is adjacent to the one where I live.
I was just wondering around to my husband yesterday about how all the Ukrainian Americans feel about this. My best friend was Ukrainian growing up and her mom was like a second mom to me. It was a massive community of some of the greatest people I had the opportunity to learn from.
I don’t understand how Republicans are still getting elected to office in Ohio.
Gerrymandering. Lack of any real press. There's bigger stories about it, but for now, these are the major issues today.
because the state is massively gerrymandered, despite the SCOTUS demanding "Fair Districts" the Repubs find a way to prevent that from happening...
All four actions are good but calling seems to be the most effective and SO easy: (202) 224-3121
Adam Kinzinger is very outspoken in his opposition to the president and his administration. You can find him here on Substack!
I already subscribe and recommend him highly.
Cheney has expressed a certain horror.
Adam Kinzinger has been speaking out. He has a substack post you should check out.
Reagan set this up. He laid waste to the middle class, promoted hatred, homophobia and racism, and advanced the disastrous trickle-down theory. He and his policies were a precursor to every single thing the Republican Party is today. No wonder the Republican Party deifies him.
I felt the same way Barbara . . .but I am 78. To the MAGA's Regan is ancient history . . .if they have any sense of history at all . . .
Sadly O agree with you.
But let's not forget that the slide toward Trump began with Reagan (if not earlier, with Nixon's southern strategy and the now-famous Lewis Powell memo of 1971). The corporate tax cuts. The gutting of unions. The Clinton administration surely helped by repealing the Glass-Steagall Act, which had done a lot to keep corporate money in check. Then Bush II, along with being arguably the least competent president till Trump relieved him of the title, appointed John Roberts as chief justice of the Supreme Court and Samuel Alito as associate justice, which led to the godawful Citizens United decision (2010) even before we got the three McConnell-Trump appointees.
Susanna, and I can’t forget Clinton’s 1996 “welfare reform,” which converted a federal entitlement for poor families into a block grant for states. Red states chose to divert a lot of their block grants to surveillance of patents, and onerous requirements (like parenting classes, drug testing,etc) rather than the cash payments that paid rent. The whole country essentially froze benefits for the next quarter century. And that is when, for the first time, we experienced family homelessness. Once rents exceeded the entire cash benefit, homelessness increased in my county by 32% PER YEAR. THIS is what the GOP would love to see again.
Absolutely! I wish more people were making that connection.
Glass Steagall had absolutely nothing to do with keeping corporate money in check. It was passed in 1933 as a companion piece to establishing the FDIC.
It separated investment banking and commercial banking. It was written to protect depositor money by enduring that banks with depositor money could not engage in the inherently riskier activities of investment banking.
Its repeal was accompanied by substantially strengthened rules by the FDIC, the Fed, and the Comptroller of the Currency to limit the commingling of depositor money and investment banking activities.
But feel free to keep trying. Last time I read one of your comments, you blamed its repeal (and Clinton)—wrongly—for the real estate crisis.
So I guess the multiple marriages of investment banking and commercial banking had nothing to do with the wild speculation in derivatives (etc.) that led to the economic crash of the late Bush II administration? Asking for several friends . . .
As I have replied to you before, there was nothing in Glass Steagall that would have prevented banks from bundling shitty sub-prime mortgages and selling them as securities. Nor prevented investment brokers and investment bankers from buying them. Nor prevented insurance companies that went far beyond their capital adequacy from insuring them. Nor for corrupt rating agencies from assigning spuriously good investment grades as a way to curry favor with investment bankers.
This is a complicated subject and someone who doesn’t understand would not bother me. Except you sort of pretend you do, and get a snotty attitude when you’re challenged.
Feel free to tell your several friends.
Thanks for your explanation. I go for the simple idea that there will always be people who are looking for holes, ways to make money, regardless of it being at the expense of others. There are not enough laws, and will never be, to cover the cleverness cum corruption/ill will of people who are so disposed. We have great example of that in the White House.
Thank you for this response. For those of us still learning our history...Clinton became President when I was in college. He was my first Presidential vote! While I was thrilled about that, I admit I didn't pay as much attention to some of his policies in real time.
Just an aside.........do we still have the FDIC? Is our money safe?
Yes. For now.
Absolutely Susan. Why do people think the Republican Party calls him St. Ronny?
Thanks! Gotta say, I'm exasperated with all the people who think this all started with Trump. Trump is the endgame -- but I don't think Reagan and his crew, or even Bush II and *his* crew, had any idea we'd end up where we are now. (I'm still having trouble believing it myself.)
It grew... with enough ignorance and disinformation. Trump stepped in and took this partisanship to the extreme. We got complacent and "triangulated" went along to get along. They were increasingly for absolute rule. And so we are here. This is a really tough situation.
HA! HA! Raygun started this whole DAMN thing!
Reagan did what Nancy said
You mean - Just say No?
Apache, I have been looking for a good nickname for JD....Mini-Me fits well. He and his family tried to go skiing in Vermont and they were met by protesters. One sign said Go ski in Russia.
Of course, that was a time when the US still believed in "we hold these truths to be self-evident...."; when we still had respect for order, good to the poor, trying not showing pride or prejudice. Today, our great leader fans the flames of hatred and espouses extremist aims.
When was that? My best guess is the 1970s, as the passing of Jimmy Carter has reminded us.