Yep. Clowns. Therein lies the challenge for Democrats.
If you present good data in a written report, in a non-clownish manner, well, Americans won't read it. For example, today's letter from HCR. Excellent letter that I had to study twice over a nearly 20 minute period of real concentration.
What MAGAt will concentrate on anything that long ? Much less read for that long?
Republicans will always be attracted to the clown show on podcast, Fox, and AM radio through right wing media masters of simplification and demonization.
HCR does make a difference. She and her growing army of rationality among the Clowns do matter. But, is it enough? I am not sure at all.
Clowns are pretty attractive to a child-like mind.
This is the Achilles heel of democracy. Almost everyone has the right to vote, including clowns and those to whom clowns appeal. Democracy cannot succeed without an educated population. In local areas throughout the country, clowns are attempting, with some success, to dismantle the systems which provide the education without which democracy fails. Ms. Spiess is correct in saying 'Don't bother, they're here.'
I never knew where to look to learn the original meaning of woke. I assumed it meant awakened to one’s programmed mind. Being eager to question what you believe. I’d like to know the origin though and why it makes some folks so mad they have to squash it.
To answer your question, one must follow the history of this term "woke". See: https://theconversation.com/where-woke-came-from-and-why-marketers-should-think-twice-before-jumping-on-the-social-activism-bandwagon-122713 The difference has to do with the connotation as applied by those groups who resent education as a whole. As in "you think you're so smart just because you're "edumacated". It implicates Fear of those who are well educated and prone to use proper English in their speaking. An example : See Florida for the past few years to better understand my differentiation of the terms Awakened and Woke. Awakened implies a degree of awareness of that which true and accurate. I hope this helps you in understanding that "Woke" is currently used in derogatory sense by extremists in their vernacular.
And yet, in 1860, Americans—very few of whom had finished what we call high school, and only an infinitesimal slice who had gone to a college—elected Abraham Lincoln, who never went to high school himself. And they elected him again in 1864.
To me education doesn’t mean that a person has gone to high school or college. It means can they read, have they been paying attention and have they learned to think for themselves and remain open to new ideas. Can they tell a liar from an honest person? Have they learned the value of love?
In the words of one comedian, whose name I forgot because I saw a clip of his routine on social media, social media allows dummies to find each other.
Then again, we found HCR and each other, too so I think we're learning how to deal with social media, though we as a society still have a long way to go.
They had very political papers, broadsheets, churches, rumors…and a form of shared ‘group think’ where you might be killed if your were different, or killed by indifference more likely. We were enlightened in the 1700’s for a few, a very few.
He won the electoral college but he did not win the popular vote in 1860. And there were several other candidates besides Lincoln and Douglas who received electoral votes in that election. After Lincoln's two successors (Johnson and Grant), the clowns once again took over.
The National Interstate Electoral Vote Compact, whereby States agree to give their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote is a more likely solution than an Amendment to rid us of the Electoral College. Right now, that movement only lacks States representing about 76 more Electoral votes.
If you mean the high school curriculum, I don't know--I'm not an expert in education. But in the mid-19th century I'm pretty confident that only a small minority of students went to high school, much less finished.
I wish I had that number…teachers might be HS grads. And even earlier they might only go to go for a small portion, so if you look at days in school it’s a few hundred…and ‘The three R’s’. Not pirating…Rrrr;s
We I was in HS in the early 70’s only 3/4 of students graduate, and and only one generation before for working class folks 8th grade was the end for many, 1/2? We still had eighth grade graduation ceremonies in San Jose in 1972.
“Democracy cannot succeed without an educated population.” Precisely why Republicans insist on dumbing down and unwoking our nation, why they oppose Critical Race Theory and are banning books that enlighten about others’ experiences and Otherness . They are catering to the lowest common denominator—which they are creating in the racist image of themselves.
Machiavelli said this in his DISCOURSES ON LIVY, which I consider more important than THE PRINCE. His preference is for an urban-based republic in which the electorate is highly educated.
The discourses on Livy, overall, is useful as an instructional manual on the root narrative of republicanism. My other takeaways, perhaps I'll not offer unless asked.
Dan Thanks for correcting me. Of course Big Mac was writing about a republic with a highly educated elite. There is of course the United States republic.
The corporate media and "entertainment" industries are very responsible (and controlled, I imagine) by those wanting to dumb our citizens and children down, drown them with fear, apocalypse, violence, and misinformation on an addictive level—ad nauseam.
"Similarly with CRT, impenetrable academic discourse at the elite level is translated to child-friendly truisms, with the same aim — to change behavior. And so the notion that the most important thing about a child is that she is white, and this makes her part of an oppressive system purposely designed to hurt her new friend, who is black, is how this comes out in an actual real-life scenario. And she has to account for her indelible “whiteness”, just as Catholic kids have to account for their sins. CRT has its own words and values, and they are instilled from the beginning: racism, systems, intersectionality, hegemony, oppression, whiteness, privilege, cisgender, and “doing the work,” as CRT convert Dr. Jill Biden would say.
To give an example from an elementary school in California, a teacher in a math class,
asked all students to create an “identity map,” listing their race, class, gender, religion, family structure, and other characteristics. The teacher explained that the students live in a “dominant culture” of “white, middle class, cisgender, educated, able-bodied, Christian, English speaker[s],” who, according to the lesson, “created and maintained” this culture in order “to hold power and stay in power.”
David As we explore the history of ‘diversity’ and discrimination, I suggest the biblical admonition: “Let she/he who is without sin cast the first stone” THEN proceed with the exploration.
I would if I didn't think this stuff hurts our party, as well as the people who get indoctrinated. I'm a lefty--voted for Bernie Sanders in the '16 primary, and wanted to in '20, but I was too worried about beating tfg, and voted accordingly.
But the hair on the back of my neck goes up when I hear the phrase "white privilege," and in my own analysis, privilege is far more a matter of money than of skin color. I've read Hillbilly Elegy, which is full of "poor white trash" that have no privilege whatsoever, except that if they can actually afford a car, they are less likely to be pulled over by the cops.
Additionally, one of the things that has kept Blacks down all these years but gets NO recognition from Democratic policy-makers is companies importing people from abroad to take jobs. By 1980, meatpacking was a largely Black metier, and the workers were making good middle class wages. By that decade's end, it was largely immigrant, toiling under atrocious conditions for barely above minimum wage. You can read about that and many other, similar atrocities in the recent book, Back of the Hiring Line: A 200-Year History of Immigration Surges, Employer Bias, and Depression of Black Wealth, by Roy Beck.
the author backs his thesis with a thorough (yet highly readable) review of the academic economic literature (296 footnotes), along with articles from Black perioicals, statements of Black leaders beginning with Frederick Douglass, whose sons were downwardly mobile due to mass immigration, and findings of gov't commissions on immigration reform, the last of which was run by the Black Texas DEmocrat, Barbara Jordan, who made her name on the Watergate Committee.
While children are quick to spot what's different about other children in order to be socially dominant, that doesn't mean they capable of understanding the many and subtle causes of prejudice and racism. So I find your elementary math class example to be extreme. My understanding is that CRT is about awareness and subtleties, not about power, and certainly not about the kind of power exercised on an elementary school playground. However, if you are saying that you can't fight indoctrination with counter indoctrination I would agree.
Academic elites have criticized CRT as being less than elite. But from what I've read I do think that it can have some value at the middle school and higher levels. At those levels a student can grasp and understand different cultural norms and values, or at least begin to understand that others have had different experiences than you have had. It's about empathy, keeping an open mind, and questioning your own cultural and religious values and contradictions, and seeing indoctrination for what it is. It's about prejudice and cultural and racial differences and yes, privileges, and being adult enough and awake enough to see the origins of hatred.
I was quoting Andrew Sullivan on all this. CRT is taught in different ways, but one of the things that Sullivan was criticizing is when kids are taught that if their skin is white they are the oppressors.
This sort of thing just seems stupid. I first encountered a black kid in first grade. I saw that she was different, but it didn't occur to me to think in terms of her being better or worse than a white person, nor did it occur to me that I might want to dominate her, or anyone else for that matter, for any reason. She was the only black kid in the school I went to then. In fourth grade I was in a school that had multiple black kids, and again, I failed to see any sort of hierarchy where one color was better or worse than another, and I suspect that if kids aren't taught this sort of thing they aren't going to come up with it on their own.
I also encountered kids of east Asian extraction as early as nursery school. One such was a best friend from nursery school through elementary school.
I DO think that empathy should be taught--that kids should be taught early to be conscious of other kids' feelings, that it's a positive thing to avoid making others feel bad, and if they feel bad for some reason, do what you can to help them feel better. All that without drawing attention to race or skin color unless there's some local problem in that regard.
Of this is true but you are missing a big piece…there’s a reason why testing and ‘standards’ and national testing at that, is a ‘conservative’ value—they cut arts, social sciences, and focus on ‘edconomic’ values like STEM. And reduce reading to decoding. And engineering to coding. Headstart, VISTA, Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, real education starting with a love of learning, finding the joy for you and yours, arts and music, fun first, gaining responsibility, becoming a member of a society which, by your voice, you will regenerate! That’s education, the rest is training, and training is for dogs and horse…
Absolutely right, Jack. It's the uneducated and "under" educated who have gotten control of the GOP and they are sending the likes of Marjorie Taylor Green and Lauren Boebert, Paul Goser and George Santos to Washington. Just read that the Texas Education Agency is about to take over Houston ISD, one of the largest school districts in the state. What is already bad is about to get worse. Will Texans ever value public education?
There are many fine and highly intelligent people who didn’t go to college or get their GED. Mtg and her cronies are mis-educated, not necessarily uneducated or undereducated.
What’s his name fully intends to MIS-educate the children of our country. Lie to them in other words and withhold important information.
I wouldn’t want my child to think that just because she went to school and college that means she’s smart.
Yep, I know some too, but I was speaking in general. Texas is so far down the line of states funding education $ per student, it’s pathetic. Egregious considering the enormous budget surplus the state has and Abbott wonders what to do with it.
“All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten”, by American minister and author Robert Fulghum was first published in 1986. Apparently MAGAS were so brilliant they all skipped Kindergarten
Wel, Winston Churchill may not have actually said “The best argument against democracy is a five minute interview with the average voter,” but Jordan Klepper’s interviews are pretty damn persuasive.
Yes, I know you’re really right, but those Klepper interviews (shakes head gloomily). Democrats may be fighting back, but they need to take a page from Mehdi Hassan’s excellent tips on how to win arguments. I haven’t read his book yet, but he did a great interview with Charlie Sykes last week on the Bulwark podcast pointing out effective (mostly foreign) interviews with Trump & Trumpers that set them back on their heels. Jamie Raskin, for one, is quite good at it, and I expect Dan Goldman will be as well, and we’ve already seen Katie Porter’s chops.
Didn't Churchill also say something about democracy being the worst possible political system to have 'until we find something better.' I guess that's why we must put up with extremists on both sides.
Thanks, Gailee. I was about to post a similar citation from the Churchill Foundation. The "quote" often posted is a partial quote. Churchill included it in what he said but it is clear that he was referring to something that was already in use. "Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…" Winston S Churchill, 11 November 1947
Nice try but no cigar: "Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…" Winston S Churchill, 11 November 1947
Education is the key, but I wouldn’t send my children to Florida to receive it. Since most everyone gets
their information from third-party sources, out of necessity due to the limited amount of time they have to spend to educate themselves (a practical concern for all of us), it is critical to find reputable sources to digest information for us. Therein lies the problem. Bad sources, bad information. Good sources, good information. Fox News, PBS. Jim Jordan, HCR. This is why for a certain segment of the population “clown” sources are more fun and exciting then serious reflective thought from serious, thoughtful people.
That's why we need Toastmasters clubs, to teach Roberts Rules of Order and confidence and effective speaking in public. It also builds skills in getting along with others. My dad joined so he could improve his interviewing for jobs. I joined to be in a productive social meleu I wasn't sure of my spelling, so I looked it up and found a proper definition which I like l: from rugby, all the forwards joined together in an organised way [
You know Mike, the more I look at disinformation campaigns and their history, the more I realize that humanity has a decided “clown” faction. I have come to see it as a “follow the money” exercise, because power, and control-the-narrative-to-control-the-masses endeavors always begin and end with money. Those with the character trait of “shameless” can quite easily exploit other humans’ need to belong and to have faith that someone can make all the bad shit in their lives better - or at least blamed on someone else. It’s like we are in a mind-control war, and we are just figuring out how to combat it, slow though it may be. Bravo Jerry Nadler and Stacey Plaskett. Let’s all call Jordan’s office and request the hearings ASAP!
I have always thought (circus) clowns were creepy. These clowns today are actually scary because of what they are doing to democracy. A number of my friends have switched off from the news and, in conversation with me, dismiss my words with a wave of the hand and head and just say "they are a joke". NOT!
Heather always says "follow the money" and I believe her, and others I read. The Republicans have sold out to the almighty Devil of the Dollar.
Sally The problem with these ‘clowns’ is that they seem to proliferate. I am reminded when, as a kid, I watched with fascination the ‘clown car’ in which clowns kept coming out of a small car. Today’s clowns seem to be spewing out of a Boeing 747.
I know it's tempting to get very discouraged about the number of "clowns" who are wielding power and "dumbing down" education. And yes, Jordan Klepper's interviews are a bit scary. But we can't stop there. If we lump all the "not us" groups together as "dumb clowns," we are missing great opportunities to make a difference.
I am heartened by a growing network of grassroots organizations of Democrats around the country, many of them who are working at the community level, encouraging people to learn about how the government can help them with the daily problems of hard scrabble lives - if good people are elected....and then encouraging some of those good people to run. I'm learning about them from Jessica Craven's Chop Wood and Carry Water substack, as well as from weekly meetings of Markers for Democracy. It's a great way to not get stuck in despair over what we read and see....and to really make a difference by getting involved: donating, participating, supporting. We have a choice!
It is normal to become discouraged, but not normal to allow that discouragement to overtake or overwhelm. What is so irksome and dismaying is the number of adults in Congress acting out like adolescents. Of course, the MEDIA loves to focus on the crazies. They are celebrated far too often; often too regularly. For me, they create a great deal of embarrassment and shame for our country. I blanch at the comments made by certain Republican personalities. The plus side to the media coverage is how we at the very least know how "they" misbehave.
And we have that with our youngest, the GEn Zers, participating at every single turn. These very bright young adults from every walk of life, are bound by what horrors they’ve experienced and what they continue to see. Bless this group and their mighty efforts to bring change!
Grassroots efforts are where the Democrats have failed. As a result, Republicans have been able to stack many state legislatures. Democrats must make up for lost time and opportunity. Democrats also must begin to herald the huge successes under Biden's administration. What is that old axiom, "Blow your own horn if no one else will"?
Look up coulrophobia and learn that 1 in 10 adults are frightened of clowns and growing numbers of children are fearful of them. Since the days of films like It and Joker, evil clowns have become more insidiously frightening...
There are few studies but the articles are interesting. I do not know how to post the links.
Even as toddlers, my kids hated clowns. We didn't condition them to dislike them, they didn't trust them and always kept their distance. Hopefully, not being attracted to clown shows will be an innate trait in the majority of adults too. I know it's a big turn off for me too
You joke Wlliam, but that was some pretty stunning testimony when it finally came out. Just the thought of the Commander In Chief with that sort of self control. Someone yet may need to put that up on a billboard. (If there was a meme I never saw it).
I must admit my shock (without "awe"!) at the large population of pre-adolescent dumbified (I know, not a real word!) people within the Republican Party. I guess I/we should be pleased and comforted that most of them concentrate into one central core of asinine stupidity.
Well said Mike. There are those who will do the work, for the people, and others who refuse to govern, who are satisfied with a false narrative, or a quick lie, or a philosophy that will fit on a baseball cap. What made me see red was the "deep state" reference. That's a Rush Limbaugh slur from 30 years ago! Good enough for clowns though I guess.
I hope you are also watching The MidasTouch Network podcasts. These folks are intelligent lawyers! I think HCR would agree. I follow them along with HCR. Well worth watching!
Exactly, and they are no longer content with a night out and a brew at the local pub, after which they fade away. The “rabble” have become louder, probably because they are used by the monied powerful or are the monied powerful. Consider our Repub House. What better example…
This really comes down to media campaigns and retail politics…they have the money but we have the facts, and need to capture the emotions as well…what would make your life better?
This diabolical charade will connect with some non-MAGA voters unless the media skewers it. Democrats’ get-tough approach is essential to make that happen.
A few, very few Republicans are as Democrats, fighting back members of the Republican Party, the Party itself and the Fox News (!) Channel. Take Charlie Sykes, for instance.
‘Charles Jay Sykes is an American political commentator who is currently editor-in-chief of the website The Bulwark. From 1993 to 2016, Sykes hosted a conservative talk show on WTMJ in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Among others he has taken on Paul Ryan and Fox News (!) In a recent issue of the Bulwark, he exposed Ryan and Republicans like him as few others could.
‘Paul Ryan has been nothing if not consistent.’
‘After Donald Trump’s election, Ryan made the calculation that it was better to be in the room than to defy a president he knew was manifestly unfit.’
‘To publicly criticize Trump, the former speaker told Mark Leibovich in 2018, would just be counterproductive.
He tends to speak of the commander in chief as if he were sharing a coping strategy on dealing with a Ritalin-deprived child. “It boomerangs,” Ryan says of being too critical of Trump. “He goes in the other direction, so that’s not effective.” He added, “The pissing match doesn’t work.”
So he opted to stay in the room, telling Leibovich that he preferred to tell Trump how he felt in private, rather than speaking out about his recklessness, racism, and serial lies. Staying quiet meant that Ryan would stay relevant, stay in the game, and, as he told himself, stop all sorts of awful things from happening.’
‘He was hardly alone. Wrote Leibovich:
He joins a large group of Trump’s putative allies, many of whom have worked in the administration, who insist that they have shaped Trump’s thinking and behavior in private: the “Trust me, I’ve stopped this from being much worse” approach. “I can look myself in the mirror at the end of the day and say I avoided that tragedy, I avoided that tragedy, I avoided that tragedy,” Ryan tells me. “I advanced this goal, I advanced this goal, I advanced this goal.”
‘I locked in on the word “tragedy.” It sets the mind reeling to whatever thwarted “tragedies” Ryan might be talking about. I asked for an example. “No, I don’t want to do that,” Ryan replied. “That’s more than I usually say.”
‘This was, of course, the basis of Ryan’s Faustian bargain, but it also reflects a mindset that has come to dominate our politics, especially in the GOP.’
‘The right’s political culture now relies on this hive-mind rationalization that masquerades as a philosophy: That you can serve the greater good by staying silent — in the room — and therefore relevant.’
‘Some of this is just simple moral cowardice; a lot of it is grift, but it’s not just Paul Ryan. In-the-roomism is a deeply internalized ethos — or perhaps anti-ethos — that has shaped the Republican party’s serial compromises, capitulations, and sellouts.’
‘In this mindset, speaking out or taking a stand is foolish, because it means you lose your place at the table and your leverage. (Just look at what happened to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger!) It’s the story that conservatives have been telling themselves for years now, and you can find it in virtually every corner of the right’s interlocking ecosystems.’
‘Last year, National Review’s Rich Lowry insisted that Cheney was making a mistake by speaking so forcefully about the January 6th insurrection, because she would lose her ability to influence the future of the Republican party. As I wrote back then, in a piece headlined “The Doom Loop of Relevance”:
‘This is, of course a familiar argument: it’s the age-old rationalization of courtiers, time servers, and trimmers of all sorts, who convince themselves that the Greater Good is served by staying in the room.
And they tell themselves that they need to stay in the room, so they that can sound the alarm, but they refuse to sound the alarm so they can stay in the room.’
‘But this logic is inevitably circular. Lowry argued that Cheney should not warn the party against being crazy . . . because that lessens her ability to influence the party to be less crazy. But if she denounces lies and sedition she will lose a seat at the table where the party decides whether it will embrace lies and sedition.’
‘So conservatives convinced themselves that the savvy move is to stay in that room, no matter what it costs.’
**
‘As we now know, Paul Ryan took the same approach to his role as a member of the Fox Corporation board as he did to the Trump presidency. He stayed in the room.’
‘During my conversation with Ryan last week, I asked him whether he had a responsibility to push back against the lies pushed out by Fox news.
“I do,” he said. “I have a responsibility to offer my opinion and perspective, and I do that, but I don’t go on TV and do it, right? So I offer my perspective, my opinion, often. I’ll just leave it at that. Okay?”
That turned out to be true. The court filings by Dominion Voting System this week revealed just how active Ryan was — behind the scenes. From the filing:
‘As a Board Member, Ryan believed that the period immediately following the 2020 Presidential Election was a pretty important inflection point, not just for the company Fox, but for the country and for the conservative movement itself and shared this view as a fiduciary with Rupert and Lachlan.
( Q. And you thought it was in Fox News interest to separate out these fringe claims of voter fraud, correct? A. Yeah, that's my fiduciary duty. ).
He confirmed that the inflection point was not just one day; it was the whole time in the post-election November/December timeframe. Ryan knew that these conspiracy theories were baseless and that Fox should labor to dispel conspiracy theories if and when they pop up.
Ryan also understood that when events occur, Fox can clearly amplify that news being made by covering it. Ryan believed there ought to be a listing of all the allegations and then all the evidence or the validation or invalidation of those [election fraud] allegations just for the viewers sake, and suggested as much to Fox's senior management. . . . Ryan told Rupert and Lachlan "that Fox News should not be spreading conspiracy theories.’
‘The former speaker clearly had the ears of Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch.’
‘Ryan gave Lachlan and Rupert plenty of suggestions with respect to programming, as well as suggestions regarding content and show hosts. Id. 410 :8-22 . Specifically, he told the Murdochs that Fox should be pivoting at this key inflection point during November 2020 through January 2021 consistently advising them to move on from Donald Trump and stop spouting election lies…
On December 6 , 2020, Paul Ryan texted Rupert and Lachlan, telling them, we are entering a truly bizarre phase of this where [Trump] has actually convinced himself of this farce and will do more bizarre things to delegitimize the election. I see this as a key inflection point for Fox, where the right thing and the smart business thing to do line up nicely. He called for Fox to put forth solid pushback (including editorial) of Trump's ] baseless calls for overturning electors...’
**
‘But this is the problem with being a thought leader. Sometimes you have to lead. In Ryan’s case that would have meant getting up from the table and telling the folks outside the room that Fox was lying and endangering democracy. But once again he decided to stay silent; and he regarded his reticence as savvy and virtuous.’
‘This was the point I was trying to make in the May 2021 open letter to Ryan that he claimed he had never read or heard of.’
‘Paul, your position right now is unique [I wrote]. You are not just the former vice-presidential nominee of your party and the former speaker of the House. You sit on the board of directors of the media company that is shaping and distorting the future of the movement to which you have given your life….
‘What brighter red lines could possibly be crossed? If this isn’t the moment to draw your own line, what would be?
If you want to make a difference, isn’t this the moment? If you want to change your legacy, isn’t this the time?’
‘When I asked him directly about red lines last week, he explained why he wanted to stay in the room.
PR: I want to see the conservative movement get through this moment. And I think Fox is a big part of the constellation of the conservative movement. [crosstalk]
‘CS: Is it the solution or the problem?’
‘PR: Oh, no, I think it’s gonna have to be a part of the solution if we're going to solve the problem in the conservative movement.
Ryan seems to believe that he has exercised his fiduciary responsibilities by speaking confidentially with the Murdochs.’
‘That, however, is far from clear.’
‘Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld, a professor and senior associate dean for leadership studies at the Yale School of Management told CNN this week, that board members like Ryan had a responsibility to do a lot more than they did.’
“The duties of loyalty and diligence are NOT to the management but to the owners,” Sonnenfeld said. “By silently going along with misconduct about which they are aware, all directors, including Paul Ryan, are guilty of complicity through their complacency.”
**
‘By staying on the board, Ryan seems to be telling himself, he will be able to steer the network away from the craziness, and from batshit crazy lies about the election.’
‘But here’s the thing: He didn’t.’(Bulwark) See link below.
It reminds me, Fern, of testimony at the post war trials (Nurenberg) of the lesser Nazis (N-2,3,4,5....etc) who "were only obeying orders" and, regardless, they were "only" paper pushers in the "final solution" and of course had no idea of the finality of the paperchain.
Clowns one might say....more like Jack Nicholson's portrayal of the Joker. Not funny at all and highly dangerous either through their intentional blindness or the their unwillingness to see reality and speak out. They epitomize the "three wise monkeys" . The "death march" they facilitate and instrumentalize is not intended for themselves but for us. However, any newly arrived dictator would tell you that now he is in power he'll liquidate the "useful idiots" who helped get him there....along with a few others.
Thank you for posting this, Fern. This quote so describes the republikan’s circular logic: “And they tell themselves that they need to stay in the room, so they that can sound the alarm, but they refuse to sound the alarm so they can stay in the room.”
Another thought from your shared article occurs to me. ? Thought leader ? Leaders don't think their way to solutions; they take actions on their thoughts, principles, etc. Thought for the 'sake' of thought is no more than mental flagellation, to put it as tastefully and delicately as I wish to, and not leadership - not even remotely.
Vivian SL, Thank you for your encouragement. We are attentive to the Letters and to one another. This is a place of learning for all of us, for sharing, support, friendship and some laughter. Cheers!
‘He stayed in the room…’! So he could keep sucking on the crazy billionaires’ teats who fund the drive to autocracy! Nah, Pauly boy! By staying in the room you are covered by the stench of the amoral trump and the damage he has done to our democracy!
So much arrogance to believe once they start that slippery slide into the deep dark abyss that they will somehow be able to claw their way out of it. They use the cloak of Christianity to hide their dirty deeds, especially to themselves. When did their precious savior’s humility become invisible to them? Despicable.
The Bulwark is well worth the $10/month subscription. After reading HCR & Robert Hubbell 1st thing in the morning, I always look forward to Charlie Sykes’ “Morning Shots” dropping mid- morning, followed by Jonathan Last’s “The Triad” late morning. And the comments on the Bulwark site are always terrific.
Will this ever end is all I can think right now. Trump just seems to have been the key to open the Pandora's box of rot, grift, conspiracy and who knows what all.
This is why Trumpism exists.... to bring our shadows into the light, ....horrific stuff, and all too easy to project! On this page, we are thoughtful readers, an audience bubble, but we are living within a hellish landscape of escalating violence, ..... I am feeling at a loss of what we can do to bridge the crevasse ??? (But I did take the time with ‘Indivisible’ to write ‘personal’ letters to registered voters in Georgia ☺️)
In your question “ bridge the crevasse”, you have provided the answer as well. Bridge the crevasse. If the mire is not removable, engineers build a bridge and move on. All who pass over witness the answer and are aware their feet weren’t muddied. Build the bridge pass over the quagmire. Leave it in your rear view mirror.
Well Judy, good question. To me, It's an ill wind that blows no good. The election of DJT provided the super-highway for all (almost all) our vices, misconceptions, hatreds, extremist bents, and u-name-it, to kind of surface. Hasn't it? In our world, there will always be "wind" and we will have to deal with it as long as we live. But. How we deal with it makes the words .., "Build back better" appropriate. A lot of the 'wind' is sexual in nature, which arouses the prurient interests and a lot of it is around capitalism/democracy/religion, so it's not dying down soon. It will.
As the Delegate of the Virgin Islands Stacy Plaskett cannot vote in the House although she can participate in discussions. Virgin Islanders also cannot vote in US Presidential Elections.
Stacy Plaskett is a super star and a second class citizen.
Agreed, and all of those other territorials and members of indigenous tribes. Stacy Plaskett is a very visible example of the many "US citizens" who are denied the very fundamental right
Having seen her several times on MSNBC, always with sane statements about policy, I wonder if the Republicans don’t want to give statehood to Puerto Rico lest it produce more representatives to show them up.
Stuart And Mozart would attract a more boisterous crowd for his slap stick comedies than for his operas. It took a while, but Mozart is more remembered for his operas than his slap stick.
I am still awaiting Trump’s comic book account of his presidency. Possible title: PULSATING WITH PUTIN, or NO NO NATO.
It's OK and necessary to continue rebutting Republican dissinformation -- but it's exhausting and must not be the area of primary focus. The only real line of attack at this juncture is to identify the levers of actual power and use them -- relentlessly . . .
Once in a while, I run across a piece from Brian Taylor Cohen, who does a masterful job taking apart the idiocy of the Republicans. And for a laugh, there's Randy Rainbow.
Check out activist Tokyo Sand’s PoliticalCharge.org. As passionate an activist as Jessica Craven at Chop Wood Carry Water, Tokyo Sand’s posts are well researched, loaded with resources, and shared with positivity and small action steps focused on getting you the information you need to take charge of your political activism. Her weekly recap is my favorite as it contains a roundup of the week’s best political cartoons.
Thanks for that link! I'm looking for replacements to NYT and WaPo from which I have unsubscribed--those two are just too pricey for the paucity of deep dive news and the now palpable lean to the right in their outlook.
Lena Loved the cartoons, which sharply summarize the week’s low points. Also see The Week’s daily cartoons which provide a different perspective on the same steaming s++t.
It takes a certain amount of intelligence to have a functioning sense of humor. A concrete thinker, which describes many MAGAs, doesn't really have a sense of humor. And, sadly, concrete thinkers are much less able to understand the complexities of important issues, or that what the Repubs in these so-called hearings are presenting is just utter theater and nonsense.
I notice that comedians are always among the brightest. Wanted Al Franken for president when the country desperately needed a good laugh and a bright president. Unfortunately there was Roger Stone (again).
Virginia I remember George Murphy, a Hollywood song and dance man, who was elected senator from California. He added zest to the boring senatorial debates. I remember meeting him once. He was wearing an electric blue suit. Some years later we had another Hollywood has been from CA—Ronald Reagan. Not as funny.
J I offer a bottle of wine to the first person who can recount a joke that emanated from Trump. I believe that his sense of humor matches DeSantis—zero. If you can’t laugh at yourself, you must be a brittle bastard.
A valid observation, Mr. Wheelock! drumpf's only attempts at humor are usually cruel and profoundly unamusing. Well, unamusing to normal, compassionate people. Tfg's fanboys and girls somehow think he has a GREAT sense of humor. There's just no accounting for taste.
No, Fern, I am content to be a Cretin. I would, however, speaking of the populous herein at large, like very much like to see more of the humor you are so capable of. I think you are a starter.
Jim Jordan is just as arrogant, ignorant, and preposterous as was Joseph McCarthy. His claims are are just as outrageous and just as cynical as the disgraced former Senator from Wisconsin.
Nadler and Plaskett are making the absolutely necessary case that Jordan and the Republicans are the ones intent on weaponizing the Government. There is only one job for Democrats until the next election, to expose the real agenda of the right wing of the party so that independents are repelled without it becoming a "plague on both your houses" situation.
That means there has to be a Democratic shining light of hope, and a warrior of righteousness. Can't be the same person.
"That means there has to be a Democratic shining light of hope, and a warrior of righteousness. Can't be the same person." Jamie Raskin comes to mind, Georgia!
Before MAGA it could have been one person. But I fear the Warrior is going to have to get in the swamp and it will be an ugly and dirty and bruising fight to call out Jim Jordan and his cohorts and the other MAGA crazies--It also is too big a job for one person to do both. There has to be someone who who has a clear and constant focus on legislation to better the average American and to sound that message in the purest tones. And then you need the scrapper to call bullshit on the crazies.
What I see as the critical issue is that Democrats have to get a huge fraction of independents on their side to secure a large and stable enough majority to get to 60 in the Senate to beat the filibuster and enough in the House to push through major legislation. That can't happen if enough independents stay home because of the "plague on both your houses" issue. And that is a big risk that gets run if it is a single person.
Morning, Ally! On a side note, I think Adam Schiff and Katie Porter from California are both planning to run for U.S.. Senate. Do you have a preference as to which one you would choose if you lived in California? Either one would make great warriors!
I'm with you on this, and I do live in California! Although I think that Barbara Lee's announcement that she is also running may complicate things...especially if the Xtian Nationalists come up with a credible Republican candidate.
Evening, Stuart! Miss not reading your excellent comments. I have not been able to maintain the time slot we used to converse on way back when. That said, I like being able to catch up with you every now and then these days. Hope you are well.
The turning worm, Oleg Deripaska, Russian Oligarch and "friend of Putin behind much of the "troubles" in Ukraine is now saying that Putin will run out of Money in 2024........rats leaving the proverbial sinking ship?
Stuart Putin has so much money that Fort Knox could borrow billions from him. Of course Russians are being squeezed by Peter the Grape’s futile and expensive imperial ventures.
What I can't fathom is that their base will yell "Commie!" or "Socialist!" at the Democrats (not knowing the difference between the two, sigh) and then speak warmly of A COMMUNIST!
"...clips for Fox." Exactly, Peter. And idiocy is no impediment to the consumers of Faux. Could these operatives succeed in reaching enough people? Or are enough people waking up (coming to appreciate wokeness)? Time will tell, I guess.
As I recall, Jim Jordan supervises (and often anonymously tweet-panders) via the "House Judiciary" (ha... just about typed "Louse") Twitter feed. If you compare his personal and the gov feed, the syntax and messaging are very similar if not identical. There is no "House Judiciary" twitter feed, it's Jordan's anonymized messaging.
It's so refreshing to see the Democrats flex some intellectual muscle, raising the spirit of Sen. Welch, who asked McCarthy, "Have you no sense of decency, sir..."
"The official Republican House Judiciary Twitter account responded vaguely: “Cherry-picked leaks. Partial transcripts. All to disparage brave whistleblowers. Democrats should be ashamed.”
Unfortunately, simple statements like this are easy for people to understand.
Compare the above sentence to Dr. Richardson's letter today, which, I had to read twice to get all of the threads straight.
The sad part about Republican messaging is, of course it is false, but, it is all couched in 5th grade, short sentence, English and delivered in video or am radio so no effort in reading needed.
That Mike has been immortalized in our community by an old school Republican conservative lifelong teacher. She suffered no bullshit wool pulling and referred to such political shenanigans as “fifth grade pap.” The language of imbeciles.
Modern witches don't like the term "warlock" for a male which, claiming it is derived from an older word, "waerloga" (spelling approximate) which means "oath breaker".
A wiff of Salem nontheless, I fear, Cathy; a touch of 1640s England with Matthew Hopkins, self-styled ‘Witchfinder General’ and Salem's John Hathorne with distinct political overtones of dominance and control.
I’m enjoying watching Judiciary ‘Juggernaut’ Jordan launch his ‘weaponizing’ investigation of the Department of Justice and FBI pro-Democratic ‘conspiracy.’ Jackass Jordan commenced with three pseudo-whistleblowers who had the credibility of Jewish Laser Greene and AK15 Boebert.
The Democrats riposted with a 311-page document that was a brilliant legal brief demolishing the Republicans by-gosh-and-by-golly political mishmash. Meanwhile Democrats Nadler and Plaskett were Cool Hand Lukes in puncturing this Republican political balloon.
Indeed, were there a political bias among conservative FBI career agents, it would be ‘pro-Trump, anti-Democrats.’ Then-FBI Director Comey, regarding the Clinton classified e-mails investigation announced just before the 2016 elections, has later said that he had preempted the rogue FBI NY office’s release of this political ‘bombshell.’
During the prolonged back-and-forth between the Department of Justice and Trump over hidden classified documents at Mar a Lago, the FBI early on had insisted that they accepted Trump assurances that there were no more ‘smoking guns’ on premises. OOPHS—lots more.
I’m looking forward to more from the House Republican gang that can’t shoot straight. The fact that they might be ‘packing’ on the House floor I find frightening.
While I would not want the FBI to misuse their powers to play politics on anyone's behalf, one might think there might be a just little extra satisfaction to getting goods on Republicans who keep slandering the agency.
Your assessment of the political bent of most of the FBI (I'm going with about 90%, based on my experience in law enforcement) is actually very RepubliQan and conservative is spot on. Law enforcement is not in any way, shape, or form a liberal bastion. Period.
Sarah I envision a ‘law enforcement’ Praetorian Guard leading an anti-woke crusade under DeSantis. Meanwhile, the Policemen for Democrats Organization is holding a meeting in the men’s room.
“Send in the clowns.
Don’t bother, they’re here.”
Evelyn,
At every circus, who gets the most attention?
Yep. Clowns. Therein lies the challenge for Democrats.
If you present good data in a written report, in a non-clownish manner, well, Americans won't read it. For example, today's letter from HCR. Excellent letter that I had to study twice over a nearly 20 minute period of real concentration.
What MAGAt will concentrate on anything that long ? Much less read for that long?
Republicans will always be attracted to the clown show on podcast, Fox, and AM radio through right wing media masters of simplification and demonization.
HCR does make a difference. She and her growing army of rationality among the Clowns do matter. But, is it enough? I am not sure at all.
Clowns are pretty attractive to a child-like mind.
This is the Achilles heel of democracy. Almost everyone has the right to vote, including clowns and those to whom clowns appeal. Democracy cannot succeed without an educated population. In local areas throughout the country, clowns are attempting, with some success, to dismantle the systems which provide the education without which democracy fails. Ms. Spiess is correct in saying 'Don't bother, they're here.'
Splendid post!! Ignorance is the root of all evil. Educated not indoctrinated. Awakened not woke.
I considered awakened and woke to be pretty much synonymous, is there an edge that I don’t see since I rarely hob nob with the “top tier.”
I never knew where to look to learn the original meaning of woke. I assumed it meant awakened to one’s programmed mind. Being eager to question what you believe. I’d like to know the origin though and why it makes some folks so mad they have to squash it.
To answer your question, one must follow the history of this term "woke". See: https://theconversation.com/where-woke-came-from-and-why-marketers-should-think-twice-before-jumping-on-the-social-activism-bandwagon-122713 The difference has to do with the connotation as applied by those groups who resent education as a whole. As in "you think you're so smart just because you're "edumacated". It implicates Fear of those who are well educated and prone to use proper English in their speaking. An example : See Florida for the past few years to better understand my differentiation of the terms Awakened and Woke. Awakened implies a degree of awareness of that which true and accurate. I hope this helps you in understanding that "Woke" is currently used in derogatory sense by extremists in their vernacular.
And yet, in 1860, Americans—very few of whom had finished what we call high school, and only an infinitesimal slice who had gone to a college—elected Abraham Lincoln, who never went to high school himself. And they elected him again in 1864.
To me education doesn’t mean that a person has gone to high school or college. It means can they read, have they been paying attention and have they learned to think for themselves and remain open to new ideas. Can they tell a liar from an honest person? Have they learned the value of love?
I am so pleased to be part of this HCR community. The many comments sooth my anger and frustration. But can we get her blogs to go viral?
I copy and paste them on Facebook and share to Public!
They didn't have social media in 1860.
Yes, this is the kicker, imo. With social media, everyone is given a platform and bullhorn.
In the words of one comedian, whose name I forgot because I saw a clip of his routine on social media, social media allows dummies to find each other.
Then again, we found HCR and each other, too so I think we're learning how to deal with social media, though we as a society still have a long way to go.
They had very political papers, broadsheets, churches, rumors…and a form of shared ‘group think’ where you might be killed if your were different, or killed by indifference more likely. We were enlightened in the 1700’s for a few, a very few.
He won the electoral college but he did not win the popular vote in 1860. And there were several other candidates besides Lincoln and Douglas who received electoral votes in that election. After Lincoln's two successors (Johnson and Grant), the clowns once again took over.
And Hilary won the popular vote. This is what is so important. The electoral college needs to go.
The National Interstate Electoral Vote Compact, whereby States agree to give their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote is a more likely solution than an Amendment to rid us of the Electoral College. Right now, that movement only lacks States representing about 76 more Electoral votes.
Andrew Johnson was a sorry excuse for a president--a clown, if you will.
The curriculum was different then, and more intense, packed into four years, and then students went off to work.
If you mean the high school curriculum, I don't know--I'm not an expert in education. But in the mid-19th century I'm pretty confident that only a small minority of students went to high school, much less finished.
I meant the first four years of school, which was the most the average student completed, like my grandmother who was born in the late 1880s.
I wish I had that number…teachers might be HS grads. And even earlier they might only go to go for a small portion, so if you look at days in school it’s a few hundred…and ‘The three R’s’. Not pirating…Rrrr;s
We I was in HS in the early 70’s only 3/4 of students graduate, and and only one generation before for working class folks 8th grade was the end for many, 1/2? We still had eighth grade graduation ceremonies in San Jose in 1972.
“Democracy cannot succeed without an educated population.” Precisely why Republicans insist on dumbing down and unwoking our nation, why they oppose Critical Race Theory and are banning books that enlighten about others’ experiences and Otherness . They are catering to the lowest common denominator—which they are creating in the racist image of themselves.
Machiavelli said this in his DISCOURSES ON LIVY, which I consider more important than THE PRINCE. His preference is for an urban-based republic in which the electorate is highly educated.
The discourses on Livy, overall, is useful as an instructional manual on the root narrative of republicanism. My other takeaways, perhaps I'll not offer unless asked.
Dan Thanks for correcting me. Of course Big Mac was writing about a republic with a highly educated elite. There is of course the United States republic.
Hollywood makes movies (not films) geared to 14 year old boys. It is the same principle.
The corporate media and "entertainment" industries are very responsible (and controlled, I imagine) by those wanting to dumb our citizens and children down, drown them with fear, apocalypse, violence, and misinformation on an addictive level—ad nauseam.
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
"Similarly with CRT, impenetrable academic discourse at the elite level is translated to child-friendly truisms, with the same aim — to change behavior. And so the notion that the most important thing about a child is that she is white, and this makes her part of an oppressive system purposely designed to hurt her new friend, who is black, is how this comes out in an actual real-life scenario. And she has to account for her indelible “whiteness”, just as Catholic kids have to account for their sins. CRT has its own words and values, and they are instilled from the beginning: racism, systems, intersectionality, hegemony, oppression, whiteness, privilege, cisgender, and “doing the work,” as CRT convert Dr. Jill Biden would say.
To give an example from an elementary school in California, a teacher in a math class,
asked all students to create an “identity map,” listing their race, class, gender, religion, family structure, and other characteristics. The teacher explained that the students live in a “dominant culture” of “white, middle class, cisgender, educated, able-bodied, Christian, English speaker[s],” who, according to the lesson, “created and maintained” this culture in order “to hold power and stay in power.”
https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/dont-ban-crt-expose-it-2d9
David As we explore the history of ‘diversity’ and discrimination, I suggest the biblical admonition: “Let she/he who is without sin cast the first stone” THEN proceed with the exploration.
I would if I didn't think this stuff hurts our party, as well as the people who get indoctrinated. I'm a lefty--voted for Bernie Sanders in the '16 primary, and wanted to in '20, but I was too worried about beating tfg, and voted accordingly.
But the hair on the back of my neck goes up when I hear the phrase "white privilege," and in my own analysis, privilege is far more a matter of money than of skin color. I've read Hillbilly Elegy, which is full of "poor white trash" that have no privilege whatsoever, except that if they can actually afford a car, they are less likely to be pulled over by the cops.
Additionally, one of the things that has kept Blacks down all these years but gets NO recognition from Democratic policy-makers is companies importing people from abroad to take jobs. By 1980, meatpacking was a largely Black metier, and the workers were making good middle class wages. By that decade's end, it was largely immigrant, toiling under atrocious conditions for barely above minimum wage. You can read about that and many other, similar atrocities in the recent book, Back of the Hiring Line: A 200-Year History of Immigration Surges, Employer Bias, and Depression of Black Wealth, by Roy Beck.
the author backs his thesis with a thorough (yet highly readable) review of the academic economic literature (296 footnotes), along with articles from Black perioicals, statements of Black leaders beginning with Frederick Douglass, whose sons were downwardly mobile due to mass immigration, and findings of gov't commissions on immigration reform, the last of which was run by the Black Texas DEmocrat, Barbara Jordan, who made her name on the Watergate Committee.
While children are quick to spot what's different about other children in order to be socially dominant, that doesn't mean they capable of understanding the many and subtle causes of prejudice and racism. So I find your elementary math class example to be extreme. My understanding is that CRT is about awareness and subtleties, not about power, and certainly not about the kind of power exercised on an elementary school playground. However, if you are saying that you can't fight indoctrination with counter indoctrination I would agree.
Academic elites have criticized CRT as being less than elite. But from what I've read I do think that it can have some value at the middle school and higher levels. At those levels a student can grasp and understand different cultural norms and values, or at least begin to understand that others have had different experiences than you have had. It's about empathy, keeping an open mind, and questioning your own cultural and religious values and contradictions, and seeing indoctrination for what it is. It's about prejudice and cultural and racial differences and yes, privileges, and being adult enough and awake enough to see the origins of hatred.
I was quoting Andrew Sullivan on all this. CRT is taught in different ways, but one of the things that Sullivan was criticizing is when kids are taught that if their skin is white they are the oppressors.
This sort of thing just seems stupid. I first encountered a black kid in first grade. I saw that she was different, but it didn't occur to me to think in terms of her being better or worse than a white person, nor did it occur to me that I might want to dominate her, or anyone else for that matter, for any reason. She was the only black kid in the school I went to then. In fourth grade I was in a school that had multiple black kids, and again, I failed to see any sort of hierarchy where one color was better or worse than another, and I suspect that if kids aren't taught this sort of thing they aren't going to come up with it on their own.
I also encountered kids of east Asian extraction as early as nursery school. One such was a best friend from nursery school through elementary school.
I DO think that empathy should be taught--that kids should be taught early to be conscious of other kids' feelings, that it's a positive thing to avoid making others feel bad, and if they feel bad for some reason, do what you can to help them feel better. All that without drawing attention to race or skin color unless there's some local problem in that regard.
Of this is true but you are missing a big piece…there’s a reason why testing and ‘standards’ and national testing at that, is a ‘conservative’ value—they cut arts, social sciences, and focus on ‘edconomic’ values like STEM. And reduce reading to decoding. And engineering to coding. Headstart, VISTA, Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, real education starting with a love of learning, finding the joy for you and yours, arts and music, fun first, gaining responsibility, becoming a member of a society which, by your voice, you will regenerate! That’s education, the rest is training, and training is for dogs and horse…
Absolutely right, Jack. It's the uneducated and "under" educated who have gotten control of the GOP and they are sending the likes of Marjorie Taylor Green and Lauren Boebert, Paul Goser and George Santos to Washington. Just read that the Texas Education Agency is about to take over Houston ISD, one of the largest school districts in the state. What is already bad is about to get worse. Will Texans ever value public education?
There are many fine and highly intelligent people who didn’t go to college or get their GED. Mtg and her cronies are mis-educated, not necessarily uneducated or undereducated.
What’s his name fully intends to MIS-educate the children of our country. Lie to them in other words and withhold important information.
I wouldn’t want my child to think that just because she went to school and college that means she’s smart.
Yep, boy do I agree
Many do but many are also the greedy bastards, I know some, from a distance these days…
Yep, I know some too, but I was speaking in general. Texas is so far down the line of states funding education $ per student, it’s pathetic. Egregious considering the enormous budget surplus the state has and Abbott wonders what to do with it.
“All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten”, by American minister and author Robert Fulghum was first published in 1986. Apparently MAGAS were so brilliant they all skipped Kindergarten
Love that
Wel, Winston Churchill may not have actually said “The best argument against democracy is a five minute interview with the average voter,” but Jordan Klepper’s interviews are pretty damn persuasive.
Churchill actually did say, "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for every other form that has been tried."
Yes, I know you’re really right, but those Klepper interviews (shakes head gloomily). Democrats may be fighting back, but they need to take a page from Mehdi Hassan’s excellent tips on how to win arguments. I haven’t read his book yet, but he did a great interview with Charlie Sykes last week on the Bulwark podcast pointing out effective (mostly foreign) interviews with Trump & Trumpers that set them back on their heels. Jamie Raskin, for one, is quite good at it, and I expect Dan Goldman will be as well, and we’ve already seen Katie Porter’s chops.
I just discovered The Cafe by Al Jazeera! which he has part of for the 3rd season. Here it begins. https://www.aljazeera.com/videos/2011/7/15/the-cafe
Didn't Churchill also say something about democracy being the worst possible political system to have 'until we find something better.' I guess that's why we must put up with extremists on both sides.
Here is information regarding who originally said it, https://richardlangworth.com/worst-form-of-government
Thanks, Gailee. I was about to post a similar citation from the Churchill Foundation. The "quote" often posted is a partial quote. Churchill included it in what he said but it is clear that he was referring to something that was already in use. "Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…" Winston S Churchill, 11 November 1947
From the International Churchill Society webpage https://winstonchurchill.org/
They make me heave; weaponized ignorance on display.
Shooting from the hip here, but I cast my vote for HL Mencken as the author of this quip.
Nice try but no cigar: "Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…" Winston S Churchill, 11 November 1947
From the International Churchill Society webpage https://winstonchurchill.org/
Education is the key, but I wouldn’t send my children to Florida to receive it. Since most everyone gets
their information from third-party sources, out of necessity due to the limited amount of time they have to spend to educate themselves (a practical concern for all of us), it is critical to find reputable sources to digest information for us. Therein lies the problem. Bad sources, bad information. Good sources, good information. Fox News, PBS. Jim Jordan, HCR. This is why for a certain segment of the population “clown” sources are more fun and exciting then serious reflective thought from serious, thoughtful people.
That's why we need Toastmasters clubs, to teach Roberts Rules of Order and confidence and effective speaking in public. It also builds skills in getting along with others. My dad joined so he could improve his interviewing for jobs. I joined to be in a productive social meleu I wasn't sure of my spelling, so I looked it up and found a proper definition which I like l: from rugby, all the forwards joined together in an organised way [
You know Mike, the more I look at disinformation campaigns and their history, the more I realize that humanity has a decided “clown” faction. I have come to see it as a “follow the money” exercise, because power, and control-the-narrative-to-control-the-masses endeavors always begin and end with money. Those with the character trait of “shameless” can quite easily exploit other humans’ need to belong and to have faith that someone can make all the bad shit in their lives better - or at least blamed on someone else. It’s like we are in a mind-control war, and we are just figuring out how to combat it, slow though it may be. Bravo Jerry Nadler and Stacey Plaskett. Let’s all call Jordan’s office and request the hearings ASAP!
I have always thought (circus) clowns were creepy. These clowns today are actually scary because of what they are doing to democracy. A number of my friends have switched off from the news and, in conversation with me, dismiss my words with a wave of the hand and head and just say "they are a joke". NOT!
Heather always says "follow the money" and I believe her, and others I read. The Republicans have sold out to the almighty Devil of the Dollar.
Sally The problem with these ‘clowns’ is that they seem to proliferate. I am reminded when, as a kid, I watched with fascination the ‘clown car’ in which clowns kept coming out of a small car. Today’s clowns seem to be spewing out of a Boeing 747.
Yes, bring on the hearings of the witnesses, in the Nadler/Plaskett Report, MLRGRMI!
I know it's tempting to get very discouraged about the number of "clowns" who are wielding power and "dumbing down" education. And yes, Jordan Klepper's interviews are a bit scary. But we can't stop there. If we lump all the "not us" groups together as "dumb clowns," we are missing great opportunities to make a difference.
I am heartened by a growing network of grassroots organizations of Democrats around the country, many of them who are working at the community level, encouraging people to learn about how the government can help them with the daily problems of hard scrabble lives - if good people are elected....and then encouraging some of those good people to run. I'm learning about them from Jessica Craven's Chop Wood and Carry Water substack, as well as from weekly meetings of Markers for Democracy. It's a great way to not get stuck in despair over what we read and see....and to really make a difference by getting involved: donating, participating, supporting. We have a choice!
https://open.substack.com/pub/chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions/p/chop-wood-carry-water-33-c87?r=eznl2&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
https://mailchi.mp/9eec5854a1a2/mfd-news-12-kirsten-gillibrand-next-50-event-ny-actions-zooms-resume?e=e91036c2eb
It is normal to become discouraged, but not normal to allow that discouragement to overtake or overwhelm. What is so irksome and dismaying is the number of adults in Congress acting out like adolescents. Of course, the MEDIA loves to focus on the crazies. They are celebrated far too often; often too regularly. For me, they create a great deal of embarrassment and shame for our country. I blanch at the comments made by certain Republican personalities. The plus side to the media coverage is how we at the very least know how "they" misbehave.
Grassroots democracy and a few good leaders are what our democratic republic needs for its survival.
And we have that with our youngest, the GEn Zers, participating at every single turn. These very bright young adults from every walk of life, are bound by what horrors they’ve experienced and what they continue to see. Bless this group and their mighty efforts to bring change!
Grassroots efforts are where the Democrats have failed. As a result, Republicans have been able to stack many state legislatures. Democrats must make up for lost time and opportunity. Democrats also must begin to herald the huge successes under Biden's administration. What is that old axiom, "Blow your own horn if no one else will"?
Look up coulrophobia and learn that 1 in 10 adults are frightened of clowns and growing numbers of children are fearful of them. Since the days of films like It and Joker, evil clowns have become more insidiously frightening...
There are few studies but the articles are interesting. I do not know how to post the links.
Yes. We should fear these clowns.
You're right. There's that murder case in Florida where a woman dressed as a clown shot and killed her surprised victim when she opened the door.
The stuff of nightmares only grows, Jack.
Just like the adage goes, Rinse and Repeat; often
Even as toddlers, my kids hated clowns. We didn't condition them to dislike them, they didn't trust them and always kept their distance. Hopefully, not being attracted to clown shows will be an innate trait in the majority of adults too. I know it's a big turn off for me too
And we know who the head clown is. I wonder if he tried to grab the steering wheel on the clown car
You joke Wlliam, but that was some pretty stunning testimony when it finally came out. Just the thought of the Commander In Chief with that sort of self control. Someone yet may need to put that up on a billboard. (If there was a meme I never saw it).
I must admit my shock (without "awe"!) at the large population of pre-adolescent dumbified (I know, not a real word!) people within the Republican Party. I guess I/we should be pleased and comforted that most of them concentrate into one central core of asinine stupidity.
Well said Mike. There are those who will do the work, for the people, and others who refuse to govern, who are satisfied with a false narrative, or a quick lie, or a philosophy that will fit on a baseball cap. What made me see red was the "deep state" reference. That's a Rush Limbaugh slur from 30 years ago! Good enough for clowns though I guess.
Mike. you nailed it. What a sad commentary on our citizenry.
I hope you are also watching The MidasTouch Network podcasts. These folks are intelligent lawyers! I think HCR would agree. I follow them along with HCR. Well worth watching!
Exactly, and they are no longer content with a night out and a brew at the local pub, after which they fade away. The “rabble” have become louder, probably because they are used by the monied powerful or are the monied powerful. Consider our Repub House. What better example…
Great post on Republican clowns, couldn't agree more especially with the line on clowns appealing to a child-like mind.
This really comes down to media campaigns and retail politics…they have the money but we have the facts, and need to capture the emotions as well…what would make your life better?
You are so right!
Soon to be "The Tears of the Clowns" #SmokeyRobinson
So true, Christopher.
https://youtu.be/4heHLbchPKk
Salud.
🗽
Sondheim's most poignant lyric.
But lethal. Not humorous.
Such destructive clowns.
This diabolical charade will connect with some non-MAGA voters unless the media skewers it. Democrats’ get-tough approach is essential to make that happen.
Sondheim's most poignant lyric...
Like many, I find clowns to be scary, and not the least bit entertaining.
In place of a clown car they had to rent a clown bus to fit them all in.
A perfect response using one of the most poignant songs ever. Thank you.
I have always found clowns to be rather creepy and scary. Seldom funny and often pathetic .
Now I know why.
Same
A few, very few Republicans are as Democrats, fighting back members of the Republican Party, the Party itself and the Fox News (!) Channel. Take Charlie Sykes, for instance.
‘Charles Jay Sykes is an American political commentator who is currently editor-in-chief of the website The Bulwark. From 1993 to 2016, Sykes hosted a conservative talk show on WTMJ in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Among others he has taken on Paul Ryan and Fox News (!) In a recent issue of the Bulwark, he exposed Ryan and Republicans like him as few others could.
‘Paul Ryan has been nothing if not consistent.’
‘After Donald Trump’s election, Ryan made the calculation that it was better to be in the room than to defy a president he knew was manifestly unfit.’
‘To publicly criticize Trump, the former speaker told Mark Leibovich in 2018, would just be counterproductive.
He tends to speak of the commander in chief as if he were sharing a coping strategy on dealing with a Ritalin-deprived child. “It boomerangs,” Ryan says of being too critical of Trump. “He goes in the other direction, so that’s not effective.” He added, “The pissing match doesn’t work.”
So he opted to stay in the room, telling Leibovich that he preferred to tell Trump how he felt in private, rather than speaking out about his recklessness, racism, and serial lies. Staying quiet meant that Ryan would stay relevant, stay in the game, and, as he told himself, stop all sorts of awful things from happening.’
‘He was hardly alone. Wrote Leibovich:
He joins a large group of Trump’s putative allies, many of whom have worked in the administration, who insist that they have shaped Trump’s thinking and behavior in private: the “Trust me, I’ve stopped this from being much worse” approach. “I can look myself in the mirror at the end of the day and say I avoided that tragedy, I avoided that tragedy, I avoided that tragedy,” Ryan tells me. “I advanced this goal, I advanced this goal, I advanced this goal.”
‘I locked in on the word “tragedy.” It sets the mind reeling to whatever thwarted “tragedies” Ryan might be talking about. I asked for an example. “No, I don’t want to do that,” Ryan replied. “That’s more than I usually say.”
‘This was, of course, the basis of Ryan’s Faustian bargain, but it also reflects a mindset that has come to dominate our politics, especially in the GOP.’
‘The right’s political culture now relies on this hive-mind rationalization that masquerades as a philosophy: That you can serve the greater good by staying silent — in the room — and therefore relevant.’
‘Some of this is just simple moral cowardice; a lot of it is grift, but it’s not just Paul Ryan. In-the-roomism is a deeply internalized ethos — or perhaps anti-ethos — that has shaped the Republican party’s serial compromises, capitulations, and sellouts.’
‘In this mindset, speaking out or taking a stand is foolish, because it means you lose your place at the table and your leverage. (Just look at what happened to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger!) It’s the story that conservatives have been telling themselves for years now, and you can find it in virtually every corner of the right’s interlocking ecosystems.’
‘Last year, National Review’s Rich Lowry insisted that Cheney was making a mistake by speaking so forcefully about the January 6th insurrection, because she would lose her ability to influence the future of the Republican party. As I wrote back then, in a piece headlined “The Doom Loop of Relevance”:
‘This is, of course a familiar argument: it’s the age-old rationalization of courtiers, time servers, and trimmers of all sorts, who convince themselves that the Greater Good is served by staying in the room.
And they tell themselves that they need to stay in the room, so they that can sound the alarm, but they refuse to sound the alarm so they can stay in the room.’
‘But this logic is inevitably circular. Lowry argued that Cheney should not warn the party against being crazy . . . because that lessens her ability to influence the party to be less crazy. But if she denounces lies and sedition she will lose a seat at the table where the party decides whether it will embrace lies and sedition.’
‘So conservatives convinced themselves that the savvy move is to stay in that room, no matter what it costs.’
**
‘As we now know, Paul Ryan took the same approach to his role as a member of the Fox Corporation board as he did to the Trump presidency. He stayed in the room.’
‘During my conversation with Ryan last week, I asked him whether he had a responsibility to push back against the lies pushed out by Fox news.
“I do,” he said. “I have a responsibility to offer my opinion and perspective, and I do that, but I don’t go on TV and do it, right? So I offer my perspective, my opinion, often. I’ll just leave it at that. Okay?”
That turned out to be true. The court filings by Dominion Voting System this week revealed just how active Ryan was — behind the scenes. From the filing:
‘As a Board Member, Ryan believed that the period immediately following the 2020 Presidential Election was a pretty important inflection point, not just for the company Fox, but for the country and for the conservative movement itself and shared this view as a fiduciary with Rupert and Lachlan.
( Q. And you thought it was in Fox News interest to separate out these fringe claims of voter fraud, correct? A. Yeah, that's my fiduciary duty. ).
He confirmed that the inflection point was not just one day; it was the whole time in the post-election November/December timeframe. Ryan knew that these conspiracy theories were baseless and that Fox should labor to dispel conspiracy theories if and when they pop up.
Ryan also understood that when events occur, Fox can clearly amplify that news being made by covering it. Ryan believed there ought to be a listing of all the allegations and then all the evidence or the validation or invalidation of those [election fraud] allegations just for the viewers sake, and suggested as much to Fox's senior management. . . . Ryan told Rupert and Lachlan "that Fox News should not be spreading conspiracy theories.’
‘The former speaker clearly had the ears of Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch.’
‘Ryan gave Lachlan and Rupert plenty of suggestions with respect to programming, as well as suggestions regarding content and show hosts. Id. 410 :8-22 . Specifically, he told the Murdochs that Fox should be pivoting at this key inflection point during November 2020 through January 2021 consistently advising them to move on from Donald Trump and stop spouting election lies…
On December 6 , 2020, Paul Ryan texted Rupert and Lachlan, telling them, we are entering a truly bizarre phase of this where [Trump] has actually convinced himself of this farce and will do more bizarre things to delegitimize the election. I see this as a key inflection point for Fox, where the right thing and the smart business thing to do line up nicely. He called for Fox to put forth solid pushback (including editorial) of Trump's ] baseless calls for overturning electors...’
**
‘But this is the problem with being a thought leader. Sometimes you have to lead. In Ryan’s case that would have meant getting up from the table and telling the folks outside the room that Fox was lying and endangering democracy. But once again he decided to stay silent; and he regarded his reticence as savvy and virtuous.’
‘This was the point I was trying to make in the May 2021 open letter to Ryan that he claimed he had never read or heard of.’
‘Paul, your position right now is unique [I wrote]. You are not just the former vice-presidential nominee of your party and the former speaker of the House. You sit on the board of directors of the media company that is shaping and distorting the future of the movement to which you have given your life….
‘What brighter red lines could possibly be crossed? If this isn’t the moment to draw your own line, what would be?
If you want to make a difference, isn’t this the moment? If you want to change your legacy, isn’t this the time?’
‘When I asked him directly about red lines last week, he explained why he wanted to stay in the room.
PR: I want to see the conservative movement get through this moment. And I think Fox is a big part of the constellation of the conservative movement. [crosstalk]
‘CS: Is it the solution or the problem?’
‘PR: Oh, no, I think it’s gonna have to be a part of the solution if we're going to solve the problem in the conservative movement.
Ryan seems to believe that he has exercised his fiduciary responsibilities by speaking confidentially with the Murdochs.’
‘That, however, is far from clear.’
‘Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld, a professor and senior associate dean for leadership studies at the Yale School of Management told CNN this week, that board members like Ryan had a responsibility to do a lot more than they did.’
“The duties of loyalty and diligence are NOT to the management but to the owners,” Sonnenfeld said. “By silently going along with misconduct about which they are aware, all directors, including Paul Ryan, are guilty of complicity through their complacency.”
**
‘By staying on the board, Ryan seems to be telling himself, he will be able to steer the network away from the craziness, and from batshit crazy lies about the election.’
‘But here’s the thing: He didn’t.’(Bulwark) See link below.
https://morningshots.thebulwark.com/p/in-the-room-where-it-doesnt-happen
I, I, I, I, I, I, I and I... to the power of I.
That and
SAVING RYAN'S PRIVATES
I much prefer Billie Holiday's thoughts on the subject to the noise polution currently airing in the GOP Washington DC.
Me, myself and I
Are all in love with you
We all think you're wonderful, we do
Me, myself and I
Have just one point of view
We're convinced there's no one else like you
It can't be denied, dear
You brought the sun to us
We'd be satisfied, dear
So, if you pass me by
Three hearts will break in two
'Cause me, myself and I
Are all in love with you
Billie Holiday: Love Songs, 1937
Precisely accurate review, Peter, and amusing as well. Bravo!
One of the wittiest lines I have ever read in the comment section Kudos!
It reminds me, Fern, of testimony at the post war trials (Nurenberg) of the lesser Nazis (N-2,3,4,5....etc) who "were only obeying orders" and, regardless, they were "only" paper pushers in the "final solution" and of course had no idea of the finality of the paperchain.
It is the death march in their burlesque. Thank you for raising the curtain, Stuart.
Clowns one might say....more like Jack Nicholson's portrayal of the Joker. Not funny at all and highly dangerous either through their intentional blindness or the their unwillingness to see reality and speak out. They epitomize the "three wise monkeys" . The "death march" they facilitate and instrumentalize is not intended for themselves but for us. However, any newly arrived dictator would tell you that now he is in power he'll liquidate the "useful idiots" who helped get him there....along with a few others.
Thank you for posting this! My mind reels with the cowardice of men like Paul Ryan.
Great share Fern ! Thank you.. “The Doom Loop of Relevance” dovetails quite nicely for the most part.
Yes, D4N, an exquisite shaming with all their hooves in order.
Thank you for posting this, Fern. This quote so describes the republikan’s circular logic: “And they tell themselves that they need to stay in the room, so they that can sound the alarm, but they refuse to sound the alarm so they can stay in the room.”
Perfect description of the snakiness of Ryan and others like him that manage to walk among us with no spine.
....make that: slither amongst us. Alas.
Another thought from your shared article occurs to me. ? Thought leader ? Leaders don't think their way to solutions; they take actions on their thoughts, principles, etc. Thought for the 'sake' of thought is no more than mental flagellation, to put it as tastefully and delicately as I wish to, and not leadership - not even remotely.
The dynamic between knowledge, thought, communication, organizing and action in the a chain of civil society.
Fern, I always learn so much from you. Thank you again.
Vivian SL, Thank you for your encouragement. We are attentive to the Letters and to one another. This is a place of learning for all of us, for sharing, support, friendship and some laughter. Cheers!
‘He stayed in the room…’! So he could keep sucking on the crazy billionaires’ teats who fund the drive to autocracy! Nah, Pauly boy! By staying in the room you are covered by the stench of the amoral trump and the damage he has done to our democracy!
So much arrogance to believe once they start that slippery slide into the deep dark abyss that they will somehow be able to claw their way out of it. They use the cloak of Christianity to hide their dirty deeds, especially to themselves. When did their precious savior’s humility become invisible to them? Despicable.
I saw Ryan as the worst of the worst decades ago. His reasoning, explained here, proves it. 🤮 Thank you for sharing it with us Fern! 🙏
The Bulwark is well worth the $10/month subscription. After reading HCR & Robert Hubbell 1st thing in the morning, I always look forward to Charlie Sykes’ “Morning Shots” dropping mid- morning, followed by Jonathan Last’s “The Triad” late morning. And the comments on the Bulwark site are always terrific.
His daily podcast is always interesting. Charlie has a great sense of humor, and when Tom Nichols is on, it’s even better.
Hair on fire interview...
Good morning, Fern. Egads what a busy thread we have here. You do make me study of that. Thanks for the Rant. I Like it!
“Staying in the room...”
very worth thinking about. Complicated. Maybe different folks taking different approaches and actions. Differing gifts? Courage? More ...
If you’re staying in a room on Fire and don’t holler FIRE, sure as day follows night you’ll burn with the rest of them. PURE unadulterated arrogance.
Will this ever end is all I can think right now. Trump just seems to have been the key to open the Pandora's box of rot, grift, conspiracy and who knows what all.
This is why Trumpism exists.... to bring our shadows into the light, ....horrific stuff, and all too easy to project! On this page, we are thoughtful readers, an audience bubble, but we are living within a hellish landscape of escalating violence, ..... I am feeling at a loss of what we can do to bridge the crevasse ??? (But I did take the time with ‘Indivisible’ to write ‘personal’ letters to registered voters in Georgia ☺️)
In your question “ bridge the crevasse”, you have provided the answer as well. Bridge the crevasse. If the mire is not removable, engineers build a bridge and move on. All who pass over witness the answer and are aware their feet weren’t muddied. Build the bridge pass over the quagmire. Leave it in your rear view mirror.
Well Judy, good question. To me, It's an ill wind that blows no good. The election of DJT provided the super-highway for all (almost all) our vices, misconceptions, hatreds, extremist bents, and u-name-it, to kind of surface. Hasn't it? In our world, there will always be "wind" and we will have to deal with it as long as we live. But. How we deal with it makes the words .., "Build back better" appropriate. A lot of the 'wind' is sexual in nature, which arouses the prurient interests and a lot of it is around capitalism/democracy/religion, so it's not dying down soon. It will.
The Winds of Djamela. Leave them to scour the ruins and let their voices urge us, castigate us and move us on.
A thought for the day.
As the Delegate of the Virgin Islands Stacy Plaskett cannot vote in the House although she can participate in discussions. Virgin Islanders also cannot vote in US Presidential Elections.
Stacy Plaskett is a super star and a second class citizen.
Is that righteous?
And what about the promised Cherokee representative still not in place after 200 years.
Agreed, and all of those other territorials and members of indigenous tribes. Stacy Plaskett is a very visible example of the many "US citizens" who are denied the very fundamental right
of citizens , to vote.
Right or righteous? Who knows?
But it's all for a good cause -- saving pseudoconservatives and pseudo-Christians' mental Virginity...
And while it's true that No man is an island, Donne did say "No man..."
Which precludes zombies, mutants and bargain-basement imitations.
Peter, there was a time when it also precluded women and any male not of Northern European origin. The bell is indeed tolling.....but for whom?
No man is an Iland, intire of itselfe; every man
is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine;
if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe
is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as
well as if a Manor of thy friends or of thine
owne were; any mans death diminishes me,
because I am involved in Mankinde;
And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.
MEDITATION XVII
Devotions upon Emergent Occasions
John Donne
Och ! And please just shut up with that kind of talk. And never let the children see it. Broke me down, Stuart.
'No man is an island'; "She's; a Peninsula". 👭👬👫 Circa Jefferson Airplane.
Having seen her several times on MSNBC, always with sane statements about policy, I wonder if the Republicans don’t want to give statehood to Puerto Rico lest it produce more representatives to show them up.
Too bad there is no longer a National Lampoon to showcase the Republican subterfuge and expose their idiocy.
Carmen How can The Onion possibly make up anything as absurd as Jackass Jordan’s Judiciary Committee charade?
Unfortunately we've been saying that since 2016 if not longer.
Stuart And Mozart would attract a more boisterous crowd for his slap stick comedies than for his operas. It took a while, but Mozart is more remembered for his operas than his slap stick.
I am still awaiting Trump’s comic book account of his presidency. Possible title: PULSATING WITH PUTIN, or NO NO NATO.
Ha! Pumpkin Tails.
Borowitz will have to work A LOT harder.
What a refreshing idea. Makes for wonderful thoughts.
It's OK and necessary to continue rebutting Republican dissinformation -- but it's exhausting and must not be the area of primary focus. The only real line of attack at this juncture is to identify the levers of actual power and use them -- relentlessly . . .
James Rebut with humor. A joke or cartoon can capture the absurdity of all this blustering.
Once in a while, I run across a piece from Brian Taylor Cohen, who does a masterful job taking apart the idiocy of the Republicans. And for a laugh, there's Randy Rainbow.
James Randy Rainbow is the musical version of The Lincoln Project. Randy is dandy!
He kept me going during the pandemic lock-down. He’s the epitome of comedic genius!
Agree 100% would be fabulous if he'd turn his attention to New College - I've even got some lyrics if he's interested :-)
Brian Tyler Cohen is EXCELLENT!
As is the YouTube Channel "Beau of the Fifth Column"!!
And when Brian Tyler Cohen and Glenn Kichner get together for an episode, it is awesome!
Indeed!!!
Check out activist Tokyo Sand’s PoliticalCharge.org. As passionate an activist as Jessica Craven at Chop Wood Carry Water, Tokyo Sand’s posts are well researched, loaded with resources, and shared with positivity and small action steps focused on getting you the information you need to take charge of your political activism. Her weekly recap is my favorite as it contains a roundup of the week’s best political cartoons.
https://politicalcharge.org/2023/02/25/political-charge-weekly-recap-2-25/
Thanks for that link! I'm looking for replacements to NYT and WaPo from which I have unsubscribed--those two are just too pricey for the paucity of deep dive news and the now palpable lean to the right in their outlook.
Lena Loved the cartoons, which sharply summarize the week’s low points. Also see The Week’s daily cartoons which provide a different perspective on the same steaming s++t.
Thanks for the link.
Yes... but once again, isn't a functioning mind a necessary prerequisite? Can zombies laugh?
Bring on the armor-piercing humor -- if it hasn't all been outsourced along with everything else.
Pressure cooker relief valves, Jon Stewart & Steven Colbert 😆
It takes a certain amount of intelligence to have a functioning sense of humor. A concrete thinker, which describes many MAGAs, doesn't really have a sense of humor. And, sadly, concrete thinkers are much less able to understand the complexities of important issues, or that what the Repubs in these so-called hearings are presenting is just utter theater and nonsense.
I notice that comedians are always among the brightest. Wanted Al Franken for president when the country desperately needed a good laugh and a bright president. Unfortunately there was Roger Stone (again).
Virginia I remember George Murphy, a Hollywood song and dance man, who was elected senator from California. He added zest to the boring senatorial debates. I remember meeting him once. He was wearing an electric blue suit. Some years later we had another Hollywood has been from CA—Ronald Reagan. Not as funny.
J I offer a bottle of wine to the first person who can recount a joke that emanated from Trump. I believe that his sense of humor matches DeSantis—zero. If you can’t laugh at yourself, you must be a brittle bastard.
A valid observation, Mr. Wheelock! drumpf's only attempts at humor are usually cruel and profoundly unamusing. Well, unamusing to normal, compassionate people. Tfg's fanboys and girls somehow think he has a GREAT sense of humor. There's just no accounting for taste.
Keith, he IS the joke!!!
Carol Does that make Trump a s++t down comedian?
He laughs at his own sadism. That's not really indicative of sense of humor.
So. Concrete thinkers. Sink or swim?
😂
'Can zombies laugh?' Perfect comic strip.
Sure they can, Fern.....when they are told to!
When Zombies laugh!
Are you going to audition for a role as one, Pat?
No, Fern, I am content to be a Cretin. I would, however, speaking of the populous herein at large, like very much like to see more of the humor you are so capable of. I think you are a starter.
Jim Jordan is just as arrogant, ignorant, and preposterous as was Joseph McCarthy. His claims are are just as outrageous and just as cynical as the disgraced former Senator from Wisconsin.
https://www.justsecurity.org/77852/timeline-rep-jim-jordan-a-systematic-disinformation-campaign-and-january-6/
All of Jordan’s hate and antis are just to distract himself from the parts of himself that he hates. Jordan is as twisted as McCarthy was.
"Full context and a reasonable rebuttal are necessary to protect the truth.”
https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=5120
Nadler and Plaskett are making the absolutely necessary case that Jordan and the Republicans are the ones intent on weaponizing the Government. There is only one job for Democrats until the next election, to expose the real agenda of the right wing of the party so that independents are repelled without it becoming a "plague on both your houses" situation.
That means there has to be a Democratic shining light of hope, and a warrior of righteousness. Can't be the same person.
"That means there has to be a Democratic shining light of hope, and a warrior of righteousness. Can't be the same person." Jamie Raskin comes to mind, Georgia!
Before MAGA it could have been one person. But I fear the Warrior is going to have to get in the swamp and it will be an ugly and dirty and bruising fight to call out Jim Jordan and his cohorts and the other MAGA crazies--It also is too big a job for one person to do both. There has to be someone who who has a clear and constant focus on legislation to better the average American and to sound that message in the purest tones. And then you need the scrapper to call bullshit on the crazies.
What I see as the critical issue is that Democrats have to get a huge fraction of independents on their side to secure a large and stable enough majority to get to 60 in the Senate to beat the filibuster and enough in the House to push through major legislation. That can't happen if enough independents stay home because of the "plague on both your houses" issue. And that is a big risk that gets run if it is a single person.
We need to occasionally remind Jordan that just because he lost out to Olympic aspirants does not make him an Olympian.
My bad for misinterpreting the import of your comment.
Prayers for Raskin to successfully complete chemo.
Morning, Lynell! Yes, Raskin as the shining light of hope. I'm open to suggestions for the warrior of righteousness.
Morning, Ally! On a side note, I think Adam Schiff and Katie Porter from California are both planning to run for U.S.. Senate. Do you have a preference as to which one you would choose if you lived in California? Either one would make great warriors!
Katie Porter, without a doubt. I like Schiff right where he is.
I'm with you on this, and I do live in California! Although I think that Barbara Lee's announcement that she is also running may complicate things...especially if the Xtian Nationalists come up with a credible Republican candidate.
Absolutely YES….JR‼️
Morning, Lynell.
Evening, Stuart! Miss not reading your excellent comments. I have not been able to maintain the time slot we used to converse on way back when. That said, I like being able to catch up with you every now and then these days. Hope you are well.
All's well on this side thanks Lynell. And yourself?
Comme ci, comme ça!
i've just started back in the gym after covid etc. Feels good getting back to real life.
How much influence is there from Putin on these Republican extremists?
Follow the money
The turning worm, Oleg Deripaska, Russian Oligarch and "friend of Putin behind much of the "troubles" in Ukraine is now saying that Putin will run out of Money in 2024........rats leaving the proverbial sinking ship?
Hopefully Putin doesn’t blow a nuclear fuse in the process!
Stuart Putin has so much money that Fort Knox could borrow billions from him. Of course Russians are being squeezed by Peter the Grape’s futile and expensive imperial ventures.
The Swiss have just arrested and charged the lawyers/bankers charged with hiding much of his ill-gotten gains .
Nancy At the current conservative conference some speakers said some nice things about Putin.
What I can't fathom is that their base will yell "Commie!" or "Socialist!" at the Democrats (not knowing the difference between the two, sigh) and then speak warmly of A COMMUNIST!
It really boggles the mind.
Miselle If they are so concerned with Commies/Socialists, they could reject the 8.7% increase in their Social Security checks.
I was kind of wondering the same thing.
And all staged to provide clips for Fox.
"...clips for Fox." Exactly, Peter. And idiocy is no impediment to the consumers of Faux. Could these operatives succeed in reaching enough people? Or are enough people waking up (coming to appreciate wokeness)? Time will tell, I guess.
In a normal world, testimony in the Dominion case would be “game over” for Fox. But sadly we’ve moved past hypocrisy and shame.
As I recall, Jim Jordan supervises (and often anonymously tweet-panders) via the "House Judiciary" (ha... just about typed "Louse") Twitter feed. If you compare his personal and the gov feed, the syntax and messaging are very similar if not identical. There is no "House Judiciary" twitter feed, it's Jordan's anonymized messaging.
It's so refreshing to see the Democrats flex some intellectual muscle, raising the spirit of Sen. Welch, who asked McCarthy, "Have you no sense of decency, sir..."
Joseph Welsh was not a Senator. He was a lawyer representing the Army.
https://www.senate.gov/about/powers-procedures/investigations/mccarthy-hearings/have-you-no-sense-of-decency.htm
Thank you.
"The official Republican House Judiciary Twitter account responded vaguely: “Cherry-picked leaks. Partial transcripts. All to disparage brave whistleblowers. Democrats should be ashamed.”
Unfortunately, simple statements like this are easy for people to understand.
Compare the above sentence to Dr. Richardson's letter today, which, I had to read twice to get all of the threads straight.
The sad part about Republican messaging is, of course it is false, but, it is all couched in 5th grade, short sentence, English and delivered in video or am radio so no effort in reading needed.
Sloganism vs Research and logic. Let HCR research, we can slogan
What appeals to the great unwashed, and sadly, the great proud to be unwashed
This is so exactly correct. When will the Democrats figure out that this is the way to reach and increase an audience? Ugh.
That Mike has been immortalized in our community by an old school Republican conservative lifelong teacher. She suffered no bullshit wool pulling and referred to such political shenanigans as “fifth grade pap.” The language of imbeciles.
Every time I hear DT talking about the "witch hunt" I keep thinking it isn't a witch hunt; it is a warlock hunt unless DT is hiding his real pronouns.
Modern witches don't like the term "warlock" for a male which, claiming it is derived from an older word, "waerloga" (spelling approximate) which means "oath breaker".
Seems like that meaning fits well with this particular warlock breaking his oath of office.
A wiff of Salem nontheless, I fear, Cathy; a touch of 1640s England with Matthew Hopkins, self-styled ‘Witchfinder General’ and Salem's John Hathorne with distinct political overtones of dominance and control.
There really are no words to adequately express the waste of this s*** show.
Jim I feel like flushing this entire s++t show.
I’m enjoying watching Judiciary ‘Juggernaut’ Jordan launch his ‘weaponizing’ investigation of the Department of Justice and FBI pro-Democratic ‘conspiracy.’ Jackass Jordan commenced with three pseudo-whistleblowers who had the credibility of Jewish Laser Greene and AK15 Boebert.
The Democrats riposted with a 311-page document that was a brilliant legal brief demolishing the Republicans by-gosh-and-by-golly political mishmash. Meanwhile Democrats Nadler and Plaskett were Cool Hand Lukes in puncturing this Republican political balloon.
Indeed, were there a political bias among conservative FBI career agents, it would be ‘pro-Trump, anti-Democrats.’ Then-FBI Director Comey, regarding the Clinton classified e-mails investigation announced just before the 2016 elections, has later said that he had preempted the rogue FBI NY office’s release of this political ‘bombshell.’
During the prolonged back-and-forth between the Department of Justice and Trump over hidden classified documents at Mar a Lago, the FBI early on had insisted that they accepted Trump assurances that there were no more ‘smoking guns’ on premises. OOPHS—lots more.
I’m looking forward to more from the House Republican gang that can’t shoot straight. The fact that they might be ‘packing’ on the House floor I find frightening.
While I would not want the FBI to misuse their powers to play politics on anyone's behalf, one might think there might be a just little extra satisfaction to getting goods on Republicans who keep slandering the agency.
Oh, what a satisfying thought cartoon that make for us! Thanks JL. Comeuppance at its very best.
it’s not their aim…it’s their “order”
READY. FIRE. AIM.
PS. Didn’t know “Cool Hand Luke” could be an adjective…..well done man!
Vermont Girl It is now!
Your assessment of the political bent of most of the FBI (I'm going with about 90%, based on my experience in law enforcement) is actually very RepubliQan and conservative is spot on. Law enforcement is not in any way, shape, or form a liberal bastion. Period.
Sarah I envision a ‘law enforcement’ Praetorian Guard leading an anti-woke crusade under DeSantis. Meanwhile, the Policemen for Democrats Organization is holding a meeting in the men’s room.
Beware the Ides of March.
Pat they could be Brutus.