I wonder if Betsy DeVos helped him with this RNC pyramid model, because, you know -Amway. I must say I would enjoy it immensely if the Trump/Putin "MAGAtized" RNC paid Trump's legal bills and starved every other GOP campaign for donations. And yes, George Conway is correct, it should be called the MAGAPutins or something similar. Regardl…
I wonder if Betsy DeVos helped him with this RNC pyramid model, because, you know -Amway. I must say I would enjoy it immensely if the Trump/Putin "MAGAtized" RNC paid Trump's legal bills and starved every other GOP campaign for donations. And yes, George Conway is correct, it should be called the MAGAPutins or something similar. Regardless of the name, it is a criminal organization working to attack the Republic (as a representative democracy), destroy vital institutions such as Social Security and public education, and burn the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence.
Senators Budd, Lee, Cruz, and Paul -are all part of the MAGA movement -and Cruz also stood against certification of the 2020 election with 146 other MAGAtized extremists who should be considered for expulsion from Congress.
MTG- WHO does she think she is? And WHY? And WHEN and HOW did she become who she thinks she is? WHAT more can she and her cronies-in-crime do before they are
"put in their place."
HOW has she been allowed to do her detrimental "thing"
There are 'useful idiots’ and then there are 'outrageous useful idiots'. She does what she does because she is encouraged and rewarded for it. She distracts and people bite on the distractions, and if she distracts enough while the hidden dirty work proceeds apace, all the better. Look at all the footage there was of her in her stupid costume at the SOTU address. Look at the footage of Biden making a face at her getup on that occasion. All a waste of everyone’s time and attention, but the so called fourth estate can't get enough of it. So it, 'it' being the nihilistic behavior of an outrageous useful idiot, continues ad nauseam.
Ego is the most dangerous drug of all; and yet we all have one. Ego literally means "I", and it's there for good reason. R. L. Stevenson's point in "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde" is that Hyde is part of human nature; and there is an addictive appeal to exerting unaccountable power. There is a touch of it in my sneering at MTG, but few (if any) of us are total saints. Certainly her behavior is worthy of condemnation.
I become dangerous if I begin to tell myself that only my preferences, only my rights matter, that other people are only obstacles, tools, or toys. Or perhaps only those of my race, nation or cohort are worth to live or find their own way. Trump seems to have no brake on narcissism; he appears ready to maliciously cheat/betray anyone. Weird that he is admired for that, but that's far from new in the course of history. We as a species keep making that same mistake over and over, and as our species' power to do increases, it threatens to kill us all.
Evolution also selected our powers of reason and the better angels of our nature, love, reason, empathy, conscience, compassion, etc., the "angel" one shoulder and "devil" on the other. We collectively need to get smarter fast about which to follow.
Seriously, what is the point of Maggot Traitor Gangrene? She is doing NOTHING to work on the issues facing the people in her constituency, and is harming them and the rest of the country in the bargain. And WTH is Johnson doing recessing the House? He really doesn't grasp his job, either as a representative or as the Speaker, does he? (That isn't really a question.)
Heck, I just spell it right out for folks: Empty Greene. Completely empty of brains, empty of any ability to shut her yap, empty of any sense of decorum or dignity and yes, empty of any form of common sense.
The Freedom Caucus, if that's the word for it now, is determined to follow through on bringing down the "administrative state", it's all out now regardless of the chaos, and that just seems to be their gameplan. Anarchy, since there is no way other members of Congress can go along and maintain their political sanity, or survival.
Of course, the "Freedom Caucus" would be right out of a certain Orwell novel. I think CHAOS Caucus would be more fitting - or even more appropriate, KAOS, like the international organization of evil in "Get Smart" (the '60s TV comedy, for those of you under age 50).
I wonder what their electorates are thinking right now. Are they as bad as their reps? Some of the random street comments from Trump supporters doesn't feel encouraging. But ...
A goodly number of their supporters just want to own the libs and have all the biases that these members show. Also a certain part of the population loves the idea of thumbing their noses at authority and being totally uncivil. Death star has given them carte blanche to act out and being in the face of everyone they perceive to be different.
Read an article about trumpers being interviewed about how they felt about trump's insulting the handicapped. "It's a political campaign thing." It's terrible" etc. Would you still vote for him? Yes.
1984 was the most ominous book i ever read. Age 16 or so, one night in a basement. Chilled me to the heart. (offset - the year my second child was born)
My species awes and disappoints me, even scares me. There is so much to like, so many "gifts"; it's nuts the degree to which our species is it's own worst enemy.
I used to like people; now, I just want to get away from most of them. Perhaps our species is more palatable in small doses. "Zero population growth" was a stellar idea!
I think a lot of our big problems have been exacerbated by population growth, including immigration issues, climate change, and seeming disintegration of a sense of community. It not the only factor, but it complicates a lot.
"Repressive Regressives" is about perfect, Gary. I think certain ones may be called "Aggressive Repressive Regressives", or the ARRs! Pirates one and all!
HCR's letters remind us that Lincoln's republican party stood for investing in the infrastructure of society so that free men could build their lives upon a strong foundation that only a collective (the government) can build and maintain. The republican party of my lifetime (62 years) has always wanted to do the opposite. Let the corporations, already powerful rich white men, take over and usurp everyone else. Of course they admire Putin.
" The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves---in their separate, and individual capacities.
In all that the people can individually do as well for themselves, government ought not to interfere." - Lincoln
I would not take "individually do as well for themselves" to mean "let the billionaires buy up everything, and pay whatever they ask for it". That's "Reganomics".
Perhaps, instead of buying megayachts, or spaceships, etc., the obscenely rich could invest in the country, as their predecessors did in "the good old days". Andrew Carnegie comes immediately to mind.
Carnegie was still a ruthless creep but I liked his libraries. The problem is even when the not so predatory rich do genuinely good works, they do so according to their vision/understanding which can be one-sided or out of touch. We benefit from philanthropy, and we can benefit from visionaries, who sometimes see what's needed before the crowd; but as a rule, the People are going to be the final authority on what the people need and where the people want to go. That's a democratic society. Somehow spaceflight was more exciting to me when we as a nation chose to go to the Moon and do the other things than watching preening billionaires make it their personal playground.
Well, "conservative" can mean "prudent", as in a "conservative estimate". In that sense it acknowledges the pitfalls of hubris, which is to say it implies a degree of humility. I consider "the scientific method" to be conservative in a good way. "Conservation" was an early name for "environmental protection", which is conservative. Wantonly destroying resources and climate balance is not.
What is most familiar about repressiveness in the 1800s is the pompous pretext for imposition of a hierarchical society, with very rich males at the top. In this case, white males, but you will see similar scams across the globe, with some persons and cohorts spouting flowery rationalizations proclaiming the righteousness of bullying and ripping everybody else off.
In the 1850s, follow the money. In the 2020s, follow the money.
It seems to me that trust is crucial to a free and open society. Not blind trust of course, but reasonable trust. No, the Nigerian Prince probably is not palnning to share millions of dollars with you if you just send some money, but we entrust things to others every day. Significant cheating poisons a social environment. We can adapt to it to some degree, but at some point the society will degenerate into despotism or chaos or both. We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately".
The truth we get to know can be somewhat elusive, but we can at least tell the truth, so far as we understand it. I think societies thrive on good faith, and tyranny is sustained by lies.
Though I think of it more as the Party of Selfishness, and that extreme, pathological selfishness results in deaths. Maybe even that of our whole species (the universe is perfectly capable of ending all of our stories unexpectedly, but likely won't any time soon). Knowledge without wisdom can be dangerous, let alone charting the future on damnable lies. Unbridled Selfishness + Unaccountable Power = Disaster
It's a selfishness that leads to death: of rights, of our democracy, of the planet, of genuine patriotism, of what Jesus taught, of any kind of human decency. We are headed more quickly than expected to making the planet unlivable. I find wisdom to be a fairly rare commodity. As for knowledge, someone will always figure a way to use it dangerously.
Wisdom does not seem to get much press these days. I'm not even sure how to define it, but I think that at least in part it has to do with with seeing extended consequence and an improved sense of what most matters.
The Latin root of "vermin" means "worm". Worms are attractive bait for many fishes. Worms can be used to lure an unpopular variety of fish known as "Suckers".
"This morning, conservative lawyer George Conway suggested that “we should stop defiling the memory of the party of Lincoln by referring to the current organization” as the Republican Party."
Nonsense. Revisionist in the worst way - abdicating responsibility. It's been Republicans all the way down and as far back at least to Nixon, Reagan, Gingrich, et al. Direct and even blood heirs of the Confederacy - ever since opening their arms to the Dixiecrats and jumping into bed with the religious right. From William F. Buckley and George F. Will through Murdoch, Bannon, and Jones to Truth Social. From the Powell Memorandum through the Federalist Society and Politics of Faith to the Seven Mountain Mandate and Heritage Society Project 2025. Republican Party it is. Through and through. Warp and woof.
Thank you, it’s been for most of my adult life, I liked Ike and Everett Dirksen, the others have just been apologists for the worst of the worst. Even Will Rogers knew on November 26, 1932. “The money was all appropriated for the top in the hopes that it would trickle down to the needy. Mr. Hoover didn’t know that money trickled up. Give it to the people at the bottom and the people at the top will have it before night, anyhow. But it will have passed through the poor fellow's hands.” Mr Hoover may have believed that money trickled down, but no republican since ever bought that crap. My humble opinion for most of my long life.
It infuriates me to be wrong when I know I’m right.
—Molière
To err is human, to repent divine; to persist devilish.
-- Benjamin Franklin
Kathryn Schulz "On Being Wrong"
"Being wrong is an inescapable part of being alive. And yet we go through life tacitly assuming (or loudly insisting) that we are right about nearly everything - from our political beliefs to our private memories, from our grasp of scientific fact to the merits of our favourite team. Being Wrong looks at why this conviction has such a powerful grip on us, what happens when this conviction is shaken, and how we interpret the moral, political and psychological significance of being wrong. Drawing on philosophies old and new and cutting-edge neuroscience, Schulz offers an exploration of the allure of certainty and the necessity of fallibility in four main areas: in religion (when the end of the world fails to be nigh); in politics (where were those WMD?); in memory (where are my keys?); and in love (when Mr or Ms Right becomes Mr or Ms Wrong)."
The OSS psychological profile of Hitler described his use of the big lie:
His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.
Yes. Let the name continue to be used until it goes down in flames. Let it join the "No Knothings, the Federalists and the Whigs in the dust bin of American history. Republican now means "crooks and traitors". Let it die.
Hopefully, a new center right party will be formed that can provide a normal and natural balance to our political ecosystem. Such things exist in other democracies. A natural yin and yang. Hopefully it will be led by honest patriots. They won't get my vote, but they could be at least be legitimate participants in the electoral process.
Hopefully. We continue to have Hope. Hope for our nation, our people, our world. It’s an ancient emotion that must be accompanied with action. Voting, protesting, even obstructing the wrongs and crimes.
How long does it take for Voters to burn out, become so discouraged that they believe they have no voice. That’s one of the repubs’ best tactics: delay, obstruct, distract, lie: Brave New World isn’t just a novel.
"How long does it take for Voters to burn out, become so discouraged that they believe they have no voice. That’s one of the repubs’ best tactics: delay, obstruct, distract, lie:"
It is a tactic of vote splitting ideologues across the spectrum. Including such as Jill Stein, RFK, Cornell West, No Labels et sl
Bill, I grew up supporting Democrats -- even Adlai Stevenson -- before I could walk. I began reading the Washington Post under Kennedy, saw my father weep as we imagined nukes raining down on us during the Cuban Missle crisis, loved LBJ when he looked me squarely in the eye to say "We shall overcome!", knew I could never vote for Tricky Dicky when he said "you won't have Nixon to kick around anymore", learned to detest Nixon when he assured us "I am not a crook", saw my father turn white as a sheet when I told him Ford had just pardoned Nixon, and then my father died just before Raygun removed Jimmy Carter's solar panels, and then the elder Bush failed to sign early climate change legislation, and Bill Clinton (a truly talented straight-faced liar) brought sleaze to the White House but governed better than Reagan, at least, and then Bush Junior lied us into Iraq, and then Obama.... Ah Obama! inspired me and gave me hope, but perhaps didn't realize how badly he had shocked and dismayed the bigots and racists and xenophobes and -- it appears -- the super-wealthy powers that be, and then, and then? God Help Us !!
Eisenhower was arguably a good choice to lead us into the mostly unavoidable Cold War, and there have been several honorable GOP governors and a couple of Senators in my lifetime who voted intelligently when it really counted, and Liz Cheney has given us all an important lesson in true patriotism, but the Republican Party is a goner, a memory, all that's left of Lincoln's good idea that really went off the rails to become unrecognizable, a danger to our country, to the human species and to all life on Earth.
At this late (-ish, I hope) stage of my life as a non-believer, I discover that Trump is the Devil incarnate and that no one can save us from ourselves but us.
David, your recap of our national historic spiral dive is spot on. And...this "non-believer" also has decided that there may actually be a devil (or more) on Earth. Not sure if I can come up with another explanation.
Given Trump's history of slapping his name all over anything he "owns" I could see "Trumpublican" being the name. Or, since it's already an established brand, "MAGA". Whatever, so long as he's in charge, he'll be choosing the name.
I could never understand how anyone in their right minds could support Reagan. Then again, it was US which went into Vietnam to lose and cost Vietnam over a million lives, and while I understood taking on Saddam's invasion of Kuwait, what of the falsely justified invasion Iraq which led to ISIS, and the wholesale invasion of Afghanistan, from which which US withdraw after 20 years of futility, handing the country back to the Taliban?
Reagan was an actor who knew how to perform a role and recite the lines he'd memorized (written by his admittedly clever handlers) with a certain smug conviction. He was a far classier shyster than Trump, but a shyster nonetheless.
Our problem is not that so many American voters are not in their "right" minds, but that they are way Right on certain issues the rest of us thought had been decided a long time ago: that of course rich people should pay progressively higher taxes than the rest of us; that government exists to help citizens by levelling the capitalist playing field enough that everyone benefits; that we really do have equal rights, however differently we may each look or talk or dress or make love to one another; that sometimes we might do well to emulate the ways other countries give their citizens pensions and healthcare and daycare and regular paid vacations, etcetera, etcetera ad nauseam.
We Americans are exceptional in many ways, including in our short-sighted stupidity. No, not all of us, but a lot.
Enter The Handmaid's Tale. One of the most upsetting books I have read. What was even more upsetting were the women who were supporting this life style (holding down (hand holding) while a woman was basically being raped. Sounds like Schafler?
Part of levelling the capitalist playing field is taxation; the other essential part is regulation. And part of the effect of fairer taxation is being able to put teeth into regulation enforcement.
Why are we even in the Middle East? oil? Suez Canal? Big ticket items though. That area is the perfect example what happens when religion? or pretend religion merges with government.
Vietnam? There are river cruises going through there with side tours to Thailand.
You don't go far enough back. Harry Truman had some pithy things to point out about Republicans. I heard him say some of these things in 1947 when I was nine. Lifted this one: “Republicans approve of the American farmer, but they are willing to help him go broke. They stand four-square for the American home--but not for housing. They are strong for labor--but they are stronger for restricting labor's rights. They favor minimum wage--the smaller the minimum wage the better. They endorse educational opportunity for all--but they won't spend money for teachers or for schools. They think modern medical care and hospitals are fine--for people who can afford them. They consider electrical power a great blessing--but only when the private power companies get their rake-off. They think American standard of living is a fine thing--so long as it doesn't spread to all the people. And they admire of Government of the United States so much that they would like to buy it.”
People ( well, my people anyway) listened to him back then and knew it was true. Can we get anyone to listen these days? Or is it just sound bites on a cell phone that matter?
I love it. It is so true of today. Politicians are rich, get a good pension, I'm going to guess healthcare. What do they care about the regular people?
When I find a quotable quote such as your post, I copy the link to the post and send it to myself via email with the subject line "notes to myself -- subject line here" to help me find it again later. The link to the post is included in the link to the right of the name of the person who posted it.
Right Carolyn; Not enough has been or is commonly spoke of "Give 'em Hell Harry." Must be generational lapses; Are we not learning that 'all this' has happened before, or at least it all rhymes ?
David , keeping quiet about the hidden fascism was the case until 45.
Now the Republicans have been given permission (encouragement) to say the quiet parts out loud. When you add to that the books and articles lifting the corner of the tent and shining a bright light on the elephant dung, it’s hard to ignore what has been revealed.
The good thing is that many of us have been rudely awakened. Starting with Nixon’s and Agnew’s dirty deeds and culminating in 45, leading HIS Republican Party, we realize that, while we thought that things were the same for both parties , the US oligarchs and Dixiecrats were remodeling the Grand Old Party in their image and it ain’t pretty. As is said after many disasters, we can’t unsee the carnage and we’re called upon to get off the couch and fight.
David, thank you for your reply. It’s so encouraging to read a comment that acknowledges how often we ignore our gut feeling to keep quiet out of politeness.
Not quite. While I share your criticism of the GOP of yore, there is a clear distinction between the Ghosts of GOP Past and the Whitened Sepulchers of its MAGAtized Present.
As just one of many examples, Richard Nixon, who normalized relations with China, ushered in the EPA as well as wage and price controls with Sanders-esque zeal, would be considered a Bolshevik by the mobs supporting Despicable Don on Fifth Avenue and everywhere else
But in an interesting move he enacted the EPA to mitigate the confusion of a myriad of state regulations. My guess it was to make it easier for businesses to comply, or not.
Abraham Lincoln was of course, the first Republican President. In his famous second Inaugural Address, he called on all Americans to call on "the better angels of our nature".
While it was at least possible, if somewhat impractical, to hear Republicans from the Reagan era speak in such lofty and aspirational tones, it is literally impossible to imagine the current Kool Aid drinking Party calling itself Republican to do so.
Even further back when the Republicans added states to increase their senate members and also allowed the troop withdrawals from southern states opening the Jim Crow reign of terror.
Re: the origins of Republican "alternative facts" and the entire right wing revisionist history from erecting national traitors as heritage heroes in every town square to banning books in every public library.
[An aside Yesterday I heard that master tailor (to presidents and star) Martin Greenfield had died. He'd learned to sew as a child in Auschwitz. My first thought was, how long would it take Ron DeSantis et al to add to the school curriculum that the Holocaust was a boon to Jews because the concentration camps provided opportunities to develop skills which Jews could later apply for their personal benefit? ("DeSantis, however, is continuing to defend Florida’s new curriculum, ... which includes the assertion for middle school instruction that “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit."" https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/07/22/desantis-slavery-curriculum/ ]
OK back to the GOP replacing history with hagiography.
In 1907 American ex-pat Henry James published The American Scene, his observations on a sentimental journey home. In chapter XII, starting on page 365 (of the text linked below), James speaks of his visit to Richmond, VA - seat of the defeated Confederacy.
"This then the tragic ghost-haunted city, this the centre of the vast blood-drenched circle, one of the (370) most blood-drenched, for miles and miles around, in the dire catalogue aforesaid . . . to one's first dismay; a sort of intellectual bankruptcy, this latter, that one felt one really couldn't afford. There were no references-- . . . to the conception that, almost comic in itself, was yet so tragically to fail to work, that of a world rearranged, a State solidly and comfortably seated and tucked-in, in the interest of slave-produced Cotton . . . whereby was laid on the Southern genius the necessity of getting rid of these discords and substituting for (374) the ironic face of the world an entirely new harmony, or in other words a different scheme of criticism. Since nothing in the Slave-scheme could be said to conform--conform, that is, to the reality of things--it was the plan of Christendom and the wisdom of the ages that would have to be altered. History, the history of everything, would be rewritten ad usum Delphini--the Dauphin being in this case the budding Southern mind. This meant a general and a permanent quarantine; meant the eternal bowdlerization of books and journals; meant in fine all literature and all art on an expurgatory index. It meant, still further, an active and ardent propaganda; the reorganization of the school, the college, the university, in the interest of the new criticism."
Linda, you think what's happening now is a "last gasp" effort? the GOP is shredding itself over accomplishing its extremist goals. Most important, is enough of the "ex-GOp" and independent vote up for not seeing social support and other regularity functions of modern government take a dive?
Imagine! Three Party of MAGA House Reps are quitting early as many on both sides are, because of the dysfunction! Our own fabulous Dem Elissa Slotkin is quitting to run for Senator, and she would be fantastic.
MAGA is the current-day acronym for KKK. Read Timothy Egan's book, "A Fever in the Heartland" about the rise of the KKK in the Midwest in the 1920's. When I saw the marchers at Charlottesville in 2017 on TV, I came out of my chair when I heard them shouting, "Jews will not replace us?" What? Where did that come from? That's Klan talk.
Chump made that clear on day one, our MSM blathered the “both sides” crap to muddy the waters. It’s time that, even though the hoods are off, we recognize that their hearts are as evil as they ever were.
I get TFFG's emails to see what he's doing. He is grifting the hell out of his base because (1) he doesn't have the money that he claims to have, and 2) because he can. Here's his pitch that just came in:
Keep your filthy hands off Trump Tower
President Trump
This email was sent by the organization that owns the logo shown.
Yes, heaven only knows to whom he is now indebted. All along I felt that because of Putin blackmailing Trump with Moscow hotel room photos and videos, Trump was Putin's pigeon. Trump's mendacity is such that I believe it would have caused Saddam Hussein to blush. What we need to fear, of course, is what he will do if given a chance.
What classy begging, NOT. But he knows what opens their wallets. I’m your savior, they are really after you. I really loved the garbage sent to me by Jr. “ok, enough playing games, my dad and i need your help now. “ couldn’t believe the stupidity. He should let his dad be the family beggar…
Thanks for that. I once got snail-mail from the GOP: sending it back (I forget if I had to put a stamp on the return envelope) with appropriate commentary (to wit, "Go to Hell") stopped any further invasion of my mailbox by that god-forsaken organization.
I like to get straight to the point. I call it The New American Nazi Party, just as the AfD in Germany is overtaking the Heimat Party as The New German Nazi Party. I was at a rally last Sunday in a city in Northern Germany where on signs people are more clearly naming the AfD, known for its anti-immigrant stance, as Nazis. In the film God & Country, which I recently saw they talk about the symbiotic relationship between Treacherous-treasonous-traitor-Trump and the White Nationalist Evangelicals. The question is asked, is this Christianity, and the film makes a compelling case that it is not, it is more like what the Nazis were and are. Here is a discussion with the director Dan Partland and the Producer Rob Reiner. https://youtu.be/Q8QasbXXNZc?si=VAKY1dv5kInRcKrp
"The question is asked, is this Christianity?" I'm a minister (Presbyterian) and I agree with the answer except much more forcefully. It's time for the Church to ask the question, "What would Jesus do?" The shortest verse in the Bible is two words, "Jesus wept." Jesus is weeping now. These blasphemous people and organizations need to be called out by religious leadership, esp. preachers from pulpits. As Roberto Duran said to Sugar Ray Leonard, "No mas! No mas!"
Robert, I’m the granddaughter of a Methodist minister who was also a Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago. (U of Chicago has deep Baptist roots). I was raised Catholic. My grandparents and parents were active in the Civil Rights movement and considered their actions to be their Christian duty. My “duty” turned out to be protecting the environment, as in protecting ALL of God’s creation. For my efforts, I received death threats from so-called Christians who preferred the prosperity gospels; which as most of us know is not exactly the true version of Christian principles.
The lack of public outrage from Christian leaders about the hate filled rhetoric, and policies to keep immigrants out and help rich people get richer is pretty damning in my opinion. Thank you for speaking up here.
And could someone here please explain why the good people of Georgia elected MTG? In what Universe is she qualified to be a US Representative who took an oath to protect and uphold the constitution?
Yes. Religion is supposed to be about morality. Anyone who doesn't know that the First Amendment refers to freedom of religion should learn more about Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine. Separation of church and state. A wall between church and state. We are NOT a religious state.
Sheila, she isn’t qualified, in any sense of the word. As I recall, and this was a while ago, and she’s not my representative, she did originally have some opposition, but he dropped out of the race, and she was the only one left on the ballot, in a ruby red district in north Georgia.
The question really was rhetorical, Camille. I just wish there was a way to put her on the ropes like Boebert is. Boebert is unlikely to return to Congress. Good riddance. But when you lose decent conservatives like Mike Gallagher, and retain the idiot flame throwers, policies don’t get passed. And we pay those bozos pretty well… ugh!
Thank you, Shelia. I went to Vanderbilt Divinity School which had deep roots in the Methodist Church. Mercifully, like Chicago and the Baptists, we separated from them over 100 years ago. It sounds as if you were reared in a marvelous family and it also sounds as if you are keeping the family traditions alive. Thank you! I am hoping against hope that MTG is replaced in November. When the election is closer, I will write a letter to her newspaper begging the people to vote her out. I won't do any good, but I'll feel better for trying.
I've been referring to them as magamorons, but haven't gotten much traction. Probably not politically correct. I have a real problem feeling either pity or sympathy for traitors.
Once again, we see the price being paid because Merrick Garksnd refused to prosecute the seditious members of Congress who participated in the insurrection. And we never hear Joe Biden mention this. I know what’s wrong with Garlsnd, because I follow Sarah Kendzior’s writings. But WTF is wrong with Biden? He should have called of these members of Congress to be indicted and expelled in his inaugural address!!!
Ted Budd was in the House and voted against certifying the Electoral College vote. The Trump MAGA party has come up with ways to attack American institutions that would never have been considered before.
Good point Peter. I suppose I could have said "explosion from Congress" -but I don't want any Congresspersons or legislative staff who actually believe in democracy to be hurt. Besides, I'm more justice, less extrajudicial activity sort of person. :)
Likewise, George. A Cromwellian solution is undesirable, but when all constitutional safeguards against blatant betrayal from within have broken down so badly that public safety is endangered, it surely becomes necessary to think and act "outside the box".
The Republic has been taken hostage (along with most of what used to be the Republican party) in a move by insiders far more effective than the January 6th shambles... and America seems not even to have noticed...
How sick can our countries get?
In what became the Confederate states, slaves will of course have been unaware of owners' decisions to dispose of their chattels as they thought fit.
Likewise, American citizens pursue their daily business blissfully unaware that they and their country have been "sold down the river".
How is this grotesque situation possible?
*
All my working life, I had such respect for the ablest jurists with whom I had dealings. But when a state of laws has degenerated into a state of lawyers, pure otherworldly abstraction takes hold and, in the end, even fools can see that Lex asinus est -- the law is an ass.
In such a State, public safety is endangered, citizens' rights and freedoms are at risk. The very existence of citizenship is in the balance, and the prognosis is dire.
The enemy within the gates knows very well how autocrats -- kings by divine right or dictators -- act in such instances. Beheadings. The Night of the Long Knives.
Is America really bound in chains of her own making?
Is there really no recourse against betrayal from within the system?
Is Americans' "Can Do" spirit really dead? Or has it, too, been hijacked?
Peter, you definitely have your finger on the pulse of events. And, we should be very much concerned. I just finished reading Adam Gopnik's review of Timothy W. Ryback's book about Hitler's rise to power in a democracy, entitled Takeover: Hitler's Final Rise to Power." The review is in the latest edition of "The New Yorker." The takeaway? Hitler didn't grab power; he was given it. Trump's supporters are fools to think that he would be loyal to them. What will Trump do with immigrants here if he comes to power? The Final Solution? After all, their blood is poisoned. Obviously, we need to be more serious now than ever before. It isn't just Trump, but also his stupid enablers.
Yes, the system has not evolved with the threats. If it had, Trump would have been removed and addressed in the first impeachment -as well as his co-conspirators and accessories after the fact.
Thank you, but it is such an unhappy business, trying to speak the truth, as I perceive it.
And now, I've just been talking with a Canadian friend... about the great things found in America. And some of the horrors, like going into small town grocery stores in black districts of upstate New York or Pennsylvania, and seeing that what was being sold was produced by the same firms that sold to whites , but -- going by his description -- half price and half way between that up-market fare and pet food.
And, once again, here we have what was noticed by a trained observer, one who spoke, too, of seeing in those places poor folk worn down by lives of stress, cruel exploitation, exhaustion. And comparing with conditions in Canada, where public healthcare and social security make life so much more bearable even for the under-privileged. (Some very sharp observations, too, on national complacency and the downside of Canadian policies...)
South Carolina beach communities, then time travel on secondary roads, moving just a few miles inland... and a century back... to shacks and barefoot kids playing in the dust.
That "Am-I-my-brother's-keeper" cruelty and indifference. And, he feared, many, many who'd be voting for Trump who despises and hates them. Anything, anything to make a break with a status quo that cares nothing for lives on the wrong side of the tracks, whether in the States, in Hebron or in Gaza.
I, who do not share the political views of this friend or his stark pessimism, despite the undeniable quality of his observations and his fellow-feeling for suffering humans, am bound to take account of that pessimism and of the dark places to which people's despair may lead them and us.
Thanks, Peter. Your writing is exquisite, your sensibility deep and mature. What an expression!: "Am-I-my-brother's-keeper" cruelty and indifference." and "a status quo that cares nothing for lives on the wrong side of the tracks..." Bellissimo! I had that sensation driving across the deep South on back roads a number of years ago. Reminded me of the poorest parts of Nigeria (where I lived for 2 years). Why can we not do better at sharing our blessings?
There is no doubt, when people are in jail for minor drug or property offenses, and people who have attacked our system while acting to the benefit of murderous adversaries like Putin are free on appeal, or bond, or just completely ignoring the justice system. *
*except for Navarro -because that's just too darn funny not to mention here.
I wonder if Betsy DeVos helped him with this RNC pyramid model, because, you know -Amway. I must say I would enjoy it immensely if the Trump/Putin "MAGAtized" RNC paid Trump's legal bills and starved every other GOP campaign for donations. And yes, George Conway is correct, it should be called the MAGAPutins or something similar. Regardless of the name, it is a criminal organization working to attack the Republic (as a representative democracy), destroy vital institutions such as Social Security and public education, and burn the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence.
Senators Budd, Lee, Cruz, and Paul -are all part of the MAGA movement -and Cruz also stood against certification of the 2020 election with 146 other MAGAtized extremists who should be considered for expulsion from Congress.
Regardless of the name, one of the last things they actually are is defenders of a republic.
Or genuinely conservative.
Or patriots
Or adherents to "law and order"
Or Christians
Or the "victims"
Or speakers of truth
Or a party Lincoln could have identified with in any way.
So very true. I suspect Lincoln might say "I thought you surrendered in 1865" And Eisenhower might say "I thought you surrendered in 1945."
Of course Darwin might take one look at Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene and recheck his notes about evolution.
Love the last sentence!
Thanks Lynn. (I’m here to help). 🤓
MTG- WHO does she think she is? And WHY? And WHEN and HOW did she become who she thinks she is? WHAT more can she and her cronies-in-crime do before they are
"put in their place."
HOW has she been allowed to do her detrimental "thing"
Is the big question, to me.
There are 'useful idiots’ and then there are 'outrageous useful idiots'. She does what she does because she is encouraged and rewarded for it. She distracts and people bite on the distractions, and if she distracts enough while the hidden dirty work proceeds apace, all the better. Look at all the footage there was of her in her stupid costume at the SOTU address. Look at the footage of Biden making a face at her getup on that occasion. All a waste of everyone’s time and attention, but the so called fourth estate can't get enough of it. So it, 'it' being the nihilistic behavior of an outrageous useful idiot, continues ad nauseam.
Please share: Voting Blue in November is now the only "choice" we have left.
She’s a black hole, Pam. All the light gets sucked in. No point in even trying.
Hey Georgia! Support Marcus Flowers to oust MTG!! https://marcusforgeorgia.com/
Ego is the most dangerous drug of all; and yet we all have one. Ego literally means "I", and it's there for good reason. R. L. Stevenson's point in "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde" is that Hyde is part of human nature; and there is an addictive appeal to exerting unaccountable power. There is a touch of it in my sneering at MTG, but few (if any) of us are total saints. Certainly her behavior is worthy of condemnation.
I become dangerous if I begin to tell myself that only my preferences, only my rights matter, that other people are only obstacles, tools, or toys. Or perhaps only those of my race, nation or cohort are worth to live or find their own way. Trump seems to have no brake on narcissism; he appears ready to maliciously cheat/betray anyone. Weird that he is admired for that, but that's far from new in the course of history. We as a species keep making that same mistake over and over, and as our species' power to do increases, it threatens to kill us all.
Evolution also selected our powers of reason and the better angels of our nature, love, reason, empathy, conscience, compassion, etc., the "angel" one shoulder and "devil" on the other. We collectively need to get smarter fast about which to follow.
Seriously, what is the point of Maggot Traitor Gangrene? She is doing NOTHING to work on the issues facing the people in her constituency, and is harming them and the rest of the country in the bargain. And WTH is Johnson doing recessing the House? He really doesn't grasp his job, either as a representative or as the Speaker, does he? (That isn't really a question.)
She wants to be "relevant". And have lots of reporters pay attention to her.
I think MTG says a lot about Georgia.
It's chance mutation after all. They can't all be gems.
I needed a good laugh this morning!
I don't know why people refer to Rep. Greene as anything but "MT Greene" (sound it out, and you'll get it.)
Heck, I just spell it right out for folks: Empty Greene. Completely empty of brains, empty of any ability to shut her yap, empty of any sense of decorum or dignity and yes, empty of any form of common sense.
Just like her Dear Leader Trump, in fact.
Thanks! Great point
Yup, George, they should just crawl back into the primordial slime.
They should break down into a few chemicals clinging to the wall of a deep ocean vent or maybe be going down a black hole in deep space.
Trump is a good example he really sucks (or, more accurately, he warps whatever space he occupies)
Takes the air right out of the room and fills it with something fetid.
Slime gone wrong. Very wrong.
The Freedom Caucus, if that's the word for it now, is determined to follow through on bringing down the "administrative state", it's all out now regardless of the chaos, and that just seems to be their gameplan. Anarchy, since there is no way other members of Congress can go along and maintain their political sanity, or survival.
Of course, the "Freedom Caucus" would be right out of a certain Orwell novel. I think CHAOS Caucus would be more fitting - or even more appropriate, KAOS, like the international organization of evil in "Get Smart" (the '60s TV comedy, for those of you under age 50).
Control vs. KAOS.
Sorry about that...
I wonder what their electorates are thinking right now. Are they as bad as their reps? Some of the random street comments from Trump supporters doesn't feel encouraging. But ...
A goodly number of their supporters just want to own the libs and have all the biases that these members show. Also a certain part of the population loves the idea of thumbing their noses at authority and being totally uncivil. Death star has given them carte blanche to act out and being in the face of everyone they perceive to be different.
Read an article about trumpers being interviewed about how they felt about trump's insulting the handicapped. "It's a political campaign thing." It's terrible" etc. Would you still vote for him? Yes.
Yes, Freedom for whom? It's freedom for Putin. Then MTG and DJT get the hoped for reward of basking in Daddy's approval.
1984 was the most ominous book i ever read. Age 16 or so, one night in a basement. Chilled me to the heart. (offset - the year my second child was born)
Please share: Voting Blue in November is now the only "choice" women have left.
Point taken but it's also the only choice that any freedom loving person has left.
"My Species Disappoints Me" is my favorite bumper sticker on my car!
My species awes and disappoints me, even scares me. There is so much to like, so many "gifts"; it's nuts the degree to which our species is it's own worst enemy.
I used to like people; now, I just want to get away from most of them. Perhaps our species is more palatable in small doses. "Zero population growth" was a stellar idea!
I think a lot of our big problems have been exacerbated by population growth, including immigration issues, climate change, and seeming disintegration of a sense of community. It not the only factor, but it complicates a lot.
That last sentence made me laugh out loud. Thank you! I needed that laugh.
Trump doesn’t think Republican candidates need cash from him. He thinks his mere endorsement is better than money.
Good one George! 💩😵💫🤗
Thanks for the chuckle. Well penned.
Valid point about Lincoln and Eisenhower.
J.L. - "or geuinely conservative" Why do we still call the GOP conservatives? And I don't think you need the modifier "genuinely".
They are repressive regressives. HCR reminded us yesterday about the 1850's. Sounds a lot like today's GOP.
Gary Loft ME NE FL CT MI IL CA, oooh, I like that ----repressive regressives.
alliteration, if I remember from high school English. I am a metaphor type person myself.
Or regressive repressers. How depressing!
"Repressive Regressives" is about perfect, Gary. I think certain ones may be called "Aggressive Repressive Regressives", or the ARRs! Pirates one and all!
The "GOP" should be censured for illiteration.
Good one, J L!
Or GOOP - Greatly Oppressive Old Party
I love it Doug. I've being trying to come up with something to go with the Repressive Regressives. The Pirate thing works great.
Please share: Voting Blue in November is now the only "choice" women have left.
HCR's letters remind us that Lincoln's republican party stood for investing in the infrastructure of society so that free men could build their lives upon a strong foundation that only a collective (the government) can build and maintain. The republican party of my lifetime (62 years) has always wanted to do the opposite. Let the corporations, already powerful rich white men, take over and usurp everyone else. Of course they admire Putin.
" The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves---in their separate, and individual capacities.
In all that the people can individually do as well for themselves, government ought not to interfere." - Lincoln
I would not take "individually do as well for themselves" to mean "let the billionaires buy up everything, and pay whatever they ask for it". That's "Reganomics".
Perhaps, instead of buying megayachts, or spaceships, etc., the obscenely rich could invest in the country, as their predecessors did in "the good old days". Andrew Carnegie comes immediately to mind.
Carnegie was still a ruthless creep but I liked his libraries. The problem is even when the not so predatory rich do genuinely good works, they do so according to their vision/understanding which can be one-sided or out of touch. We benefit from philanthropy, and we can benefit from visionaries, who sometimes see what's needed before the crowd; but as a rule, the People are going to be the final authority on what the people need and where the people want to go. That's a democratic society. Somehow spaceflight was more exciting to me when we as a nation chose to go to the Moon and do the other things than watching preening billionaires make it their personal playground.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/10/us/elon-musk-charity.html?unlocked_article_code=1.fE0.TEQ4.60f0rPFRYltv&smid=url-share
Well, "conservative" can mean "prudent", as in a "conservative estimate". In that sense it acknowledges the pitfalls of hubris, which is to say it implies a degree of humility. I consider "the scientific method" to be conservative in a good way. "Conservation" was an early name for "environmental protection", which is conservative. Wantonly destroying resources and climate balance is not.
What is most familiar about repressiveness in the 1800s is the pompous pretext for imposition of a hierarchical society, with very rich males at the top. In this case, white males, but you will see similar scams across the globe, with some persons and cohorts spouting flowery rationalizations proclaiming the righteousness of bullying and ripping everybody else off.
In the 1850s, follow the money. In the 2020s, follow the money.
.... Yes; Always follow the money. Hi JL
Repressive, regressive, reactionaries.
Reactionary repressive regressives. The party of the three Rs.
They are Traitors
Or trustworthy!
It seems to me that trust is crucial to a free and open society. Not blind trust of course, but reasonable trust. No, the Nigerian Prince probably is not palnning to share millions of dollars with you if you just send some money, but we entrust things to others every day. Significant cheating poisons a social environment. We can adapt to it to some degree, but at some point the society will degenerate into despotism or chaos or both. We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately".
In a world where truth is blurred, ethics are lost, and intellect is rare, the marketplace of ideas falters. And, thus society collapses.
The truth we get to know can be somewhat elusive, but we can at least tell the truth, so far as we understand it. I think societies thrive on good faith, and tyranny is sustained by lies.
Amen, J L. I have often listed all these things as aspects of the party of death. Thank you for putting out an excellent plain list for us.
Though I think of it more as the Party of Selfishness, and that extreme, pathological selfishness results in deaths. Maybe even that of our whole species (the universe is perfectly capable of ending all of our stories unexpectedly, but likely won't any time soon). Knowledge without wisdom can be dangerous, let alone charting the future on damnable lies. Unbridled Selfishness + Unaccountable Power = Disaster
It's a selfishness that leads to death: of rights, of our democracy, of the planet, of genuine patriotism, of what Jesus taught, of any kind of human decency. We are headed more quickly than expected to making the planet unlivable. I find wisdom to be a fairly rare commodity. As for knowledge, someone will always figure a way to use it dangerously.
Wisdom does not seem to get much press these days. I'm not even sure how to define it, but I think that at least in part it has to do with with seeing extended consequence and an improved sense of what most matters.
which is why it is rare.
Exactly right!
Maybe they are the vermin trump speaks about.
The Latin root of "vermin" means "worm". Worms are attractive bait for many fishes. Worms can be used to lure an unpopular variety of fish known as "Suckers".
Sounds about right. I guess trump and his followers are the suckers. Love you c om men t.mp would be the vermin
You got that right!
"This morning, conservative lawyer George Conway suggested that “we should stop defiling the memory of the party of Lincoln by referring to the current organization” as the Republican Party."
Nonsense. Revisionist in the worst way - abdicating responsibility. It's been Republicans all the way down and as far back at least to Nixon, Reagan, Gingrich, et al. Direct and even blood heirs of the Confederacy - ever since opening their arms to the Dixiecrats and jumping into bed with the religious right. From William F. Buckley and George F. Will through Murdoch, Bannon, and Jones to Truth Social. From the Powell Memorandum through the Federalist Society and Politics of Faith to the Seven Mountain Mandate and Heritage Society Project 2025. Republican Party it is. Through and through. Warp and woof.
Thank you, it’s been for most of my adult life, I liked Ike and Everett Dirksen, the others have just been apologists for the worst of the worst. Even Will Rogers knew on November 26, 1932. “The money was all appropriated for the top in the hopes that it would trickle down to the needy. Mr. Hoover didn’t know that money trickled up. Give it to the people at the bottom and the people at the top will have it before night, anyhow. But it will have passed through the poor fellow's hands.” Mr Hoover may have believed that money trickled down, but no republican since ever bought that crap. My humble opinion for most of my long life.
Wow, excellent. Me too.
I'd never heard the Will Rogers quote.
I give you Mark Twain:" it's easier to fool people than convince them they've been fooled"
It infuriates me to be wrong when I know I’m right.
—Molière
To err is human, to repent divine; to persist devilish.
-- Benjamin Franklin
Kathryn Schulz "On Being Wrong"
"Being wrong is an inescapable part of being alive. And yet we go through life tacitly assuming (or loudly insisting) that we are right about nearly everything - from our political beliefs to our private memories, from our grasp of scientific fact to the merits of our favourite team. Being Wrong looks at why this conviction has such a powerful grip on us, what happens when this conviction is shaken, and how we interpret the moral, political and psychological significance of being wrong. Drawing on philosophies old and new and cutting-edge neuroscience, Schulz offers an exploration of the allure of certainty and the necessity of fallibility in four main areas: in religion (when the end of the world fails to be nigh); in politics (where were those WMD?); in memory (where are my keys?); and in love (when Mr or Ms Right becomes Mr or Ms Wrong)."
https://www.ted.com/talks/kathryn_schulz_on_being_wrong/transcript
The OSS psychological profile of Hitler described his use of the big lie:
His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.
Ted talks are great!
Love both these guys. Sad that we didn’t pay enough attention…
Well...they were both dead
But they live on in their writing, worth a read
Yes. Let the name continue to be used until it goes down in flames. Let it join the "No Knothings, the Federalists and the Whigs in the dust bin of American history. Republican now means "crooks and traitors". Let it die.
Hopefully, a new center right party will be formed that can provide a normal and natural balance to our political ecosystem. Such things exist in other democracies. A natural yin and yang. Hopefully it will be led by honest patriots. They won't get my vote, but they could be at least be legitimate participants in the electoral process.
Hopefully. We continue to have Hope. Hope for our nation, our people, our world. It’s an ancient emotion that must be accompanied with action. Voting, protesting, even obstructing the wrongs and crimes.
Poet Emily Dickinson’s observation:
“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul-
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.” There’s more to read:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42889/hope-is-the-thing-with-feathers-314
How long does it take for Voters to burn out, become so discouraged that they believe they have no voice. That’s one of the repubs’ best tactics: delay, obstruct, distract, lie: Brave New World isn’t just a novel.
Yes. I think (and hope) that the Dobbs decision will be the force behind a Blue Wave of outraged women (and men).
"How long does it take for Voters to burn out, become so discouraged that they believe they have no voice. That’s one of the repubs’ best tactics: delay, obstruct, distract, lie:"
It is a tactic of vote splitting ideologues across the spectrum. Including such as Jill Stein, RFK, Cornell West, No Labels et sl
Bill, I grew up supporting Democrats -- even Adlai Stevenson -- before I could walk. I began reading the Washington Post under Kennedy, saw my father weep as we imagined nukes raining down on us during the Cuban Missle crisis, loved LBJ when he looked me squarely in the eye to say "We shall overcome!", knew I could never vote for Tricky Dicky when he said "you won't have Nixon to kick around anymore", learned to detest Nixon when he assured us "I am not a crook", saw my father turn white as a sheet when I told him Ford had just pardoned Nixon, and then my father died just before Raygun removed Jimmy Carter's solar panels, and then the elder Bush failed to sign early climate change legislation, and Bill Clinton (a truly talented straight-faced liar) brought sleaze to the White House but governed better than Reagan, at least, and then Bush Junior lied us into Iraq, and then Obama.... Ah Obama! inspired me and gave me hope, but perhaps didn't realize how badly he had shocked and dismayed the bigots and racists and xenophobes and -- it appears -- the super-wealthy powers that be, and then, and then? God Help Us !!
Eisenhower was arguably a good choice to lead us into the mostly unavoidable Cold War, and there have been several honorable GOP governors and a couple of Senators in my lifetime who voted intelligently when it really counted, and Liz Cheney has given us all an important lesson in true patriotism, but the Republican Party is a goner, a memory, all that's left of Lincoln's good idea that really went off the rails to become unrecognizable, a danger to our country, to the human species and to all life on Earth.
At this late (-ish, I hope) stage of my life as a non-believer, I discover that Trump is the Devil incarnate and that no one can save us from ourselves but us.
David, your recap of our national historic spiral dive is spot on. And...this "non-believer" also has decided that there may actually be a devil (or more) on Earth. Not sure if I can come up with another explanation.
Wow!
Given Trump's history of slapping his name all over anything he "owns" I could see "Trumpublican" being the name. Or, since it's already an established brand, "MAGA". Whatever, so long as he's in charge, he'll be choosing the name.
How exactly is that going to happen?
Optimistically, the GQP will suffer such great losses that disgusted moderates will act. Political parties are not guaranteed eternal life.
Yes, the reelection and sanctification of the megadunce Reagan may have been the real turning point. Or even point of no return.
I could never understand how anyone in their right minds could support Reagan. Then again, it was US which went into Vietnam to lose and cost Vietnam over a million lives, and while I understood taking on Saddam's invasion of Kuwait, what of the falsely justified invasion Iraq which led to ISIS, and the wholesale invasion of Afghanistan, from which which US withdraw after 20 years of futility, handing the country back to the Taliban?
Reagan was an actor who knew how to perform a role and recite the lines he'd memorized (written by his admittedly clever handlers) with a certain smug conviction. He was a far classier shyster than Trump, but a shyster nonetheless.
Our problem is not that so many American voters are not in their "right" minds, but that they are way Right on certain issues the rest of us thought had been decided a long time ago: that of course rich people should pay progressively higher taxes than the rest of us; that government exists to help citizens by levelling the capitalist playing field enough that everyone benefits; that we really do have equal rights, however differently we may each look or talk or dress or make love to one another; that sometimes we might do well to emulate the ways other countries give their citizens pensions and healthcare and daycare and regular paid vacations, etcetera, etcetera ad nauseam.
We Americans are exceptional in many ways, including in our short-sighted stupidity. No, not all of us, but a lot.
Please share: Voting Blue in November is now the only "choice" women have left.
Enter The Handmaid's Tale. One of the most upsetting books I have read. What was even more upsetting were the women who were supporting this life style (holding down (hand holding) while a woman was basically being raped. Sounds like Schafler?
It has been the only choice forever!
Another good bumper sticker.
Part of levelling the capitalist playing field is taxation; the other essential part is regulation. And part of the effect of fairer taxation is being able to put teeth into regulation enforcement.
Agreed , many thanks!
Why are we even in the Middle East? oil? Suez Canal? Big ticket items though. That area is the perfect example what happens when religion? or pretend religion merges with government.
Vietnam? There are river cruises going through there with side tours to Thailand.
You don't go far enough back. Harry Truman had some pithy things to point out about Republicans. I heard him say some of these things in 1947 when I was nine. Lifted this one: “Republicans approve of the American farmer, but they are willing to help him go broke. They stand four-square for the American home--but not for housing. They are strong for labor--but they are stronger for restricting labor's rights. They favor minimum wage--the smaller the minimum wage the better. They endorse educational opportunity for all--but they won't spend money for teachers or for schools. They think modern medical care and hospitals are fine--for people who can afford them. They consider electrical power a great blessing--but only when the private power companies get their rake-off. They think American standard of living is a fine thing--so long as it doesn't spread to all the people. And they admire of Government of the United States so much that they would like to buy it.”
― Harry S. Truman
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/203941.Harry_Truman
People ( well, my people anyway) listened to him back then and knew it was true. Can we get anyone to listen these days? Or is it just sound bites on a cell phone that matter?
I love it. It is so true of today. Politicians are rich, get a good pension, I'm going to guess healthcare. What do they care about the regular people?
Carolyn, thank You for that!
When I find a quotable quote such as your post, I copy the link to the post and send it to myself via email with the subject line "notes to myself -- subject line here" to help me find it again later. The link to the post is included in the link to the right of the name of the person who posted it.
What Truman said is still true today.
Wonderful. ThankYou!
My mother took me to hear him at a whistle stop in Taunton, Ma in 1947 when he was campaigning. I was 9 and excited beyond words.
Carolyn,
Long may you run!
Right Carolyn; Not enough has been or is commonly spoke of "Give 'em Hell Harry." Must be generational lapses; Are we not learning that 'all this' has happened before, or at least it all rhymes ?
lin. ; Exactly right! The repgs have been pro fascism at least since Reagan, although they realize you can’t admit that in polite society.
David , keeping quiet about the hidden fascism was the case until 45.
Now the Republicans have been given permission (encouragement) to say the quiet parts out loud. When you add to that the books and articles lifting the corner of the tent and shining a bright light on the elephant dung, it’s hard to ignore what has been revealed.
The good thing is that many of us have been rudely awakened. Starting with Nixon’s and Agnew’s dirty deeds and culminating in 45, leading HIS Republican Party, we realize that, while we thought that things were the same for both parties , the US oligarchs and Dixiecrats were remodeling the Grand Old Party in their image and it ain’t pretty. As is said after many disasters, we can’t unsee the carnage and we’re called upon to get off the couch and fight.
Mary; I love your reply to my comment . Thanks for the context.
David, thank you for your reply. It’s so encouraging to read a comment that acknowledges how often we ignore our gut feeling to keep quiet out of politeness.
Not quite. While I share your criticism of the GOP of yore, there is a clear distinction between the Ghosts of GOP Past and the Whitened Sepulchers of its MAGAtized Present.
As just one of many examples, Richard Nixon, who normalized relations with China, ushered in the EPA as well as wage and price controls with Sanders-esque zeal, would be considered a Bolshevik by the mobs supporting Despicable Don on Fifth Avenue and everywhere else
And he came this close 🤏🏻 to being convicted, but was convinced to resign rather than going to jail.
Nixon? Sanders like zeal? Hmmm...
But in an interesting move he enacted the EPA to mitigate the confusion of a myriad of state regulations. My guess it was to make it easier for businesses to comply, or not.
Abraham Lincoln was of course, the first Republican President. In his famous second Inaugural Address, he called on all Americans to call on "the better angels of our nature".
While it was at least possible, if somewhat impractical, to hear Republicans from the Reagan era speak in such lofty and aspirational tones, it is literally impossible to imagine the current Kool Aid drinking Party calling itself Republican to do so.
Even further back when the Republicans added states to increase their senate members and also allowed the troop withdrawals from southern states opening the Jim Crow reign of terror.
It inspired my latest article on Leadership Matters. 🤓
Re: the origins of Republican "alternative facts" and the entire right wing revisionist history from erecting national traitors as heritage heroes in every town square to banning books in every public library.
[An aside Yesterday I heard that master tailor (to presidents and star) Martin Greenfield had died. He'd learned to sew as a child in Auschwitz. My first thought was, how long would it take Ron DeSantis et al to add to the school curriculum that the Holocaust was a boon to Jews because the concentration camps provided opportunities to develop skills which Jews could later apply for their personal benefit? ("DeSantis, however, is continuing to defend Florida’s new curriculum, ... which includes the assertion for middle school instruction that “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit."" https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/07/22/desantis-slavery-curriculum/ ]
OK back to the GOP replacing history with hagiography.
In 1907 American ex-pat Henry James published The American Scene, his observations on a sentimental journey home. In chapter XII, starting on page 365 (of the text linked below), James speaks of his visit to Richmond, VA - seat of the defeated Confederacy.
"This then the tragic ghost-haunted city, this the centre of the vast blood-drenched circle, one of the (370) most blood-drenched, for miles and miles around, in the dire catalogue aforesaid . . . to one's first dismay; a sort of intellectual bankruptcy, this latter, that one felt one really couldn't afford. There were no references-- . . . to the conception that, almost comic in itself, was yet so tragically to fail to work, that of a world rearranged, a State solidly and comfortably seated and tucked-in, in the interest of slave-produced Cotton . . . whereby was laid on the Southern genius the necessity of getting rid of these discords and substituting for (374) the ironic face of the world an entirely new harmony, or in other words a different scheme of criticism. Since nothing in the Slave-scheme could be said to conform--conform, that is, to the reality of things--it was the plan of Christendom and the wisdom of the ages that would have to be altered. History, the history of everything, would be rewritten ad usum Delphini--the Dauphin being in this case the budding Southern mind. This meant a general and a permanent quarantine; meant the eternal bowdlerization of books and journals; meant in fine all literature and all art on an expurgatory index. It meant, still further, an active and ardent propaganda; the reorganization of the school, the college, the university, in the interest of the new criticism."
https://www2.newpaltz.edu/~hathawar/americanscene2.html
Please share: Voting Blue in November is now the only "choice" women have left.
Thank you for sharing -and those observations are now magnified times 1000 (or Magafied).
Linda, you think what's happening now is a "last gasp" effort? the GOP is shredding itself over accomplishing its extremist goals. Most important, is enough of the "ex-GOp" and independent vote up for not seeing social support and other regularity functions of modern government take a dive?
Imagine! Three Party of MAGA House Reps are quitting early as many on both sides are, because of the dysfunction! Our own fabulous Dem Elissa Slotkin is quitting to run for Senator, and she would be fantastic.
Conway is pretty pathetic.
While we're at it, the "Save America" PAC could be named the "Save Trump" PAC.
True Steve. Although you have to appreciate the Save America PAC is for Saps.
Better than magats
Great responce, George. I like George Conway's name for the new trump party - that would make the acronym the POT-p
MAGA is the current-day acronym for KKK. Read Timothy Egan's book, "A Fever in the Heartland" about the rise of the KKK in the Midwest in the 1920's. When I saw the marchers at Charlottesville in 2017 on TV, I came out of my chair when I heard them shouting, "Jews will not replace us?" What? Where did that come from? That's Klan talk.
Chump made that clear on day one, our MSM blathered the “both sides” crap to muddy the waters. It’s time that, even though the hoods are off, we recognize that their hearts are as evil as they ever were.
I get TFFG's emails to see what he's doing. He is grifting the hell out of his base because (1) he doesn't have the money that he claims to have, and 2) because he can. Here's his pitch that just came in:
Keep your filthy hands off Trump Tower
President Trump
This email was sent by the organization that owns the logo shown.
www.donaldjtrump.com
From:
contact@win.donaldjtrump.com
To:
Richard
Sat, Mar 23 at 7:19 AM
Now is the time to help me SAVE AMERICA and chip in >
KEEP YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF OF TRUMP TOWER!
This is a message from Donald J. Trump >
Richard, insane radical Democrat AG Letitia James wants to SEIZE my properties in New York.
THIS INCLUDES THE ICONIC TRUMP TOWER!
Democrats think that this will intimidate me.
They think that if they take my cash to stifle my campaign, that I’ll GIVE UP!
But worst of all? They think that YOU will abandon me, and that you will GIVE UP on our country.
Here’s one thing they don’t know: WE WILL NEVER SURRENDER!
Biden’s corrupt regime needs to get the message - right here, right now - that our patriotic movement CANNOT BE STOPPED!
So before the day is over, I’m calling on ONE MILLION Pro-Trump patriots to chip in and say, STOP THE WITCH HUNT AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP! >
STOP THE WITCH HUNT
Crooked Joe Biden has coordinated every step of this ELECTION INTERFERENCE.
He thinks using the courts will stop us from winning back the White House, BUT WITH YOUR SUPPORT TODAY, WE WILL PROVE HIM WRONG!
Peacefully stand with me now >
WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Thank you,
Now is the time to CHIP IN and help me SAVE AMERICA >
Now is the time to CHIP IN and help me SAVE AMERICA >
Donald J. Trump
45th President of the United States
STOP THE WITCH HUNT
Heaven help us!
From that source... Verbal Diarrhea Springs Eternal...
He just got richer by the merger with truth Social, apparently. Offshore shell company. Who follows up to see where that money came from?
Orban would be the first funnel I’d check out if I were investigating. I hope someone’s with the capacity does find out!
Yes, heaven only knows to whom he is now indebted. All along I felt that because of Putin blackmailing Trump with Moscow hotel room photos and videos, Trump was Putin's pigeon. Trump's mendacity is such that I believe it would have caused Saddam Hussein to blush. What we need to fear, of course, is what he will do if given a chance.
I’d bet on Orbán
What classy begging, NOT. But he knows what opens their wallets. I’m your savior, they are really after you. I really loved the garbage sent to me by Jr. “ok, enough playing games, my dad and i need your help now. “ couldn’t believe the stupidity. He should let his dad be the family beggar…
Thanks for that. I once got snail-mail from the GOP: sending it back (I forget if I had to put a stamp on the return envelope) with appropriate commentary (to wit, "Go to Hell") stopped any further invasion of my mailbox by that god-forsaken organization.
Thanks, you just reminded me to clear my spam folder. Over 100 from Trump.
Yes, time to see what’s really in their hearts! Think we already know!
Indeed we do, if we are not "magatized>"
I like to get straight to the point. I call it The New American Nazi Party, just as the AfD in Germany is overtaking the Heimat Party as The New German Nazi Party. I was at a rally last Sunday in a city in Northern Germany where on signs people are more clearly naming the AfD, known for its anti-immigrant stance, as Nazis. In the film God & Country, which I recently saw they talk about the symbiotic relationship between Treacherous-treasonous-traitor-Trump and the White Nationalist Evangelicals. The question is asked, is this Christianity, and the film makes a compelling case that it is not, it is more like what the Nazis were and are. Here is a discussion with the director Dan Partland and the Producer Rob Reiner. https://youtu.be/Q8QasbXXNZc?si=VAKY1dv5kInRcKrp
"The question is asked, is this Christianity?" I'm a minister (Presbyterian) and I agree with the answer except much more forcefully. It's time for the Church to ask the question, "What would Jesus do?" The shortest verse in the Bible is two words, "Jesus wept." Jesus is weeping now. These blasphemous people and organizations need to be called out by religious leadership, esp. preachers from pulpits. As Roberto Duran said to Sugar Ray Leonard, "No mas! No mas!"
Robert, I’m the granddaughter of a Methodist minister who was also a Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago. (U of Chicago has deep Baptist roots). I was raised Catholic. My grandparents and parents were active in the Civil Rights movement and considered their actions to be their Christian duty. My “duty” turned out to be protecting the environment, as in protecting ALL of God’s creation. For my efforts, I received death threats from so-called Christians who preferred the prosperity gospels; which as most of us know is not exactly the true version of Christian principles.
The lack of public outrage from Christian leaders about the hate filled rhetoric, and policies to keep immigrants out and help rich people get richer is pretty damning in my opinion. Thank you for speaking up here.
And could someone here please explain why the good people of Georgia elected MTG? In what Universe is she qualified to be a US Representative who took an oath to protect and uphold the constitution?
Yes. Religion is supposed to be about morality. Anyone who doesn't know that the First Amendment refers to freedom of religion should learn more about Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine. Separation of church and state. A wall between church and state. We are NOT a religious state.
Sheila, she isn’t qualified, in any sense of the word. As I recall, and this was a while ago, and she’s not my representative, she did originally have some opposition, but he dropped out of the race, and she was the only one left on the ballot, in a ruby red district in north Georgia.
The question really was rhetorical, Camille. I just wish there was a way to put her on the ropes like Boebert is. Boebert is unlikely to return to Congress. Good riddance. But when you lose decent conservatives like Mike Gallagher, and retain the idiot flame throwers, policies don’t get passed. And we pay those bozos pretty well… ugh!
Thank you, Shelia. I went to Vanderbilt Divinity School which had deep roots in the Methodist Church. Mercifully, like Chicago and the Baptists, we separated from them over 100 years ago. It sounds as if you were reared in a marvelous family and it also sounds as if you are keeping the family traditions alive. Thank you! I am hoping against hope that MTG is replaced in November. When the election is closer, I will write a letter to her newspaper begging the people to vote her out. I won't do any good, but I'll feel better for trying.
Steve Bannon’s trips overseas were not for sightseeing.
Bannon is another treacherous-treasonous-traitor!
An architect of Armageddon, American style
Love the alliteration!
I've been referring to them as magamorons, but haven't gotten much traction. Probably not politically correct. I have a real problem feeling either pity or sympathy for traitors.
That’s very descriptive, I would add deliberate, not innate. The latter are deserving of sympathy, the former of our disgust.
Or perhaps, David, in honor of that now famous TFFG supporter’s pic: “Magamorans”!
That too, Barbara.
I have been calling them maggots for years now, they are morons alright.
Dick, there's another good m-word for this GOP, ends in "ers".
Why arent those insurrectionists in the House not being held accountable? Where is the rule of law?
Or those married to Supreme Court ‘Justices’.
Hiw about fir their nomenclature, the "Mugaputins" Party
First, the best way to expel Rafael Cruz from the Senate is to support Colin Allred, the Democrat in the race and a terrific candidate.
Further thought: Republicans opposed to aid for Ukraine are Putin’s fifth-columnists, and need to be labeled as such.
Once again, we see the price being paid because Merrick Garksnd refused to prosecute the seditious members of Congress who participated in the insurrection. And we never hear Joe Biden mention this. I know what’s wrong with Garlsnd, because I follow Sarah Kendzior’s writings. But WTF is wrong with Biden? He should have called of these members of Congress to be indicted and expelled in his inaugural address!!!
Ted Budd was in the House and voted against certifying the Electoral College vote. The Trump MAGA party has come up with ways to attack American institutions that would never have been considered before.
Your last eight words are far too weak, George, for elements to be expelled immediately from the body politic...
Where to is primarily a sanitary matter.
Good point Peter. I suppose I could have said "explosion from Congress" -but I don't want any Congresspersons or legislative staff who actually believe in democracy to be hurt. Besides, I'm more justice, less extrajudicial activity sort of person. :)
Likewise, George. A Cromwellian solution is undesirable, but when all constitutional safeguards against blatant betrayal from within have broken down so badly that public safety is endangered, it surely becomes necessary to think and act "outside the box".
The Republic has been taken hostage (along with most of what used to be the Republican party) in a move by insiders far more effective than the January 6th shambles... and America seems not even to have noticed...
How sick can our countries get?
In what became the Confederate states, slaves will of course have been unaware of owners' decisions to dispose of their chattels as they thought fit.
Likewise, American citizens pursue their daily business blissfully unaware that they and their country have been "sold down the river".
How is this grotesque situation possible?
*
All my working life, I had such respect for the ablest jurists with whom I had dealings. But when a state of laws has degenerated into a state of lawyers, pure otherworldly abstraction takes hold and, in the end, even fools can see that Lex asinus est -- the law is an ass.
In such a State, public safety is endangered, citizens' rights and freedoms are at risk. The very existence of citizenship is in the balance, and the prognosis is dire.
The enemy within the gates knows very well how autocrats -- kings by divine right or dictators -- act in such instances. Beheadings. The Night of the Long Knives.
Is America really bound in chains of her own making?
Is there really no recourse against betrayal from within the system?
Is Americans' "Can Do" spirit really dead? Or has it, too, been hijacked?
That is hard to believe...
Peter, you definitely have your finger on the pulse of events. And, we should be very much concerned. I just finished reading Adam Gopnik's review of Timothy W. Ryback's book about Hitler's rise to power in a democracy, entitled Takeover: Hitler's Final Rise to Power." The review is in the latest edition of "The New Yorker." The takeaway? Hitler didn't grab power; he was given it. Trump's supporters are fools to think that he would be loyal to them. What will Trump do with immigrants here if he comes to power? The Final Solution? After all, their blood is poisoned. Obviously, we need to be more serious now than ever before. It isn't just Trump, but also his stupid enablers.
Yes, the system has not evolved with the threats. If it had, Trump would have been removed and addressed in the first impeachment -as well as his co-conspirators and accessories after the fact.
Our system is like truth, lagging while the threats run amok…
Buried inside the remains of the former Fourth Estate.
Great comment, Peter.
Thank you, but it is such an unhappy business, trying to speak the truth, as I perceive it.
And now, I've just been talking with a Canadian friend... about the great things found in America. And some of the horrors, like going into small town grocery stores in black districts of upstate New York or Pennsylvania, and seeing that what was being sold was produced by the same firms that sold to whites , but -- going by his description -- half price and half way between that up-market fare and pet food.
And, once again, here we have what was noticed by a trained observer, one who spoke, too, of seeing in those places poor folk worn down by lives of stress, cruel exploitation, exhaustion. And comparing with conditions in Canada, where public healthcare and social security make life so much more bearable even for the under-privileged. (Some very sharp observations, too, on national complacency and the downside of Canadian policies...)
South Carolina beach communities, then time travel on secondary roads, moving just a few miles inland... and a century back... to shacks and barefoot kids playing in the dust.
That "Am-I-my-brother's-keeper" cruelty and indifference. And, he feared, many, many who'd be voting for Trump who despises and hates them. Anything, anything to make a break with a status quo that cares nothing for lives on the wrong side of the tracks, whether in the States, in Hebron or in Gaza.
I, who do not share the political views of this friend or his stark pessimism, despite the undeniable quality of his observations and his fellow-feeling for suffering humans, am bound to take account of that pessimism and of the dark places to which people's despair may lead them and us.
Thanks, Peter. Your writing is exquisite, your sensibility deep and mature. What an expression!: "Am-I-my-brother's-keeper" cruelty and indifference." and "a status quo that cares nothing for lives on the wrong side of the tracks..." Bellissimo! I had that sensation driving across the deep South on back roads a number of years ago. Reminded me of the poorest parts of Nigeria (where I lived for 2 years). Why can we not do better at sharing our blessings?
Hijacked, I think.
Come on, Ally, you and others here have the kind of spirit that corrodes chains!
Indeed
Truer than I ever wanted to acknowledge
It's so obvious the former Republican Party has become the Save Trumps Ass party. Anyone have a good acronym?
1) get dumpty re-elected so he doesn't go to jail
2) pay the orange cocksplat legal bills to keep the uninformed from seeing convictions before they crawl out of their holes and vote
3) maybe flip congress if we have time
Isn't that steering of funding away from downstream ballots just "asking for it" come November? A bump up for Dems. Can't hurt!
Indeed Frank -and I will gladly take anything that offsets voter suppression and gerrymandering.
George Are the MAGAPutins related to the MAGApukins?
Perhaps 1st cousins?
Kissin' cousins.
Yes, but not watching Deliverance again.
And Trumputins
They are Traitors
PutaMagats
Neal Katyl suggested a couple of years ago to call the party lead by TFG Trumplican Party.
I am convinced all who read @HeatherCoxRichardson ‘s LFAA could come up with an array of better names.
Personally, I prefer “inmates”.
But we -- even Ukrainians fighting for their lives, dying, even foreigners like me -- are all these mobsters' prisoners.
Time to rise up and make our jail break.
These people need to be put where they belong.
There is no doubt, when people are in jail for minor drug or property offenses, and people who have attacked our system while acting to the benefit of murderous adversaries like Putin are free on appeal, or bond, or just completely ignoring the justice system. *
*except for Navarro -because that's just too darn funny not to mention here.
"Dixiecrats" is available as far as I know. It pretty much fits; many of them would like to go farther back but to 1948 would satisfy most of them.
Friendly correction: 1848.
Point taken but, I think a lot of them are too fond of indoor plumbing and electricity to want to go further back than Strom Thurmond...
Good point but I'm under the impression that they're not really what you'd call deep thinkers.
Ooooh George-that’s it!