Can someone please tell me how Trump could do a better job of managing the economy, or anything else for that matter, since he bankrupted his casinos, had multiple business bankruptcies, had to be bailed out by his father, squandered his inheritance, and has been judged to have committed fraud, has a monitor overseeing his businesses, and had his fake charity shut down? He doesn't really create wealth; he steals it by conning people.
Trump and his Goebbels Brigade who spread his propaganda when he cannot. Mike "Goebbels" Johnson is an apologist for Trump just like Goebbels was for Hitler. It appears Trump has already taken over most of our mainstream media with help from his buddy Putin, who is trying to follow in Hitler's footsteps as Trump goose steps behind him.
Sometimes or most times, the messenger of bad news gets cast to the side and I have disturbing news. There is a likelihood that Biden will lose. This election shouldn’t even be close. The reality is t getting out. An ole friend mine complains that every costs more but she forgets her house is worth almost twice as much as it was 4 or more years ago. Things do cost more. But I’ve learned how to eat healthy and I choose to prepare my own foods. The last time I visited MacDonalds was years ago when they used coffee as a loss leader at .99 cents a cup perfect for my cross country driving expeditions. I always pack my own turkey sandwiches in my cooler.
Anyway, we are not masters of the media. We pretend that this is just another electoral game to watch. People vote emotionally not intellectually. My friend now retired, is an anti vaxxer. She survived somehow. I wrote a song about her and she screamed at me for it.
I’m a bit older now. I’m using the stock market to provide me with significantly more base to buy my shangrala away from the masses. I prefer living around nature and animals now instead of crazy people. I will allow the robin to finish building her nest under the eves of my front steps in case one of her fledglings drops out. Then I will nourish it in my cage feeding it worms for days and a few weeks until it’s strong enough to take flight.
My friend thinks everything is more expensive now. Instead, I have begun making my own condiments devoid of sugar which is so much healthier. And costs a whole lot less to make. I don’t need to constantly buy things to make me happy.
Back to Biden, he does t understand that the divisive issues need to be addressed and all the good environmental and social benefits he is enacting will end with the flick of a switch to another administration. Nobody gets it. When I have suggested gettting tough at the border, my fellow democrats, ie, y’all, yell at me for being like Trump when I only have tried to show that doing nothing is a sure bet to a loss.
Bill, you may want to check for raccoons in your parts. The robin's nest on a friend's porch eaves got raided by friendly local raccoons on a regular basis...
There is danger anywhere. The space is above my front door around my lights. I placed aluminum foil there to ward off past nests because the birds will poop on my steps. But my steps need to be repainted anyway it doesn’t matter. Two years ago, I found a Robin fledgling in my back yard and I set up my cage and for 8 blessed days, I learned how to care for it even putting my kerosene stove on to warm him on my front porch at night. Fledglings need to be feed worms every few hours and he could t hardly wait until I slipped my fingers inside with a squiggly worm to his waiting beak. On the 8th day I neglected to heat up the porch and my little friend was still the next morning. I’m still in remorse . I only wanted him to take flight and look back at me one last time. I won’t make that mistake again. Then one of cats born in my back years got to another fledgling. Now Wild Man is safely inside my home forever.
Bill, you, sir, are clearly a devoted protector of avian life!
For my part, I just put masking tape "mullions" on 10 garage windows hopefully to deter birds (specifically songful catbirds) from attempting to fly through them.
I guess we'll both see how our efforts pay off. Thanks for your inspiration and encouragement in small, nonetheless noble, efforts!
JohnM, this reminds me of a robin nest that they built on top of one of our nest boxes. Soon I could see babies there. Then I heard what was clearly a panic call from the parents. When I rounded the house, I saw two crows sitting on the corner of the roof, looking at me and saying clearly, "Yep, we ate them." And they had. This week there was also a series of pictures from a local nature area of an eagle trying to fly off with an adult goose and having a hard time getting off the ground. A coyote streaked across the field and grabbed the goose and carried it off. We do find feathers from time to time in the yard as the predators know who has bird feeders, just as the herons know who has ponds. After reading the letter and some of the comments, I am glad for the nature break.
I just spent the morning with my mom's longest friend here in Germany and her partner who are both staunch members of Die Linke, and we had quite some disagreements as usual. They believe that I am brainwashed (I refrain from telling them the same, because I think by what I say is obvious). They think that Putin is a good guy and that Trump and Biden are both the same because they represent American imperialism. However, if I discuss details of life, their personal ideas become even more clearly illuminated. I told them that while American women are managing to care both about people in Israel and Gaza, they have to worry about the total destruction of the female health care system in the USA. That is where their so called humanist-people friendly ideas become remarkably women unfriendly. She says wouldn't it be great if everyone who wanted babies could have them. I said, the problem I am concerned about is both women who don't want babies being forced to have them, and women who have toxic pregnancies having to be dying to get help. She had nothing to say to that other than that people should not be screwing around, and should invest more in relationships with other people. It told me she is far removed from the lives her grandchildren are leading, and also, for people who support the poor this is not supporting poor women. However, I have a history with her that has seen her evolve from a practicing converted Catholic because her husband was, to an atheist, which my family always was, and a very active SPD member, including being an attorney in the women's ministry in Niedersachsen, to being a retired Leftist. Still, what is continuous is that she cares and she is active, and some of the worst ideas of the Left she has not presented to me. They think the USA should get their troops out of everywhere. So, I asked if they were satisfied with the withdrawal of US from Afghanistan. They said yes. I said are the Afghani women better off? They said not after 20 years of US occupation. I did not argue that point, but asked if they think there will be world peace if the USA military returns back home from everywhere in the world. They told me yes. So, I said, well many Americans would be happy for that. There were so many things that they would say, and then I would outline specific things most of which they clearly had not thought about because it does not fit in with their world picture. I also taught them about the concept of Bots, and while they say that China, Iran and Russia taking over the world will be the best things for Europe, I said they already are influencing things for Europe with their Bots and that is why the AfD is rising in influence. They did not know what I was talking about so I explained, and perhaps they will look into the Left position on this, so that when it comes up again they can have a counter argument. The thing about arguments like these is that I don't want to be proven right, because it is better to not have these drastic things happen, and find out that I was right and they were wrong. There is no way that I believe that China, Russia and Iran--which they claim are just lied about, taking over is a good thing. Knowing one person from these countries that agrees with them is a case study of one, not real data so in that case I have much more data than them. So, I am agreeing that people vote emotionally, which are why these Bots are so effective, as well as American corporations on selling Americans a bill of goods on how their lives should be. Technology is taking over our thinking so we should be learning how that works and mastering it to control the messages. The Republican have been bold brash liars, and the Democrats have been deceiving themselves that going high will work. Clearly that is some old school idea that is not true.
Repubs have been an affront to my very existence for decades. I guess it was tea party insanity when my tolerance for their Goebbels tactics just hit bottom. You are so right…
I am also losing faith in MSNBC. Corporate Media is lying everyday. They report polls that are not being administered correctly and that is it. Trump penis stories make it and all of the lies that his campaign throws out. Investigative journalism is no longer happening. Maggie Haberman is in Trumps Pocket as is the no longer to be relied upon NYTIMES.
The onslaught of news on our phones and 24/7 TV is largely shiny objects. In closing the media’s choice to give a false equivalence to both candidates is simply horrifying.
Fay, repetition, repetition, repetition seems to be working. That and "someone said," "I've heard," "everyone knows," and "experts say," usually without citations or specific facts.
When I first heard of "Lost" (in my mind, the first scripted "reality" show) I was stunned. I could not believe people not only watched that garbage, but ate it up. Talk about mind rotting material.
Even brain worms would have rejected the garbage. I hate Moonves to this day for the Survivor crap. That was the start of the demise of the big three networks. Of course, Fox had eaten brains before that.
Apparently not just his cult followers, but half or more than poll respondents. Heathers is right— MSM and the ever present advertised in your face gas prices.
Today's Washington Post has an opinion piece by the director of the Ronald Reagan Institute. Roger Zackheim wants the Biden administration to take out Hamas by any means necessary. Yes including deploying the US military. Zackheim's plan is actually in service to Trump. This recalls Ronald Reagan's campaign working to prevent Iran from freeing the American hostages until after Election Day. But with bloodshed.
Ugh, Republicans...not only Reagan and Iran, but also Nixon back dealing on Vietnam so that Humphrey wouldn't win. A leopard doesn't change its spots....
I shared them with one close Jewish friend but afterwards kept this to myself. I was too horrified by the reality underlying my own thoughts.
I still am.
Yet I fear that Americans, Westerners, Israelis, blind to history, blind to long-term concatenations of cause and effect, understand nothing, understand neither their enemies (who understand them and their failings all too well) nor the strategic weapons deployed by those enemies.
There is no understanding of the workings of evil, the interactions of our own with that of fanatical enemies. (Of Hamas, trusted by Netanyahu, remember how they treated their Fatah rivals, thrown from Gaza rooftops...)
There is no understanding.
There is only a continuation to this day of the Nazis' deluded belief in the absolute superiority of brute material power.
In this delusion, Zackheim et al are at one with Putin, with Xi... and with organized crime everywhere. Heaven help us.
*
HERE, THEN, IS THAT OLD TEXT...
*
AFTER JENIN—MAY 2002
The choice looks stark.
Either Israel gets out of the occupied territories now—45 years too late—or they engage in a vicious spiral of war-without-end. Deferred suicide. For if they go down that road, there will be an end, like Samson’s.
The only question is whether, when the time comes, they’ll drag down the pillars of the Middle East, of the Jewish people or of the whole world.
It seems our generation is mad.
Those who lead the world surely are, and stupid to boot, as is their Weltanschauung.
Why do I utter such enormities?
Because of a single prevailing factor in current “politics” and “economics”: the sacrifice of posterity on the altar of short-term expediency.
Now, I hope events will show that I am deluded, yet I’d not commit this to paper if I did not believe it. If I did not, for instance, see those now in the ascendant in Israel as potentially the greatest threat to the Jewish people that there has ever been. And as a danger to the world at large.
Anyway, in the present perspective, the only dénouement to be hoped for is that the cycle should end as early as possible with both sides exhausted and clamouring for peace. Little hope of that, however, in a world dominated by fanatical believers in the efficacy of brute force.
*
So, is there really no hope, and where should we look for a lead?
For a start, to ourselves, to ordinary people everywhere, the main repositories of such wisdom as remains in the world.
In particular to those women who care more to create a future for their children than for the sterile abstractions of male power games.
***
The key passage in this text:
“Why do I utter such enormities?
Because of a single prevailing factor in current “politics” and “economics”: the sacrifice of posterity on the altar of short-term expediency.”
When it comes to the last three paragraphs, I went beyond those, but am not reprinting what I wrote then, for it is no longer valid.
Within Israel, tail has always wagged dog. Worse, the Israeli tail has wagged and is, to this day, wagging the huge American dog... America has constantly supported everything that Israel gets up to, good, bad, indifferent or criminal. Helping, enabling successive Israeli governments to kick the can down the road—not meeting responsibilities—and with that can to kick the unfortunate Palestinians down the road to worse oppression, worse and worse reactions, worse manipulation by conman Netanyahu... hoist of his own petard and doing his damnedest to bring Gaza, its civilian population, his own people and the whole world down with him in his downfall.
And now, horrendously able and ruthless Islamist strategists have followed up 9/11 with a far more terrible chain-reaction bomb, one from which there was and is no escape. When an Israeli prisoner, Hamas military commander Yahya Sinwar was asked if he would sacrifice 10 000 of his people in order to attain his ends. He replied that he’d willingly sacrifice 100 000…
And Israel’s security services released this man as part of the prisoners’ swap to save soldier Shalit…
An Israeli Veteran friend who had faced 50 to 1 odds in defense (counter attacking) a Syrian force is one of the bravest men I've ever met (in Vietnam or as Veteran college students that served in Iraq and Afghanistan). He left Israel, though, after what they allowed to happen at the Sabra and Shatila camps in 1982.
Just defense is one thing as we felt against the Japanese and Germans, but by not using Attila the Hun tactics after victory we gained friends and allies instead of more enemies. If for no other reason, a just peace avoids endless and needless new enemies.
Helen, I am a complete idiot to try to answer difficult points like the one you just raised here on the telephone, when -- by accident or by some design -- they mostly disappear, almost fully fledged, just before posting.
Maybe the obstacle will help me focus better in my answers.
Some things I and, doubtless, many of us can feel coming.
But here, this endlessly frustrating and painful perceiving of what's staring us in the face but no one sees is far less a matter of intuition or foresight than the ability to read present events in context. This, in a run-down culture accustomed to viewing both phenomena and individual human beings in isolation. Like specimens preserved in formol. Which is just plain stupid.
Dogs, apes and so-called primitives can do better, simply by making proper use of the faculties available to sentient beings.
Even when we can only witness events and the failure to get the measure of them helplessly, we can at least maintain through thick and thin an unconquerable desire to see happiness spread around us, together with the shattering of chains, iron and mental. This, and awareness of all the good things that are taking place, all the fine men and women working tirelessly against every obstacle and discouragement for a better, freer, happier world.
I stopped wondering when Reagan was in power. I was seriously questioning when Nixon was in power. Before that, I was just a little kid. I've been loathing rethugs and their "policies" ever since I became a sentient adult.
I'd like to add that he has also stiffed many of his creditors, especially his attorneys. Of course, he could carry that policy over to his presidency by stiffing U.S. Treasury bond holders.
And the big corporations he is promising to let run wild. Frankly I am appalled that none of those companies leadership said no, this isn’t right. They are all gratuitous opportunists. Leadership used to be doing the right thing, now it’s how do I take care of me (and my shareholders).
In his remarks to the oil company executives, Trump was soliciting a bribe, pure and simple. The fool is an ongoing crime wave. Lest we forget, bribery IS listed in the Constitution, not that that matters to the corrupt SC radicals.
Here is a verified quote from Mr. Warren Buffet on corporations and taxes:
If we send in a check like we did last year, we sent in over $5 billion to the US federal government. And if (the top} 800 other companies had done the same thing, no other person in the United States would have had to pay a dime of federal taxes, whether income taxes, no Social Security taxes, no estate taxes, no… . It's open down the line.
Somehow THAT quote is another that main stream media must have "missed"! Along with the bribe offer from the dumpster to oil companies. I think someone here was correct - MSM is covering their bases in case......
Barbara, I fear you may be mislabeling "companies leadership" which you subsequently correct with "gratuitous opportunists," however, I think what we see is the ever-present see-saw balancing of corporate greed, aka capitalism against social responsibility which the Repubs are all too eager to label "socialism" to scare off the majority "of the people, by the people and for the people."
Bernie almost changed the narrative about socialism not being the devil. Most of the folks that rage and fear monger about socialism are beneficiaries of it in some way; social security, Medicaid/care, defined benefit pensions. I could go on. If would be nice if we had a well informed population that understands all that government actually does for them.
Trump would have never been elected if it had not been for Bill Dallas, Tony Perkins, Bob McEwen, and other conservative leaders of nonprofits who pulled all the Seven Mountain Dominionists and other fundamentalist pastors to meet with Trump so he could promise he would give them everything they wanted if they could get their congregants to vote him into office. They like to say Trump promised to do God's work, but God cannot be found in the details. Many of the CEOs and Executive Directors of nonprofits also show up as Influencers in the Truth and Liberty Coalition which is the hub for Seven Mountain Dominionism. These conservative movement leaders use 501c3 funding for the CNP's programming of the Conservative Action Project. Its most recently signed memo is about setting up appropriation bills for the new administration that will take over in January 2025. Speeches from Bob McEwen have made it clear he believes the conservative movement leadership wags the tail of the dog (government: life-long judgeships, conservative congress members, and the presidency. It is amazing how many CNP members showed up in Trump's White House.) The memo text is below. Signers can be found at the link provided. My question continues to be why is no Democrat yelling from the rafters that nonprofits working with Donald Trump must be investigated and their leadership held accountable for their involvement in the big lie and the coordination of the insurrection which was working for a conservative overtake of the country.
"May 8, 2024
Washington, D.C.
Conservatives urge the House majority to maximize their leverage in the Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations process, which is already underway.
The fiscal year ends on September 30, 2024. Rather than setting up the possibility of a shutdown at the end of the year, the House should pre-emptively pass a short-term Continuing Resolution to March of 2025. This not only avoids the legislative pile up before November, it removes the possibility of a bloated omnibus spending bill being jammed through the lame duck session. Moreover, it gives the new administration a chance to impose its priorities on a must-pass spending bill early in 2025.
Critically, a CR of this nature must not contain the appropriations side deals like the ones negotiated by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray. Rather, the CR must be tied to the 2025 levels enacted as part of the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
There are very few major legislative items left on Congress’s calendar this year, but appropriations bills are one of them. We implore the House not to waste the opportunity to manage the process in a strategic manner which limits the possibility of a lame duck omnibus, adheres to statutory limits without side deals, and allows a new appropriations process to begin in an orderly manner in 2025."
That's a bold statement, so I'll raise you. Trump would never have been elected if the Democrats had not feared Bernie Sanders more than Donald Trump. 😪
"Trump's first term turned out much worse than anyone feared. He did the mean tweets and some racist stuff. He deployed armed, masked and unbadged federal agents to grab citizens off the streets. He did his "family separation policy" with migrants. Not great, but also no "end of the Republic" stuff.
But then the sum of all fears hit. America was handed a real deal, genuine crisis while Trump was at the helm and the result was that one million Americans died from COVID while Trump oversaw the greatest failure of the federal government since the Great Depression.
And then Trump lost his re-elect and attempted a coup.
How bad was this? If you went back in a Time Machine and described Trump's COVID response and coup attempt to Republican voters in 2016, they would have accused you of being a hysteric."
In May 1929, the American economy was characterized by strong optimism due to a booming stock market, which had been rising throughout the 1920s. Despite the general confidence, there were early signs of instability, with some reports noting market breaks and fluctuations that hinted at potential issues. Media coverage began to reflect a mix of continued confidence and emerging caution, setting the stage for the dramatic Wall Street Crash in October 1929, which would usher in the Great Depression Sources: (Wikipedia) (Historic Newspapers).
Do you think that Trump and the MAGA cult want a repeat? You bet they do.
It was obscenely rich standing in bread lines. In fact, the obscenely rich were profiting off of the misery of others, like foreclosing on farms, businesses, and homes of people experiencing financial woes. The obscenely rich are survival of the fittest folks, unless they encounter difficulties.
There is a CANCER in America, and it seems to be spreading through ignorance [is bliss], hate[fulness], lies [disinformation, misinformation], a lack of common sense [realistically smart sense] and laziness … there should be no or very few - if any - reasons to rationally explain and/or support why trump and his party should be thought of as doing a better job at managing our country’s economy than that shown by the Biden administration … but this cancer is not only limited or restricted to this element of what should be important considerations for and to all GOOD American citizens - voting and non-voting!!!
Benjamin Labatut writes about Karl Schwarzschild, the brilliant mathematician and physicist who, while he was fighting as a German soldier at the front lines in WW1 and was dying from a debilitating disease with burning blisters all over and inside his body, solved the equations to the theory of relativity that Einstein had just published a month ago, equations that even Einstein had not been able to solve. Schwarzschild was tormented by the solution because it indicated the possibility of a singularity, what’s now known as a black hole, a complete contradiction of the laws of physics then known… invisible and able to suck anything of any size within range into its infinity. This discovery would take another two decades for the scientific community to accept as true. He held off from sending Einstein his solutions as he tried every way possible to do the math that would prove him wrong, but finally accepted the original revelation. A young mathematician named Courant was taken to the same military hospital, wounded in battle, and recognized Schwarzschild despite his disfigurement. They immediately got into an exciting conversation about the younger man’s work, and they talked all night. At first light, Schwarzschild explained the equations that had brought him such torment, and then asked Courant a question that would torment him for the rest of his life.
If matter were prone to birthing monsters of this kind, were there correlations with the human psyche? Could a sufficient concentration of human will – millions of people exploited for a single end with their minds compressed into the same psychic space – unleash something comparable to the singularity? Schwarzschild was convinced that such a thing was not only possible but was actually taking place in the Fatherland. Courant tried to appease him; he said that he saw no signs of the apocalypse Schwarzschild feared… He reminded Schwarzschild that the human soul was a greater mystery than any mathematical enigma, and that it was unwise to project the findings of physics into such far-flung realms as psychology. But Schwarzschild was inconsolable… he lamented that there was nothing that we could do about it. Because the singularity sent forth no warnings. The point of no return – the limit past which one fell prey to its unforgiving pull – had no sign or demarcation. Whoever crossed it was beyond hope. Their destiny was set, as all possible trajectories led irrevocably to the singularity. And if such was the nature of that threshold, Schwarzschild asked, how would we know if we had already crossed it?
The only thing I can think of at this late date is to get involved, write letters, contribute whatever you can, and VOTE -- even though the soulless black hole/singularity has his goons out there rigging the voting mechanisms all over the USA.
Trump, as businessman had one great success: his TV Show. Otherwise the carnage left in his wake by casinos, airlines, and at least some of his buildings would qualify him for the "Worst Businessman in the Country" award.
Yes. Telegenic appeal. Like him arriving in his 757 jet, and his responses to demonstrators during his well-staged rally's (punch em out.., etc). Not much in the way of substance, but for the tail-gator crowd, it's still the 'lets party' message he elicits, sans substance (Jan 6th). The entertainment factor is long gone. Thx for your note.
Jen, this particular one hits real close to home. The night my Mom died, my sister and I had taken dinner in her room (she was unresponsive, yet there). My sister left at 7:50 to go home and watch "The Apprentice". At about 8:15, Mom's heart rate increased to about 180 bpm and she began agonal breathing. I called my sister, and told her Mom's time was fast approaching. Mom died at 8:42. My sister arrived at 9:05. This haunts her to this day, but especially now...
These losses burn in unpredictable ways. My mom died in hospice in Kansas, and knew me when I arrived, but not later. I left the day before she died because my dad was arriving with the woman who "took care of her" when she was still at home, and was stealing from my dad. I couldn't stand her and left before they arrived.
My sister and her husband were watching one of the few shows they did when watched tv, the night before I drove home. Same one.
But ask a MAGAt. They see Superman who is a reformed sinner who sits on the right hand of God. Pure fiction, but a better read than reality. Even a reality that is a miracle performed by Joe but ignored by the suits.
Perception over reality. The myth of success has overwhelmed reality. He's an abject failure at everything except bullshit and with that skill he's managed to create a Potemkin Village of wealth and business sagacity.
In spite of the many good columnists and reporters the NYT is being run into the ground. Unfortunately the WP is not far behind. Two white old men in charge, attempting to snuggle up to a would-be dictator.
Both are vying to be Trump’s paper of record or propaganda mouthpiece and since Trump is a genius at manipulation, he will set them against each other.
It will be difficult to pull that off against such strong personalities. Bezos will not be as easy to corral as Sulzberger with 10 times the $$ that Trump has.
Sulzberger is the perfect example of the law of diminishing returns. When "democracy" is considered to be a political point of view and not a code to live by, you know that the 4th generation publisher of the "gray lady" is maybe not quite up to snuff.
He is obviously still angry that the silverspoon was tarnished black when it first put the Gerbers in his little mouth. I've known fine newspaper folks in the day. I am cousins of the McClatchy's of the Sac Bee. Phoebe McClatchy's mother was a Rideout, My great grandfather's neice. She married Carlos McClatchy and founded the Fresno Bee. Her sons, CK and James were the publishers of the McClatchy papers until they passed. They were open minded, well educated and commited to journalism that served the people. James was outraged by the 2003 war in Iraq and came out of retirement to be the editor of the editorial page, and his editorials were scorching of the Bush-Cheney cabal. He was by nature, a bit conservative, but to him the truth was all that mattered. That is what journalism is. Anything less is pure propaganda.
Excellent point Carol-Ann. Democracy is indeed a code to live by when we treat others the way we want to be treated. The Republican Party since Lincoln believes in nothing except enriching the already wealthy. Don the Con intends to be the next füher. He has the same dead eyes look as Hitler and has perfected the blaming of others for problems he created or made worse. I will never forget the chaos of Covid and the more than a million people who died.
When was the “4th estate” “once proud”? What seems to be truly different today is that we (USA) are collectively less educated, as well as less healthy.
The movie “Don’t Look Up” (Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence) portrays the media’s interest is more about “clicks” than in reporting the news. It’s no longer a portrayal. It’s exactly what media (looking at you New York Times) is doing today.
The media covered tfg non-stop during his first candidacy, glossing over any potential flaws, softballing his interviews, and his debate with Biden. His election was at least partly the result of the media already letting him slide into the public consciousness untarnished. They have already been seeming to be setting things up for a terrifying repeat. 😱
And Froomkin nails it again. Looks like there's a conspiracy among MSM providers to do away with happy stories about the economy. Are they cheating us?
[[Trump had told oil executives that if they gave $1 billion to his campaign, he would get rid of all the regulations the Biden administration has enacted to combat climate change. ]]
What Trump did is not even a little bit legal. It's soliciting bribery, plain and simple. And Merrick Garland's Justice Department, in its independence and integrity, is going to let Trump get away with it.
Who's going to do anything about it? Garland? No chance. Senate Judiciary Chair "Feckless" Dick Durbin? He was handed a steaming Supreme Court scandal and didn't lift a finger to so much as hold any hearings. No, he'll get away with it.
Jamie Raskin, one of my heroes, is making noise about this and getting The House Oversight committee to act. I signed a letter tonight to the oil company execs whom Ranking is investigating. Unfortunately, I can't find the link. I call it the Billion Dollar Bribery Boondoggle.
Jessica Craven (ChopWood/CarryWater) wrote about this yesterday. She linked the motherjones article (below) writing about House Democrats sparking an investigation.
Jessica called on us to contact the Senate to do the same as the House Dems have done. She writes:
"House Democrats have launched an investigation into a meeting between oil company executives and Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago last month, following reports that the former president offered to dismantle Biden’s environmental rules in exchange for $1 billion in contributions to his presidential campaign.
"Let’s ask the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations (a part of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee) to do the same. You can contact them here." "Here" is here:
Jessica also provided a suggested script if anyone needs something to get them started. Please edit/personalize:
"I understand that Democrats on the House oversight committee have sent letters to nine oil executives requesting information on their companies’ participation in the meeting with Donald trump during which he offered to overturn President Biden’s environmental policies in exchange for a billion dollar donation. Where is the Senate investigation? This is an egregious abuse of power, a rampant display of corruption, and also possibly illegal. When will the Senate act?
"I want immediate investigations into this offer of quid pro quo, as well as a complete airing of whether or not Donald Trump tried to bribe oil and gas executives in order to extort money from them to win an election.
Done. Jessica makes it so easy to make ourselves known.
We are lucky to have Warren and Markey as Senators. Warren was my first choice for president in the primary. Markey is a big advocate for the "Green New Deal". Both will be incensed by Trump...again.
Thanks, Bill. Rather than complaining, Jessica makes us feel like we are active participants in keeping our democracy alive.
Also, I feel that my two Senators, Kaine and Warner, are also very effective fighting for the things that I want to see - gun control, reproductive rights, climate - without me having to "lobby" for it.
Morning, Lynell. Thanks for the MJ link, and for the reminder about the "contact info" in CWCW. I am fortunate to have excellent representation in both the House and Senate in Val Hoyle, Jeff Merkley, and Ron Wyden.
In general, I don't give much weight to Mother Jones journalism, but even blind dart throwers sometimes hit close to the target.
In general, though, anyone who gives Trump any credibility in economic matters is a fool, and the oil companies would do well to fire those fools who attended. I'd like to know the names and positions of those that attended, in what capacity, and how this meeting was arranged and advertised. Before all that information is at hand, I can only accuse Trump of being what he is and the attendees of being foolish for getting close enough to the turd to take on some of his stink.
Raskin might stir up enough of a storm to shake out some useful dirt. Until then, Without clear and verifiable information, I wouldn't waste my time as a prosecutor. Neither should Garland.
There's enough information in the public record that Garland should direct the Justice Department's criminal division to launch an investigation. They can seek indictments or not, based on whether or not they find evidence to establish the elements of a crime.
Lex, I understand, and your critique is an important contribution to the public discourse that creates an informed electorate. However, I personally disagree. Until we understand the context and the actions taken by those executives, we don't know if they're a crime committed by both Trump and the attendees, or just Trump. Trump's sick genius is that he commits a crime or a dozen a day, lies or cheats all the time, and blusters and bullys others every chance he gets. The relatively small stuff obfuscates the big stuff. Maybe Raskin's hunt will shake loose enough verifiable facts so Justice can have stuff to submit to a grand jury.
Agreed, Jerry. I said only that Trump solicited a bribe, which is a crime. I didn't say, and don't know, that any of the executives committed a crime just by being there and hearing Trump say what he said. Now if they heard it and acted on it by donating to him as a result, that might be bribery. In any event, we need a criminal investigation, not a congressional one. Trump is a private citizen for now (and hopefully for the rest of his life).
Exactly! What if the head of a city planning commission told a developer he would approve a project of his if he would donate $10,000 to his campaign fund? What is wrong with the Justice Department?
Biden: Chip in $100 to my campaign and I will restore abortion protections. No difference so long as the money goes to campaigns, not person. Trump is a rolling endless crime wave, no need to embellish.
I am not a lawyer, but there are quite a few differences. The fact that abortion protections are restored may or may not ever benefit me or anyone I know personally, but Trump was offering the oil execs regulatory changes with a calculable pecuniary value that would directly benefit the companies they ran.
There's a specific thing of value being offered in exchange for money -- a quid pro quo, as the lawyers say. Although you're right -- campaign finance often comes very close to the line of a quid pro quo (and, in my opinion, sometimes crosses that line).
And Presidential pardons as well. Trump pardoned 143 convicted criminals in his last few weeks in office. 4 of them bilked Medicare/Medicaid out of $1.4 billion and yet he pardoned them.
I LOL when a Republican claims they are the party of law and order.
Trump would have pardoned Al Capone if Capone was alive.
Dr. Richardson goes into great detail in "Wounded Knee" the corruption and ugliness of the Benjamin Harrison administration during the late 1880's to the early 1890's. They catered only to the richest Americans and didn't care a wit about the rest of us.
The Republicans were greedy bastards who had the media in their pocket. It wasn't until Teddy Roosevelt became President when McKinley was shot that anyone could stand up to the Republicans with affect.
Teddy's biggest mistake was announcing the night he was elected President in 1904 that he would not run again in 1908. Bummer for us all.
<<Allison Fisher of Media Matters reported today that with the exception of MSNBC, national television news failed to cover the extraordinary story reported by Josh Dawsey and Maxine Joselow on May 9 in the Washington Post that Trump had told oil executives that if they gave $1 billion to his campaign, he would get rid of all the regulations the Biden administration has enacted to combat climate change.>> Wow. I do watch MSNBC and have been ridiculed, to an extent, for watching it. I do a little shopping around, of course, but I trust the coverage will either be spot-on or they'll apologize and fix it the next day. I post the above quote on my personal Facebook page, too. I mean, OMG.
I *think* the problem is that he didn’t phrase it that way: …if,…then…. He mentioned that he intended to roll back environmental rules. At some point he also said that he would see to it that their tax burden would decrease. He then said, as a new topic, that he hoped they would donate a billion dollars to his campaign [even though some of whatever came in would probably go to his lawyers]. I don’t know if he actually pointed out that they could save a big chunk of that billion from the lower taxes and relaxed environmental regulations, or just left it to them to draw the obvious conclusion.
The preposterous billion dollar ask is indeed a bribe, but in in Mob Talk. Just like the veiled threats that terrorize vulnerable people - “nice kid you have there. It’d be a shame if something happened to her.” Trump is the Don, the Godfather who manages to bully and threaten and con people at all levels of status, then discard or abandon them after they’ve served their purpose. This ability to continue to con people, despite all the evidence to the contrary, is his superpower, aided by his shamelessness and lack of a conscience. His depravity is staggering.
Yes, in openly inviting oil industry bribery, Trump competes with Teapot Dome, as Heather shows.
But it's just part of cycles of sociopathic billionaire behavior.
Same day, look, another large boat (this time, barge) crashes into another bridge, this time Galveston.
As rank, open bribery returns in Trump, so, too, industrial carelessness like boats crashing into bridges will also get a new lease on life (license to destruction) when the 2025 Project finally kills federal regulations that have minimized damages like this so far.
Look at the delegation of Trump congressional stooges who appeared at his trial today, too. These Republicans, like the billionaires to whom they suck up, all hate, scorn laws that might limit criminality, fraud, and other corporate anti-social behavior.
They have contempt for anything that in any way compromises those being ogres as our billionaires classes covet. So they take pages from the Trump no-rule-book to lie, as he, their cult leader, ever lies.
And there are so many of them, all allied, all intent on a universal criminality.
Careless as in they could care less about the rest of us. They are careless with whatever they do that doesn’t contribute to their bottom line, and when it backfires, others have to clean up the mess.
I know that Biden has done a much better job at everything. I support him & will vote for him again. And while I know the economy is better going to the grocery store does not feel better. 1 box of Cheerios is over $8.00. 2 MUCH larger boxes of Cheerios at Costco bundled together $6.89. Now I completely understand that Costco can bargain down the price because of the quantity that they buy but local grocery stores are still gouging customers long after their supply chain has been fixed!!!! That is what people see! Most won't think it through like we do. They see the high prices & blame Biden. And even though Biden is trying to fight back on that price gouging it hasn't worked yet. And my guess is the CEOs of the big grocery stores & suppliers would leave those prices in place to influence the election to get their buddy back who will cut corporate taxes again.
Biden's policies still need to be talked up but I fear it will either fall on deaf ears or be drowned out by trump's constant whining, nagging & complaining! I'm starting to envy my friend's that can ignore all that is going on. Too bad the earth isn't flat. Maybe trump could go to edge & fall off. Desperate times call for desperate fantasies! : (
MAGATS only comprise about a third of the general population, and 90% are net losers when Republicans govern. MAGAT mindless sheep vote for the wolves in sheep's clothing to the detriment of their economic and physical well being. In 2020 70 million lumpen did not vote. They trend Democratic.
Those MAGA are visceral. "Trump hates Dogs" works.
So funny; I only thought of it as an idea, but now I'm imagining his all-dressed-alike NYC sycophants trying to work around the gag order marching off a glacier like penguins.
Regarding Cheerios, maybe we just need to buy oats from Quaker and make our own oatmeal? Cheerios is not dense, and taking up so much volume expense to ship.
I'm a hypocrite here, being a Kowalski's shopper here in Minneapolis / St. Paul. My breakfast tends to be Kowalski's egg salad and toast, with pepper, and tomato if I have it.
Target is much more consumer friendly that Walmart and is headquartered in the Twin Cities. Why would anyone living in the metro Twin Cities ever shop at Walmart?
Walmart rakes in 1 of every 3 dollars spent on groceries in the US. In many places, they have totally wiped out their retail competition. On Amazon, the largest box of Cheerios is $6.99.
Walmart IS one of the biggest problems in the US economy. Did you ever notice the quality brands of food they don't carry? Why do you think this is?
Gary, have you ever shopped at Walmart? How is Walmart or even Amazon hurting the economy? Do they force change in customer and competitor behavior? Sure. Who are their suppliers? Myriad small and large businesses, foreign and domestic. I am waiting, over decades of their operations and the repeat complaints about them, for someone to prove to me that they are bad, rather than products of American economic dynamism.
After Sam Walton died Walmart tried to bribe many of their small suppliers into first increasing the amount of goods they supplied Walmart and then when Walmart was their largest customer they told them they would only pay X per unit which was often times unprofitable for the suppliers. So once they bankrupted a US supplier they went to China and got much better prices.
Also, in many places Walmart paid their workers so little they qualified for food stamps and other welfare benefits. So we subsidized their workforce with welfare.
Not to mention unemployment we paid out when the suppliers shut down. My brother-in-law had a sewing company that went under thanks to Walmart.
The child poverty rate in the county where Walmart is HQ'd in AR has one of the highest rates in the country. Meanwhile, the Walton family, many of whom live in the county, is the richest family in America.
Check out Nancy Walton Laurie's $300 million yacht she was able to purchase thanks to her greedy family.
In the early 1990's Walmart tired again to put in a store in Lincoln, NE. They had been blocked time and again by the city because of their reputation for killing small retail and manufacturing businesses. They finally succeeded but to this day, there are no Walmarts (to the best of my knowledge) within the city limits.
So go ahead and shop there Jerry, it's a free country, except for women, people of color and the LGBTQ+ community.
Gary, I have to admit that I'm feeling a little guilty at the moment. I looked up what you wrote, and it's mostly true.
I say "mostly" because I'm familiar with the issue of low pay at grocery chains since I have 2 family members working for 2 docent grocery chains. The low pay isn't necessarily due to the hourly wages. It's due to most employees not getting a full 40 hour allotment each week. One is even full time with full benefits, getting paid over $20/hr, but earning less than $40,000/ year. Since they are single, life is barely affordable without frills, but if they had kids and a dependent spouse, did stamps would be needed. On top of that, hours are never predictable week to week, so getting a 2nd job is impossible. This is a modern form of slavery, in my opinion.
So where to shop, If all the grocery chains seem to treat their employees badly? The local farmers market is quite limited in the range of products offered and prices there are higher than at even Whole Foods.
And it wouldn't be Amazon either. My wife and sister-in-law grow much of our produce and we eat vegetarian, but that doesn't solve the problem of where to shop for most people.
I hear what you are saying about not getting enough hours and I've heard that from people in FL and in ME so it must be true in most of the country.
We certainly are. And my guess is that the local grocers are squeezed as well because their suppliers keep the prices inflated. It's not just the supermarkets. It's the suppliers & manufacturers. It certainly isn't the farmer that grows the grain, raise the cattle, tends the orchards or veggies fields.
Sad state of affairs the the initial producer & the final consumer bear the brunt of all the greed. Plus we pay a higher tax rate!!! Talk about rubbing salt in the wound, & that salt also costs more!
Grocery stores have small profit margins. I wouldn't blame the grocery stores so much as the corporations that produce our food, personal care products, and so on. Remember, these are multinational companies, and a few hold monopolies in certain segments of the market, like meat processing. I just came across this excellent article from 2021 that discusses the issue: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2021/jul/14/food-monopoly-meals-profits-data-investigation
Efforts by the Biden administration to deal with industry concentration and address price gouging are long term and will take years to have a significant effect. Of course, if tfg wins the election, nothing will improve.
How uncanny and timely your letter is today. I live in New Jersey. Yesterday I passed the Elizabeth Sea port area near Newark Airport and travelled towards the Holland Tunnel. I have travelled this area many times in my life but yesterday something extraordinary stood out. I saw what seemed like a hundred Port Container lifts operating littering the skyline. The Port overpasses were lined with tractor trailer with containers haltingly making their way into America. Witnessing this industry of commerce was so powerful I prayed out loud how grateful it was to see our country back on its feet again. I thought of the thousands of jobs, union jobs and the hope it brings with it. Sounds corny but I was thankful for the glimmer of hope these Biden policies have put forth in action for the sake of my children and grand children and their future.
If Americans want to witness economics in action go visit a sea port transit hub along the eastern seaboard. It speaks volumes.
I see what you are noting and wish the billionaires who have pledged their net worth (gates, buffet, etc) maybe would consider saving our democracy a worthy cause for their funds. The wealthy who do not care about these things own nearly all the other main stream media. NPR did report on trumps deal, but I’m not sure it was on the PBS news hour as I missed it that day.
PBS’s News Hour is a waste of time if you are looking for news, unless you’re a 5 year old, then they are talking directly to you. Their both-sidesism is giving air time to liars who only show up to spout one lie after another, that’s not news it’s propaganda, Judy got too old and her replacements are out of their league, they try but their performance isn’t even close to being adequate to the task. I can’t watch them anymore, MSNBC is the only outfit speaking truth to power.
You can definitely do worse than PBS New Hour! Although it has been a while since I've watched. As long you are aware of the crap coming from the other side you are good! And I think it even informs you regarding that crap.
"...wealthy who do not care..." Since even more than saving democracy, saving Mother Earth's ability to support life should be a concern to even the 1%. Why are they not stepping up to this existential problem? Every answer I come up with to this question makes them looks worse & worse.
My cynical answer is that there are very few 1 percenters walking the walk. Are they willing to forgo airplane travel as an example? No, they want to spend their money, often on carbon intensive endeavors like driving ICE SUVs, flying to Europe, and driving boats all over the place.
And why would they think tfg would honor his promises? As a dictator, He is just as likely to nationalize their oil companies, pocket the $$ and put the money offshore. You know … like Putin did.
This history shows the GOP chaos and corruption has existed as long as the party. Ken Buck said he admired Speaker Johnson and Speaker Johnson, a professed Good Christian, just said he is a friend to a man who is a convicted rapist, adulterer, liar and thief.
If a Republican professes oneself a "good Christian," Sabrina, it's of one peculiar piety only.
That is, it's being pious toward the most rich atop us. That piety has the billionaire classes floating lawmakers in return for legislation gifting the billionaires more tax breaks, less regulation, more write-offs for lobbyists, and freedom from oversight for all the bribes to all the Clarences who need their luxuries.
But your own words here conclude in most choice, fitting way. They fairly let us wonder what part of Mike Johnson's Good Book says it's OK for an elderly, debauched celebrity to invite a young woman to dinner, then arrange a quickie in his hotel room -- no dinner.
And what part of his Good Book approves of cornering another woman in dressing room of a high-end department store, only to foist himself upon her there?
And to brag of grabbing women in their most private parts? That's exactly where in the so-called Christianity by which Speaker of the House aligns with the fat guy coiffed like Liberace, faced encrusted with more layers of orange than any honest drag queen?
You could fix it if you have a well educated population, teach governance, geography, all history not just the white, Western European history. World history/religion. Finance so it’s understood on a personal level at a young age. We chose stupidity.
Maybe if NBC (and, ABC & CBS…forget FOX) would do “straight” reporting there wouldn’t need to be any complications, the non FOX public would get crucial and timely info and be more completely informed to confront GOP grifters in November.
Is anybody concerned that Trump is going to do his lying rants during the CNN Biden/Trump debate on 6/27? The debate should be formal and the microphones turned off at the end of the allotted times. (I would have said at the end of the sentence at the allotted time but Trump doesn't speak in sentences). and they must stay behind a podium. Otherwise Trump's circus like performance will make an attempt to debate futile.
Yes, I am very concerned that Trump will just bombard with emotional nonsense that the deplorables and idiots (there is a difference) will lap up. He knows that his greatest appeal is his "toughness".
But, I believe that President Biden set the rules for the "debate" (show). No studio audience. Mics turn off at the end of allotted time.
I have a sliver of hope that this "performance" will be less like a cage match and more a demonstration of Biden's cool competence vs Trump's deepening dementia.
I have half of a sliver of hope that the MSM will actually speak about Trump's mental illness and Biden's record economic success.
The mass media (with rare exceptions) seems to be terrified of committing journalism, and instead regurgitates lame “both sides” fallacies. Local news loves to focus on individual acts of crime or brief price hikes, but rarely covers actual crime statistics or non-spiking prices.
Thank you for highlighting the issue (and the history lesson).
A couple of things: as far as polls go, I have heard a number of times that those polled often lie. A strange kind of mischief. As far as the cost of groceries going down because wages have been going up does not apply to those of us on fixed incomes. Otherwise, it’s a fantastic letter. Yes it definitely does matter how news is reported!
I don't believe the polls. And the media always report "20% of Americans support...." ,"54% of Americans say they'll vote for Trump", etc. etc., when they should say "20%54% of Americans polled". It's not the same thing, and people read that and believe that it is really the percent of the population....
Very good point. I wish they would be a whole lot more transparent about the areas the polls were taken, how many asked, question asked, older/younger people etc. I still call the constant parroting of these polls lazy journalism.
Speaking of polls, I wouldn't take the word of that Times/Siena poll as an accurate measurement of Americans' feelings about the economy. The poll has been widely panned as an outlier on the presidential race, so I would imagine it's a an outlier on this economic question, too.
I’m no economist, but what I don’t often hear mentioned is that grocery stores and food distributors are almost all owned by big corporations these days, even most of the so-called health food companies. Couldn’t it be that large (and long overdue) increases in hourly wages passed by Democrats are simply being counterbalanced by big increases in the price of groceries (or deceptive reductions in quantity disguised by packaging)? In so doing, corporate profits remain high and consumers blame it on Biden. Even higher corporate taxes would likely be handed down to consumers this way, no? Is the remedy some kind of monopoly busting/corporate reform?
They can influence the answers to polls as you have likely seen with polls from the DNC or candidates. Also, many polls may reach out to 1000 people but they don't say HOW they reach these people. If they are only polling online or by land line or a combination of these. We rarely know their methodology because we are reading the polling summary from another "news" source.
Heather has again identified a central probleml in this election cycle. Namely THE IRRESPONSIBLE, LAZY REPORTING BY ALMOST ALL MAJOR NEWS SOURCES!!! LET'S BOYCOTT EVERYONE EXCEPT MSNBC? The DNC must flat out make this accusation and threat!
I do what I still can do, I email my Senators and Congressperson,. Of course, they are also Democrats who agree with me. When I was much younger I campaigned, conducted phone banks, knocked on doors, made speeches, registered voters, Unfortunately at 91 my body is no longer as cooperative as it was. So the best I can do is email and donate. I have let the DNC and DCCC know how little I think of them now. So you can take your accusation and shove it.
I applogize for my accusation and understand your explanation completely. I let my anger at trump and his toadies and fear for our democracy overwhelm me. I will be participating in the election-related activities you mentioned. Again, soorry.
Corporate stock buybacks are why the stock market is booming and Americans don’t feel that there’s anything great going on. Most of the wealth is centralized at the top 1% and the stock market does not represent the everyday reality of average Americans. Apple just announced a $110 billion stock buyback. That’s profit funneled back to the top and not into the economy.
Most folks still do not understand that stock buy backs were illegal until 1982. They don’t understand that it is stock manipulation plain and simple. Decided on by the people who will benefit the most, using excess profit from a corporation. Excess profits = price gouging, that many accept as inflation.
Can someone please tell me how Trump could do a better job of managing the economy, or anything else for that matter, since he bankrupted his casinos, had multiple business bankruptcies, had to be bailed out by his father, squandered his inheritance, and has been judged to have committed fraud, has a monitor overseeing his businesses, and had his fake charity shut down? He doesn't really create wealth; he steals it by conning people.
He doesn't do a better job &: doesn't have to because his cult followers will believe it when he tells them he is better at it.
Trump and his Goebbels Brigade who spread his propaganda when he cannot. Mike "Goebbels" Johnson is an apologist for Trump just like Goebbels was for Hitler. It appears Trump has already taken over most of our mainstream media with help from his buddy Putin, who is trying to follow in Hitler's footsteps as Trump goose steps behind him.
Sometimes or most times, the messenger of bad news gets cast to the side and I have disturbing news. There is a likelihood that Biden will lose. This election shouldn’t even be close. The reality is t getting out. An ole friend mine complains that every costs more but she forgets her house is worth almost twice as much as it was 4 or more years ago. Things do cost more. But I’ve learned how to eat healthy and I choose to prepare my own foods. The last time I visited MacDonalds was years ago when they used coffee as a loss leader at .99 cents a cup perfect for my cross country driving expeditions. I always pack my own turkey sandwiches in my cooler.
Anyway, we are not masters of the media. We pretend that this is just another electoral game to watch. People vote emotionally not intellectually. My friend now retired, is an anti vaxxer. She survived somehow. I wrote a song about her and she screamed at me for it.
I’m a bit older now. I’m using the stock market to provide me with significantly more base to buy my shangrala away from the masses. I prefer living around nature and animals now instead of crazy people. I will allow the robin to finish building her nest under the eves of my front steps in case one of her fledglings drops out. Then I will nourish it in my cage feeding it worms for days and a few weeks until it’s strong enough to take flight.
My friend thinks everything is more expensive now. Instead, I have begun making my own condiments devoid of sugar which is so much healthier. And costs a whole lot less to make. I don’t need to constantly buy things to make me happy.
Back to Biden, he does t understand that the divisive issues need to be addressed and all the good environmental and social benefits he is enacting will end with the flick of a switch to another administration. Nobody gets it. When I have suggested gettting tough at the border, my fellow democrats, ie, y’all, yell at me for being like Trump when I only have tried to show that doing nothing is a sure bet to a loss.
Enjoy my song to my friend, Vernonica, who refused to be vaxcinated on account of MAGA crap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6Enog4QCDQ
Biden by 10 million votes. Maybe more. You heard it here first.
Bill, you may want to check for raccoons in your parts. The robin's nest on a friend's porch eaves got raided by friendly local raccoons on a regular basis...
There is danger anywhere. The space is above my front door around my lights. I placed aluminum foil there to ward off past nests because the birds will poop on my steps. But my steps need to be repainted anyway it doesn’t matter. Two years ago, I found a Robin fledgling in my back yard and I set up my cage and for 8 blessed days, I learned how to care for it even putting my kerosene stove on to warm him on my front porch at night. Fledglings need to be feed worms every few hours and he could t hardly wait until I slipped my fingers inside with a squiggly worm to his waiting beak. On the 8th day I neglected to heat up the porch and my little friend was still the next morning. I’m still in remorse . I only wanted him to take flight and look back at me one last time. I won’t make that mistake again. Then one of cats born in my back years got to another fledgling. Now Wild Man is safely inside my home forever.
Bill, you, sir, are clearly a devoted protector of avian life!
For my part, I just put masking tape "mullions" on 10 garage windows hopefully to deter birds (specifically songful catbirds) from attempting to fly through them.
I guess we'll both see how our efforts pay off. Thanks for your inspiration and encouragement in small, nonetheless noble, efforts!
JohnM, this reminds me of a robin nest that they built on top of one of our nest boxes. Soon I could see babies there. Then I heard what was clearly a panic call from the parents. When I rounded the house, I saw two crows sitting on the corner of the roof, looking at me and saying clearly, "Yep, we ate them." And they had. This week there was also a series of pictures from a local nature area of an eagle trying to fly off with an adult goose and having a hard time getting off the ground. A coyote streaked across the field and grabbed the goose and carried it off. We do find feathers from time to time in the yard as the predators know who has bird feeders, just as the herons know who has ponds. After reading the letter and some of the comments, I am glad for the nature break.
I just spent the morning with my mom's longest friend here in Germany and her partner who are both staunch members of Die Linke, and we had quite some disagreements as usual. They believe that I am brainwashed (I refrain from telling them the same, because I think by what I say is obvious). They think that Putin is a good guy and that Trump and Biden are both the same because they represent American imperialism. However, if I discuss details of life, their personal ideas become even more clearly illuminated. I told them that while American women are managing to care both about people in Israel and Gaza, they have to worry about the total destruction of the female health care system in the USA. That is where their so called humanist-people friendly ideas become remarkably women unfriendly. She says wouldn't it be great if everyone who wanted babies could have them. I said, the problem I am concerned about is both women who don't want babies being forced to have them, and women who have toxic pregnancies having to be dying to get help. She had nothing to say to that other than that people should not be screwing around, and should invest more in relationships with other people. It told me she is far removed from the lives her grandchildren are leading, and also, for people who support the poor this is not supporting poor women. However, I have a history with her that has seen her evolve from a practicing converted Catholic because her husband was, to an atheist, which my family always was, and a very active SPD member, including being an attorney in the women's ministry in Niedersachsen, to being a retired Leftist. Still, what is continuous is that she cares and she is active, and some of the worst ideas of the Left she has not presented to me. They think the USA should get their troops out of everywhere. So, I asked if they were satisfied with the withdrawal of US from Afghanistan. They said yes. I said are the Afghani women better off? They said not after 20 years of US occupation. I did not argue that point, but asked if they think there will be world peace if the USA military returns back home from everywhere in the world. They told me yes. So, I said, well many Americans would be happy for that. There were so many things that they would say, and then I would outline specific things most of which they clearly had not thought about because it does not fit in with their world picture. I also taught them about the concept of Bots, and while they say that China, Iran and Russia taking over the world will be the best things for Europe, I said they already are influencing things for Europe with their Bots and that is why the AfD is rising in influence. They did not know what I was talking about so I explained, and perhaps they will look into the Left position on this, so that when it comes up again they can have a counter argument. The thing about arguments like these is that I don't want to be proven right, because it is better to not have these drastic things happen, and find out that I was right and they were wrong. There is no way that I believe that China, Russia and Iran--which they claim are just lied about, taking over is a good thing. Knowing one person from these countries that agrees with them is a case study of one, not real data so in that case I have much more data than them. So, I am agreeing that people vote emotionally, which are why these Bots are so effective, as well as American corporations on selling Americans a bill of goods on how their lives should be. Technology is taking over our thinking so we should be learning how that works and mastering it to control the messages. The Republican have been bold brash liars, and the Democrats have been deceiving themselves that going high will work. Clearly that is some old school idea that is not true.
Hate to admit that chump gets the notarity, and Joe gets “cancelled .”
Hell has no fury like a woman scorned. Women will vote for Boden. 45 lost the popular vote twice!!!
The media, except MSNBC, think Trump will win, so they are trying not to prod the bear to avoid his wrath in a round 2.
In sum, they are afraid.
They are cowards
Talk about cowards. Those men who stood outside the courtroom and defended their "friend" Donald Trump.
Disparaging the justice system and saying that the trial is a scam, a sham
disgrace, and that Trump is innocent
sent shivers up my spine.
Johnson, especially, needs to get on his knees and ask forgiveness for defying the tenants of
Christianity, which he so defends and "lives by."
He makes me as sick as Trump, MTG, Jordan, and all those other cowards who defend Trump.
I guess those at the courthouse are vying fir a chance b at the vice-presidency. "Vice" is right.
Repubs have been an affront to my very existence for decades. I guess it was tea party insanity when my tolerance for their Goebbels tactics just hit bottom. You are so right…
The Boebert was there.
Bingo!
I think Trump's muse, Steve Bannon, is most deserving of the Goebbells appellation.
That goes to Stephen Miller.
Yes. Right up there in core venality
Nigel is more muse-like than Steve...
I am also losing faith in MSNBC. Corporate Media is lying everyday. They report polls that are not being administered correctly and that is it. Trump penis stories make it and all of the lies that his campaign throws out. Investigative journalism is no longer happening. Maggie Haberman is in Trumps Pocket as is the no longer to be relied upon NYTIMES.
The onslaught of news on our phones and 24/7 TV is largely shiny objects. In closing the media’s choice to give a false equivalence to both candidates is simply horrifying.
Don’t say this on X or FB, got me banned three years ago
Heart. My heart won't work. Sign of the times?
Well he is better at conning people into believing his lies.
Only with the non-stop assistance of the media that still airs/reprints his lies--and those of his allies-- with no context.
Fay, repetition, repetition, repetition seems to be working. That and "someone said," "I've heard," "everyone knows," and "experts say," usually without citations or specific facts.
"The Apprentice" carny show is what got him to the big top
We have been “realitied” into the most grotesque fiction.
When I first heard of "Lost" (in my mind, the first scripted "reality" show) I was stunned. I could not believe people not only watched that garbage, but ate it up. Talk about mind rotting material.
Even brain worms would have rejected the garbage. I hate Moonves to this day for the Survivor crap. That was the start of the demise of the big three networks. Of course, Fox had eaten brains before that.
He has Fox to do that 24/7
Seems like his followers just cover their ears & hum…
Walking past the graveyard.
Yes, MAGA gives Trump unconditional support, disregarding all facts!
Apparently not just his cult followers, but half or more than poll respondents. Heathers is right— MSM and the ever present advertised in your face gas prices.
Trump colonizing the USA:
Watch ""How The British Took Over India" - TREVOR NOAH (from "Afraid Of The Dark" on Netflix)" on YouTube
https://youtu.be/QhMO5SSmiaA?si=i5zXAetGT7GVEbXG
Yes, I like
Today's Washington Post has an opinion piece by the director of the Ronald Reagan Institute. Roger Zackheim wants the Biden administration to take out Hamas by any means necessary. Yes including deploying the US military. Zackheim's plan is actually in service to Trump. This recalls Ronald Reagan's campaign working to prevent Iran from freeing the American hostages until after Election Day. But with bloodshed.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/05/15/hostages-hamas-mediation-pressure-biden/
Ugh, Republicans...not only Reagan and Iran, but also Nixon back dealing on Vietnam so that Humphrey wouldn't win. A leopard doesn't change its spots....
I still would like to see Cheneys notes from his meetings with oil execs prior to the Iraq invasion.
Don’t forget that viper
I WROTE THE LINES THAT FOLLOW 22 YEARS AGO.
I shared them with one close Jewish friend but afterwards kept this to myself. I was too horrified by the reality underlying my own thoughts.
I still am.
Yet I fear that Americans, Westerners, Israelis, blind to history, blind to long-term concatenations of cause and effect, understand nothing, understand neither their enemies (who understand them and their failings all too well) nor the strategic weapons deployed by those enemies.
There is no understanding of the workings of evil, the interactions of our own with that of fanatical enemies. (Of Hamas, trusted by Netanyahu, remember how they treated their Fatah rivals, thrown from Gaza rooftops...)
There is no understanding.
There is only a continuation to this day of the Nazis' deluded belief in the absolute superiority of brute material power.
In this delusion, Zackheim et al are at one with Putin, with Xi... and with organized crime everywhere. Heaven help us.
*
HERE, THEN, IS THAT OLD TEXT...
*
AFTER JENIN—MAY 2002
The choice looks stark.
Either Israel gets out of the occupied territories now—45 years too late—or they engage in a vicious spiral of war-without-end. Deferred suicide. For if they go down that road, there will be an end, like Samson’s.
The only question is whether, when the time comes, they’ll drag down the pillars of the Middle East, of the Jewish people or of the whole world.
It seems our generation is mad.
Those who lead the world surely are, and stupid to boot, as is their Weltanschauung.
Why do I utter such enormities?
Because of a single prevailing factor in current “politics” and “economics”: the sacrifice of posterity on the altar of short-term expediency.
Now, I hope events will show that I am deluded, yet I’d not commit this to paper if I did not believe it. If I did not, for instance, see those now in the ascendant in Israel as potentially the greatest threat to the Jewish people that there has ever been. And as a danger to the world at large.
Anyway, in the present perspective, the only dénouement to be hoped for is that the cycle should end as early as possible with both sides exhausted and clamouring for peace. Little hope of that, however, in a world dominated by fanatical believers in the efficacy of brute force.
*
So, is there really no hope, and where should we look for a lead?
For a start, to ourselves, to ordinary people everywhere, the main repositories of such wisdom as remains in the world.
In particular to those women who care more to create a future for their children than for the sterile abstractions of male power games.
***
The key passage in this text:
“Why do I utter such enormities?
Because of a single prevailing factor in current “politics” and “economics”: the sacrifice of posterity on the altar of short-term expediency.”
When it comes to the last three paragraphs, I went beyond those, but am not reprinting what I wrote then, for it is no longer valid.
Within Israel, tail has always wagged dog. Worse, the Israeli tail has wagged and is, to this day, wagging the huge American dog... America has constantly supported everything that Israel gets up to, good, bad, indifferent or criminal. Helping, enabling successive Israeli governments to kick the can down the road—not meeting responsibilities—and with that can to kick the unfortunate Palestinians down the road to worse oppression, worse and worse reactions, worse manipulation by conman Netanyahu... hoist of his own petard and doing his damnedest to bring Gaza, its civilian population, his own people and the whole world down with him in his downfall.
And now, horrendously able and ruthless Islamist strategists have followed up 9/11 with a far more terrible chain-reaction bomb, one from which there was and is no escape. When an Israeli prisoner, Hamas military commander Yahya Sinwar was asked if he would sacrifice 10 000 of his people in order to attain his ends. He replied that he’d willingly sacrifice 100 000…
And Israel’s security services released this man as part of the prisoners’ swap to save soldier Shalit…
An Israeli Veteran friend who had faced 50 to 1 odds in defense (counter attacking) a Syrian force is one of the bravest men I've ever met (in Vietnam or as Veteran college students that served in Iraq and Afghanistan). He left Israel, though, after what they allowed to happen at the Sabra and Shatila camps in 1982.
Just defense is one thing as we felt against the Japanese and Germans, but by not using Attila the Hun tactics after victory we gained friends and allies instead of more enemies. If for no other reason, a just peace avoids endless and needless new enemies.
Thank you for drawing our attention to a worthy example. And for drawing the right conclusions.
The need for true peace is overwhelming, and yet we keep allowing the enemies of peace, happiness and fulfilment to overwhelm us.
We shall overcome.
Peter, you predicted the future. It seems too much.
Helen, I am a complete idiot to try to answer difficult points like the one you just raised here on the telephone, when -- by accident or by some design -- they mostly disappear, almost fully fledged, just before posting.
Maybe the obstacle will help me focus better in my answers.
Some things I and, doubtless, many of us can feel coming.
But here, this endlessly frustrating and painful perceiving of what's staring us in the face but no one sees is far less a matter of intuition or foresight than the ability to read present events in context. This, in a run-down culture accustomed to viewing both phenomena and individual human beings in isolation. Like specimens preserved in formol. Which is just plain stupid.
Dogs, apes and so-called primitives can do better, simply by making proper use of the faculties available to sentient beings.
Even when we can only witness events and the failure to get the measure of them helplessly, we can at least maintain through thick and thin an unconquerable desire to see happiness spread around us, together with the shattering of chains, iron and mental. This, and awareness of all the good things that are taking place, all the fine men and women working tirelessly against every obstacle and discouragement for a better, freer, happier world.
lin, kinda makes you wonder who the enemy of the people really is, huh?
The enemy of the people is the GOP
And beyond... The right wing governments all over the world at this point.
I stopped wondering when Reagan was in power. I was seriously questioning when Nixon was in power. Before that, I was just a little kid. I've been loathing rethugs and their "policies" ever since I became a sentient adult.
Me too
Reagan’s ghost still oozing evil
😮💨🥺😢
I'd like to add that he has also stiffed many of his creditors, especially his attorneys. Of course, he could carry that policy over to his presidency by stiffing U.S. Treasury bond holders.
And the big corporations he is promising to let run wild. Frankly I am appalled that none of those companies leadership said no, this isn’t right. They are all gratuitous opportunists. Leadership used to be doing the right thing, now it’s how do I take care of me (and my shareholders).
In his remarks to the oil company executives, Trump was soliciting a bribe, pure and simple. The fool is an ongoing crime wave. Lest we forget, bribery IS listed in the Constitution, not that that matters to the corrupt SC radicals.
Here is a verified quote from Mr. Warren Buffet on corporations and taxes:
If we send in a check like we did last year, we sent in over $5 billion to the US federal government. And if (the top} 800 other companies had done the same thing, no other person in the United States would have had to pay a dime of federal taxes, whether income taxes, no Social Security taxes, no estate taxes, no… . It's open down the line.
Somehow THAT quote is another that main stream media must have "missed"! Along with the bribe offer from the dumpster to oil companies. I think someone here was correct - MSM is covering their bases in case......
Barbara, I fear you may be mislabeling "companies leadership" which you subsequently correct with "gratuitous opportunists," however, I think what we see is the ever-present see-saw balancing of corporate greed, aka capitalism against social responsibility which the Repubs are all too eager to label "socialism" to scare off the majority "of the people, by the people and for the people."
Bernie almost changed the narrative about socialism not being the devil. Most of the folks that rage and fear monger about socialism are beneficiaries of it in some way; social security, Medicaid/care, defined benefit pensions. I could go on. If would be nice if we had a well informed population that understands all that government actually does for them.
Trump would have never been elected if it had not been for Bill Dallas, Tony Perkins, Bob McEwen, and other conservative leaders of nonprofits who pulled all the Seven Mountain Dominionists and other fundamentalist pastors to meet with Trump so he could promise he would give them everything they wanted if they could get their congregants to vote him into office. They like to say Trump promised to do God's work, but God cannot be found in the details. Many of the CEOs and Executive Directors of nonprofits also show up as Influencers in the Truth and Liberty Coalition which is the hub for Seven Mountain Dominionism. These conservative movement leaders use 501c3 funding for the CNP's programming of the Conservative Action Project. Its most recently signed memo is about setting up appropriation bills for the new administration that will take over in January 2025. Speeches from Bob McEwen have made it clear he believes the conservative movement leadership wags the tail of the dog (government: life-long judgeships, conservative congress members, and the presidency. It is amazing how many CNP members showed up in Trump's White House.) The memo text is below. Signers can be found at the link provided. My question continues to be why is no Democrat yelling from the rafters that nonprofits working with Donald Trump must be investigated and their leadership held accountable for their involvement in the big lie and the coordination of the insurrection which was working for a conservative overtake of the country.
"May 8, 2024
Washington, D.C.
Conservatives urge the House majority to maximize their leverage in the Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations process, which is already underway.
The fiscal year ends on September 30, 2024. Rather than setting up the possibility of a shutdown at the end of the year, the House should pre-emptively pass a short-term Continuing Resolution to March of 2025. This not only avoids the legislative pile up before November, it removes the possibility of a bloated omnibus spending bill being jammed through the lame duck session. Moreover, it gives the new administration a chance to impose its priorities on a must-pass spending bill early in 2025.
Critically, a CR of this nature must not contain the appropriations side deals like the ones negotiated by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray. Rather, the CR must be tied to the 2025 levels enacted as part of the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
There are very few major legislative items left on Congress’s calendar this year, but appropriations bills are one of them. We implore the House not to waste the opportunity to manage the process in a strategic manner which limits the possibility of a lame duck omnibus, adheres to statutory limits without side deals, and allows a new appropriations process to begin in an orderly manner in 2025."
https://conservativeactionproject.com/conservatives-urge-the-house-to-avoid-a-lame-duck-omnibus/
Wonder how many Truth and Liberty folks have government contracts?
Most of them!
Didn’t know there was a nonprofit in the mix. What have I missed…
"Trump would have never been elected if..." .
That's a bold statement, so I'll raise you. Trump would never have been elected if the Democrats had not feared Bernie Sanders more than Donald Trump. 😪
"Trump's first term turned out much worse than anyone feared. He did the mean tweets and some racist stuff. He deployed armed, masked and unbadged federal agents to grab citizens off the streets. He did his "family separation policy" with migrants. Not great, but also no "end of the Republic" stuff.
But then the sum of all fears hit. America was handed a real deal, genuine crisis while Trump was at the helm and the result was that one million Americans died from COVID while Trump oversaw the greatest failure of the federal government since the Great Depression.
And then Trump lost his re-elect and attempted a coup.
How bad was this? If you went back in a Time Machine and described Trump's COVID response and coup attempt to Republican voters in 2016, they would have accused you of being a hysteric."
Tom Nichols
https://x.com/RadioFreeTom/status/1790780747806015644
I still am a hysteric
"Can someone please tell me how Trump could do a better job of managing the economy[?]"
He gave the masses a few peanuts tax break while increasing the National Debt $2B via a tax break to the wealthy.
Voters only noticed the peanuts.
ometimes history echoes, sometimes it repeats:
In May 1929, the American economy was characterized by strong optimism due to a booming stock market, which had been rising throughout the 1920s. Despite the general confidence, there were early signs of instability, with some reports noting market breaks and fluctuations that hinted at potential issues. Media coverage began to reflect a mix of continued confidence and emerging caution, setting the stage for the dramatic Wall Street Crash in October 1929, which would usher in the Great Depression Sources: (Wikipedia) (Historic Newspapers).
Do you think that Trump and the MAGA cult want a repeat? You bet they do.
It was obscenely rich standing in bread lines. In fact, the obscenely rich were profiting off of the misery of others, like foreclosing on farms, businesses, and homes of people experiencing financial woes. The obscenely rich are survival of the fittest folks, unless they encounter difficulties.
There is a CANCER in America, and it seems to be spreading through ignorance [is bliss], hate[fulness], lies [disinformation, misinformation], a lack of common sense [realistically smart sense] and laziness … there should be no or very few - if any - reasons to rationally explain and/or support why trump and his party should be thought of as doing a better job at managing our country’s economy than that shown by the Biden administration … but this cancer is not only limited or restricted to this element of what should be important considerations for and to all GOOD American citizens - voting and non-voting!!!
Benjamin Labatut writes about Karl Schwarzschild, the brilliant mathematician and physicist who, while he was fighting as a German soldier at the front lines in WW1 and was dying from a debilitating disease with burning blisters all over and inside his body, solved the equations to the theory of relativity that Einstein had just published a month ago, equations that even Einstein had not been able to solve. Schwarzschild was tormented by the solution because it indicated the possibility of a singularity, what’s now known as a black hole, a complete contradiction of the laws of physics then known… invisible and able to suck anything of any size within range into its infinity. This discovery would take another two decades for the scientific community to accept as true. He held off from sending Einstein his solutions as he tried every way possible to do the math that would prove him wrong, but finally accepted the original revelation. A young mathematician named Courant was taken to the same military hospital, wounded in battle, and recognized Schwarzschild despite his disfigurement. They immediately got into an exciting conversation about the younger man’s work, and they talked all night. At first light, Schwarzschild explained the equations that had brought him such torment, and then asked Courant a question that would torment him for the rest of his life.
If matter were prone to birthing monsters of this kind, were there correlations with the human psyche? Could a sufficient concentration of human will – millions of people exploited for a single end with their minds compressed into the same psychic space – unleash something comparable to the singularity? Schwarzschild was convinced that such a thing was not only possible but was actually taking place in the Fatherland. Courant tried to appease him; he said that he saw no signs of the apocalypse Schwarzschild feared… He reminded Schwarzschild that the human soul was a greater mystery than any mathematical enigma, and that it was unwise to project the findings of physics into such far-flung realms as psychology. But Schwarzschild was inconsolable… he lamented that there was nothing that we could do about it. Because the singularity sent forth no warnings. The point of no return – the limit past which one fell prey to its unforgiving pull – had no sign or demarcation. Whoever crossed it was beyond hope. Their destiny was set, as all possible trajectories led irrevocably to the singularity. And if such was the nature of that threshold, Schwarzschild asked, how would we know if we had already crossed it?
The soulless black hole/singularity is about to swallow us up. How withstand the duped?
The only thing I can think of at this late date is to get involved, write letters, contribute whatever you can, and VOTE -- even though the soulless black hole/singularity has his goons out there rigging the voting mechanisms all over the USA.
Trump, as businessman had one great success: his TV Show. Otherwise the carnage left in his wake by casinos, airlines, and at least some of his buildings would qualify him for the "Worst Businessman in the Country" award.
Curious. Swbv.., why do you think “the Apprentice” was so popular? Again, just curious.
I have no idea. It struck me as just entertainment with made up crises and winners. Telegenic appeal was critical to winning. It was just a farce,
Yes. Telegenic appeal. Like him arriving in his 757 jet, and his responses to demonstrators during his well-staged rally's (punch em out.., etc). Not much in the way of substance, but for the tail-gator crowd, it's still the 'lets party' message he elicits, sans substance (Jan 6th). The entertainment factor is long gone. Thx for your note.
But women? Can you quickly think of anyone in public life who has been more disrespectful? And not just to wives?
More people watched the bs Apprentice nonsense than read the news.
Infotainment rather than infomation
Jen, this particular one hits real close to home. The night my Mom died, my sister and I had taken dinner in her room (she was unresponsive, yet there). My sister left at 7:50 to go home and watch "The Apprentice". At about 8:15, Mom's heart rate increased to about 180 bpm and she began agonal breathing. I called my sister, and told her Mom's time was fast approaching. Mom died at 8:42. My sister arrived at 9:05. This haunts her to this day, but especially now...
These losses burn in unpredictable ways. My mom died in hospice in Kansas, and knew me when I arrived, but not later. I left the day before she died because my dad was arriving with the woman who "took care of her" when she was still at home, and was stealing from my dad. I couldn't stand her and left before they arrived.
My sister and her husband were watching one of the few shows they did when watched tv, the night before I drove home. Same one.
I associate that man with my mother's death too.
I am so sorry.
As I am sorry for your situation as well.
I could ‘t hate these ridiculous shows any more, shinny objects that are fools gold
Not even that…
A symbol of our fall
Which is why Trump is the model Republican Presidential candidate. He’s not an outlier, he’s mainstream in the GOP.
But ask a MAGAt. They see Superman who is a reformed sinner who sits on the right hand of God. Pure fiction, but a better read than reality. Even a reality that is a miracle performed by Joe but ignored by the suits.
Hilarious in its perspicacious pungency.
Perception over reality. The myth of success has overwhelmed reality. He's an abject failure at everything except bullshit and with that skill he's managed to create a Potemkin Village of wealth and business sagacity.
Apparently, it's because he says so. Pathetic.
Unfortunately, the media has been almost criminal in it's coverage of this election. The once proud 4th estate can color itself yellow.
Has the coup strategist infiltrated the media with their minions, as well as government elected offices? Is that what you are thinking?
Froomkin covers the media, particularly the newspapers. Many good articles on his website:
https://presswatchers.org/2024/03/why-is-new-york-times-campaign-coverage-so-bad-because-thats-what-the-publisher-wants/
In spite of the many good columnists and reporters the NYT is being run into the ground. Unfortunately the WP is not far behind. Two white old men in charge, attempting to snuggle up to a would-be dictator.
Both are vying to be Trump’s paper of record or propaganda mouthpiece and since Trump is a genius at manipulation, he will set them against each other.
It will be difficult to pull that off against such strong personalities. Bezos will not be as easy to corral as Sulzberger with 10 times the $$ that Trump has.
We would do well to stop giving credit to Trump for his genius or cleverness for what is actually our rationalizing our gullibility
I’m merely acknowledging the reality of a skill of a narcissist.
Spot on 👍
Sulzberger is cackling in his office when no one is around to hear him.
Sulzberger is the perfect example of the law of diminishing returns. When "democracy" is considered to be a political point of view and not a code to live by, you know that the 4th generation publisher of the "gray lady" is maybe not quite up to snuff.
He is obviously still angry that the silverspoon was tarnished black when it first put the Gerbers in his little mouth. I've known fine newspaper folks in the day. I am cousins of the McClatchy's of the Sac Bee. Phoebe McClatchy's mother was a Rideout, My great grandfather's neice. She married Carlos McClatchy and founded the Fresno Bee. Her sons, CK and James were the publishers of the McClatchy papers until they passed. They were open minded, well educated and commited to journalism that served the people. James was outraged by the 2003 war in Iraq and came out of retirement to be the editor of the editorial page, and his editorials were scorching of the Bush-Cheney cabal. He was by nature, a bit conservative, but to him the truth was all that mattered. That is what journalism is. Anything less is pure propaganda.
Excellent point Carol-Ann. Democracy is indeed a code to live by when we treat others the way we want to be treated. The Republican Party since Lincoln believes in nothing except enriching the already wealthy. Don the Con intends to be the next füher. He has the same dead eyes look as Hitler and has perfected the blaming of others for problems he created or made worse. I will never forget the chaos of Covid and the more than a million people who died.
When was the “4th estate” “once proud”? What seems to be truly different today is that we (USA) are collectively less educated, as well as less healthy.
Before the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and while the Fairness in Media Doctrine was enforced
The movie “Don’t Look Up” (Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence) portrays the media’s interest is more about “clicks” than in reporting the news. It’s no longer a portrayal. It’s exactly what media (looking at you New York Times) is doing today.
"like and subscribe".
The media covered tfg non-stop during his first candidacy, glossing over any potential flaws, softballing his interviews, and his debate with Biden. His election was at least partly the result of the media already letting him slide into the public consciousness untarnished. They have already been seeming to be setting things up for a terrifying repeat. 😱
Indeed
Exactly
And Froomkin nails it again. Looks like there's a conspiracy among MSM providers to do away with happy stories about the economy. Are they cheating us?
https://presswatchers.org/2024/05/show-me-the-happy-faces-of-the-biden-economy-and-other-urgent-story-assignments-for-the-msm/?
[[Trump had told oil executives that if they gave $1 billion to his campaign, he would get rid of all the regulations the Biden administration has enacted to combat climate change. ]]
What Trump did is not even a little bit legal. It's soliciting bribery, plain and simple. And Merrick Garland's Justice Department, in its independence and integrity, is going to let Trump get away with it.
Let's make a ruckus.
Who's going to do anything about it? Garland? No chance. Senate Judiciary Chair "Feckless" Dick Durbin? He was handed a steaming Supreme Court scandal and didn't lift a finger to so much as hold any hearings. No, he'll get away with it.
Jamie Raskin, one of my heroes, is making noise about this and getting The House Oversight committee to act. I signed a letter tonight to the oil company execs whom Ranking is investigating. Unfortunately, I can't find the link. I call it the Billion Dollar Bribery Boondoggle.
Hey, Betsy. See my post. The motherjones article credits Jamie Raskin as one of the authors of the letter sent to the oil companies.
Faulty memory--what I signed was a form asking the Senate to join the House and conduct an investigation: https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/contact/contact-form/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email. It's from yesterday's Jessica Craven's "Chop Wood, Carry Water 5/15."
If you find the link, please post it.
See my post, Midge. It may be what Betsy is alluding to.
Jessica Craven (ChopWood/CarryWater) wrote about this yesterday. She linked the motherjones article (below) writing about House Democrats sparking an investigation.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/05/house-democrats-investigation-trump-meeting-oil-executives-mar-lago-billion/?utm_source=mj-newsletters&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-newsletter-05-15-2024
Jessica called on us to contact the Senate to do the same as the House Dems have done. She writes:
"House Democrats have launched an investigation into a meeting between oil company executives and Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago last month, following reports that the former president offered to dismantle Biden’s environmental rules in exchange for $1 billion in contributions to his presidential campaign.
"Let’s ask the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations (a part of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee) to do the same. You can contact them here." "Here" is here:
https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/contact/contact-form/
Jessica also provided a suggested script if anyone needs something to get them started. Please edit/personalize:
"I understand that Democrats on the House oversight committee have sent letters to nine oil executives requesting information on their companies’ participation in the meeting with Donald trump during which he offered to overturn President Biden’s environmental policies in exchange for a billion dollar donation. Where is the Senate investigation? This is an egregious abuse of power, a rampant display of corruption, and also possibly illegal. When will the Senate act?
"I want immediate investigations into this offer of quid pro quo, as well as a complete airing of whether or not Donald Trump tried to bribe oil and gas executives in order to extort money from them to win an election.
"There must be consequences. Thanks."
Done. Jessica makes it so easy to make ourselves known.
We are lucky to have Warren and Markey as Senators. Warren was my first choice for president in the primary. Markey is a big advocate for the "Green New Deal". Both will be incensed by Trump...again.
Thanks, Bill. Rather than complaining, Jessica makes us feel like we are active participants in keeping our democracy alive.
Also, I feel that my two Senators, Kaine and Warner, are also very effective fighting for the things that I want to see - gun control, reproductive rights, climate - without me having to "lobby" for it.
Morning, Lynell. Thanks for the MJ link, and for the reminder about the "contact info" in CWCW. I am fortunate to have excellent representation in both the House and Senate in Val Hoyle, Jeff Merkley, and Ron Wyden.
Done. Super easy. Thankyou Lynell (and Jessica).
In general, I don't give much weight to Mother Jones journalism, but even blind dart throwers sometimes hit close to the target.
In general, though, anyone who gives Trump any credibility in economic matters is a fool, and the oil companies would do well to fire those fools who attended. I'd like to know the names and positions of those that attended, in what capacity, and how this meeting was arranged and advertised. Before all that information is at hand, I can only accuse Trump of being what he is and the attendees of being foolish for getting close enough to the turd to take on some of his stink.
Raskin might stir up enough of a storm to shake out some useful dirt. Until then, Without clear and verifiable information, I wouldn't waste my time as a prosecutor. Neither should Garland.
There's enough information in the public record that Garland should direct the Justice Department's criminal division to launch an investigation. They can seek indictments or not, based on whether or not they find evidence to establish the elements of a crime.
Lex, I understand, and your critique is an important contribution to the public discourse that creates an informed electorate. However, I personally disagree. Until we understand the context and the actions taken by those executives, we don't know if they're a crime committed by both Trump and the attendees, or just Trump. Trump's sick genius is that he commits a crime or a dozen a day, lies or cheats all the time, and blusters and bullys others every chance he gets. The relatively small stuff obfuscates the big stuff. Maybe Raskin's hunt will shake loose enough verifiable facts so Justice can have stuff to submit to a grand jury.
Agreed, Jerry. I said only that Trump solicited a bribe, which is a crime. I didn't say, and don't know, that any of the executives committed a crime just by being there and hearing Trump say what he said. Now if they heard it and acted on it by donating to him as a result, that might be bribery. In any event, we need a criminal investigation, not a congressional one. Trump is a private citizen for now (and hopefully for the rest of his life).
Sadly, I agree with you Lex.
I really like how you think Deb...
Exactly! What if the head of a city planning commission told a developer he would approve a project of his if he would donate $10,000 to his campaign fund? What is wrong with the Justice Department?
It takes time to act even if they are going to do so. The meeting at MAL happened just a few weeks ago.
To request a $1B campaign donation points to the man's desperation to avoid prison.
Biden: Chip in $100 to my campaign and I will restore abortion protections. No difference so long as the money goes to campaigns, not person. Trump is a rolling endless crime wave, no need to embellish.
I am not a lawyer, but there are quite a few differences. The fact that abortion protections are restored may or may not ever benefit me or anyone I know personally, but Trump was offering the oil execs regulatory changes with a calculable pecuniary value that would directly benefit the companies they ran.
And hurt you and everyone you know personally in the form of climate change.
True, although I don't know whether that would factor into a charge of solicitation of bribery. It sure makes Trump a Bond villain, though.
And hurt the rest of us.
How does this differ lobbying and fundraising tactics, except perhaps for its brazenness?
There's a specific thing of value being offered in exchange for money -- a quid pro quo, as the lawyers say. Although you're right -- campaign finance often comes very close to the line of a quid pro quo (and, in my opinion, sometimes crosses that line).
And Presidential pardons as well. Trump pardoned 143 convicted criminals in his last few weeks in office. 4 of them bilked Medicare/Medicaid out of $1.4 billion and yet he pardoned them.
I LOL when a Republican claims they are the party of law and order.
Trump would have pardoned Al Capone if Capone was alive.
Lex, I agree, although I think you misspelled "frequently" in your parenthetical comment. <only a little snark>
The Harding administration was at grade school level in corruption compared to Trump’s.
Dr. Richardson goes into great detail in "Wounded Knee" the corruption and ugliness of the Benjamin Harrison administration during the late 1880's to the early 1890's. They catered only to the richest Americans and didn't care a wit about the rest of us.
The Republicans were greedy bastards who had the media in their pocket. It wasn't until Teddy Roosevelt became President when McKinley was shot that anyone could stand up to the Republicans with affect.
Teddy's biggest mistake was announcing the night he was elected President in 1904 that he would not run again in 1908. Bummer for us all.
Yet it's Trump who acts like a grade schooler.
<<Allison Fisher of Media Matters reported today that with the exception of MSNBC, national television news failed to cover the extraordinary story reported by Josh Dawsey and Maxine Joselow on May 9 in the Washington Post that Trump had told oil executives that if they gave $1 billion to his campaign, he would get rid of all the regulations the Biden administration has enacted to combat climate change.>> Wow. I do watch MSNBC and have been ridiculed, to an extent, for watching it. I do a little shopping around, of course, but I trust the coverage will either be spot-on or they'll apologize and fix it the next day. I post the above quote on my personal Facebook page, too. I mean, OMG.
I *think* the problem is that he didn’t phrase it that way: …if,…then…. He mentioned that he intended to roll back environmental rules. At some point he also said that he would see to it that their tax burden would decrease. He then said, as a new topic, that he hoped they would donate a billion dollars to his campaign [even though some of whatever came in would probably go to his lawyers]. I don’t know if he actually pointed out that they could save a big chunk of that billion from the lower taxes and relaxed environmental regulations, or just left it to them to draw the obvious conclusion.
The preposterous billion dollar ask is indeed a bribe, but in in Mob Talk. Just like the veiled threats that terrorize vulnerable people - “nice kid you have there. It’d be a shame if something happened to her.” Trump is the Don, the Godfather who manages to bully and threaten and con people at all levels of status, then discard or abandon them after they’ve served their purpose. This ability to continue to con people, despite all the evidence to the contrary, is his superpower, aided by his shamelessness and lack of a conscience. His depravity is staggering.
Yes, in openly inviting oil industry bribery, Trump competes with Teapot Dome, as Heather shows.
But it's just part of cycles of sociopathic billionaire behavior.
Same day, look, another large boat (this time, barge) crashes into another bridge, this time Galveston.
As rank, open bribery returns in Trump, so, too, industrial carelessness like boats crashing into bridges will also get a new lease on life (license to destruction) when the 2025 Project finally kills federal regulations that have minimized damages like this so far.
Look at the delegation of Trump congressional stooges who appeared at his trial today, too. These Republicans, like the billionaires to whom they suck up, all hate, scorn laws that might limit criminality, fraud, and other corporate anti-social behavior.
They have contempt for anything that in any way compromises those being ogres as our billionaires classes covet. So they take pages from the Trump no-rule-book to lie, as he, their cult leader, ever lies.
And there are so many of them, all allied, all intent on a universal criminality.
Careless as in they could care less about the rest of us. They are careless with whatever they do that doesn’t contribute to their bottom line, and when it backfires, others have to clean up the mess.
Nice, Susan.
You're recalling some of the saddest, most trenchant lines by which F. Scott Fitzgerald concluded "The Great Gatsby."
I am.
735 - 1%ers own half of all the stocks traded, I read recently.
I entered "upper one percent owns half of all traded stock" into search engine, Lynn.
The result confirms exactly what you read: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-richest-1-own-50-of-stocks-held-by-american-households-150758595.html
I know that Biden has done a much better job at everything. I support him & will vote for him again. And while I know the economy is better going to the grocery store does not feel better. 1 box of Cheerios is over $8.00. 2 MUCH larger boxes of Cheerios at Costco bundled together $6.89. Now I completely understand that Costco can bargain down the price because of the quantity that they buy but local grocery stores are still gouging customers long after their supply chain has been fixed!!!! That is what people see! Most won't think it through like we do. They see the high prices & blame Biden. And even though Biden is trying to fight back on that price gouging it hasn't worked yet. And my guess is the CEOs of the big grocery stores & suppliers would leave those prices in place to influence the election to get their buddy back who will cut corporate taxes again.
Biden's policies still need to be talked up but I fear it will either fall on deaf ears or be drowned out by trump's constant whining, nagging & complaining! I'm starting to envy my friend's that can ignore all that is going on. Too bad the earth isn't flat. Maybe trump could go to edge & fall off. Desperate times call for desperate fantasies! : (
Trump says the earth is flat, and his legion of lemmings walk off its cliff.
MAGATS only comprise about a third of the general population, and 90% are net losers when Republicans govern. MAGAT mindless sheep vote for the wolves in sheep's clothing to the detriment of their economic and physical well being. In 2020 70 million lumpen did not vote. They trend Democratic.
Those MAGA are visceral. "Trump hates Dogs" works.
Here's proof. https://rvat.org/
13 million unregistered folk trend Democrat. Register Democrats -- save the world.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/all-volunteer-ops
Funny visual, Russell.
So funny; I only thought of it as an idea, but now I'm imagining his all-dressed-alike NYC sycophants trying to work around the gag order marching off a glacier like penguins.
. and hopefully, that's what'll happen to them in November
Regarding Cheerios, maybe we just need to buy oats from Quaker and make our own oatmeal? Cheerios is not dense, and taking up so much volume expense to ship.
I'm a hypocrite here, being a Kowalski's shopper here in Minneapolis / St. Paul. My breakfast tends to be Kowalski's egg salad and toast, with pepper, and tomato if I have it.
Target is much more consumer friendly that Walmart and is headquartered in the Twin Cities. Why would anyone living in the metro Twin Cities ever shop at Walmart?
Walmart rakes in 1 of every 3 dollars spent on groceries in the US. In many places, they have totally wiped out their retail competition. On Amazon, the largest box of Cheerios is $6.99.
Walmart IS one of the biggest problems in the US economy. Did you ever notice the quality brands of food they don't carry? Why do you think this is?
Gary, have you ever shopped at Walmart? How is Walmart or even Amazon hurting the economy? Do they force change in customer and competitor behavior? Sure. Who are their suppliers? Myriad small and large businesses, foreign and domestic. I am waiting, over decades of their operations and the repeat complaints about them, for someone to prove to me that they are bad, rather than products of American economic dynamism.
Oh yes. Dozens of times. Here's a few of the ways.
1) Price fixing
2) Overcharging for specific items
3) Undercharging to eliminate competition
4) Not paying property taxes or appealing them.
5) etc.
You want to talk about suppliers Jerry.
After Sam Walton died Walmart tried to bribe many of their small suppliers into first increasing the amount of goods they supplied Walmart and then when Walmart was their largest customer they told them they would only pay X per unit which was often times unprofitable for the suppliers. So once they bankrupted a US supplier they went to China and got much better prices.
Also, in many places Walmart paid their workers so little they qualified for food stamps and other welfare benefits. So we subsidized their workforce with welfare.
Not to mention unemployment we paid out when the suppliers shut down. My brother-in-law had a sewing company that went under thanks to Walmart.
The child poverty rate in the county where Walmart is HQ'd in AR has one of the highest rates in the country. Meanwhile, the Walton family, many of whom live in the county, is the richest family in America.
Check out Nancy Walton Laurie's $300 million yacht she was able to purchase thanks to her greedy family.
In the early 1990's Walmart tired again to put in a store in Lincoln, NE. They had been blocked time and again by the city because of their reputation for killing small retail and manufacturing businesses. They finally succeeded but to this day, there are no Walmarts (to the best of my knowledge) within the city limits.
So go ahead and shop there Jerry, it's a free country, except for women, people of color and the LGBTQ+ community.
Gary, I have to admit that I'm feeling a little guilty at the moment. I looked up what you wrote, and it's mostly true.
I say "mostly" because I'm familiar with the issue of low pay at grocery chains since I have 2 family members working for 2 docent grocery chains. The low pay isn't necessarily due to the hourly wages. It's due to most employees not getting a full 40 hour allotment each week. One is even full time with full benefits, getting paid over $20/hr, but earning less than $40,000/ year. Since they are single, life is barely affordable without frills, but if they had kids and a dependent spouse, did stamps would be needed. On top of that, hours are never predictable week to week, so getting a 2nd job is impossible. This is a modern form of slavery, in my opinion.
So where to shop, If all the grocery chains seem to treat their employees badly? The local farmers market is quite limited in the range of products offered and prices there are higher than at even Whole Foods.
And it wouldn't be Amazon either. My wife and sister-in-law grow much of our produce and we eat vegetarian, but that doesn't solve the problem of where to shop for most people.
I hear what you are saying about not getting enough hours and I've heard that from people in FL and in ME so it must be true in most of the country.
Very sad.
Depending on state law, that Cheerios scam may be actionable. Report it.
With the demise of independent grocery stores, we're losing the greedflation battle.
We certainly are. And my guess is that the local grocers are squeezed as well because their suppliers keep the prices inflated. It's not just the supermarkets. It's the suppliers & manufacturers. It certainly isn't the farmer that grows the grain, raise the cattle, tends the orchards or veggies fields.
Sad state of affairs the the initial producer & the final consumer bear the brunt of all the greed. Plus we pay a higher tax rate!!! Talk about rubbing salt in the wound, & that salt also costs more!
Grocery stores have small profit margins. I wouldn't blame the grocery stores so much as the corporations that produce our food, personal care products, and so on. Remember, these are multinational companies, and a few hold monopolies in certain segments of the market, like meat processing. I just came across this excellent article from 2021 that discusses the issue: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2021/jul/14/food-monopoly-meals-profits-data-investigation
Efforts by the Biden administration to deal with industry concentration and address price gouging are long term and will take years to have a significant effect. Of course, if tfg wins the election, nothing will improve.
We have to start sometime
How uncanny and timely your letter is today. I live in New Jersey. Yesterday I passed the Elizabeth Sea port area near Newark Airport and travelled towards the Holland Tunnel. I have travelled this area many times in my life but yesterday something extraordinary stood out. I saw what seemed like a hundred Port Container lifts operating littering the skyline. The Port overpasses were lined with tractor trailer with containers haltingly making their way into America. Witnessing this industry of commerce was so powerful I prayed out loud how grateful it was to see our country back on its feet again. I thought of the thousands of jobs, union jobs and the hope it brings with it. Sounds corny but I was thankful for the glimmer of hope these Biden policies have put forth in action for the sake of my children and grand children and their future.
If Americans want to witness economics in action go visit a sea port transit hub along the eastern seaboard. It speaks volumes.
I see what you are noting and wish the billionaires who have pledged their net worth (gates, buffet, etc) maybe would consider saving our democracy a worthy cause for their funds. The wealthy who do not care about these things own nearly all the other main stream media. NPR did report on trumps deal, but I’m not sure it was on the PBS news hour as I missed it that day.
PBS’s News Hour is a waste of time if you are looking for news, unless you’re a 5 year old, then they are talking directly to you. Their both-sidesism is giving air time to liars who only show up to spout one lie after another, that’s not news it’s propaganda, Judy got too old and her replacements are out of their league, they try but their performance isn’t even close to being adequate to the task. I can’t watch them anymore, MSNBC is the only outfit speaking truth to power.
You can definitely do worse than PBS New Hour! Although it has been a while since I've watched. As long you are aware of the crap coming from the other side you are good! And I think it even informs you regarding that crap.
Bravo, Mere!
"...wealthy who do not care..." Since even more than saving democracy, saving Mother Earth's ability to support life should be a concern to even the 1%. Why are they not stepping up to this existential problem? Every answer I come up with to this question makes them looks worse & worse.
My cynical answer is that there are very few 1 percenters walking the walk. Are they willing to forgo airplane travel as an example? No, they want to spend their money, often on carbon intensive endeavors like driving ICE SUVs, flying to Europe, and driving boats all over the place.
And why would they think tfg would honor his promises? As a dictator, He is just as likely to nationalize their oil companies, pocket the $$ and put the money offshore. You know … like Putin did.
This history shows the GOP chaos and corruption has existed as long as the party. Ken Buck said he admired Speaker Johnson and Speaker Johnson, a professed Good Christian, just said he is a friend to a man who is a convicted rapist, adulterer, liar and thief.
If a Republican professes oneself a "good Christian," Sabrina, it's of one peculiar piety only.
That is, it's being pious toward the most rich atop us. That piety has the billionaire classes floating lawmakers in return for legislation gifting the billionaires more tax breaks, less regulation, more write-offs for lobbyists, and freedom from oversight for all the bribes to all the Clarences who need their luxuries.
But your own words here conclude in most choice, fitting way. They fairly let us wonder what part of Mike Johnson's Good Book says it's OK for an elderly, debauched celebrity to invite a young woman to dinner, then arrange a quickie in his hotel room -- no dinner.
And what part of his Good Book approves of cornering another woman in dressing room of a high-end department store, only to foist himself upon her there?
And to brag of grabbing women in their most private parts? That's exactly where in the so-called Christianity by which Speaker of the House aligns with the fat guy coiffed like Liberace, faced encrusted with more layers of orange than any honest drag queen?
Liberace had more and better hair. And he knew he was campy. That was part of his schtick.
And drag queens know how to apply makeup
I absolutely refuse to believe polls.. if there are that many people who will vote for Trump…we are screwed…it cannot be.
We may be screwed. You can't fix stupidity. But we'll go down fighting.
You could fix it if you have a well educated population, teach governance, geography, all history not just the white, Western European history. World history/religion. Finance so it’s understood on a personal level at a young age. We chose stupidity.
Today the NYT ran a story about how MSNBC’s leftward leaning is causing “complications” for NBC’s straight news orientation.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/15/business/media/nbc-msnbc-trump-biden.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Maybe if NBC (and, ABC & CBS…forget FOX) would do “straight” reporting there wouldn’t need to be any complications, the non FOX public would get crucial and timely info and be more completely informed to confront GOP grifters in November.
Is anybody concerned that Trump is going to do his lying rants during the CNN Biden/Trump debate on 6/27? The debate should be formal and the microphones turned off at the end of the allotted times. (I would have said at the end of the sentence at the allotted time but Trump doesn't speak in sentences). and they must stay behind a podium. Otherwise Trump's circus like performance will make an attempt to debate futile.
Yes, I am very concerned that Trump will just bombard with emotional nonsense that the deplorables and idiots (there is a difference) will lap up. He knows that his greatest appeal is his "toughness".
But, I believe that President Biden set the rules for the "debate" (show). No studio audience. Mics turn off at the end of allotted time.
I have a sliver of hope that this "performance" will be less like a cage match and more a demonstration of Biden's cool competence vs Trump's deepening dementia.
I have half of a sliver of hope that the MSM will actually speak about Trump's mental illness and Biden's record economic success.
Five bucks says the orange turd backs out
He did last time. I wouldn't bet against it. All he really wants is a rant opportunity.
I ain't gonna take that bet! I like my $5 lattes!!
Not taking that bet. He’ll see how the wind blows then use “the unfairness of it all” to continue his whining victimhood.
I just listened to Keith Olbermann 's podcast about a Biden/Trump debate. You may be interested. I also have a sliver of hope, Bill.
Where's Walter Cronkite when you need him?
I get most of my news from HCR and others on Substack.
Which is exactly what the owners don't want.
The mass media (with rare exceptions) seems to be terrified of committing journalism, and instead regurgitates lame “both sides” fallacies. Local news loves to focus on individual acts of crime or brief price hikes, but rarely covers actual crime statistics or non-spiking prices.
Thank you for highlighting the issue (and the history lesson).
Subscribe to Mother Jones!
I wouldn’t trust the Mango Mussolini to manage a kid’s birthday party, much less the nation’s economy.
A couple of things: as far as polls go, I have heard a number of times that those polled often lie. A strange kind of mischief. As far as the cost of groceries going down because wages have been going up does not apply to those of us on fixed incomes. Otherwise, it’s a fantastic letter. Yes it definitely does matter how news is reported!
I don't believe the polls. And the media always report "20% of Americans support...." ,"54% of Americans say they'll vote for Trump", etc. etc., when they should say "20%54% of Americans polled". It's not the same thing, and people read that and believe that it is really the percent of the population....
Very good point. I wish they would be a whole lot more transparent about the areas the polls were taken, how many asked, question asked, older/younger people etc. I still call the constant parroting of these polls lazy journalism.
Speaking of polls, I wouldn't take the word of that Times/Siena poll as an accurate measurement of Americans' feelings about the economy. The poll has been widely panned as an outlier on the presidential race, so I would imagine it's a an outlier on this economic question, too.
I’m no economist, but what I don’t often hear mentioned is that grocery stores and food distributors are almost all owned by big corporations these days, even most of the so-called health food companies. Couldn’t it be that large (and long overdue) increases in hourly wages passed by Democrats are simply being counterbalanced by big increases in the price of groceries (or deceptive reductions in quantity disguised by packaging)? In so doing, corporate profits remain high and consumers blame it on Biden. Even higher corporate taxes would likely be handed down to consumers this way, no? Is the remedy some kind of monopoly busting/corporate reform?
Yes exactly Maureen!
Yes - exactly the point I made in my post above (before reading your post). Unfortunately, monopoly busting takes years...
They can influence the answers to polls as you have likely seen with polls from the DNC or candidates. Also, many polls may reach out to 1000 people but they don't say HOW they reach these people. If they are only polling online or by land line or a combination of these. We rarely know their methodology because we are reading the polling summary from another "news" source.
Heather has again identified a central probleml in this election cycle. Namely THE IRRESPONSIBLE, LAZY REPORTING BY ALMOST ALL MAJOR NEWS SOURCES!!! LET'S BOYCOTT EVERYONE EXCEPT MSNBC? The DNC must flat out make this accusation and threat!
Yesterday, on Progressive Radio their was a journalist complaining about the WH not providing them with enough news on their accomplishments.
Talk about lazy. He said that during the Clinton years McCurry would meet "off the record" with the reporters and fed them lots of good information.
Do your jobs journalists, or is that too much to ask?
Heather, Joyce Vance, Robert Reich, Paul Krugman, Maggie Haberman, Thom Hartman, Jennifer Rubin never have any trouble coming up with news stories.
Do your job journalists!!
Good luck with the DNC doing anything beneficial for the Democrats
Then why the f--k don't you do something?
I do what I still can do, I email my Senators and Congressperson,. Of course, they are also Democrats who agree with me. When I was much younger I campaigned, conducted phone banks, knocked on doors, made speeches, registered voters, Unfortunately at 91 my body is no longer as cooperative as it was. So the best I can do is email and donate. I have let the DNC and DCCC know how little I think of them now. So you can take your accusation and shove it.
👍
I applogize for my accusation and understand your explanation completely. I let my anger at trump and his toadies and fear for our democracy overwhelm me. I will be participating in the election-related activities you mentioned. Again, soorry.
👏
Sideways with a red-hot poker.
Corporate stock buybacks are why the stock market is booming and Americans don’t feel that there’s anything great going on. Most of the wealth is centralized at the top 1% and the stock market does not represent the everyday reality of average Americans. Apple just announced a $110 billion stock buyback. That’s profit funneled back to the top and not into the economy.
Most folks still do not understand that stock buy backs were illegal until 1982. They don’t understand that it is stock manipulation plain and simple. Decided on by the people who will benefit the most, using excess profit from a corporation. Excess profits = price gouging, that many accept as inflation.