Belle of the Ranch (wife of Beau of the Fifth Column) posted a video analyzing what Schumer did. Please watch and share it. In brief, what Schumer did (changing course to support Trump) will have VERY long term consequences for the Democratic Party! And personally, I look forward to supporting AOC, should she decide to primary Schumer. This is a dark day for the Democratic Party, but I’m not surprised it has come to this.
Democrats were given a shit sandwich, there's no doubt about it. But their signature style of always being the good guys, playing it safe and doing the right thing, just doesn't cut it with these GOP gangsters. Plus it's excruciating to watch. Schumer needs to retire to the golf course, and let the likes of AOC and Jasmin Crockett take the reins - those women are beautifully courageous, it's stand aside or lose a limb.
I'm with Schumer on this one. Trump's tariff wars are the straw that will bring us into a recession. Plus, Schumer is betting that President Musk will be muzzled within six months and there will be a falling out between Trump and Musk. The professor has pointed out on numerous occasions that Trump is in serious mental decline.
More and more Trump voters are going to realize he lied about lowering prices on "day one", and as the economy declines unemployment with balloon.
Meanwhile, it is up to all of us to quit buying so much stuff. We need the oligarchs to suffer including the Waltons and Bezos. And get off the Xitter and move to Blue Sky if you need to.
And if you live in a rural community or a place where there are lots of veterans, remind them that Trump is cutting their VA benefits and his tariffs are hurting the farmers. Canada and Europe will fight back. Let's join them.
An honest ask here - Please tell me why you still believe that trump voters will "realize" anything negative about him. I simply cannot understand why anyone continues, after 9 solid years to the contrary, to believe trump cult members will ever come to their senses. It just does not happen. He successfully blames someone else or simply lies and contradicts his actions every single time.
The very first time I thought they would realize what he is, was in July of 2015 when he literally called America's war hero, John McCain a loser for getting shot down and captured. All these years later we are so used to his assaults that we hardly realize how far the maga cult has fallen. He managed to turn his cult against a man who served his country in the Vietnam War, a war hero dodged himself. Trade wars and high prices he blames on others are not bringing these people to their senses.
What this forces us to realize is that, We, as a country, still have a LOT of growing up to do. In both of trump's "wins", his opponent was a woman. In his loss, it was a man. Need I say more? And in '24, it was not only a woman, but ( egads!! ) a woman of color! Even though we knew all we needed to know about trump, 2/3 of the country either couldn't vote for Harris, or simply wouldn't! I'm not sure what it will take for America to outgrow this adolescent mindset, but until we do, the pain will stay with us, and probably get much worse, before it gets any better.
Spot on, Daniel. I pray we exit this national adolescent mindset soon. Our country is acting like either junior high kids, or young high school kids; fitting for a nation not quite 250 years old.
Puritanical forces, racism and sexism, hate for the other, good old school beliefs that drove, and still do, standardized testing ( IQ) and Eugenics. Add in anti-science and ‘Really Fucked Klown’ of the clown car, the sewer circus and their musky-rats, we need to point out the stupidity of his cabinet, of the house cutting services for veterans, of the poisoning of our air and water for profit.
This is where the American care… oh and look at the latest cling to ‘Good Old South Africa’ way down on the Swanee River…really?
At some point, one has to wonder if the United States will ever "grow up". Most nations of Europe had already 'granted' women the right to vote prior to the 19th Amendment being ratified here - interesting coincidence that it was passed shortly after the 18th Amendment.
The partisan battle in Congress in the 1850s between what in essence was the wealthy landowners in the South against Northerners who cultivated "feelings of social kindness, and public kindness..." is continuing to be fought without the regional difference in the halls of the Capital today.
The lose/lose decision that was offered to the Democrats calls to mind the "Trolley Problem." There is no positive outcome, only a choice between two negatives.
Lucky us: the Puritans came here. I wish Australia had gotten them and we'd gotten the convicts instead!!! (I told this to an Aussie and we had a very humorous exchange with the gist being "NO!!".)
The Puritans hated women then and they still do. And their sour, sick, repressive attitudes permeate everything.
Yes we as a country do have some growing up to do. But I do not believe that Harris and Hillary Clinton lost because they were women. Each one got a bit cocky and overly confident. They did not take Trump seriously or literally. They laughed at him. Big mistake. And when in the final 2016 debate the candidates were asked a question that was reminiscent of a 1970’s encounter group “ what is one positive thing about your opponent?” Trump said that Clinton was tough and hard fighter. Hillary Clinton should have called out that touchy feely question for the puff it was. But instead said that Trump’s adult children were very polite and respectful. Trump’s response was more honest and accurate.
While I ‘somewhat’ agree on Clinton, I strongly disagree on Harris. The only issue I had with the Harris/Walz campaign was them trying to “play by the rules”. Nazis have no rules, and Harris - and Democrats in general - have not adapted to that. Still, I just don’t believe we as a Nation have matured to the point of electing a female president, and we are paying dearly for that now.
Gjay15- you have just proven Daniel’s point about our immature country by calling out two women presidential candidates as cocky and over confident. These tendencies are exhibited by nearly all men running for political office. I wonder why you would singles out Harris and Clinton for this? Trump was cocky and over confident in all the WORST ways and look where it got him… twice! I’m curious exactly what Clinton and Harris did to provoke this opinion?
Oh and Trump wasn't cocky and overly confident? And he took Harris and Clinton seriously? He didn't laugh at them? America growing up means that we have to stop the superficial stereotypes we impose on people because of gender, skin color and other human traits.
After 250 years of operating this way it's hard for people to see that it's all BS. No one is better than someone else because they're male or female, have Black or White skin. We've allowed macho, "alpha", greedy males to rule over us for way too long. They've lost their way thinking that they are the toughest and smartest people on the planet...and I'm not saying this about all White males...but I am saying it about the overwhelming number of White people who voted for Trump and the Republicans.
But why? I’m retired now, but the best bosses I had were women. Because they had a better grasp of considering all sides, not making rash decisions, and doing a far superior job of overall fairness. It’s that type of person I want as a leader. Virtually anyone exceeds trump in those characteristics, but because they were women, 2/3 of America wouldn’t vote for them, or wouldn’t vote at all. Just stunning.
I read this sort of comment occasionally. It makes no sense. It is insulting to the country (and worse—if it were true it leaves us with no way to move forward).
Hillary won 5 million more votes than Trump, losing due only to the peculiarity of the electoral college. Obama beat his two opponents, both middle-aged white candidates, in both the popular vote snd the electoral college. Harris lost as part of the Biden administration, seen by a plurality of swing voters as ineffective and out of touch on the border and prices.
Sure, there is racism and misogyny in the electorate. Plenty of other ills also. But that’s not what cost us the election. To pretend it’s so is to set ourselves up to lose the next election also.
Jenni Plumer, I agree with you 100%. WHY do people still say “…soon the trumpists will come to their senses”. No they won’t. This is about identity. The time for “discovering you were wrong” looooong past for a normal mind. We are operating in “Preserve-the-Patriarchy-at-All-Costs” territory. The gaslighting is at psy-ops level mastery, and they are trying to break our minds. Watching Dems fold, only serves to make more side-line Dems disgusted with the ineffectual response to this far-right autocratic takeover. Instead of evolving our party to respond, perhaps we need to form a new one.
I thought so too for a while. But then I realized that Russia helped him in 2016 (and, no doubt in 2024) and the millions of votes tossed from voter suppression laws gamed the system in 2024 for sure and likely in 2016. I wonder if Biden won in 2020 due to the large numbers of people voting by mail. Regardless, we MUST deal with voter suppression issues or we'll never again have a fair election no matter who we run. The GOP keep passing these laws for a reason: they work! It's no mystery that after SCOTUS gutted the VRA, we started having major electoral problems.
Misty I would like to add to that 10 million Democrats that didn't see the urgency to bother to vote. The RIGHT TO VOTE is the most powerfull RIGHT we have. I'm really concerned that we may not get another chance, especially after 10 Democrats bending the knee to T***p and M**k. We must stand up and fight if we want to keep our democracy!!!
American right-wingers, including the Oligarchs, are every bit as guilty of manipulating the public using toxic social media algorithms and old-fashioned propaganda.
Right-wingers should be blamed every time the Republicans betray the country and their constituents.
Make the public hate all right-wingers!
It is the only way to get the government we deserve.
I think we don’t give enough credit to the overwhelming strength of the religious justification that supports the MAGA base. They believe that the tenets of their faith demand they hold most of our marginalized citizens, who they believe are oozing in sinfulness, deserving of their scorn. These people living in unrepentant sin or who belong to ethnic groups that are not traditionally Christian, are not worthy of the American Dream. They certainly are not eligible to receive any governmental or societal support because that would make their depraved lifestyles legitimate. We all know that t***p is a master manipulator who will con, flatter and use anyone to achieve his personal financial enrichment. He can smell cash like a mosquito can smell blood, and has earned the devotion of his supporters with lies and disinformation that pander to their frustration and victimization. Their fear, anger and blind devotion that supports the current destruction of American Democracy will be a real tough nut to crack. Their very souls, they believe, are at stake in their crusade.
MLR, I am often able to understand the MAGA perspective having spent time in the construction trades and some time in the heartland.
You could make a fairly long list of their complaints and grievances
most of which are based on lack of info. and misinformation which is also actualized by the lack of time and energy most people have to devote to the truth. I think most of people on both sides of the asile would have been able to accept a continued demo. govt. if not challenged by the excessive closing of storefronts and small industry in small towns and the advancement of civil rights and especially the issue of gender fluidity. The people fear the future. In my recent travels in the midwest I was surprised by the need of my relatives to lock their doors even during the day way out in the country, in the suburbs. They had fear driilled into them. They are conservative, provincial and do not want challenge and change. They accepted the lies of the Bush admin.and found a modicum of operation to function with. Trump is just an exaggeration of his predecessors. And hell, he is a great businessman as displayed on his many years on the tele. We can't
change if we do not know what we have to work with. I know many in MAGA are of low intellect ,lazy ,lack empathy and firmly believe in autocracy but those are really a small subset. More yearn for a simpler ,easier life which seems to be more unattainable every day. Unfortunately I think embracing fear is winning in America.
The saddest of truths about his followers is that many will die like they did following his advice of the pandemic. It won't take very long for more avian flu to sicken humans regrettably. Or bad water to cause massive diarrhea. Or bad fumes from the industrial waste he won't protect against.
Shakespeare's Hamlet came up with the proverbial, 'Hoist with his own petard'. But so many adages apply; including, give them enough rope, etc, etc.
T-2's purulent sores on the ass of america will soon make it far too painful to sit down...poetic justice comes as the maga movement finally can't stand (itself) anymore.
One thing most people don't understand....even though trump said that McCain was a loser that does not mean that the vast majority of maggots heard it. FOX never shared ANYTHING even slightly questionable about trump. They still don't.
Fox hides the truth, so we need more ways to reach those whose views are shaped by liars. Have you seen this website, offering free downloads of posters to print out?
I pray for someone to buy FAUx, and X, and in a last gasp to go on an apology tour of all their stupidity….their hate, their lies, their hurting of humans, and even with false information helping to kill people during the pandemic.
Fox is the national megaphone for the righteous radical right, enthusiastically endorsing their elected representative’s acquiescence in allowing the wealthy to buy control of our Democracy in an auction to the lowest bidder. It’s a dishonor to our founding fathers and mothers. It’s a disgrace to the millions of Americans who have fought and died to protect our Democracy over these past 250 years. It is a national tragedy and the ultimate catastrophe for all Americans.
Why? Because democracy depends either on changing people’s minds or on getting people out to vote who have stayed home in the past. And there are plenty of the latter is areas Trump won.
And thanks to Biden's refusal to enforce the Leahy Laws and his own National Security Memorandum to pause offensive military aid (not defensive military aid) to IDF units acting in violation US and international humanitarian law (and thanks to Jill Stein swooping in to feed vampire like on the despair of Palestinian Americans, Arab American, and all voters of conscience) - the vote for Kamala Harris was suppressed by those who chose to sit on their hands rather than vote in the presidential election. Most significantly in swing states Michigan and Wisconsin, but elsewhere as well.
Ah yes, Jill not green Stein, Putin's other friend. I do think that a few of those Arab voters now feel that they made a mistake. Only people not in the cult can be swayed. I had a round with one who was on a thread posted by our D rep. This person thinks tariffs are great and that death star is making America great again. I spent way too much time to explain why what was happening was not great. This person, thinking to be too clever by half, said bless your heart, thinking I would not know what that old chestnut means. So, I politely told her what I thought without name calling which she accused me of. I did tell her that if I did, it would not be subtle. So she is now blocked.
lin, the community I live in has a very large middle-eastern population. There are plenty of "Free Palestine" banners and signs, and Muslim businesses.
I recall the news radio reporting on Muslims so upset with Gaza and Biden's response that they said they not only wouldn't vote for him but would campaign against him. !!
Yes. Thank you. I have two friends who voted for Trump in 2016. One campaigned hard for him. This latter friend has a masters degree in engineering. The other one has a PhD in school psychology and is a Vietnam veteran. Each one still supports Trump. These are people I have known for over 50 years and love and had respected. Jesus Christ I held their children on my arms when they were babies. This is something which we will have to come to terms.
We should examine and be honest about what motivates them to vote for a president and party that explicitly express their disdain for people who they think are "defects" because they are different in superficial ways. They also don't respect the law, make rules and take actions that are designed to be cruel and create chaos. What is truly their worldview, rationale and motivation???
Gjay15, that's insane. It completely blows my mind and I will never, ever understand it. It has been so hard to accept that so many educated, and otherwise 'ordinary' people (even some I love and used to respect) support every single thing trump says and does. But, I have finally accepted it. Now, it's about trying to navigate this new America in which half of us are OK with cruelty and authoritarianism. I'm not sure we will successfully save our democracy, but I continue to fight for it. Judging by the actions of most of our elected officials, I don't feel good about the odds.
Some dedicated Trumpers do eventually come to their senses - when it affects them or their loved ones personally. Historically, there haven't been enough of them to make a difference. But he's kicking them right in the goolies this time, so they may at least finally cotton on to the fact that he meant it when he said, "I don't care about you, I just want your vote."
The point is well made, Jenni. According to one study, Trump gets his support from those who share his prejudices. They want him to crush and punish the women's and gay rights' advocates, the immigrants, the Muslims and more. They are full of hate. Google "The Anger Games: Who Voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 Election and Why?" The full text is no longer available online without buying the Feb. 2018 edition of the journal, Critical Sociology ($35.00). If you want a copy, I can email it to you. I have set up a special email account just for this: richsuth2002@yahoo.com
Jenni, their eyes will eventually open when their Social Security checks don’t come, when Grandma’s MA disappears and the nursing facility sends them home to their children/grandchildren, and when the VA medical clinics close. Oh, and when their child’s disability is no longer accommodated by the private (or public, if any are left) schools. Oh yes, the scales will fall from their eyes. Or at least enough people to rise up politically!
Trump is a cancer of America. It is showing up in full. We need to remove it for good now. And I believe we can, restoring America in stable democracy. I trust power of voters, and new leaders like AOC.
I tend to grasp for that illusion that eyes will finally open...but you are most likely correct. I just still can't believe they trust this 'Jim Jones' of a president.
Hi Jenni, I think a difference today is that MTV action is rapidly causing real harm to their voters. It contrasts with previous unbelievable, but true loyalty to their reality teevee hero. The stats of red states rates / levels of education across each state and % each state college grads who still read books shows the degree of reliance on tv, social media, hate radio, bullshit so-called evangelical pastors, etc. , etc. that forms the pervasive matrix of fantasy they live in. They've willingly been infantilized to be good tribal receptors of propaganda and materialistic consumers. <> The effect of abuse delivered by MTV is real world vs previous bovine fecal matter shoveled at them that could be turned off. In my view, it's a good time to try to reach out to just the persuadable elements of disillusioned MTV voters. It is only Red State citizens who have the power to recall federal level politicians if they don't shape up fast and stop hurting their constituents. <> Karen Tamerius offers good, practical guidance on effective communication with political opponents, leading to practical, cooperative problem solving. Her group, Smart Politics is out of Berkley. Also from Berkley / Bay Area is George Lakoff & Gil Duran's group, Frame Lab. <> My hunch is now is a good time to help people get out of cognitive dissonance and take action, vs wait as things get worse. I'm anticipating MTV has a false flag trauma up their sleeves, maybe national electrical grid shut down = major mess for unknown duration. Better to try & get infantilized victims talking now before they're dragged into solidarity alliance / Stockholm Syndrome type blindness. ( National grass roots talk therapy? )
I know so many well educated, hard working, kind people who are still on the maga bandwagon. People I used to really respect. And then there is my sister-in-law (she was a huge Obama supporter in 2008) who depends on social security disability and Medicaid as her sole source of income and healthcare. She has supported the orange felon since the very beginning. We have begged her to turn off fox news, she simply won't believe anyone else. Now that fox is interviewing congress members who are admitting they are going to have to cut ssn & Medicaid, she tells me it won't be her, it will just be the ones who are committing "fraud and abuse" 🤦♀️
And now that his new line is that "there will be pain, but we have to fix our country", she's on board with losing some of her $900 per month income. I just can't for the life of me understand her. I have tried so hard to break through but I suppose until she's literally on the street with nothing but the clothes on her back, she won't see it. I will never be able to understand the hold he has on these people.
Yikes! I feel your pain, and dismay about the situation, & I feel sad for your sister in-law and all others who are caught up in the carefully planned and executed contagion that has enabled the gradual social and political dissolution here in the USA. As far as I know today, all we can do is reach out to those trapped in the contagion who may be persuadable and become self motivated to take corrective action for the common good. <> Those who comment on Prof HCR’s LFAA, other than the rare troll, are empathic, smart and well informed people. Well organized democracy defenders are the key to finding and communicating with reasonable influencers within the so-called Republican Party who could join us and bring along some of their brethren and sistrins who can see the light with the right stories coming from the right people in their communities. For ref. see the attached from the K-School: https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/carr/publications/35-rule-how-small-minority-can-change-world
An obstacle, and a huge one at that, is that billionaires have bought up a lot of the media and use those platforms to dispense their wedge issues that drive people to vote Republican. Thomas Frank identified this in his 2004 book, "What's the Matter with Kansas?" Abortion is a major issue, as are immigrants, women's and gay rights advocates, etc.
I agree 100%. The MAGA cult is beyond reason and hope. If you don’t see Trump as a disgrace, you are aligning yourself with that evil disgrace forever.
But when their medicade is cut and the price of eggs goes back up, Social Security is either cut or disappears, the message will go through. Democrats, because they have the same values, will come together one way or another and throw the bastards out.
I really hope you're right. I have a sister-in-law who lives on social security disability and Medicaid. She's supported trump since he came down the escalator She is still 100% maga even though fox news is telling her they will cut social security and Medicaid. She thinks it's just going to be the ones committing "fraud & abuse", my only hope is that when it's her, she'll finally understand, although it will be way too late. 🤷♀️
May you not have the stress that would inevitably come from her losing Medicaid. If she has friends who lose theirs, perhaps she will understand the horror of DT/Musk.
Hi Jenni Plumer & Virginia Witmer, John Rich here: I replied on Virginia's link but meant to reply to you directly. Looks like no harm done. Please see my info tagged on Virginia's comment above.
I’m not so sure, all of these events are going to happen before the next election. The Republicans will blame it all on the Democrats if they the Democrats take over both houses of the congress. The economy will be getting bad by that time.
The economy seems to turn too slowly to help or hurt the current administration. It is more apt to reflect the past administration’s economy.
Now if we are going to go into a recession or depression those seem to happen fast and last long. Not cheering for either of those choices.
I think in reality that trump is just following the 2025 playbook. He’s the front person and is just letting the 2025 folks write up the executive orders and he just scribbles his name on them and then goes to Maralago to golf on the weekends. He’s not running the government. He’s happy to have others do the strategizing to tear everything down and persecute his “enemies”. He will take credit for everything and at the same time lie and blame someone else if things go wrong
You are exactly right, he only wants to do three things: play golf, be in front of the camera, and stay out of jail. He's doing quite remarkable at all three for the moment. Peter Theil is the real villain behind the curtain.
There are certain things he cares about and if it harms his big fat ego, he will take a stand. Thats about 50 percent of what’s behind the tariffs- he weirdly thinks having a trade deficit is “being ripped.” I think he’s also discovered you can manipulate the market and make a lot of money.(He’s like a child playing with the elevator)
I worry about the longer term damage he is doing to the "market" itself -- that is, when the President himself is seen to be manipulating the market with his daily on-again, off-again pronouncements, the market ceases to function. How can the market price (price as verb) information when that information is the daily policy whims of a mercurial man, or worse, when the economic data that government agencies publish become totally unreliable because those agencies have been co-opted by Trump's partisan ministry of Truth.
Deborah. I agree. He has been doing this from day one when they had all those executive orders ready for him to sign. Someone is keeping track of any insults to him and also institutions outside government they want to destroy. I cannot understand why advanced medical research is in their cross hairs....probably because they can go anywhere for medical help while the rest of us can just die.
Long term, that makes no sense. The US is at the forefront of most medical research and development. There will be nothing to go to if medicine doesn’t continue to move forward. 20 years from now they fly to France for medical treatment based on 2024 level medicine…
Gary, I agree with almost all your thoughts here (as usual :). But I think Heather's letter today was a not so subtle suggestion that we need a Democratic Party that says: "ENOUGH BULLSHIT".
If Senate Democrats had remained united and said that this resolution is just wrong for America, the shutdown would have been in the laps of the Republicans.
The ONLY thing Democrats should have voted for was a clean CR - and time to negotiate.
And so the government would have been shut down by the Republican Majority that can't legislate its way out of a paper bag. And yes, it would have been an excuse to fire more Federal workers. But isn't that what THEY ARE DOING anyway?
Today I have decided. I am no longer a "Liberal Democrat". I declare myself to be a "Pure Progressive" and I will vote for politicians with spines and who are willing to stand and fight for the people.
Schumer is not living in the real world. His fantasy is that if he goes along now that $Trump will eventually go too far and lose support. Earth to Chuck. President Musk and co-president $Trump have already gone too far. The Coup is complete!
I want Senators to stand on their desks and scream "Fire Musk!" and "Impeach $Trump now". I want to see some rebellion - I want to see the king deposed and disposed of. We need some serious "Good Trouble!"
As to Trump voters? I agree with what has already been said. Most of them are unredeemable haters. They are all in for the fascism and "owning the libs". But there is the largest group - Independents that can be swayed with some outrage and displays of the damage being done to our nation.
Say goodnight Chuck. I'm an old white guy who is with those who want some young women with spines and compassion and PASSION to lead us forward.
Thank you over and over again, Bill. I agree with all of this. I don't get why in this dystopian nightmare hell there is so much denial and rolling over.
Leslie, the only thing the corporate media is consistent about is their coverage of DonOLD. He smothers the airwaves with his bullshit. Let's buy Greenland, let's take over the Panama Canal, Ukraine started the War, Canada needs to be our 51st state, etc.
And what do we have to counter? It's the economy, recession, high prices, broken promises, Ukraine is our ally, Europe is our ally, Canada and Mexico are our biggest trading partners.
Look to our north (and east if you live in Alaska). Canada is winning!! They are kicking some Trump ass. They are looking for reliable trading partners that won't fuck them over with tariffs that change every day.
4 million barrels of oil a day, most of our aluminum, heating oil, lumber, cars and most of what used to be filmed in Hollywood is filmed in Toronto or Vancouver.
Of course we won't change the minds of lifetime Republicans. This is their team no matter who the quarterback is. How many fans follow the Dallas Cowboys year after year hoping and praying for a return to greatness. TRUMP is their QB. They aren't going to abandon him.
But then there are the other 30-45% of Trump voters, that are one issue voters. When they are forced to buy pasta instead of pork, and peanut butter instead of hamburger. Or they don't have $40 to fill up their tank so they put in $5 worth over and over. Or they see their 401-K value drop by 10% or more instead of going up almost every day under Biden. These people will peel off, or at least a number of them will.
Bill, I think Chuck was just scared of what Trump and his evil sycophants would do during the shutdown. It is my understanding that they (Trump/Musk) have carte blanche to ignore the wishes of Congress regarding the budget during a shutdown. USUALLY after a shutdown, the "unessential" workers are given back pay. But what if they aren't this time?
Chuck isn't the Bill Clinton or the Barack Obama or even the Kamala we need. Bernie is the closest thing to what we need right now. He's drawing huge crowds all over the country and he's not afraid to call Trump out for being a lying fucking racists.
As for a young passionate woman, the Democrats have several dozen at least. You know who they are, but the lame stream media won't give them the bully pulpit unless they say or do something totally outrageous like Trump does. And they need to do it day after day.
Emotionally, I’m there..but progressives started in farm country and we have lost the soul of this origin…middle America, not the fringes. Definitions are always shaky but the image of the political knife-edge (fascists vs progressives) is hurting us!
In reality we live in a wide, strong verdant valley with lots of people of good faith (real Christian’s, Muslims) and needs the ideas of the snowy mountains with their fresh water and rivers coming into the valley. But you can’t eat rocks! Family, food, fun first! I know that love wins, according to the real Jesus…and most others who care.
But, IMHO, there is nothing extreme about asking ridiculously rich people to pay more in taxes to help with the deficit, the debt, healthcare for all humans, equal education for every kid, retirement plans that don't warehouse our elders.
There is nothing extreme about expecting voting to be easy for all of us.
In fact, I would simply define Progressivism as asking us to operate as a we society instead of a me society.
The current state of affairs IS extreme. Extremely chaotic. Extremely cruel. Extremely foolish. And lastly, for right now, betraying our friends and allies around the world is an extreme betrayal of our national integrity and an extremely stupid move.
None of the things that Bernie or AOC say are extreme. They are common sense in a civilized country. JMO.
Bill-you are right--nothing extreme, intrinsically, but you must address the question of why, if it's not 'extreme,' it doesn't energize the wider majority? My thought is, given our failures, we need to look at different a different metaphor for the middle...invite the middle to join and contribute their issues and develop their intensity, and show how 'WE" are in fact linked to ours...there isn't the development of 'The Humane We', which I really like! It's the verdant middle of hard work and family.
Trust me, I am much more radical than Bernie! But he doesn't get votes and company. More people didn't vote than voted for either Harris or Donny-John. Preaching to the choir is too easy, too righteous, and ineffective.
So what works! Pete's better than either at welcoming.
Who else is? Can AOC learn? Go to Iowa, build community, that would impress me.
If chump is in serious decline and still making fools out of “smart” Dems, then we are in worse shape than I thought. They have Plan B, C, D, and P2025. we have Robert’s Rules of Order.
Schumer is providing the “bloodless revolution” Kevin Roberts of the Heritage Foundation-and Project 2025- predicted. Since the media oligarchs all bend their knees to trump, and so do the largest social platforms, and with the Dems in the senate now saying “we will roll over for you”, New Deal America’s is pretty well done. Thanks guys. Way to show leadership in “the Land of the Free, Home of the Brave”.
I agree with you, JD. I have emailed and called Jared Moskowitz's office thinking he'd use the MTG tactics of creating video clips. I thought he liked the good trouble. Instead, he voted to censure Rep Al Green.
According to Jessica Craven's CWCW Substack, she believes it was the action and insistance of one constituent that got Larson riled up. (Riled is too gentle of a word.) We need to keep pushing and as you point out NO MORE MISTER NICE GUY.
Anyone who didn't see the Larson clip, please watch this!
I agree, Gary. It seems obvious that a government shutdown is exactly what Trump and Musk wanted. That is sufficient information for me. And I agree that the tariffs will do the job. I have an undergraduate economics degree, and I didn't absorb much at all, but I did learn two things. The Russian economy is a screwy way to run things and tariffs are bad for all.
For a month, Ally, I have not only continued my daily attention to HCR's ability to marshal evidence and document the links between America's past and its declining present, but I added to it full attention to readers' responses to HCR's daily output and the ensuing discussion.
As I became more attuned to reader input, I realized my own expertise and professional experience over a lengthy and variegated career trajectory in education, government, and policy convinced me I might have something to contribute to the discussion, and I occasionally did. As I became attuned to the substack format, and the different ways in which your approval was expressed to me, that feedback was gratifying. Ultimately, it's wellspring proved unsustainable.
Within days I realized (1) I would not, in my 89th year, be able to devote the time or commitment required for more than a few weeks and (2) that our efforts with one another, as the days slowly passed before our computer screens, while engaging were increasingly triggering memories of Shakespeare's Macbeth saying "full of sound and fury" etc. etc. I must seek modes of contribution that buoy me up, not wear me down.
I am grateful to the kind and appreciative hearts out there who made themselves known to me in the weeks I've been active. Spring is coming; with it the opportunity to "vote with my feet" in various greater Boston events will present themselves, and I will take them. Arigato! Hands Off!
Hendrick, I find myself in the same boat. I am reminded of a cartoon; two women each looking at their phones. One says "Currently, my desire to remain informed is losing to my desire to remain sane."
I really value this Substack, and the relationships that I have with people here. It has been a balm to my soul during these times. I will soon be mobile enough to join protests safely (still on crutches from my nearly one month old knee replacement). Until then, my efforts are mostly from the kitchen table: reading, writing, and postcarding.
Welcome Aboard Hendrik to the Good Ship LFAA where daily we are reminded of the Bard's admonitions, "To Speak Plainly & to the Purpose" ... " ... without Falsehood". :---)
Thank you. I'm 83 and struggling with both #1 and #2. At this point I'm basically a fairly well educated jack-pine-savage. Probably my greatest gift was the number of people I've known who survived Stalin and/or Hitler during the 30's and 40's. People tell me that it's yesterday's news. Maybe it was, but now it isn't. I think I will follow Marjorie Stoneman Douglas's advice, but not attempt to be so pro-active on this site.
I also like to remind people that the Abbey Gate suicide bomber who killed 13 US Service Members in Afghanistan was freed from prison by Trump's Peace Treaty.
yes! The story of why we were rushed and overwhelmed got lost in the Mythology of FUAX! As are the 600-800,000 deaths that the lack of coherent policy caused in the US when compared to Canada...by Donny!
This has been going on 10 years. The MAGA cult is more entrenched than ever. You cannot reason with a cult. Do you know they blame Biden for the economy and the problems today March 15?!
We can do all the boycotting, screaming at town halls and calling Congress but if our elected people don't stop playing cards on the deck of the Titanic, we are through as a Democracy.
Now is not a time to blame how the Democrats voted on cloture. We are not just seeing, as Heather puts it, "a split between those who lead an opposition party devoted to keeping the government functioning, and a number of Democrats who are stepping into the position of leading the resistance to MAGA." Keeping the government functioning requires defeating MAGA. Ultimately. The question is how to get there. The issue is strategy.
I wanted to disagree with Schumer but when I think of how Musk/Trump would determine which government work is "essential" and which is not, I shudder.
Republicans now clearly own the consequences of their choices.
Any vote can be seen as reasonable because the situation has made a mess of our politics. I send our Democratic lawmakers sympathy and courage to face the next damned-if-you-do/ damned-if-you-don't choice they'll face.
I completely agree with you, Melinda. We will never know how bad the situation would have gotten with a government shutdown in March, 2025 because a different path was taken.
What I do know is that all my fury and loathing is focused on t***p and the lickspittle nitwits in the GOP. I have no disgust left over to vent on Shumer or other Dem’s.
"I wanted to disagree with Schumer but when I think of how Musk/Trump would determine which government work is "essential" and which is not, I shudder." They've already determined that! And are continuing to do so.
Tactically I think you are right Gary, Sept will come soon enough and then this shit show will have to be revisited. We’ll see if muck can withstand his signature company being driven in his self driving style into the ground. The people that I know that bought Teslas bought them out of a sense of environmental responsibility, none of them are maggots, and if that is still a motivation there are other choices that don’t come with muck’s baggage. As to the democrats they were maneuvered into a damned if they do damned if they don’t situation. The “base” has been energized and won’t soon forget that vote, the nummie from AZ was forced to retire back into her hole because of her votes. Fetterman will be next. Senate leadership needs to change and it will. The Europeans are avoiding teslas like the plague and so to now are our fellow Americans, the people who rode that stock up are now looking at a long slide down, all because of his ego. 2+2 still equals 4, in a population with 30 million assault weapons, the destruction of a government that has supported so many will have it’s consequences.
fetterman is a HUGE disappointment to me! I'm not in PA, but I wrote lots of postcards--on MY own time--to support him.
I have left messages and emails referring to what I vaguely remember of his campaign: he supposedly has inked the dates of people who were killed by violence when he was mayor.
I asked HAVE YOU ADDED THE DATE THAT DEMOCRACY DIED ALSO??
edit: I did indeed write on my own time, but I meant to write on my own DIME. I paid for the postcards and all the stamps. :-(
So so so so disappointed. He's a MAGA in cargo shorts.
Durbin, Shaheen and Peters are retiring. Good riddence. That leaves Gillibrand (Al Franken is degenerate so MUST leave the Senate), Hassan (voted for most of Trump's nominees) and Cortez Masto who must love the Goldren Tresses of Dear Leader. Schumer was afraid Trump would convince New York voters he was a Palestinian. Fetterman.......
I dont understand why those three soon to be retired did not vote against the CR. They dont have to worry about raising money, being primaried, or fearing for their lives anymore. Gillibrand follows Schumer.
Counterintuitively, that may be the very reason they voted to allow the bill to reach the floor and thus be passed -- they knew their vote would be unpopular, but they don't have to worry about protecting their seat. Still, I don't know what they are achieving by capitulating to Trump, other than perhaps forestalling the recession which Trump seems determined to inflict upon the U.S.
No, recession is already here. Trump will do what he does whether congress gives him permission or not. I see nothing but a bleak economic horizon for the near and longer term no matter what resistance does. This was a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation, but now what they do has congressional approval. They are bent on destruction of our system, whether they have permission or not. Better to deny them permission and let the consequences fall on their heads, rather than say "congress approved this."
I'm not so sure, Gary. I'm with Pelosi, and that's a stretch for me. AOC is spot on and come hell or high water, the time is now. Give the bastards free reign is the consequence of either decision.
It's been many decades since I held a Sprinfield, but I was dead shot back in the day. It is time to meet power with power. The MFRs have to SEE it. I stand by the oath I took in 1967 . WE must NEVER waiver. NEVER.
At first I wasn’t listening and wasn’t watching the game. I was and still am very opposed to the bill. I see the strategy and I also agree with Gary. As for Jennis question, there were many rump voters that are not core maggots. Seems like in most polls, that number is around 30%. These are such f’in crazy times. Thanks for sharing your different view points. I am an independent and I like to think, given all the scenarios and options I am open minded
Sorry Gary, but play along with these gangsters that are destroying the lives of thousands of Federal workers, destroying Federal agencies, destroying our allies, and running the country independent of Congress and the courts is a sell out. Our government is already shut down and controlled by oligarchs.
I have concluded that a major weakness that defeats Democrats is their delusion that the trumpletons will change their minds when things get bad enough. This delusion may be as instrumental in the defeat of democracy as whatever the Trusk administration is up to.
Assuming this was the basis of Schumer's bet, he lost. Big time.
At this point, I'm convinced that talking to delusional Democrats is as futile as talking to Trump cult members. But on the unlikely chance that my words might reach someone who might be persuaded to join me in reality, here goes:
MAGA is not about politics. MAGA is not about prosperity. MAGA is not about morality. MAGA isn't even about hate. MAGA is about identity. Team spirit. Period.
All those other issues are operands, and they're crucial. But the rank-and-file MAGA believer has no deep understanding of those issues beyond a bumper-sticker sound-bite. The true essence of the MAGA movement is the sense of belonging to something that is stronger than any one individual. And they are not giving that up, no matter what valid arguments are presented to them. Ultimately, MAGA is a religion. And it's as nigh on impossible to convince a MAGA believer to abandon their beliefs as to convince someone to abandon their religion.
Look, apart from an armed struggle and/or a Prussian briefcase, the only shot at defeating the Putrid-Rump coup is to flip Congress in 2026—both the Senate and House, but at least one or the other. Flipping both the House and Senate could mean impeaching and convicting both Trump and Vance—giving the Democrats the presidency by succession. However, this ain’t going to happen by counting on MAGA voters to switch sides the more they get their rumps dragged further in Musk’s muck.
Long-time strategist James Carville has chided those urging congressional Democrats to fight, presumably because if they do so the trump cabal will simply target them to keep their cult energized. Instead, Carville would have congressional Democrats do nothing as they lay in wait for the White House to implode as its pot of chaos chowder boils over and scalds the faithful. Yet, the power of their cognitive dissonance is sure to transmute those burns into a badge of honor for their fealty to the king.
However, flipping Congress is likely if enough of the nearly 90 million registered voters who did not vote in the 2024 decide to vote in 2026. Reasons for not voting varied, but many voters were sufficiently aggrieved by and disaffected from both Democrats and Republicans to believe that it would not matter which party ran the government. For those now paying attention, they know better, and so the Democratic Party must convince them that their vote in 2026 matters.
Ignoring Carville’s counsel, congressional Democrats, along with Democrat officials across the country, must begin a full-court press to mobilize the 2024 non-voting registered voters. When confronted with the possibility of these voters voting in 2026, Republicans in the Senate and House, who are up for reelection, are likely to find themselves in a no-win predicament, because they can’t appeal to the non-MAGA crowd without losing their MAGA base of support.
Of course, confronted by this dilemma, the MAGA White House may decide its only option is to suspend the 2026 elections by invoking the Insurrection Act and declaring martial law. In turn, this strategy would depend upon either a false-flag operation in-country or invading Canada, Mexico, Panama or Greenland with the purpose of fomenting mass protests at home—voila, the insurrection to be put down.
Yes, this sounds insane, but with sociopaths running the government, we dismiss this scenario at our peril.
Agree. At this point in time, no scenario is too insane for me to seriously consider.
Actually, I ended my comment before I finished expressing my thoughts because I didn't want to turn it into a Dickens novel.
In my opinion, Democrats must stop being nice and following the rules. To win, we must "fight fire with fire."
1. Create a list of grievances and hammer it. "Joy" didn't work in 2024.
2. Build a large, strong network of independent and social media; bright, mirror images of Newsmax, OAN and Rogan's pig sty.
3. Reclaim patriotism as a Democratic value, not GOP's or MAGA's.
4. Create a religious fervor for the Democratic Party. We almost got there in 2024, but lost too many voters due to the next point.
5. It pains me to write this, but the presidential ticket must be young, white, male and charismatic. This is the only demographic sufficient numbers of voters will turn out for. Again, Democratic leadership is delusional, thinking the U.S. electorate has matured beyond the white patriarchy that the nation was built on. Unlike any other developed nation, the U.S. is uniquely a "cowboy country." Maybe in a couple more generations, with the proper education and coaxing, Americans can trust a woman. But now is not the time to press that agenda.
Again, I deeply regret admitting our collective misogyny, but the next elections must be won by Democrats. Later, we can sort out our values.
I’m curious to learn more about what Trump/musk could have done in a shutdown. How much power they would have had to reshape - even more- our government agencies for the worse. It must’ve been really grave for ME’s senator King - my senator - to have voted for that budget. He is smart, measured, equitable and absolutely committed to Dem’s ideals - in short I trust him. If he thought a shutdown was a worse alternative for the country, I believe him.
Those two women, along with the Squad, have the strength and courage that most of the male members of Congress lack. I'm hoping that with Run For Something and Justice Democrats we can have a whole new party in a few years starting with school boards and working our way up to President. The old guys need to go along with some of the ridiculous rules like Seniority and no term limits. And, I'm speaking as an 82 year old, so it's not agism, it's common sense.
I’m with you, Dotty. I’m 73, and I am all for new young leadership - starting with the Dems replacing Schumer. I heard Booker (my Senator) and Murphy mentioned. Love both of them, and yes, let’s hope AOC primaries Schumer, but that’s down the road. Why do us old ladies have more fire in us than some of these Senators?
And we are NOT going back. It may look like it temporarily, but I know we humans are capable of doing hard things and are not going to leave this insane mess to the next generation.
Wendy, I like your "have more fire in us." I'm 71 and we've all seen enough to know that the only thing that stops a bully is for them to get a taste of what they are dishing out. I learned that lesson as a first-grader and I've never stopped.
Because it's always been the women in the trenches doing the hard work getting the men elected. Look at Pelosi's background. Years of precinct etc. work before she even thought of running. As I've mentioned, my will gave out when Dobbs was decided. The thousand cuts to all my efforts were bad enough (Bush v Gore for 1) but Dobbs sealed the deal and we left the US for good at the end 2023. However, the 11k miles I put between us and CA isn't enough when we do nothing but watch/read the depressing news.
When we talk about the "old guys need to go" I must remind readers that Bernie is one of them. Let's be selective. Generally speaking, yes, we need new blood to replace the older (and younger) people who are to tired or discouraged or COMFORTABLE to promote change. Two of the loudest, hardest working voices in the room are Bernie and Elizabeth.
Leaders We Deserve is a great progressive organization that David Hogg leads in his position in the DNC. Give it a look!
That's why I said "most" as I adore Bernie and the town halls he's doing are just fantastic. I'd like to see 100 or more other strong Dems out doing them too.
"During a shutdown, the executive branch determines which workers are essential and which are not"
Isn't this exactly what Trump and Musk have been doing for the past six weeks? And what they will undoubtedly continue to do, now that the last checks on their power to hire and fire have been willingly surrendered by the Senate for the next six months?
The President will continue to shrink the government. The list of non-essential employees they use will be the same one they would have used today if there was a shutdown. They will continue to laugh in the faces and ignore the rulings of judges who tell them they are breaking the law. The only way to resist was the filibuster, followed by relentless Democratic messaging so blame was placed on the unaccountable Republican coalition where it belonged. And now that way is gone.
One way or another, by September we'll be running the government on pennies found in couch cushions and breadcrumbs stolen from bird feeders. The only difference is that when people blame Republicans, they can correctly point out that Democrats were complicit in making it happen. Schumer has made sure that we lost both the battle and the war.
Reminds me of that saying, “If you always do what you always did, then you always get what you always got.” There’s so much more Biden could’ve done with his executive powers to head this shit off at the pass. But rather than fight back, male Dems it seems, would rather be seen like the noble captain who goes down with the ship.
Looking back at the last four or even eight years, there are so many things that could have been done, any one of which would have headed off this crisis. Impeachment and conviction in the Senate after the perfect phone call or January 6th. Aggressive prosecution of Trump for pre- and post-Presidential crimes, instead of bowing to the judicial and extra-judicial delaying tricks of Judge Cannon, the Supreme Court, and others. Congress insisting on enforcing its Article 1 powers as Trump and his unelected sidekick Musk used a non-existent agency to illegally dismantle the government. Sadly, the list has to include President Biden being good for his word, stepping aside and permitting a normal Democratic succession to allow voters to choose the 2024 Presidential ticket.
There have been many checks and balances that could have stopped the coup before it got to this point. Unfortunately, people with the power to stop the conspiracy of Trump and Project 2025 stepped back from the line each time. Now we have to add Schumer's cowardly capitulation to the list.
I get so lost in ‘the double negatives ‘, it’s intentional. “We won’t make those mistakes again”…every time we compromise they get another loophole WE do , in fact ‘compromise’ …eradicated.
The biggest mistake was ‘THE LIE’ let slide until it was too late. ‘Which’ hunt succeeded? Again, the transparency is boldly unprecedented, cleverly disguised unequivocally …. as blame. Every algorithm is used showing how to capitalize on weaknesses..be it the law, public preference, religion, race, or those etceteras …
It doesn’t matter whether they can’t read, they can’t vote, they those ‘we the people’ whose voices stated % wise didn’t want this/that …got steamrolled.
So what % is it that “makes the government illegitimate” per our constitution? Evidentally our constitution is being ignored by any process..1) too slow ( laws/courts), or 2) what he meant to say or 3) he’ll renege on that or 4) “ there will be some pain “ to enact closing each loophole evidenced - slammed doors, sentenced words manipulated or inch by inch …it’s working.
When America wakes up as Little Russia -the truth won’t matter…it spoken will get one thrown out windows or jailed. All over but the crying.
Every faction can be heard,represented, cared for, and needs met. Enough money is obvious.
Agree , they need to start throwing punches anyway they can. They give the appearance of being complicit. Being nice and waiting for a backlash from the voters to boost the democrats won’t work. Only a handful of democrats seem to get it and the rest sit back quietly hoping for a victory without taking any risks. Risk taking is how the orange one rose to power. As for me, the DNC is not getting one dime from my bank account. They would only waste it.
I am furious with my Illinois Senator Dick Durbin. I have already been furious with him about his not starting impeachment proceedings on Thomas and Alito. So, at this point I am totally disgusted with him.
Democrats' "signature style of always being THE GOOD GUYS, PLAYING IT SAFE, and doing the right thing, just DOESN'T CUT IT with these GOP gangsters. Plus it's excruciating to watch. Schumer needs to retire to the golf course, and let the likes of AOC and Jasmin Crockett take the reins - those women are beautifully courageous, it's stand aside or lose a limb." WAKE UP, DEMS!!!
So tired of impotent scared dems not standing for anything. Wishy-washy doesn't cut it. We need term limits and age limits - these old fuckers have got to go.
Amen! Kazz, I am astounded that Angus King and Jeanne Shaheen voted for the CR. Perhaps they are trying to hang on to their rural mega- leaning constituents, of which there are plenty in these NE states. Proud of Senator Sanders and Welsh of Vermont.(plenty in VT too).
It's Good Faith trying to deal with Bad Faith. The first step for Good Faith is to recognize and reveal what Bad Faith is doing and what Bad Faith wants.
What worries me is that NY State is not all Democrat. There are many areas of conservative thinking that aren't always on board with AOC. We need her voice in our government.
Yes, watching with horrific fascination! They didn't have to eat the shit sandwich. In a shutdown the judges would continue to do their work. I am confident that things will backfire for mump....
Corporate Dems, going back to Bill Clinton competing with Rs at the trough of campaign finance share a major % of responsibility for buying into and supporting the fascist mafia state oligopolists’ matrix of political technology. When AOC & Jasmin Crocket see something they say something, with clarity and conviction for justice. With weak Dem “leadership” continuing to stare in the headlight of the speeding train, democracy defenders are realizing we need to reach out by all means, to the R & Ind. voters who naively supported the Musk-Trump-Vance (MTV) bovine fecal matter - reality teevee revival roadshow. They too, are being victimized by MTV. Helping them to stop stumbling around in cognitive dissonance and bust out of it could accelerate them coming around to seeing it is they who have the power & responsibility to recall their traitorous & sychophant congress members in the house & senate. All those helping in illegal & unconstitutional destruction of democracy, including the mislabeled “conservative” SCOTUS judges deserve to be prosecuted, convicted, and imprisoned for hard time, to life. <> Responsibility = the ability to respond. It’s past due time for all people who understand the truth of self reliance in the context of social responsibility to take to heart the slogan, See Something - Say Something, and Do Something to save, reform, and strengthen our ship of state. <> https://youtu.be/1ti2YCFgCoI?si=KVguV8ehlvxRV53T
Belle should be on everyone's daily watchlist. Clear, reasoned explanations of issues that viewers write in that affect everyday people, with a base that includes independents and MAGA Republicans. I've been listening for 3 years now, and haven't heard one of the shows where I didn't learn something.
Thank you for encouraging people to watch Belle’s videos! She is part of a great team that also produces longer videos on a weekly basis where they go to more than one issue at a time. I’ve been watching for a bunch of years as well, and know her husband used to be the face of the Channel. A brilliant man who had to take a break because he burned out. They’re smart people, but they are also just human beings, not gods.
Well, I had an interaction with somebody yesterday who thought he was a god… Could do no wrong… Nor could his mentor. In other words, he was in a cult. And not the Trump cult. It’s a story for another day. 🤮
A cult of malignant narcissism. Seems to me we all have a narcissistic side; but without balance and some degree of integrity we can become "Mr. Hyde". Trump did. Elon did. The men who flew passenger planes into building did. Vainglory become a monstrous thing.
I subscribe to six substacks and can hardly afford any more, nor can I mentally process all the information without doubling the hours in my day. There are hundreds of voices being absolutely brilliant. I am fortunate to afford to know six of them. It is a fragmented, expensive, and disorganized way for the opposition to have an impact. I’d love to have 15 minutes of Walter back, with a couple of print sources to do deep dives, but that world is gone. Rupert entertained it away. But what we have is like the White Roses of Germany, dedicated but easy to overcome. Where is a leader who can unite. Bernie is the one who is still conscious it seems. And Mark Kelly maybe
I feel the same way. I subscribe to five Substacks and try to read them all including Meidas but some days I can't face them. I will be 85 next month and worry most for the future of my four grandsons.
Good you tube. I think I am going to register as independent. I just don’t see the upside to letting Trump have his way. The government shutdown is pretty bad but at least all the cards would be on the table and sooner rather than later
Not a useful move. Get to work with Indivisible! All of you. That’s being both helpful and positive. Right now Musk has thrown millions into a Wisconsin Supreme Court race. You can go to TonyTheDemocrat, get postcards and addresses, and write them to voters. Putting Judge Susan Crawford on the WI Supreme
Richard-the hate that motivates too many has been built up for centuries. Most people can't grasp or understand where it's coming from or why it's motivating so many people to risk tearing the country apart in ways that we may never recover from-certainly not in our lifetimes.
I would encourage people to stay registered Dem and use their votes in primaries to change the party. I'm also a member of the Working Families Party. They are building an alternative party by endorsing more progressive Dem candidates to appear on their ballot line. I always vote for my Dem choice on the WFP line whenever possible.
I changed to Unaffiliated and I believe i will get both Democrat and Republican ballots. Of course my views are more aligned with the Democratic Party.
Disgusted by the inability of some of the Leaders in the Democratic Party to adapt to the fact that this is fascism. All the old ways and rules are off the table. Stop being nice to evil. Stop expecting evil people to react in a sane way.
Schumer, Jeffries and the Senators who voted yes must go.
Gary Peters, my Democratic Senator also voted to support the Republican bill. He is retiring before he can be voted out of office. I am deeply ashamed for my state. While I've been firing off postcards and emails and attending rallies, my Senator stabbed me in the back.
The reaction of the press to this vote by 8 senators fails to take into account that they are among the most intelligent. Their reasoning is, in a bad situation, perfectly sound. It is reasonable not to shut down the government as stating it again could prove impossible. At least we will have no less transparency in this horrible situation. The condemnation that press and Democrats are spewing makes both look silly. Instead let Dems get to work on what they can do such as supporting Judge Susan Crawford in Wisconsin. A big win there would be really important. Election Day: April first. Give Elon the Terrible another loss (11 million at last count.)
Been a big fan since finding that channel. We first saw Beau of the Fifth Column but he was a bit of a workaholic so Belle at the Ranch took over and she is just as good. Excellent channel to add to your daily playlist.
Belle is right to a certain point. The choices open to dems weere bitter no matter how it is viewed; but allowing a shutdown government to be manipulated by trump and President Musk would put us in a worse position from which might never be able to recover. AOL is a bright young woman but like so many young people she is impetuous and wants things done in a hurry. complain all you want about how slow governmental wheels turn, it is that that pace that allows more to come on board through careful rather than knee-jerk reflection. If we have not our lesson from prior campaigns it is time to take a deep breath and really look at how we lost the last election--and dems did. futile to blame it on Biden alone; it was the democratic party that did it to themselves by always wanting more faster and turning off so much of those middle-of-the-roaders.
I love Belle, and her companion longeryoutube videos "The Roads with Belle" and from her team "Interstate news" and "Research Road".
I stopped right at your comment before reading any more. We can have spirited discussions on this forum without attacking each other. I hope anyone who disagrees with you (I'm actually in agreement with you) doesn't become insulting. The Dems truly were handed a *stuff* sandwich.
Thanks for the positive response. I think people in this community are generally constructive in their interactions. But occasionally, I see comments that are insulting. And sometimes people offer solutions that are not real solutions in my opinion. If I feel I can knock down their suggestions, I will attempt to do so. In those situations, I try to stick to the facts. But we are all only human. And the interactions here will sometimes be less than ideal. But at least I have not seen a lot of MAGA trolls trying to create chaos here.
My initial response was "absolutely not!". Then I checked the OED:
"noun
the use of language regarded as coarse, blasphemous, or otherwise unacceptable in polite or formal speech in order to express anger or other strong emotion.
"there's a lot of swearing in the show""
Note: "...polite or formal SPEECH"
I'd also allow for "excited utterances", especially under extreme conditions.
When I broke my left little toe (a rum bottle fell from the top of the refrigerator where we were escaping our first Mother's Day without either of our mothers) I said words I didn't even know that I knew...
Absolutely not! Not saying something you know you shouldn't is actually tallied to your credit! You have to trust God on that, but she's New Testament, and worthy of same . . .
"I look forward to supporting AOC, should she decide to primary Schumer. This is a dark day for the Democratic Party, but I’m not surprised it has come to this." Yes.
It's no mystery why politicians dread being primaried.
Successful or not, primarying Schumer would provide a jolt to the existing agenda and disrupt business as usual. In a primary subjects an incumbent wants to avoid would shoulder their way in and he or she'd be on the spot to defend their track record and answer the tough questions in public. In an ideal world, for these reasons both parties should routinely hold primaries on their senior leaders - it'd make them all more accountable. Of course, since this is an age of career politicians both Dem and Repub office-holders agree that primaries are to be avoided.
The problem with an emotional choice right now -- in either direction -- hangs on the dilemma of foreseeable consequences and their probabilities. ⚖️
Team Schumer (thank you, David Brooks): Democratic Senators look like they are rolling over but put in place some measure of accountability. That can build a coalition, hopefully to retake the Houses of Congress in 2026. A shut down removes what little visibility is left over the destructive actions taken by Trump and his MUSKrat lover. 😱
Representative Ocasio Córtez et al.: Resistance starts NOW. There is little time to build a consensus and this bill, as is, cedes more power from the Congress to the Project 2025 bomb-throwers. Counting on prudence and reason to bring M.A.G.A.s may not work; reports abound of M.A.G.A.s upset with Trump 2.0 willing again to vote for him. 😳
Schumer must go. Why did the Dems in the Senate vote for this spineless weenie as a “leader”?? He had been near-useless for years, constantly being out maneuvered by Moscow Mitch. He and the other brainless cowards that gave up on democracy need to be replaced ASAP.
The underlying issue with the Democrat's actions is that they are still entirely REACTIVE. They have had the Project 2025 playbook for well over a year, and it is being followed, with little pushback from Democrats, The Curtis Yarvin fringe is pushing even more radical far-right policies and they are gaining traction with Musk and Vance.
Why the Democrats have not yet gotten together a shadow policy cabinet, and identified expert spokespeople to be discussing the dangers out ahead of Trump's rollout is political malpractice. It's not enough to just say how bad Trump's policies and actions are. Democrats have to be providing alternatives.
Instead, they seem to be relying on the judiciary to rein Trump in. That will only work until the day that Trump defies a court order, or the first time SCOTUS rules in favor of Trump on a separation of powers issue.
Schumer's flipflop was an example. Democrats are trying to jump on outrages after they happen. They are playing catchup because they haven't gamed out all the potential issues, all the ways that Trump can achieve his goals. With the 6 month CR, there were all kinds of overlapping issue about special powers from multiple laws that have been enacted as well as in the Constitution. Applications of sequestration, impoundment, timelines in government shutdowns, powers from the multiple laws related to the National Emergencies Act which Trump enacted on Day One are all in the mix. No Democrat seems to have pulled together the whole picture, so no Democrats seemed to understand exactly how dangerous this is.
Can anyone in this forum give me a bullet pointed list of all the powers Trump currently has during the CR? Can any Democrat? Maybe if the Senators actually knew what was possible they could have found unity.
The underlying issue with the Democrat's actions is that they are still entirely REACTIVE. They have had the Project 2025 playbook for well over a year, and it is being followed, with little pushback from Democrats.
Democrats are trying to jump on outrages after they happen. They are playing catchup because they haven't gamed out all the potential issues, all the ways that Trump can achieve his goals.
In Hopium Chronicles yesterday, Simon Rosenberg made the point that,
“ To me the most compelling reason to pass the CR and keep the government funded is that WE ARE NOT ADEQUATELY PREPARED for the fight that would have ensued. Simply, Senator Schumer has failed to use these last few months to start forging his team into an effective fighting force. The decision not to use the most outrageous Trump nominees to test new tactics, introduce new arguments and upgrade Senate and House comms was one of the biggest political mistakes I’ve seen since I came to Washington more than 30 years ago. 6 million people could have been put to work making the case in every state and district against these outrageous nominees. We could have leaned on Dems to lead protests in red states, putting pressure on the wobbly Rs, and start building our political muscle for future battles - as the House Dems are doing right now.”
“In this age, in this country, public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed. Whoever molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces judicial decisions.” — Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).
If there is a reason to believe that this age is any different, I have no idea what that reason would be, and so I’ll assume there is no reason. Therefore, it is clear to me that the problem is not politicians who are Democrats, and it is instead the entire anti-MAGA movement.
MAGA is employing the terrorist’s strategy of getting the other side to react impulsively to distract us from talking to each other and developing an effective strategy. They’re laughing their asses off when they see us yelling at each other.
Just a suggestion: Why not figure out how Ukraine has been so effective, and then follow its example?
Dams are afraid to take a stand on anything but women’s rights and abortion they should’ve owned Biden. They should have spoken highly of him and they should embrace the values of the Democratic Party truck takes a mistake and turns it into the goose that lay the golden egg we should learn from that They should still be telling what a good job I did still thinking of registering independent
Glad you are enjoying my posts, and thanks for the compliment. The Democratic party needs young blood—I am Schumer’s age. That gives me perspective but not the energy required.
The Project 2025 folk have been putting together their plans since Reagan. Each Republican administration has integrated many aspects of the updated plans. The funding and dedication to this over the last 44 years is enormous. Destructive of democracy or not, it is a tour de force of effort.
Over that time it is like Democrats saw what was happening but couldn’t believe it. Citizen’s United was in 2007—you would think that over 18 f***ing years when they were in power they would have written legislation to negate it. If they had we would be in a far different place.
"...when [Dems] were in power they would have written legislation to negate [Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission]..."
I, too, wish Citizens United had been overturned or undone; alas, not yet. But it's not for lack of trying, trying & trying again. Check out these data & see if there's an effort afoot to channel your support.
Thanks for the link--but I think that actually supports my point.
"22 States and Washington D.C. have called for a Constitutional Amendment.
121 Members of Congress are co-sponsoring legislation to Overturn Citizens United. "
Why isn't it being co-sponsored by EVERY Democrat in Congress? In every year since the ruling? It would have been easier immediately after the ruling came down to pass a resolution for an amendment to the constitution because the amount of money in those earlier elections was way less, and there were still centrist Republicans in Congress who might have supported it on principle.
I know that everything is clearer in hindsight, but my gut tells me that there has been a repeated failure to imagine the negative consequences by Democratic leadership in the last 15 years, and that has led to where we are now.
I have them too, valedictorian of a class of 1200 at 15, Perfect SATs, BS, MS at 19, PhD at 23 from Princeton.
But those creds don’t guarantee wild success. What does is having powerful mentors while avoiding damage from the harassment. Few women of our age did. That’s why the Nancy Pelosis and RBGs and Elizabeth Warrens are so few and far between. And why women are having to fight still and again for our rights, over the same issues from 50 years ago.
Right now, my thoughts often go to how different a country we would have now if all of the talent in half our population for half a century had been put to its highest use.
And here we have an unqualified, .•uneducated, uninformed, emotionally challenged bully leading our country when we could have had a highly educated, bright, caring woman.
• His Wharton professor said Trump was ‘the dumbest student’ he ever had. (Just because you attended a University doesn’t mean you are educated. There is a reason he threatens to sue anyone who releases his grades/records).
My greatest complaint is that they don’t teach people how to connect the dots back to a personal level. Every chapter of Project 2025 can be related back to a personal impact and the question becomes “is that ok with you? Does that work for you?” Make people think more!
All the talk is too esoteric and academic…connect the dots!
The leadership roles are too reliant on seniority as a determining factor. Certainly seniority has its place, if wisdom and political savvy about the political realities - "how things work (or don't) now" - come with it. The MAGA-ized Republican Party bears little resemblance to the party he came up through the ranks dealing with. That's the case with so many among the old line Democrats. The MAGA-repubs go at politics like it is a street fight. They bring the equivalent of brass knuckles, knives and Saturday Night Specials; the Dems show up with a volume of the Marquis of Queensbury Rules. The Dems can take the "high road," but that's not where this "rumble" is happening. Not even close. Trump obviously thinks he can ignore the laws and processes that don't work in his favor. He just writes another Executive Order.
While it sounds great, it seems the “the high road” is not a very effective place to be. And boy, we better find the “right road” soon or we are going to be lost….God-awful lost!
Taking the high road won't get any attention from the voters and that's why our message, if we have one at all, reach only few people in the the chorus and nobodyelse. We keep going nowhere. Waste of time and our future as a nation. 😔
OK, we just received another "best ever" from HCR reporting the thick political intrigue at the Capitol over the days leading to the "cloture" vote.
Out here on the West Coast, my "pre-cloture" post was, "Must Dump Sin Schumer" which is not a typo. My weak slogan did not work.
My political focus has been focusing on elections around the country specifically supporting Judge SUSAN CRAWFORD via 'ActBlue'. Judge Crawford is running for a 10 year term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court which is coming up on 4/1/2025. That's 18 days from now folks.
Her first name is Susan. I, too, am interested in this Wisconsin race to the point that I have contributed to the Wisconsin Democratic party (see Ben Wikler who ran for head of the DNC and lost - I think he should have won). I also have contributed to Susan Crawford's campaign and I even watched the YouTube video of the only debate between Crawford and Brad Schimel, her Republican opponent who is a Trump worshipper and whose campaign is being massively supported with Elon Musk's millions. Sadly, as a Virginia resident, I cannot vote for Crawford in person. Here, I paraphrase a comment by Wikler: "We can't outspend Musk...but we CAN out-organize him!"
Every time Schumer makes some speech or announcement -- always reading, even if it's a short message; never looking at the camera; those glasses perched on the end of his nose like a character out of Dickens, it makes me want to scream.
That Burlingame vs Brooks story is new to me. I know I’ve seen illustrations from the day of some congressman beating another with a cane…but didn’t know the context, or the protracted denouement. Fascinating, and instructive, and INSPIRING. And, o brilliant Dr. Cox Richardson, I appreciate your quietly laying it all out so clearly and meaningly, and letting it speak for itself!
The story is not new to me. Heather did a good job of laying out what happened leading up to the duel which never happened.
(It definitely feels spiritually aligned with the group of Dems who wanted to block the CR from even being voted on led by Ocasio-Cortez and supported by my very own Congresswoman, Nancy Pelosi.)
However I do think it should be pointed out that the Burlingame speech was one of the events that ultimately led to the Civil War, and to the death of hundreds of thousands of young men and women of all races.
It sounds like a great strategy but was it? Maybe the entire war was inevitable but in an era with nuclear weapons and a huge military complex now led by Trump, are we seriously prepared for another fracture of this country and the violence that may well ensue?
Maybe you are, but I'm much less convinced. I really hate the nasty comments made against Chuck Schumer who has tried hard to lead this country's only decent remaining political party in a time of major strife.
I say this as a far leftist who would LOVE to believe that a major confrontation with the Trumplicans will lead to their capitulation.
But I don't believe that for a second. They are ruthless and they are just looking for an opportunity to rise up and set aside all the aspects of democracy that we so depend on. So far the courts have been doing a fairly decent job of pushing back. Not perfect by any means but in this hellhole if any one expected perfection they sure haven't been in a war before.
We need to be able to hold on to the limited control we have. That requires that the Government NOT shutdown and give Trump and skuM the excuse to finally fully set aside the normal government.
Yes I know many of you hate the idea that we don't have an immediate and workable solution to the dilemma we face. But THAT is reality. And the difference between theory and reality is that in theory there is no difference but in reality... well you can finish that one yourself.
Suffice it to say I think Schumer and his followers did a brave of obviously not very popular thing. It was not easy to buck the Ocasio-Cortez-Pelosi group but I think in the end he did the right thing. Possibly the ONLY thing because the alternative may have been the step that led us into a true civil war.
And unlike 1861, this time we don't have the "cards".
I am one who jumped on the bandwagon, calling my delegation and saying don't vote for the budget! Don't give them any more power! Make them negotiate! Stand up! But then I heard Schumer. They will have all the executive power they want in a shut down scenario - and won't care that people don't get services. They will decide what services are essential. They would have no incentive to reopen the government. This was no easy decision. Schumer could have just saved us from their rapid completion of the coup. I don't blame him.
We don't have the cards because we don't have the $$$$ to buy elections. Kamala/Walz raised over a billion dollars from small donations and Elon chips in over $250 billion. And he continues to do the same thing in Wisconsin and other places.
The playing field isn't even close to being level. If anyone wins the lottery will you please set aside $50 million to offset Musk and the other oligarchs?
Gary, we should try to keep our own money numbers straight even if the tRumpsters and Muskrats can’t; Musk "chipped in" somewhere between $250 MILLION and $285 MILLION, not billions to the tRump campaign.
In the long running battle between the “corrupt” justice system and the t***p organization over his many criminal activities in his lifetime, it was his millions that allowed him to have a stable of compromised attorneys on retainer. He learned many years and lawsuits ago how to legally out maneuver the courts to his advantage. And because of his upbringing by a tyrannical, racist and abusive father, he knows the most effective means to win in a dog fight. He is rich, he is powerful and he is utterly ruthless in the face of a civilized opponent who refuses to leave the political high ground and get down in the mud with him. Plus, he possesses the slimy charm and the lack of any moral and ethical consciousness that lets him snake charmer hypnotize gullible Americans into identifying themselves with his claims of righteous indignation and to believe that only he can make America great again. In their desperation, anger and fear, they will volunteer to go ahead of him over the edge of the cliff and into oblivion. We have to stop being observers of the incredulously insane behavior of his supporters, close our open mouths and resist the better angels of our decency, if we can ever hope to turn this tsunami tide of Democratic destruction. I wish it weren’t so, but it is.
Ruthless - great term for them. No compromise as Grover Norquist got all of them to sign the no new taxes pledge. They will happily let the government fail to further their agenda.
Not all of them Rickey. MacKenzie Scott has donated almost $20 billion and continues to give with no strings attached. She has assisted over 2000 organizations. And Belinda and Bill Gates have donated large sums as has Warren Buffett. There are dozens of others. And they aren't out for lower taxes, just to increase their fortunes. The avoid inheritance taxes by donating to trusts and help us through their trusts.
The Walton heirs are the richest family in the US. What have they done? Have they squeezed their suppliers to lower prices? No, they squeezed their suppliers to buy jets and yachts and 15,000 square foot homes.
Let's shame them all into giving back to their communities. Lower prices would be good, but let's shame them into helping the people that made them rich.
DonOLD and Elon hate donating to help others. Let's start a campaign to shame them.
Interesting ignorance of facts here. Look I don't love the Waltons or Walmart (and I used to work for them once a long time ago) but fact is Walmart HAS lowered prices in huge ways. You can hate their power to do so but don't say they haven't done it because they have. A basket of groceries at Walmart is about 10-15% cheaper than at Safeway or Kroger. This is also true for Amazon.
And interestingly people who will tell you how bad Walmart is will also tell you to boycott them and pay higher prices at your local stores.
You can't have it both ways. Either they DO make things cheaper or they don't.
But HOW, WHAT and WHY do they make things cheaper Jon?
They almost single handedly destroyed the textile industry in the US and then manipulated the Chinese and Bangladesh companies by saying they would find different sources of their cheap crappy clothes that don't last. I know, because they drove my brother-in-law out of business. They threatened him and when he couldn't afford their price cuts, he went under.
Sears used to do the same thing only mostly with US manufacturers.
Anyway, cheaper isn't necessarily a good thing. Have you ever bought bananas at Walmart. I have and they suck compared to Chiquita.
I don't care about cheap if the quality sucks and the company is undercutting their competition to stay in business.
I also don't shop at Safeway or Albertson's because of the way they treat their employees. I know the clerks at my local grocery stores and they have told me how much they make and it's better than at Walmart and at Shaw's (an Albertson owned chain).
We are lucky that we can afford to pay more, but you get what you pay for.
I was black balled from IBM for buying Hitachi mainframe and peripherals in the 1980's. They went to the Board of the company I was working for and told them I was stupid for buying Hitachi. Bigger, better, faster, cheaper was what Hitachi had over IBM. And their systems support was better than IBM at the time.
And it is interesting that you acknowledge that sometimes the foreign brands like Hitachi are bigger, better, faster AND cheaper than local high-priced brands like IBM.
Gary I am guessing that you have not yet had the "luxury" of living on Social Security and no other income or savings. Trust me, if you really want bananas and you have to get them from Amazon or Walmart, you will tolerate that they aren't as good as the pricier ones but they are still bananas.
Your comment that "we can afford to pay more" makes it clear that you come from more privilege than some of us, and ignores the millions of us who can not afford it and have to make sometimes critical decisions about whether to buy two items from Walmart or Amazon or pay more at the local store and only afford one. We (my household) tried the latter and it simply didn't work for us. Its certainly not perfect but we are able to make our limited Social Security go far enough to eat more or less as we did before I stopped working by buying most of our stuff from Amazon.
Does that make me proud? No. But it does keep me solvent and right now, that is what I need to be, especially as the Trump monster destroys more and more of our economy.
Yes. We must remember that the will of the people is slow to turn. Wasn't Nixon reelected after Watergate was news? It took time. Thank you, Jon. We don't want to slip into violence.
We may not want to "slip into violence" but I fear that is going to be the only way we take our country back from the fascists. As rumpy said, "fight, fight, fight." They will not go quietly or willingly but will hold on to power with all they've got. Is there any military still loyal to the Constitution and the United States of America? I will be very surprised if we can take back our country without physical violence.
With all due respect, I have found personally that worry about the future is a waste of time. I say that as an Eckert Tolle fan and long-time AlAnon member. What we do now, in the present moment, is the question. Considering that violence is even possible in the future is all I need to know to push myself to call my representatives, write here, write letters to the editor, talk with people calmly about the issues.
No. Nixon’s role in Watergate was not public until after the 1972 election. The House didn’t start investigating until early 1973, before the presence of Nixon’s tapes was discovered.
But, yes, We the People seem to be slow to catch on. I’m afraid given the absence of a unifying journalistic voice, it won’t happen this time.
Thank you for that correction. You are right. I hope we learned something from Watergate. I think we did. We learned, some of us, that our leaders don't always behave.
We don't have the unifying journalistic voice, as you say, but we do have internet. Protests started in my small town just by a woman emailing a few friends, who contacted others, and within hours there were a hundred people at the courthouse with thrown together signs. Every one interviewed said they wanted to do something, anything. There will now be a weekly protest. The judges are doing a good job. Trump is asking Putin to be nice to the trapped Ukrainian soldiers, putting that in the news. Orders for F-35 jets have been cancelled. The CEOs are catching on that Trump is not business savvy after all. Damage will be done, but I am hopeful.
Thank you! My immediate concern with HRC's excellent history is that she failed to take it to the next step which was an excruciating civil war. I suspect that MAGA have a lot more guns than we do and that it wouldn't take much to light the fuse. Yes, it may already be too late but this vote didn't really change anything -- change will still come from the grass root organizations and actions if it can come from anywhere. I wish that people would stop reviling the people in Congress. If it weren't such a miserable place to be, maybe we'd get better people stepping up to serve.
Invoking the brave speech by Representative Burlingame -- also new to me -- makes sense, but not quite yet. 🙏
The problem is that Trump and his Project 2025 buddies have engineered a constitutional blitz-krieg whereas the forces that impelled Representative Burlingame's fine speech had been building for at least two years, more likely two decades. 🤔
The constitutionalists are huddling, trying to map out a winning strategy. Though pro-democracy forces appear indecisive, our defenders of the republican experiment are wise to take time to reason out a way forward. Yet the defenders can not take much time to agree upon a plan lest it be too little, too late. 😱
I appreciate your words and observations. What a terrible place. Caught between two bad bads! I can understand his logic. Just a hard pill to swallow. But what pill isn’t these days. The house dems are rising to the occasion. Some definite good things happening which is very needed. Simon Rosenberg speaks about a second front and that house and senate dems need to draft a letter to Americans. You can go to his Substack to read about it. Staying in the moment is hard these days but oh so necessary. Extra grace and TLC as well!
Heather, Burlingame’s story is exactly what we needed to happen today, for Schumer to stand up to the bullies on behalf of all of us. He didn’t. He failed to protect us. He brought a plastic butter knife to the fight instead of challenging the Repubs and Donnie to a duel. How shameful I feel about this. Time for Chuck to be replaced with someone who can actually lead us out of the abyss we are in. There is Klobuchar, Murphy, Duckworth, Hirono, Schiff, Warren, or Whitehouse who could effectively take his place. I want to see a woman, personally, take his place because if we cannot elect one as president, then leading the Senate would be ideal and any of the women I mentioned, would be dynamic. So frigging tired of the turbulence that we suffer with Donnie and his minion, but also with members of our party. I may have to leave the Dems behind and seek being an Independent. I don’t want to but I might have to for my own sanity.
Independent is good if it allows you to vote in either D or R primaries, but think also about the Working Families Party (https://workingfamilies.org/).
Fetterman from PA is a huge disappointment to me and many others. He talked a good game to get elected but too iften fails to deliver. His vote for Pam Bondi lost me his support forever.
It’s time for these people who are being (or claim they are being) threatened to stand up and show us what or how they are being threatened. Voice mails? Play them. Emails? Publish them. Texts? Publish them. This garbage thrives in the dark. Reveal it.
100% Marla. The claims ON BOTH SIDES that crumbling to the Felon because of threats seem to me to be a smokescreen: Oooo, I'm so scared! I, a white man with levels of privilege all the people who are TRULY threatened could only dream of! Tell that to the trans man who was tortured for MONTHS and left to die. Tell that to the new spate of people of color being shot and killed by unfettered police departments. Tell that to ANY WOMAN who is a victim of abuse, assault, rape, or misogyny. You want threat? Live our lives, bruh.
One thing that might be a threat would be to revoke the citizenship of Fetterman’s wife Gisele. She is originally from Brazil and was undocumented and residing in the U.S. at one time, but she has American citizenship. Trump thinks wrongly that he is able to order someone’s citizenship to be abolished on his command, but he cannot do so.
Thanks, Professor HCR. This is an articulate and appreciated response to events that happened over the last three days, but were in the making far longer. My disappointment with the Democrats hiding behind Schumer’s choice runs deep and will not be soon forgotten. It is not, for me, anymore a choice about R versus D politics. It is a fight of T, A and T against D and R - Totalitarianism, Authoritarianism, and Tyranny versus Democracy and a functional Republic. My hopes were once that the latter two were salvageable by the Democratic Party, but that hope has died.
I’m continuously examining alternatives to reset the narratives, which exist in two non-overlapping bubbles, about governance in the US. Tuning into Fox “News” gives illumination to one; reading Substack gives many perspectives into the other. The entire conversation needs to be disrupted with another option that transforms the two into political force which removes the relevance of the overly powerful oligarchic class. It is time to rethink everything, because continuing in these self-reinforcing, insular worldviews is getting us down a path that will harm us, not help us, in the final (as well as interim) analysis.
I appreciate what you do here. I hope you know your considerable sway with many of us. We respect you for your incredible, brilliant insights - and ask you to keep going. The story you’re telling, as ugly as it gets, is all ours.
It seems to me that the official Democratic Party has been on the back foot ever since, I don't know. the Vietnam War? The Humphrey nomination? Gingrich? It so often seems that Democrats are fearing to rock the boat, while navigating the midst of an earthquake. Democrats in my lifetime have built a number of good things that the like of Musk are tearing down, but have shied from tackling some of the underpinnings of plutocracy; the ever increasing deference to the will of corporations,including the trend toward monopolization, the flow of money away from the poor and middle class, toward the regal super rich, and outright political corruption. Those have been the hiding-in-plain-sight elephants in the room for decades, but somehow not priorities to openly confront. We are kind of out of wiggle room on that.
The Republicans had Fox. I just re-read "1984." Whoa. Propaganda. But the great thing is that it is not nearly that bad here now. I have lots of hope, actually. The judges are doing a good job, Tesla is tanking, local protests are starting up, Trump is asking Putin to save the lives of the surrounded Ukranians, and the tariffs are going to do a drip, drip, drip on the economy and, especially, the prices for everyday Americans. No, that last is not fair, but inflation got Trump in, and it will get him out of favor.
By and large, Biden was a very admirable administrator, and some of his speeches were first class in terms of clarity and substance. He was not also a skilled TV presenter, which bedeviled admirable Carter as well. Muddleheaded and rather nasty Reagan exuded a cheesy stage presence; he was an actor by profession, as is Trump, in his own absurd and hammy way. TV and big corporate social media instill a top-down bias to our culture, which Constitutionally is supposed to be bottom up. It's the same old serpent squeezing the preponderance of humanity throughout the eons:
"- It is the eternal struggle between these two principles -- right and wrong -- throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time, and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of humanity and the other the divine right of kings." - Lincoln
Now that should be in-your-face obvious. Historically top down has not gone well at all for the public by and large. It's the "Dark Side of the Force", no? Serious abuses of power are, in a word, "evil".
Tyranny has two remedies, though in the end they are one. Focused, persistent, disciplined public resistance through solidarity, and strong, persuasive, courageous and principled leadership, grass roots, or otherwise selected. United we stand, divided we fall. I think that We the People need to focus to gain clarity about how we got here, and what needs to change to move in a more constructive direction. Which foci will really move people? Which will make a fundamental difference? How to be heard?
Economics that work for the investor class are at odds with the economics that work for the mechanic who installs a new sensor on your car or the gal who guides you through the MRI scan. So then, we ARE out of wiggle room and have been for a long while. We just do not want to acknowledge it.
As someone who worked hard for Senator George McGovern in 1972, I can tell you he lost that race when he listened to the money people who threatened to withhold their funds unless he dropped Eagleton as his running mate. The campaign changed that day. People who had been enthused by his candidacy now said, "He's like all the others". My interpretation of that was that they saw McGovern, who had campaigned as a populist, a friend and worker for ordinary people (and, he really was) when push came to shove, listened to the money men instead of trusting the folks who had brought him the Democratic nomination. The feeling of betrayal was palpable. Following the money, rather than trusting "the people" resulted in one of the biggest losses in Democratic Party history. I feel there are countless lessons for today from that time.
Agreed, Ellen. And even though I was not yet able to vote in 1972, I registered voters door to door, stuffed mailboxes, and pushed hard. It was awful to see the Dems simply turn away. That election killed off the Democratic Party in so many ways.
Sen. Hollings called "money" "the main culprit, the cancer on the body politic". Is that not correct? And yet we treat it as an inalterable circumstance even as de facto bribery has increasingly become the political norm. Recall that the Constitution lists bribery and treason as high crimes not to be be tolerated from public officials. The public has so far grumbled, yet not focused and demanded that the impact of excessive money on political outcomes be reduced. Bernie Sanders was ridiculed by the Democratic party for making that a leading campaign issue. Some routinely insert millions into their political preferences, and some can't afford a dime. How is that equal justice? How many of our laws and policies would not pass a standard of "of the people, by the people, for the people". Not even close? We cannot legislate away ALL impact of money on politics, but "We the People" need not let it screw us over either. We had been moderating it to some extent, then dropped our guard. We the People are getting sold out.
I agree--but this has a lot to do with the Dems being determined to be a more inclusive than exclusive party than the other side. Would having an autocrat like LBJ be useful for a short time? Perhaps. But the problem is that those of us who don't have tunnel vision about issues and situations, whose view is wider, find autocrats of any stripe unacceptable. I have long thought that Schumer (and I am originally from NY, living in the Midwest only for about 20 of my 68 years) is devoted to his position as a traditional Dem: he prefers backroom negotiations to public challenges and he has a charisma index of about a negative-5. We need someone who can be less phlegmatic when necessary but also have negotiating skills. At this point, the Rethuglicans find him a risible "leader" because he is far too willing to "negotiate" (meaning give in to the demands of the fascists) in order to sustain his own status. He is also apparently willing to abandon the very people who prop up the modern-day Democratic Party: non-white, non-straight, non-penis-owning. And that will backfire on him because women, queer people, and people of color are fed up and willing to make that clear. And we outnumber the white boyz and can be kept back only through the kinds of neo-Jim Crow restrictions this current administration is intent on establishing. Times. Up.
Sometimes justice requires compromise and sometimes not. I serves no honorable purpose to cut a baby in half, and sometimes what is called compromise is capitulation. Teddy Roosevelt promoted the "Square Deal", his cousin, the "New Deal" and Republicans since Reagan the "Raw Deal". You can apparently fool some of the people all of the time, but we have to up our game.
I am hoping for some voice or voices of clarity to emerge around with kindred sentiments can gather and build. Our society is is falling in a very sick direction. I still believe it is possible to change course, but only if enough of us see a path forward and pull together.
Senator Whitehouse was on MSNBC today. He voted no on the bill but he said he respected some of his colleagues decisions. The main point that he said was we have to move forward and the Democrats have to stop the bickering and be united and work together. Schumer in reality didn't have a choice.
He wasn't going to give Trump and Musk the satisfaction of what they wanted, which was a government shutdown. Either way the people will suffer the consequences of this bill.
It's tme for us t o stand up to the new Unreconstructed Confederacy. We should have executed every southern slaveowner when we could have, back in 1865, and broken the Unreconstructed South, which we need to now do today.
I don’t know how we do that Tom, I live in the South as you know and while GA is red at a state level we do have 2 dems in the senate, ID up in the other corner of the country and a long way from the Deep South is even redder. Woulda, shoulda, coulda in hindsight might have made some sense, but Lincoln wasn’t in favor of it and he had a vision for the country, it cost him his life. The blue states are going to come out of this much better off than the red ones which have relied far more on federal largesse. Waite until the people in rural red states realize that all of the hospitals and nursing homes are closing because of Medicaid funding drying up, the repugnantkins are going to own it.
Only if our siloed media can reach the people in rural red states and they don't continue to believe it's all the fault of whomever they choose to blame (immigrants, coastal elites, Black people, Jews) It seems unbelievable in this century but many people now seem just as ignorant as those Germans, suffering economic hardship after WWI, who believed it was all the fault of the Jews/socialists/internationalists.
I appreciate your story about Burlingame....so who is going to be the one to stand up in this era? I had hopes for Murkowski but she caved on cabinet picks, and now we have Kennedy pushing beef tallow, and Hegseth deleting names of women and black people from the Arlington Cemetery roster! AOC and Bernie are puting up a fight, but it seems it will require a solid coalition. The legal system is supposed to be the "guardrail", but it is too slow, without teeth, and I'll bet my last melaniacoin, will be ignored. To me, the real problem seems to be that almost all of the "representaves of the people" are concerned with only one thing -- keeping their cushy jobs. This is making the argument for term limits a no brainer.
He’s a criminal. Of course the orange fat one continues his criminality.
He’s immune to American law. An adjudicated rapist, he’s beyond human decency. His MAGA base – tens of millions – all attended schools so totally dehumanized, so totally in the clutches of obedience-prep testing as to be all demagogue happy.
His Republicans in Congress and on the Clarence court bless his being above the Constitution, above all law. Putin, Netanyahu, Orban, Xi, Modi, Mohammed bin Salman, Milei, Kim, Erdogan, and Sisi all approve his pro-dictator illegalities.
Dems, impotent, always speak of our working classes by generality and slogans only. None has ever read and aptly cited any novel, memoir, history, or essay collection from the many fine ones actually well in touch with our fellow Americans.
So all drift, as Elon and the fat orange criminality only worsen.
Methinks Alexandria Ocacio-Cortez will be the next senator from the State of New York.
Methinks also that that would be a good thing.
Senator Schumer and the others had a tough choice to make, but in the end they chose wrong. Whatever the Musk/Trump Administration tears part can be put back together, and put back stronger. It’s time now for every Democrat, indeed every American patriot, to stand up forcefully, and righteously, to those bent on destroying what we’ve built and returning us all to the plantation and the company town.
Thank you again, HCR, for the eminently relevant history lesson.
Interesting that Nancy Pelosi stood with AOC, whom she failed to recognize the freshman Democrat when she was Speaker. I can't imagine what the former leader must be thinking, but I suspect the near-fatal beating her husband endured played a part.
Meanwhile, the strife continues on the Columbia University campus near me. I looked out our fifth floor window yesterday to see a drone at eye level, the streets occupied again with demonstrators and police.
Nancy Pelosi is all about realpolitik. She is way too smart to hold a grudge. I think AOC is much the same. The national political atmosphere of today is vastly different from the world Pelosi occupied as Speaker.
"Vulture capitalism"; hostile takeover of an organization, strip out everything of value, and run off to the bank, while the company tail-spins into the ground.
No, MT15, they are not "sabotaging the entire country." Just our national government.
Putin, Xi, and the Iranian mullahs dedicate serious resources via online hackers to sow enmity across America. For them, it's enough to see us getting poisoned as if at each other.
The U.S. billionaires, using the fat orange convicted criminal, the South African apartheid fascist, the mediocrity also known as Mr. Arrogance, J. D. Vance, plus Howdy Doody Mike Johnson all just want the federal government to go away (except parts of it that can continue subsidizing the South African apartheid fascist).
The U.S. billionaires can then privatize everything among themselves. They're already allied with all the world's worst autocrats and dictators. So life devolves for them to just competing with each other (and with armies, missile, drones, bribes, and hackers) for market share, other government subsidies, same as how U.S. billionaire standardized testers compete with each other in the common project of reducing all schools to nothing more than everyone's units, numbers achieved in the testing racket.
This shameful, craven capitulation has destroyed for me what little remaining faith I had in the Democratic Party as a viable structure on which to build a vigorous opposition to the ongoing destruction of the United States. Let the party die. Perhaps some of its remnants can be saved and put to better use. I am letting my membership lapse, have ceased all donations, and tagged all fundraising emails as spam. Enough, already. I'm not giving up the fight for America. Not yet. But my money and my energy can be better spent in other places and on better causes than the hollow shell of what used to be the Democratic Party. I suspect that I am not alone in this.
You know, Schumer should have only gotten enough Democrats necessary to stop the filibuster, meaning if Rand Paul wouldn’t vote for continuing the measure, it would have landed on a Republican’s shoulders.
We're damned if they pass it and damned if they don't. There is never a clear right or wrong when dealing with this regime. It stinks but I think Schumer was right. Musk would have taken his chainsaw and just clear cut everything that is left. No doubt there will be plenty of pain ahead and I pray for protests and enough R's to wake up and stop this runaway regime.
Belle of the Ranch (wife of Beau of the Fifth Column) posted a video analyzing what Schumer did. Please watch and share it. In brief, what Schumer did (changing course to support Trump) will have VERY long term consequences for the Democratic Party! And personally, I look forward to supporting AOC, should she decide to primary Schumer. This is a dark day for the Democratic Party, but I’m not surprised it has come to this.
“Everything Trump touches dies.”
https://youtu.be/QLpp7IqWjgM?si=eEdqneNuCwD_EgGM
Democrats were given a shit sandwich, there's no doubt about it. But their signature style of always being the good guys, playing it safe and doing the right thing, just doesn't cut it with these GOP gangsters. Plus it's excruciating to watch. Schumer needs to retire to the golf course, and let the likes of AOC and Jasmin Crockett take the reins - those women are beautifully courageous, it's stand aside or lose a limb.
I'm with Schumer on this one. Trump's tariff wars are the straw that will bring us into a recession. Plus, Schumer is betting that President Musk will be muzzled within six months and there will be a falling out between Trump and Musk. The professor has pointed out on numerous occasions that Trump is in serious mental decline.
More and more Trump voters are going to realize he lied about lowering prices on "day one", and as the economy declines unemployment with balloon.
Meanwhile, it is up to all of us to quit buying so much stuff. We need the oligarchs to suffer including the Waltons and Bezos. And get off the Xitter and move to Blue Sky if you need to.
And if you live in a rural community or a place where there are lots of veterans, remind them that Trump is cutting their VA benefits and his tariffs are hurting the farmers. Canada and Europe will fight back. Let's join them.
An honest ask here - Please tell me why you still believe that trump voters will "realize" anything negative about him. I simply cannot understand why anyone continues, after 9 solid years to the contrary, to believe trump cult members will ever come to their senses. It just does not happen. He successfully blames someone else or simply lies and contradicts his actions every single time.
The very first time I thought they would realize what he is, was in July of 2015 when he literally called America's war hero, John McCain a loser for getting shot down and captured. All these years later we are so used to his assaults that we hardly realize how far the maga cult has fallen. He managed to turn his cult against a man who served his country in the Vietnam War, a war hero dodged himself. Trade wars and high prices he blames on others are not bringing these people to their senses.
What this forces us to realize is that, We, as a country, still have a LOT of growing up to do. In both of trump's "wins", his opponent was a woman. In his loss, it was a man. Need I say more? And in '24, it was not only a woman, but ( egads!! ) a woman of color! Even though we knew all we needed to know about trump, 2/3 of the country either couldn't vote for Harris, or simply wouldn't! I'm not sure what it will take for America to outgrow this adolescent mindset, but until we do, the pain will stay with us, and probably get much worse, before it gets any better.
Spot on, Daniel. I pray we exit this national adolescent mindset soon. Our country is acting like either junior high kids, or young high school kids; fitting for a nation not quite 250 years old.
I think 4th graders.
Puritanical forces, racism and sexism, hate for the other, good old school beliefs that drove, and still do, standardized testing ( IQ) and Eugenics. Add in anti-science and ‘Really Fucked Klown’ of the clown car, the sewer circus and their musky-rats, we need to point out the stupidity of his cabinet, of the house cutting services for veterans, of the poisoning of our air and water for profit.
This is where the American care… oh and look at the latest cling to ‘Good Old South Africa’ way down on the Swanee River…really?
Fight for it! It’s worth the time!
At some point, one has to wonder if the United States will ever "grow up". Most nations of Europe had already 'granted' women the right to vote prior to the 19th Amendment being ratified here - interesting coincidence that it was passed shortly after the 18th Amendment.
The partisan battle in Congress in the 1850s between what in essence was the wealthy landowners in the South against Northerners who cultivated "feelings of social kindness, and public kindness..." is continuing to be fought without the regional difference in the halls of the Capital today.
The lose/lose decision that was offered to the Democrats calls to mind the "Trolley Problem." There is no positive outcome, only a choice between two negatives.
Lucky us: the Puritans came here. I wish Australia had gotten them and we'd gotten the convicts instead!!! (I told this to an Aussie and we had a very humorous exchange with the gist being "NO!!".)
The Puritans hated women then and they still do. And their sour, sick, repressive attitudes permeate everything.
Yes we as a country do have some growing up to do. But I do not believe that Harris and Hillary Clinton lost because they were women. Each one got a bit cocky and overly confident. They did not take Trump seriously or literally. They laughed at him. Big mistake. And when in the final 2016 debate the candidates were asked a question that was reminiscent of a 1970’s encounter group “ what is one positive thing about your opponent?” Trump said that Clinton was tough and hard fighter. Hillary Clinton should have called out that touchy feely question for the puff it was. But instead said that Trump’s adult children were very polite and respectful. Trump’s response was more honest and accurate.
While I ‘somewhat’ agree on Clinton, I strongly disagree on Harris. The only issue I had with the Harris/Walz campaign was them trying to “play by the rules”. Nazis have no rules, and Harris - and Democrats in general - have not adapted to that. Still, I just don’t believe we as a Nation have matured to the point of electing a female president, and we are paying dearly for that now.
Gjay15- you have just proven Daniel’s point about our immature country by calling out two women presidential candidates as cocky and over confident. These tendencies are exhibited by nearly all men running for political office. I wonder why you would singles out Harris and Clinton for this? Trump was cocky and over confident in all the WORST ways and look where it got him… twice! I’m curious exactly what Clinton and Harris did to provoke this opinion?
Oh and Trump wasn't cocky and overly confident? And he took Harris and Clinton seriously? He didn't laugh at them? America growing up means that we have to stop the superficial stereotypes we impose on people because of gender, skin color and other human traits.
After 250 years of operating this way it's hard for people to see that it's all BS. No one is better than someone else because they're male or female, have Black or White skin. We've allowed macho, "alpha", greedy males to rule over us for way too long. They've lost their way thinking that they are the toughest and smartest people on the planet...and I'm not saying this about all White males...but I am saying it about the overwhelming number of White people who voted for Trump and the Republicans.
male only presidential candidates, right, Daniel?
But why? I’m retired now, but the best bosses I had were women. Because they had a better grasp of considering all sides, not making rash decisions, and doing a far superior job of overall fairness. It’s that type of person I want as a leader. Virtually anyone exceeds trump in those characteristics, but because they were women, 2/3 of America wouldn’t vote for them, or wouldn’t vote at all. Just stunning.
I read this sort of comment occasionally. It makes no sense. It is insulting to the country (and worse—if it were true it leaves us with no way to move forward).
Hillary won 5 million more votes than Trump, losing due only to the peculiarity of the electoral college. Obama beat his two opponents, both middle-aged white candidates, in both the popular vote snd the electoral college. Harris lost as part of the Biden administration, seen by a plurality of swing voters as ineffective and out of touch on the border and prices.
Sure, there is racism and misogyny in the electorate. Plenty of other ills also. But that’s not what cost us the election. To pretend it’s so is to set ourselves up to lose the next election also.
Jenni Plumer, I agree with you 100%. WHY do people still say “…soon the trumpists will come to their senses”. No they won’t. This is about identity. The time for “discovering you were wrong” looooong past for a normal mind. We are operating in “Preserve-the-Patriarchy-at-All-Costs” territory. The gaslighting is at psy-ops level mastery, and they are trying to break our minds. Watching Dems fold, only serves to make more side-line Dems disgusted with the ineffectual response to this far-right autocratic takeover. Instead of evolving our party to respond, perhaps we need to form a new one.
I thought so too for a while. But then I realized that Russia helped him in 2016 (and, no doubt in 2024) and the millions of votes tossed from voter suppression laws gamed the system in 2024 for sure and likely in 2016. I wonder if Biden won in 2020 due to the large numbers of people voting by mail. Regardless, we MUST deal with voter suppression issues or we'll never again have a fair election no matter who we run. The GOP keep passing these laws for a reason: they work! It's no mystery that after SCOTUS gutted the VRA, we started having major electoral problems.
Misty I would like to add to that 10 million Democrats that didn't see the urgency to bother to vote. The RIGHT TO VOTE is the most powerfull RIGHT we have. I'm really concerned that we may not get another chance, especially after 10 Democrats bending the knee to T***p and M**k. We must stand up and fight if we want to keep our democracy!!!
American right-wingers, including the Oligarchs, are every bit as guilty of manipulating the public using toxic social media algorithms and old-fashioned propaganda.
Right-wingers should be blamed every time the Republicans betray the country and their constituents.
Make the public hate all right-wingers!
It is the only way to get the government we deserve.
SO let's check in for the Wisconsin Supreme Court vote!
Yes, this is crucial!
I agree with your psyops assessment. The MAGAts have been deeply imbedded in their identity and will not ever abandon that.
I think we don’t give enough credit to the overwhelming strength of the religious justification that supports the MAGA base. They believe that the tenets of their faith demand they hold most of our marginalized citizens, who they believe are oozing in sinfulness, deserving of their scorn. These people living in unrepentant sin or who belong to ethnic groups that are not traditionally Christian, are not worthy of the American Dream. They certainly are not eligible to receive any governmental or societal support because that would make their depraved lifestyles legitimate. We all know that t***p is a master manipulator who will con, flatter and use anyone to achieve his personal financial enrichment. He can smell cash like a mosquito can smell blood, and has earned the devotion of his supporters with lies and disinformation that pander to their frustration and victimization. Their fear, anger and blind devotion that supports the current destruction of American Democracy will be a real tough nut to crack. Their very souls, they believe, are at stake in their crusade.
MLR, I am often able to understand the MAGA perspective having spent time in the construction trades and some time in the heartland.
You could make a fairly long list of their complaints and grievances
most of which are based on lack of info. and misinformation which is also actualized by the lack of time and energy most people have to devote to the truth. I think most of people on both sides of the asile would have been able to accept a continued demo. govt. if not challenged by the excessive closing of storefronts and small industry in small towns and the advancement of civil rights and especially the issue of gender fluidity. The people fear the future. In my recent travels in the midwest I was surprised by the need of my relatives to lock their doors even during the day way out in the country, in the suburbs. They had fear driilled into them. They are conservative, provincial and do not want challenge and change. They accepted the lies of the Bush admin.and found a modicum of operation to function with. Trump is just an exaggeration of his predecessors. And hell, he is a great businessman as displayed on his many years on the tele. We can't
change if we do not know what we have to work with. I know many in MAGA are of low intellect ,lazy ,lack empathy and firmly believe in autocracy but those are really a small subset. More yearn for a simpler ,easier life which seems to be more unattainable every day. Unfortunately I think embracing fear is winning in America.
A war *he dodged himself.
The saddest of truths about his followers is that many will die like they did following his advice of the pandemic. It won't take very long for more avian flu to sicken humans regrettably. Or bad water to cause massive diarrhea. Or bad fumes from the industrial waste he won't protect against.
Shakespeare's Hamlet came up with the proverbial, 'Hoist with his own petard'. But so many adages apply; including, give them enough rope, etc, etc.
T-2's purulent sores on the ass of america will soon make it far too painful to sit down...poetic justice comes as the maga movement finally can't stand (itself) anymore.
One thing most people don't understand....even though trump said that McCain was a loser that does not mean that the vast majority of maggots heard it. FOX never shared ANYTHING even slightly questionable about trump. They still don't.
Fox hides the truth, so we need more ways to reach those whose views are shaped by liars. Have you seen this website, offering free downloads of posters to print out?
https://trumptragedies.org/posters/
Let’s all print out a few and hang them where our neighbors may see them!
I like that idea Marcia!
I pray for someone to buy FAUx, and X, and in a last gasp to go on an apology tour of all their stupidity….their hate, their lies, their hurting of humans, and even with false information helping to kill people during the pandemic.
There could be a reconciliation with reality.
Fox is the national megaphone for the righteous radical right, enthusiastically endorsing their elected representative’s acquiescence in allowing the wealthy to buy control of our Democracy in an auction to the lowest bidder. It’s a dishonor to our founding fathers and mothers. It’s a disgrace to the millions of Americans who have fought and died to protect our Democracy over these past 250 years. It is a national tragedy and the ultimate catastrophe for all Americans.
Why? Because democracy depends either on changing people’s minds or on getting people out to vote who have stayed home in the past. And there are plenty of the latter is areas Trump won.
And thanks to Biden's refusal to enforce the Leahy Laws and his own National Security Memorandum to pause offensive military aid (not defensive military aid) to IDF units acting in violation US and international humanitarian law (and thanks to Jill Stein swooping in to feed vampire like on the despair of Palestinian Americans, Arab American, and all voters of conscience) - the vote for Kamala Harris was suppressed by those who chose to sit on their hands rather than vote in the presidential election. Most significantly in swing states Michigan and Wisconsin, but elsewhere as well.
Ah yes, Jill not green Stein, Putin's other friend. I do think that a few of those Arab voters now feel that they made a mistake. Only people not in the cult can be swayed. I had a round with one who was on a thread posted by our D rep. This person thinks tariffs are great and that death star is making America great again. I spent way too much time to explain why what was happening was not great. This person, thinking to be too clever by half, said bless your heart, thinking I would not know what that old chestnut means. So, I politely told her what I thought without name calling which she accused me of. I did tell her that if I did, it would not be subtle. So she is now blocked.
lin, the community I live in has a very large middle-eastern population. There are plenty of "Free Palestine" banners and signs, and Muslim businesses.
I recall the news radio reporting on Muslims so upset with Gaza and Biden's response that they said they not only wouldn't vote for him but would campaign against him. !!
I wonder what they are thinking now.
5 million people didn't vote in November as compared to the number who voted in 2020
Exactly. And tens of millions did not vote in 2016, 2020 or 2020. Get 5 million of them to vote for Democrats and it's a landslide.
Yes. Thank you. I have two friends who voted for Trump in 2016. One campaigned hard for him. This latter friend has a masters degree in engineering. The other one has a PhD in school psychology and is a Vietnam veteran. Each one still supports Trump. These are people I have known for over 50 years and love and had respected. Jesus Christ I held their children on my arms when they were babies. This is something which we will have to come to terms.
We should examine and be honest about what motivates them to vote for a president and party that explicitly express their disdain for people who they think are "defects" because they are different in superficial ways. They also don't respect the law, make rules and take actions that are designed to be cruel and create chaos. What is truly their worldview, rationale and motivation???
I agree. Less analyzing and emotion and more action to get these thugs out of power
Gjay15, that's insane. It completely blows my mind and I will never, ever understand it. It has been so hard to accept that so many educated, and otherwise 'ordinary' people (even some I love and used to respect) support every single thing trump says and does. But, I have finally accepted it. Now, it's about trying to navigate this new America in which half of us are OK with cruelty and authoritarianism. I'm not sure we will successfully save our democracy, but I continue to fight for it. Judging by the actions of most of our elected officials, I don't feel good about the odds.
I agree with you. I believe that it is now up to the people.
Some dedicated Trumpers do eventually come to their senses - when it affects them or their loved ones personally. Historically, there haven't been enough of them to make a difference. But he's kicking them right in the goolies this time, so they may at least finally cotton on to the fact that he meant it when he said, "I don't care about you, I just want your vote."
The point is well made, Jenni. According to one study, Trump gets his support from those who share his prejudices. They want him to crush and punish the women's and gay rights' advocates, the immigrants, the Muslims and more. They are full of hate. Google "The Anger Games: Who Voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 Election and Why?" The full text is no longer available online without buying the Feb. 2018 edition of the journal, Critical Sociology ($35.00). If you want a copy, I can email it to you. I have set up a special email account just for this: richsuth2002@yahoo.com
Jenni, their eyes will eventually open when their Social Security checks don’t come, when Grandma’s MA disappears and the nursing facility sends them home to their children/grandchildren, and when the VA medical clinics close. Oh, and when their child’s disability is no longer accommodated by the private (or public, if any are left) schools. Oh yes, the scales will fall from their eyes. Or at least enough people to rise up politically!
True, but will it then be too late for all of us?
Well, yeah. But I’m doubting that most of his rabid followers will see things clearly unless reality bites them.
Trump is a cancer of America. It is showing up in full. We need to remove it for good now. And I believe we can, restoring America in stable democracy. I trust power of voters, and new leaders like AOC.
I tend to grasp for that illusion that eyes will finally open...but you are most likely correct. I just still can't believe they trust this 'Jim Jones' of a president.
Hi Jenni, I think a difference today is that MTV action is rapidly causing real harm to their voters. It contrasts with previous unbelievable, but true loyalty to their reality teevee hero. The stats of red states rates / levels of education across each state and % each state college grads who still read books shows the degree of reliance on tv, social media, hate radio, bullshit so-called evangelical pastors, etc. , etc. that forms the pervasive matrix of fantasy they live in. They've willingly been infantilized to be good tribal receptors of propaganda and materialistic consumers. <> The effect of abuse delivered by MTV is real world vs previous bovine fecal matter shoveled at them that could be turned off. In my view, it's a good time to try to reach out to just the persuadable elements of disillusioned MTV voters. It is only Red State citizens who have the power to recall federal level politicians if they don't shape up fast and stop hurting their constituents. <> Karen Tamerius offers good, practical guidance on effective communication with political opponents, leading to practical, cooperative problem solving. Her group, Smart Politics is out of Berkley. Also from Berkley / Bay Area is George Lakoff & Gil Duran's group, Frame Lab. <> My hunch is now is a good time to help people get out of cognitive dissonance and take action, vs wait as things get worse. I'm anticipating MTV has a false flag trauma up their sleeves, maybe national electrical grid shut down = major mess for unknown duration. Better to try & get infantilized victims talking now before they're dragged into solidarity alliance / Stockholm Syndrome type blindness. ( National grass roots talk therapy? )
I hope you are right.
I know so many well educated, hard working, kind people who are still on the maga bandwagon. People I used to really respect. And then there is my sister-in-law (she was a huge Obama supporter in 2008) who depends on social security disability and Medicaid as her sole source of income and healthcare. She has supported the orange felon since the very beginning. We have begged her to turn off fox news, she simply won't believe anyone else. Now that fox is interviewing congress members who are admitting they are going to have to cut ssn & Medicaid, she tells me it won't be her, it will just be the ones who are committing "fraud and abuse" 🤦♀️
And now that his new line is that "there will be pain, but we have to fix our country", she's on board with losing some of her $900 per month income. I just can't for the life of me understand her. I have tried so hard to break through but I suppose until she's literally on the street with nothing but the clothes on her back, she won't see it. I will never be able to understand the hold he has on these people.
Yikes! I feel your pain, and dismay about the situation, & I feel sad for your sister in-law and all others who are caught up in the carefully planned and executed contagion that has enabled the gradual social and political dissolution here in the USA. As far as I know today, all we can do is reach out to those trapped in the contagion who may be persuadable and become self motivated to take corrective action for the common good. <> Those who comment on Prof HCR’s LFAA, other than the rare troll, are empathic, smart and well informed people. Well organized democracy defenders are the key to finding and communicating with reasonable influencers within the so-called Republican Party who could join us and bring along some of their brethren and sistrins who can see the light with the right stories coming from the right people in their communities. For ref. see the attached from the K-School: https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/carr/publications/35-rule-how-small-minority-can-change-world
An obstacle, and a huge one at that, is that billionaires have bought up a lot of the media and use those platforms to dispense their wedge issues that drive people to vote Republican. Thomas Frank identified this in his 2004 book, "What's the Matter with Kansas?" Abortion is a major issue, as are immigrants, women's and gay rights advocates, etc.
I agree 100%. The MAGA cult is beyond reason and hope. If you don’t see Trump as a disgrace, you are aligning yourself with that evil disgrace forever.
But when their medicade is cut and the price of eggs goes back up, Social Security is either cut or disappears, the message will go through. Democrats, because they have the same values, will come together one way or another and throw the bastards out.
I really hope you're right. I have a sister-in-law who lives on social security disability and Medicaid. She's supported trump since he came down the escalator She is still 100% maga even though fox news is telling her they will cut social security and Medicaid. She thinks it's just going to be the ones committing "fraud & abuse", my only hope is that when it's her, she'll finally understand, although it will be way too late. 🤷♀️
May you not have the stress that would inevitably come from her losing Medicaid. If she has friends who lose theirs, perhaps she will understand the horror of DT/Musk.
Hi Jenni Plumer & Virginia Witmer, John Rich here: I replied on Virginia's link but meant to reply to you directly. Looks like no harm done. Please see my info tagged on Virginia's comment above.
I’m not so sure, all of these events are going to happen before the next election. The Republicans will blame it all on the Democrats if they the Democrats take over both houses of the congress. The economy will be getting bad by that time.
The economy seems to turn too slowly to help or hurt the current administration. It is more apt to reflect the past administration’s economy.
Now if we are going to go into a recession or depression those seem to happen fast and last long. Not cheering for either of those choices.
Very good question!
I think in reality that trump is just following the 2025 playbook. He’s the front person and is just letting the 2025 folks write up the executive orders and he just scribbles his name on them and then goes to Maralago to golf on the weekends. He’s not running the government. He’s happy to have others do the strategizing to tear everything down and persecute his “enemies”. He will take credit for everything and at the same time lie and blame someone else if things go wrong
You are exactly right, he only wants to do three things: play golf, be in front of the camera, and stay out of jail. He's doing quite remarkable at all three for the moment. Peter Theil is the real villain behind the curtain.
There are certain things he cares about and if it harms his big fat ego, he will take a stand. Thats about 50 percent of what’s behind the tariffs- he weirdly thinks having a trade deficit is “being ripped.” I think he’s also discovered you can manipulate the market and make a lot of money.(He’s like a child playing with the elevator)
You are kinder than I. I think he's playing with the tiny mushroom.
I worry about the longer term damage he is doing to the "market" itself -- that is, when the President himself is seen to be manipulating the market with his daily on-again, off-again pronouncements, the market ceases to function. How can the market price (price as verb) information when that information is the daily policy whims of a mercurial man, or worse, when the economic data that government agencies publish become totally unreliable because those agencies have been co-opted by Trump's partisan ministry of Truth.
Never underestimate the PayPals and South Africa, and Russia and Israel’s right-wing extremists…the cabal.
Deborah. I agree. He has been doing this from day one when they had all those executive orders ready for him to sign. Someone is keeping track of any insults to him and also institutions outside government they want to destroy. I cannot understand why advanced medical research is in their cross hairs....probably because they can go anywhere for medical help while the rest of us can just die.
Against medical research as may show the extent of his mental decline and use him as an example. Also just doesn’t care about anyone but himself.
He’s anti medical research because of Covid. His predictions didn’t come true, and Dr Fauci kept getting attention.
Second, as long as he’s protected from germs, why spend money on those he doesn’t care about. Especially POC, who might be Democrats.
Long term, that makes no sense. The US is at the forefront of most medical research and development. There will be nothing to go to if medicine doesn’t continue to move forward. 20 years from now they fly to France for medical treatment based on 2024 level medicine…
Well, the tariffs are coming from his need for revenge, I believe. people expected him to lead with the tax cuts.
Yes!
Gary, I agree with almost all your thoughts here (as usual :). But I think Heather's letter today was a not so subtle suggestion that we need a Democratic Party that says: "ENOUGH BULLSHIT".
If Senate Democrats had remained united and said that this resolution is just wrong for America, the shutdown would have been in the laps of the Republicans.
The ONLY thing Democrats should have voted for was a clean CR - and time to negotiate.
And so the government would have been shut down by the Republican Majority that can't legislate its way out of a paper bag. And yes, it would have been an excuse to fire more Federal workers. But isn't that what THEY ARE DOING anyway?
Today I have decided. I am no longer a "Liberal Democrat". I declare myself to be a "Pure Progressive" and I will vote for politicians with spines and who are willing to stand and fight for the people.
Schumer is not living in the real world. His fantasy is that if he goes along now that $Trump will eventually go too far and lose support. Earth to Chuck. President Musk and co-president $Trump have already gone too far. The Coup is complete!
I want Senators to stand on their desks and scream "Fire Musk!" and "Impeach $Trump now". I want to see some rebellion - I want to see the king deposed and disposed of. We need some serious "Good Trouble!"
As to Trump voters? I agree with what has already been said. Most of them are unredeemable haters. They are all in for the fascism and "owning the libs". But there is the largest group - Independents that can be swayed with some outrage and displays of the damage being done to our nation.
Say goodnight Chuck. I'm an old white guy who is with those who want some young women with spines and compassion and PASSION to lead us forward.
Thank you over and over again, Bill. I agree with all of this. I don't get why in this dystopian nightmare hell there is so much denial and rolling over.
Leslie, the only thing the corporate media is consistent about is their coverage of DonOLD. He smothers the airwaves with his bullshit. Let's buy Greenland, let's take over the Panama Canal, Ukraine started the War, Canada needs to be our 51st state, etc.
And what do we have to counter? It's the economy, recession, high prices, broken promises, Ukraine is our ally, Europe is our ally, Canada and Mexico are our biggest trading partners.
Look to our north (and east if you live in Alaska). Canada is winning!! They are kicking some Trump ass. They are looking for reliable trading partners that won't fuck them over with tariffs that change every day.
4 million barrels of oil a day, most of our aluminum, heating oil, lumber, cars and most of what used to be filmed in Hollywood is filmed in Toronto or Vancouver.
Of course we won't change the minds of lifetime Republicans. This is their team no matter who the quarterback is. How many fans follow the Dallas Cowboys year after year hoping and praying for a return to greatness. TRUMP is their QB. They aren't going to abandon him.
But then there are the other 30-45% of Trump voters, that are one issue voters. When they are forced to buy pasta instead of pork, and peanut butter instead of hamburger. Or they don't have $40 to fill up their tank so they put in $5 worth over and over. Or they see their 401-K value drop by 10% or more instead of going up almost every day under Biden. These people will peel off, or at least a number of them will.
Bill, I think Chuck was just scared of what Trump and his evil sycophants would do during the shutdown. It is my understanding that they (Trump/Musk) have carte blanche to ignore the wishes of Congress regarding the budget during a shutdown. USUALLY after a shutdown, the "unessential" workers are given back pay. But what if they aren't this time?
Chuck isn't the Bill Clinton or the Barack Obama or even the Kamala we need. Bernie is the closest thing to what we need right now. He's drawing huge crowds all over the country and he's not afraid to call Trump out for being a lying fucking racists.
As for a young passionate woman, the Democrats have several dozen at least. You know who they are, but the lame stream media won't give them the bully pulpit unless they say or do something totally outrageous like Trump does. And they need to do it day after day.
Emotionally, I’m there..but progressives started in farm country and we have lost the soul of this origin…middle America, not the fringes. Definitions are always shaky but the image of the political knife-edge (fascists vs progressives) is hurting us!
In reality we live in a wide, strong verdant valley with lots of people of good faith (real Christian’s, Muslims) and needs the ideas of the snowy mountains with their fresh water and rivers coming into the valley. But you can’t eat rocks! Family, food, fun first! I know that love wins, according to the real Jesus…and most others who care.
Extremism is a vise!
Extremism is definitely a vise and a vice:)
But, IMHO, there is nothing extreme about asking ridiculously rich people to pay more in taxes to help with the deficit, the debt, healthcare for all humans, equal education for every kid, retirement plans that don't warehouse our elders.
There is nothing extreme about expecting voting to be easy for all of us.
In fact, I would simply define Progressivism as asking us to operate as a we society instead of a me society.
The current state of affairs IS extreme. Extremely chaotic. Extremely cruel. Extremely foolish. And lastly, for right now, betraying our friends and allies around the world is an extreme betrayal of our national integrity and an extremely stupid move.
None of the things that Bernie or AOC say are extreme. They are common sense in a civilized country. JMO.
Bill-you are right--nothing extreme, intrinsically, but you must address the question of why, if it's not 'extreme,' it doesn't energize the wider majority? My thought is, given our failures, we need to look at different a different metaphor for the middle...invite the middle to join and contribute their issues and develop their intensity, and show how 'WE" are in fact linked to ours...there isn't the development of 'The Humane We', which I really like! It's the verdant middle of hard work and family.
Trust me, I am much more radical than Bernie! But he doesn't get votes and company. More people didn't vote than voted for either Harris or Donny-John. Preaching to the choir is too easy, too righteous, and ineffective.
So what works! Pete's better than either at welcoming.
Who else is? Can AOC learn? Go to Iowa, build community, that would impress me.
If chump is in serious decline and still making fools out of “smart” Dems, then we are in worse shape than I thought. They have Plan B, C, D, and P2025. we have Robert’s Rules of Order.
Schumer is providing the “bloodless revolution” Kevin Roberts of the Heritage Foundation-and Project 2025- predicted. Since the media oligarchs all bend their knees to trump, and so do the largest social platforms, and with the Dems in the senate now saying “we will roll over for you”, New Deal America’s is pretty well done. Thanks guys. Way to show leadership in “the Land of the Free, Home of the Brave”.
I agree with you, JD. I have emailed and called Jared Moskowitz's office thinking he'd use the MTG tactics of creating video clips. I thought he liked the good trouble. Instead, he voted to censure Rep Al Green.
According to Jessica Craven's CWCW Substack, she believes it was the action and insistance of one constituent that got Larson riled up. (Riled is too gentle of a word.) We need to keep pushing and as you point out NO MORE MISTER NICE GUY.
Anyone who didn't see the Larson clip, please watch this!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INvMI6H58Aw&t=4s
Rachel Maddow showed this this week. More of this is needed!
Absolutely!
I agree, Gary. It seems obvious that a government shutdown is exactly what Trump and Musk wanted. That is sufficient information for me. And I agree that the tariffs will do the job. I have an undergraduate economics degree, and I didn't absorb much at all, but I did learn two things. The Russian economy is a screwy way to run things and tariffs are bad for all.
Shades of Br'er Rabbit there. "Don't throw me in the briar patch"
For a month, Ally, I have not only continued my daily attention to HCR's ability to marshal evidence and document the links between America's past and its declining present, but I added to it full attention to readers' responses to HCR's daily output and the ensuing discussion.
As I became more attuned to reader input, I realized my own expertise and professional experience over a lengthy and variegated career trajectory in education, government, and policy convinced me I might have something to contribute to the discussion, and I occasionally did. As I became attuned to the substack format, and the different ways in which your approval was expressed to me, that feedback was gratifying. Ultimately, it's wellspring proved unsustainable.
Within days I realized (1) I would not, in my 89th year, be able to devote the time or commitment required for more than a few weeks and (2) that our efforts with one another, as the days slowly passed before our computer screens, while engaging were increasingly triggering memories of Shakespeare's Macbeth saying "full of sound and fury" etc. etc. I must seek modes of contribution that buoy me up, not wear me down.
I am grateful to the kind and appreciative hearts out there who made themselves known to me in the weeks I've been active. Spring is coming; with it the opportunity to "vote with my feet" in various greater Boston events will present themselves, and I will take them. Arigato! Hands Off!
Hendrick, I find myself in the same boat. I am reminded of a cartoon; two women each looking at their phones. One says "Currently, my desire to remain informed is losing to my desire to remain sane."
I really value this Substack, and the relationships that I have with people here. It has been a balm to my soul during these times. I will soon be mobile enough to join protests safely (still on crutches from my nearly one month old knee replacement). Until then, my efforts are mostly from the kitchen table: reading, writing, and postcarding.
Welcome Aboard Hendrik to the Good Ship LFAA where daily we are reminded of the Bard's admonitions, "To Speak Plainly & to the Purpose" ... " ... without Falsehood". :---)
Thank you. I'm 83 and struggling with both #1 and #2. At this point I'm basically a fairly well educated jack-pine-savage. Probably my greatest gift was the number of people I've known who survived Stalin and/or Hitler during the 30's and 40's. People tell me that it's yesterday's news. Maybe it was, but now it isn't. I think I will follow Marjorie Stoneman Douglas's advice, but not attempt to be so pro-active on this site.
I also like to remind people that the Abbey Gate suicide bomber who killed 13 US Service Members in Afghanistan was freed from prison by Trump's Peace Treaty.
yes! The story of why we were rushed and overwhelmed got lost in the Mythology of FUAX! As are the 600-800,000 deaths that the lack of coherent policy caused in the US when compared to Canada...by Donny!
This has been going on 10 years. The MAGA cult is more entrenched than ever. You cannot reason with a cult. Do you know they blame Biden for the economy and the problems today March 15?!
We can do all the boycotting, screaming at town halls and calling Congress but if our elected people don't stop playing cards on the deck of the Titanic, we are through as a Democracy.
Barbara--can you say Tea Party!? Who why was this animated? These were the pupa of the maggots.
Now is not a time to blame how the Democrats voted on cloture. We are not just seeing, as Heather puts it, "a split between those who lead an opposition party devoted to keeping the government functioning, and a number of Democrats who are stepping into the position of leading the resistance to MAGA." Keeping the government functioning requires defeating MAGA. Ultimately. The question is how to get there. The issue is strategy.
I wanted to disagree with Schumer but when I think of how Musk/Trump would determine which government work is "essential" and which is not, I shudder.
Republicans now clearly own the consequences of their choices.
Any vote can be seen as reasonable because the situation has made a mess of our politics. I send our Democratic lawmakers sympathy and courage to face the next damned-if-you-do/ damned-if-you-don't choice they'll face.
I completely agree with you, Melinda. We will never know how bad the situation would have gotten with a government shutdown in March, 2025 because a different path was taken.
What I do know is that all my fury and loathing is focused on t***p and the lickspittle nitwits in the GOP. I have no disgust left over to vent on Shumer or other Dem’s.
Today is the Ides of trump: write him a postcard or two to let him know your feelings: https://cc4democracy.com/2025-cards/card-5-ides-of-trump
Send to djt at The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington DC. 20500
Then, find out if the Dem’s have scheduled a town hall against a vulnerable GOP rep. in a district near you: https://democrats.org/peoples-town-halls/
"I wanted to disagree with Schumer but when I think of how Musk/Trump would determine which government work is "essential" and which is not, I shudder." They've already determined that! And are continuing to do so.
Tactically I think you are right Gary, Sept will come soon enough and then this shit show will have to be revisited. We’ll see if muck can withstand his signature company being driven in his self driving style into the ground. The people that I know that bought Teslas bought them out of a sense of environmental responsibility, none of them are maggots, and if that is still a motivation there are other choices that don’t come with muck’s baggage. As to the democrats they were maneuvered into a damned if they do damned if they don’t situation. The “base” has been energized and won’t soon forget that vote, the nummie from AZ was forced to retire back into her hole because of her votes. Fetterman will be next. Senate leadership needs to change and it will. The Europeans are avoiding teslas like the plague and so to now are our fellow Americans, the people who rode that stock up are now looking at a long slide down, all because of his ego. 2+2 still equals 4, in a population with 30 million assault weapons, the destruction of a government that has supported so many will have it’s consequences.
fetterman is a HUGE disappointment to me! I'm not in PA, but I wrote lots of postcards--on MY own time--to support him.
I have left messages and emails referring to what I vaguely remember of his campaign: he supposedly has inked the dates of people who were killed by violence when he was mayor.
I asked HAVE YOU ADDED THE DATE THAT DEMOCRACY DIED ALSO??
edit: I did indeed write on my own time, but I meant to write on my own DIME. I paid for the postcards and all the stamps. :-(
So so so so disappointed. He's a MAGA in cargo shorts.
I don't think Fetterman will run. He is really a fish out of water. I agree with your comments. We are basically in a civil war right now.
Durbin, Shaheen and Peters are retiring. Good riddence. That leaves Gillibrand (Al Franken is degenerate so MUST leave the Senate), Hassan (voted for most of Trump's nominees) and Cortez Masto who must love the Goldren Tresses of Dear Leader. Schumer was afraid Trump would convince New York voters he was a Palestinian. Fetterman.......
I dont understand why those three soon to be retired did not vote against the CR. They dont have to worry about raising money, being primaried, or fearing for their lives anymore. Gillibrand follows Schumer.
Counterintuitively, that may be the very reason they voted to allow the bill to reach the floor and thus be passed -- they knew their vote would be unpopular, but they don't have to worry about protecting their seat. Still, I don't know what they are achieving by capitulating to Trump, other than perhaps forestalling the recession which Trump seems determined to inflict upon the U.S.
No, recession is already here. Trump will do what he does whether congress gives him permission or not. I see nothing but a bleak economic horizon for the near and longer term no matter what resistance does. This was a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation, but now what they do has congressional approval. They are bent on destruction of our system, whether they have permission or not. Better to deny them permission and let the consequences fall on their heads, rather than say "congress approved this."
I'm not so sure, Gary. I'm with Pelosi, and that's a stretch for me. AOC is spot on and come hell or high water, the time is now. Give the bastards free reign is the consequence of either decision.
It's been many decades since I held a Sprinfield, but I was dead shot back in the day. It is time to meet power with power. The MFRs have to SEE it. I stand by the oath I took in 1967 . WE must NEVER waiver. NEVER.
Listen to the women, god damn it!
Ransom, I maintain weapons proficiency; if you shot well with a Springfield, get yourself an AR-15. You'll do quite well with it.
I'll be shoulder to shoulder with you.
At first I wasn’t listening and wasn’t watching the game. I was and still am very opposed to the bill. I see the strategy and I also agree with Gary. As for Jennis question, there were many rump voters that are not core maggots. Seems like in most polls, that number is around 30%. These are such f’in crazy times. Thanks for sharing your different view points. I am an independent and I like to think, given all the scenarios and options I am open minded
Watch for shareholder lawsuits against Musk. Big dollars being lost. May come from pension funds …
Sorry Gary, but play along with these gangsters that are destroying the lives of thousands of Federal workers, destroying Federal agencies, destroying our allies, and running the country independent of Congress and the courts is a sell out. Our government is already shut down and controlled by oligarchs.
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I have concluded that a major weakness that defeats Democrats is their delusion that the trumpletons will change their minds when things get bad enough. This delusion may be as instrumental in the defeat of democracy as whatever the Trusk administration is up to.
Assuming this was the basis of Schumer's bet, he lost. Big time.
At this point, I'm convinced that talking to delusional Democrats is as futile as talking to Trump cult members. But on the unlikely chance that my words might reach someone who might be persuaded to join me in reality, here goes:
MAGA. Believers. Will. Never. Change. Their. Minds. Never. Ever.
MAGA is not about politics. MAGA is not about prosperity. MAGA is not about morality. MAGA isn't even about hate. MAGA is about identity. Team spirit. Period.
All those other issues are operands, and they're crucial. But the rank-and-file MAGA believer has no deep understanding of those issues beyond a bumper-sticker sound-bite. The true essence of the MAGA movement is the sense of belonging to something that is stronger than any one individual. And they are not giving that up, no matter what valid arguments are presented to them. Ultimately, MAGA is a religion. And it's as nigh on impossible to convince a MAGA believer to abandon their beliefs as to convince someone to abandon their religion.
Look, apart from an armed struggle and/or a Prussian briefcase, the only shot at defeating the Putrid-Rump coup is to flip Congress in 2026—both the Senate and House, but at least one or the other. Flipping both the House and Senate could mean impeaching and convicting both Trump and Vance—giving the Democrats the presidency by succession. However, this ain’t going to happen by counting on MAGA voters to switch sides the more they get their rumps dragged further in Musk’s muck.
Long-time strategist James Carville has chided those urging congressional Democrats to fight, presumably because if they do so the trump cabal will simply target them to keep their cult energized. Instead, Carville would have congressional Democrats do nothing as they lay in wait for the White House to implode as its pot of chaos chowder boils over and scalds the faithful. Yet, the power of their cognitive dissonance is sure to transmute those burns into a badge of honor for their fealty to the king.
However, flipping Congress is likely if enough of the nearly 90 million registered voters who did not vote in the 2024 decide to vote in 2026. Reasons for not voting varied, but many voters were sufficiently aggrieved by and disaffected from both Democrats and Republicans to believe that it would not matter which party ran the government. For those now paying attention, they know better, and so the Democratic Party must convince them that their vote in 2026 matters.
Ignoring Carville’s counsel, congressional Democrats, along with Democrat officials across the country, must begin a full-court press to mobilize the 2024 non-voting registered voters. When confronted with the possibility of these voters voting in 2026, Republicans in the Senate and House, who are up for reelection, are likely to find themselves in a no-win predicament, because they can’t appeal to the non-MAGA crowd without losing their MAGA base of support.
Of course, confronted by this dilemma, the MAGA White House may decide its only option is to suspend the 2026 elections by invoking the Insurrection Act and declaring martial law. In turn, this strategy would depend upon either a false-flag operation in-country or invading Canada, Mexico, Panama or Greenland with the purpose of fomenting mass protests at home—voila, the insurrection to be put down.
Yes, this sounds insane, but with sociopaths running the government, we dismiss this scenario at our peril.
Agree. At this point in time, no scenario is too insane for me to seriously consider.
Actually, I ended my comment before I finished expressing my thoughts because I didn't want to turn it into a Dickens novel.
In my opinion, Democrats must stop being nice and following the rules. To win, we must "fight fire with fire."
1. Create a list of grievances and hammer it. "Joy" didn't work in 2024.
2. Build a large, strong network of independent and social media; bright, mirror images of Newsmax, OAN and Rogan's pig sty.
3. Reclaim patriotism as a Democratic value, not GOP's or MAGA's.
4. Create a religious fervor for the Democratic Party. We almost got there in 2024, but lost too many voters due to the next point.
5. It pains me to write this, but the presidential ticket must be young, white, male and charismatic. This is the only demographic sufficient numbers of voters will turn out for. Again, Democratic leadership is delusional, thinking the U.S. electorate has matured beyond the white patriarchy that the nation was built on. Unlike any other developed nation, the U.S. is uniquely a "cowboy country." Maybe in a couple more generations, with the proper education and coaxing, Americans can trust a woman. But now is not the time to press that agenda.
Again, I deeply regret admitting our collective misogyny, but the next elections must be won by Democrats. Later, we can sort out our values.
Agree, but MAGA voters are not the only ones who voted for Trump.
But anyone who voted for Trump joined the movement and supported MAGAs.
I’m curious to learn more about what Trump/musk could have done in a shutdown. How much power they would have had to reshape - even more- our government agencies for the worse. It must’ve been really grave for ME’s senator King - my senator - to have voted for that budget. He is smart, measured, equitable and absolutely committed to Dem’s ideals - in short I trust him. If he thought a shutdown was a worse alternative for the country, I believe him.
Agree, even though he’s not my senator.
Kate, Gary, and Gina,
This speech by Senator King shows where his heart lies.
https://www.c-span.org/clip/us-senate/user-clip-senator-king-i-me-shows-us-what-an-independent-really-is/5154666
Thanks for posting!
Those two women, along with the Squad, have the strength and courage that most of the male members of Congress lack. I'm hoping that with Run For Something and Justice Democrats we can have a whole new party in a few years starting with school boards and working our way up to President. The old guys need to go along with some of the ridiculous rules like Seniority and no term limits. And, I'm speaking as an 82 year old, so it's not agism, it's common sense.
I’m with you, Dotty. I’m 73, and I am all for new young leadership - starting with the Dems replacing Schumer. I heard Booker (my Senator) and Murphy mentioned. Love both of them, and yes, let’s hope AOC primaries Schumer, but that’s down the road. Why do us old ladies have more fire in us than some of these Senators?
Because we're sick and tired of flaccid old white politicians?
Because we lived through the "no birth control, no credit, no entry" without "a male co-signer" days.
We remember and know it can happen again!
And we are NOT going back. It may look like it temporarily, but I know we humans are capable of doing hard things and are not going to leave this insane mess to the next generation.
Wendy, I like your "have more fire in us." I'm 71 and we've all seen enough to know that the only thing that stops a bully is for them to get a taste of what they are dishing out. I learned that lesson as a first-grader and I've never stopped.
Because it's always been the women in the trenches doing the hard work getting the men elected. Look at Pelosi's background. Years of precinct etc. work before she even thought of running. As I've mentioned, my will gave out when Dobbs was decided. The thousand cuts to all my efforts were bad enough (Bush v Gore for 1) but Dobbs sealed the deal and we left the US for good at the end 2023. However, the 11k miles I put between us and CA isn't enough when we do nothing but watch/read the depressing news.
When we talk about the "old guys need to go" I must remind readers that Bernie is one of them. Let's be selective. Generally speaking, yes, we need new blood to replace the older (and younger) people who are to tired or discouraged or COMFORTABLE to promote change. Two of the loudest, hardest working voices in the room are Bernie and Elizabeth.
Leaders We Deserve is a great progressive organization that David Hogg leads in his position in the DNC. Give it a look!
That's why I said "most" as I adore Bernie and the town halls he's doing are just fantastic. I'd like to see 100 or more other strong Dems out doing them too.
"During a shutdown, the executive branch determines which workers are essential and which are not"
Isn't this exactly what Trump and Musk have been doing for the past six weeks? And what they will undoubtedly continue to do, now that the last checks on their power to hire and fire have been willingly surrendered by the Senate for the next six months?
The President will continue to shrink the government. The list of non-essential employees they use will be the same one they would have used today if there was a shutdown. They will continue to laugh in the faces and ignore the rulings of judges who tell them they are breaking the law. The only way to resist was the filibuster, followed by relentless Democratic messaging so blame was placed on the unaccountable Republican coalition where it belonged. And now that way is gone.
One way or another, by September we'll be running the government on pennies found in couch cushions and breadcrumbs stolen from bird feeders. The only difference is that when people blame Republicans, they can correctly point out that Democrats were complicit in making it happen. Schumer has made sure that we lost both the battle and the war.
Reminds me of that saying, “If you always do what you always did, then you always get what you always got.” There’s so much more Biden could’ve done with his executive powers to head this shit off at the pass. But rather than fight back, male Dems it seems, would rather be seen like the noble captain who goes down with the ship.
“Please pass me some more deck chairs, my arrangement needs a more casual look”—- Capt Schumer
Looking back at the last four or even eight years, there are so many things that could have been done, any one of which would have headed off this crisis. Impeachment and conviction in the Senate after the perfect phone call or January 6th. Aggressive prosecution of Trump for pre- and post-Presidential crimes, instead of bowing to the judicial and extra-judicial delaying tricks of Judge Cannon, the Supreme Court, and others. Congress insisting on enforcing its Article 1 powers as Trump and his unelected sidekick Musk used a non-existent agency to illegally dismantle the government. Sadly, the list has to include President Biden being good for his word, stepping aside and permitting a normal Democratic succession to allow voters to choose the 2024 Presidential ticket.
There have been many checks and balances that could have stopped the coup before it got to this point. Unfortunately, people with the power to stop the conspiracy of Trump and Project 2025 stepped back from the line each time. Now we have to add Schumer's cowardly capitulation to the list.
Well said!!
You're not wrong, I fear.
I get so lost in ‘the double negatives ‘, it’s intentional. “We won’t make those mistakes again”…every time we compromise they get another loophole WE do , in fact ‘compromise’ …eradicated.
The biggest mistake was ‘THE LIE’ let slide until it was too late. ‘Which’ hunt succeeded? Again, the transparency is boldly unprecedented, cleverly disguised unequivocally …. as blame. Every algorithm is used showing how to capitalize on weaknesses..be it the law, public preference, religion, race, or those etceteras …
It doesn’t matter whether they can’t read, they can’t vote, they those ‘we the people’ whose voices stated % wise didn’t want this/that …got steamrolled.
So what % is it that “makes the government illegitimate” per our constitution? Evidentally our constitution is being ignored by any process..1) too slow ( laws/courts), or 2) what he meant to say or 3) he’ll renege on that or 4) “ there will be some pain “ to enact closing each loophole evidenced - slammed doors, sentenced words manipulated or inch by inch …it’s working.
When America wakes up as Little Russia -the truth won’t matter…it spoken will get one thrown out windows or jailed. All over but the crying.
Every faction can be heard,represented, cared for, and needs met. Enough money is obvious.
Lies, misinformation/disinformation must stop .
As brilliant as I too often think I am ….
Perhaps it is too late.
I agree. 100%
Agree , they need to start throwing punches anyway they can. They give the appearance of being complicit. Being nice and waiting for a backlash from the voters to boost the democrats won’t work. Only a handful of democrats seem to get it and the rest sit back quietly hoping for a victory without taking any risks. Risk taking is how the orange one rose to power. As for me, the DNC is not getting one dime from my bank account. They would only waste it.
Sheldon Whitehouse gave a slightly different take on the choice the Dems were given:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1374951147189753?fs=e&mibextid=wwXIfr&fs=e
I am furious with my Illinois Senator Dick Durbin. I have already been furious with him about his not starting impeachment proceedings on Thomas and Alito. So, at this point I am totally disgusted with him.
And of course Bernie leading the way.
Democrats' "signature style of always being THE GOOD GUYS, PLAYING IT SAFE, and doing the right thing, just DOESN'T CUT IT with these GOP gangsters. Plus it's excruciating to watch. Schumer needs to retire to the golf course, and let the likes of AOC and Jasmin Crockett take the reins - those women are beautifully courageous, it's stand aside or lose a limb." WAKE UP, DEMS!!!
So tired of impotent scared dems not standing for anything. Wishy-washy doesn't cut it. We need term limits and age limits - these old fuckers have got to go.
Amen! Kazz, I am astounded that Angus King and Jeanne Shaheen voted for the CR. Perhaps they are trying to hang on to their rural mega- leaning constituents, of which there are plenty in these NE states. Proud of Senator Sanders and Welsh of Vermont.(plenty in VT too).
It's Good Faith trying to deal with Bad Faith. The first step for Good Faith is to recognize and reveal what Bad Faith is doing and what Bad Faith wants.
I won’t be surprised if she primaries him with Queen Nancy’s blessing. We need fighters right now!
What worries me is that NY State is not all Democrat. There are many areas of conservative thinking that aren't always on board with AOC. We need her voice in our government.
Yes, watching with horrific fascination! They didn't have to eat the shit sandwich. In a shutdown the judges would continue to do their work. I am confident that things will backfire for mump....
Corporate Dems, going back to Bill Clinton competing with Rs at the trough of campaign finance share a major % of responsibility for buying into and supporting the fascist mafia state oligopolists’ matrix of political technology. When AOC & Jasmin Crocket see something they say something, with clarity and conviction for justice. With weak Dem “leadership” continuing to stare in the headlight of the speeding train, democracy defenders are realizing we need to reach out by all means, to the R & Ind. voters who naively supported the Musk-Trump-Vance (MTV) bovine fecal matter - reality teevee revival roadshow. They too, are being victimized by MTV. Helping them to stop stumbling around in cognitive dissonance and bust out of it could accelerate them coming around to seeing it is they who have the power & responsibility to recall their traitorous & sychophant congress members in the house & senate. All those helping in illegal & unconstitutional destruction of democracy, including the mislabeled “conservative” SCOTUS judges deserve to be prosecuted, convicted, and imprisoned for hard time, to life. <> Responsibility = the ability to respond. It’s past due time for all people who understand the truth of self reliance in the context of social responsibility to take to heart the slogan, See Something - Say Something, and Do Something to save, reform, and strengthen our ship of state. <> https://youtu.be/1ti2YCFgCoI?si=KVguV8ehlvxRV53T
Belle should be on everyone's daily watchlist. Clear, reasoned explanations of issues that viewers write in that affect everyday people, with a base that includes independents and MAGA Republicans. I've been listening for 3 years now, and haven't heard one of the shows where I didn't learn something.
Thank you for encouraging people to watch Belle’s videos! She is part of a great team that also produces longer videos on a weekly basis where they go to more than one issue at a time. I’ve been watching for a bunch of years as well, and know her husband used to be the face of the Channel. A brilliant man who had to take a break because he burned out. They’re smart people, but they are also just human beings, not gods.
As are we all.
Well, I had an interaction with somebody yesterday who thought he was a god… Could do no wrong… Nor could his mentor. In other words, he was in a cult. And not the Trump cult. It’s a story for another day. 🤮
A cult of malignant narcissism. Seems to me we all have a narcissistic side; but without balance and some degree of integrity we can become "Mr. Hyde". Trump did. Elon did. The men who flew passenger planes into building did. Vainglory become a monstrous thing.
Can you please provide a link to Belle's Substack presence? I can't seem to locate her except on youtube. Thanks.
Belle and her team are exclusively on YouTube and Patreon
Thanks Steve! No wonder I couldn't find her.
She and Tennessee Brando should run for office.
Thank you -- up to now I was unfamiliar with her.
How do I find Belle? Link please. Thanks.
She’s only on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0YvoAYGgdOfySQSLcxtu1w/videos
I subscribe to six substacks and can hardly afford any more, nor can I mentally process all the information without doubling the hours in my day. There are hundreds of voices being absolutely brilliant. I am fortunate to afford to know six of them. It is a fragmented, expensive, and disorganized way for the opposition to have an impact. I’d love to have 15 minutes of Walter back, with a couple of print sources to do deep dives, but that world is gone. Rupert entertained it away. But what we have is like the White Roses of Germany, dedicated but easy to overcome. Where is a leader who can unite. Bernie is the one who is still conscious it seems. And Mark Kelly maybe
I feel the same way. I subscribe to five Substacks and try to read them all including Meidas but some days I can't face them. I will be 85 next month and worry most for the future of my four grandsons.
Jamie Raskin, Adam Schiff are brilliant leaders
It would be nice if you could bundle several substacks. I can’t afford to subscribe to all of the ones I like. HCR and Joyce Vance are my favorites.
Who do you follow? Thanks!
Steady (Dan Rather), HCR, TC in LA, Robert Hubbell, Judd Legumm, Greg Olear. And The Contrarians, forgot I added them.
Good you tube. I think I am going to register as independent. I just don’t see the upside to letting Trump have his way. The government shutdown is pretty bad but at least all the cards would be on the table and sooner rather than later
Not a useful move. Get to work with Indivisible! All of you. That’s being both helpful and positive. Right now Musk has thrown millions into a Wisconsin Supreme Court race. You can go to TonyTheDemocrat, get postcards and addresses, and write them to voters. Putting Judge Susan Crawford on the WI Supreme
Court is our chance for a BIG win.
MAGA is almost exclusively about hate - “The Anger Games ….”
Richard-the hate that motivates too many has been built up for centuries. Most people can't grasp or understand where it's coming from or why it's motivating so many people to risk tearing the country apart in ways that we may never recover from-certainly not in our lifetimes.
I would encourage people to stay registered Dem and use their votes in primaries to change the party. I'm also a member of the Working Families Party. They are building an alternative party by endorsing more progressive Dem candidates to appear on their ballot line. I always vote for my Dem choice on the WFP line whenever possible.
I changed to Unaffiliated and I believe i will get both Democrat and Republican ballots. Of course my views are more aligned with the Democratic Party.
How about more "radical liberal lunatics" joining the Republican Party to challenge their ideas, stances, actions and candidates?
I like that idea
My reaction also, Current Dems seem to be either impotent or complicit
In PA one cannot vote in the primary as a registered Independent. A big drawback and factor for me in order to vote.
Disgusted by the inability of some of the Leaders in the Democratic Party to adapt to the fact that this is fascism. All the old ways and rules are off the table. Stop being nice to evil. Stop expecting evil people to react in a sane way.
Schumer, Jeffries and the Senators who voted yes must go.
Did Jeffries vote yes? I thought the House Dems held, except for one. 3 of the Dem Senators are going.
Gary Peters, my Democratic Senator also voted to support the Republican bill. He is retiring before he can be voted out of office. I am deeply ashamed for my state. While I've been firing off postcards and emails and attending rallies, my Senator stabbed me in the back.
The reaction of the press to this vote by 8 senators fails to take into account that they are among the most intelligent. Their reasoning is, in a bad situation, perfectly sound. It is reasonable not to shut down the government as stating it again could prove impossible. At least we will have no less transparency in this horrible situation. The condemnation that press and Democrats are spewing makes both look silly. Instead let Dems get to work on what they can do such as supporting Judge Susan Crawford in Wisconsin. A big win there would be really important. Election Day: April first. Give Elon the Terrible another loss (11 million at last count.)
DO you know what happened to him?
Been a big fan since finding that channel. We first saw Beau of the Fifth Column but he was a bit of a workaholic so Belle at the Ranch took over and she is just as good. Excellent channel to add to your daily playlist.
Belle is right to a certain point. The choices open to dems weere bitter no matter how it is viewed; but allowing a shutdown government to be manipulated by trump and President Musk would put us in a worse position from which might never be able to recover. AOL is a bright young woman but like so many young people she is impetuous and wants things done in a hurry. complain all you want about how slow governmental wheels turn, it is that that pace that allows more to come on board through careful rather than knee-jerk reflection. If we have not our lesson from prior campaigns it is time to take a deep breath and really look at how we lost the last election--and dems did. futile to blame it on Biden alone; it was the democratic party that did it to themselves by always wanting more faster and turning off so much of those middle-of-the-roaders.
Wasnt there a lot of voter suppression? And Musk is good at manipulating computers.....
I love Belle, and her companion longeryoutube videos "The Roads with Belle" and from her team "Interstate news" and "Research Road".
I stopped right at your comment before reading any more. We can have spirited discussions on this forum without attacking each other. I hope anyone who disagrees with you (I'm actually in agreement with you) doesn't become insulting. The Dems truly were handed a *stuff* sandwich.
Thanks for the positive response. I think people in this community are generally constructive in their interactions. But occasionally, I see comments that are insulting. And sometimes people offer solutions that are not real solutions in my opinion. If I feel I can knock down their suggestions, I will attempt to do so. In those situations, I try to stick to the facts. But we are all only human. And the interactions here will sometimes be less than ideal. But at least I have not seen a lot of MAGA trolls trying to create chaos here.
Since I learned how to block the trolls, I don't see them anymore so I'm unsure if they are gone. Good riddance.
Haven't seen them for a while.
Also, brava on your Lenten vow!!
Ally, I dropped something on the floor and let one fly. :-(
Also, I wonder if it counts if I'm THINKING those bad words???
My initial response was "absolutely not!". Then I checked the OED:
"noun
the use of language regarded as coarse, blasphemous, or otherwise unacceptable in polite or formal speech in order to express anger or other strong emotion.
"there's a lot of swearing in the show""
Note: "...polite or formal SPEECH"
I'd also allow for "excited utterances", especially under extreme conditions.
When I broke my left little toe (a rum bottle fell from the top of the refrigerator where we were escaping our first Mother's Day without either of our mothers) I said words I didn't even know that I knew...
Absolutely not! Not saying something you know you shouldn't is actually tallied to your credit! You have to trust God on that, but she's New Testament, and worthy of same . . .
"I look forward to supporting AOC, should she decide to primary Schumer. This is a dark day for the Democratic Party, but I’m not surprised it has come to this." Yes.
It's no mystery why politicians dread being primaried.
Successful or not, primarying Schumer would provide a jolt to the existing agenda and disrupt business as usual. In a primary subjects an incumbent wants to avoid would shoulder their way in and he or she'd be on the spot to defend their track record and answer the tough questions in public. In an ideal world, for these reasons both parties should routinely hold primaries on their senior leaders - it'd make them all more accountable. Of course, since this is an age of career politicians both Dem and Repub office-holders agree that primaries are to be avoided.
And that's a damn shame!
Neither Belle of the Ranch or Beau of the Fifth Column are on Bluesky. Send them this:
Impeach. Feathers of Hope. https://jerryweiss.substack.com/p/remove-impeach-impeach
Keep your eye on the ball.
Yes, let AOC lead - all the young ones should lead. We are in a different era - let the young lead!!!! adding I'm 92 years old
The problem with an emotional choice right now -- in either direction -- hangs on the dilemma of foreseeable consequences and their probabilities. ⚖️
Team Schumer (thank you, David Brooks): Democratic Senators look like they are rolling over but put in place some measure of accountability. That can build a coalition, hopefully to retake the Houses of Congress in 2026. A shut down removes what little visibility is left over the destructive actions taken by Trump and his MUSKrat lover. 😱
Representative Ocasio Córtez et al.: Resistance starts NOW. There is little time to build a consensus and this bill, as is, cedes more power from the Congress to the Project 2025 bomb-throwers. Counting on prudence and reason to bring M.A.G.A.s may not work; reports abound of M.A.G.A.s upset with Trump 2.0 willing again to vote for him. 😳
My daughter texted me that it’s hard to be a Democrat.
Damned if you did ..or damned if you didn’t . 🎶oh the games people play now..🎶 the lyrics of the South in so many ways .
Belle of the Ranch is new to me. Thanks for recommending the video!
You’re welcome!
Schumer must go. Why did the Dems in the Senate vote for this spineless weenie as a “leader”?? He had been near-useless for years, constantly being out maneuvered by Moscow Mitch. He and the other brainless cowards that gave up on democracy need to be replaced ASAP.
Appeasement of a bully NEVER WORKS.
Sadly some never learn.
The underlying issue with the Democrat's actions is that they are still entirely REACTIVE. They have had the Project 2025 playbook for well over a year, and it is being followed, with little pushback from Democrats, The Curtis Yarvin fringe is pushing even more radical far-right policies and they are gaining traction with Musk and Vance.
Why the Democrats have not yet gotten together a shadow policy cabinet, and identified expert spokespeople to be discussing the dangers out ahead of Trump's rollout is political malpractice. It's not enough to just say how bad Trump's policies and actions are. Democrats have to be providing alternatives.
Instead, they seem to be relying on the judiciary to rein Trump in. That will only work until the day that Trump defies a court order, or the first time SCOTUS rules in favor of Trump on a separation of powers issue.
Schumer's flipflop was an example. Democrats are trying to jump on outrages after they happen. They are playing catchup because they haven't gamed out all the potential issues, all the ways that Trump can achieve his goals. With the 6 month CR, there were all kinds of overlapping issue about special powers from multiple laws that have been enacted as well as in the Constitution. Applications of sequestration, impoundment, timelines in government shutdowns, powers from the multiple laws related to the National Emergencies Act which Trump enacted on Day One are all in the mix. No Democrat seems to have pulled together the whole picture, so no Democrats seemed to understand exactly how dangerous this is.
Can anyone in this forum give me a bullet pointed list of all the powers Trump currently has during the CR? Can any Democrat? Maybe if the Senators actually knew what was possible they could have found unity.
The underlying issue with the Democrat's actions is that they are still entirely REACTIVE. They have had the Project 2025 playbook for well over a year, and it is being followed, with little pushback from Democrats.
Democrats are trying to jump on outrages after they happen. They are playing catchup because they haven't gamed out all the potential issues, all the ways that Trump can achieve his goals.
Well said!
In Hopium Chronicles yesterday, Simon Rosenberg made the point that,
“ To me the most compelling reason to pass the CR and keep the government funded is that WE ARE NOT ADEQUATELY PREPARED for the fight that would have ensued. Simply, Senator Schumer has failed to use these last few months to start forging his team into an effective fighting force. The decision not to use the most outrageous Trump nominees to test new tactics, introduce new arguments and upgrade Senate and House comms was one of the biggest political mistakes I’ve seen since I came to Washington more than 30 years ago. 6 million people could have been put to work making the case in every state and district against these outrageous nominees. We could have leaned on Dems to lead protests in red states, putting pressure on the wobbly Rs, and start building our political muscle for future battles - as the House Dems are doing right now.”
https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/old-dogs-and-new-tricks-a-letter
“In this age, in this country, public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed. Whoever molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces judicial decisions.” — Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).
If there is a reason to believe that this age is any different, I have no idea what that reason would be, and so I’ll assume there is no reason. Therefore, it is clear to me that the problem is not politicians who are Democrats, and it is instead the entire anti-MAGA movement.
MAGA is employing the terrorist’s strategy of getting the other side to react impulsively to distract us from talking to each other and developing an effective strategy. They’re laughing their asses off when they see us yelling at each other.
Just a suggestion: Why not figure out how Ukraine has been so effective, and then follow its example?
Democrats are not doing the work. They are standing back and yelling.
Look at us here.
Dams are afraid to take a stand on anything but women’s rights and abortion they should’ve owned Biden. They should have spoken highly of him and they should embrace the values of the Democratic Party truck takes a mistake and turns it into the goose that lay the golden egg we should learn from that They should still be telling what a good job I did still thinking of registering independent
Georgia YOU should run for the House or Senate!
(You also have very informative newsletters!)
Glad you are enjoying my posts, and thanks for the compliment. The Democratic party needs young blood—I am Schumer’s age. That gives me perspective but not the energy required.
The Project 2025 folk have been putting together their plans since Reagan. Each Republican administration has integrated many aspects of the updated plans. The funding and dedication to this over the last 44 years is enormous. Destructive of democracy or not, it is a tour de force of effort.
Over that time it is like Democrats saw what was happening but couldn’t believe it. Citizen’s United was in 2007—you would think that over 18 f***ing years when they were in power they would have written legislation to negate it. If they had we would be in a far different place.
"...when [Dems] were in power they would have written legislation to negate [Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission]..."
I, too, wish Citizens United had been overturned or undone; alas, not yet. But it's not for lack of trying, trying & trying again. Check out these data & see if there's an effort afoot to channel your support.
https://www.citizen.org/article/by-the-numbers/
Thanks for the link--but I think that actually supports my point.
"22 States and Washington D.C. have called for a Constitutional Amendment.
121 Members of Congress are co-sponsoring legislation to Overturn Citizens United. "
Why isn't it being co-sponsored by EVERY Democrat in Congress? In every year since the ruling? It would have been easier immediately after the ruling came down to pass a resolution for an amendment to the constitution because the amount of money in those earlier elections was way less, and there were still centrist Republicans in Congress who might have supported it on principle.
I know that everything is clearer in hindsight, but my gut tells me that there has been a repeated failure to imagine the negative consequences by Democratic leadership in the last 15 years, and that has led to where we are now.
You look much younger!
I LEARN from your newsletters as I do HCR, Joyce Vance, Thom Hartmann, Timothy Snyder, Olga Lautman & more! Hard to keep up with everything.
But we can’t forget to walk briskly 1/2 hr/day for our heart and lift weights for our bones (both help our brain!).
(I am close - 2 years younger). Schumer graduated Valedictorian, got a perfect score on the SAT test and graduated from Harvard.
I have them too, valedictorian of a class of 1200 at 15, Perfect SATs, BS, MS at 19, PhD at 23 from Princeton.
But those creds don’t guarantee wild success. What does is having powerful mentors while avoiding damage from the harassment. Few women of our age did. That’s why the Nancy Pelosis and RBGs and Elizabeth Warrens are so few and far between. And why women are having to fight still and again for our rights, over the same issues from 50 years ago.
Right now, my thoughts often go to how different a country we would have now if all of the talent in half our population for half a century had been put to its highest use.
I knew you were smart!
And here we have an unqualified, .•uneducated, uninformed, emotionally challenged bully leading our country when we could have had a highly educated, bright, caring woman.
• His Wharton professor said Trump was ‘the dumbest student’ he ever had. (Just because you attended a University doesn’t mean you are educated. There is a reason he threatens to sue anyone who releases his grades/records).
My greatest complaint is that they don’t teach people how to connect the dots back to a personal level. Every chapter of Project 2025 can be related back to a personal impact and the question becomes “is that ok with you? Does that work for you?” Make people think more!
All the talk is too esoteric and academic…connect the dots!
The leadership roles are too reliant on seniority as a determining factor. Certainly seniority has its place, if wisdom and political savvy about the political realities - "how things work (or don't) now" - come with it. The MAGA-ized Republican Party bears little resemblance to the party he came up through the ranks dealing with. That's the case with so many among the old line Democrats. The MAGA-repubs go at politics like it is a street fight. They bring the equivalent of brass knuckles, knives and Saturday Night Specials; the Dems show up with a volume of the Marquis of Queensbury Rules. The Dems can take the "high road," but that's not where this "rumble" is happening. Not even close. Trump obviously thinks he can ignore the laws and processes that don't work in his favor. He just writes another Executive Order.
Or rubber-stamps one (with a Sharpie) written by the Heritage Foundation 1-51 years ago ...
While it sounds great, it seems the “the high road” is not a very effective place to be. And boy, we better find the “right road” soon or we are going to be lost….God-awful lost!
Taking the high road won't get any attention from the voters and that's why our message, if we have one at all, reach only few people in the the chorus and nobodyelse. We keep going nowhere. Waste of time and our future as a nation. 😔
OK, we just received another "best ever" from HCR reporting the thick political intrigue at the Capitol over the days leading to the "cloture" vote.
Out here on the West Coast, my "pre-cloture" post was, "Must Dump Sin Schumer" which is not a typo. My weak slogan did not work.
My political focus has been focusing on elections around the country specifically supporting Judge SUSAN CRAWFORD via 'ActBlue'. Judge Crawford is running for a 10 year term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court which is coming up on 4/1/2025. That's 18 days from now folks.
Go Judge Crawford. I am not waiting for 2026.
Thank you for supporting Judge Susan Crawford, Bryan!
Her opponent is being strongly funded by Musk.
This election will affect WI for years to come.
Her first name is Susan. I, too, am interested in this Wisconsin race to the point that I have contributed to the Wisconsin Democratic party (see Ben Wikler who ran for head of the DNC and lost - I think he should have won). I also have contributed to Susan Crawford's campaign and I even watched the YouTube video of the only debate between Crawford and Brad Schimel, her Republican opponent who is a Trump worshipper and whose campaign is being massively supported with Elon Musk's millions. Sadly, as a Virginia resident, I cannot vote for Crawford in person. Here, I paraphrase a comment by Wikler: "We can't outspend Musk...but we CAN out-organize him!"
Who gets to vote for the chairman of the DNC? Who has the influence?
Martin had quite a lot of endorsements.
Martin had a proven record of building ALL precinct in his state not just "blue" districts.
Well that’s very important!
Danka.
It only works for considerate bullies.
: ). Considerate bullies, eh? Oxymoron of the week (if not longer)!
J L Graham is doing very good work on several platforms. "Good Trouble" : --- )
"Good Trouble" was what the late Representative John R. Lewis urged us to get in. My favorite sweatshirt says "Good Trouble," and it inspires me. : )
Every time Schumer makes some speech or announcement -- always reading, even if it's a short message; never looking at the camera; those glasses perched on the end of his nose like a character out of Dickens, it makes me want to scream.
You and my 88 year old husband. Get him off camera and off the Senate floor, please!
That Burlingame vs Brooks story is new to me. I know I’ve seen illustrations from the day of some congressman beating another with a cane…but didn’t know the context, or the protracted denouement. Fascinating, and instructive, and INSPIRING. And, o brilliant Dr. Cox Richardson, I appreciate your quietly laying it all out so clearly and meaningly, and letting it speak for itself!
The story is not new to me. Heather did a good job of laying out what happened leading up to the duel which never happened.
(It definitely feels spiritually aligned with the group of Dems who wanted to block the CR from even being voted on led by Ocasio-Cortez and supported by my very own Congresswoman, Nancy Pelosi.)
However I do think it should be pointed out that the Burlingame speech was one of the events that ultimately led to the Civil War, and to the death of hundreds of thousands of young men and women of all races.
It sounds like a great strategy but was it? Maybe the entire war was inevitable but in an era with nuclear weapons and a huge military complex now led by Trump, are we seriously prepared for another fracture of this country and the violence that may well ensue?
Maybe you are, but I'm much less convinced. I really hate the nasty comments made against Chuck Schumer who has tried hard to lead this country's only decent remaining political party in a time of major strife.
I say this as a far leftist who would LOVE to believe that a major confrontation with the Trumplicans will lead to their capitulation.
But I don't believe that for a second. They are ruthless and they are just looking for an opportunity to rise up and set aside all the aspects of democracy that we so depend on. So far the courts have been doing a fairly decent job of pushing back. Not perfect by any means but in this hellhole if any one expected perfection they sure haven't been in a war before.
We need to be able to hold on to the limited control we have. That requires that the Government NOT shutdown and give Trump and skuM the excuse to finally fully set aside the normal government.
Yes I know many of you hate the idea that we don't have an immediate and workable solution to the dilemma we face. But THAT is reality. And the difference between theory and reality is that in theory there is no difference but in reality... well you can finish that one yourself.
Suffice it to say I think Schumer and his followers did a brave of obviously not very popular thing. It was not easy to buck the Ocasio-Cortez-Pelosi group but I think in the end he did the right thing. Possibly the ONLY thing because the alternative may have been the step that led us into a true civil war.
And unlike 1861, this time we don't have the "cards".
I am one who jumped on the bandwagon, calling my delegation and saying don't vote for the budget! Don't give them any more power! Make them negotiate! Stand up! But then I heard Schumer. They will have all the executive power they want in a shut down scenario - and won't care that people don't get services. They will decide what services are essential. They would have no incentive to reopen the government. This was no easy decision. Schumer could have just saved us from their rapid completion of the coup. I don't blame him.
We don't have the cards because we don't have the $$$$ to buy elections. Kamala/Walz raised over a billion dollars from small donations and Elon chips in over $250 billion. And he continues to do the same thing in Wisconsin and other places.
The playing field isn't even close to being level. If anyone wins the lottery will you please set aside $50 million to offset Musk and the other oligarchs?
And continue fighting Trump/Musk.
Gary, we should try to keep our own money numbers straight even if the tRumpsters and Muskrats can’t; Musk "chipped in" somewhere between $250 MILLION and $285 MILLION, not billions to the tRump campaign.
Sorry. Senior moment -- millions not billions.
In the long running battle between the “corrupt” justice system and the t***p organization over his many criminal activities in his lifetime, it was his millions that allowed him to have a stable of compromised attorneys on retainer. He learned many years and lawsuits ago how to legally out maneuver the courts to his advantage. And because of his upbringing by a tyrannical, racist and abusive father, he knows the most effective means to win in a dog fight. He is rich, he is powerful and he is utterly ruthless in the face of a civilized opponent who refuses to leave the political high ground and get down in the mud with him. Plus, he possesses the slimy charm and the lack of any moral and ethical consciousness that lets him snake charmer hypnotize gullible Americans into identifying themselves with his claims of righteous indignation and to believe that only he can make America great again. In their desperation, anger and fear, they will volunteer to go ahead of him over the edge of the cliff and into oblivion. We have to stop being observers of the incredulously insane behavior of his supporters, close our open mouths and resist the better angels of our decency, if we can ever hope to turn this tsunami tide of Democratic destruction. I wish it weren’t so, but it is.
Ruthless - great term for them. No compromise as Grover Norquist got all of them to sign the no new taxes pledge. They will happily let the government fail to further their agenda.
Not all of them Rickey. MacKenzie Scott has donated almost $20 billion and continues to give with no strings attached. She has assisted over 2000 organizations. And Belinda and Bill Gates have donated large sums as has Warren Buffett. There are dozens of others. And they aren't out for lower taxes, just to increase their fortunes. The avoid inheritance taxes by donating to trusts and help us through their trusts.
The Walton heirs are the richest family in the US. What have they done? Have they squeezed their suppliers to lower prices? No, they squeezed their suppliers to buy jets and yachts and 15,000 square foot homes.
Let's shame them all into giving back to their communities. Lower prices would be good, but let's shame them into helping the people that made them rich.
DonOLD and Elon hate donating to help others. Let's start a campaign to shame them.
Interesting ignorance of facts here. Look I don't love the Waltons or Walmart (and I used to work for them once a long time ago) but fact is Walmart HAS lowered prices in huge ways. You can hate their power to do so but don't say they haven't done it because they have. A basket of groceries at Walmart is about 10-15% cheaper than at Safeway or Kroger. This is also true for Amazon.
And interestingly people who will tell you how bad Walmart is will also tell you to boycott them and pay higher prices at your local stores.
You can't have it both ways. Either they DO make things cheaper or they don't.
But HOW, WHAT and WHY do they make things cheaper Jon?
They almost single handedly destroyed the textile industry in the US and then manipulated the Chinese and Bangladesh companies by saying they would find different sources of their cheap crappy clothes that don't last. I know, because they drove my brother-in-law out of business. They threatened him and when he couldn't afford their price cuts, he went under.
Sears used to do the same thing only mostly with US manufacturers.
Anyway, cheaper isn't necessarily a good thing. Have you ever bought bananas at Walmart. I have and they suck compared to Chiquita.
I don't care about cheap if the quality sucks and the company is undercutting their competition to stay in business.
I also don't shop at Safeway or Albertson's because of the way they treat their employees. I know the clerks at my local grocery stores and they have told me how much they make and it's better than at Walmart and at Shaw's (an Albertson owned chain).
We are lucky that we can afford to pay more, but you get what you pay for.
I was black balled from IBM for buying Hitachi mainframe and peripherals in the 1980's. They went to the Board of the company I was working for and told them I was stupid for buying Hitachi. Bigger, better, faster, cheaper was what Hitachi had over IBM. And their systems support was better than IBM at the time.
And it is interesting that you acknowledge that sometimes the foreign brands like Hitachi are bigger, better, faster AND cheaper than local high-priced brands like IBM.
Gary I am guessing that you have not yet had the "luxury" of living on Social Security and no other income or savings. Trust me, if you really want bananas and you have to get them from Amazon or Walmart, you will tolerate that they aren't as good as the pricier ones but they are still bananas.
Your comment that "we can afford to pay more" makes it clear that you come from more privilege than some of us, and ignores the millions of us who can not afford it and have to make sometimes critical decisions about whether to buy two items from Walmart or Amazon or pay more at the local store and only afford one. We (my household) tried the latter and it simply didn't work for us. Its certainly not perfect but we are able to make our limited Social Security go far enough to eat more or less as we did before I stopped working by buying most of our stuff from Amazon.
Does that make me proud? No. But it does keep me solvent and right now, that is what I need to be, especially as the Trump monster destroys more and more of our economy.
Yes. We must remember that the will of the people is slow to turn. Wasn't Nixon reelected after Watergate was news? It took time. Thank you, Jon. We don't want to slip into violence.
We may not want to "slip into violence" but I fear that is going to be the only way we take our country back from the fascists. As rumpy said, "fight, fight, fight." They will not go quietly or willingly but will hold on to power with all they've got. Is there any military still loyal to the Constitution and the United States of America? I will be very surprised if we can take back our country without physical violence.
With all due respect, I have found personally that worry about the future is a waste of time. I say that as an Eckert Tolle fan and long-time AlAnon member. What we do now, in the present moment, is the question. Considering that violence is even possible in the future is all I need to know to push myself to call my representatives, write here, write letters to the editor, talk with people calmly about the issues.
No. Nixon’s role in Watergate was not public until after the 1972 election. The House didn’t start investigating until early 1973, before the presence of Nixon’s tapes was discovered.
But, yes, We the People seem to be slow to catch on. I’m afraid given the absence of a unifying journalistic voice, it won’t happen this time.
Thank you for that correction. You are right. I hope we learned something from Watergate. I think we did. We learned, some of us, that our leaders don't always behave.
We don't have the unifying journalistic voice, as you say, but we do have internet. Protests started in my small town just by a woman emailing a few friends, who contacted others, and within hours there were a hundred people at the courthouse with thrown together signs. Every one interviewed said they wanted to do something, anything. There will now be a weekly protest. The judges are doing a good job. Trump is asking Putin to be nice to the trapped Ukrainian soldiers, putting that in the news. Orders for F-35 jets have been cancelled. The CEOs are catching on that Trump is not business savvy after all. Damage will be done, but I am hopeful.
I totally agree, Jon. Thank You for explaining what I was feeling.
Thank you! My immediate concern with HRC's excellent history is that she failed to take it to the next step which was an excruciating civil war. I suspect that MAGA have a lot more guns than we do and that it wouldn't take much to light the fuse. Yes, it may already be too late but this vote didn't really change anything -- change will still come from the grass root organizations and actions if it can come from anywhere. I wish that people would stop reviling the people in Congress. If it weren't such a miserable place to be, maybe we'd get better people stepping up to serve.
"If it weren't such a miserable place to be, maybe we'd get better people stepping up to serve." OK.
Invoking the brave speech by Representative Burlingame -- also new to me -- makes sense, but not quite yet. 🙏
The problem is that Trump and his Project 2025 buddies have engineered a constitutional blitz-krieg whereas the forces that impelled Representative Burlingame's fine speech had been building for at least two years, more likely two decades. 🤔
The constitutionalists are huddling, trying to map out a winning strategy. Though pro-democracy forces appear indecisive, our defenders of the republican experiment are wise to take time to reason out a way forward. Yet the defenders can not take much time to agree upon a plan lest it be too little, too late. 😱
Thank you Jon, I hope that you will repost your entire message on FB, IG, and other social media outlets.
“We need to be able to hold on to the limited control we have. That requires that the Government NOT shutdown…”
I appreciate your words and observations. What a terrible place. Caught between two bad bads! I can understand his logic. Just a hard pill to swallow. But what pill isn’t these days. The house dems are rising to the occasion. Some definite good things happening which is very needed. Simon Rosenberg speaks about a second front and that house and senate dems need to draft a letter to Americans. You can go to his Substack to read about it. Staying in the moment is hard these days but oh so necessary. Extra grace and TLC as well!
You'll notice that Brooks was a coward who attacked from behind. He couldn't even face Burlingame.
Amen! As usual of course 🎊🎉
Heather, Burlingame’s story is exactly what we needed to happen today, for Schumer to stand up to the bullies on behalf of all of us. He didn’t. He failed to protect us. He brought a plastic butter knife to the fight instead of challenging the Repubs and Donnie to a duel. How shameful I feel about this. Time for Chuck to be replaced with someone who can actually lead us out of the abyss we are in. There is Klobuchar, Murphy, Duckworth, Hirono, Schiff, Warren, or Whitehouse who could effectively take his place. I want to see a woman, personally, take his place because if we cannot elect one as president, then leading the Senate would be ideal and any of the women I mentioned, would be dynamic. So frigging tired of the turbulence that we suffer with Donnie and his minion, but also with members of our party. I may have to leave the Dems behind and seek being an Independent. I don’t want to but I might have to for my own sanity.
AOC
She is in the House, not the Senate. Marlene is talking about a new Senate Minority Leader. And I’m 100% on board with her assessment and choices.
Independent is good if it allows you to vote in either D or R primaries, but think also about the Working Families Party (https://workingfamilies.org/).
This is wonderful, Betsy! It just might be the ticket!
Fetterman from PA is a huge disappointment to me and many others. He talked a good game to get elected but too iften fails to deliver. His vote for Pam Bondi lost me his support forever.
Opps.. Fetterman lost MY support.
That's what I thought you said :)
Carol, the three dots on the right margin on your name line offer an "edit" option. Works well on a laptop, intermittently on a mobile device.
Thanks. They didn't work. I'm usually on my phone. So, there's that🙄
Yeah, it is always iffy on my iPhone. I don't have it on the iPad; that is a music reader only.
I believe he, Fetterman, and his family are being threatened.
It’s time for these people who are being (or claim they are being) threatened to stand up and show us what or how they are being threatened. Voice mails? Play them. Emails? Publish them. Texts? Publish them. This garbage thrives in the dark. Reveal it.
100% Marla. The claims ON BOTH SIDES that crumbling to the Felon because of threats seem to me to be a smokescreen: Oooo, I'm so scared! I, a white man with levels of privilege all the people who are TRULY threatened could only dream of! Tell that to the trans man who was tortured for MONTHS and left to die. Tell that to the new spate of people of color being shot and killed by unfettered police departments. Tell that to ANY WOMAN who is a victim of abuse, assault, rape, or misogyny. You want threat? Live our lives, bruh.
Putin and his techie hackers know exactly what they're doing, Victoria.
Every bit of their nurturing fear, divisiveness, hatreds in America.
Stand up for Ukraine!
One thing that might be a threat would be to revoke the citizenship of Fetterman’s wife Gisele. She is originally from Brazil and was undocumented and residing in the U.S. at one time, but she has American citizenship. Trump thinks wrongly that he is able to order someone’s citizenship to be abolished on his command, but he cannot do so.
I do not believe that. He went to Florida very early on to pay fealty to Agent Orange.
Thanks, Professor HCR. This is an articulate and appreciated response to events that happened over the last three days, but were in the making far longer. My disappointment with the Democrats hiding behind Schumer’s choice runs deep and will not be soon forgotten. It is not, for me, anymore a choice about R versus D politics. It is a fight of T, A and T against D and R - Totalitarianism, Authoritarianism, and Tyranny versus Democracy and a functional Republic. My hopes were once that the latter two were salvageable by the Democratic Party, but that hope has died.
I’m continuously examining alternatives to reset the narratives, which exist in two non-overlapping bubbles, about governance in the US. Tuning into Fox “News” gives illumination to one; reading Substack gives many perspectives into the other. The entire conversation needs to be disrupted with another option that transforms the two into political force which removes the relevance of the overly powerful oligarchic class. It is time to rethink everything, because continuing in these self-reinforcing, insular worldviews is getting us down a path that will harm us, not help us, in the final (as well as interim) analysis.
I appreciate what you do here. I hope you know your considerable sway with many of us. We respect you for your incredible, brilliant insights - and ask you to keep going. The story you’re telling, as ugly as it gets, is all ours.
It seems to me that the official Democratic Party has been on the back foot ever since, I don't know. the Vietnam War? The Humphrey nomination? Gingrich? It so often seems that Democrats are fearing to rock the boat, while navigating the midst of an earthquake. Democrats in my lifetime have built a number of good things that the like of Musk are tearing down, but have shied from tackling some of the underpinnings of plutocracy; the ever increasing deference to the will of corporations,including the trend toward monopolization, the flow of money away from the poor and middle class, toward the regal super rich, and outright political corruption. Those have been the hiding-in-plain-sight elephants in the room for decades, but somehow not priorities to openly confront. We are kind of out of wiggle room on that.
Democrats are too much top down and not enough bottom up. Biden was a good president and they have not owned that.
The Republicans had Fox. I just re-read "1984." Whoa. Propaganda. But the great thing is that it is not nearly that bad here now. I have lots of hope, actually. The judges are doing a good job, Tesla is tanking, local protests are starting up, Trump is asking Putin to save the lives of the surrounded Ukranians, and the tariffs are going to do a drip, drip, drip on the economy and, especially, the prices for everyday Americans. No, that last is not fair, but inflation got Trump in, and it will get him out of favor.
By and large, Biden was a very admirable administrator, and some of his speeches were first class in terms of clarity and substance. He was not also a skilled TV presenter, which bedeviled admirable Carter as well. Muddleheaded and rather nasty Reagan exuded a cheesy stage presence; he was an actor by profession, as is Trump, in his own absurd and hammy way. TV and big corporate social media instill a top-down bias to our culture, which Constitutionally is supposed to be bottom up. It's the same old serpent squeezing the preponderance of humanity throughout the eons:
"- It is the eternal struggle between these two principles -- right and wrong -- throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time, and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of humanity and the other the divine right of kings." - Lincoln
Now that should be in-your-face obvious. Historically top down has not gone well at all for the public by and large. It's the "Dark Side of the Force", no? Serious abuses of power are, in a word, "evil".
Tyranny has two remedies, though in the end they are one. Focused, persistent, disciplined public resistance through solidarity, and strong, persuasive, courageous and principled leadership, grass roots, or otherwise selected. United we stand, divided we fall. I think that We the People need to focus to gain clarity about how we got here, and what needs to change to move in a more constructive direction. Which foci will really move people? Which will make a fundamental difference? How to be heard?
Economics that work for the investor class are at odds with the economics that work for the mechanic who installs a new sensor on your car or the gal who guides you through the MRI scan. So then, we ARE out of wiggle room and have been for a long while. We just do not want to acknowledge it.
At the brink in numerous ways. Everybody look what's going down.
As someone who worked hard for Senator George McGovern in 1972, I can tell you he lost that race when he listened to the money people who threatened to withhold their funds unless he dropped Eagleton as his running mate. The campaign changed that day. People who had been enthused by his candidacy now said, "He's like all the others". My interpretation of that was that they saw McGovern, who had campaigned as a populist, a friend and worker for ordinary people (and, he really was) when push came to shove, listened to the money men instead of trusting the folks who had brought him the Democratic nomination. The feeling of betrayal was palpable. Following the money, rather than trusting "the people" resulted in one of the biggest losses in Democratic Party history. I feel there are countless lessons for today from that time.
Agreed, Ellen. And even though I was not yet able to vote in 1972, I registered voters door to door, stuffed mailboxes, and pushed hard. It was awful to see the Dems simply turn away. That election killed off the Democratic Party in so many ways.
Sen. Hollings called "money" "the main culprit, the cancer on the body politic". Is that not correct? And yet we treat it as an inalterable circumstance even as de facto bribery has increasingly become the political norm. Recall that the Constitution lists bribery and treason as high crimes not to be be tolerated from public officials. The public has so far grumbled, yet not focused and demanded that the impact of excessive money on political outcomes be reduced. Bernie Sanders was ridiculed by the Democratic party for making that a leading campaign issue. Some routinely insert millions into their political preferences, and some can't afford a dime. How is that equal justice? How many of our laws and policies would not pass a standard of "of the people, by the people, for the people". Not even close? We cannot legislate away ALL impact of money on politics, but "We the People" need not let it screw us over either. We had been moderating it to some extent, then dropped our guard. We the People are getting sold out.
I agree--but this has a lot to do with the Dems being determined to be a more inclusive than exclusive party than the other side. Would having an autocrat like LBJ be useful for a short time? Perhaps. But the problem is that those of us who don't have tunnel vision about issues and situations, whose view is wider, find autocrats of any stripe unacceptable. I have long thought that Schumer (and I am originally from NY, living in the Midwest only for about 20 of my 68 years) is devoted to his position as a traditional Dem: he prefers backroom negotiations to public challenges and he has a charisma index of about a negative-5. We need someone who can be less phlegmatic when necessary but also have negotiating skills. At this point, the Rethuglicans find him a risible "leader" because he is far too willing to "negotiate" (meaning give in to the demands of the fascists) in order to sustain his own status. He is also apparently willing to abandon the very people who prop up the modern-day Democratic Party: non-white, non-straight, non-penis-owning. And that will backfire on him because women, queer people, and people of color are fed up and willing to make that clear. And we outnumber the white boyz and can be kept back only through the kinds of neo-Jim Crow restrictions this current administration is intent on establishing. Times. Up.
Sometimes justice requires compromise and sometimes not. I serves no honorable purpose to cut a baby in half, and sometimes what is called compromise is capitulation. Teddy Roosevelt promoted the "Square Deal", his cousin, the "New Deal" and Republicans since Reagan the "Raw Deal". You can apparently fool some of the people all of the time, but we have to up our game.
JL, since Johnson died.
I am hoping for some voice or voices of clarity to emerge around with kindred sentiments can gather and build. Our society is is falling in a very sick direction. I still believe it is possible to change course, but only if enough of us see a path forward and pull together.
Senator Whitehouse was on MSNBC today. He voted no on the bill but he said he respected some of his colleagues decisions. The main point that he said was we have to move forward and the Democrats have to stop the bickering and be united and work together. Schumer in reality didn't have a choice.
He wasn't going to give Trump and Musk the satisfaction of what they wanted, which was a government shutdown. Either way the people will suffer the consequences of this bill.
It's tme for us t o stand up to the new Unreconstructed Confederacy. We should have executed every southern slaveowner when we could have, back in 1865, and broken the Unreconstructed South, which we need to now do today.
Yes. It's about time the Civil War ended.
I don’t know how we do that Tom, I live in the South as you know and while GA is red at a state level we do have 2 dems in the senate, ID up in the other corner of the country and a long way from the Deep South is even redder. Woulda, shoulda, coulda in hindsight might have made some sense, but Lincoln wasn’t in favor of it and he had a vision for the country, it cost him his life. The blue states are going to come out of this much better off than the red ones which have relied far more on federal largesse. Waite until the people in rural red states realize that all of the hospitals and nursing homes are closing because of Medicaid funding drying up, the repugnantkins are going to own it.
Only if our siloed media can reach the people in rural red states and they don't continue to believe it's all the fault of whomever they choose to blame (immigrants, coastal elites, Black people, Jews) It seems unbelievable in this century but many people now seem just as ignorant as those Germans, suffering economic hardship after WWI, who believed it was all the fault of the Jews/socialists/internationalists.
I appreciate your story about Burlingame....so who is going to be the one to stand up in this era? I had hopes for Murkowski but she caved on cabinet picks, and now we have Kennedy pushing beef tallow, and Hegseth deleting names of women and black people from the Arlington Cemetery roster! AOC and Bernie are puting up a fight, but it seems it will require a solid coalition. The legal system is supposed to be the "guardrail", but it is too slow, without teeth, and I'll bet my last melaniacoin, will be ignored. To me, the real problem seems to be that almost all of the "representaves of the people" are concerned with only one thing -- keeping their cushy jobs. This is making the argument for term limits a no brainer.
He’s a criminal. Of course the orange fat one continues his criminality.
He’s immune to American law. An adjudicated rapist, he’s beyond human decency. His MAGA base – tens of millions – all attended schools so totally dehumanized, so totally in the clutches of obedience-prep testing as to be all demagogue happy.
His Republicans in Congress and on the Clarence court bless his being above the Constitution, above all law. Putin, Netanyahu, Orban, Xi, Modi, Mohammed bin Salman, Milei, Kim, Erdogan, and Sisi all approve his pro-dictator illegalities.
Dems, impotent, always speak of our working classes by generality and slogans only. None has ever read and aptly cited any novel, memoir, history, or essay collection from the many fine ones actually well in touch with our fellow Americans.
So all drift, as Elon and the fat orange criminality only worsen.
Methinks Alexandria Ocacio-Cortez will be the next senator from the State of New York.
Methinks also that that would be a good thing.
Senator Schumer and the others had a tough choice to make, but in the end they chose wrong. Whatever the Musk/Trump Administration tears part can be put back together, and put back stronger. It’s time now for every Democrat, indeed every American patriot, to stand up forcefully, and righteously, to those bent on destroying what we’ve built and returning us all to the plantation and the company town.
Thank you again, HCR, for the eminently relevant history lesson.
Interesting that Nancy Pelosi stood with AOC, whom she failed to recognize the freshman Democrat when she was Speaker. I can't imagine what the former leader must be thinking, but I suspect the near-fatal beating her husband endured played a part.
Meanwhile, the strife continues on the Columbia University campus near me. I looked out our fifth floor window yesterday to see a drone at eye level, the streets occupied again with demonstrators and police.
Nancy Pelosi is all about realpolitik. She is way too smart to hold a grudge. I think AOC is much the same. The national political atmosphere of today is vastly different from the world Pelosi occupied as Speaker.
Either a Senator or next leader of the house. I'd love her in line for the Presidency.
Am I crazy? It feels/appears as though they are not attempting to run a government but are sabotaging the entire country as we know it
"Vulture capitalism"; hostile takeover of an organization, strip out everything of value, and run off to the bank, while the company tail-spins into the ground.
Private Equity
MT15, I don't know why ,after almost 2 months of a free ride you still have doubts about the intentions of this regime.
No, MT15, they are not "sabotaging the entire country." Just our national government.
Putin, Xi, and the Iranian mullahs dedicate serious resources via online hackers to sow enmity across America. For them, it's enough to see us getting poisoned as if at each other.
The U.S. billionaires, using the fat orange convicted criminal, the South African apartheid fascist, the mediocrity also known as Mr. Arrogance, J. D. Vance, plus Howdy Doody Mike Johnson all just want the federal government to go away (except parts of it that can continue subsidizing the South African apartheid fascist).
The U.S. billionaires can then privatize everything among themselves. They're already allied with all the world's worst autocrats and dictators. So life devolves for them to just competing with each other (and with armies, missile, drones, bribes, and hackers) for market share, other government subsidies, same as how U.S. billionaire standardized testers compete with each other in the common project of reducing all schools to nothing more than everyone's units, numbers achieved in the testing racket.
Phil: As you said: The U.S. billionaires can then privatize everything among themselves. Yep. Exactly!
This shameful, craven capitulation has destroyed for me what little remaining faith I had in the Democratic Party as a viable structure on which to build a vigorous opposition to the ongoing destruction of the United States. Let the party die. Perhaps some of its remnants can be saved and put to better use. I am letting my membership lapse, have ceased all donations, and tagged all fundraising emails as spam. Enough, already. I'm not giving up the fight for America. Not yet. But my money and my energy can be better spent in other places and on better causes than the hollow shell of what used to be the Democratic Party. I suspect that I am not alone in this.
We need our Burlingame. Now.
And we need more women like AOC and Nancy Pelosi Rosemary.
You know, Schumer should have only gotten enough Democrats necessary to stop the filibuster, meaning if Rand Paul wouldn’t vote for continuing the measure, it would have landed on a Republican’s shoulders.
We're damned if they pass it and damned if they don't. There is never a clear right or wrong when dealing with this regime. It stinks but I think Schumer was right. Musk would have taken his chainsaw and just clear cut everything that is left. No doubt there will be plenty of pain ahead and I pray for protests and enough R's to wake up and stop this runaway regime.
The pain will be there regardless of the choice Schumer made. If we're going to go down, might as well go down swinging a bat at their heads.
Reminds me, James, of William Barret Travis, Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and about 180 others hosting 5,000 of the Mexican army.
We just passed their anniversary March 6, 1836