The only big thing I see today is that Bob Smietana of the Religion News Service broke the story that evangelical Beth Moore, a hugely popular leader, has left the Southern Baptist Church.
As Brian Williams pointed out tonight on "11th Hour" (shouting mine) THERE ARE ONLY SEVEN STATES IN THE UNION WHERE THERE ARE NOT BILLS BEING PUSHED IN LEGISLATURES TO DESTROY DEMOCRACY IN THE UNITED STATES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As Joe Biden once said to Barack Obama, "This is a Big Fucking Deal!!!"
Just a couple years ago, no one was paying attention. No one. Now it’s front page news on every news media site. TC is putting it in capital letters with 40 exclamation points. Dr. Heather Cox Richardson is highlighting it today.
Honestly, how far is voter suppression going to go with everybody who doesn’t view Fox News staring it down?
I am feeling rage. I want to use profanity here. Those stupid mofos are trying to pull this off again.
But "fetid" might suggest that they were disintegrating. These people would eat their granny for 2 cents and are alive and well...if not human in the full sense of the word.
Feral could suggest that they were once domesticated and have returned to the wild. I have trouble giving them that sort of romantic dignity. Although I would grant that they imagine themselves far above the "domestication" which might be part of belonging to the human race. Fetid has a singularly unattractive
ring to it which befits them. But ... I'm still searching.
Thanks Ellie, I was thinking, just pissed off. How about rat-fos? Whatever word I come up with is unfit to print. Here we have an entire establishment wanting to return us, yet again, YET AGAIN, to a racist past. Unbelievable. Will this society never learn.
Angry here too, Roland...pissed off to the point that I could let fly with enough profanities to make a crow blush...but I will practice self-restraint. I think what is my main concern in all this is the ****ing apathy that is apparent in such a large percentage of this country's population. Repub-fascists are trying their level best to take over the bloody country and they're just like "meh..." Can't be bothered. I know a LOT of people are struggling with some serious sh*t right now. I get that. But, the world's history also shows this is EXACTLY the kind of situation where fascists and their ilk can make their moves, take advantage of everyone being distracted with their own problems, and come in and take over. We've seen plenty of evidence of how easily it can happen here, and it still easily could. Yes, the Republican party is currently a big hot mess, but there are still enough people in the country right now that will simply vote AGAINST anything smacking of Democrats, liberalism, "socialism", etc. etc. etc. that they will put Republicans into power yet again--aided, of course, by Republicans gerry-rigging everything to ease their path back into power. And, the particularly galling part, is even with Republicans having very few issues they can run on anymore, they are now ONLY an opposition party and people will actually VOTE for that. Republicans only exist to say "no" to any and every Democrat policy initiative. That's all. Well...so much for your "bi-partisan-working-together" horse-sh*t. A look at the recent vote tabulations in the House and Senate for the Covid Relief Aid shows this clear as day...NOT ONE SINGLE Republican vote for. There's your cooperation for ya. The "Party of 'No'".
This voter suppression stuff going on HAS to be brought to everyone's attention, front & centre, and we HAVE to keep hammering it home how vitally important it is that this be fought with all our might! It is nothing more than an attempt by fascists, oligarchs, whatever labels you want to use, to take over the only way they can. Democrats need to really get their mojo back and fight this HARD!! Thank you and have a nice day...*now going to cool off by looking at pics of puppies, kittens, and fluffy bunnies on Facebook*
I agree with everything you've said, and will be blanketing emails to every Repug office holder in Georgia and follow Stacey's FairFight suggestions for other annoyances for the Dark Side. I will then pick up my two cats and force them to be nice to me,😁
Indeed it is a BFD. How did we arrive at a point where most of the country is trying to suppress voting, which is the main thing that make us a democracy. 😡😡
BFD indeed. But it's not most of the country, just a smallish clique spread across the country. These suppression measures will end up in court, perhaps ultimately the Supreme Court; that will take time. Hopefully by then Biden can get SR1 passed; also by then, the ARP's benefits are working their way through the economy; and vaccines are becoming broadly effective. Finally, there's inexorable progress on legal fronts. The state and regional prosecutors are closing in. Best of all: Bulldog Garland grabs sedition by the leg and never lets go. Grind slow yet fine, ye mills of justice.
I know it looks like Dems, the Amer people, and democracy hang by a thread. We can expect quite a near-run thing. But similar to presidential elections, the Dems actually have a straighter path to victory than the GQP. We shall see.
Good morning TPJ and all! I love your optimism; for all our sakes I am hoping it is the aroma of change. But we have some very weird stuff happening these days: in most of the states where voter suppression is being actively engaged by the state legislatures, there are actually more Dem voters than GOP-ers (Wisconsin, Michigan, even Missouri) but they have been gerrymandered behind firewalls so that the Radical Racist Wingnuts can dominate. Add to that the successful strategy of Moscow Mitch of flooding the judiciary with equally radical rightist justices (yes, some of them are more conventional conservatives but some of them are really loony) and the lack of clarity regarding how this current SCOTUS views the revival of Jim Crow and we have a recipe for, if not disaster, the kind of battle that I admit I did not anticipate having to have in 2008. I learned my lesson: racism and sexism are such powerful motivators for scared white men. But golly--we have a huge uphill fight to accomplish and it will take everyone on deck, every ounce of energy, and every progressive organization's legal defense fund to get through.
I mostly agree but, those Wingnuts are attractive to some (around 74 million people) for a reason and it would be in our best interest to continue to work to understand it while we fight it. Name calling is the easiest way to feel better personally (I do it more than I should) but it also creates enemies. If Democrats are to be a real path forward they need to push the messages they are really trying to get out hard and with clarity. They also need to pick popular policies and stick with them to the end. Let some stuff go and actually help people. I believe that our national democratic leaders are doing a pretty good job of staying above the sound bites right now and that they can be a huge part of turning the tide while the lawyers fight in the courts to reverse terrible voter suppression laws. If we do this with large amounts of patience and enough respect democrats could continue to win.
TPJ, good morning. I share your optimism, but I have been disappointed too many times by DEM politicians with cold feet. Joe Lieberman and a DINO senator from Montana whose name I've forgotten come to mind. We are so close to a big change of direction, but there is still plenty of time to screw it up. Gotta keep the pressure on.
Thanks David (and hey Roland); for me it's late night in Boston. You have it right. Lieberman was my family's senator the whole time; we had front row seats as he pontificated his way to the top of the heap. A huge disappointment well before the end. If you refer to John Tester, yes, also frustrating. But we should sympathize (some) with moderate Dems rope-walking across the alligator-filled moats of their red-state politics. Their voters will not replace them with progressive Dems for a good while yet.
Lieberman was different -- he could have been more liberal in almost-blue CT, but he enjoyed being a pompous scold. Tester, a real family farmer, actually tangled with a meat grinder and lost three fingers. Compared to that, Lieberman is a weenie of epic proportions.
Yeah, it can be tough being a DEM senator in the Rocky Mtn. west, and one can - almost - forgive them for waffling on fracking or strict gun controls, but healthcare and voting rights are causes for which DEMs should be willing to risk losing. The honorable way to avoid losing is to spend a lot of time in state educating the voters. And I agree, Joe Lieberman was a monstrous weenie.
I don't remember reading lines that exactly mirrored my opinion as yours about Tester and Lieberman. While my words would be slightly different, our conclusions are exactly the same. I like Tester and always do, frustrated more than angered by some of his votes. Tester is very clear with us about who he is and, he's almost always respectful. Lieberman, you said it, is POMPOUS and I would add scornful of us lesser folks.
And Joe’s son wandered into the same primary Warnock was in and though polling very poorly, wouldn’t drop out. He nearly scuttled the race for Warnock. Must be genetic.
Yeah, forgot about Max Baucus. He was more liberal than Tester but faced similar constraints. My all-time fave pol from MT is Jeannette Rankin, peace advocate extraordinaire, profile in courage.
I also wear the optimist label happily. I do believe I heard March is National Optimism Month. Our job is to keep doing the work to give reason for it to continue. Keep shining light, keep nipping at the heels of Jim Crow wannabe actions any way we can.
An optimist, but not excessively so other than regarding SR1 which is a great idea but, absent some minor miracle, not happening until 2023 and only then if the Democrats get their organizational act together. There are Democratic analogs to Adam Kinzinger who deserve as much respect and support in their areas as he does. Dan Lipinski was one, and it is sad to lose that level of experience to a single issue candidate, especially when the issue is so divisive among voters in general. Ideological primaries don't serve the idea of governance well in either party and it's time that at least one moved in a different direction.
That's exactly their point. As with the Founding Fathers, democracy was for the wealthy white male as that was their definition of "The People". First they are attacking the "ethnic" vote. Now they are attacking virulently a womens right to control her own body. When will they be deciding that unemployment in the economy means thattoo many women are working when they should be at home looking after the children and caring for their husband's home? When will they be deciding that women, as they don't vote sufficiently for them, are insufficiently informed and intelligent to vote?
And when they've got that far Margaret Atwood, George Orwell and Julius Huxley saw it all...we are warned!
Already happening, Stuart. The removal of women from the workplace in 2020 has been hidden by the ways in which unemployment statistics are gathered. The Repugnants are claiming that the official figure of about 6.4% is legit. It does not count the hundreds of thousands of women who are not looking for work because they are prisoners of their home and taking care of children and parents; if they were counted, the unemployment figure would be over 10% (this is being reported consistently and regularly by NPR and PRX). The billions for childcare facilities in the ARA have been especially maligned by the Gormless Ones because they KNOW that if schools can open because teachers and staff get vaccinated and if childcare facilities can get back up and running, all of the women trapped in their homes will be looking for work, which will mean a greater trickle-up economic recovery since two working parents is what is needed these days for socio-economic mobility. However, it will also result in a surge of unemployment figures--artificial but it will be claimed by the Repulsives that this is because the Biden plan is not working--and then the stock market will get all het up. Unless the messaging is consistent, clear, and truthful 2020 is going to be a political s***show.
I’m not sure where to put this link but I did promise Roland and Ally (among others) that I would post here. Stuart, your observation that ‘we are into an all systems change’ scenario is quite correct IMHO. I’ve been mulling this for a while. This blog is a surface summation of a bunch of much deeper work I’m doing. So, without further ado, Walk Backwards Into the Future.
I'm glad you mentioned those authors, Stuart. I wanted to borrow the Handmaid's Tale from my library the day after trump was elected. We live in a small rural Vermont town, I was told there were 42 ahead of me on the list! We have a Republican Gov. who vetoes a bit too much, but our legislature is on red-alert about voting issues. We have two very active senators also as I'm sure you know.
I couldn’t agree more. If America is as strong as Americans like to believe and is truly a leader of nations it will need to offer value to enough people so that it can remain a nation that can continue to be considered a beacon. This is a test and there will always be people and nations that want to tear down democracy from all corners because it calls on a higher self to maintain it. In order for people to believe in democracy our leaders have to offer the people things that help them maintain dignity.
I would, with the Birnam Wood prophecy in mind cast Trump as the first to play Macbeth on the opening night and then have Putin suffer in the second performance.....pride before the fall.
Wouldn't it be amazing if Republicans recognized the Dems as an extended American family whose members are all races, economies and intellects, rather than the static, colorless parasite Dems are demonized to be?
I work with a local chapter of Sister District, a group that help support local progressive candidates in swing states. I have copied a recent post that mentions groups like Stacey Abram's in other states and thought they might be of interest to those who can spare time/money to support keeping our fellow citizens franchised. Sister District is a good group, but you can go straight to the state organizations to see how you can best help.
STATE BRIDGES: HELPING KEY STATES
ACTIVATE PROGRESSIVE VOTERS
You know about Stacey Abrams's success with Fair Fight? Turns out many states have similar organizations working hard to fight voter suppression and get out the vote. Sister District is partnering with New Virginia Majority, Texas Organizing Project, Florida Rising, and similar organizations in our 2021-2022 target states. Raising money now for those groups will help local volunteers in those states reach their friends and neighbors and get out the vote.
One of the problems is that legislation often moves faster than the Court system. These bills can get put in place faster than the lawsuits against them can get filed and heard. Pay attention to Marc Elias.
In his interview with Rachel Maddow tonight, Mark Elias also called on American citizens, who care about our country and about saving our democracy, to speak out in every way possible against the proliferation of voter suppression bills.
I have to think that there is a movement to suppress the vote in every state. There are at least 5 bills pending in Colorado, which haven’t gotten a lot of press, perhaps because our only daily regional newspaper, The Denver Post, has been stripped of its reporters who covered the legislature, thanks to the vulture investment fund, Alden Global Capital, which purchased the Post several years ago. Alden is intent on destroying the Post and any other newspaper it purchases. Their most recent grab is The Chicago Tribune.
I digress, but my point is that in many cities and states, newspapers have been crippled from comprehensive state and local news coverage, so it is likely to take some effort to stay on top of what is happening in state legislatures. It is essential for every concerned citizen to know what bills are pending, and to go directly to your legislators to insure your voice is heard. We need to understand how a bill becomes a law, how to reach our legislative representatives, and how to testify at legislative hearings. We have been very focused nationally, but we can’t overlook the important work that needs to be done every day at the local and state level.
Others have posted organizations that are working on many issues. I have found one of the best sources of information to be my local and regional Indivisible groups. Join one of these groups or start one; connect on social media, such as FaceBook, even if that is all you do on social media; write letters to your newspaper’s editors; find any pathway, any platform, to speak out against voter suppression, because it is happening right now.
Local orgs, online communities, and media platforms (even some execrable, undemocratic ones) will have to do much of the work formerly performed by local media outlets. So many have been lost to economic pressures, but they have long been the best watchdogs for the lower levels (in both senses) of political activity, especially to expose corruption and wrongdoing. Once some current Biden initiatives pass Congress, the door may open to more. I hope that there'll be a major federal package supporting and subsidizing independent local media. When every town had a sharp-tongued newspaper run by an outstanding local crank, American journalism was a rowdy, messy, even libelous cacophony. In short, Democracy in action. Make Journalism Great Again.
Mary Anne, perhaps we can find a way to influence Mackenzie Scott; perhaps she could buy a few newspapers to offset Alden Global’s influence. We could use a few more newspapers free from capitalism’s pernicious influence!
Our local paper was sold by the family that had owned it for nearly 100 years about 2 years ago to Gatehouse Media. The local staff has dwindled to a handful, and ceased publication in Eugene last Friday. We've lost our local reporting. Two of our three local TV stations are run by Sinclair.
Sinclair Media is another scourge. I don’t think a lot of people realize that right-wing Sinclair controls the airwaves in hundreds of communities across the country, even to the point of requiring their newscasters to parrot specific conservative scripts every day.
Agree. Thank you Mary Anne for recommending Indivisible and local action and news reporting support. I’m a member of I. Westchester in NY - very active group. And supporting local blogs and newspapers where I see courageous stands being taken to out suppression of all sorts. The quiet backlash. ❤️🤍💙
Trump shouldn’t have a future in any party. I hope there are enough decent republicans who can get the GOP back on track. The slew of voter suppression legislation is very scary. Just removing Trump from office is obviously not enough. Somehow we need to rid the GOP of trumpism. Tip of the hat to Ms. Moore and Mr. Kinzinger.
Pray for the investigation in Fulton County - they've hired the guy who "wrote the book" on state RICO cases and the guy who "wrote the book" on the rules of evidence in Georgia. The DA is creating a team that is going to come up with an airtight case. Putting him in prison is the only way we can deal with him. And then imprison the rest of his collection of traitors.
I’m sitting here in GA watching it play out, I can hardly wait to see him marched into prison in jumpsuit orange which will eloquently match his face. I have to tell you that we have some prisons here, that no sane person would ever want to visit much less have to spend any time in. 😎
Good point Shelly. I've been watching Larry Lawton, Jewel Thief about crime and prison life. He's on YouTube. His material is pretty good, but it's not "political hype" but lays it out life. Have learned quite a bit about how they really work.
Yes, I greatly value the Quakers and their pacifism and the variety of direct democracy they practice.I spent 3 years at Quaker prep school and I have a sister who is a very active Quaker. But I just never felt the spirit. Same goes for Unitarianism, which also runs in the family. I guess I'm just a born again Southern Baptist's worst nightmare, a science kind of guy.
I'm so non-religious, I kicked the Sunday School teacher in the shins the first time I went at age 5 and called her a liar - the first of many church changes my family made.
That said, I am a believer in saints, though 99% of the time not the same way the Catholic Church is. I believe they are moral measuring sticks for the rest of us to measure how far we fall short of "truly human." That said, I was particularly happy this week to see that among the US remains brought out of North Korea, they identified the remains of Chaplain Captain Emile Kapaun, who stayed behind with the wounded in the 1950 Chinese Intervention in the Korean War, when no one would have faulted him for following orders and leaving, stayed with them in POW camp and literally gave his own life saving his fellows. In 2013, he was finally given the Medal of Honor, after the Pope named him a Servant of God (first step toward sainthood) in 2003. If there were more Christians like Father Kapaun, I might revise my opinion of the religion. When I wrote his story in "The Frozen Chosen," I was in tears as I wrote it.
I gave up being Catholic for lent once and never went back! I’m not a fan of organized religion but to each their own. Some days I’m quite unsure that there is a “god” and some days I think there must be something higher than we can understand.
TC this is simply beautiful. I am riveted. I am moved. Your statement about “saints,” moral and spiritual giants, tells me part of why I feel we have so much in common.
Nobody is all good or all bad is what I’ve always believed. In the case of DJT the bad seems to far outweigh any good. I suppose a miracle is possible but I have my doubts.
My ancestors were Quakers. Arrived from Germany in 1681, the second year of the Pennsylvania colony, as German refugees from the Thirty Years' War. Founded Germantown. In 1688, they became the first Europeans anywhere to make the non-ownership of slaves a condition of membership in their meeting. We stopped being Quaker in 1852, when my great-great-great grandfather, a Quaker abolitionist, conductor on the Underground Railroad, and founding member of the Pennsylvania Republican Party, let his son go join the Army to fight the Civil War against slavery.
I’m in total agreement with this point. Apparently DA Fani Willis is a force to be reckoned with and its clear that Trump crossed a huge line in Georgia with its expansive interpretation of racketeering.
The passage of the Recovery Act is not a goal line - it is merely the first shot across the bow in re-orienting American government towards the good of its broadest constituency. The wealthy are infinitely capable of taking care of themselves. FDR passed *15* major pieces of legislation in his first term. He then overreached in an attack on the judiciary and thereafter found it hard to get much of anything passed.
I hope for a three-pronged approach now that it’s obvious how riven the GOP is.
1.
Defang Trump by nailing him for his criminal activities.
2.
Garland is to be approved in the Senate today. Pursue justice against the Capitol rioters - for its own sake and “pour encourager les autres”.
3.
Modify or eliminate the filibuster so that HR1 can be passed. Republican legislatures are not even attempting to conceal their contempt for/fear of democracy.
That train started inching out of the station yesterday with the passage in Iowa of grim voter suppression laws.
It will pick up momentum in the months ahead across the country. The Democrats must dynamite the tracks in order to halt these measures. HR1 would do that.
Win over the hearts of Manchin, Sinema et al or find a way to put the squeeze on them. The threat is perilously close to existential. HR1 will not pass a filibustered Senate.
This is a pivotal moment (and a grand opportunity) for America to re-align itself after forty years in the wilderness. I’m rooting for the long arc of justice to take decisive bend towards justice.
I've said from the beginning, the only way to take Trump down was through courts of law. He's lost with the Supreme Court over tax returns and Georgia's case looks pretty solid given his telephone call. And he can't claim this is a political witch hunt this time around.
So, what if he's tried, convicted and sentenced to prison. It'll be a state penitentiary due to the state law violated. Does he get Secret Service protection inside?
There is so much legal trouble for trump. I would love to see him cuffed and taken to prison but my guess is he won’t live long enough for that. These cases take years and there’s lots of them, (& possibly more to follow). By the time all are done he could be dead. (Second best outcome)! As for the rest of the traitors, yes, let’s roll.
Rikers Island, GA state pen, or generic federal prison will do just fine. Despite the righteous desire to punish Trumpsky, there are no good arguments for keeping Guantanamo open.
But he'll be one of many members of the Troglodite Party that will join him in spouting the same inanities and will attract a vocal but modest part of the electorate, reducing thus also the "pull" of the Conservative Rino Party and assuring both of their places as minority groups in the Congress. After all Trump might thus prove himself in the furture useful!
A split on the right will make it hard to defeat a DEM presidential candidate, but in the House and Senate there's no reason to think that a rightwing coalition might not hold sway. It's time to drown the GOP, Trumpist or not, in the nearest bathtub.
Unlikely as in "winner take all" systems splitting the right wing vote means both lose and Dems win...if they haven't split themselves in the same way.
Well, I figure some red states would be Trump states and others would be old GOP states, but their Reps and Senators would both vote against DEM proposed legislation, especially if there's a DEM in the White House. Not a very stable or sustainable arrangement, I would imagine. You might also see more red states go to run-off elections, as in Georgia, though it wasn't enough to keep the DEMs down last November ( thank goodness!).
Outlawing gerrymandering will then solve the House problem and many states. Stopping voter suppression would then solve the Senate problem....as long as the GOP splits that is and the Dems don't.
Hey, sounds easy enough. Then all we have to do is solve the Electoral College problem, add some new states, make the number of each state's senators proportional to population and convert FOX news to All Sports All the Time. Y'think that'd be enough? Hell, I'll be old and gray by then! Oh! I'm already old and gray!
Stuart, although I hope for continued consolidation of power by the Dems thus cementing gains for the people, I worry about the Animal Farm effect. Long term might it not be better to lose the two party system completely?
I am feeling joy today, again. Ever since I woke up this afternoon in the hotel. No small part of it is this community, although of course there are a number of other aspects as well. Like my story project, my marriage, my job, and my home.
Writing is a joy. Talking to all of you is a joy.
My “Thank You For Everything” post yesterday, and TC in LA’s magnificent discussion, are outlets for my gratitude.
Snow is coming in to the mountain passes tonight, but it will be behind me. Other drivers with my company are having to deal with it.
Here’s why I mention it: if I-5 gets closed due to snow in the mountains, we have to take the coastal route through Santa Barbara. For me, it happens about once a winter.
So I regret to inform you that I will not have an opportunity to wave at Oprah, Meghan and Harry and Archie, and Tyler Perry, because I won’t be driving through Montecito, where they live.
For a change I am paying attention not just to racism, sexism, and gayism in America, but in the land of our society’s origins as well. The Iroquois Confederacy contributed to our democracy, of course, but white English ancestry people were actively involved.
The rebellion against and secession from British royalty is a foundation of our society. So why not take this opportunity to help them clean up some of this stench as well, beginning with the British media. Adios Piers Morgan, first real casualty of the interview, and there is no more deserving candidate in England, that’s for sure.
He would fit in very well with Murdoch's Fox News stable as indeed he started with the equivalent in UK and has used similar trumpian methods throughout his career. I don't think the English will miss him.
Piers Morgan is a sexist as blatant as the one-termer who is gone. POS. Way worse imo than someone like Charlie Rose because he was spewing sexism on-air every single time I ever saw him open his mouth.
England. London. This piece of work has been bad-mouthing Meghan for years. It could just be for ratings, but I remember him from the US. He is sexist as hell and I think he’s racist too.
Don’t bother with any of this if you don’t think it’s worth your time Liz.
The Southern Baptist Church is a dangerous fundamentalistic denomination. In theology class we had to watch them. An Afro-American student was waiting for their leader to say the N word. I (coming from the Netherlands) was waiting for him to say Heil Hitler. Good for Beth Moore that she is breaking with them. All women should follow her example as it is no place for women. Sorry for her it took her so long. Congratulations on her decision.
The church founded to opposed the Abolitionism of the national Baptist Church and defend slavery as "God's Will."
And it's not just the formal SBC: if you look at the resume of EVERY Pastor at *every* "megachurch" that claims to be "non-denominational" you will find that the pastoral staffs are ALL graduates of SBC schools. Megachurches are the SBC by another name.
People don’t realize this. Pretty much any “nondenominational” church is SBC in its theology. A bit more obscure, but the episcopal church was also infiltrated by SBC theology. Their fixation in orthodoxy and purity helped lead to the ever growing schism between the episcopal and Anglican churches in the USA.
Stuart, if you can find it watch the Netflix documentary series "The Family". It unveils the workings of the Fellowship Foundation and its influence on right-wing politics. Theologically their take on forgiveness encourages an attitude of " the more sinful the better" in order to be a receptacle and witness for God's forgiveness. In my opinion this allowed them and other evangelicals to overlook the glaring personal character flaws and behaviors of the former guy. They found a place for it in their theology. The same dynamic occurred in the early days of the clergy sex abuse scandal where one would occasionally hear a Catholic Bishop defend their failure to immediately respond to abusive behavior by claiming to be a church of forgiveness. While I do know that we are all broken in some way and in need of compassion for being human this kind of distorted theology leaves out any sense of the need to at least make the effort to change one's harmful behavior. When these behaviors are married to power we get victims; when extreme lack of character gets access to highest power we get what we have just lived through in politics. I know this sounds weird to some but my PhD is in public theology and I have been thinking about it since watching The Family.
Hmm. I just learned something, thanks TC. The prefix “mega-“ is Latin for “Old Order”. So racism and sexism are “mega” properties. That makes you-know-who a mega-president. Brad Raffensperger is a mega official. Texas has a mega governor. Piers Morgan is a mega journalist. Lindsey Graham is a mega senator.
This is handy information. Now I know what a mega donor is! Koch! Adelson!
As we have found with splitting families, leaving her "religious" family and her whole "frame of reference" was probably just as hard.......like accusing your parents of sexual abuse of their children which is much in vogue amongst the political and cultural "people" here in France these days and sells books like hotcakes!
Actually, the SBC is not considered 'fundamentalist.' It is viewed, in the South, as a mainstream organization. The true fundamentalist churches are not a part of a 'convention.'
I do agree about the danger of the SBC, though. Curious that some female leader should abandon ship now. idk, but after all the misogyny of the former guy, now seems a weird time to depart.
“I am begging America and the media to pay attention to this" - Marc Elias
Well, fine and dandy, except here's the problem: TQRepublicans don't give a tinker's damn about a BIPOC's right to vote so they will ignore any outlet that decries voter suppression. How are we going to address that? State lawmakers are acting on these suppression measures right now. They were brazen enough to reject the 2020 presidential election results and censure Republicans who supported the legitimacy of Biden's election... what's going to stop them from shoving suppression measures through during the current legislative sessions?
As for Beth Moore? Too little, too late. She waited until NOW to leave the Southern Baptist Church? She stayed with the denomination through Trump's first campaign, through his entire presidency and 2nd campaign. She stayed through his lies and refusal to accept Biden's win and through 6 January? Think of the women she could have influenced if she'd walked in 2016 or at any time during Trump's presidency. But no. She walks now. A quick search shows her net worth to be between 2.5 - 10 million dollars. Was she more concerned about the hit Living Proof Ministries and her pocketbook was going to take or doing the morally courageous thing? SMH.
I hope you're right. My remarks about Beth Moore sound cranky, (and are). The willingness of people to believe utter nonsense has escalated beyond belief, consequently the other Evangelical powerhouses will claim that she's simply been taken over by the devil. Heady stuff.
There's a lot of money to be made in the fight for America's soul. The Evangelicals are adept at fleecing their flocks. Beth Moore's flock is now fair game.
My brother and family have fallen under the "spell" of the Evangelical wing. Not sure how that happened, but it has caused me to essentially stop communicating with that section of family. And, I know you're right. Money, the evil of all things, is yet again at the top of anyone's list. Money=power. So sick....
Thanks, Liz. But the rift has been growing for years. It is the Grand Canyon now, and I'm afraid I will not make the move tho heal the wounds. It's his move....
State legislatures are working overtime on vote suppression because it is the single most effective way to preserve the advantages white Americans have held over Americans with non-European ancestors. Preserving those advantages is the top priority of at least 74 million voters, no matter what it might cost them in other areas. The Republicans know they have nothing else to offered the 74 million, so they’re doubling down.
Yes! I saw this and it gave me hope. The hysterical, irrational screaming from the radical right wingers needs to be matched by strong, coherent passion like this.
Half of my first COVID-19 government check went to my granddaughter who was unable to work for six months prior to starting college in September. My second check in December/January went to food pantries in my area. My third check will be donated to any credible organizations that fight for fair voting laws and against voter suppression.
I fronted my upcoming check to my son who was moving from student housing to private rental in January. He started grad school in the Fall and was left out of every round of relief checks.
I heard a lot of the early stimulus checks were donated to Joe Biden's Presidential Campaign. The campaign was seeing a pattern of $1200 donations. When the campaign investigated, because it looked odd, they found out that was the source.
Heather arrives at the biggest story last, with a perfect opening line for a standup comic, 'Republican lawmakers are planning to get around their unpopularity by suppressing the vote'.
Oh, are they: Republicans in 43 states have introduced 253 bills and probably more by now. It's not funny; it's a rapid assault.
Trump's BIG LIE and Biden's win put the Republicans in overdrive. Election lawyer Marc Elias, is doing all he can to counter Republican state legislators' bills to cut voters' access, particularly for minority and young voters. I saw him on The Rachel Maddow Show last night. While lucid and strongly begging for our attention, he looked desperate. Behind his pleading eyes was the knowledge of how this could go.
In yesterday's Letter,, Heather mentioned the tug of money between Trump and the Republican Party. The Democratic Party's serious disadvantages on that score was not mentioned. I think this is an important story. Many of us have spent a lot time on the filibuster, as though the democrats, their experts and old-hands haven't been going over and over it. Let's take a bit of time to see what we may do to get money to 2022 democratic candidates. The old guard Republicans are retiring. Trump will be very active in getting his people elected. Can you imagine the Republican Party worse than it is today? It will be. My comment yesterday contained excepts from a long piece in Reuters about how well the Republican party is doing in terms of attracting donors, how the Democratic Party pales in comparison and how political fund raising has changed. The following is in from that article:
'(Reuters) - Right after the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, dozens of U.S. companies announced they would halt political donations to the 147 Republican lawmakers who voted to overturn Donald Trump’s presidential election loss. Two months later, there is little sign that the corporate revolt has done any real damage to Republican fundraising.'
'If anything, the biggest backers of Trump’s false election-fraud narrative - such as Missouri Senator Josh Hawley and Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene - have been rewarded with a flood of grassroots donations, more than offsetting the loss of corporate money. And contributions from both small donors and rich individuals looking to fight the Democratic agenda have poured into the party’s fundraising apparatus.'
'The boycott’s limited impact underscores the diminishing role of corporate money in U.S. politics. Individual donations of $200 or less have made up a growing share of campaign money in recent years, while the share given by corporate America shrinks. That trend has accelerated with the rise of anti-establishment figures on both the right and left, ...'
'
Reuters examined contributions by more than 45 corporate donor committees that vowed to cut off the 147 Republicans - eight senators and 139 members of the House of Representatives. The review found that the political action committees (PACs) gave about $5 million to the lawmakers during the 2019-2020 election cycle - or only about 1% of the money the lawmakers raised, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) disclosures.'
'By comparison, Republican fundraising operations supporting Senate and House candidates raked in a combined $15.8 million in January alone on the strength of small-dollar donations. These groups outraised their Democratic counterparts by more than $2 million that month, regulatory filings show....'
'The brisk fundraising since the insurrection indicates that most Republican voters are “comfortable” with the party that has been remade in Trump’s mold, says J. Miles Coleman, a nonpartisan analyst at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
“The Republican Party – it’s not going to go back to the party it was before Trump,” he said.'
It has taken too long for the women of the SBC as well as other evangelical denominations to stand up and be counted against men the likes of trump and other men who would silence them and relegate them to insignificance. I hope this is just the small leak that will start a flood.
When Biden was elected I thought perhaps I would get a small break from political activism but voter suppression is alive and thriving not just in the south but apparently all across the land. There will be multiple ongoing lawsuits against the states that seek to disenfranchise in subtle and not so subtle ways but that does not release us from our vigilance.
Indeed. I thought we'd get a break too. The Republicans are relentless. It's part of their tactical tool kit - they've hammered away at the American people since Newt. I fervently hope the courts rule in favor of the voters, not the oppressors.
Agreed Daria & Pamela. Big money is relentless. We’ve gone up against developers & mining companies to protect the environment. Every time we win it’s followed by their retrenchment, often under a newly incorporated entity. They hide, obscure and hire attorneys to do their heavy lifting, while we struggle on. It does get old.
Let's give a thought today also to the Women of Arkansas who now, as the Governer has signed a Bill into Law which practically bans abortion in the State. If they weren't already doing it they will have now to travel out of the State to have an abortion should they wish it....and can afford to pay for it! In French the "back-street" abortionists that damaged so many women were called "Faiseuses d'anges".....makers of angels! A quel Prix!
I've wondered where those politicians think the babies are going to go. Assuming that a woman forced to give birth is not going to keep the baby, where are these children going to go? I also assume that many of these are babies of color so not readily adoptable in a white supremacist state . I sure don't see a lot of orphanages.
Plus, I think those women should put a politicians name on the birth certificate as the father!
Argentina under the military gave an answer to what they would do with the "pale" ones anyway. The people that they didn't want took one way trips on flights out into the Atlantic.
It seems obvious to me that ALEC and The Federalist Society has been sending boiler plate to state representatives. There was probably a workshop at the Conservative Convention to teach various methods to suppress the vote. Bet the room was packed.
That’s why profanity is helpful. In an earlier lifetime we used batakas and smashed things. I don’t believe in getting ill when it can be avoided, I believe in getting it out. Screaming while driving is always a healthy option you can resort to.
I have found that an effective way to vent rage is to throw raw eggs at the garden wall. It's safe and cleans up easily with a garden hose. If you live in a high rise this would not be an option.
When someone steals, you call him/her a thief. It's the word for their behavior. It's blunt, direct, and "hurtful" to the person being called a thief. But if they did, in fact, steal, that is entirely their problem. It's not my responsibility (or anyone else's) to dance around what they've done.
When you call that thief a MOFO, you're now name-calling. It's difficult to even describe what this term means. If it's applied to a male who has sired children, it is a true and largely meaningless statement: he did, in fact, fuck his children's mother. So what? But of course, that isn't what the term means at all. It's an epithet, a statement of anger, disgust, contempt, rejection. The intent is not to describe, but to demean.
Calling Former Occupant a seditionist and traitor is not name-calling: it's a description of what he did. It isn't my responsibility to soft-pedal that.
Calling Former Occupant many of the things I have called him in my mind (and aloud), is pure spite.
Demeaning by name-calling does two things. It shames the target, and it relieves the speaker (and other listeners) of the discomfort of facing the actual offense, and (usually) the injustice his offense has resulted in.
In the case of Former Occupant, it will not shame him because a) he will never hear my epithets, and b) his malignant narcissism is a potent protective mechanism against precisely that sort of shaming.
It does relieve my discomfort with his crimes, at least momentarily. It "lets off steam." But that steam is precisely what drives people to action, such as demanding justice for the things Former Occupant has done. He should be tried for sedition, conspiracy to commit murder by proxy, treason, and a long list of other capital crimes. If convicted, he should be executed; and if we are going to quibble about the death penalty, then he should spend the rest of his life in a high-security federal prison. In this regard, our system of government has already failed.
Calling him a MOFO in the face of such injustice relieves us from the discomfort that would drive us toward such justice.
That said, given the realities of the utter failure of justice in his case, perhaps it's a good thing to relieve our impotent rage through epithets.
For the record, my current pet name for Former Occupant is Little Lord Shittychin. Because, of course, every time he opens his mouth....
In a sense, Former Occupant is a demeaning term. It is accurate, but it is also a pointed reminder of what a toxic and divisive syllable the man's name has become. I could say Former President, or even former president, which would be a bit more respectful, but ye gods, he was such a terrible president. So I'm sticking with Former Occupant.
Something Lynell posted about good news brings up a question I have. Charlie Grantham’s work might be pertinent here as well, in terms of context.
What I am seeing:
Blue sweep of Washington DC. Biden wins. Congress goes blue, turning Mitch into a has-been. Against all odds, completely miraculously, two incumbent Republican senators from a deep South state are wiped out by Democratic challengers, a Jew and a black activist pastor from MLK’s church. No one saw this coming. No one. Total miracle. Never happened before. Unprecedented.
Black activist pastor = Senator from Georgia. Democrat.
34-year-old Jewish American neophyte = Senator from Georgia. Democrat.
Allow me to repeat. DEMOCRATS. TWO DEMOCRATS ARE SENATORS from GEORGIA. Not Massachusetts. Not Connecticut. Not California or New York or Vermont or Oregon or Washington state. GEORGIA. And this did not happen on any old who-cares election cycle. This event turned the Senate blue and stripped Mitch of his power. This event made possible the fact that we are talking about HB1 as a real possibility. If this miracle does not happen, we are not talking about anything interesting right now, because no legislation is getting through the Senate. We are still crying in our soup because the old order fraternity of racism and sexism is still stonewalling us. Am I getting through to anyone here?
GEORGIA. This is the state that General Sherman had to devastate in order to force it into submission, in order to make it slave free. Burned to the ground. Scorched earth. Blood everywhere.
Major desperation play by the Black Hats on Jan. 6: attack Congress itself, because there’s no other way to remain a racist and sexist society except by force and autocracy. Replay of post-Civil War acts of desperation in the form of racist and anti-Democratic Party voter suppression laws pending. Notice this is a replay. This is not new territory. This is not a fresh movement, not a new conservative revolution of some kind. It’s ancient history repeating itself. Transparently. Everyone can see it for what it is.
Half a dozen high profile, key Republican senators are walking away. Still waiting on Grassley and Johnson, according to news reports suggested more defections to come. Does that sound like a recipe for taking back the Senate?
Last year during the campaign at least seven, count them, SEVEN Republican groups fighting like hell against their own presidential candidate. Totally unprecedented. Unique circumstance. Their wish came true. That same now one-term former president is raping his own party, vicious political attacks (primary challenges) and vicious personal attacks on every strong, viable Republican politician or official who opposes him or votes in Congress against him. Self immolation of party. Self destruction, self sabotage, internal bleeding, bleeding out
Republican party in serious disarray, Trumplicans schism away from the “Patriots”, the Fans of U.S. Democracy and its institutions (something any normal conservative person would have supported pre-Cheeto). Pundits suggesting Portman, Blount, maybe others are retiring due to this fracture. Does this look like a consolidation of power that will take over in 2024?
Tell me you don’t see this. Tell me you cannot see a political party in major crisis, possibly existential crisis. Tell me you think this is just a random collection of strange and unprecedented events with no meaning, that there’s no story here, that life is just going to go on like normal for the Republican Party in this country, that Cheeto is rising up again as head of a big tent party to challenge Democrats in 2024 and take back what they lost.
Am I in the minority in this community? Am I one of TC‘s Pollyannas? Am I a yutz for thinking that there’s a decent chance the Republican Party never makes a comeback, therefore going the same fate as the California Republican Party?
Obviously you think it’s impossible for this political party to disintegrate. Then what are we looking at if not disintegration?
I say to you: who has been smoking the wacky tobaccy? Me or you?
Go ahead, tell me I’m a whack job for thinking that maybe January 5 and January 6 was a turning point for the entire history of the Republican Party, an existential turning point.
I’m not psychic, I can’t see the future, I’m just looking at all these wild signs and trying to make sense of it. *Of course* I could be wrong. *Of course* I could be smoking from the wrong end of the pipe.
But if so then tell me this:
How else do you account for those facts?
Do you really think that this is business as usual, that the Republican party is still unified, and that the huge chasm between Trump and his perceived intraparty enemies will somehow allow them to make a comeback? When Trump is vilifying and alienating every member of Congress who ever voted against him in 2021, on Jan. 5 and since then? They’re all going to join forces like before, Liz Cheney and Mitch and the Seditioners and Orange Shitbox, and this reconstituted Republican Party of old is somehow going to win another election against a powerful and unified Democratic Party that grows stronger by the week?
Roland, I think we’re all afraid to let our guard down. Complacency has been our undoing in the past. Republicans play a long game with the help of corporate donors. Cautious optimism coupled with vigilance is my position.
I don't think you are in the minority; I appreciate your laying out these positive events so clearly and succinctly. I have a few thoughts, and while not specifically related to your points above, I think they are worth a quick share. First, with GQP state legislators fighting tooth and nail to suppress votes and hang on to what is left of their old GOP, I'm thinking it's time now to ante up with support for the ACLU in addition to supporting candidates who will run to fill those emptying GOP seats. Second, I don't for one minute think all that cash flowing into the former guy's coffers instead of the GQP is going to be spent on primarying anyone (unless it's used for someone with his same last name); I think it's going to be used to pay legal expenses. Swalwell's lawsuit, as someone noted last night on MSNBC, is so perfectly written, ANY and ALL who were affected by the events of January 6th could take it up, tweak it a bit, and submit it again as yet another stand alone piece of litigation. This includes aides, Capitol Police, family members, workers at the Capitol, etc. He could literally be swamped by lawsuits in the years ahead. And if anyone thinks he is going to spend a dime of his ever decreasing bank account, think again. He's going to be just another hustler, preaching his "religion" to a bunch of poor fools and taking their money - like an orange version of Jim Bakker. This will leave the GQP with depleted resources to support ANY new candidate for those empty seats. And three, that new FBI video of the pipe bomber offers some thoughts about just who in Congress might be involved in THAT crime. For one thing, I think that's a woman. The ingredients, we now know, are "household" items. The person in that video looks very familiar with that street; s(he) looks comfortable walking there. This makes me think that this person LIVES there (aka is in Congress or is an aide for someone in Congress.) If my random thoughts are on track, I am expecting that very soon, some really bombshell (no pun intended) revelations are forthcoming - and heads will roll. This will change the makeup, once again, of Congress, making it even less troublesome for Biden's efforts to restore the economy and fight the pandemic. That's just my three cents for this morning!
I trust people's intuition, mainly because my intuition is often remarkably prescient. I find your thoughts inspiring. It never occurred to me that it might be a woman, it never occurred to me that person would be working in Congress. Wow, that would be explosive, wouldn't it, pun intended.
I once mentioned to my dad that I was thinking of joining the ACLU. He begged me not to. So I didn't. My youngest sister is lesbian. She convinced him not to vote for 45 in 2016, and again in 2020. He sat out just the President slot on the ballot, but nothing else.
But now, I'm not feeling like conceding anything. I have spent money supporting voter registration and get-out-the-vote campaigns and organizations, and I will again, and I do not care what a family member thinks. Pedal to the metal.
Thank you Ellen, for the excellent and detailed reply. To ACLU I would add Fair Fight and Voto Latino and every other group engaged in voter turnout and voter freedoms.
The legal jeopardy is massive. Massive. Another vote for this argument. No matter how you look at it, those lawsuits are going to divert resources, reduce the desire to support and vote for, and detract in every way imaginable.
The thing is, politics, even more than nature, abhors a vacuum. As the Republican Party disintegrates, something will replace it. Will it be a Good Witch, or a Bad Witch?
If it weren’t for the 2016 election and the loss of house seats in 2020 I’d feel more comfortable, but I’m not taking anything for granted. I hope you’re right but I’m gonna fight to help it happen.
The 2016 election is backlash to Obama. I am convinced of it. A major portion of this country had to endure their first African-American president, and clearly they just couldn't stand it. Another person in this community, I think it was Marcy Meldahl, posted "and then to be followed by a WOMAN." Brilliant observation by Marcy.
We spend way too much brainpower discussing details of policy. Some of these events are so basic. Black man for President for 8 years. Woman runs for President. Reaction is fierce, racists and sexists have had enough, they'll even vote for a criminal if need be, as long as it's a white man.
You can take it or leave it, but that's how I boil down the 2016 election.
Let me be clear: I agree completely with you, Frank, do not take anything for granted. Diane Love says "Cautious optimism coupled with vigilance."
My words: do not take the foot off the gas pedal, in fact, tromp down harder. Pedal to the metal. Shift into higher gear. No coasting or cruising. This national epidemic of voter suppression and all racist, sexist, anti-gay, anti-Semitic policy and legislation has to be crushed, and crushed hard.
Roland, thank you for that hard hitting summary of a party in disarray---sometimes difficult to see through the fog of politics. Trump is playing his usual game (remember the debates) of name calling and destroying his opposition (probably did it in a different in the old NYC real estate days....). But this time he is trying to destroy the GOP as it now exists (more or less). It is going to ramp up in the days to come and the battle field is going to be littered. On the other hand, the democrats are good at snatching defeat from the moment of victory (few of them except Sanders can coin a memorable phrase or soundbite; they speak only in complex sentences; etc etc) I think the self-destruction will continue. We have to build rapidly however to get a machine for the future.......
Onward---and upward---to the distant goal: We the people, all the people.......
Roland, not at all. It's a good summation of a party in turmoil and with no viable "alternative" in a leadership role at the national level.
Speaker Paul Ryan's refusal to run again was a telling sign about how much the pre-DJT Republican Party leadership felt about their President. It is a struggling party for the moment on many fronts. With the number of Republican Senators choosing not to run again will make it easier for "moderate/left-center" Democrat candidates to have a good shot at the job. Especially, if Biden and his Administration are able to deliver on some key issues.
While the two current Senators from Georgia are Democrats, I wouldn't suggest that it will remain that way. Should it change, I wouldn't point to any changes in voter laws. I think they won as a backlash to Trump's Big Lie and getting the vote out by Democrats and disenfranchised Republicans, etc. Recall four or five House seats in Florida went Democrat in 2018 and returned to the Republican fold in 2020. And, as I recall, several of them are Hispanics.
Hi Larry, there you are! I sent you 2 long letters from the day you and TPJ were having the spat, hope you received them. I've done a lot of writing to you, so I'll keep this one brief.
At the time, I thought Speaker Ryan's departure was due to the uphill fight of re-election in his district. Amateur political observer speaking, keep that in mind, plus don't live in Wisconsin. The loss of Roy Blount is huge for them, Mitch's statement makes that clear. Blount was the #4 Republican in the Senate. Wow, that's a loss. So far it seems that some of those other losses seem like big trouble too (Burr, Shelby, Portman). Plus Cassidy in Louisiana is under attack due to anti-45 vote, so is Hawley in his home state (Seditioner), and Cruz in Texas because of Cancun (and being a Seditioner).
Are you kidding? Does anyone believe Georgia will have 2 Democratic Senators after the 2022 election, when Warnock's seat is up? Or in 6 years, when Ossoff's seat is up? I'm still in disbelief. Ossoff is the youngest Senator since 1980 (now that's an easy win at the craps table), the 1st Jewish Senator for Georgia (SURE, we all saw THAT coming), and if wikipedia is to be believed, the 1st Jewish Senator from the deep South since 1879. How the hell does that happen. I thought for sure Perdue would win.
Has anyone calculated the odds, in Georgia in 2020, of a Republican incumbent being defeated by an underdog Democratic challenger, a man who is Jewish, a man who is 34 years old, a man who is not a celebrity (maybe sufficient fame and celebrity can beat those terrible odds).
After you get over the disbelief, you realize something else is at work. Sure, the backlash to the Big Delusion must factor in, what you call the Big Lie. Disenfranchised Republicans who sat out the vote or who (not much chance of this) voted for Warnock and Ossoff.
A 34-year-old Jewish man, a virtual unknown, runs as a Democrat and beats out a sitting Republican Senator in Georgia.
Are disenfranchised Republicans who sit out this election, and Democrats getting out the vote, and the public backlash to a Republican President BEFORE January 6, is that really enough to climb Mt. Everest?
I wish Stan Greenberg or Carville would do a focus group project in Georgia and find out what happened. Stacey Abrams, Fair Fight, Voto Latino, et al, the voter support groups, I am giving them credit for now because I do not know what else to think.
Larry, California's Republican seats dropped down to 7 in 2018 and went back up to 11 seats in 2020. I don't know about Florida, but absolutely, the Republican Party could come back to take one or both of those Senate seats in Georgia. No doubt about it.
Until you consider that a young Jewish man ran as a Democrat and took out a sitting Republican.
As Diane L said, I think we're shell-shocked from the last several years. I, for one, wasn't fully aware of the existential threat that reared its ugly head during 45's reign. It reared its head AND was fed a constant diet of lies & money to grow into what we saw 1/6/21. I do so hope that your view, Roland, is correct and that branch will wither and die.
We hope. We pray. And we work like hell. Who could have seen 1/6/21 coming? It is difficult to imagine, and certainly impossible to expect, the unprecedented. Shell-shock makes sense. It is an indicator of the extreme desperation of the old order society of racism, sexism, gay-ism, et al. Whites on top, Baby, even if it means use of force. Coercion, authoritarian power, is all they have left to keep the old society intact. Whites on top, even if it means the actions of sedition House members on January 6 in Congress.
My fear is that Biden's immigration policies are going to lead to backlash against the Dems. Border region democratic reps are worried as central Americans flood the borders.
Biden also wants to increase immigration to 2.4 million annually, up from a million-plus annually. That's equivalent to adding a New York State plus Kentucky every decade, which would flood schools, emergency rooms, make traffic much worse, make rents for low cost housing skyrocket.
In this age of global warming we should be reducing immigration, not increasing it. The US, the major industrialized nation with the greatest per capita resource use and greenhouse emissions is the worst place to put more people, with the exception of a few small countries like UAE and Belgium.
Biden would do much better to start a Marshall Plan for the major immigrant sending countries. Their people would no doubt be much happier to feel they could stay home.
As Brian Williams pointed out tonight on "11th Hour" (shouting mine) THERE ARE ONLY SEVEN STATES IN THE UNION WHERE THERE ARE NOT BILLS BEING PUSHED IN LEGISLATURES TO DESTROY DEMOCRACY IN THE UNITED STATES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As Joe Biden once said to Barack Obama, "This is a Big Fucking Deal!!!"
Here’s the good news:
Just a couple years ago, no one was paying attention. No one. Now it’s front page news on every news media site. TC is putting it in capital letters with 40 exclamation points. Dr. Heather Cox Richardson is highlighting it today.
Honestly, how far is voter suppression going to go with everybody who doesn’t view Fox News staring it down?
I am feeling rage. I want to use profanity here. Those stupid mofos are trying to pull this off again.
Mofos works for me. Confederate mofos to boot.
Mofos as in MOribund Feral OligarchS. Very close to the heart of the matter..accurate political description.
Feral is too dignified. How about: Moribund Fetid Oligarchs?
But "fetid" might suggest that they were disintegrating. These people would eat their granny for 2 cents and are alive and well...if not human in the full sense of the word.
Feral could suggest that they were once domesticated and have returned to the wild. I have trouble giving them that sort of romantic dignity. Although I would grant that they imagine themselves far above the "domestication" which might be part of belonging to the human race. Fetid has a singularly unattractive
ring to it which befits them. But ... I'm still searching.
Come on, guys, show a little feminist enlightenment since when, the 1960s? Unless, of course, you were going for Stuart's Moribund Feral Oligarchs.
🤣 Actually, I consider the term not to be denigrating women but instead condemns abusers. But Moribund Feral Oligarchs works for me.
I love MOribund Feral Oligarchs! Great point Ellie, keep our toes to the flame.
Apologies Ellie, you are right of course.
We can do better, viz:
Moles, mollusks, mottled lizards, mountain goats, mountain lions, mourning doves, Monboddo's Man of the Woods, Moby Dick.
Thanks Ellie, I was thinking, just pissed off. How about rat-fos? Whatever word I come up with is unfit to print. Here we have an entire establishment wanting to return us, yet again, YET AGAIN, to a racist past. Unbelievable. Will this society never learn.
"I wasn't thinking"
All right, how about ratfos.
Angry here too, Roland...pissed off to the point that I could let fly with enough profanities to make a crow blush...but I will practice self-restraint. I think what is my main concern in all this is the ****ing apathy that is apparent in such a large percentage of this country's population. Repub-fascists are trying their level best to take over the bloody country and they're just like "meh..." Can't be bothered. I know a LOT of people are struggling with some serious sh*t right now. I get that. But, the world's history also shows this is EXACTLY the kind of situation where fascists and their ilk can make their moves, take advantage of everyone being distracted with their own problems, and come in and take over. We've seen plenty of evidence of how easily it can happen here, and it still easily could. Yes, the Republican party is currently a big hot mess, but there are still enough people in the country right now that will simply vote AGAINST anything smacking of Democrats, liberalism, "socialism", etc. etc. etc. that they will put Republicans into power yet again--aided, of course, by Republicans gerry-rigging everything to ease their path back into power. And, the particularly galling part, is even with Republicans having very few issues they can run on anymore, they are now ONLY an opposition party and people will actually VOTE for that. Republicans only exist to say "no" to any and every Democrat policy initiative. That's all. Well...so much for your "bi-partisan-working-together" horse-sh*t. A look at the recent vote tabulations in the House and Senate for the Covid Relief Aid shows this clear as day...NOT ONE SINGLE Republican vote for. There's your cooperation for ya. The "Party of 'No'".
This voter suppression stuff going on HAS to be brought to everyone's attention, front & centre, and we HAVE to keep hammering it home how vitally important it is that this be fought with all our might! It is nothing more than an attempt by fascists, oligarchs, whatever labels you want to use, to take over the only way they can. Democrats need to really get their mojo back and fight this HARD!! Thank you and have a nice day...*now going to cool off by looking at pics of puppies, kittens, and fluffy bunnies on Facebook*
I agree with everything you've said, and will be blanketing emails to every Repug office holder in Georgia and follow Stacey's FairFight suggestions for other annoyances for the Dark Side. I will then pick up my two cats and force them to be nice to me,😁
I also am INraged.
I hope you didn't think that they would give up.
Stuart? Who is “they”?
The mofos, man!
I feel Roland’s rage as well!
Mofo is a great word...
Thanks for "the good news," Roland. It's the thread that I'm clinging to after reading all the comments on this page!
Indeed it is a BFD. How did we arrive at a point where most of the country is trying to suppress voting, which is the main thing that make us a democracy. 😡😡
BFD indeed. But it's not most of the country, just a smallish clique spread across the country. These suppression measures will end up in court, perhaps ultimately the Supreme Court; that will take time. Hopefully by then Biden can get SR1 passed; also by then, the ARP's benefits are working their way through the economy; and vaccines are becoming broadly effective. Finally, there's inexorable progress on legal fronts. The state and regional prosecutors are closing in. Best of all: Bulldog Garland grabs sedition by the leg and never lets go. Grind slow yet fine, ye mills of justice.
I know it looks like Dems, the Amer people, and democracy hang by a thread. We can expect quite a near-run thing. But similar to presidential elections, the Dems actually have a straighter path to victory than the GQP. We shall see.
Go ahead, call me an optimist. Guilty as charged.
Good morning TPJ and all! I love your optimism; for all our sakes I am hoping it is the aroma of change. But we have some very weird stuff happening these days: in most of the states where voter suppression is being actively engaged by the state legislatures, there are actually more Dem voters than GOP-ers (Wisconsin, Michigan, even Missouri) but they have been gerrymandered behind firewalls so that the Radical Racist Wingnuts can dominate. Add to that the successful strategy of Moscow Mitch of flooding the judiciary with equally radical rightist justices (yes, some of them are more conventional conservatives but some of them are really loony) and the lack of clarity regarding how this current SCOTUS views the revival of Jim Crow and we have a recipe for, if not disaster, the kind of battle that I admit I did not anticipate having to have in 2008. I learned my lesson: racism and sexism are such powerful motivators for scared white men. But golly--we have a huge uphill fight to accomplish and it will take everyone on deck, every ounce of energy, and every progressive organization's legal defense fund to get through.
I mostly agree but, those Wingnuts are attractive to some (around 74 million people) for a reason and it would be in our best interest to continue to work to understand it while we fight it. Name calling is the easiest way to feel better personally (I do it more than I should) but it also creates enemies. If Democrats are to be a real path forward they need to push the messages they are really trying to get out hard and with clarity. They also need to pick popular policies and stick with them to the end. Let some stuff go and actually help people. I believe that our national democratic leaders are doing a pretty good job of staying above the sound bites right now and that they can be a huge part of turning the tide while the lawyers fight in the courts to reverse terrible voter suppression laws. If we do this with large amounts of patience and enough respect democrats could continue to win.
Robert I totally agree
I hear ya Linda
TPJ, good morning. I share your optimism, but I have been disappointed too many times by DEM politicians with cold feet. Joe Lieberman and a DINO senator from Montana whose name I've forgotten come to mind. We are so close to a big change of direction, but there is still plenty of time to screw it up. Gotta keep the pressure on.
Jon Tester? Really, you think he’s a bomb?
Thanks David (and hey Roland); for me it's late night in Boston. You have it right. Lieberman was my family's senator the whole time; we had front row seats as he pontificated his way to the top of the heap. A huge disappointment well before the end. If you refer to John Tester, yes, also frustrating. But we should sympathize (some) with moderate Dems rope-walking across the alligator-filled moats of their red-state politics. Their voters will not replace them with progressive Dems for a good while yet.
Lieberman was different -- he could have been more liberal in almost-blue CT, but he enjoyed being a pompous scold. Tester, a real family farmer, actually tangled with a meat grinder and lost three fingers. Compared to that, Lieberman is a weenie of epic proportions.
Yeah, it can be tough being a DEM senator in the Rocky Mtn. west, and one can - almost - forgive them for waffling on fracking or strict gun controls, but healthcare and voting rights are causes for which DEMs should be willing to risk losing. The honorable way to avoid losing is to spend a lot of time in state educating the voters. And I agree, Joe Lieberman was a monstrous weenie.
FERN MCBRIDE 6 min ago
I don't remember reading lines that exactly mirrored my opinion as yours about Tester and Lieberman. While my words would be slightly different, our conclusions are exactly the same. I like Tester and always do, frustrated more than angered by some of his votes. Tester is very clear with us about who he is and, he's almost always respectful. Lieberman, you said it, is POMPOUS and I would add scornful of us lesser folks.
And Joe’s son wandered into the same primary Warnock was in and though polling very poorly, wouldn’t drop out. He nearly scuttled the race for Warnock. Must be genetic.
Sleep well TPJ. Take good care of yourself.
No, I'm not sure about Tester, but Max Baucus voted against adding the public option to Obamacare in 2011, along with 4 or 5 other DEM senators.
Yeah, forgot about Max Baucus. He was more liberal than Tester but faced similar constraints. My all-time fave pol from MT is Jeannette Rankin, peace advocate extraordinaire, profile in courage.
Grateful for your optimism, TPJ. Was running a little low this a.m.
Morning Lynell!! Optimism is my metier, raison d'etre, joie de vivre.
I got in the greeting first this time, but then it's late night for me. Soon to bed with an early start Wed morn: must rise before the crack of noon.
I also wear the optimist label happily. I do believe I heard March is National Optimism Month. Our job is to keep doing the work to give reason for it to continue. Keep shining light, keep nipping at the heels of Jim Crow wannabe actions any way we can.
Thanks CM -- never heard of National Optimism Month. Of course, every month is NOM if we wish.
Your optimism get's high marks here. I don't know if a lot more of us would benefit from crossing over to the sunny side of the street.
I'm going to do my best to help the ACLU.
An optimist, but not excessively so other than regarding SR1 which is a great idea but, absent some minor miracle, not happening until 2023 and only then if the Democrats get their organizational act together. There are Democratic analogs to Adam Kinzinger who deserve as much respect and support in their areas as he does. Dan Lipinski was one, and it is sad to lose that level of experience to a single issue candidate, especially when the issue is so divisive among voters in general. Ideological primaries don't serve the idea of governance well in either party and it's time that at least one moved in a different direction.
I feel this is another last ditch effort from a crashing and burning archaic system before it goes down. It’s destroying itself.
A darkest before the dawn moment, Elaine? I sure hope so!
TPJ you are indeed an optimist. 💕
I agree.
If anyone says "There are two kinds of people, optimists and realists," tell them "there are two kinds of people, pessimists and realists."
I’m an optimistic realist.
TPJ you are my dish of tea.
Optimist.
That's exactly their point. As with the Founding Fathers, democracy was for the wealthy white male as that was their definition of "The People". First they are attacking the "ethnic" vote. Now they are attacking virulently a womens right to control her own body. When will they be deciding that unemployment in the economy means thattoo many women are working when they should be at home looking after the children and caring for their husband's home? When will they be deciding that women, as they don't vote sufficiently for them, are insufficiently informed and intelligent to vote?
And when they've got that far Margaret Atwood, George Orwell and Julius Huxley saw it all...we are warned!
Already happening, Stuart. The removal of women from the workplace in 2020 has been hidden by the ways in which unemployment statistics are gathered. The Repugnants are claiming that the official figure of about 6.4% is legit. It does not count the hundreds of thousands of women who are not looking for work because they are prisoners of their home and taking care of children and parents; if they were counted, the unemployment figure would be over 10% (this is being reported consistently and regularly by NPR and PRX). The billions for childcare facilities in the ARA have been especially maligned by the Gormless Ones because they KNOW that if schools can open because teachers and staff get vaccinated and if childcare facilities can get back up and running, all of the women trapped in their homes will be looking for work, which will mean a greater trickle-up economic recovery since two working parents is what is needed these days for socio-economic mobility. However, it will also result in a surge of unemployment figures--artificial but it will be claimed by the Repulsives that this is because the Biden plan is not working--and then the stock market will get all het up. Unless the messaging is consistent, clear, and truthful 2020 is going to be a political s***show.
Whoops! Freudian slip here! 2022 will be a you know what! 🤣
And 2021 too i'm afraid as i think we are into an "all systems change" scenario rather that getting back to where we were!
I’m not sure where to put this link but I did promise Roland and Ally (among others) that I would post here. Stuart, your observation that ‘we are into an all systems change’ scenario is quite correct IMHO. I’ve been mulling this for a while. This blog is a surface summation of a bunch of much deeper work I’m doing. So, without further ado, Walk Backwards Into the Future.
https://media.awakeningtowholeness.net/walking-backwards-into-the-future/
No problemo. We figured it out.
Yep. Happy Women's History Month on the heels of Happy Black History Month.
Ellie yep yep yep
I'm glad you mentioned those authors, Stuart. I wanted to borrow the Handmaid's Tale from my library the day after trump was elected. We live in a small rural Vermont town, I was told there were 42 ahead of me on the list! We have a Republican Gov. who vetoes a bit too much, but our legislature is on red-alert about voting issues. We have two very active senators also as I'm sure you know.
Ah you have anticipated my worries! M. A. G. O. and J. H. Are indeed oracles.
Putin installed his puppet.
But he really didn't have to try too hard. America proved itself perfectly capable of doing it all by itself......once! Now stop it happening again.
I couldn’t agree more. If America is as strong as Americans like to believe and is truly a leader of nations it will need to offer value to enough people so that it can remain a nation that can continue to be considered a beacon. This is a test and there will always be people and nations that want to tear down democracy from all corners because it calls on a higher self to maintain it. In order for people to believe in democracy our leaders have to offer the people things that help them maintain dignity.
Two Macbeth figures.
Putin drank from the cauldron, the Teflon Don bathed in it.
The wind's blowing through Birnam Wood...
I would, with the Birnam Wood prophecy in mind cast Trump as the first to play Macbeth on the opening night and then have Putin suffer in the second performance.....pride before the fall.
Be lion-mettled, proud, and take no care
Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are.
Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until
Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill
Shall come against him.
Out of the fog he created, the forest moving in...
Here, stills from Kurosawa's Throne of Blood:
https://thefunambulist.net/cinema/cinema-literature-the-walking-forest-of-throne-of-bloodmacbeth-by-kurosawashakespeare
It will happen but, if he can, he will take many down with him.
Oh! I now see the forest for the trees! Ty.
What did the peasants do?
That's often what really matters, Lynn.
We arrived here as politics are a zero sum game!
The Dems are threatening to win seemingly forever with the oncoming demographic tide. The Republicans are afraid of both drowning and irrelevance.
Wouldn't it be amazing if Republicans recognized the Dems as an extended American family whose members are all races, economies and intellects, rather than the static, colorless parasite Dems are demonized to be?
Substack member Vickie SkellCerf, commented:
I work with a local chapter of Sister District, a group that help support local progressive candidates in swing states. I have copied a recent post that mentions groups like Stacey Abram's in other states and thought they might be of interest to those who can spare time/money to support keeping our fellow citizens franchised. Sister District is a good group, but you can go straight to the state organizations to see how you can best help.
STATE BRIDGES: HELPING KEY STATES
ACTIVATE PROGRESSIVE VOTERS
You know about Stacey Abrams's success with Fair Fight? Turns out many states have similar organizations working hard to fight voter suppression and get out the vote. Sister District is partnering with New Virginia Majority, Texas Organizing Project, Florida Rising, and similar organizations in our 2021-2022 target states. Raising money now for those groups will help local volunteers in those states reach their friends and neighbors and get out the vote.
One of the problems is that legislation often moves faster than the Court system. These bills can get put in place faster than the lawsuits against them can get filed and heard. Pay attention to Marc Elias.
In his interview with Rachel Maddow tonight, Mark Elias also called on American citizens, who care about our country and about saving our democracy, to speak out in every way possible against the proliferation of voter suppression bills.
I have to think that there is a movement to suppress the vote in every state. There are at least 5 bills pending in Colorado, which haven’t gotten a lot of press, perhaps because our only daily regional newspaper, The Denver Post, has been stripped of its reporters who covered the legislature, thanks to the vulture investment fund, Alden Global Capital, which purchased the Post several years ago. Alden is intent on destroying the Post and any other newspaper it purchases. Their most recent grab is The Chicago Tribune.
I digress, but my point is that in many cities and states, newspapers have been crippled from comprehensive state and local news coverage, so it is likely to take some effort to stay on top of what is happening in state legislatures. It is essential for every concerned citizen to know what bills are pending, and to go directly to your legislators to insure your voice is heard. We need to understand how a bill becomes a law, how to reach our legislative representatives, and how to testify at legislative hearings. We have been very focused nationally, but we can’t overlook the important work that needs to be done every day at the local and state level.
Others have posted organizations that are working on many issues. I have found one of the best sources of information to be my local and regional Indivisible groups. Join one of these groups or start one; connect on social media, such as FaceBook, even if that is all you do on social media; write letters to your newspaper’s editors; find any pathway, any platform, to speak out against voter suppression, because it is happening right now.
Local orgs, online communities, and media platforms (even some execrable, undemocratic ones) will have to do much of the work formerly performed by local media outlets. So many have been lost to economic pressures, but they have long been the best watchdogs for the lower levels (in both senses) of political activity, especially to expose corruption and wrongdoing. Once some current Biden initiatives pass Congress, the door may open to more. I hope that there'll be a major federal package supporting and subsidizing independent local media. When every town had a sharp-tongued newspaper run by an outstanding local crank, American journalism was a rowdy, messy, even libelous cacophony. In short, Democracy in action. Make Journalism Great Again.
Journalist and former USC Annenberg prof Judy Muller has a good piece on local journalism: https://www.ouraynews.com/opinion-columns/small-town-newspapers-connect-communities-and-deserve-support
Thanks Mary!
Adopt a small town newspaper if you don't have one of your own!
MJGA!
What an excellent idea!
Mary Anne, perhaps we can find a way to influence Mackenzie Scott; perhaps she could buy a few newspapers to offset Alden Global’s influence. We could use a few more newspapers free from capitalism’s pernicious influence!
The Elias interview sums up succinctly the risk we are facing.
Our local paper was sold by the family that had owned it for nearly 100 years about 2 years ago to Gatehouse Media. The local staff has dwindled to a handful, and ceased publication in Eugene last Friday. We've lost our local reporting. Two of our three local TV stations are run by Sinclair.
Sinclair Media is another scourge. I don’t think a lot of people realize that right-wing Sinclair controls the airwaves in hundreds of communities across the country, even to the point of requiring their newscasters to parrot specific conservative scripts every day.
https://indivisible.org/groups
Agree. Thank you Mary Anne for recommending Indivisible and local action and news reporting support. I’m a member of I. Westchester in NY - very active group. And supporting local blogs and newspapers where I see courageous stands being taken to out suppression of all sorts. The quiet backlash. ❤️🤍💙
https://indivisible.org/groups
https://indivisible.org/groups
Trump shouldn’t have a future in any party. I hope there are enough decent republicans who can get the GOP back on track. The slew of voter suppression legislation is very scary. Just removing Trump from office is obviously not enough. Somehow we need to rid the GOP of trumpism. Tip of the hat to Ms. Moore and Mr. Kinzinger.
Pray for the investigation in Fulton County - they've hired the guy who "wrote the book" on state RICO cases and the guy who "wrote the book" on the rules of evidence in Georgia. The DA is creating a team that is going to come up with an airtight case. Putting him in prison is the only way we can deal with him. And then imprison the rest of his collection of traitors.
Hope Lindsey is nailed too.
My state senator is truly an embarrassment.
I’m sitting here in GA watching it play out, I can hardly wait to see him marched into prison in jumpsuit orange which will eloquently match his face. I have to tell you that we have some prisons here, that no sane person would ever want to visit much less have to spend any time in. 😎
Thanks for that image.
Me too Shelly but the one Cheeto goes too should be special
And he’s already in his peculiar form of narcissistic he’sbut he’s too lost to know it
Good point Shelly. I've been watching Larry Lawton, Jewel Thief about crime and prison life. He's on YouTube. His material is pretty good, but it's not "political hype" but lays it out life. Have learned quite a bit about how they really work.
Amen to that brother. I will pray with you for that cause. Thank you Evelyn.
I'll pray for that too, and I'm not even a believer.
Quakers believe that there's that of God in everyone. I strive to believe in God by believing in people.
Yes, I greatly value the Quakers and their pacifism and the variety of direct democracy they practice.I spent 3 years at Quaker prep school and I have a sister who is a very active Quaker. But I just never felt the spirit. Same goes for Unitarianism, which also runs in the family. I guess I'm just a born again Southern Baptist's worst nightmare, a science kind of guy.
I'm so non-religious, I kicked the Sunday School teacher in the shins the first time I went at age 5 and called her a liar - the first of many church changes my family made.
That said, I am a believer in saints, though 99% of the time not the same way the Catholic Church is. I believe they are moral measuring sticks for the rest of us to measure how far we fall short of "truly human." That said, I was particularly happy this week to see that among the US remains brought out of North Korea, they identified the remains of Chaplain Captain Emile Kapaun, who stayed behind with the wounded in the 1950 Chinese Intervention in the Korean War, when no one would have faulted him for following orders and leaving, stayed with them in POW camp and literally gave his own life saving his fellows. In 2013, he was finally given the Medal of Honor, after the Pope named him a Servant of God (first step toward sainthood) in 2003. If there were more Christians like Father Kapaun, I might revise my opinion of the religion. When I wrote his story in "The Frozen Chosen," I was in tears as I wrote it.
I gave up being Catholic for lent once and never went back! I’m not a fan of organized religion but to each their own. Some days I’m quite unsure that there is a “god” and some days I think there must be something higher than we can understand.
Thank you 🙏
TC this is simply beautiful. I am riveted. I am moved. Your statement about “saints,” moral and spiritual giants, tells me part of why I feel we have so much in common.
Nobody is all good or all bad is what I’ve always believed. In the case of DJT the bad seems to far outweigh any good. I suppose a miracle is possible but I have my doubts.
I agree with Quakers and I guess that’s why I’m optimistic.
My ancestors were Quakers. Arrived from Germany in 1681, the second year of the Pennsylvania colony, as German refugees from the Thirty Years' War. Founded Germantown. In 1688, they became the first Europeans anywhere to make the non-ownership of slaves a condition of membership in their meeting. We stopped being Quaker in 1852, when my great-great-great grandfather, a Quaker abolitionist, conductor on the Underground Railroad, and founding member of the Pennsylvania Republican Party, let his son go join the Army to fight the Civil War against slavery.
Just to make sure you see this. https://media.awakeningtowholeness.net/walking-backwards-into-the-future/
I’m in total agreement with this point. Apparently DA Fani Willis is a force to be reckoned with and its clear that Trump crossed a huge line in Georgia with its expansive interpretation of racketeering.
The passage of the Recovery Act is not a goal line - it is merely the first shot across the bow in re-orienting American government towards the good of its broadest constituency. The wealthy are infinitely capable of taking care of themselves. FDR passed *15* major pieces of legislation in his first term. He then overreached in an attack on the judiciary and thereafter found it hard to get much of anything passed.
I hope for a three-pronged approach now that it’s obvious how riven the GOP is.
1.
Defang Trump by nailing him for his criminal activities.
2.
Garland is to be approved in the Senate today. Pursue justice against the Capitol rioters - for its own sake and “pour encourager les autres”.
3.
Modify or eliminate the filibuster so that HR1 can be passed. Republican legislatures are not even attempting to conceal their contempt for/fear of democracy.
That train started inching out of the station yesterday with the passage in Iowa of grim voter suppression laws.
It will pick up momentum in the months ahead across the country. The Democrats must dynamite the tracks in order to halt these measures. HR1 would do that.
Win over the hearts of Manchin, Sinema et al or find a way to put the squeeze on them. The threat is perilously close to existential. HR1 will not pass a filibustered Senate.
This is a pivotal moment (and a grand opportunity) for America to re-align itself after forty years in the wilderness. I’m rooting for the long arc of justice to take decisive bend towards justice.
“dynamite the tracks”
🏆❤️🙏❤️🏆❤️🏆
I've said from the beginning, the only way to take Trump down was through courts of law. He's lost with the Supreme Court over tax returns and Georgia's case looks pretty solid given his telephone call. And he can't claim this is a political witch hunt this time around.
So, what if he's tried, convicted and sentenced to prison. It'll be a state penitentiary due to the state law violated. Does he get Secret Service protection inside?
He'll be out while appeals pend until he dies.
Not necessarily. One can hope he gets to appeal from inside.
That’s a fear, a supposition, a concern. Not a fact.
There is so much legal trouble for trump. I would love to see him cuffed and taken to prison but my guess is he won’t live long enough for that. These cases take years and there’s lots of them, (& possibly more to follow). By the time all are done he could be dead. (Second best outcome)! As for the rest of the traitors, yes, let’s roll.
Good argument for keeping Guantanamo open.
Rikers Island, GA state pen, or generic federal prison will do just fine. Despite the righteous desire to punish Trumpsky, there are no good arguments for keeping Guantanamo open.
At this point - post insurrection - the concept "decent Republicans" is becoming quainter and quainter, very retro...
But he'll be one of many members of the Troglodite Party that will join him in spouting the same inanities and will attract a vocal but modest part of the electorate, reducing thus also the "pull" of the Conservative Rino Party and assuring both of their places as minority groups in the Congress. After all Trump might thus prove himself in the furture useful!
A split on the right will make it hard to defeat a DEM presidential candidate, but in the House and Senate there's no reason to think that a rightwing coalition might not hold sway. It's time to drown the GOP, Trumpist or not, in the nearest bathtub.
Unlikely as in "winner take all" systems splitting the right wing vote means both lose and Dems win...if they haven't split themselves in the same way.
Well, I figure some red states would be Trump states and others would be old GOP states, but their Reps and Senators would both vote against DEM proposed legislation, especially if there's a DEM in the White House. Not a very stable or sustainable arrangement, I would imagine. You might also see more red states go to run-off elections, as in Georgia, though it wasn't enough to keep the DEMs down last November ( thank goodness!).
Outlawing gerrymandering will then solve the House problem and many states. Stopping voter suppression would then solve the Senate problem....as long as the GOP splits that is and the Dems don't.
Hey, sounds easy enough. Then all we have to do is solve the Electoral College problem, add some new states, make the number of each state's senators proportional to population and convert FOX news to All Sports All the Time. Y'think that'd be enough? Hell, I'll be old and gray by then! Oh! I'm already old and gray!
I’d love gerrymandering to be completely outlawed.
Stopping voter suppression would be huge...
Stuart, although I hope for continued consolidation of power by the Dems thus cementing gains for the people, I worry about the Animal Farm effect. Long term might it not be better to lose the two party system completely?
Party of 5-10
I’d prefer 50-100!!
I hope decent Republicans work hard to keep djt from sinking their ship completely.
If we ever have a Fascist party Cheeto would be my top pick.
I am feeling joy today, again. Ever since I woke up this afternoon in the hotel. No small part of it is this community, although of course there are a number of other aspects as well. Like my story project, my marriage, my job, and my home.
Writing is a joy. Talking to all of you is a joy.
My “Thank You For Everything” post yesterday, and TC in LA’s magnificent discussion, are outlets for my gratitude.
Snow is coming in to the mountain passes tonight, but it will be behind me. Other drivers with my company are having to deal with it.
Here’s why I mention it: if I-5 gets closed due to snow in the mountains, we have to take the coastal route through Santa Barbara. For me, it happens about once a winter.
So I regret to inform you that I will not have an opportunity to wave at Oprah, Meghan and Harry and Archie, and Tyler Perry, because I won’t be driving through Montecito, where they live.
For a change I am paying attention not just to racism, sexism, and gayism in America, but in the land of our society’s origins as well. The Iroquois Confederacy contributed to our democracy, of course, but white English ancestry people were actively involved.
The rebellion against and secession from British royalty is a foundation of our society. So why not take this opportunity to help them clean up some of this stench as well, beginning with the British media. Adios Piers Morgan, first real casualty of the interview, and there is no more deserving candidate in England, that’s for sure.
Please drive safely! Your posts are always well worth the read.
Thank you Daria 🙏
Still feeling joy
Roland, I’m so glad you’re feeling joy as you drive through Montecito and other communities— I’m glad you had those revelations about your dad too.
He would fit in very well with Murdoch's Fox News stable as indeed he started with the equivalent in UK and has used similar trumpian methods throughout his career. I don't think the English will miss him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piers_Morgan
The section in Wikipedia on Piers’ relationship with TFG was eye popping. Did Piers really ask to be 45’s Chief Of Staff? Wow! Just another sycophant.
Your joy is infectious, Roland. And you are a treasure to this community
MaryB that is ultra sweet. Thank you. 🙏❤️❤️❤️
Roland, the following should give you a good laugh. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/09/opinion/meghan-harry-abolish-monarchy.html?smid=fb-nytopinion&smtyp=cur&fbclid=IwAR17B1TtZh8I0vSV-PY1heP98tIe7GKP0cph5dziEStcNaMHYwprweF_yXk
Piers Morgan is a sexist as blatant as the one-termer who is gone. POS. Way worse imo than someone like Charlie Rose because he was spewing sexism on-air every single time I ever saw him open his mouth.
Take a long walk off a short Piers, Morgan.
Honestly why are we even taking about PM I thought his show was canceled a long time ago.
England. London. This piece of work has been bad-mouthing Meghan for years. It could just be for ratings, but I remember him from the US. He is sexist as hell and I think he’s racist too.
Don’t bother with any of this if you don’t think it’s worth your time Liz.
https://amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/mar/08/meghan-has-been-mistreated-for-years-but-her-interview-still-shocked-me
https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/09/media/good-morning-britain-piers-morgan-leaving-after-walk-out/index.html
Roland I was so over him years ago so thank you I won’t waste time on his new problems
Hey Spooky I love canoes. My father landed on Omaha beach on D-day.,
I
Wow. That's TC's turf. The closest I got was reading Eisenhower's memoir and Omar Bradley's memoir and watching The Longest Day a dozen times.
My father liked to say he served in the wooden navy in WW2, because he sailed a desk in Washington DC.
Some part of intelligence I presume since he produced a brainiac son.
Cute!
He was part of the phone hacking team, wasn’t he? He should be in prison.
Thank you! Exactly.
The Southern Baptist Church is a dangerous fundamentalistic denomination. In theology class we had to watch them. An Afro-American student was waiting for their leader to say the N word. I (coming from the Netherlands) was waiting for him to say Heil Hitler. Good for Beth Moore that she is breaking with them. All women should follow her example as it is no place for women. Sorry for her it took her so long. Congratulations on her decision.
The church founded to opposed the Abolitionism of the national Baptist Church and defend slavery as "God's Will."
And it's not just the formal SBC: if you look at the resume of EVERY Pastor at *every* "megachurch" that claims to be "non-denominational" you will find that the pastoral staffs are ALL graduates of SBC schools. Megachurches are the SBC by another name.
People don’t realize this. Pretty much any “nondenominational” church is SBC in its theology. A bit more obscure, but the episcopal church was also infiltrated by SBC theology. Their fixation in orthodoxy and purity helped lead to the ever growing schism between the episcopal and Anglican churches in the USA.
Much as I understand their repulsive politics, i have a little difficulty understanding what or any basis they have in theological terms!
Stuart, if you can find it watch the Netflix documentary series "The Family". It unveils the workings of the Fellowship Foundation and its influence on right-wing politics. Theologically their take on forgiveness encourages an attitude of " the more sinful the better" in order to be a receptacle and witness for God's forgiveness. In my opinion this allowed them and other evangelicals to overlook the glaring personal character flaws and behaviors of the former guy. They found a place for it in their theology. The same dynamic occurred in the early days of the clergy sex abuse scandal where one would occasionally hear a Catholic Bishop defend their failure to immediately respond to abusive behavior by claiming to be a church of forgiveness. While I do know that we are all broken in some way and in need of compassion for being human this kind of distorted theology leaves out any sense of the need to at least make the effort to change one's harmful behavior. When these behaviors are married to power we get victims; when extreme lack of character gets access to highest power we get what we have just lived through in politics. I know this sounds weird to some but my PhD is in public theology and I have been thinking about it since watching The Family.
Yes -- "church of forgiveness," because the church forgives itself.
The Family is one unsettling documentary.
I’ll try to catch The Family
I have that on my watch list, but was waiting to be in the "mood" which is hard when everything in the world is so fruistrating right now.
It's worth watching. You will never been in the mood.
Hmm. I just learned something, thanks TC. The prefix “mega-“ is Latin for “Old Order”. So racism and sexism are “mega” properties. That makes you-know-who a mega-president. Brad Raffensperger is a mega official. Texas has a mega governor. Piers Morgan is a mega journalist. Lindsey Graham is a mega senator.
This is handy information. Now I know what a mega donor is! Koch! Adelson!
Doesn't this make magamorons megamorons?
The latter in the present-day sense of the prefix too.
Beth Moore stood up against Donald Trump in October 2016. https://amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/568288/
Her decision to leave the Southern Baptist Church is recent.
As we have found with splitting families, leaving her "religious" family and her whole "frame of reference" was probably just as hard.......like accusing your parents of sexual abuse of their children which is much in vogue amongst the political and cultural "people" here in France these days and sells books like hotcakes!
Candace and recent sparks my hope that she just might attract other pilgrims
What exactly did take her so long? It’s not like we haven’t been aware of the insipid one’s behavior for the last four years.
Actually, the SBC is not considered 'fundamentalist.' It is viewed, in the South, as a mainstream organization. The true fundamentalist churches are not a part of a 'convention.'
I do agree about the danger of the SBC, though. Curious that some female leader should abandon ship now. idk, but after all the misogyny of the former guy, now seems a weird time to depart.
Someone mentioned her wealth...
“I am begging America and the media to pay attention to this" - Marc Elias
Well, fine and dandy, except here's the problem: TQRepublicans don't give a tinker's damn about a BIPOC's right to vote so they will ignore any outlet that decries voter suppression. How are we going to address that? State lawmakers are acting on these suppression measures right now. They were brazen enough to reject the 2020 presidential election results and censure Republicans who supported the legitimacy of Biden's election... what's going to stop them from shoving suppression measures through during the current legislative sessions?
Brennan Center state Voting Bills Tracker
https://www.brennancenter.org
As for Beth Moore? Too little, too late. She waited until NOW to leave the Southern Baptist Church? She stayed with the denomination through Trump's first campaign, through his entire presidency and 2nd campaign. She stayed through his lies and refusal to accept Biden's win and through 6 January? Think of the women she could have influenced if she'd walked in 2016 or at any time during Trump's presidency. But no. She walks now. A quick search shows her net worth to be between 2.5 - 10 million dollars. Was she more concerned about the hit Living Proof Ministries and her pocketbook was going to take or doing the morally courageous thing? SMH.
Daria, I agree about Beth Moore. Too little and WAY too late. But let's hope that her leaving now does give some Evangelicals pause.
I hope you're right. My remarks about Beth Moore sound cranky, (and are). The willingness of people to believe utter nonsense has escalated beyond belief, consequently the other Evangelical powerhouses will claim that she's simply been taken over by the devil. Heady stuff.
There's a lot of money to be made in the fight for America's soul. The Evangelicals are adept at fleecing their flocks. Beth Moore's flock is now fair game.
My brother and family have fallen under the "spell" of the Evangelical wing. Not sure how that happened, but it has caused me to essentially stop communicating with that section of family. And, I know you're right. Money, the evil of all things, is yet again at the top of anyone's list. Money=power. So sick....
My husband's youngest sister and her family are ensnared as well. We don't communicate with them anymore either.
I find that just a simple inquiry about someone’s health or other mundane and neural aspects of life keep the rift from growing to a grand canyon
I'm so sorry
Wait it out Pam —rifts like this are more shallow than blood
Thanks, Liz. But the rift has been growing for years. It is the Grand Canyon now, and I'm afraid I will not make the move tho heal the wounds. It's his move....
I get it Pam I’ve been there and sometimes that’s just the way it lands
Here's the correct link fir tge Brennan Center Tracker. Sorry!
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/state-voting-bills-tracker-2021
Thanks Daria!
13 pages of Bills Restricting Voting Access
36 pages of Bills Expanding Voting Access
Bring it on, you filthy seditionists.
There is hope.
Always there is hope for those of us who catch the faint glimmer
Excellent link....thanks!
Daria Wilber: Thank you for posting the Brennan Center voting bills. Have shared it to the 4 Progressive FB pages I participate in.
Barbara, your welcome!
State legislatures are working overtime on vote suppression because it is the single most effective way to preserve the advantages white Americans have held over Americans with non-European ancestors. Preserving those advantages is the top priority of at least 74 million voters, no matter what it might cost them in other areas. The Republicans know they have nothing else to offered the 74 million, so they’re doubling down.
Representative Tim Ryan gave a brilliant fervent speech in the House today. This is the way Democrats should be calling out the Republicans for their obstruction. "Stop talking about Dr. Seuss and start working with us on behalf of the American worker!" I liked it so much I'm going to send him a donation! https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/what-joe-biden-has-said-about-war-powers/2021/03/09/0b60fb9b-349a-41e7-a097-26e30c7b0677_video.html
Sorry, the wrong link got inserted. Here is the correct one:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/rep-tim-ryan-tells-gop-to-stop-talking-about-dr-seuss-and-work-on-behalf-of-workers/2021/03/10/44e6334a-6797-42cd-9633-ed41504c4b04_video.html
Thanks Cathy, looks like some new leadership shaping up.
Yes! I saw this and it gave me hope. The hysterical, irrational screaming from the radical right wingers needs to be matched by strong, coherent passion like this.
And, yes, I did just make a donation to Rep. Ryan even though I do not live in his state of district.
🥇
I am hoping he runs for Rob Portman's Senate seat. He is way better than any of the Rs who have already announced.
I saw this. Helps make up the difference in Ohio with Gym Jordan
Half of my first COVID-19 government check went to my granddaughter who was unable to work for six months prior to starting college in September. My second check in December/January went to food pantries in my area. My third check will be donated to any credible organizations that fight for fair voting laws and against voter suppression.
Good idea. My first two checks went to food pantries. Anti-voter suppression organizations seems like a great place for the third.
I fronted my upcoming check to my son who was moving from student housing to private rental in January. He started grad school in the Fall and was left out of every round of relief checks.
I heard a lot of the early stimulus checks were donated to Joe Biden's Presidential Campaign. The campaign was seeing a pattern of $1200 donations. When the campaign investigated, because it looked odd, they found out that was the source.
Thank you for featuring stories of people working to save democracy rather than shamelessly trying to end it.
yes, we need to find the heroes and support them and back what they are doing!
Heather arrives at the biggest story last, with a perfect opening line for a standup comic, 'Republican lawmakers are planning to get around their unpopularity by suppressing the vote'.
Oh, are they: Republicans in 43 states have introduced 253 bills and probably more by now. It's not funny; it's a rapid assault.
Trump's BIG LIE and Biden's win put the Republicans in overdrive. Election lawyer Marc Elias, is doing all he can to counter Republican state legislators' bills to cut voters' access, particularly for minority and young voters. I saw him on The Rachel Maddow Show last night. While lucid and strongly begging for our attention, he looked desperate. Behind his pleading eyes was the knowledge of how this could go.
In yesterday's Letter,, Heather mentioned the tug of money between Trump and the Republican Party. The Democratic Party's serious disadvantages on that score was not mentioned. I think this is an important story. Many of us have spent a lot time on the filibuster, as though the democrats, their experts and old-hands haven't been going over and over it. Let's take a bit of time to see what we may do to get money to 2022 democratic candidates. The old guard Republicans are retiring. Trump will be very active in getting his people elected. Can you imagine the Republican Party worse than it is today? It will be. My comment yesterday contained excepts from a long piece in Reuters about how well the Republican party is doing in terms of attracting donors, how the Democratic Party pales in comparison and how political fund raising has changed. The following is in from that article:
'(Reuters) - Right after the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, dozens of U.S. companies announced they would halt political donations to the 147 Republican lawmakers who voted to overturn Donald Trump’s presidential election loss. Two months later, there is little sign that the corporate revolt has done any real damage to Republican fundraising.'
'If anything, the biggest backers of Trump’s false election-fraud narrative - such as Missouri Senator Josh Hawley and Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene - have been rewarded with a flood of grassroots donations, more than offsetting the loss of corporate money. And contributions from both small donors and rich individuals looking to fight the Democratic agenda have poured into the party’s fundraising apparatus.'
'The boycott’s limited impact underscores the diminishing role of corporate money in U.S. politics. Individual donations of $200 or less have made up a growing share of campaign money in recent years, while the share given by corporate America shrinks. That trend has accelerated with the rise of anti-establishment figures on both the right and left, ...'
'
Reuters examined contributions by more than 45 corporate donor committees that vowed to cut off the 147 Republicans - eight senators and 139 members of the House of Representatives. The review found that the political action committees (PACs) gave about $5 million to the lawmakers during the 2019-2020 election cycle - or only about 1% of the money the lawmakers raised, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) disclosures.'
'By comparison, Republican fundraising operations supporting Senate and House candidates raked in a combined $15.8 million in January alone on the strength of small-dollar donations. These groups outraised their Democratic counterparts by more than $2 million that month, regulatory filings show....'
'The brisk fundraising since the insurrection indicates that most Republican voters are “comfortable” with the party that has been remade in Trump’s mold, says J. Miles Coleman, a nonpartisan analyst at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
“The Republican Party – it’s not going to go back to the party it was before Trump,” he said.'
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Think about 2022 and the the Democrats' odds of maintaining or even increasing their numbers .
It has taken too long for the women of the SBC as well as other evangelical denominations to stand up and be counted against men the likes of trump and other men who would silence them and relegate them to insignificance. I hope this is just the small leak that will start a flood.
When Biden was elected I thought perhaps I would get a small break from political activism but voter suppression is alive and thriving not just in the south but apparently all across the land. There will be multiple ongoing lawsuits against the states that seek to disenfranchise in subtle and not so subtle ways but that does not release us from our vigilance.
Indeed. I thought we'd get a break too. The Republicans are relentless. It's part of their tactical tool kit - they've hammered away at the American people since Newt. I fervently hope the courts rule in favor of the voters, not the oppressors.
Agreed Daria & Pamela. Big money is relentless. We’ve gone up against developers & mining companies to protect the environment. Every time we win it’s followed by their retrenchment, often under a newly incorporated entity. They hide, obscure and hire attorneys to do their heavy lifting, while we struggle on. It does get old.
And so many people simply don't see what's happening. I just don't get it.
Diane we have some monied supporters too
Me too
They’re the big bad wolf— but who’s afraid of the big bad wolf...
Desperate is what they are.
Let's give a thought today also to the Women of Arkansas who now, as the Governer has signed a Bill into Law which practically bans abortion in the State. If they weren't already doing it they will have now to travel out of the State to have an abortion should they wish it....and can afford to pay for it! In French the "back-street" abortionists that damaged so many women were called "Faiseuses d'anges".....makers of angels! A quel Prix!
I've wondered where those politicians think the babies are going to go. Assuming that a woman forced to give birth is not going to keep the baby, where are these children going to go? I also assume that many of these are babies of color so not readily adoptable in a white supremacist state . I sure don't see a lot of orphanages.
Plus, I think those women should put a politicians name on the birth certificate as the father!
Argentina under the military gave an answer to what they would do with the "pale" ones anyway. The people that they didn't want took one way trips on flights out into the Atlantic.
A quel prix indeed!
It seems obvious to me that ALEC and The Federalist Society has been sending boiler plate to state representatives. There was probably a workshop at the Conservative Convention to teach various methods to suppress the vote. Bet the room was packed.
The vote suppression B$ is just making me ill.
That’s why profanity is helpful. In an earlier lifetime we used batakas and smashed things. I don’t believe in getting ill when it can be avoided, I believe in getting it out. Screaming while driving is always a healthy option you can resort to.
Trust me! There was 🤬 swearing!
That is a great emoji, 1st time seeing it used.
Screaming into a pillow is fun too!
I have found that an effective way to vent rage is to throw raw eggs at the garden wall. It's safe and cleans up easily with a garden hose. If you live in a high rise this would not be an option.
I love this and would like to see you doing it! How fun!
Good suggestion 😉. May consider it sometime😊
🤣 Or a city.
Yeah, there is that. I can see the headlines now, Professor Goes Berserk and Eggs Own Home!
Thoughts on being "nice."
When someone steals, you call him/her a thief. It's the word for their behavior. It's blunt, direct, and "hurtful" to the person being called a thief. But if they did, in fact, steal, that is entirely their problem. It's not my responsibility (or anyone else's) to dance around what they've done.
When you call that thief a MOFO, you're now name-calling. It's difficult to even describe what this term means. If it's applied to a male who has sired children, it is a true and largely meaningless statement: he did, in fact, fuck his children's mother. So what? But of course, that isn't what the term means at all. It's an epithet, a statement of anger, disgust, contempt, rejection. The intent is not to describe, but to demean.
Calling Former Occupant a seditionist and traitor is not name-calling: it's a description of what he did. It isn't my responsibility to soft-pedal that.
Calling Former Occupant many of the things I have called him in my mind (and aloud), is pure spite.
Demeaning by name-calling does two things. It shames the target, and it relieves the speaker (and other listeners) of the discomfort of facing the actual offense, and (usually) the injustice his offense has resulted in.
In the case of Former Occupant, it will not shame him because a) he will never hear my epithets, and b) his malignant narcissism is a potent protective mechanism against precisely that sort of shaming.
It does relieve my discomfort with his crimes, at least momentarily. It "lets off steam." But that steam is precisely what drives people to action, such as demanding justice for the things Former Occupant has done. He should be tried for sedition, conspiracy to commit murder by proxy, treason, and a long list of other capital crimes. If convicted, he should be executed; and if we are going to quibble about the death penalty, then he should spend the rest of his life in a high-security federal prison. In this regard, our system of government has already failed.
Calling him a MOFO in the face of such injustice relieves us from the discomfort that would drive us toward such justice.
That said, given the realities of the utter failure of justice in his case, perhaps it's a good thing to relieve our impotent rage through epithets.
For the record, my current pet name for Former Occupant is Little Lord Shittychin. Because, of course, every time he opens his mouth....
My $0.02.
so good!
I have added these terms to my vocabulary: Former Occupant, malignant narcissism, and Little Lord Shittychin.
In a sense, Former Occupant is a demeaning term. It is accurate, but it is also a pointed reminder of what a toxic and divisive syllable the man's name has become. I could say Former President, or even former president, which would be a bit more respectful, but ye gods, he was such a terrible president. So I'm sticking with Former Occupant.
I’m sticking with Cheeto Bandito Velveeto
I like.
Like minds
LLS — love it
Something Lynell posted about good news brings up a question I have. Charlie Grantham’s work might be pertinent here as well, in terms of context.
What I am seeing:
Blue sweep of Washington DC. Biden wins. Congress goes blue, turning Mitch into a has-been. Against all odds, completely miraculously, two incumbent Republican senators from a deep South state are wiped out by Democratic challengers, a Jew and a black activist pastor from MLK’s church. No one saw this coming. No one. Total miracle. Never happened before. Unprecedented.
Black activist pastor = Senator from Georgia. Democrat.
34-year-old Jewish American neophyte = Senator from Georgia. Democrat.
Allow me to repeat. DEMOCRATS. TWO DEMOCRATS ARE SENATORS from GEORGIA. Not Massachusetts. Not Connecticut. Not California or New York or Vermont or Oregon or Washington state. GEORGIA. And this did not happen on any old who-cares election cycle. This event turned the Senate blue and stripped Mitch of his power. This event made possible the fact that we are talking about HB1 as a real possibility. If this miracle does not happen, we are not talking about anything interesting right now, because no legislation is getting through the Senate. We are still crying in our soup because the old order fraternity of racism and sexism is still stonewalling us. Am I getting through to anyone here?
GEORGIA. This is the state that General Sherman had to devastate in order to force it into submission, in order to make it slave free. Burned to the ground. Scorched earth. Blood everywhere.
Major desperation play by the Black Hats on Jan. 6: attack Congress itself, because there’s no other way to remain a racist and sexist society except by force and autocracy. Replay of post-Civil War acts of desperation in the form of racist and anti-Democratic Party voter suppression laws pending. Notice this is a replay. This is not new territory. This is not a fresh movement, not a new conservative revolution of some kind. It’s ancient history repeating itself. Transparently. Everyone can see it for what it is.
Half a dozen high profile, key Republican senators are walking away. Still waiting on Grassley and Johnson, according to news reports suggested more defections to come. Does that sound like a recipe for taking back the Senate?
Last year during the campaign at least seven, count them, SEVEN Republican groups fighting like hell against their own presidential candidate. Totally unprecedented. Unique circumstance. Their wish came true. That same now one-term former president is raping his own party, vicious political attacks (primary challenges) and vicious personal attacks on every strong, viable Republican politician or official who opposes him or votes in Congress against him. Self immolation of party. Self destruction, self sabotage, internal bleeding, bleeding out
Republican party in serious disarray, Trumplicans schism away from the “Patriots”, the Fans of U.S. Democracy and its institutions (something any normal conservative person would have supported pre-Cheeto). Pundits suggesting Portman, Blount, maybe others are retiring due to this fracture. Does this look like a consolidation of power that will take over in 2024?
Tell me you don’t see this. Tell me you cannot see a political party in major crisis, possibly existential crisis. Tell me you think this is just a random collection of strange and unprecedented events with no meaning, that there’s no story here, that life is just going to go on like normal for the Republican Party in this country, that Cheeto is rising up again as head of a big tent party to challenge Democrats in 2024 and take back what they lost.
Am I in the minority in this community? Am I one of TC‘s Pollyannas? Am I a yutz for thinking that there’s a decent chance the Republican Party never makes a comeback, therefore going the same fate as the California Republican Party?
Obviously you think it’s impossible for this political party to disintegrate. Then what are we looking at if not disintegration?
I say to you: who has been smoking the wacky tobaccy? Me or you?
Go ahead, tell me I’m a whack job for thinking that maybe January 5 and January 6 was a turning point for the entire history of the Republican Party, an existential turning point.
I’m not psychic, I can’t see the future, I’m just looking at all these wild signs and trying to make sense of it. *Of course* I could be wrong. *Of course* I could be smoking from the wrong end of the pipe.
But if so then tell me this:
How else do you account for those facts?
Do you really think that this is business as usual, that the Republican party is still unified, and that the huge chasm between Trump and his perceived intraparty enemies will somehow allow them to make a comeback? When Trump is vilifying and alienating every member of Congress who ever voted against him in 2021, on Jan. 5 and since then? They’re all going to join forces like before, Liz Cheney and Mitch and the Seditioners and Orange Shitbox, and this reconstituted Republican Party of old is somehow going to win another election against a powerful and unified Democratic Party that grows stronger by the week?
I’m in the minority with this position?
Roland, I think we’re all afraid to let our guard down. Complacency has been our undoing in the past. Republicans play a long game with the help of corporate donors. Cautious optimism coupled with vigilance is my position.
Yes of course, agree with you completely.
I don't think you are in the minority; I appreciate your laying out these positive events so clearly and succinctly. I have a few thoughts, and while not specifically related to your points above, I think they are worth a quick share. First, with GQP state legislators fighting tooth and nail to suppress votes and hang on to what is left of their old GOP, I'm thinking it's time now to ante up with support for the ACLU in addition to supporting candidates who will run to fill those emptying GOP seats. Second, I don't for one minute think all that cash flowing into the former guy's coffers instead of the GQP is going to be spent on primarying anyone (unless it's used for someone with his same last name); I think it's going to be used to pay legal expenses. Swalwell's lawsuit, as someone noted last night on MSNBC, is so perfectly written, ANY and ALL who were affected by the events of January 6th could take it up, tweak it a bit, and submit it again as yet another stand alone piece of litigation. This includes aides, Capitol Police, family members, workers at the Capitol, etc. He could literally be swamped by lawsuits in the years ahead. And if anyone thinks he is going to spend a dime of his ever decreasing bank account, think again. He's going to be just another hustler, preaching his "religion" to a bunch of poor fools and taking their money - like an orange version of Jim Bakker. This will leave the GQP with depleted resources to support ANY new candidate for those empty seats. And three, that new FBI video of the pipe bomber offers some thoughts about just who in Congress might be involved in THAT crime. For one thing, I think that's a woman. The ingredients, we now know, are "household" items. The person in that video looks very familiar with that street; s(he) looks comfortable walking there. This makes me think that this person LIVES there (aka is in Congress or is an aide for someone in Congress.) If my random thoughts are on track, I am expecting that very soon, some really bombshell (no pun intended) revelations are forthcoming - and heads will roll. This will change the makeup, once again, of Congress, making it even less troublesome for Biden's efforts to restore the economy and fight the pandemic. That's just my three cents for this morning!
Pipe bomber:
I trust people's intuition, mainly because my intuition is often remarkably prescient. I find your thoughts inspiring. It never occurred to me that it might be a woman, it never occurred to me that person would be working in Congress. Wow, that would be explosive, wouldn't it, pun intended.
Side note:
I once mentioned to my dad that I was thinking of joining the ACLU. He begged me not to. So I didn't. My youngest sister is lesbian. She convinced him not to vote for 45 in 2016, and again in 2020. He sat out just the President slot on the ballot, but nothing else.
But now, I'm not feeling like conceding anything. I have spent money supporting voter registration and get-out-the-vote campaigns and organizations, and I will again, and I do not care what a family member thinks. Pedal to the metal.
Thank you Ellen, for the excellent and detailed reply. To ACLU I would add Fair Fight and Voto Latino and every other group engaged in voter turnout and voter freedoms.
The legal jeopardy is massive. Massive. Another vote for this argument. No matter how you look at it, those lawsuits are going to divert resources, reduce the desire to support and vote for, and detract in every way imaginable.
Thank you for the recommendation re Fair Fight and Voto Latino. I will add them to my list and my "cause"!
I go back and forth. You make a good case.
The thing is, politics, even more than nature, abhors a vacuum. As the Republican Party disintegrates, something will replace it. Will it be a Good Witch, or a Bad Witch?
Thanks for your perspective, Roland.
If it weren’t for the 2016 election and the loss of house seats in 2020 I’d feel more comfortable, but I’m not taking anything for granted. I hope you’re right but I’m gonna fight to help it happen.
The 2016 election is backlash to Obama. I am convinced of it. A major portion of this country had to endure their first African-American president, and clearly they just couldn't stand it. Another person in this community, I think it was Marcy Meldahl, posted "and then to be followed by a WOMAN." Brilliant observation by Marcy.
We spend way too much brainpower discussing details of policy. Some of these events are so basic. Black man for President for 8 years. Woman runs for President. Reaction is fierce, racists and sexists have had enough, they'll even vote for a criminal if need be, as long as it's a white man.
You can take it or leave it, but that's how I boil down the 2016 election.
Let me be clear: I agree completely with you, Frank, do not take anything for granted. Diane Love says "Cautious optimism coupled with vigilance."
My words: do not take the foot off the gas pedal, in fact, tromp down harder. Pedal to the metal. Shift into higher gear. No coasting or cruising. This national epidemic of voter suppression and all racist, sexist, anti-gay, anti-Semitic policy and legislation has to be crushed, and crushed hard.
Roland, thank you for that hard hitting summary of a party in disarray---sometimes difficult to see through the fog of politics. Trump is playing his usual game (remember the debates) of name calling and destroying his opposition (probably did it in a different in the old NYC real estate days....). But this time he is trying to destroy the GOP as it now exists (more or less). It is going to ramp up in the days to come and the battle field is going to be littered. On the other hand, the democrats are good at snatching defeat from the moment of victory (few of them except Sanders can coin a memorable phrase or soundbite; they speak only in complex sentences; etc etc) I think the self-destruction will continue. We have to build rapidly however to get a machine for the future.......
Onward---and upward---to the distant goal: We the people, all the people.......
THANK YOU
Roland, not at all. It's a good summation of a party in turmoil and with no viable "alternative" in a leadership role at the national level.
Speaker Paul Ryan's refusal to run again was a telling sign about how much the pre-DJT Republican Party leadership felt about their President. It is a struggling party for the moment on many fronts. With the number of Republican Senators choosing not to run again will make it easier for "moderate/left-center" Democrat candidates to have a good shot at the job. Especially, if Biden and his Administration are able to deliver on some key issues.
While the two current Senators from Georgia are Democrats, I wouldn't suggest that it will remain that way. Should it change, I wouldn't point to any changes in voter laws. I think they won as a backlash to Trump's Big Lie and getting the vote out by Democrats and disenfranchised Republicans, etc. Recall four or five House seats in Florida went Democrat in 2018 and returned to the Republican fold in 2020. And, as I recall, several of them are Hispanics.
Hi Larry, there you are! I sent you 2 long letters from the day you and TPJ were having the spat, hope you received them. I've done a lot of writing to you, so I'll keep this one brief.
At the time, I thought Speaker Ryan's departure was due to the uphill fight of re-election in his district. Amateur political observer speaking, keep that in mind, plus don't live in Wisconsin. The loss of Roy Blount is huge for them, Mitch's statement makes that clear. Blount was the #4 Republican in the Senate. Wow, that's a loss. So far it seems that some of those other losses seem like big trouble too (Burr, Shelby, Portman). Plus Cassidy in Louisiana is under attack due to anti-45 vote, so is Hawley in his home state (Seditioner), and Cruz in Texas because of Cancun (and being a Seditioner).
Are you kidding? Does anyone believe Georgia will have 2 Democratic Senators after the 2022 election, when Warnock's seat is up? Or in 6 years, when Ossoff's seat is up? I'm still in disbelief. Ossoff is the youngest Senator since 1980 (now that's an easy win at the craps table), the 1st Jewish Senator for Georgia (SURE, we all saw THAT coming), and if wikipedia is to be believed, the 1st Jewish Senator from the deep South since 1879. How the hell does that happen. I thought for sure Perdue would win.
Has anyone calculated the odds, in Georgia in 2020, of a Republican incumbent being defeated by an underdog Democratic challenger, a man who is Jewish, a man who is 34 years old, a man who is not a celebrity (maybe sufficient fame and celebrity can beat those terrible odds).
After you get over the disbelief, you realize something else is at work. Sure, the backlash to the Big Delusion must factor in, what you call the Big Lie. Disenfranchised Republicans who sat out the vote or who (not much chance of this) voted for Warnock and Ossoff.
A 34-year-old Jewish man, a virtual unknown, runs as a Democrat and beats out a sitting Republican Senator in Georgia.
Are disenfranchised Republicans who sit out this election, and Democrats getting out the vote, and the public backlash to a Republican President BEFORE January 6, is that really enough to climb Mt. Everest?
I wish Stan Greenberg or Carville would do a focus group project in Georgia and find out what happened. Stacey Abrams, Fair Fight, Voto Latino, et al, the voter support groups, I am giving them credit for now because I do not know what else to think.
Larry, California's Republican seats dropped down to 7 in 2018 and went back up to 11 seats in 2020. I don't know about Florida, but absolutely, the Republican Party could come back to take one or both of those Senate seats in Georgia. No doubt about it.
Until you consider that a young Jewish man ran as a Democrat and took out a sitting Republican.
I'm still scratching my head.
As Diane L said, I think we're shell-shocked from the last several years. I, for one, wasn't fully aware of the existential threat that reared its ugly head during 45's reign. It reared its head AND was fed a constant diet of lies & money to grow into what we saw 1/6/21. I do so hope that your view, Roland, is correct and that branch will wither and die.
We hope. We pray. And we work like hell. Who could have seen 1/6/21 coming? It is difficult to imagine, and certainly impossible to expect, the unprecedented. Shell-shock makes sense. It is an indicator of the extreme desperation of the old order society of racism, sexism, gay-ism, et al. Whites on top, Baby, even if it means use of force. Coercion, authoritarian power, is all they have left to keep the old society intact. Whites on top, even if it means the actions of sedition House members on January 6 in Congress.
My fear is that Biden's immigration policies are going to lead to backlash against the Dems. Border region democratic reps are worried as central Americans flood the borders.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/18/immigration-politics-democrats-469732
https://thehill.com/opinion/immigration/541386-bidens-immigration-bill-has-problems-lots-of-them
Biden also wants to increase immigration to 2.4 million annually, up from a million-plus annually. That's equivalent to adding a New York State plus Kentucky every decade, which would flood schools, emergency rooms, make traffic much worse, make rents for low cost housing skyrocket.
In this age of global warming we should be reducing immigration, not increasing it. The US, the major industrialized nation with the greatest per capita resource use and greenhouse emissions is the worst place to put more people, with the exception of a few small countries like UAE and Belgium.
Biden would do much better to start a Marshall Plan for the major immigrant sending countries. Their people would no doubt be much happier to feel they could stay home.