So Putin’s “special military operation” is not going as planned. Maybe we all need to stop fighting for a while and try to find a female president without the pathological need to destroy the planet.
Mike Hammer, I nearly wept reading your comment. Thank you. I have recently been in most of these towns and countries above (Reims, Budapest, Warsaw, the Baltics, close to Ukraine) with my husband and friends - and Europeans are so united against Putin and rump you would not believe those monsters could still be in office. I'm increasingly thinking it will have to be Europe that saves the world. But my god, if we could get an all-woman lineup on the ballot, I'd fight to the death for it.
I just finished watching Suffs on PBS. The power of women working together is indisputable. As the suffragists sang in this inspiring show, we need to keep marching for us, for our mothers, our sisters, our great-great-great-grandchildren.
Suffs is a tremendous original tribute to creativity, determination and the power of women. The power is there to achieve a just democracy. It must be mobilized . Persistence.
All due respect, it's "nevertheless, she persisted." I say this only because it shows that that Mitch McConnell *persisted* in using language in what seems to be either an indication of his perceived power or his actaual age.
MLMinET, I bet I know at least some of what it is. They are scared they might have to see themselves as equals to women and their masculine BS pump just can't handle it; aren't they stronger, smarter, faster, able to jump higher, more talented, and meaner than women? Well, I'll give them physically stronger, faster, and able to jump higher, but that's about it.
On the other hand, women have a lot of traits we are better with than men: patience, birthing babies, listening to others, writing about feelings, writing more believable characters in books and stories, figuring out how to make things stretch or work, creative, and so many more, depending on the woman.
If men would stop blustering and trying to get and hold power over other people, and looking for ways to prove others are inferior to them, the world would definitely be a safer, kinder, more humane place with a cleaner environment, climate change under control to a greater extent, and people not so often in deadly competition.
You forgot to include "leap tall buildings with a single bound." For many men, they truly believe that they perform superhuman feats. The problem is that testosterone is designed to destroy, while estrogen, is designed to nurture. I know that it is far more complicated than that and physiologically, we all have a smattering of both, although men will have a very tiny fraction of the estrogen that women have and women, vis a versa, for testosterone. The good news, at least I believe, is that more men are recognizing their limitations concerning their strengths. While teaching middle school, my curriculum had a section on violence. One of my teaching points to my boys was to point out to all those 7th and 8th graders a salient fact: "no matter how tough, mean, or big you think you are, there will always be someone tougher, meaner, and bigger than you." It was with this line that I would lead into the benefits and positive consequences of negotiating one's differences instead of promoting violence.
Riad, all I can say this am is kudos for teaching middle school. There is a middle school down the street and many of the students walk by our house. Oh my, what comes out of their mouths. It was a girl who shattered a glass bottle in the intersection and when my husband was cleaning it up, some driver got irritated. I am still in the chapter about 1967 in the book.
Riad, what a great segway into discussing negotiation. Violence is only appreciated by the people who use it successfully. The victims don't and can build up resentments that often lead to appalling outcomes - the poor structure for "peace" after WWI led directly to Hitler and WWII for example.
The "losers" keep looking for ways to get even or to crush those they think did them dirty. Men and some women can't seem to help it, and we all suffer for it. However, when people who like and commit or incite violence are not held accountable for it, they will commit even more violence against anyone they think won't properly comply with whatever BS they come up with to control them. We have that in force in DC and in the red states. The people are afraid to say or do anything about it because they fear retribution and they may well be right. However, if they do nothing, they will face worse in the future because that's the way testosterone-drenched men function. Their escapes from their bad actions embolden them and they are off and running against anyone and everyone whom they think have crossed them. Thank God that is a minority, but alas a substantial minority!
bitchybitchybitchy, I find it so interesting that we women have to make sure that we clarify that we don't mean all women are a certain way and can name the exceptions, but men rarely do that. Women are more likely to defend the men who "aren't that bad" than men are. Yep, it is the women who actually want to smooth things over, something men seem unlikely to do!
Ruth, I take issue with your second paragraph. In general, I believe people conflate faculty with choice.
In your list of things women are "better with," only childbirth is valid. Men are capable of patience, listening, creative and empathetic writing, innovation and adaptation, and more. Unfortunately, the majority of men choose to channel these strengths toward objectives that are unhelpful to society and the human condition.
Men have been extraordinarily productive in the arts and other forms of human discovery and cultural enrichment. A great many of these men were/are gay. Not because they think they are women, but because they were/are fearless about rejecting societal pressures and connecting with their inherent empathy.
Everyone – both men and women – should guard against perpetuating stereotypes.
Dale, alas, I disagree with you. I did not say that men don't possess the qualities I mentioned for women but that they are not as good at them as women, except for child-birth. I still believe I am right about that. I have been around a long time and it is men who cause and start wars, who screw people financially, run scams, kill people, start fights, refuse to listen to anyone else, disrupt meetings and events, jump to conclusions in critical situations far far more than women. Part of that may be hormones, a situation that could be addressed with drugs or emotions training, but most of it is cultural and comes with being human and having to listen to the testosterone-laden tales throughout our history that hardly mention women, even though it is women who regularly hold things together. There aren't medals for that.
Do keep in mind that, with the exception of "birthing babies," many of our qualities as women are survival skills that have grown out of our long centuries of oppression. They're worth hanging on to, but let's not fall into the trap of thinking they're all innate.
Susanna, you are so right that those characteristics are not innate. Some probably are because women have a nature-based "need" to protect children and others, but they have to be nurtured and honed as any skills must be. Men can have these skills too, but there are consequences among their bros if they have too many of them; heck, they might be called "girly" or "unmanned" or some other equally difficult term for men to "patiently" tolerate.
We need to finally get rid of the patriarchal society we have lived with for so very long. Its time for a big change. Men and their fragile egos have ruined our culture. No more men being paid more just because they're men. Women are the backbone of our society but get no credit for it. Women need to wake up too and take back their power. Stop playing the subservient role. Men get away with so much because Women allow it.
MAJOR difference between women and men: Women work together to achieve common goals; Men work in competition with each other to achieve individual goals. It’s either WE can do this! Or I can do this!
This is, of course, a broad generalization. But a fairly accurate description of the current administration. Noted exception are the women who formerly worked as cabinet members but who are now gone.
But please, do not discount the fact that women can be ruthless. It comes from the drive to keep their children alive at any cost. I love it when women are ruthless...
Eve, of course women can be ruthless and there are a few who have demonstrated all the worst behaviors men demonstrate, but that is a very small minority, I would say, tiny. The bad behaviors like stirring up conflict, doing harm to others, using violence, and anti-democratic actions are not a tiny minority among men, but quite a significant minority of men!
The ‘Total Women’ of the Christian Right are the problem. They massochistically ENJOY being ‘dominated’ and think in their twisted minds that THE BIBLE tells women to be subjugate to their husbands. This interpretation has led to everything from ‘abuse’ to ‘fascism’ on the part of males, worldwide. ‘Honour’ killings still exist in backward countries!
Donald Trump, by virtue of his rape conviction, has demonstrated that his sexual preference is for ‘power’ over women, and his pushing for the elimination of “Roe” proves that he actually hates females, and wishes to harm and ‘punish’ them (while gaining favour with the Christian Right = votes!)
The suffragettes DARED to claim their rightful position as co-parents and equal citizens of their countries…which angered the misogynistic men, but also the brainwashed women of that time.
A ‘new’ challenge is coming from factions in the USA, who want to AGAIN deny womens’ RIGHT TO VOTE.
To that fascist idea we say: WHO BROUGHT ‘YOU’ INTO THIS WORLD?
Unless you are a ‘seahorse’, the answer is a FEMALE!
“The Handmaid’s Tale” is a scary book about what can happen when women give up all their power.
Trump and his regime plan to take power BY FORCE..yet another element of RAPE.
Jean, I do feel for the women of the pathetic Right because they have been groomed for generations to be submissive, but to get what they want when they can through cunning and sneaking. They are extremely good at it. If one is not sure, just look at Erica Kirk, Charlie's wife, and Phyllis Schlaffley and her daughter. Those women are not home caring for hubby and the zillion kids they are supposed to have. Amy Coney Barrett isn't either, yet they espouse that as the only legitimate way women should live.
They claim they are doing god's work, so that is why they do what they do. Uh huh! Their hypocrisy is ignored by the women who often have been forced into such living arrangements, in some places being told rape is just fine, or rather expected, even for little girls and the same with child marriages.
I don't know how to reach those women because I suspect their grooming has been so intense, they would not be able to function on the outside without massive support. They have their little TikToks gushing over just how wonderful it is to be cooking, baking, caring for their amazingly amazing children, having none of the challenges that other mothers have. It's all a big lie of course, but a lot of women fall prey to it and get sucked in.
Those orchestrating this disgrace claim it's in the Bible, and it is, but it is the later books where Paul is portrayed as a misogynistic pig to suit the needs of men in the late 1st Century Roman world. Unfortunately those sexist rants of the later Paul get precedence over what Jesus and the earlier Paul said about and demonstrated related to women because that is what the churchmen wanted, no competition with women of faith.
It is still not possible for women to be priests in many christian sects including Catholicism (the reason I left the Roman church), and the Orthodox churches, Southern Baptist, and most white Evangelical sects. That doesn't strike me as either fair or honest, but it is male and if the men push it on women that anything else is sin, well then, they had better not sin or there will be consequences, pretty serious ones here, and they fear in the afterlife too. So, those women except for a few who keep the whole thing going, those women are trapped!
Yes to ‘Amy Coney Barrett’ bowing - except for her avoiding the direct question when at her Confirmation hearing! She lied her face off to become a ‘Justice’, when in actuality the country was getting ‘her LORD & MASTER’ husband!
Of course he wouldn’t mind ‘sharing’ her with the one giving her the job…let’s hope there isn’t a highly pigmented toddler with straw blonde hair running around the Barrett household. 😖
Jean, that is exactly why a non-entity like Barrett was nominated and approved by the Senate for the Supreme Court. She has been just as wishy-washy as one would expect having heard her testimony at her hearing. She had nothing to say and proved it. That is just what to expect from all the women in Trumplandia! They will be removed in disgrace if they don't go along with the BS, doing whatever their master, Baby Donnie orders them to do, legal or not! We do need standards for who can be nominated for the various positions in our government, particularly our courts.
True. Not sweetie pies like Tlaib, Omar, Crockett, Cortez would be in a Democratic admin.
Unless one has a spot on detailed understanding of the approx. 160,000,000 women in the US, its kind of simplistic to be making these generic assumptions.
No A. Kauffmann, not simplistic, but hopeful. Tlaib, Omar, Crockett, and AOC are all intellects. Their power lies in thought, theory, fact, reality, and demonstrable success for whoever is outside of their personal space. When looking at Trump sycophants, although reasonably accomplished in academic degrees, their thoughts resonate only inward. For them, "it's all about me." This is painfully obvious as the blow hard in chief gives the world the constant evidence of his inward greed. You are correct, however, in pointing out the fact that no one has a detailed understanding of the approximately 160 million women in the US; then again, that's what leadership is all about: to be able to show one in demonstrable fashion their foibles and get them to change, not only for their benefit, but for society as a whole.
Bonnie, yes, and those women think they have power, but we have seen what happens if they are not as clever and good at whatever they have been told to do as Baby Donnie and his toddler pool want, they are out. What I don't understand is how those women can live with themselves. I am guessing the indoctrination is so strong they just do it, and usually not well, but that is just like the men around Trump, or at least most of them. Some get all kinds of Kudos (contracts, privileges like private jets, and more) for their compliance: Musk, Theil,Vought, and on and on. Some of those folks are running the show, though which means they get to judge everyone else supposedly for their Baby Donnie. It really is pretty disgusting!
Whilst I am a feminist in this distinctly male dominated USA, i would respectfully remind everyone, that.not all men are like Putin, Orban, Hitler and Trump. The world recently celebrated Sir David Attenborough's birthday who is an educated humanitarian, of which there are many in this world. An all female government is not necessary to peace. There have been many cruel, selfish woman leaders and politicians in the past and even currently! However, The US has never endorsed a woman, for that one has to look to Europe and its history. Having said that, I partly agree, our current situation would never have happened had Hilary or Kamala been President.
Agree.Well said. The best of men and women need to come forth and work together, bonded and dedicated to freedoms, justice, practical and compassionate solutions and integrity . Integral. Whole. The patriarchy of slime balls does not represent all men but the men of Integrity must show up.The repair and amends must be shoulder to shoulder with women with mutual R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
It is not gender that determines one’s ability to be a leader. I have always been leery of the notion that “competitiveness “
Is a trait that is always admirable. The reason for my concern is that many pathologies fly under the flag of “ competitiveness “.
Trump’s version is that he can “ win” only if you lose. Wall street’s version is that winning is everything, and ethics or morals are not to be considered in that quest. Sports are supposed to be a method of teaching teamwork, but most sports are now about the win/lost chart, not about anything else.
So, perhaps we need to redefine what competitiveness is.
Pam Bondi would term herself as competitive. What she is is a viper who simply cannot tolerate being called to account for her obvious failures and cheating. She and others in today’s political arena are not “competitive”. They are simply opportunists who believe they are entitled to win because they know the “right” people and they “look the part”.
This country’s misogynistic history has rejected many competent and qualified women, going back before Hillary and Kamala.
The misogyny of White Male idea that cooperation or empathy are signs of weakness and therefore a female trait has led us to Donald J Trump and a collection of losers who are, by their standards, winners because they have become rich by questionable methods. These current examples have exposed the obvious hollowness of the idea that these incompetent and corrupt people are “winners” in any possible definition of that word.
Hopefully we are entering an era where the Content of Character is considered rather than the size of a bank account.
This rant is too long. I apologize for not being able to edit this down to a bumper sticker.
Linda, it is just not the US. Most societies have been patriarchal although there have been some exceptions. Alpha males have made everyone miserable throughout the millennia.
Linda, I agree. When thinking of a healthy competition, I always think of the Olympics. There, athletes are competing against the clock, or against perfection or some other standard. With the exception of sports which rely on teamwork, itself a noble principle, there are no winners and losers; there are only medalists and other competitors.
It occurs to me that the concept of competition is poisoned by money and/or power. Competition becomes a a zero-sum game requiring a winner and a loser when the winner gets the money or the power and the loser gets nothing.
To my mind, the most qualified person ever to run for the U.S. presidency was Hillary Clinton. In every respect. In 1972 I voted for Shirley Chisholm to be President, writing in my wife's name as VP. I've been around females a lot smarter than me my entire life, and I've got a J.D. and a Ph.D., both from Harvard. It's not that I haven't moved in circles where one would expect to find highly intelligent females. They're everywhere I went. My mother started it.
I thought Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Monroe, Lincoln, T. Roosevelt, Hoover, F.D. Roosevelt, Eisenhower, maybe Kennedy, Johnson, H.W. Bush, W. Bush and Bdien were all quite qualified. Just an opinion of course.
Some of those men were well qualified, but none had the experience that Hillary Clinton had. IMO, George W. Bush was clearly not qualified and led us to a national disaster and to the brink of a Great Depression, Obama and the Democrats pulling us back from it. It's what Democrats do - clean up the mess left by Republicans. During Biden's term, he pulled us out of the Covid 19 Pandemic, 3 million jobs were added in 2023 and 2.2 million in 2024. The Wall Street Journal and The Economist both claimed that "the Biden economy is the envy of the world." In all of 2025 under Trump just 183,000 jobs were created and 92,000 lost in Feb. 2026. Eisenhower stands out as the Republican president who is responsible for building the National Interstate Highway system. I remember in 1952 when our family took a road trip from West Texas to Oregon It was "back roads" the entire way. We slept alongside the road going and coming.
W. Bush was a two term governor. Governor's make decisions and, in some ways are better prepared than Senators, who talk for a living. Performance is a separate, retrospective subject than threshold qualification.
Curious -- were you a lawyer in California Bay area?
Frankly, while I believe you can have your opinion, I don't believe that either Bush was qualified to be president. I've always believed they were in the presidency because of their ties to oil and not because of their qualifications. And you missed Barrack Obama. As for me, he may go down as one of the greatest presidents. While I've never even graduated from college, which doesn't mean I'm completely illiterate, I seriously I could have been a much better president than djt. That being said I do concur with others that Hilary Clinton could have been one of the greats. I also believe that Kamala Harris is/was far more qualified to be president than djt. She had many advisers that both Obama and Biden had that would have gone with her to the White House, including the superior economic advisers compared to the economic moron's of the republican party.
I really wish it didn't always need to come down to gender or preference. I would much rather vote for capability.
I would be careful about suggesting that you yourself could have been a better President than Donald Trump.
In my estimation, that puts you just slightly above the lowly banana, which, even after sitting on the shelf for several weeks gathering brown marks and mushy insides, would probably be a better President than Donald Trump.
I doubt there is anything, living or non-living, that wouldn't be.
You are confusing qualification with your views of performance. H.W. Bush was a Congressman, Ambassador, CIA director and vice president. One of the most qualified of the 20th century, by far, other than perhaps Eisenhower. W. Bush was twice governor of Texas. Governors administer, execute, make decisions and negotiate with legislators. Those are major qualifications. Remember that F. Roosevelt was 2x governor of New York.
Obama was a former state senator and just 2 years into a first term as US Senator. He was among the least prepared, and many would differ with your rosy view of his performance. But gain, the issue is qualification to be, not performance as.
Why is it assumed that when someone says it’s time for women to lead, it means all men will be dismissed? That’s the result of decades of patriarchy at work. No one is saying a female POTUS will replace every man with a woman. It shouldn’t even have to be defended. It is past time for the US to elect a woman as we’ve had two excellent candidates passed over in favor of the most corrupt, narcissistic, incompetent, felonious man ever to run for president in my lifetime. I hope those who couldn’t bring themselves to vote for a woman have learned their lesson.
Unfortunately your comment is exactly the reason that it is highly unlikely we will see any woman as President for quite a while. The idea that the people who voted for Trump will "learn their lesson" is just silly. They are still in love with the guy, no matter what idiotic things he does. No one is learning any lessons.
And the very FACT that they ignored two excellent candidates to vote instead for a corrupt, narrcissistic incompetent felon just proves that point. THey didn't care then and they will not care all that much in the future. The "war" to win back the Presidency will not take place in the depths of the Trump pool of voters, those people are basically already given up to "hell", but in the ranks of the undecideds, both the ones who sat out 2024 because they couldn't decide, as well as the ones who sat out 2024 because they despised Harris for supporting the mistakes of the Biden administration.
Its one of the plagues of being VP. You end up being associated with the problems of the administration without being able to say much to show you might be better than that. This plagued Al Gore in 2000, and Hubert Humphrey in 1968, and Nixon in 1960. Bush I is the only guy in quite a long time who gravitated directly from VP to President (without the unexpected death of a sitting President) and he ended up being a 1-termer when Clinton beat him in 1992.
I just looked it up and the last three Presidents who went directly from VP to the White House without a Presidential death or resignation are:
George HW Bush - 1989
Thomas Jefferson - 1801
John Adams - 1797
Yup, that's it. EVERY OTHER VP who ever went into the White House immediately after the President they worked for got there because of the death of their President, either through natural causes or assassination. The other two exceptions of VPs becoming president are Nixon (who lost in 1960 to Kennedy, but came back to win in 1968) and Biden (who didn't run in 2016, but came back to win in 2020). So anyone who wants to become President probably should avoid being VP as the odds don't favor doing so after your President's term(s) are over.
I am so tired of the "Not all men" lecture. And "yes, but Margaret Thatcher." "Yes but Ghislaine Maxwell." Gosh, really? It never occurred to me. I'll have to give it some thought.
Seriously. It is all men until proven wrong. What is it like 90% of all violent crimes are committed by men? 60 million men visited the rape academy site? Incest is one of the top searches on porn sites. We have an epidemic of sexual abuse committed overwhelmingly by men in that no one wants to acknowledge. Every woman knows this. Our children bear the brunt of this abuse. This is one of the main issues of why we are here. Generations of abuse and trauma. A good and decent man would not try to hide this truth but would stand up for what is right.
Anna, yes - and good men don't have to get defensive and launch into a "not all men" tirade. Start calling out the bad ones and you won't get lumped in with them. It's not rocket science.
Okay, Alexandra. So then I assume that you are silent when people say all women are whiny gossips who are lousy financial managers; who tart themselves up so they can catch a man with money; who can only get ahead in the workplace by sleeping with the boss.
Because nobody wants to be lectured about how "not all women are like that."
Before Viktor Orbán perfected authoritarian chic in Hungary, he had cheerleaders across the Atlantic. Trump and his inner circle publicly praised Orbán’s anti-LGBTQ laws and “traditional values” messaging, lending international endorsement to his brand of illiberalism. With that backing, Orbán did not just legislate, he marketed oppression like a lifestyle.
In Hungary, anti-LGBTQ laws and rigid gender roles were not policy, they were a product line. He did not whisper “we disapprove.” He posted it in neon letters, tagged “traditional values,” and called it a lifestyle. Imagine scrolling through your feed and seeing “Illiberal Summer Collection: now with less freedom for women and queer people.” Trump-friendly headlines and nods from Western allies made the brand feel not only acceptable but aspirational.
The press, of course, treated it delicately. “Illiberal democracy” they called it, because saying what you mean is apparently bad form. It is the political equivalent of calling a mud pie “artisan dessert.” Orbán literally turned oppression into aesthetic. Want your civil liberties trimmed? There is a law for that. Want love policed by the state? Check out the “traditional family values” collection. International applause only added gloss to the display.
Then came the voters. Orbán got booted, proving that even the slickest illiberal branding eventually expires. But the lesson lingers. Authoritarianism wrapped in euphemism is seductive, especially when endorsed abroad. It looks neat on paper, stylish in speeches, and photogenic in the media. Yet behind the filter, people lose freedom, autonomy, and dignity.
Orbán’s “brand” may be gone, but the template survives. Illiberalism, marketed as values and cheered by powerful friends, shows how language can make oppression seem chic. In politics, honesty is the most radical act of all, and nothing is more unfashionable than saying it like it is.
It is an age old problem ie separating humans into groups, by choosing which categories of location, education, job, married or not, religion preference or no religion....one can continue infinitely with various categories.
Jesus kept it simple: love one another as I have loved you and freely, poured out My life for you. ( and His words did not imply we were worth His sacrifice. He did this out of love and compassion....to save us from our self-destruction.)
.."he marked oppression like a lifestyle." Wonderful.
The original "illiberal" himself, Vlad the Impaler in Moscow, has always surrounded himself with the gilt and bling of the Russian Orthodox Church, which has never failed to provide him with "lifestyle" justifications for supporting a tsar-murderer. The Patriarch is fond of using "gay-parad" in his sermons, always in English, always with a sneering, sing-song voice (pretending no Russian translation exists helps convey the myth that all this is nothing but a western invasion, like NATO). A few years ago, he added a certainist feminist punk rock group to his denunciation repertoire. Now, when prompted, his minions, satraps and archdeacons snarl "Poosy Rye-aht!" "Poosy" "Poooooooosy!!" on command.
I agree, and I am absolutely a feminist. I don’t want to see us split as men vs women. Let’s come together as a people who care about freedom, health of the planet, kindness. Enough of us-vs-them. Enough.
Clio was the Greek muse of history, usually portrayed with a book or scroll in her hand - whereas in our most "enlightened" age the Clio award is distributed in the US for excellence in advertising. And Clio was the muse of lyre playing but doubt that showing excellentce in advertising would be serenaded by a bank of lyre players!
Unfortunately!! The most probable plot for a Sci-Fi movie would be the inevitable ‘WAR’ of men vs women.
With the divorce rate still climbing over 60%, and more women deciding to ‘raise a child on their own’ (SPERM BANKS)…men like Donald Trump who USE women…and abuse women…and consider women ‘inferior’, are making MISOGYNY popular. 🤮
Romance is becoming an ‘old fashioned’ idea, instead of a guide to mutual respect.
Someone buy POTUS #47 one of those anatomically correct dolls so he will leave women alone! They can be programmed to say ‘whatever the owner wants’…😉
Excellent thoughts, Maureen! WE, the People means ALL people and not just a select few from a select gender. This is especially important to say right after Mothers’ Day!
We've learned through scientific research why some among us are gay and others transsexual - they are naturally occurring phenomena. The basic cause is biological, occurring with the zygote and afterwards. It's not the case with the majority of humans, but it is predictable to occur in some. The Religious Right don't understand or, perhaps, don't want to know how it occurs. The Religious Right are now saying that "separation of church and state" is a fiction. Well, we're involved in a heated battle to decide this issue, with the "No-Separation" group willing to do whatever it takes (rigging vote count) to win the contest and establish a Christian theocracy here.
Scientists continue to discover that atypical sexuality occurs literally throughout all of nature. Some plants switch from male to female. Numerous animal species with "homosexual" members have been discovered. So it's not just a human phenomenon, and it's not a choice or a preference.
Several historians have traced the religious issues with sexuality and reproduction to being a matter of power, not morality. From the beginning of religious activity, religions have been in competition for dominance over populations. The obvious solution is to outnumber the competition. This was brought into clear focus when the Roman Catholic Church saw itself threatened by the spread of Islam. So the Holy See declared that any limits to human reproduction were sins, including homosexuality, birth control and abortion, practices about which the Church previously had no opinion.
Dale, I do think that that is the case - that creatures "in the wild" have the same thing occur to them as to humans since we all share the same DNA, some more (pigs, dogs, apes, etc.) and some less (octopuses.) I grew up where the area had a lot of livestock. I felt that some were not fully heterosexual.
Speaking of Islam and Catholicism, religion remains a very serious threat to democratic institutions. We're contending with that phenomenon, religion mixed with racism, at this very moment.
If there was any hint of the “Christian theocratic” political ideology being in any way related to the movement started by the person called the Christ, it would not be such a sick joke.
I fully agree, Linda - It’s about POWER and what generates the power and keeps it going? MONEY. And Trump and his family and his followers love money.
Every morning, I do a CryptoGram or two. Today’s was stunning and fits so perfectly into a discussion about Power and Money:
From Nicholas Sparks
I finally understood what true love meant... love meant that you care for another person's happiness more than your own, no matter how painful the choices you face might be.
When his ‘senility’ becomes more advanced, I can picture Donald Trump (reverted to age apx 4) saying: “I MADE ME!” 👶
And therein lies the problem of the misogynistic mind! Trump does not even ‘recognize’ his own mother…nor any American mother’s value…beyond popping ‘males’ into this world to take their ‘ordained’ place as most important.
Come to think of it: DJT also believes he chose his ‘colour’ while in the womb, and would deport ‘Jesus’s ‘arab’ fisage on sight!
It would be comical if it were not so SERIOUS an issue.
Well yes and as folks say in Chicago. There has been for eons a massive erasure of the feminine voice. This includes the Hebrew Bible where if a female is named it means great importance like the naming of Moses’ midwives.It has been greatly unbalanced so my reading as a child and young adult in college more white male than not.But I did read Virginia Hamilton and PL Travers and learned to look at the footnotes read the prefaces and afterwards and bibliographies.
Tillie Olsen’s book Silences needs to be re-edited or perhaps expanded. Judy Chicago’s wonderful art dinner table brought out expanded. Mary McLeod Bethune’s wonderful will brought out . Why not all fifty states and commonwealths highlight women for a year? There are many statues of women in the Capital Rotunda why are they not in my mind set?
The Roman Catholic Church plays into this as well. I don’t understand all the power plays and machinations of the last decades.
And yes a female can be just as evil as a male. What I want is an earth that supports all good people regardless and minimizes any who hurt harm others or the earth.
"Margaret Thatcher led Britain during the 1982 Falklands War, decisively responding to Argentina’s invasion. "Responding" to is the operative word here." The Falklands War is an interesting read.
They know what Russia's "special military operation" means, unlike Republicans, who are sure ours in Iran is going splendidly every time Pete Kegsbreath bounces up and down on his Florsheims in some mock, North Korean-style presentation in front of a TV camera about our "victory" in the Strait of Hormuz.
Thanks ICTT again to the first iteration of ‘Kegsbreath’, giving me another chuckle. Bringing SNL ‘s recent rendition of the ‘best’ GOB ‘s club rucking up male testosterone -punching each other raving/demonstration over pure ego absurd’s display was clear brilliance so pointedly perfect. TY SNL👍
From the frat pranks to the ongoing slaughter of billions of children…and labeled ‘ Civilized Nations’…or ‘Christian (fill in the next blanks)…
I wish to visit those myself but my friends have visited and they have a similar view that led me to think the leader is not really representing the people here, remember why presidents were elected? to represent its people!
If that’s not happening, how are these people still in power….one may (or may not) dare to question…
Anyway, you have a goodnight, Alexandra, and a belated Mother’s Day to you!
I understand. I do. But sometimes I understand and still disagree. What is not needed, in my humble opinion, is an all-man or all-woman lineup. What is needed is a "we are all equal" lineup. So, now, maybe it's you who understands and still disagrees. I'm good with that.
I completely agree. The phrase is over used - but there is a toxic masculinity in this administration, but it is essential to remember that this is not a characteristic of all men. And there are women monsters too -- Bondi, Noem, Leavitt, Collins, Blackburn, etc. We need a government of good men and women who will serve the country not plunder it and take away rights.
Thank you for including Blackburn—my fascist senator. Or at least it’s alleged she’s our senator—we never see her and she most certainly does NOT talk to constituents . She led the charge for dismantling the single Dem-leaning district in TN.
MLM, I did some checking to confirm my suspicions. Blackburn is, in fact, a member of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville. At first blush, one might think, "Well, Presbyterians are 'mainliners,' so liberal, right?"
Nope! Years ago, the Presbyterian Church split into two schisms, PCUSA (moderate) and PCA (hardline conservative, aka evangelical). When Presbyterians split, Christ Presbyterian went with PCA, a comfortable church home for a christofascist like Blackburn.
I knew that but had forgotten there was a RW faction. In any case, whatever Blackburn claims to be, she has her lips sewn to trump’s butt. Has since the beginning.
We agree, except I don't mind the "toxic masculinity" phrase assuming we add our natural detoxification capabilities to the conversation. One can be a successful podcaster without causing unnecessary harm.
In reality, there hasn’t ever been a matriarchal society because when women do have power, they share their power and the society is egalitarian. The link below is really well researched and explains it well. The differences in the type of rule aren’t traits inherent to gender but instead a result of thousands of years of conditioning of genders under the patriarchy. Don’t worry, women aren’t going to oppress men.. though women breaking free from their caste may feel like oppression to some men (in the same way that some.. or many.. white Americans felt “oppressed” because a black man broke free from his caste to become president, leading to MAGA).
Thanks for the link. I'll check it out when I get a chance.
However ... it took me till the fourth word in your title to identify what I think is a flaw in your "there hasn't ever" theory based on my "ever includes recorded and not recorded" theory. The following is not a threat to -- and is instead a potential opportunity to enrich -- your theory.
From Christopher Boehm’s book, Hierarchy in the Forest: The Evolution of Egalitarian Behavior (2001) …
P5: Humans were egalitarian for thousands of generations before hierarchical societies began to appear (as many as 12,000 generations).
P32: The nuclear families in human societies are scarcely void of hierarchy. Why then do the main political actors at the (hunter-gatherer) band level behave as equals?
P35: A distinctively egalitarian political style is highly predictable whenever people live in small, locally autonomous social and economic groups (bands maxing out at Dunbar’s number of 150 individuals), and in my opinion this situation is likely to have a single causal explanation (IMHO … our shared Homo sapiens genetically inherited social instinct).
Alexandra, I am so excited about Hungary and Ukraine. Both make me hopeful. See my comment to Mike where I point out a petition in the article I posted.
I will point out a couple of things in addition to what Heather is telling us that I noticed. One, a couple of Polish crooks who stole from the country and exiled in Hungary, have left Hungary and arrived in the US. Poland is wondering how they could travel since they Passports were confiscated. Apparently he has a press visa and will be working for a far right Polish publication.
Poland is going to ask for him to be extradited. People in the US must insist that they be extradited. Keep an eye on these stories. The US is going to fill up with far right exiles if one is not careful. Get MAGA to be upset about letting all these criminals in.
Secondly, I noticed that Putin has said they would negotiate a peace and European security agreement with Ukraine and Europe and wants Gerhard Schröder to be in charge. Schröder is politically persona non gratis as far as I am concerned in Germany. He betrayed the Social Democrats, the party he belonged to, and he has made money off of the Russians, so he is not impartial in this. However, Putin gaslighting Ukraine and Europe like this leads me to believe that he is no longer looking at the US as interlocutor to end the war, which he may be wanting to do, just like Trump wants out of Iran, but they only know how to continue being aggressive not how to say "UNCLE!" Which is what both Putin and Trump should be doing. I think that Putin is trying to appear as if he holds the cards, but he does not hold all the cards, he may have some. If Europe would realize its might, it would stand up to Putin and say "Enough is enough. End this war now."
Alexandra, What about AOC and Gov. Whitmer? They are very intelligent caring women with experience, they care about our nation and constitution, they believe in justice for all, have the ability to learn new ways of functioning, they have a good understanding of who to turn to for help, and people like them.
Oh, beware. I have faith in what women like you, and AOC, and Michelle, and Pramila and thousands of us carrying signs are capable of. But then, there are the Noems and the Bondis and too many other biological females who I don't trust for a minute, just because they are women. We want strong, honest, brave, democracy-inspired women ... and men. That saying, I'd love to see one of "us" be elected president of the USA!
YES! I'm with you, Alexandra all the way in doing whatever it takes to undo what 250 years of male dominated leadership has done to this country. Bring on the women because we have many wonderful options from which to choose.
Would that all-women lineup include MTG, Lauren Boebert, Laura Loomer, Tulsi Gabbard, Pam Bondi, Michelle Bachman, Kristi Noem, Linda McMahon, Karoline Leavitt, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Nikki Haley, et al?
Violence Against Women in the United States — Key Data (2025)
Violence against women in the U.S. remains a major public health and safety issue, with multiple forms of abuse — including intimate partner violence, sexual assault, stalking, and psychological aggression — affecting millions annually.
41% of U.S. women have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime The Global Statistics.
73% of all domestic violence victims are women The Global Statistics.
22.5% of women (about 28.8 million) have experienced stalking in their lifetime The Global Statistics.
47% of women have experienced physical violence, sexual violence, or stalking by an intimate partner The Global Statistics.
Over 61 million women have experienced psychological aggression by an intimate partner in their lifetime The Global Statistics.
Also
What is the gender pay gap in the US? Women made about 81 cents for every dollar men made as of the third quarter of 2025. This means that men with full-time jobs typically make 24% more than women in full-time jobs.
While, having been around for over 81 years, I am no stranger to your stats. But that is not the issue to which I was referring. The question was whether an all-woman leadership group would necessarily be a good thing. I was suggesting that it would not necessarily be.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and Gorbachev's dissolution of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991, Russia had no enemies. No army was poised to break its borders, no one wished for its destruction. For the first time in perhaps 500 years, even former adversaries simply wished it well as a normal country, not the purveyor of an empire of cruelty and a failed ideology.
Multiple past causes always exist to explain why the present looks the way it does, but Russia's decision to undo all of that good will, closing in on itself -- the way it has for most of its history -- remains deeply striking. In the 1500s, Ivan the Terrible locked himself behind the Kremlin's walls, guarded by his 'oprichnina.' The same secret police force metamorphosed into the NKVD under Stalin, killing millions and imprisoning millions more. Today, a former low-level KGB agent-turned-tsar spends most of his time inside a bomb-proof bunker. Millions of the country's best and brightest have fled the country rather than live under Russia's sham democracy or get drafted to fight a pointless, vicious, suicidal war with its closest neighbor. Oil reserves from the Baltic to Vladivostok continue to burn unabated.
With the ousting of Orbán and Trump's accelerating descent into 3-year-old idiocy, the world of the 'man without a face' now looks much the same as that of Tsar Ivan -- fear, isolation, and growing madness are now its 'gifts' both to itself and to the world.
Some history, it seems, always manages to rhyme regularly and repeatedly with peals of failure and past brokenness, rather than with hope for the future.
"Maybe we all need to stop fighting for awhile". Yes, Mike. There was a good news report from Axios & U.S. police departments on this Mothers' Day 2026:
Violent crime rates "plunge in America's big cities". Here is some of the data from across our United States:
* Baltimore, MD down 🔻83.8%
* Auroa, CO down 🔻66.7 %
* Washington, D.C. down 🔻64.7%
* Raleigh, North Carolina down 🔻63.7%
No violence begets no violence. No "tribal hostilities".
There has been a downward trend in violence for a long time. That is why the school shootings have been so horrific for me to process. The gun industry like golf industry losing their businesses so instead of being wise and forward thinking and following new trends they have created vortexes of machinations to pull in profits at any course. The whole stranger danger trope is also more myth than not. It has been a very clever way to install fear in the populace when the stats show most victims know their offenders. Finally the dirty laundry is being cleaned and hung out to try for all to see.
ICE abducting Americans off our streets is not a downward trend. ICE murders are not a downward trend. Deaths in America's prisons and concentration camps is not a downward trend. Maternal deaths from an inadequate healthcare system and the overturning of Roe v Wade not a downward trend. Rape is not a downward trend.
If you read in the past starting from the nineteen ninties there was a confirmed downward trend. However a confirmed downward trend does not encompass all things . And one has to look at the geographic locations (the United Stares and the Netherlands gun violence stats very very different).The other issue of rape for much of human civilization and has many connections to patriarchy . If one looks at history through an oppressor / survivor lens the whole new world enterprise of trade work and trading stock companies and mercantiles and merchants violence or oppression on a whole different scale and hidden fairly successfully until now.
The administration focus is on fear tactics a of all tropes and images. It is a tool of control. And yes the number of guns is staggering in our country. But it has been handled in gun buyouts and art sculptures. Also not talked about is the power and control differential in labor and work both small and multinational corporations today. NDAs a silent but ever so forceful control mechanism and I would posit a kind of modern day undercover violence.
And again for maternal healthcare yes but not new. To explore maternal health care investigate and research the midwives and how they became until the last thirty years almost extinct. St Hildegard of Birgin a kind of midwife and her use of wild carrot interesting.
Well it’s been bad for along time and I think Dr Richardson has labelled these buildings as concentration camps as well. You know don’t you that there has always been tales at hospitals and group homes and refugee camps and church camps abd any place where humans congregate . I have called and written donated to various causes and called in the trauma field with these issues in particular. Philosophy is not a dirty Barbara . Ignorance is. So the two children hiding under the ghost of Christmas present ignorance and want. We all need to work in all of these issues abd learning more about everything every day is helpful. And we all do what whatever can all of us knowing it will never be enough alone .
A military invasion and brutality against the citizens generally suppress all kinds of behavior. I guess we can look to Russia and China for their models of crime prevention.
I was being wildly sarcastic. Calling the National Guard into the streets was not a good thing. The dictatorships of Russia and China imprison and torture their citizens. There are concentration camps in America right now torturing, raping and killing the people they swept up in ICE raids. Is this your America?
Anand Giridharadas, Mike, spoke to this infighting you cite here, on Joanna Coles' podcast.
In part five of his five-part series investigating who at core are the Trump-Epstein elites, he drew a contrast between them, always protecting each other, benefiting each other, giving each other cover, elite impunity, and the rest of us, the "bottom 99%," always split in tribal hostilities.
TY Phil. Personally I can’t read/watch all these marvelously accurate posts/podcasts/live shows..too few (even with rising subscriptions 👏) do or can. The trend hopefully sends the clear autocratic demise ..notably , again.
Education is key, and my next question-will we ever really learn?
Sounds like the "military operation" of the US on Iran. I'm thinking since quite a while that cis-males seem to be the least qualified gender to rule the world.
Mike, I and perhaps others, have posted this music vid here before; listened to it a lot in the run up to the ‘24 election with my fingers crossed 🤞. Keb’ ‘Mo & Rosanne Cash “Put a Woman In Charge” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FciQeRGYFlw
(originally written by Keb’ to honor his grandmother).
And allow me to suggest that our next president should not only be a woman, but a woman with a background in skilled nursing and not in politics. Thank you.
William ... no worries ... please make that suggestion because it allows me to make what I believe is an important and valid counterargument.
Allow me to suggest that the next POTUS should not only be a politician, but a real politician, meaning a candidate like Pete Buttigieg, someone who is an expert practitioner due to the deliberate practice of politics (meaning NOT a candidate like Ronny Raygun who was an expert practitioner due to the deliberate commitment of political malpractice).
A woman with a background in skilled nursing — and not in politics — should have been able to tell the difference between a real politician and a phony snake oil salesman on the day she received her elementary school graduation certificate. If we need people who think that being an expert in one field of endeavor makes “me” an expert in every field of endeavor, then we’ve already got plenty, and in my humble opinion, we don’t need any.
Thank you for your rational response. My less rational response to your rational response is to make Buttigieg chief of staff to our skilled female nurse president . Any great leader will surround herself with people who know more than she does. That, in the end, is what makes for a wise leader. No?
Well … since you asked, and with all due respect … no. You’ve described the cake but the cake is not its ingredients. I suggest Einstein’s ingredients.
1 oz “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
1 oz “You cannot solve a problem with the same thinking that created the problem.”
1 lb of the “how not to create a problem” thinking (“I have no special talent. I am only patiently curious.”)
1 gross “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
May I suggest a word change? Say, "Narcissists are insufferable especially if you're governed by one." Then define "governed by" as including people in an elected office and/or a manager's office.
William, I'm with James on this. What got us into this mess is the U.S. electorate's being entranced with unqualified celebrities having no training, experience, and frankly, no passion for public service. We are desperately in need of a politician, in the traditional, dictionary sense of the word.
If a nursing graduate decides to change course, get a degree in constitutional law, serve in public office at the local, state and federal levels before running for the presidency, then I would consider him/her qualified. Without that background, no.
I am a member of Indivisible Abroad. I lead a group in a city in Northern Germany. Indivisible Abroad and Indivisible are some of the organizations supporting Free Speech for People's campaign to impeach Trump and his cabinet. Would you please read my piece explaining it and help us get 2 million signatures by signing the petition in it? https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/indivisible-abroad-supports-the-impeach?r=f0qfn
Thanks to Heather’s piece this am, and Mike’s thoughts…I actually experienced a moment of possibility that Americans could follow the lead of the Hungarian people who found a way to take back their country, and begin to reclaim and rebuild their love of freedom and Democracy. We can do it too!
Yes, we all need to stop fighting - much of which has been fanned into flames by the very powers we want out - and focus on taking our country back. I voted for the two women who have run for president this past decade. Neither was a perfect human being (which some people feel are the only ones they can ever vote for) but neither would have brought us to where we are today. But I would rather find a person - male or female - without the pathological need to destroy the planet than set up another binary, good vs evil choice for anything based on race or gender. We, women, were raised more than men to be inclusive, seek consensus, be supportive, be empathetic, not win at any cost, etc. But all I need is to be reminded of Pam Bondi, ICE Barbie, Ghislaine Maxwell, Imelda Marcos, Phyllis Schlafly and others to understand that being female does not automatically mean better than.
That's a dead giveaway of a conman. Right in there with with "Doctors don't want you to know about this one weird trick that cures all illness" and the foreign prince who wants you to share in his millions.
Basic Human Consciousness is enough tbh for understanding we only crave for simple living, no hatred, no discrimination, treat everyone good, dont scam people etc…, the rest is bonus.
The trouble is that for eons "divide and conquer" has made some very rich and powerful. Like proscribing rape and murder, we need to create and maintain a social/legal environment that opposes that. Such environments are called properly called "a free country'. Quarrels and conflict are inevitable, and yet we can still collaboratively strive to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.
When you have an enormous military like ours and a national belief that the US MUST win any international conflict to save face, meaning peaceful coexistence isn’t an option, war/conflict is inevitable. (I’m reading ‘JFK and The Unspeakable,’ by James W Douglass, which I think someone here recommended; he makes a convincing case about why our own government killed JFK.)
So obvious that's our only solution now. Our Congress is supine, our court system deeply compromised (even as many within it deliver regular defeats to our illiberal democracy), our 'fourth estate' under attack (with too many in it rolling over) and 1 of our 2 political parties completely cultified and zombified by cruelty and stupidity. Especially with the Virginia Supreme Court ruling -- we have no other choice before us. Let's hope we break through our own laziness and inertia come November.
I get so tired of the “too smart for liberals” left prattling on about “electoralism,” “voting alone won’t save us,” etc. blah blah blah. It is literally at the end of the day the only thing that will save us, because it is the ultimate expression of an engaged, informed electorate. I am a progressive minded Democrat who will always support candidates like AOC over any centrist, but if I lose a primary battle, I’m not picking up my ball and going home. No. We have one common enemy who does not distinguish varying stripes of ideology when they look at us. To them, we are all “radical left” and better off dead. Our democracy is in a fight for its life and so are we as individuals, and I’m here for it. Not backing down. Ever.
It took Hungarians SIXTEEN YEARS to overthrow Orban and his band of thieves! Let’s hope Americans wake up and speak out and VOTE BLUE sooner than that! I’ll likely be dead in 16 years; I’ve had a great life up til now. It would be such a shame to spend the rest of it in misery!
It’s important to keep in mind that Hungary had only a short history of democracy when Orbán took power, only since 1989 with the collapse of the USSR. Comparing Hungary’s struggle with the American experience of 250 years of democracy is not exactly apples to apples.
Hey idiot, did you happen to see that the judge that actually made the ruling was confirmed 95 to 0 in two separate unanimous votes to see him on the previous court to the Supreme Court by the Democrats. Oooooops. But all of a sudden he rules against you and he’s a bad guy. I just love you people. I just love you and it’s so obvious every single time if you’re not in control, you just can’t handle it. Well guess what you’re not in control
Seems like Heather once again forgot to tell you the whole story. What a surprise. And you see the litany of links that she uses wow. They all are tied to PRAVDA in some way or another. I would imagine. Lol
And one thing about you, liberals that I absolutely love when the Supreme Court rules in your favor they are the best but as soon as they rule against you, they need to be removed or changed or altered or fired. If liberals aren’t in control, they go absolutely apeshit.
Mojave, I’ve been ruminating over an idea/dream the last couple of days that relates to all this “red” state gerrymandering. I know it’s probably Pollyanna, Heidi, Snow White + all rolled into one, but what if, just if, in all the newly redrawn districts folks were more together and “with it” than the g-mander’s thought? What if in those districts a person of color was encouraged to run and folks shouted “Hell No We Won’t Jim Crow!!!” and—in an otherwise fair election—managed to win the seat anyway. Now THAT would send a clear message—I can only hope my fellow citizens rise to the occasion. 🗽🇺🇸☮️
Maybe not such a Pollyanna - Snow White dream after all. In Texas, Marc Elias reports that Republicans may lose 2-3 of those 4 districts they were sure they had battened down -- Hispanics have already deserted that miserable coalition. In Virginia, odds are that Democrats will still win 2 out of those 5 districts even after some cynical, rural Republican judge ruled that the votes of 3 millions Virginians weren't legal because of a technicality.
It may be that in and around Memphis, Tennessee, new center-left coalitions of black + white, urban + rural will figure out how work together to deliver 3 new Democratic-voting districts instead of none.
Things have a way of blowing up in the faces of the Repulsican fuck-ups confident their war against voters is playing just fine in Peoria. We shall see...
Update: Just read it…and forwarded it to a friend who’d sent me info on the “wait” strategy circulating instead of very early voting—Hubbell’s piece just seconds that.
The funny thing about politics in a democracy is things often don’t work out the way you try to script them. There is a non-zero chance this will all backfire disastrously for the GOP. Right now the train is speeding down the tracks and their continued solution has been to tighten the rope around themselves as they lie atop the trestle.
Not Pollyanna at all in your idea and thinking. This coming midterm election will be decided by tens of millions of Americans who get out and vote and who are fed up with tRump and motivated by righteous anger and a deep sense of betrayal. It’s up to the people to organize and exercise their voices. Apathy or laziness for some choose not to vote. Will change up Robert Hubbell’s call a bit…
Be the Signal. Ignore the Noise and use your Vote.
Yeah just now read Hubbell’s piece that dropped last night. I have a sign that I put up on my front fence at each election that says “Choosing not to vote is not rebellion, it’s surrender”. In all my years of being eligible to vote, I’ve only missed one mid-term election…my bad!, I was working overtime and the polls had closed by the time I made it there (this was years before early voting, mail-in voting, etc.). Never made that mistake again!
Like Hungary, the U.S. still has the electoral framework to vote fascism out of power. Once the U.S. reaches the level of corruption in Russia, it will be infinitely more difficult, and we must be extremely clear-eyed that unless we rise up now our democracy will be degraded to that degree very soon. Not just the GOP, but our own Supreme Court has been doing its best to dismantle our Constitutional protections and voting rights and enable Trump’s fascism.
The Dems must recognize they have essentially one shot at breaking fascism’s grip and winning back popular support, because the ignorant and fickle electorate will vote the fascists right back into office unless the Dems truly deliver.
"In his inauguration speech, Magyar vowed to “serve my country, not rule over it.” He noted that the corrupt members of the outgoing government “stole from the pockets of Hungarians” and left behind a huge budget deficit and a broken healthcare system. He vowed accountability for those who plundered the country and broke its laws, and promised to rebuild the nation’s shattered checks and balances. He urged Hungarians always to criticize their leaders and hold them accountable."
In 2029 substitute Hungarians for 'Americans':
In 'her' inauguration speech, 'The new President' vowed to “serve my country, not rule over it.” 'She' noted that the corrupt members of the outgoing government “stole from the pockets of 'Americans'” and left behind a huge budget deficit and a broken healthcare system. 'She' vowed accountability for those who plundered the country and broke its laws, and promised to rebuild the nation’s shattered checks and balances. 'She' urged 'Americans' always to criticize their leaders and hold them accountable."
I am reading Without Precedent by Lisa Graves. The sleaze of these six is beyond the pale. John Robert’s is best named John Robber for the injustice he stands for. This situation has been in the making for years thanks to the uber wealthy. We the People can overcome these robber barons if we act together to uphold the values we state in our constitution.
"In his inauguration speech, Magyar vowed to “serve my country, not rule over it.” He noted that the corrupt members of the outgoing government “stole from the pockets of Hungarians” and left behind a huge budget deficit and a broken healthcare system. He vowed accountability for those who plundered the country and broke its laws, and promised to rebuild the nation’s shattered checks and balances. He urged Hungarians always to criticize their leaders and hold them accountable.
“We inherited a country where politics deliberately pitted Hungarians against each other,” he said, and he explained how Orbán mobilized supporters with hatred and fear, poisoning “the collective psyche of an entire nation.” “The Hungarian state must never again do this to its own citizens,” he said. He vowed to heal the country: “We will once again learn to think of ourselves as one nation,” he promised."
This is the story we American citizens expect to hear in 2028. It is too far away unfortunately.
Trump still commands high-70s support among Republicans, even as his overall approval craters. Gerrymandering will likely deliver them at least a split House, while the Senate's rural tilt maintains their control.
Form Zsofi of “Life, Eventually” on Substack, who I urge all here to follow. She is a mother, a lawyer, and an astute observer of politics. She lives in Budapest.
“I apologize to those civilians, teachers, journalists, health workers, and public figures who have been stigmatized, harassed, or treated as enemies for daring to speak out, for daring to stand up for the downtrodden, for expressing criticism, or simply for expressing a different opinion. I apologize."
– said Péter Magyar in his inauguration speech. It wasn't even his doing, yet he apologized for the suffering we had to endure during Orbán's regime.
Yesterday was one the happiest days in my life: we had a party all night long after the inauguration to celebrate us, the people who made it possible.
What is so refreshing is that Magyar uses the word ‘you’ frequently. A certain orange individual cosplaying the US president is always talking about “me, me, me”…
Péter Dósa's "The Hungary Report" on Substack is a faithful account of the day-to-day changes now taking place all over the country and within its government. Most importantly, from the perspective of Europe, the flag of the European Union now flies over Hungary's Parliament after a 15-year absence, and the 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine, held up for months by Orbán, is now a thing of the past.
I've been several times to Budapest - so happy to think of the European flag flying over that magnificent Parliament on the banks of the mighty Danube.
Dear criminal Donald “wants out of the war,” the reporting repeats.
Donald is friend to all the Middle East despots. All corrupt. Like Netanyahu – speaking of which, didn’t dear Bibi forget to tell fellow corrupt Donald that he might get trapped?
Other than Donald, any American traditions dealing with despots?
After all, didn’t the U.S. at the battle of Midway tell the Japanese high command that they, too, then only wanted out?
Didn’t Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and Travis tell Santa Anna they only wanted out?
After incurring all those casualties at Shiloh and Cold Harbor, didn’t Grant inform his opposing Johnny Reb generals he also only wanted out?
Didn’t Patton tell Rommel that’s all he wanted, out?
Easy Company defending front lines outside Bastogne? Out? All they wanted was out?
Dear lifelong impunity Donald, wanting a way out of the war he’d already lost on day one when he killed the 168 girls at Minab.
Ho Hum. Just another Republican forever war with no goals and no exit plan.
And as a reward, the Republicans in Congress refuse to stand up to the war criminals Trump and Kegsbreath by pulling the plug on this purposeless war.
Trump started the war and is just as stubborn as Putin (and as dumb). He won't back down and just keeps digging himself deeper. (Queue the Monty Python scene with the Black Knight having lost both arms and legs yelling, "Get back here, I'll bite your legs off".)
The Pythons could have written the Trump presidency, but he has real presidential power. Even extra-presidential powers according to evil-clown $COTUS.
Just curious. Are there any Middle East heads of government who are not despots? That's a broad brush you paint Trump with. He has to deal with these folks, doesn't do any good to be un-friendly with them.
I entered into search engine: "any Middle East heads of state who are not despots?"
In particular, "madhatter," read-out coming first said, "According to the measure of the level of democracy in nations throughout the world published by Freedom House, the Middle Eastern countries with the highest scores are Israel, Tunisia, Turkey, Lebanon, Morocco, Kuwait, and Jordan. The remaining countries of the Middle East are categorized as authoritarian regimes."
Detailed paras following show none even "with the highest scores" are anywhere close to what Freedom House considers free, with Netanyahu and Erdogan being especially notoriously corrupt.
I would interpret that to say they're all despots to varying degree. It would be interesting to learn the standard Freedom House uses to make this assessment. Again, it makes no sense to be un-friendly.
It's never good to expect someone else to answer your questions. It makes you vulnerable to misinformation and disinformation and it diminishes your information literacy and critical thinking skills in no time at all. Much better to help yourself. Here is an excellent starting point - https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world
You are correct. In matters such as this, I make the effort to find the answers for myself. That effort also helps me ensure that I'm asking the questions most relevant to my information needs. Sometimes, once I've gained knowledge, especially around methodology as you have asked, I find there's actually a more important question my ignorance led me to miss and a new world is opened up to me. I don't want to be restricted by my initial ignorance.
Having the capacity to ask and answer questions also makes for better conversations as conversations dig deeper to create greater interest even when in total disagreement and can explore nuances that lead to common ground. Sometimes I also find that, having taken responsibility for my learning, I strike someone wth a whole heap of expertise who is willing to share their knowledge with people who demonstrate a willingness to take responsibility for their own learning.
Listening to people with expertise also brings us back to that initial question of methodology. If you get into the habit of exploring methodological questions for yourself, you start to learn how different areas of expertise think and why they think those ways. And, that helps you build and hone your critical thinking skills. It also helps you welcome being wrong because you develop such an appreciation for where the how and why questions can take you.
Personally, no. I am only making the point that when dealing with world leaders it's never helpful to be un-friendly. From your comment, I assume you are ok with Nazi lover Graham Platner for senator from Maine
SOVIET/RUSSIAN VICTORY CELEBRATIONS AND HUNGARY 1956/1989/2026: HISTORIC REVERSALS
At 92 I have a different perspective on the Russian (Soviet) Victory celebration and the post-Orban government in Hungary.
I remember the many years of Russian (Soviet) Victory celebrations. During the Cold War, these often were occasions for the Soviets to display their newest military weapons. On occasion, a variety of prominent foreigners, including Chinese, would attend these WW II victory celebrations.
Long after the end of the Cold War, an increasingly authoritarian Putin would display Russian military might. A diversity of prominent foreigners leaders would be in attendance.
This year, there were virtually no distinguished foreign leaders. President Xi, who probably wouldn’t have come, was involved in pre-summit preparations for Trump’s visit. Iran and Venezuela were otherwise occupied.
Putin was devastated by his ‘2-3 day’ invasion of Ukraine. [Reminds me of Trump’s 2-3 day military ‘excursion’ in Iran.] With over 1 million Russians killed/wounded and Zelensky graciously offering a brief cease fire on Moscow during this victory celebration, Putin seemed like a putz.
For me, Hungary had a memory of a different timbre. I remember the 1956 Hungarian Revolution when Khrushchev finally sent massive troops to crush the Hungarian uprising. Hungarian Prime Minister Imre Nagy, after being offered protection, was summarily executed.
In 1989, as the Cold War was ending and Hungary slipped out of the communist bloc, there was an extraordinarily emotional scene in Budapest. The new Hungarian government honored all who had fallen during the Hungarian Revolution, with the coffin of Imre Nagy highlighting this remarkable moment.
The new post-Orban government is another monumental moment in Hungary history. After 16 years of increasingly authoritarian rule, Orban (strongly supported by Trump and Vance) was swept out of office by a crushing majority. All of his efforts to fix the election were for naught.
(Trump might wonder whether his intentions to cook the November elections might be crushed by an overwhelming populous vote).
History, over time, has some unanticipated outcomes.
"History, over time, has some unanticipated outcomes."
Especially for those who spurn history.
Thank you for your long memories. It has occurred to me that perhaps one of the reasons that members of our species may live so long after reproductive years is as a bridge across generations for accumulated knowledge. Our mechanical methods of recording human thought have largely replaced that traditional function, and can precisely compile the discoveries of centuries; and yet I think there is a experiential dimension to what can be drawn from living memory that is unique and enriching.
I’m hoping the overreach of TN’s MAGA-Republican legislators results in such blowback Dems *gain* seats. TN was already gerrymandered to death; eventually that can result in the opposite of the intended outcome.
Sadly, appallingly, frighteningly, keep your eyes on South Carolina! I just can’t believe there are that many voters in SC in favor of remapping Congressman Clyburn’s district! Woe are we, whether a person of color or not. Doubt my white Yankee prayers will work. I need to watch for Indivisible’s actions on this locally.
If the Hungarians can rid themselves of the stench of dictatorship, we Americans have no excuse not to do the same. As Joyce Vance reminds us, we are all in this together. And as Simon Rosenberg reminds us, let’s get to work!!
the crowd crossed the reflecting pool in front of the parliament building to surge forwar
d, taking back their public spaces and their parliament, illustrating their faith in a new era for their country."
I would love for crowds to cross the reflecting pool in Washington , D.C. in 2029, on their way to removing a certain ballroom and to repair a deeply injured democracy.
I've just finished reading Maria Ressa's How to Stand Up to a Dictator. Among many other ideas, she emphasizes the need for transparency, accountability, and truthful communications that mobilize the citizenry. These are principles that we need to rediscover and use to get out the vote, regardless of the undemocratic gerrymandering that is taking place. As the Hungarians showed us, we can do it.
Then Trump’s ‘folly’ is CERTAIN because he is the poster boy for IGNORANCE.
Ooops…just insulted the President of the United States!
POTUS #47: IQ - borderline ‘moron’, speech garbled and incoherent, facts ignored, stories INVENTED re need to ‘influence’, hyperbolic bragging, slanderous name-calling, adolescent level of maturity, avaricious goals, shameful use of flattery when campaigning, and lifelong loathing of learning.
As Ambassador McFaul says of Putin in the same post, “Losing wars and poorly performing economies are often precipitants of political change.” Let’s help Mr. Trump, moving to rig the 2026 elections in the face of the highest disapproval ratings in the history of presidential polling, re-learn this old lesson.
"Let me catch you up on what’s happened while the back-nine emperor was teeing off and the rest of the planet was wondering what fresh hell is coming next.
The United States Navy, on the orders of the cunt currently triple-bogeying the par 4 at his own resort, fired on 2 Iran-flagged oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. The tankers were empty. Empty. Not loaded with weapons, not loaded with crude, not loaded with so much as a Filet-O-Fish. Empty hulls. The justification was that they were breaking the US blockade. Read that again. America is enforcing a blockade."
"Iran’s response was calm, measured, and exactly what you’d fucking expect from a country that has watched the United States bomb it twice in the past 12 months while it was sitting at the negotiating table with a pen in its hand."
"There are roughly 30,000 American military personnel scattered across bases in Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. Every single one of those bases is now a target."
*Best if read as full report with embedded videos- click link*
"Iranians were engaged in negotiations over the past one year not once but twice while their country was targeted all of a sudden unexpectedly by the Americans and Israelis.
Iran sat down to negotiate. Got bombed. Sat down to negotiate again. Got fucking bombed again. Now you want them to sit down a third time, and they’re saying give us a goddamn minute to think about it, and the American press is acting like Iran is being unreasonable. The same press that got us into Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and Vietnam is now confused why a country that’s been bombed twice mid-handshake is hesitant to shake hands a third frikken time. Spare me."
"This is Fucking Around Protocol in action. You shoot at empty tankers. You threaten the world’s most contested shipping lane. You stiff-arm the only diplomatic process that has any chance of working. You demand 14 points of concession from a country you’ve already bombed fucking twice this year. You bill the taxpayer for your weekend golf. Then you tee up the 18th and wait for the find-out portion to start." >>>IFLA ~ Gman
#
'F'CKING AROUND PROTOCOL: THE WORLD TIPPY-TOES ON A THREE-LEGGED CHAIR WHILE TRUMP PLAYS THE BACK NINE'
If I was a cheerleader you would be my team. Iran asked GTA FEEDS to supply that nation with a complete feed product for its sheep herds. Thats about 5 pounds of feed every day for every sheep. Montana was cleared to do business as religious beliefs had to be satisfied first. Great Falls feed plant and Butte’s shiny new export status along with 100 car rail loads were aligned. GTA FEEDS under the then leadership of Carl Butzer denied the opportunity both to Iranian sheep interests and to American producers on the basis of angering American farmers. WTF! The board of directors backed Carl. Keep in mind there are more than 50 million sheep in Iran. Check my math. 50 million times 5 pounds of 16% complete feed per day equals….a fuck of a lot of both feed and goodwill binding nations. Prosperity for nations. It’s much more sensible to blow the shit out of them, right?
It is my understanding that the new president of Hungary is still right-wing, but committed to the democratic process. There is a lesson in that for our country. Part of what brought us here was the purity left. If we are to find our way out of this mess and regain a functioning representative democracy, the progressive wing will have to stand down if and when centrist Democrats win nominations. A center right pragmatist with a firm commitment to democracy will still lead us back to sanity. Spoilers will keep MAGA in power.
I'd not say progressive Dems need to stand down, Annabel.
I'd say, instead, they need to go to red areas and speak with fellow working-class Americans.
Pete Buttigieg has been doing this. Graham Platner has been doing this. Dems can talk bread-&-butter issues with those whom Dems have too long shunned. We need the rural hospitals. We need the wind farms and solar farms and not fossil fuel reliance. We need tuition free for sons and daughters of the working classes, certainly beginning at least at the community college level.
Dems are often too wonky in their messaging. The GOP has mastered the pithy, short, memorable message which usually demonizes Democrats and the "other" - whatever the "other" of the day is -- typically a lie -- but effective. Dems need a really good messaging person to present their ideals in a way that is clear, brief and memorable.
Anat Shenker-Osorio has been sharing her messaging ideas on her Substack, and her ideas are spot-on! More of us can benefit from her fabulous advice. You can hear/read her at the “Words to Win By”podcast.
Strangely enough, it's not really about how you would phrase somebody else's words, Mr. Balla., Surely you can add something substantive to the conversation without trying constantly to define others' words for them, can't you?
Good God, no. The very reason we are in this mess is the corporate, mainstream Democrats. Check out Thom Hartmann recent essay on neoliberal Democrats. When you can’t tell the farmers from the pigs, does it matter any longer? When both parties are beholden to corporations and their interests, who fights for the people? Neither.
We’re in this mess because of “corporate, mainstream Democrats”??? Are you serious? Remind us all again which party currently controls both houses of government, the presidency, and SCOTUS and what president ignores the law, congress, and the constitution and rules like a king by executive order?
Because Democrats became beholden to corporate interests in the 90’s, they lost the middle class. They have kept moving to the right, hoping to peel away disaffected Republicans and Independents. All that accomplished was moving the Republican Party further right toward fascism.
We need a party for the PEOPLE, not the suits, not for the corporations or the oligarchs. We need a party that needs to swing back to the left to capture the 99% that has been left behind.
The current Democratic leadership lacks movie and cajones. They are feckless.
$COTUS approved unlimited private funding of election and lobbying patently biases government toward serving the rich. It tends to indenture those who make it to election, and creates a screamingly obvious conflict of interest even for those with good intentions, conflicts of interests that would not be tolerated in lower echelons of government or often even in private industry. Someone in public service posting here said that he or she was prohibited from accepting even a free cup of coffee from a client.
"But the main culprit, the cancer on the body politic, is money: Money, money, money.
(...)
We don't have time for each other. We don't have time for constituents, except for the givers. Somebody ought to tell the truth about that." --Fritz Hollings in 2004
Is just batdung crazy that we accept that, and have for some time now. It has a whole lot to do with our current circumstances.
I read exercising "compromise" in your post, Annabel, which I believe is a good thing. I remember years ago, a local politician saying, "There, is everybody equally unhappy?" Said in jest, but true, nonetheless IMO!
Morning, Lynell! Compromise requires listening, understanding, and adapting. Perhaps because we just played “Symphonic Dances” from Fiddler on the Roof, I am reminded of Tevye’s “but on the other hand” litany that ends with “there is no other hand”; there can be no compromise in some situations.
There are glimmers that the Right Wing world- wide Reactionary Wave, is in retreat.
We must be careful to not put to much confidence in that retreat. But the signs are there. Like the 1st Crocuses of Spring.
In this country, evidence that many who sipped & gulped from the poisoned chalice, are waking up, confused & angry at the bait-&-switch that took what little prosperity they had, away from them.
Even the great lie & myth making machine of FOXnotNEWS is showing strain.
Slowly the MAGAts are waking from their fever dream.
Not the leadership, see Tennessee & Florida, but the foot soldiers can’t buy gas & food for their families is getting difficult.
🤣….I posted here sometime ago that we should crowd-source a supply of Truck Nutz to send to R-members of Congress, since they apparently waylaid theirs (the guys at least, which is most of ‘em) & need them to stand up to trump and to do their jobs.
1.2 MILLION Russian soldiers dead or wounded. My God! The insanity. The total disregard of Putin for his countrymen. Trump is just as bad BUT, I think we still have enough pushback that will keep him from sending millions of servicemen and women into harms way. At least until November. We must turn out the like the Hungarians!
So Putin’s “special military operation” is not going as planned. Maybe we all need to stop fighting for a while and try to find a female president without the pathological need to destroy the planet.
Mike Hammer, I nearly wept reading your comment. Thank you. I have recently been in most of these towns and countries above (Reims, Budapest, Warsaw, the Baltics, close to Ukraine) with my husband and friends - and Europeans are so united against Putin and rump you would not believe those monsters could still be in office. I'm increasingly thinking it will have to be Europe that saves the world. But my god, if we could get an all-woman lineup on the ballot, I'd fight to the death for it.
I just finished watching Suffs on PBS. The power of women working together is indisputable. As the suffragists sang in this inspiring show, we need to keep marching for us, for our mothers, our sisters, our great-great-great-grandchildren.
Suffs is a tremendous original tribute to creativity, determination and the power of women. The power is there to achieve a just democracy. It must be mobilized . Persistence.
Like Elizabeth Warren who: "and yet she persisted." Damn right she persisted, and she had every right and reason to do so.
Good point.
All due respect, it's "nevertheless, she persisted." I say this only because it shows that that Mitch McConnell *persisted* in using language in what seems to be either an indication of his perceived power or his actaual age.
My apologies; mistake acknowledged.
Wow, I need to line that one up. Thanks!
Cool shit. May America enjoy a similar revitalization.
That power is what the CN (and other men) are afraid of, for some reason.
MLMinET, I bet I know at least some of what it is. They are scared they might have to see themselves as equals to women and their masculine BS pump just can't handle it; aren't they stronger, smarter, faster, able to jump higher, more talented, and meaner than women? Well, I'll give them physically stronger, faster, and able to jump higher, but that's about it.
On the other hand, women have a lot of traits we are better with than men: patience, birthing babies, listening to others, writing about feelings, writing more believable characters in books and stories, figuring out how to make things stretch or work, creative, and so many more, depending on the woman.
If men would stop blustering and trying to get and hold power over other people, and looking for ways to prove others are inferior to them, the world would definitely be a safer, kinder, more humane place with a cleaner environment, climate change under control to a greater extent, and people not so often in deadly competition.
You forgot to include "leap tall buildings with a single bound." For many men, they truly believe that they perform superhuman feats. The problem is that testosterone is designed to destroy, while estrogen, is designed to nurture. I know that it is far more complicated than that and physiologically, we all have a smattering of both, although men will have a very tiny fraction of the estrogen that women have and women, vis a versa, for testosterone. The good news, at least I believe, is that more men are recognizing their limitations concerning their strengths. While teaching middle school, my curriculum had a section on violence. One of my teaching points to my boys was to point out to all those 7th and 8th graders a salient fact: "no matter how tough, mean, or big you think you are, there will always be someone tougher, meaner, and bigger than you." It was with this line that I would lead into the benefits and positive consequences of negotiating one's differences instead of promoting violence.
Riad, all I can say this am is kudos for teaching middle school. There is a middle school down the street and many of the students walk by our house. Oh my, what comes out of their mouths. It was a girl who shattered a glass bottle in the intersection and when my husband was cleaning it up, some driver got irritated. I am still in the chapter about 1967 in the book.
Riad, what a great segway into discussing negotiation. Violence is only appreciated by the people who use it successfully. The victims don't and can build up resentments that often lead to appalling outcomes - the poor structure for "peace" after WWI led directly to Hitler and WWII for example.
The "losers" keep looking for ways to get even or to crush those they think did them dirty. Men and some women can't seem to help it, and we all suffer for it. However, when people who like and commit or incite violence are not held accountable for it, they will commit even more violence against anyone they think won't properly comply with whatever BS they come up with to control them. We have that in force in DC and in the red states. The people are afraid to say or do anything about it because they fear retribution and they may well be right. However, if they do nothing, they will face worse in the future because that's the way testosterone-drenched men function. Their escapes from their bad actions embolden them and they are off and running against anyone and everyone whom they think have crossed them. Thank God that is a minority, but alas a substantial minority!
Susie Wiles. Kristi Noem. Pam Bondi. Phyllis Schlafly. Margaret Thatcher.
Susan Collins.
Women are not a monolithic progressive force.
bitchybitchybitchy, I find it so interesting that we women have to make sure that we clarify that we don't mean all women are a certain way and can name the exceptions, but men rarely do that. Women are more likely to defend the men who "aren't that bad" than men are. Yep, it is the women who actually want to smooth things over, something men seem unlikely to do!
Ruth, I take issue with your second paragraph. In general, I believe people conflate faculty with choice.
In your list of things women are "better with," only childbirth is valid. Men are capable of patience, listening, creative and empathetic writing, innovation and adaptation, and more. Unfortunately, the majority of men choose to channel these strengths toward objectives that are unhelpful to society and the human condition.
Men have been extraordinarily productive in the arts and other forms of human discovery and cultural enrichment. A great many of these men were/are gay. Not because they think they are women, but because they were/are fearless about rejecting societal pressures and connecting with their inherent empathy.
Everyone – both men and women – should guard against perpetuating stereotypes.
Dale, alas, I disagree with you. I did not say that men don't possess the qualities I mentioned for women but that they are not as good at them as women, except for child-birth. I still believe I am right about that. I have been around a long time and it is men who cause and start wars, who screw people financially, run scams, kill people, start fights, refuse to listen to anyone else, disrupt meetings and events, jump to conclusions in critical situations far far more than women. Part of that may be hormones, a situation that could be addressed with drugs or emotions training, but most of it is cultural and comes with being human and having to listen to the testosterone-laden tales throughout our history that hardly mention women, even though it is women who regularly hold things together. There aren't medals for that.
Do keep in mind that, with the exception of "birthing babies," many of our qualities as women are survival skills that have grown out of our long centuries of oppression. They're worth hanging on to, but let's not fall into the trap of thinking they're all innate.
Or positive strengths.
Patience, for example. It has its place, but urgent outrage is a power house.
Susanna, you are so right that those characteristics are not innate. Some probably are because women have a nature-based "need" to protect children and others, but they have to be nurtured and honed as any skills must be. Men can have these skills too, but there are consequences among their bros if they have too many of them; heck, they might be called "girly" or "unmanned" or some other equally difficult term for men to "patiently" tolerate.
We need to finally get rid of the patriarchal society we have lived with for so very long. Its time for a big change. Men and their fragile egos have ruined our culture. No more men being paid more just because they're men. Women are the backbone of our society but get no credit for it. Women need to wake up too and take back their power. Stop playing the subservient role. Men get away with so much because Women allow it.
Thom Hartmann calls it testosterone poisoning.
MAJOR difference between women and men: Women work together to achieve common goals; Men work in competition with each other to achieve individual goals. It’s either WE can do this! Or I can do this!
This is, of course, a broad generalization. But a fairly accurate description of the current administration. Noted exception are the women who formerly worked as cabinet members but who are now gone.
But please, do not discount the fact that women can be ruthless. It comes from the drive to keep their children alive at any cost. I love it when women are ruthless...
Eve, of course women can be ruthless and there are a few who have demonstrated all the worst behaviors men demonstrate, but that is a very small minority, I would say, tiny. The bad behaviors like stirring up conflict, doing harm to others, using violence, and anti-democratic actions are not a tiny minority among men, but quite a significant minority of men!
Keep marching for the men, too! Many don't appreciate it yet, but we do need your help!
EVERYONE has a part to play if we ALL are to overcome those who would put their feet on our necks.
The ‘Total Women’ of the Christian Right are the problem. They massochistically ENJOY being ‘dominated’ and think in their twisted minds that THE BIBLE tells women to be subjugate to their husbands. This interpretation has led to everything from ‘abuse’ to ‘fascism’ on the part of males, worldwide. ‘Honour’ killings still exist in backward countries!
Donald Trump, by virtue of his rape conviction, has demonstrated that his sexual preference is for ‘power’ over women, and his pushing for the elimination of “Roe” proves that he actually hates females, and wishes to harm and ‘punish’ them (while gaining favour with the Christian Right = votes!)
The suffragettes DARED to claim their rightful position as co-parents and equal citizens of their countries…which angered the misogynistic men, but also the brainwashed women of that time.
A ‘new’ challenge is coming from factions in the USA, who want to AGAIN deny womens’ RIGHT TO VOTE.
To that fascist idea we say: WHO BROUGHT ‘YOU’ INTO THIS WORLD?
Unless you are a ‘seahorse’, the answer is a FEMALE!
“The Handmaid’s Tale” is a scary book about what can happen when women give up all their power.
Trump and his regime plan to take power BY FORCE..yet another element of RAPE.
Jean, I do feel for the women of the pathetic Right because they have been groomed for generations to be submissive, but to get what they want when they can through cunning and sneaking. They are extremely good at it. If one is not sure, just look at Erica Kirk, Charlie's wife, and Phyllis Schlaffley and her daughter. Those women are not home caring for hubby and the zillion kids they are supposed to have. Amy Coney Barrett isn't either, yet they espouse that as the only legitimate way women should live.
They claim they are doing god's work, so that is why they do what they do. Uh huh! Their hypocrisy is ignored by the women who often have been forced into such living arrangements, in some places being told rape is just fine, or rather expected, even for little girls and the same with child marriages.
I don't know how to reach those women because I suspect their grooming has been so intense, they would not be able to function on the outside without massive support. They have their little TikToks gushing over just how wonderful it is to be cooking, baking, caring for their amazingly amazing children, having none of the challenges that other mothers have. It's all a big lie of course, but a lot of women fall prey to it and get sucked in.
Those orchestrating this disgrace claim it's in the Bible, and it is, but it is the later books where Paul is portrayed as a misogynistic pig to suit the needs of men in the late 1st Century Roman world. Unfortunately those sexist rants of the later Paul get precedence over what Jesus and the earlier Paul said about and demonstrated related to women because that is what the churchmen wanted, no competition with women of faith.
It is still not possible for women to be priests in many christian sects including Catholicism (the reason I left the Roman church), and the Orthodox churches, Southern Baptist, and most white Evangelical sects. That doesn't strike me as either fair or honest, but it is male and if the men push it on women that anything else is sin, well then, they had better not sin or there will be consequences, pretty serious ones here, and they fear in the afterlife too. So, those women except for a few who keep the whole thing going, those women are trapped!
Yes to ‘Amy Coney Barrett’ bowing - except for her avoiding the direct question when at her Confirmation hearing! She lied her face off to become a ‘Justice’, when in actuality the country was getting ‘her LORD & MASTER’ husband!
Of course he wouldn’t mind ‘sharing’ her with the one giving her the job…let’s hope there isn’t a highly pigmented toddler with straw blonde hair running around the Barrett household. 😖
All is fair to these ambitious types.
Jean, that is exactly why a non-entity like Barrett was nominated and approved by the Senate for the Supreme Court. She has been just as wishy-washy as one would expect having heard her testimony at her hearing. She had nothing to say and proved it. That is just what to expect from all the women in Trumplandia! They will be removed in disgrace if they don't go along with the BS, doing whatever their master, Baby Donnie orders them to do, legal or not! We do need standards for who can be nominated for the various positions in our government, particularly our courts.
HEAR, HEAR! Thank you, Jean.
Indeed, to the death it might well be. Careful what you wish for, as they say. Last time I checked, women are not generic.
e.g. some of the womenin the trump regime...meaanest women alive
True. Not sweetie pies like Tlaib, Omar, Crockett, Cortez would be in a Democratic admin.
Unless one has a spot on detailed understanding of the approx. 160,000,000 women in the US, its kind of simplistic to be making these generic assumptions.
No A. Kauffmann, not simplistic, but hopeful. Tlaib, Omar, Crockett, and AOC are all intellects. Their power lies in thought, theory, fact, reality, and demonstrable success for whoever is outside of their personal space. When looking at Trump sycophants, although reasonably accomplished in academic degrees, their thoughts resonate only inward. For them, "it's all about me." This is painfully obvious as the blow hard in chief gives the world the constant evidence of his inward greed. You are correct, however, in pointing out the fact that no one has a detailed understanding of the approximately 160 million women in the US; then again, that's what leadership is all about: to be able to show one in demonstrable fashion their foibles and get them to change, not only for their benefit, but for society as a whole.
Bonnie, yes, and those women think they have power, but we have seen what happens if they are not as clever and good at whatever they have been told to do as Baby Donnie and his toddler pool want, they are out. What I don't understand is how those women can live with themselves. I am guessing the indoctrination is so strong they just do it, and usually not well, but that is just like the men around Trump, or at least most of them. Some get all kinds of Kudos (contracts, privileges like private jets, and more) for their compliance: Musk, Theil,Vought, and on and on. Some of those folks are running the show, though which means they get to judge everyone else supposedly for their Baby Donnie. It really is pretty disgusting!
That's a very un-MAGA viewpoint of women.
We might not deserved Betsy, but do not forget men..😏
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWhAuyAiohc
A wonderful rendition of Keep Marching, the final song! 👏🏽
Agree! Many thanks for sharing.
Whilst I am a feminist in this distinctly male dominated USA, i would respectfully remind everyone, that.not all men are like Putin, Orban, Hitler and Trump. The world recently celebrated Sir David Attenborough's birthday who is an educated humanitarian, of which there are many in this world. An all female government is not necessary to peace. There have been many cruel, selfish woman leaders and politicians in the past and even currently! However, The US has never endorsed a woman, for that one has to look to Europe and its history. Having said that, I partly agree, our current situation would never have happened had Hilary or Kamala been President.
Agree.Well said. The best of men and women need to come forth and work together, bonded and dedicated to freedoms, justice, practical and compassionate solutions and integrity . Integral. Whole. The patriarchy of slime balls does not represent all men but the men of Integrity must show up.The repair and amends must be shoulder to shoulder with women with mutual R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
It is not gender that determines one’s ability to be a leader. I have always been leery of the notion that “competitiveness “
Is a trait that is always admirable. The reason for my concern is that many pathologies fly under the flag of “ competitiveness “.
Trump’s version is that he can “ win” only if you lose. Wall street’s version is that winning is everything, and ethics or morals are not to be considered in that quest. Sports are supposed to be a method of teaching teamwork, but most sports are now about the win/lost chart, not about anything else.
So, perhaps we need to redefine what competitiveness is.
Pam Bondi would term herself as competitive. What she is is a viper who simply cannot tolerate being called to account for her obvious failures and cheating. She and others in today’s political arena are not “competitive”. They are simply opportunists who believe they are entitled to win because they know the “right” people and they “look the part”.
This country’s misogynistic history has rejected many competent and qualified women, going back before Hillary and Kamala.
The misogyny of White Male idea that cooperation or empathy are signs of weakness and therefore a female trait has led us to Donald J Trump and a collection of losers who are, by their standards, winners because they have become rich by questionable methods. These current examples have exposed the obvious hollowness of the idea that these incompetent and corrupt people are “winners” in any possible definition of that word.
Hopefully we are entering an era where the Content of Character is considered rather than the size of a bank account.
This rant is too long. I apologize for not being able to edit this down to a bumper sticker.
Linda, it is just not the US. Most societies have been patriarchal although there have been some exceptions. Alpha males have made everyone miserable throughout the millennia.
FRONT BUMPER!
“STICK IT TO THE ORANGE MAN!”
😉
Linda, I agree. When thinking of a healthy competition, I always think of the Olympics. There, athletes are competing against the clock, or against perfection or some other standard. With the exception of sports which rely on teamwork, itself a noble principle, there are no winners and losers; there are only medalists and other competitors.
It occurs to me that the concept of competition is poisoned by money and/or power. Competition becomes a a zero-sum game requiring a winner and a loser when the winner gets the money or the power and the loser gets nothing.
Yes, the American and Russian people - women and men - now need to follow the model set by the Hungarians!
‘Patriarchy of slime balls’! Should be in Caps! May I use your image provoking phrase!
Go for it.
The “patriarchy of slime balls” is composed of such cowards!
To my mind, the most qualified person ever to run for the U.S. presidency was Hillary Clinton. In every respect. In 1972 I voted for Shirley Chisholm to be President, writing in my wife's name as VP. I've been around females a lot smarter than me my entire life, and I've got a J.D. and a Ph.D., both from Harvard. It's not that I haven't moved in circles where one would expect to find highly intelligent females. They're everywhere I went. My mother started it.
She was. Even her husband said so, adding "and that list includes me when I ran."
I thought Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Monroe, Lincoln, T. Roosevelt, Hoover, F.D. Roosevelt, Eisenhower, maybe Kennedy, Johnson, H.W. Bush, W. Bush and Bdien were all quite qualified. Just an opinion of course.
Some of those men were well qualified, but none had the experience that Hillary Clinton had. IMO, George W. Bush was clearly not qualified and led us to a national disaster and to the brink of a Great Depression, Obama and the Democrats pulling us back from it. It's what Democrats do - clean up the mess left by Republicans. During Biden's term, he pulled us out of the Covid 19 Pandemic, 3 million jobs were added in 2023 and 2.2 million in 2024. The Wall Street Journal and The Economist both claimed that "the Biden economy is the envy of the world." In all of 2025 under Trump just 183,000 jobs were created and 92,000 lost in Feb. 2026. Eisenhower stands out as the Republican president who is responsible for building the National Interstate Highway system. I remember in 1952 when our family took a road trip from West Texas to Oregon It was "back roads" the entire way. We slept alongside the road going and coming.
W. Bush was a two term governor. Governor's make decisions and, in some ways are better prepared than Senators, who talk for a living. Performance is a separate, retrospective subject than threshold qualification.
Curious -- were you a lawyer in California Bay area?
Frankly, while I believe you can have your opinion, I don't believe that either Bush was qualified to be president. I've always believed they were in the presidency because of their ties to oil and not because of their qualifications. And you missed Barrack Obama. As for me, he may go down as one of the greatest presidents. While I've never even graduated from college, which doesn't mean I'm completely illiterate, I seriously I could have been a much better president than djt. That being said I do concur with others that Hilary Clinton could have been one of the greats. I also believe that Kamala Harris is/was far more qualified to be president than djt. She had many advisers that both Obama and Biden had that would have gone with her to the White House, including the superior economic advisers compared to the economic moron's of the republican party.
I really wish it didn't always need to come down to gender or preference. I would much rather vote for capability.
I would be careful about suggesting that you yourself could have been a better President than Donald Trump.
In my estimation, that puts you just slightly above the lowly banana, which, even after sitting on the shelf for several weeks gathering brown marks and mushy insides, would probably be a better President than Donald Trump.
I doubt there is anything, living or non-living, that wouldn't be.
Sigh...
You are confusing qualification with your views of performance. H.W. Bush was a Congressman, Ambassador, CIA director and vice president. One of the most qualified of the 20th century, by far, other than perhaps Eisenhower. W. Bush was twice governor of Texas. Governors administer, execute, make decisions and negotiate with legislators. Those are major qualifications. Remember that F. Roosevelt was 2x governor of New York.
Obama was a former state senator and just 2 years into a first term as US Senator. He was among the least prepared, and many would differ with your rosy view of his performance. But gain, the issue is qualification to be, not performance as.
Why is it assumed that when someone says it’s time for women to lead, it means all men will be dismissed? That’s the result of decades of patriarchy at work. No one is saying a female POTUS will replace every man with a woman. It shouldn’t even have to be defended. It is past time for the US to elect a woman as we’ve had two excellent candidates passed over in favor of the most corrupt, narcissistic, incompetent, felonious man ever to run for president in my lifetime. I hope those who couldn’t bring themselves to vote for a woman have learned their lesson.
Unfortunately your comment is exactly the reason that it is highly unlikely we will see any woman as President for quite a while. The idea that the people who voted for Trump will "learn their lesson" is just silly. They are still in love with the guy, no matter what idiotic things he does. No one is learning any lessons.
And the very FACT that they ignored two excellent candidates to vote instead for a corrupt, narrcissistic incompetent felon just proves that point. THey didn't care then and they will not care all that much in the future. The "war" to win back the Presidency will not take place in the depths of the Trump pool of voters, those people are basically already given up to "hell", but in the ranks of the undecideds, both the ones who sat out 2024 because they couldn't decide, as well as the ones who sat out 2024 because they despised Harris for supporting the mistakes of the Biden administration.
Its one of the plagues of being VP. You end up being associated with the problems of the administration without being able to say much to show you might be better than that. This plagued Al Gore in 2000, and Hubert Humphrey in 1968, and Nixon in 1960. Bush I is the only guy in quite a long time who gravitated directly from VP to President (without the unexpected death of a sitting President) and he ended up being a 1-termer when Clinton beat him in 1992.
I just looked it up and the last three Presidents who went directly from VP to the White House without a Presidential death or resignation are:
George HW Bush - 1989
Thomas Jefferson - 1801
John Adams - 1797
Yup, that's it. EVERY OTHER VP who ever went into the White House immediately after the President they worked for got there because of the death of their President, either through natural causes or assassination. The other two exceptions of VPs becoming president are Nixon (who lost in 1960 to Kennedy, but came back to win in 1968) and Biden (who didn't run in 2016, but came back to win in 2020). So anyone who wants to become President probably should avoid being VP as the odds don't favor doing so after your President's term(s) are over.
I am so tired of the "Not all men" lecture. And "yes, but Margaret Thatcher." "Yes but Ghislaine Maxwell." Gosh, really? It never occurred to me. I'll have to give it some thought.
Seriously. It is all men until proven wrong. What is it like 90% of all violent crimes are committed by men? 60 million men visited the rape academy site? Incest is one of the top searches on porn sites. We have an epidemic of sexual abuse committed overwhelmingly by men in that no one wants to acknowledge. Every woman knows this. Our children bear the brunt of this abuse. This is one of the main issues of why we are here. Generations of abuse and trauma. A good and decent man would not try to hide this truth but would stand up for what is right.
Anna, yes - and good men don't have to get defensive and launch into a "not all men" tirade. Start calling out the bad ones and you won't get lumped in with them. It's not rocket science.
Okay, Alexandra. So then I assume that you are silent when people say all women are whiny gossips who are lousy financial managers; who tart themselves up so they can catch a man with money; who can only get ahead in the workplace by sleeping with the boss.
Because nobody wants to be lectured about how "not all women are like that."
No man I choose to have in my life talks or thinks like that, and men who do aren't worth the trouble of a conversation. You're pretty transparent.
?
Are you a novelist? They make things up for a living. May have influenced your analytical skills.
Orbán: The Original Illiberal Influencer
Before Viktor Orbán perfected authoritarian chic in Hungary, he had cheerleaders across the Atlantic. Trump and his inner circle publicly praised Orbán’s anti-LGBTQ laws and “traditional values” messaging, lending international endorsement to his brand of illiberalism. With that backing, Orbán did not just legislate, he marketed oppression like a lifestyle.
In Hungary, anti-LGBTQ laws and rigid gender roles were not policy, they were a product line. He did not whisper “we disapprove.” He posted it in neon letters, tagged “traditional values,” and called it a lifestyle. Imagine scrolling through your feed and seeing “Illiberal Summer Collection: now with less freedom for women and queer people.” Trump-friendly headlines and nods from Western allies made the brand feel not only acceptable but aspirational.
The press, of course, treated it delicately. “Illiberal democracy” they called it, because saying what you mean is apparently bad form. It is the political equivalent of calling a mud pie “artisan dessert.” Orbán literally turned oppression into aesthetic. Want your civil liberties trimmed? There is a law for that. Want love policed by the state? Check out the “traditional family values” collection. International applause only added gloss to the display.
Then came the voters. Orbán got booted, proving that even the slickest illiberal branding eventually expires. But the lesson lingers. Authoritarianism wrapped in euphemism is seductive, especially when endorsed abroad. It looks neat on paper, stylish in speeches, and photogenic in the media. Yet behind the filter, people lose freedom, autonomy, and dignity.
Orbán’s “brand” may be gone, but the template survives. Illiberalism, marketed as values and cheered by powerful friends, shows how language can make oppression seem chic. In politics, honesty is the most radical act of all, and nothing is more unfashionable than saying it like it is.
Michael Corthell,
It is an age old problem ie separating humans into groups, by choosing which categories of location, education, job, married or not, religion preference or no religion....one can continue infinitely with various categories.
Jesus kept it simple: love one another as I have loved you and freely, poured out My life for you. ( and His words did not imply we were worth His sacrifice. He did this out of love and compassion....to save us from our self-destruction.)
Michael, Lincoln said, "With public sentiment you can't fail. Without it you can't succeed."
.."he marked oppression like a lifestyle." Wonderful.
The original "illiberal" himself, Vlad the Impaler in Moscow, has always surrounded himself with the gilt and bling of the Russian Orthodox Church, which has never failed to provide him with "lifestyle" justifications for supporting a tsar-murderer. The Patriarch is fond of using "gay-parad" in his sermons, always in English, always with a sneering, sing-song voice (pretending no Russian translation exists helps convey the myth that all this is nothing but a western invasion, like NATO). A few years ago, he added a certainist feminist punk rock group to his denunciation repertoire. Now, when prompted, his minions, satraps and archdeacons snarl "Poosy Rye-aht!" "Poosy" "Poooooooosy!!" on command.
Pathetic, yet funny as hell. 🙀
We have to deal each day with the crookedness of humanity. Unreason and greed and self interest - can they be bred out of humanity?
I agree, and I am absolutely a feminist. I don’t want to see us split as men vs women. Let’s come together as a people who care about freedom, health of the planet, kindness. Enough of us-vs-them. Enough.
Clio was the Greek muse of history, usually portrayed with a book or scroll in her hand - whereas in our most "enlightened" age the Clio award is distributed in the US for excellence in advertising. And Clio was the muse of lyre playing but doubt that showing excellentce in advertising would be serenaded by a bank of lyre players!
Admen are all a bunch of lyres.
HEY! I resemble that remark!
Very funny and clever play on words.
That will. Only become possible, Jennifer, when there is an equality that does not prejudge women as inherently. Inferior.
Unfortunately!! The most probable plot for a Sci-Fi movie would be the inevitable ‘WAR’ of men vs women.
With the divorce rate still climbing over 60%, and more women deciding to ‘raise a child on their own’ (SPERM BANKS)…men like Donald Trump who USE women…and abuse women…and consider women ‘inferior’, are making MISOGYNY popular. 🤮
Romance is becoming an ‘old fashioned’ idea, instead of a guide to mutual respect.
Someone buy POTUS #47 one of those anatomically correct dolls so he will leave women alone! They can be programmed to say ‘whatever the owner wants’…😉
Don't forget Al Gore who won the popular election but the SCOTUS gave it to bush and he gave us Iraq and Afghanistan.
Excellent thoughts, Maureen! WE, the People means ALL people and not just a select few from a select gender. This is especially important to say right after Mothers’ Day!
We've learned through scientific research why some among us are gay and others transsexual - they are naturally occurring phenomena. The basic cause is biological, occurring with the zygote and afterwards. It's not the case with the majority of humans, but it is predictable to occur in some. The Religious Right don't understand or, perhaps, don't want to know how it occurs. The Religious Right are now saying that "separation of church and state" is a fiction. Well, we're involved in a heated battle to decide this issue, with the "No-Separation" group willing to do whatever it takes (rigging vote count) to win the contest and establish a Christian theocracy here.
A couple responses to your comment, Richard:
Scientists continue to discover that atypical sexuality occurs literally throughout all of nature. Some plants switch from male to female. Numerous animal species with "homosexual" members have been discovered. So it's not just a human phenomenon, and it's not a choice or a preference.
Several historians have traced the religious issues with sexuality and reproduction to being a matter of power, not morality. From the beginning of religious activity, religions have been in competition for dominance over populations. The obvious solution is to outnumber the competition. This was brought into clear focus when the Roman Catholic Church saw itself threatened by the spread of Islam. So the Holy See declared that any limits to human reproduction were sins, including homosexuality, birth control and abortion, practices about which the Church previously had no opinion.
Dale, I do think that that is the case - that creatures "in the wild" have the same thing occur to them as to humans since we all share the same DNA, some more (pigs, dogs, apes, etc.) and some less (octopuses.) I grew up where the area had a lot of livestock. I felt that some were not fully heterosexual.
Speaking of Islam and Catholicism, religion remains a very serious threat to democratic institutions. We're contending with that phenomenon, religion mixed with racism, at this very moment.
If there was any hint of the “Christian theocratic” political ideology being in any way related to the movement started by the person called the Christ, it would not be such a sick joke.
This is about POWER, nothing more.
I fully agree, Linda - It’s about POWER and what generates the power and keeps it going? MONEY. And Trump and his family and his followers love money.
Every morning, I do a CryptoGram or two. Today’s was stunning and fits so perfectly into a discussion about Power and Money:
From Nicholas Sparks
I finally understood what true love meant... love meant that you care for another person's happiness more than your own, no matter how painful the choices you face might be.
But hasn't the Christian hierarchy been about power since its birth, one hundred years after the death of Christ?
When his ‘senility’ becomes more advanced, I can picture Donald Trump (reverted to age apx 4) saying: “I MADE ME!” 👶
And therein lies the problem of the misogynistic mind! Trump does not even ‘recognize’ his own mother…nor any American mother’s value…beyond popping ‘males’ into this world to take their ‘ordained’ place as most important.
Come to think of it: DJT also believes he chose his ‘colour’ while in the womb, and would deport ‘Jesus’s ‘arab’ fisage on sight!
It would be comical if it were not so SERIOUS an issue.
😔
Hollow. Vacant. Ignorant. Narcissistic. Cruel. Reprehensible. Donald John Trump.
Well yes and as folks say in Chicago. There has been for eons a massive erasure of the feminine voice. This includes the Hebrew Bible where if a female is named it means great importance like the naming of Moses’ midwives.It has been greatly unbalanced so my reading as a child and young adult in college more white male than not.But I did read Virginia Hamilton and PL Travers and learned to look at the footnotes read the prefaces and afterwards and bibliographies.
Tillie Olsen’s book Silences needs to be re-edited or perhaps expanded. Judy Chicago’s wonderful art dinner table brought out expanded. Mary McLeod Bethune’s wonderful will brought out . Why not all fifty states and commonwealths highlight women for a year? There are many statues of women in the Capital Rotunda why are they not in my mind set?
The Roman Catholic Church plays into this as well. I don’t understand all the power plays and machinations of the last decades.
And yes a female can be just as evil as a male. What I want is an earth that supports all good people regardless and minimizes any who hurt harm others or the earth.
When was the last time a woman in power started a war?
um, Maggie Thatcher
"um"?
Anyway...
"Margaret Thatcher led Britain during the 1982 Falklands War, decisively responding to Argentina’s invasion. "Responding" to is the operative word here." The Falklands War is an interesting read.
Let’s assume that when the statement-WHITE MEN blah blah blah is uttered-We all know it is not ALL WHITE MEN.
I understand men wanting to defend their standing-I’m just not sure you have to.
Maureen, I agree totally about Kamala, but in all honesty, my jury is still out where Hillary is concerned.
They know what Russia's "special military operation" means, unlike Republicans, who are sure ours in Iran is going splendidly every time Pete Kegsbreath bounces up and down on his Florsheims in some mock, North Korean-style presentation in front of a TV camera about our "victory" in the Strait of Hormuz.
"Thank You For Your Attention To This Matter"
MATTER = Minimise Attention To Trump Epstein Relationship.
Thanks ICTT again to the first iteration of ‘Kegsbreath’, giving me another chuckle. Bringing SNL ‘s recent rendition of the ‘best’ GOB ‘s club rucking up male testosterone -punching each other raving/demonstration over pure ego absurd’s display was clear brilliance so pointedly perfect. TY SNL👍
From the frat pranks to the ongoing slaughter of billions of children…and labeled ‘ Civilized Nations’…or ‘Christian (fill in the next blanks)…
We really all ought to be further evolved …SMH
And coming soon....our victory over Cuba!!!!! Just get the popcorn 😉
Watch for ‘rump friendly dictator to replace the old dictator!
That might be Little Marcos....🫣
I call him Micro Rubio. 😂
I hope not. You mean like what happened in Venezuela? She was a strong enabler of the previous government but friendly with trump.
I wish to visit those myself but my friends have visited and they have a similar view that led me to think the leader is not really representing the people here, remember why presidents were elected? to represent its people!
If that’s not happening, how are these people still in power….one may (or may not) dare to question…
Anyway, you have a goodnight, Alexandra, and a belated Mother’s Day to you!
To “serve my country, not rule over it.”
Yes Sir <3
I understand. I do. But sometimes I understand and still disagree. What is not needed, in my humble opinion, is an all-man or all-woman lineup. What is needed is a "we are all equal" lineup. So, now, maybe it's you who understands and still disagrees. I'm good with that.
I completely agree. The phrase is over used - but there is a toxic masculinity in this administration, but it is essential to remember that this is not a characteristic of all men. And there are women monsters too -- Bondi, Noem, Leavitt, Collins, Blackburn, etc. We need a government of good men and women who will serve the country not plunder it and take away rights.
Thank you for including Blackburn—my fascist senator. Or at least it’s alleged she’s our senator—we never see her and she most certainly does NOT talk to constituents . She led the charge for dismantling the single Dem-leaning district in TN.
MLM, I did some checking to confirm my suspicions. Blackburn is, in fact, a member of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville. At first blush, one might think, "Well, Presbyterians are 'mainliners,' so liberal, right?"
Nope! Years ago, the Presbyterian Church split into two schisms, PCUSA (moderate) and PCA (hardline conservative, aka evangelical). When Presbyterians split, Christ Presbyterian went with PCA, a comfortable church home for a christofascist like Blackburn.
I knew that but had forgotten there was a RW faction. In any case, whatever Blackburn claims to be, she has her lips sewn to trump’s butt. Has since the beginning.
We agree, except I don't mind the "toxic masculinity" phrase assuming we add our natural detoxification capabilities to the conversation. One can be a successful podcaster without causing unnecessary harm.
Absolutely.
Those cited would never get elected POTUS! Yes, awful creatures are not limited to one gender! Perhaps they are a gender unto themselves!
In reality, there hasn’t ever been a matriarchal society because when women do have power, they share their power and the society is egalitarian. The link below is really well researched and explains it well. The differences in the type of rule aren’t traits inherent to gender but instead a result of thousands of years of conditioning of genders under the patriarchy. Don’t worry, women aren’t going to oppress men.. though women breaking free from their caste may feel like oppression to some men (in the same way that some.. or many.. white Americans felt “oppressed” because a black man broke free from his caste to become president, leading to MAGA).
https://celestemdavis.substack.com/p/matriarchies?r=56wm8i&utm_medium=ios
Thanks for the link. I'll check it out when I get a chance.
However ... it took me till the fourth word in your title to identify what I think is a flaw in your "there hasn't ever" theory based on my "ever includes recorded and not recorded" theory. The following is not a threat to -- and is instead a potential opportunity to enrich -- your theory.
From Christopher Boehm’s book, Hierarchy in the Forest: The Evolution of Egalitarian Behavior (2001) …
P5: Humans were egalitarian for thousands of generations before hierarchical societies began to appear (as many as 12,000 generations).
P32: The nuclear families in human societies are scarcely void of hierarchy. Why then do the main political actors at the (hunter-gatherer) band level behave as equals?
P35: A distinctively egalitarian political style is highly predictable whenever people live in small, locally autonomous social and economic groups (bands maxing out at Dunbar’s number of 150 individuals), and in my opinion this situation is likely to have a single causal explanation (IMHO … our shared Homo sapiens genetically inherited social instinct).
Alexandra, I am so excited about Hungary and Ukraine. Both make me hopeful. See my comment to Mike where I point out a petition in the article I posted.
I will point out a couple of things in addition to what Heather is telling us that I noticed. One, a couple of Polish crooks who stole from the country and exiled in Hungary, have left Hungary and arrived in the US. Poland is wondering how they could travel since they Passports were confiscated. Apparently he has a press visa and will be working for a far right Polish publication.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/11/polish-ex-minister-zbigniew-ziobro-flees-hungary-usa
Poland is going to ask for him to be extradited. People in the US must insist that they be extradited. Keep an eye on these stories. The US is going to fill up with far right exiles if one is not careful. Get MAGA to be upset about letting all these criminals in.
Secondly, I noticed that Putin has said they would negotiate a peace and European security agreement with Ukraine and Europe and wants Gerhard Schröder to be in charge. Schröder is politically persona non gratis as far as I am concerned in Germany. He betrayed the Social Democrats, the party he belonged to, and he has made money off of the Russians, so he is not impartial in this. However, Putin gaslighting Ukraine and Europe like this leads me to believe that he is no longer looking at the US as interlocutor to end the war, which he may be wanting to do, just like Trump wants out of Iran, but they only know how to continue being aggressive not how to say "UNCLE!" Which is what both Putin and Trump should be doing. I think that Putin is trying to appear as if he holds the cards, but he does not hold all the cards, he may have some. If Europe would realize its might, it would stand up to Putin and say "Enough is enough. End this war now."
I would be there hand in hand with you, Alexandra. Let's work on it, each of us.
Yes!
Alexandra, What about AOC and Gov. Whitmer? They are very intelligent caring women with experience, they care about our nation and constitution, they believe in justice for all, have the ability to learn new ways of functioning, they have a good understanding of who to turn to for help, and people like them.
Absolutely top of the list, Ruth!
Oh, beware. I have faith in what women like you, and AOC, and Michelle, and Pramila and thousands of us carrying signs are capable of. But then, there are the Noems and the Bondis and too many other biological females who I don't trust for a minute, just because they are women. We want strong, honest, brave, democracy-inspired women ... and men. That saying, I'd love to see one of "us" be elected president of the USA!
I know Alexandra, and is why I enjoy Heather’s letters so much because she brings the humanity into view with her historical perspectives.
(Alexandra, I just read The Price. It was engrossing!)
Lowercase ‘rump’, scathing, bitingly insulting, subtle like a heat seeking drone weapon! Brava!
Thanks! Also it's my way of not amplifying his filthy rotten name across platforms.
YES! I'm with you, Alexandra all the way in doing whatever it takes to undo what 250 years of male dominated leadership has done to this country. Bring on the women because we have many wonderful options from which to choose.
Would that all-women lineup include MTG, Lauren Boebert, Laura Loomer, Tulsi Gabbard, Pam Bondi, Michelle Bachman, Kristi Noem, Linda McMahon, Karoline Leavitt, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Nikki Haley, et al?
If that's your lineup, you're a fascist - what are you doing in this forum?
I was merely pointing out that sex alone is no guarantee of anything except sex.
Violence Against Women in the United States — Key Data (2025)
Violence against women in the U.S. remains a major public health and safety issue, with multiple forms of abuse — including intimate partner violence, sexual assault, stalking, and psychological aggression — affecting millions annually.
41% of U.S. women have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime The Global Statistics.
73% of all domestic violence victims are women The Global Statistics.
22.5% of women (about 28.8 million) have experienced stalking in their lifetime The Global Statistics.
47% of women have experienced physical violence, sexual violence, or stalking by an intimate partner The Global Statistics.
Over 61 million women have experienced psychological aggression by an intimate partner in their lifetime The Global Statistics.
Also
What is the gender pay gap in the US? Women made about 81 cents for every dollar men made as of the third quarter of 2025. This means that men with full-time jobs typically make 24% more than women in full-time jobs.
And
https://tryamie.com/editorial/womens-health-report-2026#:~:text=The%20State%20of%20Women%27s%20Health%20in%202026%3A%20Data%20Report
While, having been around for over 81 years, I am no stranger to your stats. But that is not the issue to which I was referring. The question was whether an all-woman leadership group would necessarily be a good thing. I was suggesting that it would not necessarily be.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and Gorbachev's dissolution of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991, Russia had no enemies. No army was poised to break its borders, no one wished for its destruction. For the first time in perhaps 500 years, even former adversaries simply wished it well as a normal country, not the purveyor of an empire of cruelty and a failed ideology.
Multiple past causes always exist to explain why the present looks the way it does, but Russia's decision to undo all of that good will, closing in on itself -- the way it has for most of its history -- remains deeply striking. In the 1500s, Ivan the Terrible locked himself behind the Kremlin's walls, guarded by his 'oprichnina.' The same secret police force metamorphosed into the NKVD under Stalin, killing millions and imprisoning millions more. Today, a former low-level KGB agent-turned-tsar spends most of his time inside a bomb-proof bunker. Millions of the country's best and brightest have fled the country rather than live under Russia's sham democracy or get drafted to fight a pointless, vicious, suicidal war with its closest neighbor. Oil reserves from the Baltic to Vladivostok continue to burn unabated.
With the ousting of Orbán and Trump's accelerating descent into 3-year-old idiocy, the world of the 'man without a face' now looks much the same as that of Tsar Ivan -- fear, isolation, and growing madness are now its 'gifts' both to itself and to the world.
Some history, it seems, always manages to rhyme regularly and repeatedly with peals of failure and past brokenness, rather than with hope for the future.
Excellent compilation.
"Maybe we all need to stop fighting for awhile". Yes, Mike. There was a good news report from Axios & U.S. police departments on this Mothers' Day 2026:
Violent crime rates "plunge in America's big cities". Here is some of the data from across our United States:
* Baltimore, MD down 🔻83.8%
* Auroa, CO down 🔻66.7 %
* Washington, D.C. down 🔻64.7%
* Raleigh, North Carolina down 🔻63.7%
No violence begets no violence. No "tribal hostilities".
Now talk about the crime rates by ICE on our streets and the torture and deaths in the regime's concentration camps in America at this time.
We have got to stop using past metrics to describe America today.
There has been a downward trend in violence for a long time. That is why the school shootings have been so horrific for me to process. The gun industry like golf industry losing their businesses so instead of being wise and forward thinking and following new trends they have created vortexes of machinations to pull in profits at any course. The whole stranger danger trope is also more myth than not. It has been a very clever way to install fear in the populace when the stats show most victims know their offenders. Finally the dirty laundry is being cleaned and hung out to try for all to see.
ICE abducting Americans off our streets is not a downward trend. ICE murders are not a downward trend. Deaths in America's prisons and concentration camps is not a downward trend. Maternal deaths from an inadequate healthcare system and the overturning of Roe v Wade not a downward trend. Rape is not a downward trend.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/rape-statistics-by-state#:~:text=Crime-,Rape%20Statistics%20by%20State%202026,-Rape%20Rate%20(per
If you read in the past starting from the nineteen ninties there was a confirmed downward trend. However a confirmed downward trend does not encompass all things . And one has to look at the geographic locations (the United Stares and the Netherlands gun violence stats very very different).The other issue of rape for much of human civilization and has many connections to patriarchy . If one looks at history through an oppressor / survivor lens the whole new world enterprise of trade work and trading stock companies and mercantiles and merchants violence or oppression on a whole different scale and hidden fairly successfully until now.
The administration focus is on fear tactics a of all tropes and images. It is a tool of control. And yes the number of guns is staggering in our country. But it has been handled in gun buyouts and art sculptures. Also not talked about is the power and control differential in labor and work both small and multinational corporations today. NDAs a silent but ever so forceful control mechanism and I would posit a kind of modern day undercover violence.
And again for maternal healthcare yes but not new. To explore maternal health care investigate and research the midwives and how they became until the last thirty years almost extinct. St Hildegard of Birgin a kind of midwife and her use of wild carrot interesting.
Women in American concentration camps are being raped and impregnated. Today. I sincerely doubt they care about philosophy at this point.
People to wake up to what is happening.
Well it’s been bad for along time and I think Dr Richardson has labelled these buildings as concentration camps as well. You know don’t you that there has always been tales at hospitals and group homes and refugee camps and church camps abd any place where humans congregate . I have called and written donated to various causes and called in the trauma field with these issues in particular. Philosophy is not a dirty Barbara . Ignorance is. So the two children hiding under the ghost of Christmas present ignorance and want. We all need to work in all of these issues abd learning more about everything every day is helpful. And we all do what whatever can all of us knowing it will never be enough alone .
Thank you Mary O'Malley, " ....most victims know their offenders". Got that right.
Particularly well documented from the data generated by spousal violence & intra-family violence.
Thank you Barbara Mullen for the rapes statistics by state in 2026. Cold stats do not tell the entire story as the Alaska data reveals.
The regime will claim the crime rates going down are due to ICE arresting all those violent illegal aliens
That is great news. Were these cities occupied by the National Guard?
A military invasion and brutality against the citizens generally suppress all kinds of behavior. I guess we can look to Russia and China for their models of crime prevention.
I was being wildly sarcastic. Calling the National Guard into the streets was not a good thing. The dictatorships of Russia and China imprison and torture their citizens. There are concentration camps in America right now torturing, raping and killing the people they swept up in ICE raids. Is this your America?
Anand Giridharadas, Mike, spoke to this infighting you cite here, on Joanna Coles' podcast.
In part five of his five-part series investigating who at core are the Trump-Epstein elites, he drew a contrast between them, always protecting each other, benefiting each other, giving each other cover, elite impunity, and the rest of us, the "bottom 99%," always split in tribal hostilities.
Thx for the reminder of the Ink and Anand Giridharada. Time to switch out my Substack time spent by dropping a few and adding new sources.
TY Phil. Personally I can’t read/watch all these marvelously accurate posts/podcasts/live shows..too few (even with rising subscriptions 👏) do or can. The trend hopefully sends the clear autocratic demise ..notably , again.
Education is key, and my next question-will we ever really learn?
Sad , how apparent (or rhetorical perhaps)
Sounds like the "military operation" of the US on Iran. I'm thinking since quite a while that cis-males seem to be the least qualified gender to rule the world.
Mike, I and perhaps others, have posted this music vid here before; listened to it a lot in the run up to the ‘24 election with my fingers crossed 🤞. Keb’ ‘Mo & Rosanne Cash “Put a Woman In Charge” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FciQeRGYFlw
(originally written by Keb’ to honor his grandmother).
Great imagery to watch this video as well as listen. Thank you!
Yeah, Joan, it is a lovely vid AND song…beautiful blend & very well done.
And allow me to suggest that our next president should not only be a woman, but a woman with a background in skilled nursing and not in politics. Thank you.
William ... no worries ... please make that suggestion because it allows me to make what I believe is an important and valid counterargument.
Allow me to suggest that the next POTUS should not only be a politician, but a real politician, meaning a candidate like Pete Buttigieg, someone who is an expert practitioner due to the deliberate practice of politics (meaning NOT a candidate like Ronny Raygun who was an expert practitioner due to the deliberate commitment of political malpractice).
A woman with a background in skilled nursing — and not in politics — should have been able to tell the difference between a real politician and a phony snake oil salesman on the day she received her elementary school graduation certificate. If we need people who think that being an expert in one field of endeavor makes “me” an expert in every field of endeavor, then we’ve already got plenty, and in my humble opinion, we don’t need any.
Thank you for your rational response. My less rational response to your rational response is to make Buttigieg chief of staff to our skilled female nurse president . Any great leader will surround herself with people who know more than she does. That, in the end, is what makes for a wise leader. No?
Well … since you asked, and with all due respect … no. You’ve described the cake but the cake is not its ingredients. I suggest Einstein’s ingredients.
1 oz “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
1 oz “You cannot solve a problem with the same thinking that created the problem.”
1 lb of the “how not to create a problem” thinking (“I have no special talent. I am only patiently curious.”)
1 gross “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
Narcissists are the epitome of “I know everything.” They’re insufferable, especially if you work for one.
May I suggest a word change? Say, "Narcissists are insufferable especially if you're governed by one." Then define "governed by" as including people in an elected office and/or a manager's office.
There, now we've covered President Drumpf.
William, I'm with James on this. What got us into this mess is the U.S. electorate's being entranced with unqualified celebrities having no training, experience, and frankly, no passion for public service. We are desperately in need of a politician, in the traditional, dictionary sense of the word.
If a nursing graduate decides to change course, get a degree in constitutional law, serve in public office at the local, state and federal levels before running for the presidency, then I would consider him/her qualified. Without that background, no.
From your lips. . .
To Mike Hammer: an especially hearty, "Hear, Hear!"
Well said, Mike.
Sounds like a good plan to me Mike.
I am a member of Indivisible Abroad. I lead a group in a city in Northern Germany. Indivisible Abroad and Indivisible are some of the organizations supporting Free Speech for People's campaign to impeach Trump and his cabinet. Would you please read my piece explaining it and help us get 2 million signatures by signing the petition in it? https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/indivisible-abroad-supports-the-impeach?r=f0qfn
This.
Thanks to Heather’s piece this am, and Mike’s thoughts…I actually experienced a moment of possibility that Americans could follow the lead of the Hungarian people who found a way to take back their country, and begin to reclaim and rebuild their love of freedom and Democracy. We can do it too!
Yes, we all need to stop fighting - much of which has been fanned into flames by the very powers we want out - and focus on taking our country back. I voted for the two women who have run for president this past decade. Neither was a perfect human being (which some people feel are the only ones they can ever vote for) but neither would have brought us to where we are today. But I would rather find a person - male or female - without the pathological need to destroy the planet than set up another binary, good vs evil choice for anything based on race or gender. We, women, were raised more than men to be inclusive, seek consensus, be supportive, be empathetic, not win at any cost, etc. But all I need is to be reminded of Pam Bondi, ICE Barbie, Ghislaine Maxwell, Imelda Marcos, Phyllis Schlafly and others to understand that being female does not automatically mean better than.
I mean, at this point, anyone who truly wants peace should be given that power, not the ego fulfilling ones.
Especially the ones that get who claim themselves "Christian" and get their kicks from war and cruelty.
And the ones who say "I alone can fix it".
That's a dead giveaway of a conman. Right in there with with "Doctors don't want you to know about this one weird trick that cures all illness" and the foreign prince who wants you to share in his millions.
(Laughter). I often used to get e-mails from Nigerian millionaires...not any more. A bit depressing.
Yeah, I guess the Nigerian millionaires have unburdened themselves of all their surplus money.
🙏
Basic Human Consciousness is enough tbh for understanding we only crave for simple living, no hatred, no discrimination, treat everyone good, dont scam people etc…, the rest is bonus.
The trouble is that for eons "divide and conquer" has made some very rich and powerful. Like proscribing rape and murder, we need to create and maintain a social/legal environment that opposes that. Such environments are called properly called "a free country'. Quarrels and conflict are inevitable, and yet we can still collaboratively strive to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.
🙏
When you have an enormous military like ours and a national belief that the US MUST win any international conflict to save face, meaning peaceful coexistence isn’t an option, war/conflict is inevitable. (I’m reading ‘JFK and The Unspeakable,’ by James W Douglass, which I think someone here recommended; he makes a convincing case about why our own government killed JFK.)
🙏
Margaret Thatcher’s example (and that of some other women leaders) demonstrates that a leader’s gender is no reliable guide to their policies.
We must do as the Hungarians did: a massive turnout that is “too big to rig”.
So obvious that's our only solution now. Our Congress is supine, our court system deeply compromised (even as many within it deliver regular defeats to our illiberal democracy), our 'fourth estate' under attack (with too many in it rolling over) and 1 of our 2 political parties completely cultified and zombified by cruelty and stupidity. Especially with the Virginia Supreme Court ruling -- we have no other choice before us. Let's hope we break through our own laziness and inertia come November.
I get so tired of the “too smart for liberals” left prattling on about “electoralism,” “voting alone won’t save us,” etc. blah blah blah. It is literally at the end of the day the only thing that will save us, because it is the ultimate expression of an engaged, informed electorate. I am a progressive minded Democrat who will always support candidates like AOC over any centrist, but if I lose a primary battle, I’m not picking up my ball and going home. No. We have one common enemy who does not distinguish varying stripes of ideology when they look at us. To them, we are all “radical left” and better off dead. Our democracy is in a fight for its life and so are we as individuals, and I’m here for it. Not backing down. Ever.
Like x 2000
It took Hungarians SIXTEEN YEARS to overthrow Orban and his band of thieves! Let’s hope Americans wake up and speak out and VOTE BLUE sooner than that! I’ll likely be dead in 16 years; I’ve had a great life up til now. It would be such a shame to spend the rest of it in misery!
It’s important to keep in mind that Hungary had only a short history of democracy when Orbán took power, only since 1989 with the collapse of the USSR. Comparing Hungary’s struggle with the American experience of 250 years of democracy is not exactly apples to apples.
Hey idiot, did you happen to see that the judge that actually made the ruling was confirmed 95 to 0 in two separate unanimous votes to see him on the previous court to the Supreme Court by the Democrats. Oooooops. But all of a sudden he rules against you and he’s a bad guy. I just love you people. I just love you and it’s so obvious every single time if you’re not in control, you just can’t handle it. Well guess what you’re not in control
Seems like Heather once again forgot to tell you the whole story. What a surprise. And you see the litany of links that she uses wow. They all are tied to PRAVDA in some way or another. I would imagine. Lol
And one thing about you, liberals that I absolutely love when the Supreme Court rules in your favor they are the best but as soon as they rule against you, they need to be removed or changed or altered or fired. If liberals aren’t in control, they go absolutely apeshit.
“ as always “ or at least most of the time, spot on. Thank you
Mojave, I’ve been ruminating over an idea/dream the last couple of days that relates to all this “red” state gerrymandering. I know it’s probably Pollyanna, Heidi, Snow White + all rolled into one, but what if, just if, in all the newly redrawn districts folks were more together and “with it” than the g-mander’s thought? What if in those districts a person of color was encouraged to run and folks shouted “Hell No We Won’t Jim Crow!!!” and—in an otherwise fair election—managed to win the seat anyway. Now THAT would send a clear message—I can only hope my fellow citizens rise to the occasion. 🗽🇺🇸☮️
Maybe not such a Pollyanna - Snow White dream after all. In Texas, Marc Elias reports that Republicans may lose 2-3 of those 4 districts they were sure they had battened down -- Hispanics have already deserted that miserable coalition. In Virginia, odds are that Democrats will still win 2 out of those 5 districts even after some cynical, rural Republican judge ruled that the votes of 3 millions Virginians weren't legal because of a technicality.
It may be that in and around Memphis, Tennessee, new center-left coalitions of black + white, urban + rural will figure out how work together to deliver 3 new Democratic-voting districts instead of none.
Things have a way of blowing up in the faces of the Repulsican fuck-ups confident their war against voters is playing just fine in Peoria. We shall see...
🤞🤞🤞
Robert Hubbell in his Substack tonight puts it well:
"Ignore the Noise. Be the Signal."
Love RH!! He’s on my read list…which is getting ever longer as I discover new voices “out there”.
Update: Just read it…and forwarded it to a friend who’d sent me info on the “wait” strategy circulating instead of very early voting—Hubbell’s piece just seconds that.
Those 3 million Virginians could easily morph into 6 million.
That’s what the Democrats have to campaign on. The ruling of a Republican judge undoing the voters.
Not a good look !
Hope springs eternal!
The funny thing about politics in a democracy is things often don’t work out the way you try to script them. There is a non-zero chance this will all backfire disastrously for the GOP. Right now the train is speeding down the tracks and their continued solution has been to tighten the rope around themselves as they lie atop the trestle.
Not Pollyanna at all in your idea and thinking. This coming midterm election will be decided by tens of millions of Americans who get out and vote and who are fed up with tRump and motivated by righteous anger and a deep sense of betrayal. It’s up to the people to organize and exercise their voices. Apathy or laziness for some choose not to vote. Will change up Robert Hubbell’s call a bit…
Be the Signal. Ignore the Noise and use your Vote.
https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/ignore-the-noise-be-the-signal?r=viplr&utm_medium=ios
Yeah just now read Hubbell’s piece that dropped last night. I have a sign that I put up on my front fence at each election that says “Choosing not to vote is not rebellion, it’s surrender”. In all my years of being eligible to vote, I’ve only missed one mid-term election…my bad!, I was working overtime and the polls had closed by the time I made it there (this was years before early voting, mail-in voting, etc.). Never made that mistake again!
That is my hope as well. Just maybe these white leaning new districts are not as realist as the politicians in office now….hope springs eternal!
Keep an eye on Memphis.
Like Hungary, the U.S. still has the electoral framework to vote fascism out of power. Once the U.S. reaches the level of corruption in Russia, it will be infinitely more difficult, and we must be extremely clear-eyed that unless we rise up now our democracy will be degraded to that degree very soon. Not just the GOP, but our own Supreme Court has been doing its best to dismantle our Constitutional protections and voting rights and enable Trump’s fascism.
The Dems must recognize they have essentially one shot at breaking fascism’s grip and winning back popular support, because the ignorant and fickle electorate will vote the fascists right back into office unless the Dems truly deliver.
"In his inauguration speech, Magyar vowed to “serve my country, not rule over it.” He noted that the corrupt members of the outgoing government “stole from the pockets of Hungarians” and left behind a huge budget deficit and a broken healthcare system. He vowed accountability for those who plundered the country and broke its laws, and promised to rebuild the nation’s shattered checks and balances. He urged Hungarians always to criticize their leaders and hold them accountable."
In 2029 substitute Hungarians for 'Americans':
In 'her' inauguration speech, 'The new President' vowed to “serve my country, not rule over it.” 'She' noted that the corrupt members of the outgoing government “stole from the pockets of 'Americans'” and left behind a huge budget deficit and a broken healthcare system. 'She' vowed accountability for those who plundered the country and broke its laws, and promised to rebuild the nation’s shattered checks and balances. 'She' urged 'Americans' always to criticize their leaders and hold them accountable."
The Sleazy Six on the Supreme Court are just an arm of the Republican Party.
I am reading Without Precedent by Lisa Graves. The sleaze of these six is beyond the pale. John Robert’s is best named John Robber for the injustice he stands for. This situation has been in the making for years thanks to the uber wealthy. We the People can overcome these robber barons if we act together to uphold the values we state in our constitution.
The US has reached the level of corruption similar to Russia already 😳. We only have to fight areder now.
YES......
A thousand times YES.
At least get a president who can dance!
On the humor side, we need a president who can dance better.
"In his inauguration speech, Magyar vowed to “serve my country, not rule over it.” He noted that the corrupt members of the outgoing government “stole from the pockets of Hungarians” and left behind a huge budget deficit and a broken healthcare system. He vowed accountability for those who plundered the country and broke its laws, and promised to rebuild the nation’s shattered checks and balances. He urged Hungarians always to criticize their leaders and hold them accountable.
“We inherited a country where politics deliberately pitted Hungarians against each other,” he said, and he explained how Orbán mobilized supporters with hatred and fear, poisoning “the collective psyche of an entire nation.” “The Hungarian state must never again do this to its own citizens,” he said. He vowed to heal the country: “We will once again learn to think of ourselves as one nation,” he promised."
This is the story we American citizens expect to hear in 2028. It is too far away unfortunately.
Can America surive this long?
Note, fully 1/3 of eligible voters in the US did NOT vote in 2024. That is where the money is as Willy Sutton said.
Trump still commands high-70s support among Republicans, even as his overall approval craters. Gerrymandering will likely deliver them at least a split House, while the Senate's rural tilt maintains their control.
Form Zsofi of “Life, Eventually” on Substack, who I urge all here to follow. She is a mother, a lawyer, and an astute observer of politics. She lives in Budapest.
“I apologize to those civilians, teachers, journalists, health workers, and public figures who have been stigmatized, harassed, or treated as enemies for daring to speak out, for daring to stand up for the downtrodden, for expressing criticism, or simply for expressing a different opinion. I apologize."
– said Péter Magyar in his inauguration speech. It wasn't even his doing, yet he apologized for the suffering we had to endure during Orbán's regime.
Yesterday was one the happiest days in my life: we had a party all night long after the inauguration to celebrate us, the people who made it possible.
Hungary is healing 🇭🇺
https://substack.com/@razkaca/note/c-256632008?r=3ka47&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Well said. I sincerely hope the citizens of all nations yearning to breathe free, can emulate Hungary.
That's the kind of freedom we sing about.
"I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Except the lamp is dark right now, but because of Hungary, there is hope.
I would add and Ukraine
And the doorkeeper struts and postures, and favors the wealthy and white racists over:
"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Liberty turns out to be WOKE. Who knew?
But then, who forgot?
What is so refreshing is that Magyar uses the word ‘you’ frequently. A certain orange individual cosplaying the US president is always talking about “me, me, me”…
Always.
Péter Dósa's "The Hungary Report" on Substack is a faithful account of the day-to-day changes now taking place all over the country and within its government. Most importantly, from the perspective of Europe, the flag of the European Union now flies over Hungary's Parliament after a 15-year absence, and the 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine, held up for months by Orbán, is now a thing of the past.
I've been several times to Budapest - so happy to think of the European flag flying over that magnificent Parliament on the banks of the mighty Danube.
I’d like to go back, now that Hungary is freed.
Celebrating good times in Hungary...this one's a toe-tapper!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAWVMJZgdHc
May that be us on November 4
Oh the smiles! The dancing! Looking forward to our “toe-tapping’” here.
Salud, Lynell!
🗽💜
That’s the plan, Christine🎉
Glory to Ukraine! Glory to Hungary! And may glory come to American Resistance against the Confederate tyranny!
Down with the Same Old Serpent.
My heart is full. Your description of today in Hungary is awesome. Maybe we’ll be there one day.
Ditto!
Dear criminal Donald “wants out of the war,” the reporting repeats.
Donald is friend to all the Middle East despots. All corrupt. Like Netanyahu – speaking of which, didn’t dear Bibi forget to tell fellow corrupt Donald that he might get trapped?
Other than Donald, any American traditions dealing with despots?
After all, didn’t the U.S. at the battle of Midway tell the Japanese high command that they, too, then only wanted out?
Didn’t Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie, and Travis tell Santa Anna they only wanted out?
After incurring all those casualties at Shiloh and Cold Harbor, didn’t Grant inform his opposing Johnny Reb generals he also only wanted out?
Didn’t Patton tell Rommel that’s all he wanted, out?
Easy Company defending front lines outside Bastogne? Out? All they wanted was out?
Dear lifelong impunity Donald, wanting a way out of the war he’d already lost on day one when he killed the 168 girls at Minab.
Ho Hum. Just another Republican forever war with no goals and no exit plan.
And as a reward, the Republicans in Congress refuse to stand up to the war criminals Trump and Kegsbreath by pulling the plug on this purposeless war.
Trump started the war and is just as stubborn as Putin (and as dumb). He won't back down and just keeps digging himself deeper. (Queue the Monty Python scene with the Black Knight having lost both arms and legs yelling, "Get back here, I'll bite your legs off".)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRwCPUEND1U
And several times a day, Trump claims 1) victory over Iran, 2) the war is over, 3) the Strait of Hormuz is open.
The Pythons could have written the Trump presidency, but he has real presidential power. Even extra-presidential powers according to evil-clown $COTUS.
🤣Fellas please stop. I have a 77 year old bladder here
You’re killing me here man. And I have just read the Borowitz Report.I ain’t gonna need that third cup of coffee
OMG what would we do without Borowitz and the other satirists and comedians.
Just curious. Are there any Middle East heads of government who are not despots? That's a broad brush you paint Trump with. He has to deal with these folks, doesn't do any good to be un-friendly with them.
I entered into search engine: "any Middle East heads of state who are not despots?"
In particular, "madhatter," read-out coming first said, "According to the measure of the level of democracy in nations throughout the world published by Freedom House, the Middle Eastern countries with the highest scores are Israel, Tunisia, Turkey, Lebanon, Morocco, Kuwait, and Jordan. The remaining countries of the Middle East are categorized as authoritarian regimes."
Detailed paras following show none even "with the highest scores" are anywhere close to what Freedom House considers free, with Netanyahu and Erdogan being especially notoriously corrupt.
I would interpret that to say they're all despots to varying degree. It would be interesting to learn the standard Freedom House uses to make this assessment. Again, it makes no sense to be un-friendly.
It's never good to expect someone else to answer your questions. It makes you vulnerable to misinformation and disinformation and it diminishes your information literacy and critical thinking skills in no time at all. Much better to help yourself. Here is an excellent starting point - https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world
Good morning, Sandra. I guess you've never asked questions of other folk, always researched on your own? I was just making conversation with Phil.
You are correct. In matters such as this, I make the effort to find the answers for myself. That effort also helps me ensure that I'm asking the questions most relevant to my information needs. Sometimes, once I've gained knowledge, especially around methodology as you have asked, I find there's actually a more important question my ignorance led me to miss and a new world is opened up to me. I don't want to be restricted by my initial ignorance.
Having the capacity to ask and answer questions also makes for better conversations as conversations dig deeper to create greater interest even when in total disagreement and can explore nuances that lead to common ground. Sometimes I also find that, having taken responsibility for my learning, I strike someone wth a whole heap of expertise who is willing to share their knowledge with people who demonstrate a willingness to take responsibility for their own learning.
Listening to people with expertise also brings us back to that initial question of methodology. If you get into the habit of exploring methodological questions for yourself, you start to learn how different areas of expertise think and why they think those ways. And, that helps you build and hone your critical thinking skills. It also helps you welcome being wrong because you develop such an appreciation for where the how and why questions can take you.
Would you be “friendly” with Nazi’s?
Personally, no. I am only making the point that when dealing with world leaders it's never helpful to be un-friendly. From your comment, I assume you are ok with Nazi lover Graham Platner for senator from Maine
SOVIET/RUSSIAN VICTORY CELEBRATIONS AND HUNGARY 1956/1989/2026: HISTORIC REVERSALS
At 92 I have a different perspective on the Russian (Soviet) Victory celebration and the post-Orban government in Hungary.
I remember the many years of Russian (Soviet) Victory celebrations. During the Cold War, these often were occasions for the Soviets to display their newest military weapons. On occasion, a variety of prominent foreigners, including Chinese, would attend these WW II victory celebrations.
Long after the end of the Cold War, an increasingly authoritarian Putin would display Russian military might. A diversity of prominent foreigners leaders would be in attendance.
This year, there were virtually no distinguished foreign leaders. President Xi, who probably wouldn’t have come, was involved in pre-summit preparations for Trump’s visit. Iran and Venezuela were otherwise occupied.
Putin was devastated by his ‘2-3 day’ invasion of Ukraine. [Reminds me of Trump’s 2-3 day military ‘excursion’ in Iran.] With over 1 million Russians killed/wounded and Zelensky graciously offering a brief cease fire on Moscow during this victory celebration, Putin seemed like a putz.
For me, Hungary had a memory of a different timbre. I remember the 1956 Hungarian Revolution when Khrushchev finally sent massive troops to crush the Hungarian uprising. Hungarian Prime Minister Imre Nagy, after being offered protection, was summarily executed.
In 1989, as the Cold War was ending and Hungary slipped out of the communist bloc, there was an extraordinarily emotional scene in Budapest. The new Hungarian government honored all who had fallen during the Hungarian Revolution, with the coffin of Imre Nagy highlighting this remarkable moment.
The new post-Orban government is another monumental moment in Hungary history. After 16 years of increasingly authoritarian rule, Orban (strongly supported by Trump and Vance) was swept out of office by a crushing majority. All of his efforts to fix the election were for naught.
(Trump might wonder whether his intentions to cook the November elections might be crushed by an overwhelming populous vote).
History, over time, has some unanticipated outcomes.
"History, over time, has some unanticipated outcomes."
Especially for those who spurn history.
Thank you for your long memories. It has occurred to me that perhaps one of the reasons that members of our species may live so long after reproductive years is as a bridge across generations for accumulated knowledge. Our mechanical methods of recording human thought have largely replaced that traditional function, and can precisely compile the discoveries of centuries; and yet I think there is a experiential dimension to what can be drawn from living memory that is unique and enriching.
Keith, I always appreciate your perspective! Thanks for this!
Thank you so much! You still personalize this world for us. It’s not jargon or word salad rather history by a man journeying through.
Pat I still prefer St. Louis spare ribs over salad. One is crunchy, the other mushy.
I’m hoping the overreach of TN’s MAGA-Republican legislators results in such blowback Dems *gain* seats. TN was already gerrymandered to death; eventually that can result in the opposite of the intended outcome.
Sadly, appallingly, frighteningly, keep your eyes on South Carolina! I just can’t believe there are that many voters in SC in favor of remapping Congressman Clyburn’s district! Woe are we, whether a person of color or not. Doubt my white Yankee prayers will work. I need to watch for Indivisible’s actions on this locally.
If the Hungarians can rid themselves of the stench of dictatorship, we Americans have no excuse not to do the same. As Joyce Vance reminds us, we are all in this together. And as Simon Rosenberg reminds us, let’s get to work!!
the crowd crossed the reflecting pool in front of the parliament building to surge forwar
d, taking back their public spaces and their parliament, illustrating their faith in a new era for their country."
I would love for crowds to cross the reflecting pool in Washington , D.C. in 2029, on their way to removing a certain ballroom and to repair a deeply injured democracy.
I've just finished reading Maria Ressa's How to Stand Up to a Dictator. Among many other ideas, she emphasizes the need for transparency, accountability, and truthful communications that mobilize the citizenry. These are principles that we need to rediscover and use to get out the vote, regardless of the undemocratic gerrymandering that is taking place. As the Hungarians showed us, we can do it.
Jimmy Carter got a huge round of applause one night when he started to answer a question with the words, "I don't know."
There's nothing wrong with admitting that you don't know. It's a rare and valuable trait.
"Everyone is ignorant, only on different subjects." Will Rogers
Old adage:
“IGNORANCE IS BLISS…IT IS FOLLY TO BE WISE!”
Hmmmmmm…🤔…folly you say, old quote?
Then Trump’s ‘folly’ is CERTAIN because he is the poster boy for IGNORANCE.
Ooops…just insulted the President of the United States!
POTUS #47: IQ - borderline ‘moron’, speech garbled and incoherent, facts ignored, stories INVENTED re need to ‘influence’, hyperbolic bragging, slanderous name-calling, adolescent level of maturity, avaricious goals, shameful use of flattery when campaigning, and lifelong loathing of learning.
Wow!
To quote this genius: “I am soooo smart! Bigly!”
Nuff said.
Have you read Chuck Schumer's classic 'How Not to Stand Up to a Dictator'?
As Ambassador McFaul says of Putin in the same post, “Losing wars and poorly performing economies are often precipitants of political change.” Let’s help Mr. Trump, moving to rig the 2026 elections in the face of the highest disapproval ratings in the history of presidential polling, re-learn this old lesson.
"Let me catch you up on what’s happened while the back-nine emperor was teeing off and the rest of the planet was wondering what fresh hell is coming next.
The United States Navy, on the orders of the cunt currently triple-bogeying the par 4 at his own resort, fired on 2 Iran-flagged oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. The tankers were empty. Empty. Not loaded with weapons, not loaded with crude, not loaded with so much as a Filet-O-Fish. Empty hulls. The justification was that they were breaking the US blockade. Read that again. America is enforcing a blockade."
"Iran’s response was calm, measured, and exactly what you’d fucking expect from a country that has watched the United States bomb it twice in the past 12 months while it was sitting at the negotiating table with a pen in its hand."
"There are roughly 30,000 American military personnel scattered across bases in Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. Every single one of those bases is now a target."
*Best if read as full report with embedded videos- click link*
https://ifloz.substack.com/p/fucking-around-protocol-the-world?r=kxzps&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewer
"Iranians were engaged in negotiations over the past one year not once but twice while their country was targeted all of a sudden unexpectedly by the Americans and Israelis.
Iran sat down to negotiate. Got bombed. Sat down to negotiate again. Got fucking bombed again. Now you want them to sit down a third time, and they’re saying give us a goddamn minute to think about it, and the American press is acting like Iran is being unreasonable. The same press that got us into Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and Vietnam is now confused why a country that’s been bombed twice mid-handshake is hesitant to shake hands a third frikken time. Spare me."
"This is Fucking Around Protocol in action. You shoot at empty tankers. You threaten the world’s most contested shipping lane. You stiff-arm the only diplomatic process that has any chance of working. You demand 14 points of concession from a country you’ve already bombed fucking twice this year. You bill the taxpayer for your weekend golf. Then you tee up the 18th and wait for the find-out portion to start." >>>IFLA ~ Gman
#
'F'CKING AROUND PROTOCOL: THE WORLD TIPPY-TOES ON A THREE-LEGGED CHAIR WHILE TRUMP PLAYS THE BACK NINE'
IFLA ~ Gman (I F'cking Love Australia)
May 10 2026 | Substack
https://ifloz.substack.com/p/fucking-around-protocol-the-world?r=kxzps&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewer
*Best if read as full report - click link*
If I was a cheerleader you would be my team. Iran asked GTA FEEDS to supply that nation with a complete feed product for its sheep herds. Thats about 5 pounds of feed every day for every sheep. Montana was cleared to do business as religious beliefs had to be satisfied first. Great Falls feed plant and Butte’s shiny new export status along with 100 car rail loads were aligned. GTA FEEDS under the then leadership of Carl Butzer denied the opportunity both to Iranian sheep interests and to American producers on the basis of angering American farmers. WTF! The board of directors backed Carl. Keep in mind there are more than 50 million sheep in Iran. Check my math. 50 million times 5 pounds of 16% complete feed per day equals….a fuck of a lot of both feed and goodwill binding nations. Prosperity for nations. It’s much more sensible to blow the shit out of them, right?
It is my understanding that the new president of Hungary is still right-wing, but committed to the democratic process. There is a lesson in that for our country. Part of what brought us here was the purity left. If we are to find our way out of this mess and regain a functioning representative democracy, the progressive wing will have to stand down if and when centrist Democrats win nominations. A center right pragmatist with a firm commitment to democracy will still lead us back to sanity. Spoilers will keep MAGA in power.
I'd not say progressive Dems need to stand down, Annabel.
I'd say, instead, they need to go to red areas and speak with fellow working-class Americans.
Pete Buttigieg has been doing this. Graham Platner has been doing this. Dems can talk bread-&-butter issues with those whom Dems have too long shunned. We need the rural hospitals. We need the wind farms and solar farms and not fossil fuel reliance. We need tuition free for sons and daughters of the working classes, certainly beginning at least at the community college level.
Dems are often too wonky in their messaging. The GOP has mastered the pithy, short, memorable message which usually demonizes Democrats and the "other" - whatever the "other" of the day is -- typically a lie -- but effective. Dems need a really good messaging person to present their ideals in a way that is clear, brief and memorable.
Like this: "Yes, we can!"
Anat Shenker-Osorio has been sharing her messaging ideas on her Substack, and her ideas are spot-on! More of us can benefit from her fabulous advice. You can hear/read her at the “Words to Win By”podcast.
Strangely enough, it's not really about how you would phrase somebody else's words, Mr. Balla., Surely you can add something substantive to the conversation without trying constantly to define others' words for them, can't you?
Sorry, ICTT, but the words from Annabel I cited, "stand down," are precisely hers.
sailed right over you, did it?
Good God, no. The very reason we are in this mess is the corporate, mainstream Democrats. Check out Thom Hartmann recent essay on neoliberal Democrats. When you can’t tell the farmers from the pigs, does it matter any longer? When both parties are beholden to corporations and their interests, who fights for the people? Neither.
We’re in this mess because of “corporate, mainstream Democrats”??? Are you serious? Remind us all again which party currently controls both houses of government, the presidency, and SCOTUS and what president ignores the law, congress, and the constitution and rules like a king by executive order?
Here’s my answer:
Because Democrats became beholden to corporate interests in the 90’s, they lost the middle class. They have kept moving to the right, hoping to peel away disaffected Republicans and Independents. All that accomplished was moving the Republican Party further right toward fascism.
We need a party for the PEOPLE, not the suits, not for the corporations or the oligarchs. We need a party that needs to swing back to the left to capture the 99% that has been left behind.
The current Democratic leadership lacks movie and cajones. They are feckless.
$COTUS approved unlimited private funding of election and lobbying patently biases government toward serving the rich. It tends to indenture those who make it to election, and creates a screamingly obvious conflict of interest even for those with good intentions, conflicts of interests that would not be tolerated in lower echelons of government or often even in private industry. Someone in public service posting here said that he or she was prohibited from accepting even a free cup of coffee from a client.
"But the main culprit, the cancer on the body politic, is money: Money, money, money.
(...)
We don't have time for each other. We don't have time for constituents, except for the givers. Somebody ought to tell the truth about that." --Fritz Hollings in 2004
Is just batdung crazy that we accept that, and have for some time now. It has a whole lot to do with our current circumstances.
I hear MAGA is done for now but may rise again based on the outcome of their civil wars.
I read exercising "compromise" in your post, Annabel, which I believe is a good thing. I remember years ago, a local politician saying, "There, is everybody equally unhappy?" Said in jest, but true, nonetheless IMO!
Morning, Lynell! Compromise requires listening, understanding, and adapting. Perhaps because we just played “Symphonic Dances” from Fiddler on the Roof, I am reminded of Tevye’s “but on the other hand” litany that ends with “there is no other hand”; there can be no compromise in some situations.
There are glimmers that the Right Wing world- wide Reactionary Wave, is in retreat.
We must be careful to not put to much confidence in that retreat. But the signs are there. Like the 1st Crocuses of Spring.
In this country, evidence that many who sipped & gulped from the poisoned chalice, are waking up, confused & angry at the bait-&-switch that took what little prosperity they had, away from them.
Even the great lie & myth making machine of FOXnotNEWS is showing strain.
Slowly the MAGAts are waking from their fever dream.
Not the leadership, see Tennessee & Florida, but the foot soldiers can’t buy gas & food for their families is getting difficult.
So. Faint signs. We must be careful.
We must keep up the pressure.
We Shall Overcome
Resist
Avance la Lucha
Could you elaborate on your comment that even Fox is showing strain?
Odd comments by people on this site. I have never watched anything on FOX except the odd 49’er game.
I seem to recall Donald Trump saying something about Ukraine having no cards. Hmmm
Didn't Zelenskyii reply that he wasn't playing cards?
Around that time, a meme appeared across the internet (widely disseminated in Ukraine, as well).
Four Things So Large They Can Actually Be Seen From Space
--The Great Pyramids at Giza
--The Great Wall of China
--The Great Barrier Reef
--The Titanium Balls of Volodymyr Zelenskyy
🤣….I posted here sometime ago that we should crowd-source a supply of Truck Nutz to send to R-members of Congress, since they apparently waylaid theirs (the guys at least, which is most of ‘em) & need them to stand up to trump and to do their jobs.
Also lost their marbles,Barbara.
Ohhhhh, good one Anne!!!! Nutz AND marbles it is!
The administration has a house of cards, not a full deck.
1.2 MILLION Russian soldiers dead or wounded. My God! The insanity. The total disregard of Putin for his countrymen. Trump is just as bad BUT, I think we still have enough pushback that will keep him from sending millions of servicemen and women into harms way. At least until November. We must turn out the like the Hungarians!