Today illustrated that the Democrats have become America’s cheerleaders, emphasizing how investment in the nation’s infrastructure has created jobs and rebuilt the country.
This is not quite on topic, but this morning I saw a clip of Fareed Zakaria, who I normally respect, saying that President Biden had to come up with something really spectacular in his campaign, otherwise he would not win. So it’s just not good enough to work hard on issues that are good for Americans??? What is it that people want? A shining knight on a white horse? Yes, people like JFK and Obama were young, handsome and inspirational. But the real work often did not get done. The promises did not necessarily get fulfilled.
Annie Weeks, maybe he could have talked about how CNN should be 24/7 calling out the insanity and cruelty of the R Party, sounding the warning that they are planning on destroying our democracy if returned to power and how they are planning on cheating every which way possible (unwarranted voter roll purges, goons with guns intimidating voters and election workers, etc.) to win.
In Florida, Republicans did us a favor by enacting the six week abortion ban, putting abortion (and marijuana) on the ballot. 80% of all women oppose. 30 electoral votes. They turned us from a red to a purple state verging blue. Perhaps a million unregistered folks trend heavily Democratic. Register Democrats, save the world.
Yes, Daniel, the Florida American Taliban in all of its Fascist religious misogynistic Talibanic way is running roughshod over the rights of Floridians and in particular females. The dividing line in this state and in this country is now as stark as it was during the time when Fort Sumter was fired on. Only now, the "cancer" has metastasized and is spread throughout the nation without geographic limits.
Classic Greek medicine requires catharsis, purgation. Trump won the state by 3.2% in 2020. If we flip 4% we win. IMHO there may be enough disgruntled Republicans to do it, but just in case, most of the unregistered, and the more than 3 million "no party" are women, trending at 80%.
A similar phenomenon is happening in North Carolina, because the Republican governor candidate is an antisemite who says women should not vote. 16 electoral votes. Trump won North Carolina by 1.34% in 2020. In one day at the FT6 Summit, 11,000 new North Carolina Democrats were registered.
The NPAs (No Party Affiliation) voters in Florida are close in number to the Democrats and a little farther behind the Republican registered voters, but not by much. Hope does spring eternal, hope that the abortion issue and the degradation of females by the MAGA/KKK Republicans will result in a swell of voters to oust them from power. I've said it already but I think that it is worth repeating: This is the most important election in the history of the world if democracy is to survive. If democracy fails here, it will begin to crumble around the world. Trump would pull us out of NATO and then the crumbling will begin.
Richard, the woman who helps us in the garden was here yesterday and we always have a beverage after she is done. We got to talking about the primary here in Oregon and she had gotten a ballot with only judges on it....these are non-partisan races and most of them are incumbents who do not have a challenger in the primary. She wondered why....well, in Oregon, a person has to be registered either D or R to vote in the other races. In 2016 I remember telling her that sometimes we have to vote for someone who is, horrors, a mainstream or corporate D. I was pointing out why we needed to vote for HRC just for the Supreme Court. I just hope she doesn't decide to waste her general election vote in some kind of fruitless protest. She is also gay, so she has experienced bias which would only become worse with death star unleashing even more hatred.
"Trump won the state by 3.2% in 2020. If we flip 4% we win."
Just wanted to point out that with a 3.2 percent margin we only have to flip less than 2% from R to D to win. We could also do it by enrolling new D voters equal to the 3.2% margin, or any combination of the two.
An optimistic message this morning, brought to you by math.
Don't forget Louisiana where now children whom have experienced rape or incest must suffer through the resulting pregnancy without hope of an abortion. Who makes these Draconian laws? Republicans, that's who. Can Louisiana be pulled kicking and screaming from the Trump camp? In this mess virtually anything is possible.
Michael, this is truly disgusting and of course, once those fetuses are actually living babies, well....no help then. And if a woman is pregnant and needs emergency medical intervention, no help there either. No legislator should be interfering in medical decisions. And all woman should be aware of this R plan for a national pregnancy registry, purporting of course, as some kind of help, when it would really be a tracking device. So insidious.
Does "representative" dodie whats-her-name think the child victims of rape are guilty of something, and that the innocence of the cells now growing into the child of a rapist somehow "trump" (pardon me) the innocence of the child suffering the aftereffects of having been raped - including the minute-by-minute horror of actually being forced to carry to term the fetus caused by rape? What planet does this horrible woman live on?
I like this strategy in Florida and North Carolina that involves increasing numbers of registered Democrats and educating all about the GOP’s war against women, people of color and immigrants. We have to tap into every demographic-unregistered and undecided voters. Also, raising awareness of GOP allies, especially from Trump.
I like that saying, "Register Democrats, save the world." Truth! In Germany one of the political party's, I think Social Democrats has a sign up that translated says, "Voting saves lives!"
I think it's true that many Republican women who may have been okay with a 15-week limit consider the 6-week limit extreme. While they may vote in favor of the ballot initiative, there's no guarantee they will break with their party on candididates.
The 3.5 million NPAs will decide the presidential race. It's too bad that Terrie Rizzo, Manny Diaz, and Nikki Fried are so determined to keep NPAs from voting in the Democratic primaries. Research conducted by Unite America reveals that 58% of independents say they would be more likely to vote for a party's candidates if they were allowed to vote in the parimary. https://docsend.com/view/kz8jkfxixy727fds
As Florida has closed primaries, the first party to recognize this will have a distinct advantage moving forward.
Terrie Rizzo shut down local executive committees that were passing resolutions to do just that. The state would surely try to stop them, but the SCOTUS has ruled. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/479/208/
I wish Professor Richardson would spend a little time reading Cass Suntein. The argument that Biden spends a lot of money doesn't help win votes.
"In The Cost-Benefit Revolution, Cass Sunstein argues our major disagreements really involve facts, not values. It follows that government policy should not be based on public opinion, intuitions, or pressure from interest groups, but on numbers—meaning careful consideration of costs and benefits".
Why can't we get the verified performance out of Biden like we got from Obama before he had to fire Suntein because of guys like Frank O'Donnell, of the group Clean Air Watch. who said "Sunstein has been a blot on the landscape."?
Yea, Biden's EPA Press Office says Biden's vehicle regulations will have "$100 billion of annual net benefits to society, including $13 billion of annual public health benefits due to improved air quality, and $62 billion in reduced annual fuel costs, and maintenance and repair costs for drivers." What's the error estimates on the annual $100b net benefit. Suntein was a lot more convincing in 2015..
We know Trump's Tax Cut had much less cost-benefit than was sold to us. I would appreciate a little help from Prof. Richardson on how good are Biden's predictions, and who are the primary beneficiaries..
It's true that "the argument that Biden spends a lot of money doesn't help win votes," but the rest of it doesn't follow. Government *policy* can be based on facts and values at the same time, but if it isn't sold to voters in a way that resonates emotionally, it's not likely to produce many votes, especially among those who were leaning in the opposite direction.
Doesn't have to be that way. Sunstein was able to persuade Republicans as well as Democrats with the facts. But, that got him fired because it's the activists that influence voters.
Essentially, the problem is two-fold: 1) MAGA folks only tune in to Fox, OAAN, Newsmax, Alex Jones, et al., and 2) they can't see that democracy is better for their lives than a white Christian autocracy because they're ignorant about what life under a dictatorship will be like. That's the result of not being taught the facts and how to analyze the facts. It would be nice if all of them got plugged into Melanie Trecek-King's website: https://thinkingispower.com/ And, with all due respect to Prof. Trecek-King, whom I absolutely admire, it is action and not just thinking that makes the difference.
Yes! And speaker Johnson’s going to NYC court to “support” Trump this morning is beyond words. The “groupies of Putin” are beyond our reach unless we reach out to make our country more livable (get corporations under control) quickly.
Virginia Witmer,, I hadn't heard that the devil in the blue suit is going to NYC to do a dog and pony show. Geez! Of course, he is, I should've expected it. The wolf in sheep's clothing couldn"t miss an opportunity to manipulate the masses.
Virginia Witmer, yes, he and his twist religion to serve their egos rather than the truth. I am having a real hard time finding the values of Jesus in his/their words and actions.
I think we should all call Hakeem Jeffries office and let him know that the House Democrats should no longer save Johnson from being ousted by MTG in retaliation for the Speaker’s little stunt today in showing up to 45’s trail and giving a press conference to savage the witnesses on Trumps behalf. Johnson should have been working in DC to bring that border bill to a vote. I just sent my thoughts to his office at https://democraticleader.house.gov
Welcome to the new CNN. After less than stellar ratings the CNN owners decided to chase after a portion of the MAGA market. What you are seeing are broadcasters selling their souls.
Anne, what a good point! “No body’s getting a pony. Your choice is between an old, steady draft horse or a squealing pig who will eat you out of house and home (and turn your house into a stinking mud wallow!” author unknown
From my experience, Zakaria is a balanced commentator who does not speak lightly on issues of great import. He was discussing poll numbers from 2020 and January of this year, which can certainly change, but he was sounding a warning, one we all need to take note of. His report may be difficult to hear, but nothing I heard was obviously false or biased.
From other reading I have done, it seems clear that the GOP is aggressively assembling as many people as possible, focusing on the swing states – volunteers, attorneys, paid staff – to challenge votes, rile the MAGA-friendly with misinformation, and essentially overwhelm Democrats.
We need to match or better them, smother their number, person to person. For my part, I am taking a leave from work this fall to engage in the effort – work on the campaign and serve as an election inspector on election day. I am quite sure many in this space are doing the same.
I say this not as a boast, but from a place of deep concern. I do not want to be away from my family or my work but I believe this is our 1933 moment and if we are not resolute in denying Trump a second term our country, and the world, will be endangered.
We can’t depend on the press to do our job for us. We must act in numbers impossible to ignore. We must, to borrow from the great Dylan Thomas, ‘’Rage, rage against the dying of the light.’’ Thomas was speaking of the light of life but our light is that cast by a free nation and our fight must reflect the urgency of the moment we face as that light is threatened with extinction.
Annie, give me someone who is in the trenches doing the job rather than someone on the stage extolling their accomplishments….I do get that we need to “get the word out”, but jeez, I feel the Biden/Harris admin would rather just do the the work rather than crow about it. One of my favorite poets wrote that poem that I have sent to various folks who “walk the talk”:
Unfortunately, when you need people to vote for you, you can’t just assume they’ll see what you’re doing. You have to tell and show them over and over.
Yeah, sad tho’ true…I found this SubStack “What did Biden do Today” and subscribed (the free version, as I am income limited)…appreciate that there are those out there paying attention and tooting the horn on this Admin’s accomplishments/actions: https://whatdidbidendotoday.substack.com/
Not really. We knew what the billionaires, dark money, and the elites they neutered would do if we'd experienced films like “The Florida Project” and “Winter’s Bone”; novels like Barbara Kingsolver’s “Demon Copperhead,” Walter Mosley’s “Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned,” and many by Richard Russo and Stephen King; memoirs like Mary Karr’s “The Liars’ Club,” Jeannette Walls’ “The Glass Castle,” and Erin Gruwell’s “The Freedom Writers Diary,” and any number of hip hop Ari Melber will cite.
When you cut to the quick, it is beyond my comprehension that so many would support the likes of a trump. Do they completely lack a sense of future and how this garbage could turn on them as well?
Zakaria seems to be basing his analyses on poll numbers, which since at least 2016, have been unreliable, missing the Trump win in 2016, the blue wave in 2018, the Biden win in 2020, and predicting a 'Red wave" in 2022. My guess is that polls did not predict the pro-choice victory in Nebraska, or how the various special elections in 2023 and 2024 turned out.
I do understand polling science is complex and nuanced, but I can't help thinking it is also broken, either in its basic methodology, in how polling data is actually gathered, or both. No matter how good the annalist, if the data is faulty, the analysis will be too. I simply can't get too worked up by poling results anymore. I am much more focused on what happens when actual voters vote for actual candidates or issues. When Democrats start regularly losing state and federal elections, then I will be worried. Until then - to quote many members of this forum, "Register Democrats, save the world".
The Gaza Blitzkrieg has captured a good portion of the nation's attention, and statistics about improvements in infrastructure are not going to touch that. I think Biden should call for the creation of a multi-national peace-keeping force in Gaza.
Amen to the multi-national peace-keeping force in Gaza. And complete Gazan independence from Israel, the two-state solution. As long as the Israeli boot is on the neck of the Palestinian there will be those who rebel. That, like it or not, is human nature.
I do not admire Zakaria. He has no good reason to predict that Biden will lose unless they get their campaign going faster, smarter, etc. Has he not noticed how vigorously Biden/Harris are campaigning? How they are striking out at Dumpty? Trump is very likely to be convicted of 34 election interference felonies in New York within the next two weeks. The Democrats have FAR outraised the GOP. The RNC does not have funds for down ballot candidates and not enough for Trump. On Saturday, he held a rally on the Jersey Shore. It was reported that the crowd was 100,000 people. I knew that was bullshit immediately. Turns out the photograph of a huge crowd was from a Rod Stewart concert on the beach in Rio de Janiero in 1990!! The mainstream media bought the Trump LIE hook, line and sinker.
In an interesting twist, Trump's crowd size estimate was challenged by none other than Jesse Watters on the Fox News show, The Five. Watters estimated the crowd at closer to 30,000. Reported today by Newsweek.
The venue could hold no more than 40,000 people at the beach where it was held. I sent that correction out yesterday on Twitter to a writer of one of the reports.
The allure of charisma often overshadows genuine effort and practical achievements, reflecting humanity's desire for spectacle over substance. This trait has hindered us all throughout our history and in the age of AI may very well be our downfall.
What he may be referring to is that young people are focusing heavily on what is happing in the middle east, and they are disgusted with our government's reaction and saying that they refuse to vote for Biden.
Let’s talk about these ‘young people’. Several dozen marched out of Duke’s commencent ceremony because Jerry Seinfeld was being awarded an honorary degree. Seinfeld, whose sin apparently, is that he’s Jewish and an open supporter of Israel (but not their actions in Gaza) had his speech interrupted. Several dozen protestors walked out…out of a class of 7000.
At all these other campuses, the encampments amount to 200 or so, out of total enrollments in the tens of thousands. I don’t think this movement is that widespread, or has that kind of staying power that people seem to think it does.
True, but when the media focuses on "ALL THOSE PROTESTERS" *gasp*, the movement looks larger than it is. Not that the rest of us aren't for an end to the war, the bloodshed and hatred...but a principled end, with a two state solution and Netanyahu booted from office.
Isn't this a no-brainer? "Trickle-down" doesn't work with facts any better than it works with corporate profits. Connecting facts on the ground to legislation from on high isn't easy, and the "news" media, mainstream or otherwise, doesn't help much. Inspirational speeches travel better than facts on the ground.
We could also ask what "good for Americans" even means. Good for *which* Americans, and who counts as an "American" in the first place? We know what millions of USians hear when Trump says "You won't have a country anymore." They hear "You white people won't be a majority any more." Which is exactly what Trump means when he says it. Bridge repair and high-speed internet aren't going to change hearts and minds on that one.
I can’t watch CNN anymore. Yesterday with long stretches in the car I listened to MSNBC. All trump, all day. Talking heads talking conjecture. ALL DAY LONG. I was disgusted, and griped to my husband, “you’d think we don’t have a prez. Wonder what he’s up to today?” Cable news is no longer news. “What did Biden do today” is a great substack.
It’s not enough to be right. We have to win. And we are not winning. The polls have us significantly down five swing states. Democracy doesn’t work that well when you have ignorant, selfish uninformed people. so Biden has to do something that appeals to the independence and the moderate Republicans that don’t want to vote for Trump, but feel like everything is too expensive. They can’t afford the things that they want and life is not great for them. Despite the fact that everything is moving in the right direction and in the long term it’s going to benefit them they don’t see that. And nothing Biden says about all the good work that his administration is doing and investing in our future is going to change that. He hast to come up with a way to reach these people or it’s all for naught.
Is Fareed working with the Russian bots? Perhaps the Israeli bots are working on making the youth of America, who are most likely to vote for Biden too dissatisfied to vote so they stay home. Actually, Israel doesn't need Bots, Netanyahu just needs to keep on doing what he is doing, which I am convinced he is doing for his supporters and to get rid of Biden and not because he can actually win against Hamas. Biden needs to start getting youth to make ads that say, I don't agree with everything Biden does, but I am more unhappy with Trump because he is going to hurt everyone in the USA if he becomes president and won't be helping the people of Gaza. He is more likely to send more attack weapons to Israel while not sending aid to Gazans. If our mainstream press were on the job they would be reporting what every other country is doing in the situation with Israel and Hamas, and the Gazans, but they don't. People from outside the USA always remark on how the US press mostly only covers US news, just like in the USA my daughter did not get a lot of history of other countries, even though the USA has a relatively short history, so one could actually learn what happened in the world just as one could be teaching about the US before it became the US and the cultures that were and are here for centuries.
At the heart of the problem, I conclude, is that many, many Americans have cut their cable cord and do not subscribe to a newspaper of record such as the NYT. They are simply not informed of all the good that Biden has done. Also, is there another President in our history that from day #1 had to deal with the drum beat of the losing candidate not conceding the election?
Agreed. Not that the Times prints much that favours President Biden. Many folks also get their news from Bill Maher, or late night comedy shows. So important too that Americans are informed of news of the rest of the world. It can really put things in perspective. CNN has really fallen down on that job.
If Trump is returned to office, his demented, outlandish lie that other countries are “emptying out their mental institutions into the United States" would ring true in an ironic sense — he and other wacko Republicans would take over the federal government. And his equally pathetic lie about Biden being the worst president ever is unadulterated projection. Trump knows that Biden's admirable accomplishments shine a bright light on his disastrous term in office.
It's revealing that Trump, whose grip on reality is weakening, is lying more frequently and intensely. His desperation is palpable and will only grow worse.
I agree, Michael. If that blabbering piece of crap TUMP wants to see the worst president in history, he needs to look no further in a mirror of his ugly and vile ass. I am fed up with this low life and i just wish someone, somewhere would put this vile SOB out of his misery. Just when i thought i couldn't hate this SOB any worse, i hate him even worse now.
These idiots that live around me are no better than he is, while driving to a home improvement store today, i saw some lame brain that had a yard sign with a picture of TUMP's mug shot on it, and i saw another house that had cut their grass into big letters that read, T R U M P. This insanity is totally out of control now.
We live in the Red Zone where logic is a missing piece of the puzzle! I try to not let all of it bother me since I know what DJT actually is! My conscience is clear!
This says a lot about what the Biden administration has accomplished. And Buttigieg is just one of several amazing cabinet members that has done so much to make America a first world nation again.
"The White House today announced that it has awarded nearly $454 billion in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, including more than 56,000 projects across more than 4,500 communities across the nation. Those include fixing more than 165,000 miles of roads and more than 9,400 bridges and improving more than 450 ports and 300 airport terminals. It has funded more than 1,400 drinking water and wastewater projects and projects to replace up to 1.7 million toxic lead pipes, as well as more than 8,000 low- and zero-emission buses. It has funded 95 previously unfunded Superfund projects to clean up contaminated sites. It has improved the electrical grid and funded 12,000 miles of high-speed internet infrastructure, and exposed internet junk fees."
There seems to be a spectrum from intellectually uncurious to just plain dumb to maliciously stupid and it's all negative and destructive to the concept of democracy.
The NY Times and other prominent Media outlets claimed there were over 100k people at that rally but the venue could only hold 20k and it was half full.
Democrats need to go on a multi pronged attack. If Biden has said 1/100th of the crazy spew of Trump it would be all over the media. However not a mention of Trump’s rhetoric. Thanks Heather!
It is my dream that the Biden campaign would stage a Trump-style rally at a venue whose attendance could be accurately measured. A football stadium would be ideal; they always announce the number of no-shows at my city’s home pro football games, to which the fans heartily boo. I would gladly travel to such an event - when I was in college in the early 70s a group of us students drove 1,600 miles to join an anti-war demonstration in D.C. It would be so great to beat Trump at his own rally game; Americans did it at Biden’s inauguration. We can scream & holler & wear funny hats just as well as the MAGA crowd. But we would be cheering for a president, not a criminal.
We can all email President Biden and VP Harris this suggestion. What is needed is the GUT feeling that #45 evokes. Facts don’t always matter to those who want more emotion. I’d attend this rally. Going to email them both today
The news that Johnson is going to court in NYC today must put all of US who want to preserve democracy into high gear. TV is going to win the day along with the web if we don’t find a better way to combat both. Americans want EVERYTHING NOW, not tomorrow. Not bridges and airports, but decent food, medical care, schools, vacations with pay. Trump will promise everything and give nothing. Just heard “cultural heroin.” Then there’s climate change, the healthiest ELEPHANT on the planet. Greed is all the groupies of Putin (thank you, Rep. Jim Clyburn) understand.
YES! The Repubs gather their audience but appeals to emotions. Facts are great, but they are dry and unemotive. A huge, huge crowd, OTOH, would be a gut punch to Dump!
The Family DNA Failure A.G. Sulzberger, the best current example in favor of ending inherited wealth, the semi-competent who is where he is by accident of birth, is upset that President Biden has not kissed his ring with an "exclusive interview." So he has the trust fund babies he hires as "reporters" make certain to do everything to promote Trump and impede Biden. The Mainstream Media IS "the enemy of the people," just differently from what Trump was talking about. The people whose work made the NYT the institution it is would throw him out of a top-story window if they came back. He'll be very surprised when Trump orders that fate for him for real after his return to power.
And Trump would do it in a heartbeat. I just don't get WHY these media moguls don't intuitively understand that should Trump get back into power, >perhaps< Trump would leave Sulzberger where he is...but maybe not?
Should Trump-in-power need to demonize another segment of the country's population to keep the peasants fearful and riled...the media moguls WILL be in the target sights, because they would be extremely easy-peasy to replace...poisoned tea and conveniently open windows are everywhere.
The MSM is a useless propaganda machine for the Orange excrement, TUMP. They exaggerate and build that useless skid row bum up like he is the ruler for the entire universe.
I read some of it...it is disjointed, incoherent rambling interspersed with grievance and vulgarity, blame is cast in every direction except Trump's own...it was two hours of meaningless complaints and stupid senseless stories that never evolved into a connected whole.
All I can surmise is that his supporters don't actually listen to him. Perhaps they go for the emotional charge of getting together with other trumphumpers?--or perhaps those whom the camera caught leaving >did< start to listen and gave it up as an impossible task.
As we watched it, my husband noted that even many of those standing around weren't paying any attention to it, they were watching their phones or chatting with friends.
To be fair, the venue was full and does hold about 20K people, but most of them had left 15 minutes into his same old bullshit tirade. And once again, he began muttering in undecipherable tongues which the press gives him a pass for every time. By the end only a few thousand people remained.
David Packman seems to be the only journalist that notices Trump's mental decline.
Do you know of any reliable sources for estimating the size of this crowd? It is troubling that everyone seems to just be accepting that number of 100K.
“So here’s the thing about breaking barriers,” [VP Kamala Harris] said. “Breaking barriers does not mean you start on one side of the barrier and you end up on the other side. There’s breaking involved. And when you break things you get cut. And you may bleed. And it is worth it every time…. We have to know that sometimes people will open the door for you and leave it open. “
Yes!! First time a Vice President uses the "F-word" in a public statement. (outside of Biden telling Obama "This is a BFD" which didn't quite use the actual article).
In Since Eisenhower, almost every Republican President has had a VP that would make a terrible President - Nixon, Agnew, Bush, Quayle and Rockefeller.
And on the Democrat side, the opposite is true. Harris would be (will be) an amazing President if she's given the chance. And as I've posted before so would several of Biden's cabinet members and advisors.
Democrat's complain about Biden being too old, but he is given dozen of people in his administration the chance to become household names for accomplishing things that help almost every American.
The delirious, fearmongering, anti-reality postures and actions of the MAGA leaders in the context of such amazing progress, potential, and positive results from the Biden administration makes me marvel why people would follow such forces of darkness and deceit. Maybe Val Kilmer’s character had it right in the movie tombstone:
Doc Holliday : A man like Ringo has got a great big hole, right in the middle of him. He can never kill enough, or steal enough, or inflict enough pain to ever fill it.
You do know that the Shootout at the OK Corral was a fight between the two criminal groups in Tombstone who were competing over who would run the vice industry in town, yes?
I did not know that, TC, yet I am certainly not surprised.
A significant part of the success of the Hollywood versions of history is encapsulated in the great John Ford film "The Man who Shot Liberty Valance", when the character interviewing the pioneering Senator played by James Stewart says,"Print the legend".
That's what people like, the printing of the legend. Running the world's oldest profession in an otherwise obscure dusty town in the Arizona territory doesn't quite meet Ford's or Louis B. Mayer's or even Harry Cohn's standards of "legend", so the myth of Wyatt Earp is born.
Or as that oddball son of Texas, David Byrne might say/sing, "Same as it ever was"
Oh, the Earp story was "tarted up" (sans tarts) long before Hollywood, since Earp made sure to make himself available to such famous (and commercially successful) "Dime Novel" superstars as Ned Buntline, Edward Ellis, Prentiss Ingraham, and Edward Wheeler (aided not insignicantly by the fact the Clantons and most of his siblings were no longer available for comment). Wyatt himself was a fixture in Los Angeles and early Hollywood in the teens and early Twenties, and was a good friend of John Ford's. You can see where this is going...
I can see the direction indeed. I read somewhere about the long lived Wyatt Earp residing in the early Ciudad de Nuestra Senora, la Reina de Los Angeles sometime after the McNamara Brothers blew up the Times Building, and before Gower Gulch was built, but didn't know much more
😊 Not sure how far any analogy goes beyond feeling dumbfounded and incredulous! Val Kilmer’s Doc Holliday was pretty fun to watch as a young man though
I believe that there was (or will be} an Indie movie about Robert Smalls, produced by Legion M Entertainment, called "Defiant: The Story of Robert Smalls."
"The baby in the womb is innocent, we have to hold on to that.". Why? Besides your unending desire to control women are you going to help support that woman & child & help get counseling for them? If the answer to that question is that's the mother's responsibility well then maybe you should decide on tapping into the moral outrage & jump straight to "Do unto others" portion of the Bible that you always seem to forget!
You're telling families in this situation that they have to cope & yet if that family requires assistance of any kind they are considered welfare queens, & more than likely some holier than thou stupid republican bureaucrat will tell that woman/girl something along the lines of "well, you shouldn't have put yourself in that position in the first place. Isn't it always the woman's fault?
I'm fed up with all the Republican reactionary bullshit & phoney morality.
And while the other countries in the world may be laughing at us it's because too many of our population are just too stupid to realize that what trump has done & will continue to do in spades should he get back in office that's why they are laughing nervously to see which way we will go ~~~dependable ally or destructive autocracy or plutocracy? The choice is ours & the world is watching!!!!
Your sentence, '' too many of our population are too stupid to realize what TUMP has done and will continue to do in spades should he get back in office that's why they are laughing nervously to see which way we will go, dependable ally or destructive autocracy or plutocracy? '' That was exactly what is going on here in the USA now. Until TUMP, i honestly didn't know there were so many ignorant, gullible, dumb people in the United States. Jim Jones and cyanide laced kool-aid anyone??
John T, it would seem a more useful approach than simply calling people "too stupid to realize what TUMP has done and will continue to do" is to point out that T-rump acts entirely out of self-interest at all times and in all situations and that many if not most of his followers imagine that they are doing the same. That would presumably include even the smart bankers and entrepreneurs and big oil and lawyers (think SCOTUS and The Heritage Foundation) and oligarchs in general who provide financial support for the Orange One.
JohnM, my take is that Trump is the Red Herring in all this, the magician’s distraction that The Ruling Class Oligarchs have us focus on as they construct a nation that entrenches their wealth permanently without having the appearance of Kingdoms where first Cousins marry and create shallow root stock
Dear return, I suspect women would gain a significant political advantage with at least proposing legislation that if men continue to legislate against availability of abortions, any woman who bears a child out of wedlock is required to have that baby's DNA sequenced and matched to all available DNA databanks every 3 or 5 years and any resulting matches require the matchee bear financial liability for raising that child or be imprisoned. THAT would seem to highlight a more equal treatment of men's responsibility for new life beyond "The baby in the womb is innocent, we have to hold on to that." or "you shouldn't have put yourself in that position in the first place."
Let's get that suggestion out there to see how the "right to lifers" will react to that suggestion. Can't you hear it now? "How dare they infringe on my rights!"
"What? My DNA is mine & I should have control over what's done with it?"
"We can't have the federal government infringe on MY right to privacy!!"
Oh the weeping & gnashing of teeth on that suggestion would have all those tough he-men clutching their "pearls"!
Thank you to you & your husband for giving me a Goose/Gander scenario to dream about!!!! : )
I am sure there is an overlap of 2A supporters who hate the idea of a federal database for gun owners or people who buy ammo, but somehow think this invasion of privacy is a good idea. 25% of pregnancies end up non viable, and they are just clearly doing this to control women. Their base of supporters is entirely crazy and they need to be called out constantly. They thought the Handmaids tale was a guidebook.
To the young voters out there, and to those opposed to the Netanyahu pogrom against the Palestinian people, I get your frustration, but your vote matters in November. Sitting out the November election, voting for some fringe third party candidate, or worse, voting for Trump, will spell disaster for this country, to your future, to the world order, and result in the annexation of Gaza by Israel. Vote wisely.
Why do these folks mad at Biden over Israel (as if he controls Netanyahu) think tfg would be better for the Palestinians? He could not possibly care less and furthermore sympathizes with Bibi’s efforts to stay out of jail.
The 2016 election was a case in point where many Bernie supporters sat home or voted for Jill Stein. Those same people are now protesting the SCOTUS Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, but if those same people had voted for the extremely qualified HRC we would have a liberal SCOTUS, TFG would be in jail, and the world would be a better place.
Thank-you. I know because I was as fervent an idealist--during my college days and for a decade afterwards--as you would ever come across. Fortunately, I married an unflappable pragmatist and he kept me tethered to reality long enough for me to learn at least a modest amount of wisdom. Now that I am in my 70's, I am constantly amazed how much I have learned from the "been there; done that" experiences and those small 'life alerts' that mortality gives all of us at times.
Yes, that is a perfect metaphor. I get kinda impatient with 'single issue' voters--Check the whole package, darn it!!! Why would anyone want to get one thing they want and totally hate the rest of the deal? Why not go for the deal where get at least a part of--or progress toward--most of the things you want?
I simply cannot comprehend how anyone could vote for one of today’s Republicans. Although the Democrats are still too timid for my tastes, they’re at least doing SOMETHING that’s reasonably constructive, not to mention that they don’t treat women like garbage.
I have always liked the history about Robert Smalls. I think I first learned it here a few years ago after I had started subscribing to HCR. Britt's proposed pregnant woman database on the other hand is chilling and reprehensible.
Lots of good things are happening in the US thanks to the Biden/Harris government. Lots of bad things happened with the previous president which as with bad governing continue to plaque the nation. Two things I would ask... beg for, even -- first keep telling the American people about the good things and, at the same time, remind them of the disasters left by trumpy... you know, the old fat orange faced man stuck in a NY courtroom because he lied. Keep on keeping on, HCR, please.
I honestly think that more women should consider having women lovers and leave the nut jobs (pun intended) in the dust. No more law suits from ex-partners for having an abortion.
I have commented often that the 100% certainty for every pregnancy is sperm introduced. I have a friend who has for year worn a pin that says "Just say "no" to sex with pro-lifers."
Reflecting on what others have said, it is striking in that the Trump campaign has nothing positive to say on the campaign trail. The rallies focus on attacking all the progress that the Democratic Party has achieved since Biden was elected. After that the lies about Biden begin. Will 70 million voters, once again give this sad political party their approval next November?
I really can’t see it happening. Trump lost in 2020. Lots of his followers are dropping away, note the primary numbers that have many voting for Haley, an obvious dissatisfaction with Trump. Republicans may sit out the vote altogether, although it would be good if they would vote for Biden. There’s such a strange stubbornness about trying a different party isn’t there?
It will never cease to amaze me that even just a few people would be willing to put themselves through that scatological screed, but for the hope that there was redemption for their suffering.
@Annie, yes I think you are right, look at all the negatives Trumpo has accumulated since 2020, EJean Carol rape, with a big fine for defamation too. There is the NY financial fraud with about a half billion dollar judgement, then the worst ,the J6 insurrection, which we all witnessed, but the trial is stalled. Let’s not forget the Classified Documents( open and shut case) which were stolen, trial stalled also. The Georgia election fraud attempt, also stalled. The New Your election interference and hush money trial which is on going but has weaknesses. ( may be out of time, the felony charge is a stretch) That is enough bad news to sink any candidate. The great leader needs to gain votes not lose votes. How can he do that by bragging that he sank Roe v Wade? His chances of a win are near zero.
The only thing I can think of that is remotely positive is offering bribes to mega-maga donors that if they give Trump their millions or their Fortune 500 companies billions then he will kill the Biden climate change rules that are costing them money.
It's ironic that one of the oil executives said, "we paid our lobbyists over $400 million last year and we got nothing in return from the Biden administration."
Did they really expect the Democrats to be bought off like the Republican politicians?
May we all channel the bravery and determination of Robert Smalls! What a great tribute, and apt story for today.
Professor Richardson continues to surprise me. Just when I think one of her letters can't be topped, she comes up with something even better.
If only every American woke up with Heather. (credit to Ken Burns who said that -- "Every day I wake up with Dr. Richardson.")
If everyone did, our country would find peace.
Real hero!! What an amazing accomplishment for anyone let alone a former slave.
Yes. That was a very inspiring story!
Ditto
This is not quite on topic, but this morning I saw a clip of Fareed Zakaria, who I normally respect, saying that President Biden had to come up with something really spectacular in his campaign, otherwise he would not win. So it’s just not good enough to work hard on issues that are good for Americans??? What is it that people want? A shining knight on a white horse? Yes, people like JFK and Obama were young, handsome and inspirational. But the real work often did not get done. The promises did not necessarily get fulfilled.
Annie Weeks, maybe he could have talked about how CNN should be 24/7 calling out the insanity and cruelty of the R Party, sounding the warning that they are planning on destroying our democracy if returned to power and how they are planning on cheating every which way possible (unwarranted voter roll purges, goons with guns intimidating voters and election workers, etc.) to win.
CNN needs a dose of Hopium.
In Florida, Republicans did us a favor by enacting the six week abortion ban, putting abortion (and marijuana) on the ballot. 80% of all women oppose. 30 electoral votes. They turned us from a red to a purple state verging blue. Perhaps a million unregistered folks trend heavily Democratic. Register Democrats, save the world.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
Yes, Daniel, the Florida American Taliban in all of its Fascist religious misogynistic Talibanic way is running roughshod over the rights of Floridians and in particular females. The dividing line in this state and in this country is now as stark as it was during the time when Fort Sumter was fired on. Only now, the "cancer" has metastasized and is spread throughout the nation without geographic limits.
Classic Greek medicine requires catharsis, purgation. Trump won the state by 3.2% in 2020. If we flip 4% we win. IMHO there may be enough disgruntled Republicans to do it, but just in case, most of the unregistered, and the more than 3 million "no party" are women, trending at 80%.
A similar phenomenon is happening in North Carolina, because the Republican governor candidate is an antisemite who says women should not vote. 16 electoral votes. Trump won North Carolina by 1.34% in 2020. In one day at the FT6 Summit, 11,000 new North Carolina Democrats were registered.
The NPAs (No Party Affiliation) voters in Florida are close in number to the Democrats and a little farther behind the Republican registered voters, but not by much. Hope does spring eternal, hope that the abortion issue and the degradation of females by the MAGA/KKK Republicans will result in a swell of voters to oust them from power. I've said it already but I think that it is worth repeating: This is the most important election in the history of the world if democracy is to survive. If democracy fails here, it will begin to crumble around the world. Trump would pull us out of NATO and then the crumbling will begin.
Richard, the woman who helps us in the garden was here yesterday and we always have a beverage after she is done. We got to talking about the primary here in Oregon and she had gotten a ballot with only judges on it....these are non-partisan races and most of them are incumbents who do not have a challenger in the primary. She wondered why....well, in Oregon, a person has to be registered either D or R to vote in the other races. In 2016 I remember telling her that sometimes we have to vote for someone who is, horrors, a mainstream or corporate D. I was pointing out why we needed to vote for HRC just for the Supreme Court. I just hope she doesn't decide to waste her general election vote in some kind of fruitless protest. She is also gay, so she has experienced bias which would only become worse with death star unleashing even more hatred.
"Trump won the state by 3.2% in 2020. If we flip 4% we win."
Just wanted to point out that with a 3.2 percent margin we only have to flip less than 2% from R to D to win. We could also do it by enrolling new D voters equal to the 3.2% margin, or any combination of the two.
An optimistic message this morning, brought to you by math.
Even better - YAY!!! Grew up in Florida - and LEFT! But still keep an eye on things. Best news so far!!! Thank you!
Don't forget Louisiana where now children whom have experienced rape or incest must suffer through the resulting pregnancy without hope of an abortion. Who makes these Draconian laws? Republicans, that's who. Can Louisiana be pulled kicking and screaming from the Trump camp? In this mess virtually anything is possible.
Michael, this is truly disgusting and of course, once those fetuses are actually living babies, well....no help then. And if a woman is pregnant and needs emergency medical intervention, no help there either. No legislator should be interfering in medical decisions. And all woman should be aware of this R plan for a national pregnancy registry, purporting of course, as some kind of help, when it would really be a tracking device. So insidious.
I'm so disgusted with these people!
Does "representative" dodie whats-her-name think the child victims of rape are guilty of something, and that the innocence of the cells now growing into the child of a rapist somehow "trump" (pardon me) the innocence of the child suffering the aftereffects of having been raped - including the minute-by-minute horror of actually being forced to carry to term the fetus caused by rape? What planet does this horrible woman live on?
Voting Democrat Saves Lives! If anyone makes this statement into a T-Shirt I would buy some.
I like this strategy in Florida and North Carolina that involves increasing numbers of registered Democrats and educating all about the GOP’s war against women, people of color and immigrants. We have to tap into every demographic-unregistered and undecided voters. Also, raising awareness of GOP allies, especially from Trump.
Thanks for this important info, Danny!!! I'm FROM Florida - and WELCOME any good news about it.
I like that saying, "Register Democrats, save the world." Truth! In Germany one of the political party's, I think Social Democrats has a sign up that translated says, "Voting saves lives!"
I think it's true that many Republican women who may have been okay with a 15-week limit consider the 6-week limit extreme. While they may vote in favor of the ballot initiative, there's no guarantee they will break with their party on candididates.
The 3.5 million NPAs will decide the presidential race. It's too bad that Terrie Rizzo, Manny Diaz, and Nikki Fried are so determined to keep NPAs from voting in the Democratic primaries. Research conducted by Unite America reveals that 58% of independents say they would be more likely to vote for a party's candidates if they were allowed to vote in the parimary. https://docsend.com/view/kz8jkfxixy727fds
As Florida has closed primaries, the first party to recognize this will have a distinct advantage moving forward.
Terrie Rizzo shut down local executive committees that were passing resolutions to do just that. The state would surely try to stop them, but the SCOTUS has ruled. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/479/208/
I wish Professor Richardson would spend a little time reading Cass Suntein. The argument that Biden spends a lot of money doesn't help win votes.
"In The Cost-Benefit Revolution, Cass Sunstein argues our major disagreements really involve facts, not values. It follows that government policy should not be based on public opinion, intuitions, or pressure from interest groups, but on numbers—meaning careful consideration of costs and benefits".
https://mitpress.mit.edu › the-cost-...
The Cost-Benefit Revolution - MIT Press
I guess that the concept of "investment" does not include values. Better link.
https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/4108/The-Cost-Benefit-Revolution
I don't know this as a fact, but I bet that Sunstein, formerly of OMB, supports everything said about the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2012/08/03/regulatory-reformer-leaves-his-mark
When legislation is proposed, it is "scored" by the Congressional Budget Office and must pass muster at OMB. If it is not economically feasible, it cannot become law. https://www.cbpp.org/research/policy-basics-introduction-to-the-federal-budget-process#:~:text=The%20cost%20of%20a%20tax,Congressional%20Budget%20Office%20(CBO).
It's not that "Biden" spent the money, WE did. Bipartisan.
Why can't we get the verified performance out of Biden like we got from Obama before he had to fire Suntein because of guys like Frank O'Donnell, of the group Clean Air Watch. who said "Sunstein has been a blot on the landscape."?
Yea, Biden's EPA Press Office says Biden's vehicle regulations will have "$100 billion of annual net benefits to society, including $13 billion of annual public health benefits due to improved air quality, and $62 billion in reduced annual fuel costs, and maintenance and repair costs for drivers." What's the error estimates on the annual $100b net benefit. Suntein was a lot more convincing in 2015..
We know Trump's Tax Cut had much less cost-benefit than was sold to us. I would appreciate a little help from Prof. Richardson on how good are Biden's predictions, and who are the primary beneficiaries..
I never worked at EPA but I heard environmental whistleblower cases and I bet everything was scored and after the fact, has been audited. https://www.epa.gov/compliance/epas-audit-policy
It's true that "the argument that Biden spends a lot of money doesn't help win votes," but the rest of it doesn't follow. Government *policy* can be based on facts and values at the same time, but if it isn't sold to voters in a way that resonates emotionally, it's not likely to produce many votes, especially among those who were leaning in the opposite direction.
Maybe we are all just too emotional, which is stopping us from serious consideration of the facts.
Doesn't have to be that way. Sunstein was able to persuade Republicans as well as Democrats with the facts. But, that got him fired because it's the activists that influence voters.
Essentially, the problem is two-fold: 1) MAGA folks only tune in to Fox, OAAN, Newsmax, Alex Jones, et al., and 2) they can't see that democracy is better for their lives than a white Christian autocracy because they're ignorant about what life under a dictatorship will be like. That's the result of not being taught the facts and how to analyze the facts. It would be nice if all of them got plugged into Melanie Trecek-King's website: https://thinkingispower.com/ And, with all due respect to Prof. Trecek-King, whom I absolutely admire, it is action and not just thinking that makes the difference.
Richard Sutherland, I'm not familiar with her. Thanks, I will check out the website.
She is interesting thanks.
Lemings
Absolutely agree!
Yes! And speaker Johnson’s going to NYC court to “support” Trump this morning is beyond words. The “groupies of Putin” are beyond our reach unless we reach out to make our country more livable (get corporations under control) quickly.
Virginia Witmer,, I hadn't heard that the devil in the blue suit is going to NYC to do a dog and pony show. Geez! Of course, he is, I should've expected it. The wolf in sheep's clothing couldn"t miss an opportunity to manipulate the masses.
Now we know that all the “Christianity” is a facade. Protecting a criminal is perfect for the putinistas.
Virginia Witmer, yes, he and his twist religion to serve their egos rather than the truth. I am having a real hard time finding the values of Jesus in his/their words and actions.
On an hilarious note, Tuberville went yesterday. Words fail.
I think we should all call Hakeem Jeffries office and let him know that the House Democrats should no longer save Johnson from being ousted by MTG in retaliation for the Speaker’s little stunt today in showing up to 45’s trail and giving a press conference to savage the witnesses on Trumps behalf. Johnson should have been working in DC to bring that border bill to a vote. I just sent my thoughts to his office at https://democraticleader.house.gov
YesTree. If whispers don't work one needs to try shouting. The silence of the lambs (cable news)is bewildering.
Welcome to the new CNN. After less than stellar ratings the CNN owners decided to chase after a portion of the MAGA market. What you are seeing are broadcasters selling their souls.
Barbara Mullen, very sad.
yes
Anne, what a good point! “No body’s getting a pony. Your choice is between an old, steady draft horse or a squealing pig who will eat you out of house and home (and turn your house into a stinking mud wallow!” author unknown
I saw it too Annie, and was troubled by it.
From my experience, Zakaria is a balanced commentator who does not speak lightly on issues of great import. He was discussing poll numbers from 2020 and January of this year, which can certainly change, but he was sounding a warning, one we all need to take note of. His report may be difficult to hear, but nothing I heard was obviously false or biased.
From other reading I have done, it seems clear that the GOP is aggressively assembling as many people as possible, focusing on the swing states – volunteers, attorneys, paid staff – to challenge votes, rile the MAGA-friendly with misinformation, and essentially overwhelm Democrats.
We need to match or better them, smother their number, person to person. For my part, I am taking a leave from work this fall to engage in the effort – work on the campaign and serve as an election inspector on election day. I am quite sure many in this space are doing the same.
I say this not as a boast, but from a place of deep concern. I do not want to be away from my family or my work but I believe this is our 1933 moment and if we are not resolute in denying Trump a second term our country, and the world, will be endangered.
We can’t depend on the press to do our job for us. We must act in numbers impossible to ignore. We must, to borrow from the great Dylan Thomas, ‘’Rage, rage against the dying of the light.’’ Thomas was speaking of the light of life but our light is that cast by a free nation and our fight must reflect the urgency of the moment we face as that light is threatened with extinction.
R Dooley (NY),
Thanks for the "PUSH"!!! We must not allow the light to die!!!
Thanks to so many determined people who are working hard, reaching out to help get people to the polls to vote ....to keep the light of freedom alive!
It is not just for us...it is for our children and for the hope of the world.
President Joe Biden knows how to work with people to get the job done.
We need to be behind this sentiment 💯. Thank you for reminding us all!
Annie, give me someone who is in the trenches doing the job rather than someone on the stage extolling their accomplishments….I do get that we need to “get the word out”, but jeez, I feel the Biden/Harris admin would rather just do the the work rather than crow about it. One of my favorite poets wrote that poem that I have sent to various folks who “walk the talk”:
Marge Piercy “To Be of Use” https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57673/to-be-of-use
Unfortunately, when you need people to vote for you, you can’t just assume they’ll see what you’re doing. You have to tell and show them over and over.
Yeah, sad tho’ true…I found this SubStack “What did Biden do Today” and subscribed (the free version, as I am income limited)…appreciate that there are those out there paying attention and tooting the horn on this Admin’s accomplishments/actions: https://whatdidbidendotoday.substack.com/
Annie, you ask, "What is it that people want? A shining knight on a white horse?"
No, Annie. Tens of millions apparently want a diapered, smelly, orange-encrusted nightmare striding horseshit.
But why? It is mind-boggling.
Mind-boggling, Jade?
Not really. We knew what the billionaires, dark money, and the elites they neutered would do if we'd experienced films like “The Florida Project” and “Winter’s Bone”; novels like Barbara Kingsolver’s “Demon Copperhead,” Walter Mosley’s “Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned,” and many by Richard Russo and Stephen King; memoirs like Mary Karr’s “The Liars’ Club,” Jeannette Walls’ “The Glass Castle,” and Erin Gruwell’s “The Freedom Writers Diary,” and any number of hip hop Ari Melber will cite.
When you cut to the quick, it is beyond my comprehension that so many would support the likes of a trump. Do they completely lack a sense of future and how this garbage could turn on them as well?
Good points, Annie.
Zakaria seems to be basing his analyses on poll numbers, which since at least 2016, have been unreliable, missing the Trump win in 2016, the blue wave in 2018, the Biden win in 2020, and predicting a 'Red wave" in 2022. My guess is that polls did not predict the pro-choice victory in Nebraska, or how the various special elections in 2023 and 2024 turned out.
I do understand polling science is complex and nuanced, but I can't help thinking it is also broken, either in its basic methodology, in how polling data is actually gathered, or both. No matter how good the annalist, if the data is faulty, the analysis will be too. I simply can't get too worked up by poling results anymore. I am much more focused on what happens when actual voters vote for actual candidates or issues. When Democrats start regularly losing state and federal elections, then I will be worried. Until then - to quote many members of this forum, "Register Democrats, save the world".
The Gaza Blitzkrieg has captured a good portion of the nation's attention, and statistics about improvements in infrastructure are not going to touch that. I think Biden should call for the creation of a multi-national peace-keeping force in Gaza.
Amen to the multi-national peace-keeping force in Gaza. And complete Gazan independence from Israel, the two-state solution. As long as the Israeli boot is on the neck of the Palestinian there will be those who rebel. That, like it or not, is human nature.
I admire him and was very shocked and disappointed by his statement.
We needpositive energy supporting Biden and what he has accomplished.
I do not admire Zakaria. He has no good reason to predict that Biden will lose unless they get their campaign going faster, smarter, etc. Has he not noticed how vigorously Biden/Harris are campaigning? How they are striking out at Dumpty? Trump is very likely to be convicted of 34 election interference felonies in New York within the next two weeks. The Democrats have FAR outraised the GOP. The RNC does not have funds for down ballot candidates and not enough for Trump. On Saturday, he held a rally on the Jersey Shore. It was reported that the crowd was 100,000 people. I knew that was bullshit immediately. Turns out the photograph of a huge crowd was from a Rod Stewart concert on the beach in Rio de Janiero in 1990!! The mainstream media bought the Trump LIE hook, line and sinker.
OMG, re the photo. Trump and the complicit Rs don't need a lot of money when the media is doing their PR for them.
In an interesting twist, Trump's crowd size estimate was challenged by none other than Jesse Watters on the Fox News show, The Five. Watters estimated the crowd at closer to 30,000. Reported today by Newsweek.
The venue could hold no more than 40,000 people at the beach where it was held. I sent that correction out yesterday on Twitter to a writer of one of the reports.
Spot on....
The allure of charisma often overshadows genuine effort and practical achievements, reflecting humanity's desire for spectacle over substance. This trait has hindered us all throughout our history and in the age of AI may very well be our downfall.
What he may be referring to is that young people are focusing heavily on what is happing in the middle east, and they are disgusted with our government's reaction and saying that they refuse to vote for Biden.
Let’s talk about these ‘young people’. Several dozen marched out of Duke’s commencent ceremony because Jerry Seinfeld was being awarded an honorary degree. Seinfeld, whose sin apparently, is that he’s Jewish and an open supporter of Israel (but not their actions in Gaza) had his speech interrupted. Several dozen protestors walked out…out of a class of 7000.
At all these other campuses, the encampments amount to 200 or so, out of total enrollments in the tens of thousands. I don’t think this movement is that widespread, or has that kind of staying power that people seem to think it does.
True, but when the media focuses on "ALL THOSE PROTESTERS" *gasp*, the movement looks larger than it is. Not that the rest of us aren't for an end to the war, the bloodshed and hatred...but a principled end, with a two state solution and Netanyahu booted from office.
I hadn't heard about that incident, Marla. I'm gobsmacked. It stinks of antisemitism.
Isn't this a no-brainer? "Trickle-down" doesn't work with facts any better than it works with corporate profits. Connecting facts on the ground to legislation from on high isn't easy, and the "news" media, mainstream or otherwise, doesn't help much. Inspirational speeches travel better than facts on the ground.
We could also ask what "good for Americans" even means. Good for *which* Americans, and who counts as an "American" in the first place? We know what millions of USians hear when Trump says "You won't have a country anymore." They hear "You white people won't be a majority any more." Which is exactly what Trump means when he says it. Bridge repair and high-speed internet aren't going to change hearts and minds on that one.
I can't even watch Fareed Zakaria anymore.
I can’t watch CNN anymore. Yesterday with long stretches in the car I listened to MSNBC. All trump, all day. Talking heads talking conjecture. ALL DAY LONG. I was disgusted, and griped to my husband, “you’d think we don’t have a prez. Wonder what he’s up to today?” Cable news is no longer news. “What did Biden do today” is a great substack.
You’re so right! I’d subscribe to that substack.
https://whatdidbidendotoday.substack.com/
I love it!
It’s not enough to be right. We have to win. And we are not winning. The polls have us significantly down five swing states. Democracy doesn’t work that well when you have ignorant, selfish uninformed people. so Biden has to do something that appeals to the independence and the moderate Republicans that don’t want to vote for Trump, but feel like everything is too expensive. They can’t afford the things that they want and life is not great for them. Despite the fact that everything is moving in the right direction and in the long term it’s going to benefit them they don’t see that. And nothing Biden says about all the good work that his administration is doing and investing in our future is going to change that. He hast to come up with a way to reach these people or it’s all for naught.
Does Fareed Zakaria think that Biden should threaten Netanyahu with withholding all supports? That will never happen even though Netanyahu is clearly a friend of Trump's family, and not a natural ally of Biden, since Netanyahu is friends with Trump's son-in-law's criminal father. https://www.jpost.com/american-politics/when-netanyahu-slept-at-the-kushners-and-other-media-tales-of-trumps-jewish-confidantes-481486
Is Fareed working with the Russian bots? Perhaps the Israeli bots are working on making the youth of America, who are most likely to vote for Biden too dissatisfied to vote so they stay home. Actually, Israel doesn't need Bots, Netanyahu just needs to keep on doing what he is doing, which I am convinced he is doing for his supporters and to get rid of Biden and not because he can actually win against Hamas. Biden needs to start getting youth to make ads that say, I don't agree with everything Biden does, but I am more unhappy with Trump because he is going to hurt everyone in the USA if he becomes president and won't be helping the people of Gaza. He is more likely to send more attack weapons to Israel while not sending aid to Gazans. If our mainstream press were on the job they would be reporting what every other country is doing in the situation with Israel and Hamas, and the Gazans, but they don't. People from outside the USA always remark on how the US press mostly only covers US news, just like in the USA my daughter did not get a lot of history of other countries, even though the USA has a relatively short history, so one could actually learn what happened in the world just as one could be teaching about the US before it became the US and the cultures that were and are here for centuries.
At the heart of the problem, I conclude, is that many, many Americans have cut their cable cord and do not subscribe to a newspaper of record such as the NYT. They are simply not informed of all the good that Biden has done. Also, is there another President in our history that from day #1 had to deal with the drum beat of the losing candidate not conceding the election?
Agreed. Not that the Times prints much that favours President Biden. Many folks also get their news from Bill Maher, or late night comedy shows. So important too that Americans are informed of news of the rest of the world. It can really put things in perspective. CNN has really fallen down on that job.
If Trump is returned to office, his demented, outlandish lie that other countries are “emptying out their mental institutions into the United States" would ring true in an ironic sense — he and other wacko Republicans would take over the federal government. And his equally pathetic lie about Biden being the worst president ever is unadulterated projection. Trump knows that Biden's admirable accomplishments shine a bright light on his disastrous term in office.
It's revealing that Trump, whose grip on reality is weakening, is lying more frequently and intensely. His desperation is palpable and will only grow worse.
I agree, Michael. If that blabbering piece of crap TUMP wants to see the worst president in history, he needs to look no further in a mirror of his ugly and vile ass. I am fed up with this low life and i just wish someone, somewhere would put this vile SOB out of his misery. Just when i thought i couldn't hate this SOB any worse, i hate him even worse now.
These idiots that live around me are no better than he is, while driving to a home improvement store today, i saw some lame brain that had a yard sign with a picture of TUMP's mug shot on it, and i saw another house that had cut their grass into big letters that read, T R U M P. This insanity is totally out of control now.
It truly is out of control. Hannibal Lecter out of control.
I worry about the fate of all of us.
But I am also grateful for Joe Biden. The press needs wake up because they are becoming complicit with MAGA as is the Supreme Court.
Becoming complicit? They’ve been complicit for decades.
We live in the Red Zone where logic is a missing piece of the puzzle! I try to not let all of it bother me since I know what DJT actually is! My conscience is clear!
This says a lot about what the Biden administration has accomplished. And Buttigieg is just one of several amazing cabinet members that has done so much to make America a first world nation again.
"The White House today announced that it has awarded nearly $454 billion in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, including more than 56,000 projects across more than 4,500 communities across the nation. Those include fixing more than 165,000 miles of roads and more than 9,400 bridges and improving more than 450 ports and 300 airport terminals. It has funded more than 1,400 drinking water and wastewater projects and projects to replace up to 1.7 million toxic lead pipes, as well as more than 8,000 low- and zero-emission buses. It has funded 95 previously unfunded Superfund projects to clean up contaminated sites. It has improved the electrical grid and funded 12,000 miles of high-speed internet infrastructure, and exposed internet junk fees."
I am just sitting here, astonished at these remarks!!
People are fed up with the insanity that is the Orange Diaper Load.
D, only some of us. Others are doubling down on their worship for the 🍊💩, claiming all sorts of outlandish "excuses" for his outlandish lies.
There seems to be a spectrum from intellectually uncurious to just plain dumb to maliciously stupid and it's all negative and destructive to the concept of democracy.
It's "what have you done for ME today?" All is the price of gas and groceries.
Cornered rats are well known to be dangerous.
The NY Times and other prominent Media outlets claimed there were over 100k people at that rally but the venue could only hold 20k and it was half full.
Democrats need to go on a multi pronged attack. If Biden has said 1/100th of the crazy spew of Trump it would be all over the media. However not a mention of Trump’s rhetoric. Thanks Heather!
It is my dream that the Biden campaign would stage a Trump-style rally at a venue whose attendance could be accurately measured. A football stadium would be ideal; they always announce the number of no-shows at my city’s home pro football games, to which the fans heartily boo. I would gladly travel to such an event - when I was in college in the early 70s a group of us students drove 1,600 miles to join an anti-war demonstration in D.C. It would be so great to beat Trump at his own rally game; Americans did it at Biden’s inauguration. We can scream & holler & wear funny hats just as well as the MAGA crowd. But we would be cheering for a president, not a criminal.
We can all email President Biden and VP Harris this suggestion. What is needed is the GUT feeling that #45 evokes. Facts don’t always matter to those who want more emotion. I’d attend this rally. Going to email them both today
The news that Johnson is going to court in NYC today must put all of US who want to preserve democracy into high gear. TV is going to win the day along with the web if we don’t find a better way to combat both. Americans want EVERYTHING NOW, not tomorrow. Not bridges and airports, but decent food, medical care, schools, vacations with pay. Trump will promise everything and give nothing. Just heard “cultural heroin.” Then there’s climate change, the healthiest ELEPHANT on the planet. Greed is all the groupies of Putin (thank you, Rep. Jim Clyburn) understand.
Oooo, like that term, "cultural heroin". I may steal it, with attribution!
I already did, so please join me.
😆
YES! The Repubs gather their audience but appeals to emotions. Facts are great, but they are dry and unemotive. A huge, huge crowd, OTOH, would be a gut punch to Dump!
The Family DNA Failure A.G. Sulzberger, the best current example in favor of ending inherited wealth, the semi-competent who is where he is by accident of birth, is upset that President Biden has not kissed his ring with an "exclusive interview." So he has the trust fund babies he hires as "reporters" make certain to do everything to promote Trump and impede Biden. The Mainstream Media IS "the enemy of the people," just differently from what Trump was talking about. The people whose work made the NYT the institution it is would throw him out of a top-story window if they came back. He'll be very surprised when Trump orders that fate for him for real after his return to power.
What havoc he has wreaked upon the Old Gray Lady. WTF?!
And Trump would do it in a heartbeat. I just don't get WHY these media moguls don't intuitively understand that should Trump get back into power, >perhaps< Trump would leave Sulzberger where he is...but maybe not?
Should Trump-in-power need to demonize another segment of the country's population to keep the peasants fearful and riled...the media moguls WILL be in the target sights, because they would be extremely easy-peasy to replace...poisoned tea and conveniently open windows are everywhere.
https://youtu.be/Ypuff6LcU04?si=K0p2EU7JmpqmBLSI
It is long, but worth watching to hear just how disoriented and rambling his "speech" is.
Mainstream media didn't report his followers leaving in droves while he spouts the usual whines.
Please share this video!
The MSM is a useless propaganda machine for the Orange excrement, TUMP. They exaggerate and build that useless skid row bum up like he is the ruler for the entire universe.
And the media is probably MOST in danger in a second tfg presidency.
Surely, a much larger a movement than just trying to prop up Humpty Dumpty?
Miselle....One chilling speech, wasn't it? His "I am not a crook!" speech many times over.
I read some of it...it is disjointed, incoherent rambling interspersed with grievance and vulgarity, blame is cast in every direction except Trump's own...it was two hours of meaningless complaints and stupid senseless stories that never evolved into a connected whole.
All I can surmise is that his supporters don't actually listen to him. Perhaps they go for the emotional charge of getting together with other trumphumpers?--or perhaps those whom the camera caught leaving >did< start to listen and gave it up as an impossible task.
As we watched it, my husband noted that even many of those standing around weren't paying any attention to it, they were watching their phones or chatting with friends.
To be fair, the venue was full and does hold about 20K people, but most of them had left 15 minutes into his same old bullshit tirade. And once again, he began muttering in undecipherable tongues which the press gives him a pass for every time. By the end only a few thousand people remained.
David Packman seems to be the only journalist that notices Trump's mental decline.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OovD_3yyMI
Thanks for the link. That is just stunning.
Do you know of any reliable sources for estimating the size of this crowd? It is troubling that everyone seems to just be accepting that number of 100K.
https://www.youtube.com/live/v12JYCJIUD8?si=pjl6IgXArCY02UdH
Exactly.
“So here’s the thing about breaking barriers,” [VP Kamala Harris] said. “Breaking barriers does not mean you start on one side of the barrier and you end up on the other side. There’s breaking involved. And when you break things you get cut. And you may bleed. And it is worth it every time…. We have to know that sometimes people will open the door for you and leave it open. “
"And sometimes you have to kick that fucking door down."
Best part of her speech!
Yes!! First time a Vice President uses the "F-word" in a public statement. (outside of Biden telling Obama "This is a BFD" which didn't quite use the actual article).
And … the VP is a badass woman!
In Since Eisenhower, almost every Republican President has had a VP that would make a terrible President - Nixon, Agnew, Bush, Quayle and Rockefeller.
And on the Democrat side, the opposite is true. Harris would be (will be) an amazing President if she's given the chance. And as I've posted before so would several of Biden's cabinet members and advisors.
Democrat's complain about Biden being too old, but he is given dozen of people in his administration the chance to become household names for accomplishing things that help almost every American.
The problem is she is 1 a woman and 2 black. It was bad enough this nation had to endure a black MAN for eight years! Jeez. Whadaya want anyway.
(I heard her question Bill Barr when she was still a Senator; she was masterful.)
I loved it when she let loose with that statement!
The delirious, fearmongering, anti-reality postures and actions of the MAGA leaders in the context of such amazing progress, potential, and positive results from the Biden administration makes me marvel why people would follow such forces of darkness and deceit. Maybe Val Kilmer’s character had it right in the movie tombstone:
Doc Holliday : A man like Ringo has got a great big hole, right in the middle of him. He can never kill enough, or steal enough, or inflict enough pain to ever fill it.
You do know that the Shootout at the OK Corral was a fight between the two criminal groups in Tombstone who were competing over who would run the vice industry in town, yes?
I did not know that, TC, yet I am certainly not surprised.
A significant part of the success of the Hollywood versions of history is encapsulated in the great John Ford film "The Man who Shot Liberty Valance", when the character interviewing the pioneering Senator played by James Stewart says,"Print the legend".
That's what people like, the printing of the legend. Running the world's oldest profession in an otherwise obscure dusty town in the Arizona territory doesn't quite meet Ford's or Louis B. Mayer's or even Harry Cohn's standards of "legend", so the myth of Wyatt Earp is born.
Or as that oddball son of Texas, David Byrne might say/sing, "Same as it ever was"
Oh, the Earp story was "tarted up" (sans tarts) long before Hollywood, since Earp made sure to make himself available to such famous (and commercially successful) "Dime Novel" superstars as Ned Buntline, Edward Ellis, Prentiss Ingraham, and Edward Wheeler (aided not insignicantly by the fact the Clantons and most of his siblings were no longer available for comment). Wyatt himself was a fixture in Los Angeles and early Hollywood in the teens and early Twenties, and was a good friend of John Ford's. You can see where this is going...
I love TC’s deep background forays
I can see the direction indeed. I read somewhere about the long lived Wyatt Earp residing in the early Ciudad de Nuestra Senora, la Reina de Los Angeles sometime after the McNamara Brothers blew up the Times Building, and before Gower Gulch was built, but didn't know much more
😊 Not sure how far any analogy goes beyond feeling dumbfounded and incredulous! Val Kilmer’s Doc Holliday was pretty fun to watch as a young man though
I preferred Dennis Quaid's version of Doc Holliday
I believe that there was (or will be} an Indie movie about Robert Smalls, produced by Legion M Entertainment, called "Defiant: The Story of Robert Smalls."
And, finally, the South Carolina statehouse will soon have a monument to Robert Smalls.
"The baby in the womb is innocent, we have to hold on to that.". Why? Besides your unending desire to control women are you going to help support that woman & child & help get counseling for them? If the answer to that question is that's the mother's responsibility well then maybe you should decide on tapping into the moral outrage & jump straight to "Do unto others" portion of the Bible that you always seem to forget!
You're telling families in this situation that they have to cope & yet if that family requires assistance of any kind they are considered welfare queens, & more than likely some holier than thou stupid republican bureaucrat will tell that woman/girl something along the lines of "well, you shouldn't have put yourself in that position in the first place. Isn't it always the woman's fault?
I'm fed up with all the Republican reactionary bullshit & phoney morality.
And while the other countries in the world may be laughing at us it's because too many of our population are just too stupid to realize that what trump has done & will continue to do in spades should he get back in office that's why they are laughing nervously to see which way we will go ~~~dependable ally or destructive autocracy or plutocracy? The choice is ours & the world is watching!!!!
Your sentence, '' too many of our population are too stupid to realize what TUMP has done and will continue to do in spades should he get back in office that's why they are laughing nervously to see which way we will go, dependable ally or destructive autocracy or plutocracy? '' That was exactly what is going on here in the USA now. Until TUMP, i honestly didn't know there were so many ignorant, gullible, dumb people in the United States. Jim Jones and cyanide laced kool-aid anyone??
John T, it would seem a more useful approach than simply calling people "too stupid to realize what TUMP has done and will continue to do" is to point out that T-rump acts entirely out of self-interest at all times and in all situations and that many if not most of his followers imagine that they are doing the same. That would presumably include even the smart bankers and entrepreneurs and big oil and lawyers (think SCOTUS and The Heritage Foundation) and oligarchs in general who provide financial support for the Orange One.
JohnM, my take is that Trump is the Red Herring in all this, the magician’s distraction that The Ruling Class Oligarchs have us focus on as they construct a nation that entrenches their wealth permanently without having the appearance of Kingdoms where first Cousins marry and create shallow root stock
Dear return, I suspect women would gain a significant political advantage with at least proposing legislation that if men continue to legislate against availability of abortions, any woman who bears a child out of wedlock is required to have that baby's DNA sequenced and matched to all available DNA databanks every 3 or 5 years and any resulting matches require the matchee bear financial liability for raising that child or be imprisoned. THAT would seem to highlight a more equal treatment of men's responsibility for new life beyond "The baby in the womb is innocent, we have to hold on to that." or "you shouldn't have put yourself in that position in the first place."
My sweet husband suggested every male should have his DNA typed at birth and entered into a database for future use.
Let's get that suggestion out there to see how the "right to lifers" will react to that suggestion. Can't you hear it now? "How dare they infringe on my rights!"
"What? My DNA is mine & I should have control over what's done with it?"
"We can't have the federal government infringe on MY right to privacy!!"
Oh the weeping & gnashing of teeth on that suggestion would have all those tough he-men clutching their "pearls"!
Thank you to you & your husband for giving me a Goose/Gander scenario to dream about!!!! : )
I am sure there is an overlap of 2A supporters who hate the idea of a federal database for gun owners or people who buy ammo, but somehow think this invasion of privacy is a good idea. 25% of pregnancies end up non viable, and they are just clearly doing this to control women. Their base of supporters is entirely crazy and they need to be called out constantly. They thought the Handmaids tale was a guidebook.
Bravo, JohnM!
Being laughed at is tfg’s worst fear—remember his reaction to Obama at a WH Correspondents Dinner? He’d rather have his skin peeled off.
To the young voters out there, and to those opposed to the Netanyahu pogrom against the Palestinian people, I get your frustration, but your vote matters in November. Sitting out the November election, voting for some fringe third party candidate, or worse, voting for Trump, will spell disaster for this country, to your future, to the world order, and result in the annexation of Gaza by Israel. Vote wisely.
Why do these folks mad at Biden over Israel (as if he controls Netanyahu) think tfg would be better for the Palestinians? He could not possibly care less and furthermore sympathizes with Bibi’s efforts to stay out of jail.
Sometimes idealists don't really grasp the concept of logic.
The 2016 election was a case in point where many Bernie supporters sat home or voted for Jill Stein. Those same people are now protesting the SCOTUS Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, but if those same people had voted for the extremely qualified HRC we would have a liberal SCOTUS, TFG would be in jail, and the world would be a better place.
Boy, that is an accurate statement!
Thank-you. I know because I was as fervent an idealist--during my college days and for a decade afterwards--as you would ever come across. Fortunately, I married an unflappable pragmatist and he kept me tethered to reality long enough for me to learn at least a modest amount of wisdom. Now that I am in my 70's, I am constantly amazed how much I have learned from the "been there; done that" experiences and those small 'life alerts' that mortality gives all of us at times.
I frequently use the bus/marriage comparison. Vote for the politician that gets you closest to where you want to go, not your "ideal mate".
Yes, that is a perfect metaphor. I get kinda impatient with 'single issue' voters--Check the whole package, darn it!!! Why would anyone want to get one thing they want and totally hate the rest of the deal? Why not go for the deal where get at least a part of--or progress toward--most of the things you want?
I simply cannot comprehend how anyone could vote for one of today’s Republicans. Although the Democrats are still too timid for my tastes, they’re at least doing SOMETHING that’s reasonably constructive, not to mention that they don’t treat women like garbage.
You may underestimate the influence of Fox and the other Trash Media.
I have always liked the history about Robert Smalls. I think I first learned it here a few years ago after I had started subscribing to HCR. Britt's proposed pregnant woman database on the other hand is chilling and reprehensible.
Hence Grizzle Grizzle
Lots of good things are happening in the US thanks to the Biden/Harris government. Lots of bad things happened with the previous president which as with bad governing continue to plaque the nation. Two things I would ask... beg for, even -- first keep telling the American people about the good things and, at the same time, remind them of the disasters left by trumpy... you know, the old fat orange faced man stuck in a NY courtroom because he lied. Keep on keeping on, HCR, please.
Biden is doing what FDR did cleaning up the mess that years of Republican policies caused.
The history books will agree.
"Tell me again WHY you voted for Trump, Grandpa??"
No one will be able to give an intelligent response.
I honestly think that more women should consider having women lovers and leave the nut jobs (pun intended) in the dust. No more law suits from ex-partners for having an abortion.
As a male I could not agree more!
I have commented often that the 100% certainty for every pregnancy is sperm introduced. I have a friend who has for year worn a pin that says "Just say "no" to sex with pro-lifers."
Not to mention reducing the likelihood of even needing an abortion!
That is a great idea, Tina. I totally agree with you.
Reflecting on what others have said, it is striking in that the Trump campaign has nothing positive to say on the campaign trail. The rallies focus on attacking all the progress that the Democratic Party has achieved since Biden was elected. After that the lies about Biden begin. Will 70 million voters, once again give this sad political party their approval next November?
I really can’t see it happening. Trump lost in 2020. Lots of his followers are dropping away, note the primary numbers that have many voting for Haley, an obvious dissatisfaction with Trump. Republicans may sit out the vote altogether, although it would be good if they would vote for Biden. There’s such a strange stubbornness about trying a different party isn’t there?
Not just dropping away, WALKING away as well:
https://youtu.be/Ypuff6LcU04?si=pQw53mHMZ_RBv72L
OMG, the poor journalist that recorded that Trump screed and all of the disgusted people walking out on him.
Can I please have some cheese with that whine?
BORING! MAGAts don’t like to be bored. His greatest hits are falling flat.
It will never cease to amaze me that even just a few people would be willing to put themselves through that scatological screed, but for the hope that there was redemption for their suffering.
@Annie, yes I think you are right, look at all the negatives Trumpo has accumulated since 2020, EJean Carol rape, with a big fine for defamation too. There is the NY financial fraud with about a half billion dollar judgement, then the worst ,the J6 insurrection, which we all witnessed, but the trial is stalled. Let’s not forget the Classified Documents( open and shut case) which were stolen, trial stalled also. The Georgia election fraud attempt, also stalled. The New Your election interference and hush money trial which is on going but has weaknesses. ( may be out of time, the felony charge is a stretch) That is enough bad news to sink any candidate. The great leader needs to gain votes not lose votes. How can he do that by bragging that he sank Roe v Wade? His chances of a win are near zero.
The only thing I can think of that is remotely positive is offering bribes to mega-maga donors that if they give Trump their millions or their Fortune 500 companies billions then he will kill the Biden climate change rules that are costing them money.
It's ironic that one of the oil executives said, "we paid our lobbyists over $400 million last year and we got nothing in return from the Biden administration."
Did they really expect the Democrats to be bought off like the Republican politicians?
Apparently so...
Maddening. Absolutely maddening. A nice tribute. A call to arms.
My wife joins me in demanding that those “legislators” get the hell out of our bedroom and mind their own business.