Of course they’re manipulating the judicial system. They’ll manipulate everybody and every system possible. Everyone, speak up so this madness of a reality stops!
Resource below to easily contact all of Congress - Be LOUD. Trump/the administration is dangerous for our country 💔🤍💙
Use/share this spreadsheet (bit.ly/Goodtrouble) to contact members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly.
Reach out (beyond your own) to as many in the Senate and House as you can. All of this is bigger than “I only represent my constituents” issues.
The corruption is breathtaking both in its fiscal scale and in its brazenness and flagrancy.
I don't know if it is because Trump has a card he is going to be told play to take over absolute control or if it is his desperation to grab as much money as he and his family can abscond with when they flee into sanctuary somewhere in Russia, or if his coterie of sycophants is letting him indulge his wildest megalomanical fantasies, hoping they can walk away from the carnage saying "We tried, but we just couldn't stop him."
Maybe all three plans are in play.
I am not sure what to write to my representatives today because I am so outraged I will sound like a lunatic. It feels like shrieking is the only possible response.
At some point, corruption becomes its own justification. The scale may be vast, but the reasoning is anything but. The need for the triumph of the petty, engorged with itself, shuts out anything else.
Is that really so surprising? The smaller the satrap, the grander the delusion. Has it really ever been different?
You can express shock, but you can’t feign surprise. Whatever the origin, it doesn’t change the diagnosis or the treatment. Corruption eats away at the very foundation of a society which tolerates and makes excuses for it. As Pete Buttigieg has said more than once, it’s not the wonder at how broken the system is, but the wonder at how we pretended it was ever working to begin with.
Just when you think nothing Trump does is shocking, he does something so insane, he posts something so vile and idiotic, he does something so outrageously corrupt, that it really is hard to believe someone could go so low. But he always goes lower, seeking ever greater wealth by any means possible and engaging in the most epic and flagrant corruption of any president.
This is different...the level of corruption, the grifting and grafting, the crypto and the crappo that he sells like the wormy huckster he is.
$10 billion dollar lawsuits to scam settlements and more even more ill gained money, it's sickening and disheartening.
Ya... I don't think the "...we go high..." business ever did work. I give credit to Michelle Obama for trying. She's the decent sort who would think that way. Now I have to wonder if we simply didn't just waste our time.
ME TOO! And as a member of the ‘Me too’ movement I want JUSTICE for Trump’s sexual assault victims before the Bloated Burger Baby Bites the Big One…hmmmm 🤔…maybe that’s a ‘warning’? BIG Mac for Jumbo Jerks 🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♂️
Someone reminded me that the USSR once used poisoned ‘doorknobs’ to eliminate politicians they wanted rid of. Such creativity! But I think I will stick with ‘attack-trained scorpions’ as my choice. Trump needs a plaything and can no longer pet ‘kittens’. 😉
I like the door knob solution. Infiltrate the housekeeping staff and have them clean the door knobs. One really shouldn't worry if people other than trump touch the knob. Most likely just sycophants. I'm not as nice as I used to be.
One shouldn't be surprised when corrupt people handed gilt-edged opportunities to enrich themselves take full advantage of those opportunities and use whatever power they have to increase those opportunities for grift. That in a nutshell is the Trump presidency, at least so far as corruption is concerned.
What amount would you believe the cut-off point should be? I think your statement is interesting, but I'm not sure I would like it until we settle on an amount that would be fair for all. If we're talking about millions of $$, I can see your point; however, we have to balance that with some recognition to family rights on what to keep.
How the hell was he allowed a convicted felon of 34 counts of fraud be allowed to run for President. Next the Proud Boys will be lawmakers. Then what. WTF
A constitutional amendment is definitely in order for presidential requirements. Age, NO FELONS of any sort, term limits (it seems that some people including some judicial candidates have forgotten that rule). I also think military experience would be good even if there is no actual war. Candidates should know what soldiers go through like boot camp. 4F people ( unless they are really handicapped) could have the physical requirement waivered so bone spur people could be included. They could work in the mess hall, the laundry, computers, etc. It will never happen but it is just a thought.
I don’t know if he said it or not but the statement is accurate. Corruption was hardwired into the system by Citizens United, which has ironically sidelined the voices of citizens and elevated money above all else. Add in gerrymandering which has strengthened hardliner base voters and made meaningful legislation more difficult and elusive. Then let’s talk about the third leg of the stool, targeted voter suppression which moves the goalposts over and over again for people who are not being heard and need to be. These have all worked to empower the powerful at the expense of everyone else. So, no, things are not working well. At all.
And yet, the US is the wealthiest country on earth, has the biggest military, has a HC and education system that is much better than that in the developed world, has actively contributed to NATO and therefore world peace for almost a century now, is at the origin of many of the most important scientific and technological inventions of the last century, has a thriving art scene (at least when it comes to music), has installed and then largely maintained (until now) the rule of law, etc. etc.
So there is a LOT to preserve, starting with the democratic Constitution and its institutions in the first place...
This smacks of complacency, of looking the other way while wealth concentrates in the hands of the already wealthy, a quality education becomes elusive for many, we have all but withdrawn from NATO, and our great science and health research agencies are being sidelined and/or defunded. If we get past this regime, reassembling what has already been lost in just 18 months will take much more than flipping a switch. There is no reset button for any of this. The Constitution needs much more than preservation. Preservation is woefully inadequate because the vulnerabilities that brought us to this point will still be there. We need at the least to strengthen the Constitution and its guardrails, to recenter it on the concept of equal justice for all. And we need to get the corrupting influence of money out of politics.
We have also been isolationists . It took bombing of Pearl Harbor to get us interested in WWII. trump has his Peace Board which seems to be designed to undercut NATO, he is chairman for life and jared is on board. He's pulled us out of WHO and has forbidden any US experts to speak at a meeting about Ebola. May I remind you that trump loves the uneducated hence his desire to dismantle the Education Department and cutting funds.
In the way that trial attorneys seeking answers they want, cut off witnesses' replies before they have finished, you quoted just the stub of Google's response. Google AI's full response follows:
"Pete Buttigieg has not made this exact statement in any public speeches, books, or interviews. He has frequently discussed systemic failures and the illusion of returning to a 'normal' status quo. For example, regarding the need for structural reform, he often cautions his party and the public against the temptation of 'restor[ing] a broken prior status quo' because the 'way it was led to the way it is now'."
Sorry about that, EUWDTB; I tried the link myself before I entered it into the discussion thread. It did work for me. I appreciate that you searched it for yourself. Many thanks.
Your skepticism is well-placed. This appears to be a paraphrase or invented quote, not a verifiable Buttigieg statement. I can’t find it in any searchable transcripts or quote databases.
Actually, anyone who follows Buttigieg for quite a while already imho cannot but know that it will be difficult to find politicians LESS cynical than he. Just like Obama, he has a very strong faith in the American people, the democratic US Constitution, all that has been achieved, and for that reason, the great potential to achieve much more, IF we accept to work together and see each other's basic decency.
I do agree with you. That it does sound so cynical for him. When I have heard him speak, it has always been positive. Work together, don't be discouraged, etc.
I never heard Pete share that sentiment but it's accurate. Our system has never been representative since it's founding. That's something many of the so-called "progressives" never address. They're to busy blaming the Dems which somehow has become fashionable.
Georgia, a snarky part of me muses that when the Dems next attain the WH and also have House and Senate healthy majorities, one of the first official speeches from the newly inaugurated president will be: “I want to thank my predecessor, the former Republican Congress majority, and the majority of SCOTUS opinions, for changing the ground rules for Executive leadership and affords our administration a freedom from historical restraint to enact laws/actions as we see fit.” [I sure hope not, but they opened…er, kicked down…that door!]
Few congressional Republicans appear to have considered this risk. Senate leader John Thune has opposed getting rid of the filibuster but none appear to have understood that the Unitary Executive is a double-edged sword.
"Unitary Executive" is just a fancy word for neofascism. And today, the vast majority of Republicans in Congress actively believe in and support neofascism as an ideology.
My fear is the new president will say “Let’s let bygones be bygones.” Gumption is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the two parties. One has it and one does not. Which is which should be obvious.
That CANNOT HAPPEN! There must be consequences for breaking the law and for stealing so much $$$. Otherwise, every president will expect at $2billion in payoffs.
We're looking at the same evidence and drawing different conclusions. We must be interpreting the same evidence with different logic. I'll explain my logic.
Ideally, I’m doing the right thing by practicing politics like three musketeers (all for one and one for all). From there, it’s simple. Think global and act local while humming “The Streets of Minneapolis.”
Otherwise, I need to be looking in the mirror because I’m doing the wrong thing by committing political malpractice like three stooges (all for one and that one is named).
I think I’m doing the right thing, but ask me to look in the mirror, and I will. Meanwhile, my working assumption is that the biggest problem with the Democratic Party is not Dem politicians and instead voters in general committing political malpractice. I can say that because I’m not running for an elected office. A Dem politician can’t say that because they’re running for an elected office.
I think I’m accurately describing the current situation. Something needs to change. Maybe it’s the voters. Maybe it’s the politicians. Maybe it’s my logic. One thing’s for sure: if the change is in the “more perfect” direction, then I’m good.
What he is saying is that we are all patients in the big 250 year old nursing home called America.
In the dementia ward is the self anointed head bully.... a nasty, stage 3 dementia addled, loud, failed real estate developer that no one ever really liked. But his daddy was rich, and he threw outrageous parties that he secretly video taped to blackmail the important people who attended
He constantly steals meds ( money) from the supply cabinet,( the world) and he and only he passes them out like cigarettes in jail, to his loyal supporters.
Like in the Wizard of Oz, we the munchkins really don't know why he is in charge. We are awaiting someone to arrive called "Dorothy" to click her Ruby slippers so we can all go back to Kansas.
Meanwhile the Flying Monkeys will soon be diverting our attention in a cage on the South Lawn for the Wiz's 80th, while we all wait for Godot to arrive.
You skipped the most important factor here: the GOP. For decades already, they've gradually installed a neofascist propaganda machine, with the by now explicit goal to end US democracy and install fascism instead.
The first stones were laid under Reagan, when he switched to neoliberalism, knowing that the founding fathers of that doctrine (invented to defeat the New Deal) already claimed that capitalism is incompatible with democracy.
They've been honest about it for half a century now.
And yet, even today we still imagine that the problem is merely "Trump and his supporters"...
Excellent, Paul. Now I understand! Our future is Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Looks like we need to find our Dorothy or, perhaps, IZ! What a Wonderful World that will be!
Politics is not a spectator sport. You are a player in the game. If all voters do is sit on the bench complaining about their fellow players who happen to be politicians, then voters, and not politicians, are the problem.
I hope that answers your question. If not, then please keep asking.
It's generally not a good idea for politicians to blame the voters when they lose, as you say. There seems to be a widespread problem of voter disillusionment with politics and it's not confined to the US although I would say that it seems to be more pronounced there. I don't think that one can entirely blame the voters for this.
Deep-seated problems can only be resolved with long-term solutions and we need to face the fact that few voters will be prepared to wait years for discernible improvements in their lives and no politician (bound as they are by those pesky election cycles) is going to tell them that they must wait. It only gets worse if voter expectations are raised unreasonably during campaigns, but this sadly is how elections are won.
This is undoubtedly a serious problem. For example, Biden's approach was to secure some bipartisan support for legislation that would secure long-term improvements but none of those improvements would come soon enough to save him, especially when Trump was promising voters an immediate new Golden Age of American prosperity. Trump by contrast has sought desperate short-term gains with wildly inflationary policies - tariffs, mass deportation and war - while being unable either to reduce government spending or to achieve demonstrable improvements in the lives of ordinary Americans. Thus, voter disillusionment has only been reinforced.
When I get into discussions with people that are frustrated with gov't, don't agree with current issues or just want to yell "I'm mad as hell & I'm not going to take it anymore !" I ask ... Did you vote in the last election? I don't ask for whom or what. When they say "no", I say.. "quit your whining."
The classic movie Citizen Kane directed, produced, and starred in by Orson Welles will one day in the future, have a remake only this time the main pseudo-fictional character will be Donald Trump. The movie scene will open with a very bloated relic of his former self; uneven orange-smeared makeup slobbed across his face in bed. His overgrown blond hair is found similar to the muss of Boris Johnson’s now showing gray roots from lack of up-to-date hair dye. He periodically wakes from a semi-conscious state at his future dilapidated Mar-a-Lago residence (for lack of having sufficient funds to upkeep the property due to previous constant litigation and losses.) He looks around demanding more Kentucky Fried Chicken wings as low paid personal rush in another bucket and his last word is not “Rosebud” as in the movie Citizen Kane but:
“Stormy.” And the ex 45th president of the United States expires. The camera fades to black then opens at Le Club in the early disco 1970s, a members-only Manhattan nightclub in the East 50s, where models, fashionistas and a variety of Eurotrash (including his wife) went to be seen.
“The government has just filed suit against our company,” said Trump, “saying we discriminated against Blacks. What do you think we should do?”
The Roy Cohn obedient ass-kisser to Senator Joe McCarthy hearings accusing entertainment personalities of being communists shoots back, “Tell them to go to hell and fight the thing in court and let them prove you discriminated against them.”
Roy Cohn has become Trump’s go-to lawyer and fixer.
Cohn admonishes the young Trump to 1. Never settle. Never surrender. 2. Counter-attack, counter-sue immediately. 3. No matter what happens, no matter how deep into the shit you get, claim victory and never admit defeat.
These lessons were found to be the essential attributes of his future self.
Instead of "Rosebud" or "Stormy," given his madness in making monuments to himself, I 'd go for number ten from "Citizen Kane | 10 Best Quotes " at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s7pxn_u_tk
"...There's a lot of statues in Europe you haven't bought yet.
You can't blame me.
They've been making statues for some two thousand years, I've only been collecting for five..."
We visited Hearst Castle (known formally as La Cuesta Encantada (Spanish for 'The Enchanted Hill') according to Wikipedia), back in the 1980s. I'm surprised he hasn't tried to take it for himself since the article includes, "...the undeveloped character of the area; the setting for the castle which Bernard Shaw is said to have described as "what God would have built if he had had the money.."
I'm sure he would be more fascinated with the castle than the land, though, and want to remake it include to a golf course, add a UFC arena, Indy car race course, and more permanent monuments to himself.
the most important change is to get rid of the $$$ in politics. My God, that there is even 90 million to spend to try to oust an opponent is disgusting. think if what that $ could be used for, healthcare, Infrastructure, schools.
America is constantly in election cycle, how do you get anything done for the people? You don't
It’s partly because the US has rigidly fixed election time tables. In Canada (Westminster parliamentary system) politicians can call elections any time. They must call one within five years. Campaign cycles are short, a month or so.
it's ridiculous how much time is attributed to constant campaigning for $$ when there's obviously enough $ to fo thst then there ought to get thst $ available to invest in projects for the ppl. A wealthy country but you wouldn't know it when you see the poverty in rural areas. Heartbreaking
"America is constantly in election cycle, how do you get anything done for the people?"
By making sure that “capitalism in name only” (aka “unfettered free enterprise”) is the first one up against the wall when the revolution comes.
For the record, real capitalism is based on Adam Smith’s theory of moral sentiments (1759) and capitalism in name only is based on Milton Friedman’s theory that getting rid of morality makes capitalism a lot easier for rich people (1962).
I blame not enough voters *paying attention* and then committing to vote.. We will see in November. The internal coup, the lawlessness and malfeasance, the misuse of power, both internally and in foreign affairs is obvious enough. We have been reaching past a tipping point when representatives should be in 5 alarm mode- doing more to save our democracy. Voter denial, selfishness, depression, giving up tuning out, should have turned the corner to feeling the need to act as they feel the heat more. But maybe not enough heat is felt. We have to hit bottom. This letter is designed to let us know how much thieving and corruption is going on. It needs to be loudly repeated elsewhere. Or as Trump said himself "you are not going to have a country anymore". he is daring us. He is showing us what he can get away with.
Australia does it. Not sure how it works. Perhaps if you don't vote you get a fine of some sort. I would think it should be a substantial fine so that ppl don't disregard it.
Question is..wld mandatory voting make a smarter electorate? or will ppl just show up and vote and select anyone just for the sake of not getting fined. Important thing is we MUST engage the electorate, the taxpayer to make them fully understand what's at stake when one doesn't vote. I've never missed any vote from the day I was eligible to vote. I just understood it to be my civic duty. No parent or teacher told me to. But I do know politics was often talked about in my house growing up.
We are not showing him enough resistance to stop him. In fact he will not be stopped. He has to be removed. What he is showing us is something about this country. We purport to be a representative democracy. We are a country of laws. And beyond that we are a country of all the people and what we have striven to mean by that. Trump, who is mentally off is nevertheless showing us something about us, about what he can do, what people of ill will can do using him or working with/for him. He is showing us something about ourselves, about humanity (we are not unusual) and how difficult the founding ideals of this country are, how the system we have is inadequate if we do not participate- that we can fail. We can fail if we do not participate. Trump and the wall of protectors/criminals/liars/sycophants around him are showing us that..If we are informed and participate I believe we can prevail. We are not there yet. I think HRC's letters are aiming to alarm us and they do. She is not making this up. She is putting this in our faces, focussing on the threat. We should be alarmed... not only showing it here.
How long did it take for Ukrainians to acquire political literacy? The process began on February 24, 2022, and ended before anyone went to bed that evening.
An update from a NYTimes/Siena poll today reported that 43% of voters are “double haters,” with 2/3 of voters under 30 dissatisfied with both parties.
In more upsetting news, 30% of voters are satisfied with Republicans and dissatisfied with Democrats, while only 23% are satisfied with Democrats and dissatisfied with Republicans. Only 4% of voters are satisfied with both parties. I interpret that as a significant reduction on the core of “strong Democrat” support, versus a small decrease in this measure of MAGA core. The questions in this poll and the Pew poll were asked differently so it is not comparing apples to apples. But this is not a healthy trend. Disaffected voters don’t show up, and there are a lot of disaffected Democrats despite the huge No Kings rallies. Disaffected voters stop listening to political news, any political news from any type of outlet.
In the survey, dissatisfaction was felt most acutely among Democrats. Forty-four percent said they were unhappy with the Democratic Party, compared with about a quarter of Republicans who said the same of the Republican Party.
But as American politics becomes more polarized, the parties risk alienating the electorate. A majority of dissatisfied voters want the Democratic Party to move toward the ideological center, while a staggering 90 percent want the Republican Party to move away from Mr. Trump.
Eighty percent of dissatisfied voters said the economic and political system needed major changes or to be torn down entirely, and 77 percent said the economic system was generally unfair.
There's a certain amount of flattening in a poll that uses "satisfaction" and "dissatisfaction" to measure public opinion. I'm certainly not satisfied with Democrats, but it pales when I contemplate what Republicans have done in this last administration.
Georgia, in outline form, I think the reason may be described as "Part 1" and "Part A."
Part 1: Voters elected Donald because, although he is actually weak, he has always projected the image of a fighter. Voters want someone who will fight for them, and Democrats have a "kum ba yah" reputation, which voters find unappealing.
Part A: The vast majority of voters, if they pay attention at all, depend on Corporate Media – especially television – for their political information. Corporate Media's only pursuit is revenue, derived from advertising, priced by audience share. Journalistic integrity is not relevant in the mission.
In pursuit of audience share, Corporate Media's attention is drawn to Donald's outrageous actions and pronouncements, not to mention his sympathy with Corporate Media's owners. So while there are plenty of Democrats fighting for their constituents, they do not get attention from Corporate Media, which means the vast majority of voters never hear about the Democratic fighters. Very much the tree-falls-in-the-forest-does-it-make-a-sound situation. Corporate Media is becoming irrelevant, but not fast enough.
I agree that both issues are contributing factors. but this has been going on for years while Democrats have actively undercut younger members of the party who were advocating for change.
Democrats are repeating the mistake again at this very moment. “Trump is so awful now, his base is crumbling, they are finally realizing how bad he is. We will win.” It looks like we are actually facing a “pox on both your houses.” moment yet again. The only way that changes is with sustained individual face-to-face outreach and by listening to what people say and then talking about what anti-authoritarians can do over the next two years to change the political landscape and address voter concerns.
Oh, yeah, Chris….democracy slip sliding away… It’s hard to fight fire with fire if it also makes you an arsonist, so I hope that cooler Dem heads prevail, tho’ there might be an itchy trigger finger wanting to test the “new rules”. What I DO hope to see is some tightening of the rules/regs, as in passing legislation to deal with actions that blow past the accepted boundaries. Not that “boundries” and even laws have been kept in check during this admin. Sigh….
Barbara, after what we are going through, I doubt if we attain control of the government, there will be any speeches of thanks to the death star regime.
Yeah...So it is proven that going high when they go low does not work with criminals. They depend on the rest of us staying high and using the law and what tools we legitimately have that they have gamed. Hands are tied, so to speak, wanting to basically maintain our democracy. We are trying maintain our basic structure, what we have built for 250, and go forward not by helping them to dismantle it to become a totalitarian/authoritarian or fascist state- whatever you call it. As you say this is tempting. But we must do this by not going for vengeance as is being done, but by using their criminal lawlessness as evidence of what needs to change. That can only happen AFTER we as a majority, like those before us in history, legitimately turn over and rid ourselves decidedly of this Trump Crime Organization and their affiliates amongst us in leadership and power roles. Another coup like this one for "our side" (as if it this existential threat is a matter of sides) will destroy us completely and we will be back to pre-enlightenment or starting all over again lest we want to rewrite the Constitution. WE are not that wise and need the wisdom of our forefathers to add to make a more perfect union. At the moment it is hard to change so profoundly legitimately. This is a problem. We are so divided.
So It's not about alternative views to simply tolerate as many of us have thought ( our credo = toleration), looking back, but about now knowing the origin and evolution of these destructive forces upon us and calling it dangerous, bad, threatening us existentially.
Simply put--The forces of destruction have taken cover and are operating every day under the hermit crab shell of the Republicans, legitimately, only with the help of the voters of the last election..and are operating within it. We must start there while we can.
Sometime ago, Potter, I discovered this research/publication done by the Pell Center’s Nationhood Lab…a part of Salve Regina University. It helped me understand some of the root causes of the country’s divisions in a depth I hadn’t known/considered before. See what you think: https://www.nationhoodlab.org/a-balkanized-federation/
I listened to Heather's interview with J.B. Pritzker, and I found my answer on what to do for today. No shrieking required.
Pritzker is someone who can lead us out of this craziness.
He has an impressive list of accomplishments that qualify him for the job: helping the people of his state after a Republican governor gutted state institutions, his fiscal savvy, his focus on accountability, his fidelity to the rule of law, his to-do list of what we need to do first after winning the midterms, his clear, plain speaking, his ability to be truthful about the limitations we will face even if we gain majorities in both houses of Congress, and his ability to project steady resolve and hope.
He hit the answer to the question of why he, a billionaire, chose government service out of the park.
On a personal note, there is one practice that I rely on when frustrated and overwhelmed. I follow Melody Beattie's advice in her book Journey to the Heart. I ask the universe (or God, if you prefer) for an answer, or at least inspiration. The answers almost always seem to appear, often unexpectedly, and almost never from the direction I was thinking along. The day's essay frequently directly addresses the underlying issues and stressors I am experiencing.
The book is written with a short essay for each day of the year. They are great prompts for journaling or meditation. I use a Kindle edition so I can write responses for each day in a sidebar. I am on my third time through. It is helpful to see where there has been growth and what continues to need work.
In these soul-crushing times, we all need to find something that helps us maintain balance and hope. This is what most helps me.
You know Georgia, I second that choice. He is plain spoken. Genuine. From the mid-west. A uniter not a divider. I hope he is in good health I worry about his weight. We need to stop seeking messianic messengers. I hope he catches on. In 2015, the senator from Ohio I plain forgot his name but he lost to Vance and now is running again, made overtures to running and I dished off a letter to him offering to be a volunteer from CT. If he had run, become president, we would be in a whole lot better place today.
Sherrod Brown served as a senator from 2007 to 2025 when he lost to Bernie Moreno, the car salesman turned politician. Take a look at the "wage-theft" lawsuits that Moreno was under due to his "shredding" employee "overtime-payment records. Brown has never run against Vance. Vance stepped down from his senator position when he was named vice-president. Brown is running against John Husted who Governor DeWine appointed to Vance's vacant seat. Before that Husted was Ohio's lieutenant governor under DeWine. We all have to remember that under DeWine's governorship we had the First Energy bribery/money-laundering scandal in the tune of 500 million dollars and Ohio citizens are paying for that with increased utility bills. Now, we're dealing with AI centers wanting to take land and resources to power their behemoth data centers. Originally, DeWine and Ohio's house and senate allowed tax breaks they estimated at around 350 million for the construction of AI centers. However, that number is approaching 1.6 billion. That is lost tax revenue yet we, the ordinary citizen, continue to pay some pretty high property tax rates whereas the AI data centers are being subsidized to build. There was a pause put on the subsidies for now but those that are already built or being built at this time will still receive numerous subsidies. Now, we have a pharmaceutical/tech billionaire running for governor and he's all for those behemoth data centers. Yes, the guy who tried to make the Knicks win a campaign stop for himself. Glad they didn't allow it. I wish the people of Ohio would wake up!! Too many don't research and just check it because it has an "R" beside it. I also think Pritzker is a great guy as are many other governors who have made it through this "shit" show of an administration.
And Husted IS neck-deep in the First Energy corruption scandal! If Ohio weren't THE Most Corrupt State in the Union, Husted would be in the cell next to former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, where he AND DeWeenie BOTH belong!
Ohioan here. Brown lost to Moreno. Vance defeated Tim Ryan, former House Rep from Youngstown. Ryan didn't run a good campaign; the Moreno 'win' will forever haunt Ohio.
Daniel, I worked with the Dems in Ohio from 2007 off and in doing small volunteering and very nice people the best run was Obama ‘s , Clinton’s were a bit aware of what was happening in terms of so many males I talked to wanting to vote for Trump. The Tea Party had a big hold in Ohio . The last election was just not managed well and I stopped in frustration. The young people were great it was something that have still seen at times recently just gaps and cracks and not blanket coverage. This seems to finally be changing here where I live . There is much more coordination and lots of people involved from all over.
Gov Pritzer has some baggage on Israel. He had been a AIPAC board member and donor to Israel lobbying groups. Currently, he is trying to distance himself from his past positions by criticizing AIPAC and showing more support for Palestine.
But it’s a concern for me and may well be for other voters.
Well you need to know the history of Palestine and Israel and Zionism. Dr Gabe Mate does a fine job of explaining it all. I am not surprised the governor was involved . Even Dr Mate was part of that thinking and acting in earlier years. Let’s see what and how he does now. It is horrible when your people commit atrocities . And I think to be brutally honest all human groups and sects have committed atrocities against other groups or sometimes their own people. We have finally reached a zenith in understanding that we as a human civilization need to change and create new paths. All are hands are stained. The issue is apology and amends and they have to spoken and done with true clarity and emotion. As we now see insincere apologies mean nothing and actually continue the severe damage that was created.
Wendy, it seems that you are already heading in the right direction, so I'll affirm that.
The difference between brilliant people and ignorant people is: brilliant people remain open to new information; that often causes them to modify positions or beliefs they previously held. Ignorant people do not admit new information, which causes them to cling to outdated beliefs.
We should not expect Republicans to admit new information; clinging to the past is the very definition of "conservative." We should expect Democrats to admit new information and modify their beliefs. Unfortunately, many disappoint us and we end up with "purity tests."
I have been skeptical of Pritzker, of the opinion that an extremely wealthy person cannot understand or relate to someone of average means. But he keeps demonstrating through his actions that he does relate to average people and that the rule of law is more important than his personal enrichment.
A great example is another leader from Illinois, Barack Obama. In 2004, he was opposed to same-sex marriage, probably resulting from his religious instruction. He admitted new information and by 2012, was a staunch supporter of same-sex marriage.
The saying goes that we should not let the perfect be the enemy of the good (or very good). Openness to changing an learning and being principled are important qualities - perhaps most.
We need to allow people to change their positions if they are real and not finger in the wind opportunistic. People learn and too events change, awaken, people. So what is your concern?
This YouTube video is not in English when I click the link within Substack. When I copy/paste the link into a browser outside of Substack, it works just fine.
Georgia, I HAVE sounded like a lunatic, I am sure! Some days, I can't make phone calls, or can just do one or two, as (just as I can feel the tightness in my chest as I read the Letter) I am physically unable to do so.
I am SO GRATEFUL for this forum, as I know Megan will post this list daily; someone whose strength is greater than mine is fighting for our democracy; someone coming off a day or two of rest will carry the banner that I lack energy to do so today.
Today is my husband's 70th birthday. We'll have family and friends come tonight to bbq and celebrate a very good man. Today, the fight has to wait another day for me.
Thank you everyone who IS able and WILL make calls today. You people are awesome, which is why I have started to welcome each new face to the forum.
The only way we will survive this is to keep striving for balance in our lives so we have the energy and incentive to keep going. When we don’t take the time to recharge, we just go slower and slower and get stuck mentally and physically. Clarity of thought requires sleep and time away from screens and engagement with living things. It requires a fresh perspective and periodic injections of joyfulness and silliness and goofiness as Heather and Joan demonstrate every Saturday morning. I rely on Beattie’s book because it reminds me of that daily. Without that grounding and preparation for the day ahead, I don’t accomplish as much; I feel like I am spinning my wheels.
Sometimes the best resistance is to not allow the evil of this regime to cast a cloud over our joy. Don’t give it to them.
For sure the three plans are in play plus, otherwise I can't explain why they don't care being so unpopular Georgia, they have plans already to prevent a real midterms election. Whether they declare a state of emergency based on a bogus situation or they openly cheat blaming the other part. Then it's going to be bloody.
Just read that Peter Thiel is moving to Argentina and is making deals with Javier Milei. I wonder if Thiel will get Millei to set up a clone of Prospera, Thiel’s autonomous area that the Trump-pardoned drug lord and former President of Honduras set up for him—essentially a private fiefdom with no government oversight.
Argentina welcomed a lot of escaped Nazi collaborators back in the day.
Trump recently signed a trade deal with them and OK’d a $20B currency swap to support their economy. I would think that could be enough to secure a safe haven and freedom from extradition for Trump and his family.
Maybe Saudi and the Emirates are not as welcoming to Trump as they once were before being attacked by Iran.
The corruption is so relentless and so enormous that you cannot keep track. How much oil from Venezuela did Trump gain control of after he captured Maduro??? I have forgotten….
Georgia, key phrase in your comment is “ you cannot keep track”. Hopefully, some is doing so in order it prosecuted in the near 🤞future every single illegal act that is coming from this regime.
I am sure someone is at Law Dork or Joyce Vance’s operation or Harry Littman. But unless you stay focused on a single category of the chaos, it is impossible to keep track. Too much is going on, and the flood the zone strategy is meant to keep the sewage floing fast and continuously.
Georgia, I've never thought Donald would flee to the Middle East, or Russia for that matter. The climate and terrain in those places are too inclement for a spoiled old coot. The natural environment in South America is far more hospitable to a feeble old duffer.
It might be that Thiel it's the first rat to abandon ship before it sinks all the way. I'm sure many others have contingency plans Georgia. Maybe they read the leaves and don't want to be te last to guarantee a place in a friendly land other than Russia. Sorry for late reply.
Let’s hope they flee to Russia. In the meanwhile, let’s make Trump testify in court about his claims and let’s drag out the trials for months—Trump style.
“It’s an excellent bet that future books and films made about the Trump Era will begin with an image of the White House this week. The world-famous Rose Garden has been replaced with a patio that looks like one at Mar-a-Lago. The East Wing is rubble. And on the sweeping South Lawn, right outside the front door of the White House, construction is underway on a massive Ultimate Fighting Championship arena for cage matches to be held on Trump’s 80th birthday.”
Both the symbolism and the irony in that first paragraph sure hit hard…
The triumph of trash — in taste, people, gardens, architecture, statecraft. Hillbilly blended in equal parts with French Second Empire and Kitsch. Retch-inducing.
The people's house is a term he apparently chooses to ignore. Seeing the hole where our East Wing was shocked me to my core. The chutzpah was stunning.
Thank you for the right words to describe the don’s “taste.” I refused to try. Too sickened. Last night made myself look long and hard at the “arch.” Liberty with wings! Maybe one of the marvelous sculptors who get “religiously” torn down asap could do one with Liberty blushing.
I wouldn't be counting my chickens on this just yet. After all, Trump still has another 967 days to complete his second term and Heaven only knows what mayhem he will inflict on US civil society in that time. There is an apocryphal story that when asked about the impact of the French Revolution, Chinese premier Zhou Enlai said that it was too early to tell. This seems to me a more considered approach for a historian to take even though it is tempting to conclude now, with reasonable certaintly, that no responsible historian in the future will have anything positive to say about Trump's two terms in office.
There was a mix up in translation according to American diplomat and interpreter Chas Freeman ( bit of a fascinating character I'd like to flesh out more of what I remember about him), with Zhou Enlai thinking Kissinger meant the 1968 student uprisings in Paris. Though I dislike AI, the quick view is very much as I remember it.
I asked the later portion of your line about the apocryphal story and got:
"...That famous anecdote is actually the result of a legendary translation mix-up. [1, 2]
During Richard Nixon's historic trip to China in 1972, Henry Kissinger asked Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai for his assessment of the 1789 French Revolution. Zhou famously replied, "Too early to say" (often quoted as "Too early to tell"). [1, 2]
However, American diplomat and interpreter Chas Freeman, who was present during the exchange, later clarified that Zhou was entirely confused by the question. [1, 2]
• What Zhou actually meant: Zhou thought Kissinger was asking about the recent 1968 student uprisings in Paris, where French students and laborers had practically shut the country down. The students frequently compared their actions to the 1789 Revolution. In that context, saying "too early to say" was simply a pragmatic response to ongoing, unresolved civil unrest. [1, 2]
• The myth: The Western media seized on the misinterpreted quote, viewing it as a profound, philosophical statement about China's ability to take the "long view" of history. Freeman called the misunderstanding one that was "too delicious to invite correction", allowing the convenient myth about Chinese statesmen thinking in centuries to stick in mainstream parlance. [1, 2, 3]..."
That last line, "Freeman called the misunderstanding one that was "too delicious to invite correction", allowing the convenient myth about Chinese statesmen thinking in centuries to stick in mainstream parlance," was just the first clue that Freeman would a person worth listening to. I can't find a reference to some other points he made that I thought should have received more attention during, I believe, the 1st year of the Iraq misadventures.
Perhaps the Trump/Epstein mobile reading room will be parked right outside the White House.After DC it is headed to Palm Beach….hopefully right outside Mar-a-Lago.
“In just 16 days, nearly 10,000 New Yorkers walked through 3,437 bound volumes of the Epstein files in a Tribeca gallery. The NYC run is complete — next stop, Washington, DC.”
I’m not sure why HCR is forcing on what we already know has been done and not focusing on the warnings of Brandy X Lee and other prominent psychiatrists. Instead of focusing on further books why isn’t HCR focusing on paying attention to the warnings medical professionals are giving.
Each day I am not surprised, but I am shocked by the corruption of Trump. Part of the shock is the American acceptance of his bad behavior. There seems to be a stupor with people not knowing what to do, at least not legally.
At this point Trump seems to be the most corrupt president that we have ever had. We have given presidents a lot of leeway in the past, and it has been a mistake. Trump is banking on that and running away with it, particularly as the election comes closer and he gets more desperate. We need to stop him.
Yes. I remember looking it up for the last election and I noticed it was higher than when I had looked it at the time before Covid that our friend had told us this about Texas.
I had gotten voting rates from some other source, could have been texas papers, where they really were like 14%.
They should have federal funds withheld until they meet certain voting quotas. I say 95%. Let them make effort to get federal funds, or run on Texas funds alone. I am not clear why minorities stay in states like Texas, except that they don't have any idea where else to go and what to do. Inertia.
Home is where the heart is. Having lived in purple TX, I understand the appeal. Have you eaten Tex-Mex? Sixty years later to think of guacamole chalupas makes me salivate. (Apologies if that’s Mexican, but as I made them, think of them as Tex-Mex.)
I am not shocked but upset every time I read someone (here included) commenting that we have 2 and a half years of this to go. I don't expect Trump to stay in office that long one way or another party because he is also helping his own demise, digging in. That depends on people feeing it. I am so disappointed in our electorate. We should be well aware now what is happening and what is sure to happen because the T Crime Organization is moving fast and they are doing it publicly, brazenly. I sometimes think maybe we are living in the bubble, not them. The polls??
People are programmed to vote for Republicans because they almost genetically cannot vote for Democrats (or independents) and are *still* not paying attention enough to join the resistance, to understand the existential situation. So whereas I complained that people are talking too much about inflation and the cost of gas as being the issue ("kitchen table"), now I think those very issues are moving people. Okay so be it. It's not bad enough yet to get the masses we need. We are not moving fast enough even though Trump is helping. It's disappointing.
WSJ placed a front page photo & text of Trump's ultimate distraction under the Headline:
“The White House Lawn Becomes the [‘Ring of Power’] “for a temporary octagon 🛑 cage for mixed martial arts on the White House South Lawn.”
The WSJ article was not hyperbole. A photo of he White House building & grounds that will be taken on June 14, 2026 will record a bizarre tableau. Per the WSJ, “Several 6/14/26 UFC martial events will be staged there on Trump’s 80th Birthday".
And once again, you can blindly see HCR's commitment to be a balanced newsworthy individual always demonstrating both sides of the story other than one side completely lol. Even look at her links. I have personally been suspicious, just suspicious that she reads a story from a link or two or three reword the story using the same assumed factual information post it in her own words and then uses the link to support her post.
I just love that. It looks so surreal to me and I have to laugh every time. I see something like that.
The best thing is when Trump has a major win that everybody recognizes, including even some of the left-wing TV stations and networks and online publications
And then she has the audacity to think she fools anybody by talking about the Lakota Indians, or Custer's last stand or something around Abraham Lincoln's time as president It's just so laughable, but she has so many gullible lemmings that she makes tons of money doing it so I don't blame her.
And remember, the slush fund is NOT about paying the J6 people. It is about setting the strong perception for thousands more like them that doing that same thing in 2027 and 2029 will be handsomely rewarded as long as Trump stays in power. It’s like ICE on steroids.
Trump is not in power. He simply the president of the United States so nice try. Biden and Obama were more empowered than Trump.
Biden decided on his own to open the border and then lie about it, and Obama decided to open a insurance program that was destined to fail and was riddled with subsidies that we're going to expire and only 16% of the American population was interested. It was his first attempt at socialize medicine and it failed miserably two ready
Fox News is certainly included in my watching because it’s one of the only right leaning news networks. Sanctuary policies and what does he do in the stations only the right leaning news stations on the networks.
And by the way, Fox News Has 14 of the top news programming of all the stations and number 15 The first left leaning program that’s leading in viewership Rachel Maddow. Look it up yourself and realized that you’re in the minority pal And you’re welcome to stay there
Do you know how much viewership on CNN and MSNBC dropped right after the election last year? Fox News I just read just now has twice and I wanted to confirm it the viewership of CNN and MSN combined
The White House Has Become Mar-a-Lago With Subpoenas
Apparently, the White House is no longer the people’s house. It is now a luxury event venue with prosecutorial services, family investment opportunities, and a cage fight scheduled on the lawn.
The Rose Garden has been remade into a patio fit for a private club. The East Wing has been reduced to rubble. The South Lawn, once a symbol of civic dignity, is being prepared for Trump’s 80th birthday spectacle. Nothing says “constitutional republic” quite like watching democracy get body-slammed between rounds of applause.
But the gaudy makeover is not the distraction. It is the thesis.
Trump has always understood politics as a real estate deal with bad lighting and worse ethics. Institutions are not sacred trusts. They are assets. The presidency is not a public office. It is a brand extension. The Justice Department is not supposed to uphold the rule of law. It is supposed to know who the landlord is.
That is why the physical transformation of the White House matters. The architecture is confessing what the administration will not say plainly: the republic is being rezoned for mixed-use grift.
A patio for spectacle. A Justice Department for revenge. A family office for enrichment. A law firm for intimidation. And somewhere, perhaps in a basement broom closet, a faded little plaque still reads, “We the People.”
The UFC arena is not the metaphorical low point. It is the operating manual. This is government by domination, grievance, and television lighting.
The White House has become Mar-a-Lago with subpoenas.
Michael, we've already seen Donald's proud social media boasts about his turning the Lincoln bathroom into an HGTV lavatory. The question is, what other demolition to the White House interior is going on that we can't see?
Entities are also manipulating elections. As voters we can change how politics is being run. Waiting for Citizens United to end will not work. Why would a politician turn down millions from PACS if it would get them elected? The politicians will not vote to end Citizens United. Only we can purge the Democratic Party of the centrist elite who, through the past 11 years, capitulated time and again and helped us get where we are today.
Younger voters especially are in revolt. They are analyzing candidates beyond the blue label and choosing less PAC beholden people who will be free to follow the mandates of the people once elected. The web of AIPAC in our politics is frightening. Wonder why we are in a war? AIPAC owned politicians got us here. This includes both parties.
Can we please get Israel out of our politics in America?
"AIPAC’s Most Hated 2028 Democratic Contenders, By the Numbers
You can tell a lot about someone by the enemies they attract. When you look at Democrats floated as possible contenders for the 2028 presidential nomination, very few have attracted the ire of the Israel lobby.
As the public has grown increasingly outraged by the genocide Israel has committed in Gaza with U.S. tax dollars, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, has scrambled to shore up support. It’s an effort that has involved dumping millions into elections across the U.S., using opaque super PACs to disguise such spending, and lobbying to curtail free speech. It has also fueled a very active presence on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter."
Hey Megan, try to be honest for a. What do you think Biden did when he manipulated between eight and 20 million people to cross the border illegally and do nothing about it.? and if you don’t answer correctly, you’ve destroyed anything that’s left of your credibility
Here's a possible letter to cut and paste if you're pressed for time:
Dear Senator,
I am your constituent writing to express concern about reports that taxpayer funds may be distributed through executive actions or settlement agreements without clear congressional authorization or oversight.
I recognize that political disagreements are inevitable, and I am not asking you to take sides in partisan disputes. Rather, I am asking you to defend Congress’s constitutional role in controlling federal spending and ensuring accountability for the use of public funds.
Recent reports have raised questions about the creation of a $1.776 billion compensation fund and whether it was established through lawful congressional authority. If these reports are inaccurate, I would welcome clarification. If they are accurate, I believe Congress has a responsibility to investigate and ensure that taxpayer dollars are being spent according to law.
Regardless of which party holds power, Americans should be able to trust that public funds are distributed through transparent legal processes, not through arrangements that bypass congressional oversight. The same standards should apply to every administration.
I respectfully ask:
• What congressional authorization exists for this expenditure?
• What oversight mechanisms are in place to ensure accountability?
• What steps will Congress take to review the legality and transparency of these actions?
The strength of our republic depends on checks and balances, transparency, and equal application of the law. I hope you will work to preserve those principles.
Thank you for your service and your attention to this concern.
E. Jean Carroll took criminal/rapist Donald to court twice and she won twice.
The two juries ordered Donald to pay her tens of millions, which Donald, who does not believe in law, has been refusing to pay.
But he does believe in law as an instrument to terrorize decent citizens. But this is an old story – criminal/rapist Donald repeating himself. So in order to see behind these repetitions, I’d like to return to something Heather said in hers yesterday.
This, the menace of the southern enslavers in the 1850s, and the emergence of Jim Crow in the 1870s, has appeared – or reappeared – often in Heather’s. History is never past. It abides, as the conceits of the enslavers yet spur billionaires pushing their wealth gap, as Jim Crow conceits further embolden today’s white supremacists, by Republicans killing voting rights of people of color, or by justices of the Long Dong Clarence court protecting today’s dark money.
I’ve also been reading Nabokov’s “Pnin” (first time). His examination of an artist in it also reminds us how, in our looking at what seems simple in front of us may teem with many other vitalities, from air in motion to reflections of light.
And yet we have elites lying to us, denying any roles for the complicated so we see only as simply as they do. These elites may be those like criminal/rapist Donald, who for years indulged spurious lawsuits. They may be those who measure life only by abstraction, commodification, and numbers, or those for whom all questions A)-B)-C)-D) always admit but one correct answer.
For more on elites routinely lying – and damaging many – see Barbara Ehrenreich’s “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America”; Arlie Russell Hochschild’s “Stolen Pride,” Jane Mayer’s “Dark Money,” George Packer’s “The Unwinding,” Diane Ravitch’s “The Language Police,” Sarah Smarsh’s “Bone of the Bone,” Matt Stoller’s “Goliath: The Hundred-year War between Monopoly Power and Democracy,” and Sheldon Whitehouse’s “The Scheme.”
The lawsuits are troubling enough, but the deeper story may be the growing perception that power itself has become untouchable. Trump’s ‘enemies’ face investigations, threats, and litigation, while his family appears free to exploit every opening the system provides. Democracies don’t usually collapse because corruption suddenly appears; they weaken when citizens begin to believe there is no longer any institution capable of holding the powerful to account. That is the part I find most alarming.
Monopolization of money and political power (and historically, the two tend to walk hand in hand) has been humanity's most persistent enemy. Yet corruption has been creeping ever wider and deeper for decades with little organized resistance to it, and the balance of financial and political power shifting from the many to the few. Liberty and justice is a living environment we create and maintain by means of a mutual agreement that however much we may otherwise quarrel or cooperate, there are fundamental human rights and responsibilities to be honored in all circumstances.
Not only "for decades little organized resistance to it," J L, but virtually zero.
Those who enacted the Powell memo (published Aug. 23, 1971 anonymously) carefully kept to their secretive scheming.
And they correctly knew that if they could first rid schools of humanities, they could blind, anesthetize all their enablers (lawyers, accountants, PR flaks, media types, techies, lobbyists) to awareness of any of the novels, memoirs, histories, essay collections, and other arts in touch with the vast pain these humanly neutered and corrupt were occasioning.
A generally uneducated or undereducated public is what I blame for thinking that we could trust a person who has been found guilty for many crimes, many times….Imagine thinking he would provide the leadership necessary to care about anyone but himself!
It is important to remind people that E Jean Carrol’s legal team told the judge as soon as they realized some of her legal fees had been paid by Reid Hoffman. The judge, in turn, told her defense team - WHICH IS THE LAW - Remember that relic? So Trumps team, Todd Blanche I believe was included, had the opportunity to question her on that. They ALSO needed to prove that the jury would have made a decision differently based on that which it was decided BY LAW that it would not have changed or impacted the outcome.
When cases have been decided by juries, under the direction of the courts, and the person found liable or guilty refuses to acknowledge that it is usually THEIR problem. Now, it is OUR problem and an our tax dollars being diverted from crimes against us, our children and our country to settle a personal score.
Trumo is a criminal. He has taken our tax dollars and illegally used them. He has extorted companies to give his loser kids stakes in them. What the fuck does Jr know about defense systems? He’s handing our tax dollars out to his country club buddies. He wanted to assault E Jean Carroll and how dare anyone stop him. He wants to pal around with Epstein…who can question it. And even worse, it wasn’t that Epstein was assaulting underage girls that severed the relationship…it was the fact he was poaching his spa employees.
He’s GROSS. I know Americans have lost their moral compass but not their lust for a buck. So….here it is…he’s picking YOUR pocket.
You obviously don’t live in America. DEI is gone. There is more Jew hating than black hating in America. How’s that? I don’t know where you’re from but it ain’t America so why don’t you just stay where you are and keep your mouth there from embarrassing yourself at every turn
To all you haters AND to all your morons, AND YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE…..who hate for no reason and I mean for no reason…
IF …Donald Trump can pull off this win against Iran and bring Saudi Arabia and the other Arab countries closer together with Israel and Israel closer to them . He will not have pulled off the greatest peace Buy an American president, but the GREATEST PEACE ACCORD IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.
Ricky, you sound like a Trump cheerleader, which is fast becoming a vanishing breed. Your unintentional homonym slip of “Buy an American president” is quite accurate today, as there has never been a better time to purchase a president, as it is today. As Heather has stated several times, “This is the most corrupt administration in the history of the United States.” I’m sure you must agree. If not, please provide factual evidence to the contrary.
And now I just read on further and now I understand you are just a fucking idiot. You just said something about buying Trump are you fucking kidding me what a moron Nobody buys Trump nobody and that’s why he was elected twice A Phenomenally successful businessman With a great family, unlike Biden‘s or Obama’s And I have photos if you’d like them.
And by the way, big B I just mentioned it before he has over 78 million cheer cheerleaders Not to mention that his policies are all working, but I’ll tell you what if you really hate him that much. Send me every single dime that you’ve made in the stock market since Trump has been president for 5 1/2 years. I could use the millions
And in fact, you people are so hateful You can’t even address the plausibility of making a peace deal that would change the the face of the planet. And remove all the hate
I’m not a Trump cheerleader. I’m a policy WONK. AND EVERY ONE OF HIS POLICIES IS WORKING..
BIG B? Let us put you in perspective, dear I would call you tiny hateful be. And that wasn’t my slip. I voice text everything and I voice text so much that I don’t go back and check because it’s not a big deal to me if you want me to fix my orthography go somewhere else. Punctuation capitalization, A lost and dangling participle or ending the sentence with a preposition is meaningless and obviously you were taught nothing in school.
CONTEXT OVER FORM EVERY TIME, CONTEXT, PAL CONTEXT
I voice text everything, and you knew damn well what I mean… So evaluated accordingly. If you want to change the spelling/Do so at your will. And it was not a slipper with the tongue it was a slip of the software
Nice try though pal You wanna know who’s popular right now
On CNN let me give you some stats just so you know what they are
In 2018 Trump’s approval rating With the Republicans was 84% it dipped slightly during Biden’s tenure but right now guess where it is pal exactly where it was then
Now let me share with you The Democrats stance the Democrats popularity right now And their direction
72% of Americans believe that Democrats are headed in the wrong direction 72% While the approval rating of the Democrats is Only 20%. Democrats are seen at this point and what’s worse only 16% of males see the Democrat party is credible right And heading in the right direction
A CNN Poll oooopsie
NOW LET’S SEE HOW GOOD YOU ARE DEALING WITH REALITY
Elites routinely lying? Do you seriously think only “elites” (a term you throw around without the slightest definition or qualification, but with a tremendous display of name-dropping) are the only people who lie? So ”non-elites” tell the truth, then?
It's the particular kind of lying from our rich, our billionaires, and their enablers, ICTT.
The enablers of the elites include most of our lawyers, accountants, PR flaks, media types, techies, and lobbyists -- as is clear from the list of books I also cited.
In my text above I specified "those who measure life only by abstraction, commodification, and numbers" and "those for whom all questions A)-B)-C)-D) always admit but one correct answer." Neither of these two sets of our most clever, or most "rational" ever access any humanities -- they've chosen the dehumanized only, and always stick to the two crippled imaginative ranges I cited. Exactly as did "the best and the brightest" David Halberstam described.
And now, too, they're investing heavily in AI to continue the rule of dehumanization.
And remember ICTT, you, too, shirk any reference to any humanities -- and you keep insisting of the propriety of this imaginative reduction, having learned as you did the poisonous conceit that it's all just meaningless "name-dropping" (ornamentalism, decoration, frivolous extras) as you insist over and over.
As a 46 yr practicing attorney I find your remarks offensive. Your steady diet of obsessive Powell memo and standardized testing gibberish grows boring.
Roy Cohn made Trump. The lesson: when threatened, attack. When sued, counter-sue for more. Trump perfected it. Both men are amoral psychopaths—and America is paying the price.
One remarkable remembrance of their relationship: While Roy Cohn was lying in a hospital, dying of AIDS complications, Donald Trump refused to visit him. Mr. Cohn was quoted to say “Donald Trump pisses ice water.”
Big, I remember that quote and have referred to it many times. Trump has and is the lowest of characters. How anyone could consider voting for someone of his character and reputation should be ashamed of themselves.
Thank you. That is an amazing summer reading list.
Have you read The Dual State: A Contribution to the Theory of Dictatorship, by Ernst Fraenkel (English edition, The Lawbook Exchange, 2006, 2010), originally published in 1940?
Mr Fraenkel distinguishes between the "normative state," functioning more or less reliably to yield predictable resolution of civil conflicts, and the "prerogative state," which imposes whatever solutions appear to be politically compatible with the interests of the powerful.
Part I, The Legal System of the Dual State, in which Fraenkel reports and critiques a wide variety of appellate-court decisions in Germany following the events of February, 1933, is fascinating, but it is probably a hard slog through detail that many readers will find tiring.
Part II, The Legal Theory of the Dual State, digs deeply into discussion of secular and Christian and communal understanding of "natural law".
Part III, The Legal Reality of the Dual State, clarifies much of the preceding parts, using political and economic terminology that will probably be familiar to anyone who has paid attention in Economics 101 and basic political science courses.
I recommend Mr Fraenkel's frank and lucid first-hand contemporaneous account and analysis to anyone seeking real historical material from the early days of the Third Reich. I also recommend it to anyone seeking or holding judicial office anywhere in the United States.
Your summary of Ernst Fraenkel's concerns shows consistency with Heather's. Also sober awareness of how some sets of complicated realities have long ridden along with us, or ridden over us.
You guys are great readers, but not very good thinkers and nobody here seems to be a doer that will support the American people who voted for this president and will try to help him at whatever cost to win for America such as the war right now in the Middle East, while most of the people here are pulling for a loss.
And keep in mind one of the best administrations in recent history was Bill Clinton’s despite the fact that he is still killing 100,000’s or more people every year because of one of his policies. But the only reason that Bill Clinton was successful as he was and he was a good president was because he got together with nude Gingrich and together, they formed an alliance, a friendship a working together, and the motherfuckers on the left side of the aisle right now piss on everything Trump does good or bad. In fact, if half the things that Trump had done was done by Biden, you’d be standing in a parade line cheering fucking hypocrite haters is all you are
Can you explain to me how trump has gotten around his obligation to pay E. Jean Carroll? If he refuses to pay can his assets not be seized? I don't understand it. If there really is no way to make a person pay what they owe legally, then effectively you have no law, and thus, why bother paying for police forces and justice officials?
It’s like the many of you who Who like Phil here likes to judge things that didn’t have an impact on the entire country. Because nobody has an impact on the entire country like a president of the United States, and he only has that impact because it affects everybody in someway, lawfully and meaningfully when he’s president of the United States.
And if you believe the jurors of New York City would have thought any different of their verdict whether they heard the evidence or not you are all fools Democrat, prosecutor In New York City, where 95% of inhabitants, generally speaking are Democrats. Not to mention a case that stayed buried for 18 years until Donald Trump decided to run for office and then whose plaintiff decided to make it public
I mean, it’s almost every day I hear about a woman that’s raped in a dressing room in one of the best department stores in the world It’s a pretty common occurrence, isn’t it? Laughing my ass off
So why wouldn’t we leave this one when it was kept under wraps for so long? They even pulled an ex Attorney General out of the woodwork to have a separate trial for a year and make it public to demean this individual even more And to the public taste, that is the general public, not the hateful publicIt was a meaningless pursuit And rendered nothing And the prosecutor seemed to have died an untimely painful death And in my opinion, most deservingly so
So, pretty much almost everything he’s done as president of the United States has been beneficial and fruitful to the United States His policies have been working near and far. When the hateful predicted recession, depression, stock, market crash, and worse
But I am going to surprise all of you with my next post as to the possibility of revisiting the Epstein files. Stay tuned
To all you haters AND to all your morons, AND YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE…..who hate for no reason and I mean for no reason…
IF …Donald Trump can pull off this win against Iran and bring Saudi Arabia and the other Arab countries closer together with Israel and Israel closer to them . He will not have pulled off the greatest peace Buy an American president, but the GREATEST PEACE ACCORD IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.
This is to Marguerite winkle and I can’t get all right. Can’t see her post, but let me say this. Just so you know, I’ve been here about a year and a half and the first 3 to 4 months I didn’t even get a response let alone a like. But in the past six months, maybe even right around May when I made my first large post about Trump successors to the point time and since then I’ve gotten over 3000 people who sent me like sent me messages how to support and affirmation. And this is a left-wing zealotry site, which has been blinded by hate Trump as if there’s nothing that he can do that’s right, but frankly he’s done almost everything right so far. It’s nice that you responded like that. I’m here for one thing. I’m here for awareness and I have made more than my share of that so people read what they want to read if they hate so much that they can’t read through the truth that’s not my problem. But I’m getting through to a lot of people here who heretofore saw Trump as a king or worse. And almost everything Trump has done since his second term started it’s been a positive for the future of America not just the America of today. And especially be to wish Arab world that will impact the entire world, if they ever get together and work together. Jimmy Carter did it first with Egypt and look there’s been peace between those countries ever cents. Saudi Arabia was about to join the Abraham accord and that’s why Iran irrupt it with her Marcin Hasbulla, and started the war to prevent Saudi Arabia from being able to enter that clocked in at 3D at that time. But it may be coming in as you’ve seen IRAN so mad at its religious brethren that they have received attacks by this rogue nation. If things proceed as Trump has got them on the road to do, there might be a path for Jewish Arab agreement on major topics, which will change the whole tenor of that geographic area end of the world. That’s the impact that Donald Trump could provide and you haters need to see that
Yeah I fell and it was so horrified that he only got 78 million votes for president because e.g. Carol was so full of shit and only in New York jury would’ve done what it did. Don’t you tell your story about how successful he’s been since he’s been president this time in almost every single area that he has been involved in.
God bless the 35 former federal judges. Here's hoping that they and their families stay safe, since the WH family has a reputation of doling out grudges for years to come. May the US protect the judges and have their backs, because they stood in the breach when everything else in the system broke and there was no one left to protect the People, Congress's pocketbook, or our American values.
Do you know Biden’s gone out of office already so you shouldn’t be talking about all of them going after Trump incessantly continually add to no avail. Let’s see two or three fake trials. Degenerative and insulting remarks about him, and his family for no reason
lawsuits from every part of the country against any of us policies, no matter how correct or righteous they are. Two impeachments with no one being questioned, and maybe even removed because of its falsehood. A emboldened January 6 committee that is now shredded all the evidence so they can’t be blamed for the shenanigans
And at least three assassination attempts And you’re praying their families stay safe when they did this for no reason to the president. And that you should understand that the public is so smart, that they actually voted him to be President of the United States twice in alternative terms. Uh oh. Maybe you were wrong
Say what you will, but the federal district court judges have largely been holding the line during this regime's blatant lawlessness (Congress) and judicial takeover attempt (I'm looking at you, SCOTUS). Thank goodness this pillar is holding.
He is out of control to the point there is no phrase that captures how out of control he is. He commits one excessive act of ugliness after another. His 'monuments,' his trashy tacky events venues are now overtaking each other. What must the rest of the world think of a nation that allows him to hold onto the keys to power despite his recklessness?
Look at this commiserating group of morons. It’s like you all holding hands, and some kind of a circle and dancing counter clockwise back to the Massachusetts which days. And you’re not even trying to be subtle about it.
Yeah, his recklessness of trying to stop at 2000 year old war and it’s almost there.. Every single policy has been working for this country. Every single one the economy is going along great there’s enough confidence that the market is just producing new, all-time high, upon new all-time high, upon new all-time high upon new all-time high over 53 weeks and only a year and a half of it being president.
What the fuck up he is. Lololol. You might want to do there is check all the cushions of the couch and then go to your bedside nightstand that little jar with your entire life savings. There you should invested in Trump‘s economy, and when his term is through couple years from now, you will have no choice but to say thank you, Rick I was wrong.
Trump has turned our Nation into some strange amalgam of Orwellian dystopia, Roman Empire in decline necessitating gladiator bloodsport, and oil shocks with potential to cause some Road Warrior calamity with an actual Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome structure right next to the White House!
Newsweek's daily poll asked readers if they were going to watch the Trump birthday cage match?
Yes - 0%
No - 100%
But Trump will likely rake in millions off of this.
Maybe another birthday parade for DonOld next year when this falls flat (assuming he is still President.) If it's JD he'll probably have an annual memorial event for Charlie Kirk.
PS: From today's The Guardian: "At least seven of the nine featured musical acts set to play in a concert series organized by the Trump administration to mark the United States’ 250th anniversary have dropped out, within 48 hours of the lineup being announced."
"To be clear,” the judges wrote, “the parties’ settlement was not, and never will be, legally justified.”
That is a statement by judges who uphold the Constitution and respect legal precedent. The statement does not apply to Republican extremist Supreme Court majorities - who previously installed a president and have now established themselves as king-makers. After the defeat of the Third Reich, German jurists were put on trial for bending German law to the Nazi agenda - sacrificing justice to politics. An independent judiciary is the foundation of democracy.
I was a toddler military dependent that arrived in the Munich area (about 100 miles south of Nuremberg and 35 south of Dachau) right about the time the Judges Trial concluded. My mother used the movie as a major uptick in our continuing lessons on, "don't ever think it can't happen here, and don't become the monsters you are fighting." At 15 and taking high school civics classes like "Problems in Democracy," the timing was very fortunate.
The Dr. Ernst Janning character was supposedly a composite of judges but based more on Franz Schlegelberger than any other, and portrayed a bit more sympathetically (as one who caved a bit on ethics), than Schlegelberger, who to me, stepped so willingly into the cruelty and criminality.
The ethical German example, to me, is Josef Hartinger. His experiences in 1933 at Dachau seem so illustrative of what the mess being created in the new American concentration camps can become. Some of his story that matches what I remember a bit of from other sources is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Hartinger
"...Dachau murder investigations
Following the Reichstag Fire Decree for the Protection of People and State, the Nazis began interning political rivals (KPD and SDP members) in concentration camps. One of the first to open was at Dachau, where detainees were guarded by 70 members of the Bavarian Police force. As chief of police in Bavaria, Heinrich Himmler arranged for the police to be gradually relieved of this duty by the newly-formed private army of the Nazi party, the Schutzstaffel (SS). On March 12, the day after the SS arrived, the State solicitor's office received a report of four deaths among the prison population. As any death in State custody (other than from natural causes) had to be investigated,[1] Josef Hartinger and medical examiner Moritz Flamm were dispatched to Dachau concentration camp.
Camp commandant Hilmar Wäckerle showed them to a spot where the four prisoners were shot while trying to escape into the woods and later to a shed where three of their bodies were piled on the floor. Hartinger berated the guards on the undignified treatment of the bodies before he and Dr. Flamm set about identifying and examining them. They quickly noted that all the dead prisoners (Rudolf Benario, Ernst Goldmann, Arthur Kahn) were Jewish and had been shot at the base of the skull. Erwin Kahn (unrelated to Arthur Kahn) survived the escape shooting but four days later died while under SS guard in hospital. Without challenging the guards on these points, the investigators returned over several days to carefully document the evidence, with Flamm performing autopsies on the four prisoners. Hartinger and Flamm noted many inconsistencies between the injuries on the corpses and the camp guards' accounts of the deaths..."
The deaths in our current detention centers may not be as blatant and deliberate now, but it does seem the deaths will match or exceed some of our earlier misadventure with mass incarceration under deplorable conditions.
We here in Maine have a real opportunity / responsibility to slow down the GOP ChristoFascist juggernaut. Hungarians showed us how to do it. Unity at the ballot box. But you knew that ; )
"...Lehi was created in August 1940 by Avraham Stern.[2] Stern had been a member of the Irgun (Irgun Tsvai Leumi – "National Military Organization") high command. Zeev Jabotinsky, then the Irgun's supreme commander, had decided that diplomacy and working with Britain would best serve the Zionist cause. World War II was in progress, and Britain was fighting Nazi Germany. The Irgun suspended its underground military activities against the British for the duration of the war.
Stern argued that the time for Zionist diplomacy was over and that it was time for an armed struggle against the British. Like other Zionists, he objected to the White Paper of 1939, which restricted both Jewish immigration and Jewish land purchases in Palestine. For Stern, "no difference existed between Hitler and Chamberlain, between Dachau or Buchenwald and sealing the gates of Eretz Israel."[29]
Stern wanted to open Palestine to all Jewish refugees from Europe and considered this to be the most important issue of the day. Britain would not allow this. Therefore, he concluded, the Yishuv (Jews of Palestine) should fight the British rather than support them in the war..."
I have much to learn, apparently, having once thought they wanted a Jewish state in Europe (with Nazi help).
And here we have another ignoramus posting the reference to Nazi Germany
If your father was smart, when he was sleeping with your mother and found out, your mother was pregnant, I would’ve paid for the abortion. But your mother, who is probably an evil woman thought oh wow, I have Lucifer in my room. At least he’ll be an influence. Lynn most of the time you’re simply eight adversarial voice. But now you have left normal and gone completely wacko. And should in my opinion be put in a straight jacket and confined quarters for the balance of your existence
Cheeto carries the unofficial personality disorder diagnosis of malignant narcissism(MNPD) which is made worse by frontotemporal dementia of which he has shown signs with growing concerns
The personality traits of MNPD are sadism where there is blatant disregard for humanity such as when the USAID agency was totally dismantled affecting the lives of millions of people and children(done by DOGE led by Musk another MNPD) Loyalty particularly of the media is necessary due to the paranoia exhibited by the impaired And a aggression as seen in his fatal decision to attack Iran
But one of the more pernicious characteristics of MNPD particularly for a leader of a country is antisocial behavior demonstrated by Cheeto’s blatant disregard for rules, the rights of others, and societal norms which leads to irrational contrarian decision making(https://bit.ly/4dG68bq) Blowing up the JCPOA(Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) which had taken 18mo of diplomatic work by the Obama administration, Cheeto showed everyone his contrarian pathology and now is trying to resurrect the agreement on his own which is now costing the American taxpayers billions of dollars a day The exhibited corruption on full display is characteristic of antisocial behavior
The risks of such contrarian attitudes with aggressive tendencies in a man with the nuclear codes should be concerning for all of Americans and the world The unpredictable nature of his actions make him a dangerous threat to not only the country’s national security but country’s of the world
Unfortunately the country is under the control of a psychopath which affects as WE have seen the entire geopolitical order WE the People are living in perilous times and neither WE nor the Nazi Republicans should normalize this pathological behavior and insist that the media including substack channels start calling this crazy loon who is atop our government for what he is….a crazed demented man with MNPD
Absolutely right. And we are allowing the end of civilization and the world to happen because we allow these malignant narcissists to stay in power: Trump, Musk, Thiel, Altman, Putin, Netanyahu… They will bring everything down just to satisfy their enormous, hollow egos.
Let me translate your last statement ABOUT USAID all they found there was fraud waste and abuse and now they found another 120 cases of it in Minneapolis 98% have been prosecuted already MILLIONS of dollars have been been discovered as fraud and recently one lady headed up to the billions of dollars And in California, they’re finding the same thing. Or maybe you went to ‘THE LEARING CENTER’. There. Omg. You are obviously one of the most gullible humans on the planet and that’s sad
Hundreds of millions of dollars have been discovered, and these are not even having anything to do with Elon Musk
So keep on ranting in your continual losses.
I JUST LOVE WHEN HATERS CAN’T GIVE IT UP. BECAUSE AT SOME POINT IT ALL ENDS. AND THAT POINT IS COMING SOON TO A REALITY SERIES NEAR YOU
Do you wanna talk about a riot pal then talk about somebody that has weapons in their hand that like buildings on fire that beat the shit out of 1000 police and put them in the hospital and that’s called the George Floyd riots you want to hear about narcissism ego and contrarian there you go.
A police officer got arrested for the death of George Floyd There was a trial to come and people like you who remain blind to reality went out and caused 2 billion 2 billion 2 billion DOLLARS OF DAMAGE AN INJURED 1000 POLICE BURNT DOWN. A POLICE PRECINCT… OCCUPIED BLOCKS OF CITY STREETS FOR WEEKS INTERFERING WITH EVERY LEGAL RESIDENCE RIGHTS
AND YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT 1500 ARMED PEOPLE? One who was illegally shot in the neck at point black range UNARMED. AND AT LEAST SOME JUSTICE WAS GIVEN TO THE FAMILIES WHO WON $5 MILLION FOR WRONGFUL DEATH FROM THE GOVERNMENT
IF YOU WANNA POST SOMETHING PAL, MAKE SURE IT’S TRUTHFUL COMPARATIVE AND PUT THE HATE IN YOUR BACK POCKET
You see how stupid you are every every single post that you come out with shows your stupidity is even more profound than the previous post. You’re almost at Zero right now and your next post will probably bring you into the negative tally
Donald Trump was elected president by the United States of America electorate two times. Two times and only and only the second time in alternative terms in American history.
And guess why they did that Because they didn’t believe all the bullshit they didn’t believe all the lies. They didn’t believe all the fake trials they didn’t believe the impeachment. They didn’t believe the rape charges. They didn’t believe the indignations that were thrown at this president and his family. They didn’t believe the trial by Robert Muller. They didn’t believe they put down by Biden arresting all of his allies In fact, they did just the opposite… And maybe you’re gonna realize it you’re on the losing end of the deal pal and all you have to do is get behind the winners and you become a winner or you can choose to stay a loser.
Only a moron would continue to support Cheeto and his Nazi regime after seeing what he's done to our democratic government over 18 months Election rigging is what Nazi Republicans do to hold onto power Numerous examples of how they are doing it now eg gerrymandering midterm etc and what they did in order to win by a mere 1.5% of the electorate in 2024 Nazi Republicans cheat
Yeah, well they’re 78 million of us pal and let me tell you now that you said Nazi again. You have proven that you are probably one of the most ignorant human human beings on planet earth Because I would love one day for you to run into a Nazi an actual Nazi and have them do to you what they did to the Jews And I would like to describe it here, but you’re not even worth my words
I’m gonna be a little soft and little subtle here. You motherfucking lying cocksucking son of a bitch to actually use the word Nazi shows your incredible, indelible unmistakeable, , ignorance and stupidity. I hope that you run into a Nazi someday and they treat you like they treated you. Degrade you and tell you slowly from limb to limb.
And you call yourself protect the vote. You are so subhuman that your mother should’ve put you back in or aborted you. How’s that for subtle so keep using the word Nazi and keep lying to the public here and destroy the truth and the facts and the evidence.
I’m sorry I forgot to mention this. The best president, at least since Bill Clinton or beyond. And the most positively influential human being on planet earth right now
To bring the world together, including the Middle East, which hasn’t been done in 2000 years. For the first time he’ll take with Jimmy Carter started commendably and hopefully be able to finish it. Thank you, Donald Trump
Oh you must be a malignant narcissist yourself A soul less hollow sadist who loves to hurt people, destroy people's lives, and probably been in jail....no doubt for attacking police on J6 Get back under your rock and spare humanity
You know what crawl back into the hole you came from or under that rock and stay there you have no fucking clue about anything other than hate. If you want to add facts to anything you post, go ahead and try it because you haven’t got a one You walk around with your right eye clothes and your right ear closed and all you can hear is the rantings of the left and do you see their popularity lately?
72% of the public Believes the Democrats are in the wrong now they have 20% popularity with the public right now the Democrats in their initiatives and Male Democrats are now as popular as as much as 16%. So why don’t you go look at the statistics and wake up?
This is not a socialist country. This is not a communist country.
And if those are the things you like, I’ll tell you gently get the fuck out of here
Thanks to the reporters, the judges, the people like Professor Richardson, and commenters here for standing up to corruption and the erosion of integrity in our system. Those who still support this administration have to be misinformed. Overwhelming evidence exists about the self-serving Trumps and their undermining of the very fabric of what made our nation better.
I don’t think the supporters are misinformed. I think they like and admire the actions of Trump et al. He’s behaving exactly like they would if they were in charge. The truth is that our only chance to restore decency is to greatly outnumber them at the polls. They see the world through a violent lens of winner-take-all (a la Stephen Miller) and they’re not going to change.
Have you ever watched Fox News. Many MAGAs turn on Fox when they roll out of bed and the last thing they do is turn it off each day. My next door neighbors in FL, two MAGA couples both did this.
You’d think, Phil, that his admirers would have had all the “bedazzled” stripped from their eyes by now, but no. I think they don’t want to really know, but would rather stew in their own delusional cocoons. SMH….just can’t comprehend that kind of willful blindness. 🤷🏻♀️
Phil, I can’t believe you are a party to this anti-semetic charade. It makes me sick to see such a gullible Jew, be overwhelmed by the stupidity and ignorance.
But it looks like New York is a fall guy and he’s going to eventually pay the price
Stand up for Israel or tear the color of your jacket and get the fuck out of here
Tonight's essay is some dark horror story, isn't it? The White House in rubble, obscured with a large arch that will frame an arena around a cage where a bloody battle will take place for the President's amusement. The Justice Department opens a criminal investigation into an 82 year old woman sexually molested by the President. The Pentagon is humiliated and pressured into major financial corruption with the President's son. And 35 former judges, completely powerless, begging a U.S. District Judge for a review of a nearly 2 billion taxpayer slush fund in what is easily the most corrupt self-dealing in American history. And the ultimate horror, as always...the Republican voters, all of them, who support this, cheer it on, and maintain that it is the Democrats who are destroying our country. What a nightmare! How are we ever supposed to sleep at night?
I just saw the Mandalorian movie which featured the Jabba the Hut twins and I immediately thought of Trump and his cage fighting spectacle. It’s disgusting and so is he.
Meanwhile... Netanyahu stated that 70% of Gaza will be occupied by the IDF.... This will further squeeze the surviving Gazans into the flimsy Tents that they possess... Essentially all outside aid into Gaza has been stopped... Still no Foreign Correspondents are allowed into Gaza... Meanwhile in Lebanon, over 100 Airstrikes took place today...
Yes the cease fire that never was . Netanyahu as corrupt & malignant as trump. When it was Bosnia it was called genocide so why not now. Israel been propped up by America for way too long, Trumps just made it worse.
I was in college when the country elected John F. Kennedy as President of the United States and have lived through no more than 65 years US history. I have seen during those years crisis, wars, unrest, corruption, misconduct. In each Presidency we have seen crisis, problems and failures. The Republicans seem to have the loudest megaphones and claim to be victims of the government, even of a government that they may be leading. The theme that they have found the most effective is to attack the government and claim the need to limit or reduce it. They now have control of the government with a President who has no commitment to the country or its history and traditions. What we are seeing is the dismantling of the government and the replacement of our government by a group of corrupt and dishonest gangsters. The question is whether we will be able to retrieve our country or are we going to become an authoritarian outlier. Even if we are able to retrieve our country the rot and corruption is going to take a long time overcome.
I have got to wonder how much of this whole MMA spectacle is a deliberate attempt on Trump’s part to extort maximum horror and send a huge eff-you to the cultured crowd who never accepted him in Manhattan society or elsewhere. The more disgusted they (we) are, the happier he is.
There’s got to be a whopping big dose of that going on. As with his obsession with Barack Obama — the cultured, brilliant, black Harvard Law graduate and Nobel Peace Laureate comfortable in his own skin, beloved by millions, fully at ease in a tan suit, negotiating an end to Iran’s nuclear stockpile program, announcing the capture of Usama bin Laden, beaming out that big, beautiful, big-eared smile to America.
Dump hates him some black guy. Hates him bigly. Him laugh at Dump. Him smart. Dump show him…
Amen. And he’s brought the entire U.S. wind power industry to a screeching halt, mostly because he’s pissed that some energy entity installed turbines off the coast of his Scottish golf course. The petty retribusiveness is worthy of some grand boo-bah in a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta where
Your guest a year ago or so, journalist/author Gil Duran published this story, "Peter Thiel Flees to Argentina," 32 days before legacy media did today. Trump's an actor in front of a teleprompter. Thiel's the strategic chess player who, with the other Silicon Valley tech billionaires, bought the 2024 election and funded JD Vance's entire career. Because legacy media's seriously lacking, I'm glad you use so many other sources, too! https://www.thenerdreich.com/peter-thiel-flees-to-argentina/
Thiel is a punk. Like his buddy & sometime business partner, Elon, he believes that he’s “…the smartest guy in the room.” Not true. He has a certain flair for Tech & Math, other than that he’s a full frontal idiot…& a deluded selfish little man. Just read his screeds on the “Anti-Christ.”
No, Trump is authentic in front of a Teleprompter because he goes off script all the time. The most authentic, a political human being, that’s ever sat in the presidents chair. And he’s winning for America not only here, but around the world
It makes me sick to think that Bill Clinton would’ve been a piece of shit if he was treated like Donald Trump is treated by the opposing party. Instead he and neutering Gingrich got together, and we’re one of the best teams in America. But you piece of dog shit do everything you can to hurt America and not support your president who is doing wonderful things on behalf of this country and the world at the same time
Hello Fran... DJT has always F(l)ailed... DJT has squandered Billions of $$$, and DJT's Personal Life was a subject of Scandal... DJT has only succeeded in Low-Brow Spectacle like his upcoming 'Patriot Games'...
My first impression on hearing about the UFC match at the WH sometime ago and now seeing it actually being built like an erector set on the lawn there (oh, the damage!), just nailed the whole “Idiocracy” vibe to this presidency. I saw other online content just now that this is a gathering meme—who knew that the 2006 movie would be so prophetic??!!🤦🏻♀️ I hope “this end” will be like the movie’s and have someone with a working brain take on the job next!
Eyes on the prize, people, not the endless distractions, no matter how gruesome. Walk past the carnage, the psychotic troll-bating, the ghastly tackiness. We’ve known it was there a long time, we know it will likely get worse. Keep it together and just get back to work.
Midterms are around the corner. Not just any midterms, but maybe the most important, and maybe the most dangerous, since the Civil War. Meanwhile, our coffers are empty, and too many of us aren’t doing enough to fill them, sniffing at the fund-raising institutions of the Democratic Party, believing victory will come only after we’ve somehow converted elections into boutique shopping experiences. Others insist on new ideological purity tests, while another group wants to crank up that good ole’ circular firing squad again. (After all, it did such a wonderful job of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory last time, didn’t it?)
Jonathan Capeheart recently wrote that Democrats don’t need an autopsy report from the past, they need to “put foot to ass.” Neither can any of us afford self-indulgent twaddle about how ‘now is the time’ for another political party.
No, now is precisely NOT the time for anything but hard work. It’s time to put aside letter-writing for serious campaigning, fund-raising, door-knocking, and scutwork. Note the distractions, but get on with it. If we don’t win the small right now, the big later on isn’t going to matter much.
I'm with you ICTT. I enjoy reading the posts but agree the reminder and distraction of the every day bs that he and his enablers commit is depressing. I also think focusing our work on the midterms is a more productive and positive use of out time. The work will keep us sane and result in the Government of the People, By the People and For the People.
There is much work to be doing. We have to use the tools we have at hand. We've not the time to fashion new ones in this moment. The labor of agitation thru intelligent discontent and organizing is long and there are no accolades received from it. Show up at the job site anyway. Ready. Pack a lunch because you will need it. Wear your hard toe boots, they're very useful when someone steps on them.
Of course they’re manipulating the judicial system. They’ll manipulate everybody and every system possible. Everyone, speak up so this madness of a reality stops!
Resource below to easily contact all of Congress - Be LOUD. Trump/the administration is dangerous for our country 💔🤍💙
Use/share this spreadsheet (bit.ly/Goodtrouble) to contact members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly.
Reach out (beyond your own) to as many in the Senate and House as you can. All of this is bigger than “I only represent my constituents” issues.
Comments/reactions help keep this bumped ✊
The corruption is breathtaking both in its fiscal scale and in its brazenness and flagrancy.
I don't know if it is because Trump has a card he is going to be told play to take over absolute control or if it is his desperation to grab as much money as he and his family can abscond with when they flee into sanctuary somewhere in Russia, or if his coterie of sycophants is letting him indulge his wildest megalomanical fantasies, hoping they can walk away from the carnage saying "We tried, but we just couldn't stop him."
Maybe all three plans are in play.
I am not sure what to write to my representatives today because I am so outraged I will sound like a lunatic. It feels like shrieking is the only possible response.
At some point, corruption becomes its own justification. The scale may be vast, but the reasoning is anything but. The need for the triumph of the petty, engorged with itself, shuts out anything else.
Is that really so surprising? The smaller the satrap, the grander the delusion. Has it really ever been different?
You can express shock, but you can’t feign surprise. Whatever the origin, it doesn’t change the diagnosis or the treatment. Corruption eats away at the very foundation of a society which tolerates and makes excuses for it. As Pete Buttigieg has said more than once, it’s not the wonder at how broken the system is, but the wonder at how we pretended it was ever working to begin with.
Just when you think nothing Trump does is shocking, he does something so insane, he posts something so vile and idiotic, he does something so outrageously corrupt, that it really is hard to believe someone could go so low. But he always goes lower, seeking ever greater wealth by any means possible and engaging in the most epic and flagrant corruption of any president.
This is different...the level of corruption, the grifting and grafting, the crypto and the crappo that he sells like the wormy huckster he is.
$10 billion dollar lawsuits to scam settlements and more even more ill gained money, it's sickening and disheartening.
Trump's campaign slogan could have been
"When ________ go(es) low, I go lower."
And the Dem’s campaign slogan should have been “When they go low, flush!”
Ya... I don't think the "...we go high..." business ever did work. I give credit to Michelle Obama for trying. She's the decent sort who would think that way. Now I have to wonder if we simply didn't just waste our time.
you are right. he will always find a new low to sink to. I keep my continuing activity of rooting for the big macs and fries to work their magic.
If he keeps going any lower, he might hit oil and solve our oil shortage.
ME TOO! And as a member of the ‘Me too’ movement I want JUSTICE for Trump’s sexual assault victims before the Bloated Burger Baby Bites the Big One…hmmmm 🤔…maybe that’s a ‘warning’? BIG Mac for Jumbo Jerks 🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♂️
Someone reminded me that the USSR once used poisoned ‘doorknobs’ to eliminate politicians they wanted rid of. Such creativity! But I think I will stick with ‘attack-trained scorpions’ as my choice. Trump needs a plaything and can no longer pet ‘kittens’. 😉
Jean, I don't even care about justice for him. Everyone else, you better believe it. But I'm rooting for one good burger and we're done.
I like the door knob solution. Infiltrate the housekeeping staff and have them clean the door knobs. One really shouldn't worry if people other than trump touch the knob. Most likely just sycophants. I'm not as nice as I used to be.
One shouldn't be surprised when corrupt people handed gilt-edged opportunities to enrich themselves take full advantage of those opportunities and use whatever power they have to increase those opportunities for grift. That in a nutshell is the Trump presidency, at least so far as corruption is concerned.
I am more convinced than ever that inheritance must be taxed out of existence. Inheriting wealth is so damaging and toxic, it shouldn't be allowed.
After all,,the dead have no rights, and just because you're born into the lucky sperm club you don't get rewarded.
"Lucky sperm club"! LOL indeed.
What amount would you believe the cut-off point should be? I think your statement is interesting, but I'm not sure I would like it until we settle on an amount that would be fair for all. If we're talking about millions of $$, I can see your point; however, we have to balance that with some recognition to family rights on what to keep.
How the hell was he allowed a convicted felon of 34 counts of fraud be allowed to run for President. Next the Proud Boys will be lawmakers. Then what. WTF
A constitutional amendment is definitely in order for presidential requirements. Age, NO FELONS of any sort, term limits (it seems that some people including some judicial candidates have forgotten that rule). I also think military experience would be good even if there is no actual war. Candidates should know what soldiers go through like boot camp. 4F people ( unless they are really handicapped) could have the physical requirement waivered so bone spur people could be included. They could work in the mess hall, the laundry, computers, etc. It will never happen but it is just a thought.
Can you please provide a reference for that Buttigieg quote?
It's that it sounds so cynical that I cannot possibly imagine that he said that.
It's also demonstrably false.
Not working for whom? And to what extent?
I don’t know if he said it or not but the statement is accurate. Corruption was hardwired into the system by Citizens United, which has ironically sidelined the voices of citizens and elevated money above all else. Add in gerrymandering which has strengthened hardliner base voters and made meaningful legislation more difficult and elusive. Then let’s talk about the third leg of the stool, targeted voter suppression which moves the goalposts over and over again for people who are not being heard and need to be. These have all worked to empower the powerful at the expense of everyone else. So, no, things are not working well. At all.
Chris, yes, money above all else in every facet of life. You remind me of the role of the Roberts Court in all this.
And yet, the US is the wealthiest country on earth, has the biggest military, has a HC and education system that is much better than that in the developed world, has actively contributed to NATO and therefore world peace for almost a century now, is at the origin of many of the most important scientific and technological inventions of the last century, has a thriving art scene (at least when it comes to music), has installed and then largely maintained (until now) the rule of law, etc. etc.
So there is a LOT to preserve, starting with the democratic Constitution and its institutions in the first place...
This smacks of complacency, of looking the other way while wealth concentrates in the hands of the already wealthy, a quality education becomes elusive for many, we have all but withdrawn from NATO, and our great science and health research agencies are being sidelined and/or defunded. If we get past this regime, reassembling what has already been lost in just 18 months will take much more than flipping a switch. There is no reset button for any of this. The Constitution needs much more than preservation. Preservation is woefully inadequate because the vulnerabilities that brought us to this point will still be there. We need at the least to strengthen the Constitution and its guardrails, to recenter it on the concept of equal justice for all. And we need to get the corrupting influence of money out of politics.
We have also been isolationists . It took bombing of Pearl Harbor to get us interested in WWII. trump has his Peace Board which seems to be designed to undercut NATO, he is chairman for life and jared is on board. He's pulled us out of WHO and has forbidden any US experts to speak at a meeting about Ebola. May I remind you that trump loves the uneducated hence his desire to dismantle the Education Department and cutting funds.
I have to believe that some folks with the intellect within this thread of discussion have already googled the aforementioned phrase. If they haven't, it is here: https://www.google.com/search?q=did+pete+buttigieg+say+%22+it%E2%80%99s+not+the+wonder+at+how+broken+the+system+is%2C+but+the+wonder+at+how+we+pretended+it+was+ever+working+to+begin+with.%22&sca_esv=0fbb8f91d07ef4fb&sxsrf=ANbL-n4gK_36qBzzOBchwrMB8P7gqsitUw%3A1780061646589&ei=zpUZaqPRI9mh5NoP5fqRgQw&biw=1532&bih=803&ved=0ahUKEwij8P2wzt6UAxXZEFkFHWV9JMAQ4dUDCBA&oq=did+pete+buttigieg+say+%22+it%E2%80%99s+not+the+wonder+at+how+broken+the+system+is%2C+but+the+wonder+at+how+we+pretended+it+was+ever+working+to+begin+with.%22&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAikgFkaWQgcGV0ZSBidXR0aWdpZWcgc2F5ICIgaXTigJlzIG5vdCB0aGUgd29uZGVyIGF0IGhvdyBicm9rZW4gdGhlIHN5c3RlbSBpcywgYnV0IHRoZSB3b25kZXIgYXQgaG93IHdlIHByZXRlbmRlZCBpdCB3YXMgZXZlciB3b3JraW5nIHRvIGJlZ2luIHdpdGguIjIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHjIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHjIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHjIGEAAYFhgeSL-XAVDlCFiSgwFwAngBkAEAmAHgAaABkBSqAQYyLjE0LjK4AQzIAQD4AQH4AQKYAhKgAoQTwgIKECMYgAQYigUYJ8ICChAAGIAEGBQYhwLCAgUQABjvBcICCBAAGIAEGKIEwgILEAAYgAQYigUYhgPCAgkQABgWGB4YxwPCAgUQABiABMICCBAAGIAEGMcDmAMAiAYBkgcGMy4xNC4xoAeYhwGyBwYyLjE0LjG4B4ATwgcGMC4xNy4xyAcsgAgB&sclient=gws-wiz-serp
Buttigieg, according to Google, has no ownership to this quote; however, he has said something similar which addresses the point being made.
Thanks. The link didn't work, on my end, so I googled it myself.
Result:
"There is no public record, interview, or debate transcript in which Pete Buttigieg stated "the system never worked."
In the way that trial attorneys seeking answers they want, cut off witnesses' replies before they have finished, you quoted just the stub of Google's response. Google AI's full response follows:
"Pete Buttigieg has not made this exact statement in any public speeches, books, or interviews. He has frequently discussed systemic failures and the illusion of returning to a 'normal' status quo. For example, regarding the need for structural reform, he often cautions his party and the public against the temptation of 'restor[ing] a broken prior status quo' because the 'way it was led to the way it is now'."
Sorry about that, EUWDTB; I tried the link myself before I entered it into the discussion thread. It did work for me. I appreciate that you searched it for yourself. Many thanks.
That's the most boring URL I have ever read.🥱😴
Your skepticism is well-placed. This appears to be a paraphrase or invented quote, not a verifiable Buttigieg statement. I can’t find it in any searchable transcripts or quote databases.
Good to know, thanks.
Actually, anyone who follows Buttigieg for quite a while already imho cannot but know that it will be difficult to find politicians LESS cynical than he. Just like Obama, he has a very strong faith in the American people, the democratic US Constitution, all that has been achieved, and for that reason, the great potential to achieve much more, IF we accept to work together and see each other's basic decency.
He says it frequently, or a close variant. I don’t know what you mean by “demonstrably false.” Fee free to look it up yourself.
I did. Many others did too. He never said it. Scroll up a bit, starting with Riad's post, and you'll see all the comments and links.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/595142717910172/posts/2205474826876945/
Feel free to read before yawping. Or pay me for your own research time. I’ve heard him say almost verbatim at other town halls. Not hard to find.
I do agree with you. That it does sound so cynical for him. When I have heard him speak, it has always been positive. Work together, don't be discouraged, etc.
Why isn’t more attention being given to Brandy X Lee and other prominent psychiatrists?
I never heard Pete share that sentiment but it's accurate. Our system has never been representative since it's founding. That's something many of the so-called "progressives" never address. They're to busy blaming the Dems which somehow has become fashionable.
Trump's open corruption has encouraged, and validated, other people to copy him.
Georgia, a snarky part of me muses that when the Dems next attain the WH and also have House and Senate healthy majorities, one of the first official speeches from the newly inaugurated president will be: “I want to thank my predecessor, the former Republican Congress majority, and the majority of SCOTUS opinions, for changing the ground rules for Executive leadership and affords our administration a freedom from historical restraint to enact laws/actions as we see fit.” [I sure hope not, but they opened…er, kicked down…that door!]
Few congressional Republicans appear to have considered this risk. Senate leader John Thune has opposed getting rid of the filibuster but none appear to have understood that the Unitary Executive is a double-edged sword.
They don’t plan to lose again
Yes exactly.
JDinTX, you've hit on the main point.
Voting for Trump was the mistake of many centuries and it was facilitated by Joe Biden who should never have run for office so late in life.
"Unitary Executive" is just a fancy word for neofascism. And today, the vast majority of Republicans in Congress actively believe in and support neofascism as an ideology.
in other words Authoritarianism
They figured the 'double edge' was nothing to worry about since they believed one term would be sufficient to complete the takeover.
I am sure the current USSC 6 with Roberts leading the way would figure out a way to stymie any Democrat who dared the same.
My fear is the new president will say “Let’s let bygones be bygones.” Gumption is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the two parties. One has it and one does not. Which is which should be obvious.
That CANNOT HAPPEN! There must be consequences for breaking the law and for stealing so much $$$. Otherwise, every president will expect at $2billion in payoffs.
that's my fear too. But it's up to the people to demand accountability, trials!
did you mean "not one of ..."?
Nope. One side has gumption, the other does not IMHO.
Parkin, you should reread your original comment. As written, it says that both parties possess gumption. Mr. Gregory's suggested edit was valid.
One might call it "Gerald-Fording" the criminal predecessor.
We're looking at the same evidence and drawing different conclusions. We must be interpreting the same evidence with different logic. I'll explain my logic.
Ideally, I’m doing the right thing by practicing politics like three musketeers (all for one and one for all). From there, it’s simple. Think global and act local while humming “The Streets of Minneapolis.”
Otherwise, I need to be looking in the mirror because I’m doing the wrong thing by committing political malpractice like three stooges (all for one and that one is named).
I think I’m doing the right thing, but ask me to look in the mirror, and I will. Meanwhile, my working assumption is that the biggest problem with the Democratic Party is not Dem politicians and instead voters in general committing political malpractice. I can say that because I’m not running for an elected office. A Dem politician can’t say that because they’re running for an elected office.
I think I’m accurately describing the current situation. Something needs to change. Maybe it’s the voters. Maybe it’s the politicians. Maybe it’s my logic. One thing’s for sure: if the change is in the “more perfect” direction, then I’m good.
I literally have no idea what it is you’re trying to say. Do you, I wonder?
What he is saying is that we are all patients in the big 250 year old nursing home called America.
In the dementia ward is the self anointed head bully.... a nasty, stage 3 dementia addled, loud, failed real estate developer that no one ever really liked. But his daddy was rich, and he threw outrageous parties that he secretly video taped to blackmail the important people who attended
He constantly steals meds ( money) from the supply cabinet,( the world) and he and only he passes them out like cigarettes in jail, to his loyal supporters.
Like in the Wizard of Oz, we the munchkins really don't know why he is in charge. We are awaiting someone to arrive called "Dorothy" to click her Ruby slippers so we can all go back to Kansas.
Meanwhile the Flying Monkeys will soon be diverting our attention in a cage on the South Lawn for the Wiz's 80th, while we all wait for Godot to arrive.
Did that explain what he was saying?
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
You skipped the most important factor here: the GOP. For decades already, they've gradually installed a neofascist propaganda machine, with the by now explicit goal to end US democracy and install fascism instead.
The first stones were laid under Reagan, when he switched to neoliberalism, knowing that the founding fathers of that doctrine (invented to defeat the New Deal) already claimed that capitalism is incompatible with democracy.
They've been honest about it for half a century now.
And yet, even today we still imagine that the problem is merely "Trump and his supporters"...
Well said!
Excellent, Paul. Now I understand! Our future is Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Looks like we need to find our Dorothy or, perhaps, IZ! What a Wonderful World that will be!
Thanks for that rationale
Rosenkranz and Guildenstern to the rescue!
Politics is not a spectator sport. You are a player in the game. If all voters do is sit on the bench complaining about their fellow players who happen to be politicians, then voters, and not politicians, are the problem.
I hope that answers your question. If not, then please keep asking.
It's generally not a good idea for politicians to blame the voters when they lose, as you say. There seems to be a widespread problem of voter disillusionment with politics and it's not confined to the US although I would say that it seems to be more pronounced there. I don't think that one can entirely blame the voters for this.
Deep-seated problems can only be resolved with long-term solutions and we need to face the fact that few voters will be prepared to wait years for discernible improvements in their lives and no politician (bound as they are by those pesky election cycles) is going to tell them that they must wait. It only gets worse if voter expectations are raised unreasonably during campaigns, but this sadly is how elections are won.
This is undoubtedly a serious problem. For example, Biden's approach was to secure some bipartisan support for legislation that would secure long-term improvements but none of those improvements would come soon enough to save him, especially when Trump was promising voters an immediate new Golden Age of American prosperity. Trump by contrast has sought desperate short-term gains with wildly inflationary policies - tariffs, mass deportation and war - while being unable either to reduce government spending or to achieve demonstrable improvements in the lives of ordinary Americans. Thus, voter disillusionment has only been reinforced.
When I get into discussions with people that are frustrated with gov't, don't agree with current issues or just want to yell "I'm mad as hell & I'm not going to take it anymore !" I ask ... Did you vote in the last election? I don't ask for whom or what. When they say "no", I say.. "quit your whining."
That does indeed. Wondering why you didn’t you just say that before?
I got lost too
The Citizen Kane Movie of Tomorrow: Citizen Trump
The classic movie Citizen Kane directed, produced, and starred in by Orson Welles will one day in the future, have a remake only this time the main pseudo-fictional character will be Donald Trump. The movie scene will open with a very bloated relic of his former self; uneven orange-smeared makeup slobbed across his face in bed. His overgrown blond hair is found similar to the muss of Boris Johnson’s now showing gray roots from lack of up-to-date hair dye. He periodically wakes from a semi-conscious state at his future dilapidated Mar-a-Lago residence (for lack of having sufficient funds to upkeep the property due to previous constant litigation and losses.) He looks around demanding more Kentucky Fried Chicken wings as low paid personal rush in another bucket and his last word is not “Rosebud” as in the movie Citizen Kane but:
“Stormy.” And the ex 45th president of the United States expires. The camera fades to black then opens at Le Club in the early disco 1970s, a members-only Manhattan nightclub in the East 50s, where models, fashionistas and a variety of Eurotrash (including his wife) went to be seen.
“The government has just filed suit against our company,” said Trump, “saying we discriminated against Blacks. What do you think we should do?”
The Roy Cohn obedient ass-kisser to Senator Joe McCarthy hearings accusing entertainment personalities of being communists shoots back, “Tell them to go to hell and fight the thing in court and let them prove you discriminated against them.”
Roy Cohn has become Trump’s go-to lawyer and fixer.
Cohn admonishes the young Trump to 1. Never settle. Never surrender. 2. Counter-attack, counter-sue immediately. 3. No matter what happens, no matter how deep into the shit you get, claim victory and never admit defeat.
These lessons were found to be the essential attributes of his future self.
And so it was.
(From, "Donald's Vanity Tantrums." )
Hmmm….I thought, Bill, that his last word might be “hamberders”….
Maybe dat, too.
"covfefe."
Might be a good movie, but I think all we need to do is watch the 1941 classic.
Mr. Bernstein (Kane's accountant): It’s no trick to make a lot of money if all you want is to make a lot of money.
I dono why people are so greedy to make money for themselves. I am motivated to make money so I can care for animals
Instead of "Rosebud" or "Stormy," given his madness in making monuments to himself, I 'd go for number ten from "Citizen Kane | 10 Best Quotes " at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s7pxn_u_tk
"...There's a lot of statues in Europe you haven't bought yet.
You can't blame me.
They've been making statues for some two thousand years, I've only been collecting for five..."
We visited Hearst Castle (known formally as La Cuesta Encantada (Spanish for 'The Enchanted Hill') according to Wikipedia), back in the 1980s. I'm surprised he hasn't tried to take it for himself since the article includes, "...the undeveloped character of the area; the setting for the castle which Bernard Shaw is said to have described as "what God would have built if he had had the money.."
I'm sure he would be more fascinated with the castle than the land, though, and want to remake it include to a golf course, add a UFC arena, Indy car race course, and more permanent monuments to himself.
the most important change is to get rid of the $$$ in politics. My God, that there is even 90 million to spend to try to oust an opponent is disgusting. think if what that $ could be used for, healthcare, Infrastructure, schools.
America is constantly in election cycle, how do you get anything done for the people? You don't
It’s partly because the US has rigidly fixed election time tables. In Canada (Westminster parliamentary system) politicians can call elections any time. They must call one within five years. Campaign cycles are short, a month or so.
The US seems to be always campaigning.
it's ridiculous how much time is attributed to constant campaigning for $$ when there's obviously enough $ to fo thst then there ought to get thst $ available to invest in projects for the ppl. A wealthy country but you wouldn't know it when you see the poverty in rural areas. Heartbreaking
"America is constantly in election cycle, how do you get anything done for the people?"
By making sure that “capitalism in name only” (aka “unfettered free enterprise”) is the first one up against the wall when the revolution comes.
For the record, real capitalism is based on Adam Smith’s theory of moral sentiments (1759) and capitalism in name only is based on Milton Friedman’s theory that getting rid of morality makes capitalism a lot easier for rich people (1962).
I blame not enough voters *paying attention* and then committing to vote.. We will see in November. The internal coup, the lawlessness and malfeasance, the misuse of power, both internally and in foreign affairs is obvious enough. We have been reaching past a tipping point when representatives should be in 5 alarm mode- doing more to save our democracy. Voter denial, selfishness, depression, giving up tuning out, should have turned the corner to feeling the need to act as they feel the heat more. But maybe not enough heat is felt. We have to hit bottom. This letter is designed to let us know how much thieving and corruption is going on. It needs to be loudly repeated elsewhere. Or as Trump said himself "you are not going to have a country anymore". he is daring us. He is showing us what he can get away with.
is it time to make voting mandatory?
That's a thought. How would that work?
Australia does it. Not sure how it works. Perhaps if you don't vote you get a fine of some sort. I would think it should be a substantial fine so that ppl don't disregard it.
Question is..wld mandatory voting make a smarter electorate? or will ppl just show up and vote and select anyone just for the sake of not getting fined. Important thing is we MUST engage the electorate, the taxpayer to make them fully understand what's at stake when one doesn't vote. I've never missed any vote from the day I was eligible to vote. I just understood it to be my civic duty. No parent or teacher told me to. But I do know politics was often talked about in my house growing up.
What are we showing him? He’s standing us up at the gates of hell but we won’t back down.
We are not showing him enough resistance to stop him. In fact he will not be stopped. He has to be removed. What he is showing us is something about this country. We purport to be a representative democracy. We are a country of laws. And beyond that we are a country of all the people and what we have striven to mean by that. Trump, who is mentally off is nevertheless showing us something about us, about what he can do, what people of ill will can do using him or working with/for him. He is showing us something about ourselves, about humanity (we are not unusual) and how difficult the founding ideals of this country are, how the system we have is inadequate if we do not participate- that we can fail. We can fail if we do not participate. Trump and the wall of protectors/criminals/liars/sycophants around him are showing us that..If we are informed and participate I believe we can prevail. We are not there yet. I think HRC's letters are aiming to alarm us and they do. She is not making this up. She is putting this in our faces, focussing on the threat. We should be alarmed... not only showing it here.
It's very clearly the voters. People have no political literacy at all anymore, including on the left.
How long did it take for Ukrainians to acquire political literacy? The process began on February 24, 2022, and ended before anyone went to bed that evening.
What do you mean by that?
By the way, Ukraine is a young democracy, so by definition not comparable to the US.
An update from a NYTimes/Siena poll today reported that 43% of voters are “double haters,” with 2/3 of voters under 30 dissatisfied with both parties.
In more upsetting news, 30% of voters are satisfied with Republicans and dissatisfied with Democrats, while only 23% are satisfied with Democrats and dissatisfied with Republicans. Only 4% of voters are satisfied with both parties. I interpret that as a significant reduction on the core of “strong Democrat” support, versus a small decrease in this measure of MAGA core. The questions in this poll and the Pew poll were asked differently so it is not comparing apples to apples. But this is not a healthy trend. Disaffected voters don’t show up, and there are a lot of disaffected Democrats despite the huge No Kings rallies. Disaffected voters stop listening to political news, any political news from any type of outlet.
In the survey, dissatisfaction was felt most acutely among Democrats. Forty-four percent said they were unhappy with the Democratic Party, compared with about a quarter of Republicans who said the same of the Republican Party.
But as American politics becomes more polarized, the parties risk alienating the electorate. A majority of dissatisfied voters want the Democratic Party to move toward the ideological center, while a staggering 90 percent want the Republican Party to move away from Mr. Trump.
Eighty percent of dissatisfied voters said the economic and political system needed major changes or to be torn down entirely, and 77 percent said the economic system was generally unfair.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/29/polls/dissatisfied-voters.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/21/us/politics/poll-democrats-midterms-house-senate.html
We need to stop looking at this as Dems vs Repubs. It is democracy we are fighting for, our right to free and fair elections, equal rights for all.
We need to begin to set up and enforce rules to end the corruption of a few soon to be trillionaires while the rest of us eat cake. Enough already.
There's a certain amount of flattening in a poll that uses "satisfaction" and "dissatisfaction" to measure public opinion. I'm certainly not satisfied with Democrats, but it pales when I contemplate what Republicans have done in this last administration.
Georgia, in outline form, I think the reason may be described as "Part 1" and "Part A."
Part 1: Voters elected Donald because, although he is actually weak, he has always projected the image of a fighter. Voters want someone who will fight for them, and Democrats have a "kum ba yah" reputation, which voters find unappealing.
Part A: The vast majority of voters, if they pay attention at all, depend on Corporate Media – especially television – for their political information. Corporate Media's only pursuit is revenue, derived from advertising, priced by audience share. Journalistic integrity is not relevant in the mission.
In pursuit of audience share, Corporate Media's attention is drawn to Donald's outrageous actions and pronouncements, not to mention his sympathy with Corporate Media's owners. So while there are plenty of Democrats fighting for their constituents, they do not get attention from Corporate Media, which means the vast majority of voters never hear about the Democratic fighters. Very much the tree-falls-in-the-forest-does-it-make-a-sound situation. Corporate Media is becoming irrelevant, but not fast enough.
I agree that both issues are contributing factors. but this has been going on for years while Democrats have actively undercut younger members of the party who were advocating for change.
Democrats are repeating the mistake again at this very moment. “Trump is so awful now, his base is crumbling, they are finally realizing how bad he is. We will win.” It looks like we are actually facing a “pox on both your houses.” moment yet again. The only way that changes is with sustained individual face-to-face outreach and by listening to what people say and then talking about what anti-authoritarians can do over the next two years to change the political landscape and address voter concerns.
From your mouth to you know whom ears Barbara.
What comes around goes around Barbara? It's all become such a dangerous circus.
Oh, yeah, Chris….democracy slip sliding away… It’s hard to fight fire with fire if it also makes you an arsonist, so I hope that cooler Dem heads prevail, tho’ there might be an itchy trigger finger wanting to test the “new rules”. What I DO hope to see is some tightening of the rules/regs, as in passing legislation to deal with actions that blow past the accepted boundaries. Not that “boundries” and even laws have been kept in check during this admin. Sigh….
He's taken 10 years off of my life so I don't think I'll see the end of this.
Barbara, after what we are going through, I doubt if we attain control of the government, there will be any speeches of thanks to the death star regime.
Yeah...So it is proven that going high when they go low does not work with criminals. They depend on the rest of us staying high and using the law and what tools we legitimately have that they have gamed. Hands are tied, so to speak, wanting to basically maintain our democracy. We are trying maintain our basic structure, what we have built for 250, and go forward not by helping them to dismantle it to become a totalitarian/authoritarian or fascist state- whatever you call it. As you say this is tempting. But we must do this by not going for vengeance as is being done, but by using their criminal lawlessness as evidence of what needs to change. That can only happen AFTER we as a majority, like those before us in history, legitimately turn over and rid ourselves decidedly of this Trump Crime Organization and their affiliates amongst us in leadership and power roles. Another coup like this one for "our side" (as if it this existential threat is a matter of sides) will destroy us completely and we will be back to pre-enlightenment or starting all over again lest we want to rewrite the Constitution. WE are not that wise and need the wisdom of our forefathers to add to make a more perfect union. At the moment it is hard to change so profoundly legitimately. This is a problem. We are so divided.
So It's not about alternative views to simply tolerate as many of us have thought ( our credo = toleration), looking back, but about now knowing the origin and evolution of these destructive forces upon us and calling it dangerous, bad, threatening us existentially.
Simply put--The forces of destruction have taken cover and are operating every day under the hermit crab shell of the Republicans, legitimately, only with the help of the voters of the last election..and are operating within it. We must start there while we can.
Sometime ago, Potter, I discovered this research/publication done by the Pell Center’s Nationhood Lab…a part of Salve Regina University. It helped me understand some of the root causes of the country’s divisions in a depth I hadn’t known/considered before. See what you think: https://www.nationhoodlab.org/a-balkanized-federation/
I listened to Heather's interview with J.B. Pritzker, and I found my answer on what to do for today. No shrieking required.
Pritzker is someone who can lead us out of this craziness.
He has an impressive list of accomplishments that qualify him for the job: helping the people of his state after a Republican governor gutted state institutions, his fiscal savvy, his focus on accountability, his fidelity to the rule of law, his to-do list of what we need to do first after winning the midterms, his clear, plain speaking, his ability to be truthful about the limitations we will face even if we gain majorities in both houses of Congress, and his ability to project steady resolve and hope.
He hit the answer to the question of why he, a billionaire, chose government service out of the park.
On a personal note, there is one practice that I rely on when frustrated and overwhelmed. I follow Melody Beattie's advice in her book Journey to the Heart. I ask the universe (or God, if you prefer) for an answer, or at least inspiration. The answers almost always seem to appear, often unexpectedly, and almost never from the direction I was thinking along. The day's essay frequently directly addresses the underlying issues and stressors I am experiencing.
The book is written with a short essay for each day of the year. They are great prompts for journaling or meditation. I use a Kindle edition so I can write responses for each day in a sidebar. I am on my third time through. It is helpful to see where there has been growth and what continues to need work.
In these soul-crushing times, we all need to find something that helps us maintain balance and hope. This is what most helps me.
Pritzker Interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2VBz5oqt2w
(written within substack app__may be the problem)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2VBz5oqt2w
(edited outside the app. Both worked for me.)
You know Georgia, I second that choice. He is plain spoken. Genuine. From the mid-west. A uniter not a divider. I hope he is in good health I worry about his weight. We need to stop seeking messianic messengers. I hope he catches on. In 2015, the senator from Ohio I plain forgot his name but he lost to Vance and now is running again, made overtures to running and I dished off a letter to him offering to be a volunteer from CT. If he had run, become president, we would be in a whole lot better place today.
J. D. Pritzker I’m in.
Sherrod Brown served as a senator from 2007 to 2025 when he lost to Bernie Moreno, the car salesman turned politician. Take a look at the "wage-theft" lawsuits that Moreno was under due to his "shredding" employee "overtime-payment records. Brown has never run against Vance. Vance stepped down from his senator position when he was named vice-president. Brown is running against John Husted who Governor DeWine appointed to Vance's vacant seat. Before that Husted was Ohio's lieutenant governor under DeWine. We all have to remember that under DeWine's governorship we had the First Energy bribery/money-laundering scandal in the tune of 500 million dollars and Ohio citizens are paying for that with increased utility bills. Now, we're dealing with AI centers wanting to take land and resources to power their behemoth data centers. Originally, DeWine and Ohio's house and senate allowed tax breaks they estimated at around 350 million for the construction of AI centers. However, that number is approaching 1.6 billion. That is lost tax revenue yet we, the ordinary citizen, continue to pay some pretty high property tax rates whereas the AI data centers are being subsidized to build. There was a pause put on the subsidies for now but those that are already built or being built at this time will still receive numerous subsidies. Now, we have a pharmaceutical/tech billionaire running for governor and he's all for those behemoth data centers. Yes, the guy who tried to make the Knicks win a campaign stop for himself. Glad they didn't allow it. I wish the people of Ohio would wake up!! Too many don't research and just check it because it has an "R" beside it. I also think Pritzker is a great guy as are many other governors who have made it through this "shit" show of an administration.
And Husted IS neck-deep in the First Energy corruption scandal! If Ohio weren't THE Most Corrupt State in the Union, Husted would be in the cell next to former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, where he AND DeWeenie BOTH belong!
I think Florida may have Ohio beat on the corruption since that's where Mar-a-Lago is. However, they all seem to run in the same group.
Sherrod Brown
Ohioan here. Brown lost to Moreno. Vance defeated Tim Ryan, former House Rep from Youngstown. Ryan didn't run a good campaign; the Moreno 'win' will forever haunt Ohio.
Daniel, I worked with the Dems in Ohio from 2007 off and in doing small volunteering and very nice people the best run was Obama ‘s , Clinton’s were a bit aware of what was happening in terms of so many males I talked to wanting to vote for Trump. The Tea Party had a big hold in Ohio . The last election was just not managed well and I stopped in frustration. The young people were great it was something that have still seen at times recently just gaps and cracks and not blanket coverage. This seems to finally be changing here where I live . There is much more coordination and lots of people involved from all over.
Sherrod.
Gov Pritzer has some baggage on Israel. He had been a AIPAC board member and donor to Israel lobbying groups. Currently, he is trying to distance himself from his past positions by criticizing AIPAC and showing more support for Palestine.
But it’s a concern for me and may well be for other voters.
Well you need to know the history of Palestine and Israel and Zionism. Dr Gabe Mate does a fine job of explaining it all. I am not surprised the governor was involved . Even Dr Mate was part of that thinking and acting in earlier years. Let’s see what and how he does now. It is horrible when your people commit atrocities . And I think to be brutally honest all human groups and sects have committed atrocities against other groups or sometimes their own people. We have finally reached a zenith in understanding that we as a human civilization need to change and create new paths. All are hands are stained. The issue is apology and amends and they have to spoken and done with true clarity and emotion. As we now see insincere apologies mean nothing and actually continue the severe damage that was created.
Thanks for this thoughtful comment.
I'll check out Dr Gabe Mate. Thx
Wendy, it seems that you are already heading in the right direction, so I'll affirm that.
The difference between brilliant people and ignorant people is: brilliant people remain open to new information; that often causes them to modify positions or beliefs they previously held. Ignorant people do not admit new information, which causes them to cling to outdated beliefs.
We should not expect Republicans to admit new information; clinging to the past is the very definition of "conservative." We should expect Democrats to admit new information and modify their beliefs. Unfortunately, many disappoint us and we end up with "purity tests."
I have been skeptical of Pritzker, of the opinion that an extremely wealthy person cannot understand or relate to someone of average means. But he keeps demonstrating through his actions that he does relate to average people and that the rule of law is more important than his personal enrichment.
A great example is another leader from Illinois, Barack Obama. In 2004, he was opposed to same-sex marriage, probably resulting from his religious instruction. He admitted new information and by 2012, was a staunch supporter of same-sex marriage.
The saying goes that we should not let the perfect be the enemy of the good (or very good). Openness to changing an learning and being principled are important qualities - perhaps most.
We need to allow people to change their positions if they are real and not finger in the wind opportunistic. People learn and too events change, awaken, people. So what is your concern?
This YouTube video is not in English when I click the link within Substack. When I copy/paste the link into a browser outside of Substack, it works just fine.
I’m deep into chump derangement syndrome. Have been since his blather about Obama’s Birthplace
I've been in that since Trump Air. I was in the airlines at the time and it was a punch line in the off limits areas of the airports.
Georgia, I HAVE sounded like a lunatic, I am sure! Some days, I can't make phone calls, or can just do one or two, as (just as I can feel the tightness in my chest as I read the Letter) I am physically unable to do so.
I am SO GRATEFUL for this forum, as I know Megan will post this list daily; someone whose strength is greater than mine is fighting for our democracy; someone coming off a day or two of rest will carry the banner that I lack energy to do so today.
Today is my husband's 70th birthday. We'll have family and friends come tonight to bbq and celebrate a very good man. Today, the fight has to wait another day for me.
Thank you everyone who IS able and WILL make calls today. You people are awesome, which is why I have started to welcome each new face to the forum.
Happy birthday to your husband!
The only way we will survive this is to keep striving for balance in our lives so we have the energy and incentive to keep going. When we don’t take the time to recharge, we just go slower and slower and get stuck mentally and physically. Clarity of thought requires sleep and time away from screens and engagement with living things. It requires a fresh perspective and periodic injections of joyfulness and silliness and goofiness as Heather and Joan demonstrate every Saturday morning. I rely on Beattie’s book because it reminds me of that daily. Without that grounding and preparation for the day ahead, I don’t accomplish as much; I feel like I am spinning my wheels.
Sometimes the best resistance is to not allow the evil of this regime to cast a cloud over our joy. Don’t give it to them.
Enjoy the birthday celebrations. A break from the political grimness. 🎂🥂
Georgia, amen to that!
Same here, Georgia!
Georgia, what you said.
For sure the three plans are in play plus, otherwise I can't explain why they don't care being so unpopular Georgia, they have plans already to prevent a real midterms election. Whether they declare a state of emergency based on a bogus situation or they openly cheat blaming the other part. Then it's going to be bloody.
Just read that Peter Thiel is moving to Argentina and is making deals with Javier Milei. I wonder if Thiel will get Millei to set up a clone of Prospera, Thiel’s autonomous area that the Trump-pardoned drug lord and former President of Honduras set up for him—essentially a private fiefdom with no government oversight.
Argentina welcomed a lot of escaped Nazi collaborators back in the day.
Trump recently signed a trade deal with them and OK’d a $20B currency swap to support their economy. I would think that could be enough to secure a safe haven and freedom from extradition for Trump and his family.
Maybe Saudi and the Emirates are not as welcoming to Trump as they once were before being attacked by Iran.
The corruption is so relentless and so enormous that you cannot keep track. How much oil from Venezuela did Trump gain control of after he captured Maduro??? I have forgotten….
Georgia, key phrase in your comment is “ you cannot keep track”. Hopefully, some is doing so in order it prosecuted in the near 🤞future every single illegal act that is coming from this regime.
I am sure someone is at Law Dork or Joyce Vance’s operation or Harry Littman. But unless you stay focused on a single category of the chaos, it is impossible to keep track. Too much is going on, and the flood the zone strategy is meant to keep the sewage floing fast and continuously.
Georgia, I've never thought Donald would flee to the Middle East, or Russia for that matter. The climate and terrain in those places are too inclement for a spoiled old coot. The natural environment in South America is far more hospitable to a feeble old duffer.
The evil is mind blowing. And people vote for these guys! I don’t get it.
Read the Rational League Substack to understand why the MAGA core is unwavering and still growing.
https://therationalleague.substack.com/p/you-are-not-talking-to-their-reasoning
It might be that Thiel it's the first rat to abandon ship before it sinks all the way. I'm sure many others have contingency plans Georgia. Maybe they read the leaves and don't want to be te last to guarantee a place in a friendly land other than Russia. Sorry for late reply.
a good sign then
Me too!
Let’s hope they flee to Russia. In the meanwhile, let’s make Trump testify in court about his claims and let’s drag out the trials for months—Trump style.
https://the-projects.org/influence-index/
Look into this to see if any of your representatives might not be so compromised they would do their job amazing collection of data.
The in your face corruption & criminality is a badge of honor?
Bring on a Blue Tsunami!
“It’s an excellent bet that future books and films made about the Trump Era will begin with an image of the White House this week. The world-famous Rose Garden has been replaced with a patio that looks like one at Mar-a-Lago. The East Wing is rubble. And on the sweeping South Lawn, right outside the front door of the White House, construction is underway on a massive Ultimate Fighting Championship arena for cage matches to be held on Trump’s 80th birthday.”
Both the symbolism and the irony in that first paragraph sure hit hard…
The triumph of trash — in taste, people, gardens, architecture, statecraft. Hillbilly blended in equal parts with French Second Empire and Kitsch. Retch-inducing.
The people's house is a term he apparently chooses to ignore. Seeing the hole where our East Wing was shocked me to my core. The chutzpah was stunning.
Thank you for the right words to describe the don’s “taste.” I refused to try. Too sickened. Last night made myself look long and hard at the “arch.” Liberty with wings! Maybe one of the marvelous sculptors who get “religiously” torn down asap could do one with Liberty blushing.
Dictator Chic
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/03/trump-style-dictator-autocrats-design-214877/
Mebbe it’s a Dri-umpf.
Very well worded.
I wouldn't be counting my chickens on this just yet. After all, Trump still has another 967 days to complete his second term and Heaven only knows what mayhem he will inflict on US civil society in that time. There is an apocryphal story that when asked about the impact of the French Revolution, Chinese premier Zhou Enlai said that it was too early to tell. This seems to me a more considered approach for a historian to take even though it is tempting to conclude now, with reasonable certaintly, that no responsible historian in the future will have anything positive to say about Trump's two terms in office.
There was a mix up in translation according to American diplomat and interpreter Chas Freeman ( bit of a fascinating character I'd like to flesh out more of what I remember about him), with Zhou Enlai thinking Kissinger meant the 1968 student uprisings in Paris. Though I dislike AI, the quick view is very much as I remember it.
I asked the later portion of your line about the apocryphal story and got:
"...That famous anecdote is actually the result of a legendary translation mix-up. [1, 2]
During Richard Nixon's historic trip to China in 1972, Henry Kissinger asked Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai for his assessment of the 1789 French Revolution. Zhou famously replied, "Too early to say" (often quoted as "Too early to tell"). [1, 2]
However, American diplomat and interpreter Chas Freeman, who was present during the exchange, later clarified that Zhou was entirely confused by the question. [1, 2]
• What Zhou actually meant: Zhou thought Kissinger was asking about the recent 1968 student uprisings in Paris, where French students and laborers had practically shut the country down. The students frequently compared their actions to the 1789 Revolution. In that context, saying "too early to say" was simply a pragmatic response to ongoing, unresolved civil unrest. [1, 2]
• The myth: The Western media seized on the misinterpreted quote, viewing it as a profound, philosophical statement about China's ability to take the "long view" of history. Freeman called the misunderstanding one that was "too delicious to invite correction", allowing the convenient myth about Chinese statesmen thinking in centuries to stick in mainstream parlance. [1, 2, 3]..."
That last line, "Freeman called the misunderstanding one that was "too delicious to invite correction", allowing the convenient myth about Chinese statesmen thinking in centuries to stick in mainstream parlance," was just the first clue that Freeman would a person worth listening to. I can't find a reference to some other points he made that I thought should have received more attention during, I believe, the 1st year of the Iraq misadventures.
Chas Freeman was interviewed frequently on Christopher Lydon's RadioOpenSource
https://radioopensource.org/?s=chas+freeman&x=0&y=0
I'm curious to understand when Zhou said this. Was it during the Long March, The Great Leap Forward, The Cultural Revolution or Nixon's visit?
It was during the 1972 Kissinger conversation with Zhou Enlai.
Thank you.
Perhaps the Trump/Epstein mobile reading room will be parked right outside the White House.After DC it is headed to Palm Beach….hopefully right outside Mar-a-Lago.
“In just 16 days, nearly 10,000 New Yorkers walked through 3,437 bound volumes of the Epstein files in a Tribeca gallery. The NYC run is complete — next stop, Washington, DC.”
https://trumpsonian.us/rr#next-stops
Indeed it did
The dumbing down of America, starting with the White House. At least the cage match arena is temporary- or is it?
Nah. It's just like the arenas the Romans built. You can expect "illegal" immigrants to be fed to the lions soon.
I’m not sure why HCR is forcing on what we already know has been done and not focusing on the warnings of Brandy X Lee and other prominent psychiatrists. Instead of focusing on further books why isn’t HCR focusing on paying attention to the warnings medical professionals are giving.
HCR has been keeping the beat up about Trump's mental state- illness. What are you referring to?
Agreed. I'll keep saying it: it's narcissism that will be the end of human civilization.
Word has likely gotten around that per Gavin Newsom suggested California's solution to the slush fund payouts is to tax the proceeds at 100%.
Seems like a good way to purge the insurrectionists and Trumpian thugs and grifters from blue states. Plus it makes the red states look corrupt.
Which the Red States are in that their leadership is complicit with Trump, who is the corruption king.
Why not 200% tax on them plus damages redirected to the real victims of their crimes?
As long as we let Trump stay in office.
Each day I am not surprised, but I am shocked by the corruption of Trump. Part of the shock is the American acceptance of his bad behavior. There seems to be a stupor with people not knowing what to do, at least not legally.
At this point Trump seems to be the most corrupt president that we have ever had. We have given presidents a lot of leeway in the past, and it has been a mistake. Trump is banking on that and running away with it, particularly as the election comes closer and he gets more desperate. We need to stop him.
If you are a US citizen or have US residency, would you please read my piece explaining the Free Speech for People campaign to impeach Trump AND his cabinet and help them get 2 million signatures by signing the petition in it? https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/indivisible-abroad-supports-the-impeach?r=f0qfn
If you can't find the link to the petition in the above piece, here it is. Just scroll down and you will find it.
https://www.impeachtrumpagain.org/
The people we have elected are not doing their job. They took an oath to uphold the constitution. They are responsible.
Vote every.single.one.OUT.
BTW Linda, I looked up TX voting percentage in 2024 -
Per Wikipedia-
61.15% (of registered voters) Decrease5.58 pp)
49.65% (of voting age population)
Approximately 11, 388,000 people voted in 2024 for President in TX.
And Paxton received less than 5% of the registered votes in TX the other night.
Yes. I remember looking it up for the last election and I noticed it was higher than when I had looked it at the time before Covid that our friend had told us this about Texas.
I had gotten voting rates from some other source, could have been texas papers, where they really were like 14%.
Here is a historical voting rates since 1970s.
https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/historical/70-92.shtml
Look at 2018 Primary, 7.70% of voting age population voted.
Texas has been very good at disenfranchising voting age people of color especially outside of the major cities.
They should have federal funds withheld until they meet certain voting quotas. I say 95%. Let them make effort to get federal funds, or run on Texas funds alone. I am not clear why minorities stay in states like Texas, except that they don't have any idea where else to go and what to do. Inertia.
This survey reports 11% of respondents have never left the state they were born. And over 40% have never traveled outside the US.
How much richer are our lives Linda, because we have interacted with people from all over the world? We are very fortunate indeed.
https://yourmileagemayvary.com/2025/10/12/survey-percentage-of-americans-whove-never-flown-traveled-outside-their-birth-state-owned-luggage-more/
Home is where the heart is. Having lived in purple TX, I understand the appeal. Have you eaten Tex-Mex? Sixty years later to think of guacamole chalupas makes me salivate. (Apologies if that’s Mexican, but as I made them, think of them as Tex-Mex.)
Why not.
I am not shocked but upset every time I read someone (here included) commenting that we have 2 and a half years of this to go. I don't expect Trump to stay in office that long one way or another party because he is also helping his own demise, digging in. That depends on people feeing it. I am so disappointed in our electorate. We should be well aware now what is happening and what is sure to happen because the T Crime Organization is moving fast and they are doing it publicly, brazenly. I sometimes think maybe we are living in the bubble, not them. The polls??
People are programmed to vote for Republicans because they almost genetically cannot vote for Democrats (or independents) and are *still* not paying attention enough to join the resistance, to understand the existential situation. So whereas I complained that people are talking too much about inflation and the cost of gas as being the issue ("kitchen table"), now I think those very issues are moving people. Okay so be it. It's not bad enough yet to get the masses we need. We are not moving fast enough even though Trump is helping. It's disappointing.
commenting for the BUMP. May you have an amazing WEEKEND MEGAN and READERS!
WSJ placed a front page photo & text of Trump's ultimate distraction under the Headline:
“The White House Lawn Becomes the [‘Ring of Power’] “for a temporary octagon 🛑 cage for mixed martial arts on the White House South Lawn.”
The WSJ article was not hyperbole. A photo of he White House building & grounds that will be taken on June 14, 2026 will record a bizarre tableau. Per the WSJ, “Several 6/14/26 UFC martial events will be staged there on Trump’s 80th Birthday".
Beyond sick farce.
to quote a commentator here trump is the President Gimme,Grift, Graft and Grab'em
And once again, you can blindly see HCR's commitment to be a balanced newsworthy individual always demonstrating both sides of the story other than one side completely lol. Even look at her links. I have personally been suspicious, just suspicious that she reads a story from a link or two or three reword the story using the same assumed factual information post it in her own words and then uses the link to support her post.
I just love that. It looks so surreal to me and I have to laugh every time. I see something like that.
The best thing is when Trump has a major win that everybody recognizes, including even some of the left-wing TV stations and networks and online publications
And then she has the audacity to think she fools anybody by talking about the Lakota Indians, or Custer's last stand or something around Abraham Lincoln's time as president It's just so laughable, but she has so many gullible lemmings that she makes tons of money doing it so I don't blame her.
And remember, the slush fund is NOT about paying the J6 people. It is about setting the strong perception for thousands more like them that doing that same thing in 2027 and 2029 will be handsomely rewarded as long as Trump stays in power. It’s like ICE on steroids.
I definitely agree that is one of the intentions of the fund.
Trump is not in power. He simply the president of the United States so nice try. Biden and Obama were more empowered than Trump.
Biden decided on his own to open the border and then lie about it, and Obama decided to open a insurance program that was destined to fail and was riddled with subsidies that we're going to expire and only 16% of the American population was interested. It was his first attempt at socialize medicine and it failed miserably two ready
You've been watching too much FOX News.
Fox News is certainly included in my watching because it’s one of the only right leaning news networks. Sanctuary policies and what does he do in the stations only the right leaning news stations on the networks.
And by the way, Fox News Has 14 of the top news programming of all the stations and number 15 The first left leaning program that’s leading in viewership Rachel Maddow. Look it up yourself and realized that you’re in the minority pal And you’re welcome to stay there
Do you know how much viewership on CNN and MSNBC dropped right after the election last year? Fox News I just read just now has twice and I wanted to confirm it the viewership of CNN and MSN combined
The White House Has Become Mar-a-Lago With Subpoenas
Apparently, the White House is no longer the people’s house. It is now a luxury event venue with prosecutorial services, family investment opportunities, and a cage fight scheduled on the lawn.
The Rose Garden has been remade into a patio fit for a private club. The East Wing has been reduced to rubble. The South Lawn, once a symbol of civic dignity, is being prepared for Trump’s 80th birthday spectacle. Nothing says “constitutional republic” quite like watching democracy get body-slammed between rounds of applause.
But the gaudy makeover is not the distraction. It is the thesis.
Trump has always understood politics as a real estate deal with bad lighting and worse ethics. Institutions are not sacred trusts. They are assets. The presidency is not a public office. It is a brand extension. The Justice Department is not supposed to uphold the rule of law. It is supposed to know who the landlord is.
That is why the physical transformation of the White House matters. The architecture is confessing what the administration will not say plainly: the republic is being rezoned for mixed-use grift.
A patio for spectacle. A Justice Department for revenge. A family office for enrichment. A law firm for intimidation. And somewhere, perhaps in a basement broom closet, a faded little plaque still reads, “We the People.”
The UFC arena is not the metaphorical low point. It is the operating manual. This is government by domination, grievance, and television lighting.
The White House has become Mar-a-Lago with subpoenas.
And the cover charge is the rule of law... https://essayx.substack.com/
Michael, we've already seen Donald's proud social media boasts about his turning the Lincoln bathroom into an HGTV lavatory. The question is, what other demolition to the White House interior is going on that we can't see?
Thank you Megan!
Entities are also manipulating elections. As voters we can change how politics is being run. Waiting for Citizens United to end will not work. Why would a politician turn down millions from PACS if it would get them elected? The politicians will not vote to end Citizens United. Only we can purge the Democratic Party of the centrist elite who, through the past 11 years, capitulated time and again and helped us get where we are today.
Younger voters especially are in revolt. They are analyzing candidates beyond the blue label and choosing less PAC beholden people who will be free to follow the mandates of the people once elected. The web of AIPAC in our politics is frightening. Wonder why we are in a war? AIPAC owned politicians got us here. This includes both parties.
Can we please get Israel out of our politics in America?
https://substack.com/app-link/post?publication_id=2325511&post_id=199674645&utm_source=post-email-title&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=dv3vh&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoyMzI4NjM2NSwicG9zdF9pZCI6MTk5Njc0NjQ1LCJpYXQiOjE3ODAwNTMzMTEsImV4cCI6MTc4MjY0NTMxMSwiaXNzIjoicHViLTIzMjU1MTEiLCJzdWIiOiJwb3N0LXJlYWN0aW9uIn0.zEOLVzC8fR1t9ruVFypI8NnjTCc2nQuLe7HyH_tbmz0
"AIPAC’s Most Hated 2028 Democratic Contenders, By the Numbers
You can tell a lot about someone by the enemies they attract. When you look at Democrats floated as possible contenders for the 2028 presidential nomination, very few have attracted the ire of the Israel lobby.
As the public has grown increasingly outraged by the genocide Israel has committed in Gaza with U.S. tax dollars, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, has scrambled to shore up support. It’s an effort that has involved dumping millions into elections across the U.S., using opaque super PACs to disguise such spending, and lobbying to curtail free speech. It has also fueled a very active presence on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter."
Hey Megan, try to be honest for a. What do you think Biden did when he manipulated between eight and 20 million people to cross the border illegally and do nothing about it.? and if you don’t answer correctly, you’ve destroyed anything that’s left of your credibility
Here's a possible letter to cut and paste if you're pressed for time:
Dear Senator,
I am your constituent writing to express concern about reports that taxpayer funds may be distributed through executive actions or settlement agreements without clear congressional authorization or oversight.
I recognize that political disagreements are inevitable, and I am not asking you to take sides in partisan disputes. Rather, I am asking you to defend Congress’s constitutional role in controlling federal spending and ensuring accountability for the use of public funds.
Recent reports have raised questions about the creation of a $1.776 billion compensation fund and whether it was established through lawful congressional authority. If these reports are inaccurate, I would welcome clarification. If they are accurate, I believe Congress has a responsibility to investigate and ensure that taxpayer dollars are being spent according to law.
Regardless of which party holds power, Americans should be able to trust that public funds are distributed through transparent legal processes, not through arrangements that bypass congressional oversight. The same standards should apply to every administration.
I respectfully ask:
• What congressional authorization exists for this expenditure?
• What oversight mechanisms are in place to ensure accountability?
• What steps will Congress take to review the legality and transparency of these actions?
The strength of our republic depends on checks and balances, transparency, and equal application of the law. I hope you will work to preserve those principles.
Thank you for your service and your attention to this concern.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[City, State]
Great work Megan, thanks!
Thank you for this info Megan. Most appreciated!!
Yes ma’am, Megan! Thank you again for providing a resource to stop the madness.
Hmm, great slogans for tee shirts:
1. Speak up!
“Stop this madness!”
2.” Be loud! Trump is dangerous.”
E. Jean Carroll took criminal/rapist Donald to court twice and she won twice.
The two juries ordered Donald to pay her tens of millions, which Donald, who does not believe in law, has been refusing to pay.
But he does believe in law as an instrument to terrorize decent citizens. But this is an old story – criminal/rapist Donald repeating himself. So in order to see behind these repetitions, I’d like to return to something Heather said in hers yesterday.
This, the menace of the southern enslavers in the 1850s, and the emergence of Jim Crow in the 1870s, has appeared – or reappeared – often in Heather’s. History is never past. It abides, as the conceits of the enslavers yet spur billionaires pushing their wealth gap, as Jim Crow conceits further embolden today’s white supremacists, by Republicans killing voting rights of people of color, or by justices of the Long Dong Clarence court protecting today’s dark money.
I’ve also been reading Nabokov’s “Pnin” (first time). His examination of an artist in it also reminds us how, in our looking at what seems simple in front of us may teem with many other vitalities, from air in motion to reflections of light.
And yet we have elites lying to us, denying any roles for the complicated so we see only as simply as they do. These elites may be those like criminal/rapist Donald, who for years indulged spurious lawsuits. They may be those who measure life only by abstraction, commodification, and numbers, or those for whom all questions A)-B)-C)-D) always admit but one correct answer.
For more on elites routinely lying – and damaging many – see Barbara Ehrenreich’s “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America”; Arlie Russell Hochschild’s “Stolen Pride,” Jane Mayer’s “Dark Money,” George Packer’s “The Unwinding,” Diane Ravitch’s “The Language Police,” Sarah Smarsh’s “Bone of the Bone,” Matt Stoller’s “Goliath: The Hundred-year War between Monopoly Power and Democracy,” and Sheldon Whitehouse’s “The Scheme.”
The lawsuits are troubling enough, but the deeper story may be the growing perception that power itself has become untouchable. Trump’s ‘enemies’ face investigations, threats, and litigation, while his family appears free to exploit every opening the system provides. Democracies don’t usually collapse because corruption suddenly appears; they weaken when citizens begin to believe there is no longer any institution capable of holding the powerful to account. That is the part I find most alarming.
Monopolization of money and political power (and historically, the two tend to walk hand in hand) has been humanity's most persistent enemy. Yet corruption has been creeping ever wider and deeper for decades with little organized resistance to it, and the balance of financial and political power shifting from the many to the few. Liberty and justice is a living environment we create and maintain by means of a mutual agreement that however much we may otherwise quarrel or cooperate, there are fundamental human rights and responsibilities to be honored in all circumstances.
In one of his speeches, FDR exposed and named it as " the forces of organized money."
Gregg, when I watch GBH 6:00pm news hr, I’m almost astonished daily by the numbers on the stock numbers’ report:
‘What the F…!?!’ is going on?’ as the numbers rise.
With the ongoing totally unnecessary failed Iran War & the closed Gulf of Homuz,
sky rocking prices of oil(of course profits)see- sawing
on every word that t utters about ‘a deal’,
should I be flabbergasted?
The grift the graft the mendacious mess of the t family and colleagues has made me a stronger person.
Far from passive or confused, I’m amazed at how enraged and focused I’ve become
helped by HCR and each of you with your various strengths and pov. Thank you.
Not only "for decades little organized resistance to it," J L, but virtually zero.
Those who enacted the Powell memo (published Aug. 23, 1971 anonymously) carefully kept to their secretive scheming.
And they correctly knew that if they could first rid schools of humanities, they could blind, anesthetize all their enablers (lawyers, accountants, PR flaks, media types, techies, lobbyists) to awareness of any of the novels, memoirs, histories, essay collections, and other arts in touch with the vast pain these humanly neutered and corrupt were occasioning.
Well said.
A generally uneducated or undereducated public is what I blame for thinking that we could trust a person who has been found guilty for many crimes, many times….Imagine thinking he would provide the leadership necessary to care about anyone but himself!
It is important to remind people that E Jean Carrol’s legal team told the judge as soon as they realized some of her legal fees had been paid by Reid Hoffman. The judge, in turn, told her defense team - WHICH IS THE LAW - Remember that relic? So Trumps team, Todd Blanche I believe was included, had the opportunity to question her on that. They ALSO needed to prove that the jury would have made a decision differently based on that which it was decided BY LAW that it would not have changed or impacted the outcome.
When cases have been decided by juries, under the direction of the courts, and the person found liable or guilty refuses to acknowledge that it is usually THEIR problem. Now, it is OUR problem and an our tax dollars being diverted from crimes against us, our children and our country to settle a personal score.
Trumo is a criminal. He has taken our tax dollars and illegally used them. He has extorted companies to give his loser kids stakes in them. What the fuck does Jr know about defense systems? He’s handing our tax dollars out to his country club buddies. He wanted to assault E Jean Carroll and how dare anyone stop him. He wants to pal around with Epstein…who can question it. And even worse, it wasn’t that Epstein was assaulting underage girls that severed the relationship…it was the fact he was poaching his spa employees.
He’s GROSS. I know Americans have lost their moral compass but not their lust for a buck. So….here it is…he’s picking YOUR pocket.
Thank you for listing these books.
Yeah it’s always good to read anti-American literature. Yikes
There is nothing “anti-American” in these books, unless you consider racism, corruption, grift, and white supremacy “American.”
You obviously don’t live in America. DEI is gone. There is more Jew hating than black hating in America. How’s that? I don’t know where you’re from but it ain’t America so why don’t you just stay where you are and keep your mouth there from embarrassing yourself at every turn
To all you haters AND to all your morons, AND YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE…..who hate for no reason and I mean for no reason…
IF …Donald Trump can pull off this win against Iran and bring Saudi Arabia and the other Arab countries closer together with Israel and Israel closer to them . He will not have pulled off the greatest peace Buy an American president, but the GREATEST PEACE ACCORD IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.
Ricky, you sound like a Trump cheerleader, which is fast becoming a vanishing breed. Your unintentional homonym slip of “Buy an American president” is quite accurate today, as there has never been a better time to purchase a president, as it is today. As Heather has stated several times, “This is the most corrupt administration in the history of the United States.” I’m sure you must agree. If not, please provide factual evidence to the contrary.
And now I just read on further and now I understand you are just a fucking idiot. You just said something about buying Trump are you fucking kidding me what a moron Nobody buys Trump nobody and that’s why he was elected twice A Phenomenally successful businessman With a great family, unlike Biden‘s or Obama’s And I have photos if you’d like them.
And by the way, big B I just mentioned it before he has over 78 million cheer cheerleaders Not to mention that his policies are all working, but I’ll tell you what if you really hate him that much. Send me every single dime that you’ve made in the stock market since Trump has been president for 5 1/2 years. I could use the millions
And in fact, you people are so hateful You can’t even address the plausibility of making a peace deal that would change the the face of the planet. And remove all the hate
I’m not a Trump cheerleader. I’m a policy WONK. AND EVERY ONE OF HIS POLICIES IS WORKING..
BIG B? Let us put you in perspective, dear I would call you tiny hateful be. And that wasn’t my slip. I voice text everything and I voice text so much that I don’t go back and check because it’s not a big deal to me if you want me to fix my orthography go somewhere else. Punctuation capitalization, A lost and dangling participle or ending the sentence with a preposition is meaningless and obviously you were taught nothing in school.
CONTEXT OVER FORM EVERY TIME, CONTEXT, PAL CONTEXT
I voice text everything, and you knew damn well what I mean… So evaluated accordingly. If you want to change the spelling/Do so at your will. And it was not a slipper with the tongue it was a slip of the software
Nice try though pal You wanna know who’s popular right now
On CNN let me give you some stats just so you know what they are
In 2018 Trump’s approval rating With the Republicans was 84% it dipped slightly during Biden’s tenure but right now guess where it is pal exactly where it was then
Now let me share with you The Democrats stance the Democrats popularity right now And their direction
72% of Americans believe that Democrats are headed in the wrong direction 72% While the approval rating of the Democrats is Only 20%. Democrats are seen at this point and what’s worse only 16% of males see the Democrat party is credible right And heading in the right direction
A CNN Poll oooopsie
NOW LET’S SEE HOW GOOD YOU ARE DEALING WITH REALITY
How about 'The Art of the Insider Deal' by Donald J. Trump?
https://apnews.com/article/stock-trading-trump-nvidia-apple-defense-1bd6e661929430892ae8f1eced3e0df8
The law is for “ little people,” not for the God like Felom-in-Chief. He can do whatever the F he wants. Or else
Elites routinely lying? Do you seriously think only “elites” (a term you throw around without the slightest definition or qualification, but with a tremendous display of name-dropping) are the only people who lie? So ”non-elites” tell the truth, then?
It's the particular kind of lying from our rich, our billionaires, and their enablers, ICTT.
The enablers of the elites include most of our lawyers, accountants, PR flaks, media types, techies, and lobbyists -- as is clear from the list of books I also cited.
In my text above I specified "those who measure life only by abstraction, commodification, and numbers" and "those for whom all questions A)-B)-C)-D) always admit but one correct answer." Neither of these two sets of our most clever, or most "rational" ever access any humanities -- they've chosen the dehumanized only, and always stick to the two crippled imaginative ranges I cited. Exactly as did "the best and the brightest" David Halberstam described.
And now, too, they're investing heavily in AI to continue the rule of dehumanization.
And remember ICTT, you, too, shirk any reference to any humanities -- and you keep insisting of the propriety of this imaginative reduction, having learned as you did the poisonous conceit that it's all just meaningless "name-dropping" (ornamentalism, decoration, frivolous extras) as you insist over and over.
As a 46 yr practicing attorney I find your remarks offensive. Your steady diet of obsessive Powell memo and standardized testing gibberish grows boring.
Careerism your only accounting of yourself, Hugh?
Do you know you almost made sense there keep trying though you’ll get it one of these days
Roy Cohn made Trump. The lesson: when threatened, attack. When sued, counter-sue for more. Trump perfected it. Both men are amoral psychopaths—and America is paying the price.
One remarkable remembrance of their relationship: While Roy Cohn was lying in a hospital, dying of AIDS complications, Donald Trump refused to visit him. Mr. Cohn was quoted to say “Donald Trump pisses ice water.”
Big, I remember that quote and have referred to it many times. Trump has and is the lowest of characters. How anyone could consider voting for someone of his character and reputation should be ashamed of themselves.
Mr Balla:
Thank you. That is an amazing summer reading list.
Have you read The Dual State: A Contribution to the Theory of Dictatorship, by Ernst Fraenkel (English edition, The Lawbook Exchange, 2006, 2010), originally published in 1940?
Mr Fraenkel distinguishes between the "normative state," functioning more or less reliably to yield predictable resolution of civil conflicts, and the "prerogative state," which imposes whatever solutions appear to be politically compatible with the interests of the powerful.
Part I, The Legal System of the Dual State, in which Fraenkel reports and critiques a wide variety of appellate-court decisions in Germany following the events of February, 1933, is fascinating, but it is probably a hard slog through detail that many readers will find tiring.
Part II, The Legal Theory of the Dual State, digs deeply into discussion of secular and Christian and communal understanding of "natural law".
Part III, The Legal Reality of the Dual State, clarifies much of the preceding parts, using political and economic terminology that will probably be familiar to anyone who has paid attention in Economics 101 and basic political science courses.
I recommend Mr Fraenkel's frank and lucid first-hand contemporaneous account and analysis to anyone seeking real historical material from the early days of the Third Reich. I also recommend it to anyone seeking or holding judicial office anywhere in the United States.
\Vince S
Thank you, Vincent.
Your summary of Ernst Fraenkel's concerns shows consistency with Heather's. Also sober awareness of how some sets of complicated realities have long ridden along with us, or ridden over us.
You guys are great readers, but not very good thinkers and nobody here seems to be a doer that will support the American people who voted for this president and will try to help him at whatever cost to win for America such as the war right now in the Middle East, while most of the people here are pulling for a loss.
And keep in mind one of the best administrations in recent history was Bill Clinton’s despite the fact that he is still killing 100,000’s or more people every year because of one of his policies. But the only reason that Bill Clinton was successful as he was and he was a good president was because he got together with nude Gingrich and together, they formed an alliance, a friendship a working together, and the motherfuckers on the left side of the aisle right now piss on everything Trump does good or bad. In fact, if half the things that Trump had done was done by Biden, you’d be standing in a parade line cheering fucking hypocrite haters is all you are
Can you explain to me how trump has gotten around his obligation to pay E. Jean Carroll? If he refuses to pay can his assets not be seized? I don't understand it. If there really is no way to make a person pay what they owe legally, then effectively you have no law, and thus, why bother paying for police forces and justice officials?
It’s like the many of you who Who like Phil here likes to judge things that didn’t have an impact on the entire country. Because nobody has an impact on the entire country like a president of the United States, and he only has that impact because it affects everybody in someway, lawfully and meaningfully when he’s president of the United States.
And if you believe the jurors of New York City would have thought any different of their verdict whether they heard the evidence or not you are all fools Democrat, prosecutor In New York City, where 95% of inhabitants, generally speaking are Democrats. Not to mention a case that stayed buried for 18 years until Donald Trump decided to run for office and then whose plaintiff decided to make it public
I mean, it’s almost every day I hear about a woman that’s raped in a dressing room in one of the best department stores in the world It’s a pretty common occurrence, isn’t it? Laughing my ass off
So why wouldn’t we leave this one when it was kept under wraps for so long? They even pulled an ex Attorney General out of the woodwork to have a separate trial for a year and make it public to demean this individual even more And to the public taste, that is the general public, not the hateful publicIt was a meaningless pursuit And rendered nothing And the prosecutor seemed to have died an untimely painful death And in my opinion, most deservingly so
So, pretty much almost everything he’s done as president of the United States has been beneficial and fruitful to the United States His policies have been working near and far. When the hateful predicted recession, depression, stock, market crash, and worse
But I am going to surprise all of you with my next post as to the possibility of revisiting the Epstein files. Stay tuned
To all you haters AND to all your morons, AND YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE…..who hate for no reason and I mean for no reason…
IF …Donald Trump can pull off this win against Iran and bring Saudi Arabia and the other Arab countries closer together with Israel and Israel closer to them . He will not have pulled off the greatest peace Buy an American president, but the GREATEST PEACE ACCORD IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.
This is to Marguerite winkle and I can’t get all right. Can’t see her post, but let me say this. Just so you know, I’ve been here about a year and a half and the first 3 to 4 months I didn’t even get a response let alone a like. But in the past six months, maybe even right around May when I made my first large post about Trump successors to the point time and since then I’ve gotten over 3000 people who sent me like sent me messages how to support and affirmation. And this is a left-wing zealotry site, which has been blinded by hate Trump as if there’s nothing that he can do that’s right, but frankly he’s done almost everything right so far. It’s nice that you responded like that. I’m here for one thing. I’m here for awareness and I have made more than my share of that so people read what they want to read if they hate so much that they can’t read through the truth that’s not my problem. But I’m getting through to a lot of people here who heretofore saw Trump as a king or worse. And almost everything Trump has done since his second term started it’s been a positive for the future of America not just the America of today. And especially be to wish Arab world that will impact the entire world, if they ever get together and work together. Jimmy Carter did it first with Egypt and look there’s been peace between those countries ever cents. Saudi Arabia was about to join the Abraham accord and that’s why Iran irrupt it with her Marcin Hasbulla, and started the war to prevent Saudi Arabia from being able to enter that clocked in at 3D at that time. But it may be coming in as you’ve seen IRAN so mad at its religious brethren that they have received attacks by this rogue nation. If things proceed as Trump has got them on the road to do, there might be a path for Jewish Arab agreement on major topics, which will change the whole tenor of that geographic area end of the world. That’s the impact that Donald Trump could provide and you haters need to see that
Yeah I fell and it was so horrified that he only got 78 million votes for president because e.g. Carol was so full of shit and only in New York jury would’ve done what it did. Don’t you tell your story about how successful he’s been since he’s been president this time in almost every single area that he has been involved in.
God bless the 35 former federal judges. Here's hoping that they and their families stay safe, since the WH family has a reputation of doling out grudges for years to come. May the US protect the judges and have their backs, because they stood in the breach when everything else in the system broke and there was no one left to protect the People, Congress's pocketbook, or our American values.
Do you know Biden’s gone out of office already so you shouldn’t be talking about all of them going after Trump incessantly continually add to no avail. Let’s see two or three fake trials. Degenerative and insulting remarks about him, and his family for no reason
lawsuits from every part of the country against any of us policies, no matter how correct or righteous they are. Two impeachments with no one being questioned, and maybe even removed because of its falsehood. A emboldened January 6 committee that is now shredded all the evidence so they can’t be blamed for the shenanigans
And at least three assassination attempts And you’re praying their families stay safe when they did this for no reason to the president. And that you should understand that the public is so smart, that they actually voted him to be President of the United States twice in alternative terms. Uh oh. Maybe you were wrong
Say what you will, but the federal district court judges have largely been holding the line during this regime's blatant lawlessness (Congress) and judicial takeover attempt (I'm looking at you, SCOTUS). Thank goodness this pillar is holding.
But they get overruled
Not as often as you think, and certainly not as often as the nefarious actors would like. Say what you will...
Sickening - the White House has been trashed by white trash
"Help me before I trash again!!!"
He is out of control to the point there is no phrase that captures how out of control he is. He commits one excessive act of ugliness after another. His 'monuments,' his trashy tacky events venues are now overtaking each other. What must the rest of the world think of a nation that allows him to hold onto the keys to power despite his recklessness?
Indeed.
Look at this commiserating group of morons. It’s like you all holding hands, and some kind of a circle and dancing counter clockwise back to the Massachusetts which days. And you’re not even trying to be subtle about it.
Yeah, his recklessness of trying to stop at 2000 year old war and it’s almost there.. Every single policy has been working for this country. Every single one the economy is going along great there’s enough confidence that the market is just producing new, all-time high, upon new all-time high, upon new all-time high upon new all-time high over 53 weeks and only a year and a half of it being president.
What the fuck up he is. Lololol. You might want to do there is check all the cushions of the couch and then go to your bedside nightstand that little jar with your entire life savings. There you should invested in Trump‘s economy, and when his term is through couple years from now, you will have no choice but to say thank you, Rick I was wrong.
It's so appalling and ludicrous...Just what in the hell is that thing being built? https://people.com/trump-installs-towering-ufc-stage-white-house-11984069
Trump has turned our Nation into some strange amalgam of Orwellian dystopia, Roman Empire in decline necessitating gladiator bloodsport, and oil shocks with potential to cause some Road Warrior calamity with an actual Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome structure right next to the White House!
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheThunderdome
Newsweek's daily poll asked readers if they were going to watch the Trump birthday cage match?
Yes - 0%
No - 100%
But Trump will likely rake in millions off of this.
Maybe another birthday parade for DonOld next year when this falls flat (assuming he is still President.) If it's JD he'll probably have an annual memorial event for Charlie Kirk.
Pray for rain. Or fire and brimstone.
PS: From today's The Guardian: "At least seven of the nine featured musical acts set to play in a concert series organized by the Trump administration to mark the United States’ 250th anniversary have dropped out, within 48 hours of the lineup being announced."
Sadly, though, it is Democrats denigrating working class white folks as trash that got trump elected.
Here in Iowa they've been voting against themselves for years.
Best president of your life.
"To be clear,” the judges wrote, “the parties’ settlement was not, and never will be, legally justified.”
That is a statement by judges who uphold the Constitution and respect legal precedent. The statement does not apply to Republican extremist Supreme Court majorities - who previously installed a president and have now established themselves as king-makers. After the defeat of the Third Reich, German jurists were put on trial for bending German law to the Nazi agenda - sacrificing justice to politics. An independent judiciary is the foundation of democracy.
I was a toddler military dependent that arrived in the Munich area (about 100 miles south of Nuremberg and 35 south of Dachau) right about the time the Judges Trial concluded. My mother used the movie as a major uptick in our continuing lessons on, "don't ever think it can't happen here, and don't become the monsters you are fighting." At 15 and taking high school civics classes like "Problems in Democracy," the timing was very fortunate.
The Dr. Ernst Janning character was supposedly a composite of judges but based more on Franz Schlegelberger than any other, and portrayed a bit more sympathetically (as one who caved a bit on ethics), than Schlegelberger, who to me, stepped so willingly into the cruelty and criminality.
The ethical German example, to me, is Josef Hartinger. His experiences in 1933 at Dachau seem so illustrative of what the mess being created in the new American concentration camps can become. Some of his story that matches what I remember a bit of from other sources is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Hartinger
"...Dachau murder investigations
Following the Reichstag Fire Decree for the Protection of People and State, the Nazis began interning political rivals (KPD and SDP members) in concentration camps. One of the first to open was at Dachau, where detainees were guarded by 70 members of the Bavarian Police force. As chief of police in Bavaria, Heinrich Himmler arranged for the police to be gradually relieved of this duty by the newly-formed private army of the Nazi party, the Schutzstaffel (SS). On March 12, the day after the SS arrived, the State solicitor's office received a report of four deaths among the prison population. As any death in State custody (other than from natural causes) had to be investigated,[1] Josef Hartinger and medical examiner Moritz Flamm were dispatched to Dachau concentration camp.
Camp commandant Hilmar Wäckerle showed them to a spot where the four prisoners were shot while trying to escape into the woods and later to a shed where three of their bodies were piled on the floor. Hartinger berated the guards on the undignified treatment of the bodies before he and Dr. Flamm set about identifying and examining them. They quickly noted that all the dead prisoners (Rudolf Benario, Ernst Goldmann, Arthur Kahn) were Jewish and had been shot at the base of the skull. Erwin Kahn (unrelated to Arthur Kahn) survived the escape shooting but four days later died while under SS guard in hospital. Without challenging the guards on these points, the investigators returned over several days to carefully document the evidence, with Flamm performing autopsies on the four prisoners. Hartinger and Flamm noted many inconsistencies between the injuries on the corpses and the camp guards' accounts of the deaths..."
The deaths in our current detention centers may not be as blatant and deliberate now, but it does seem the deaths will match or exceed some of our earlier misadventure with mass incarceration under deplorable conditions.
ThankYou!
I am going to study your comment and check the links.
May I suggest the graphic novel,
The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt. (Although I am not sympathetic to apologists for Heidegger.)
The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt — Ken Krimstein
.https://www.kenkrimstein.com/the-three-escapes-of-hannah-arendt.
We here in Maine have a real opportunity / responsibility to slow down the GOP ChristoFascist juggernaut. Hungarians showed us how to do it. Unity at the ballot box. But you knew that ; )
GOTV
Be The Blue Wave
I got it and finished it a bit past my normal bed time. I'd already watched the May 14th, 2026 Democracy Now video at https://www.democracynow.org/2026/5/14/the_bund_crabapple
I also got Molly Crabapple's book "Here Where We Live Is Our Country: The Story of the Jewish Bund."
It's complicated as I am learning with an initial look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehi_(militant_group)
"...Lehi was created in August 1940 by Avraham Stern.[2] Stern had been a member of the Irgun (Irgun Tsvai Leumi – "National Military Organization") high command. Zeev Jabotinsky, then the Irgun's supreme commander, had decided that diplomacy and working with Britain would best serve the Zionist cause. World War II was in progress, and Britain was fighting Nazi Germany. The Irgun suspended its underground military activities against the British for the duration of the war.
Stern argued that the time for Zionist diplomacy was over and that it was time for an armed struggle against the British. Like other Zionists, he objected to the White Paper of 1939, which restricted both Jewish immigration and Jewish land purchases in Palestine. For Stern, "no difference existed between Hitler and Chamberlain, between Dachau or Buchenwald and sealing the gates of Eretz Israel."[29]
Stern wanted to open Palestine to all Jewish refugees from Europe and considered this to be the most important issue of the day. Britain would not allow this. Therefore, he concluded, the Yishuv (Jews of Palestine) should fight the British rather than support them in the war..."
I have much to learn, apparently, having once thought they wanted a Jewish state in Europe (with Nazi help).
And here we have another ignoramus posting the reference to Nazi Germany
If your father was smart, when he was sleeping with your mother and found out, your mother was pregnant, I would’ve paid for the abortion. But your mother, who is probably an evil woman thought oh wow, I have Lucifer in my room. At least he’ll be an influence. Lynn most of the time you’re simply eight adversarial voice. But now you have left normal and gone completely wacko. And should in my opinion be put in a straight jacket and confined quarters for the balance of your existence
Cheeto: Narcissistic Ego And Contrarianism
Cheeto carries the unofficial personality disorder diagnosis of malignant narcissism(MNPD) which is made worse by frontotemporal dementia of which he has shown signs with growing concerns
The personality traits of MNPD are sadism where there is blatant disregard for humanity such as when the USAID agency was totally dismantled affecting the lives of millions of people and children(done by DOGE led by Musk another MNPD) Loyalty particularly of the media is necessary due to the paranoia exhibited by the impaired And a aggression as seen in his fatal decision to attack Iran
But one of the more pernicious characteristics of MNPD particularly for a leader of a country is antisocial behavior demonstrated by Cheeto’s blatant disregard for rules, the rights of others, and societal norms which leads to irrational contrarian decision making(https://bit.ly/4dG68bq) Blowing up the JCPOA(Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) which had taken 18mo of diplomatic work by the Obama administration, Cheeto showed everyone his contrarian pathology and now is trying to resurrect the agreement on his own which is now costing the American taxpayers billions of dollars a day The exhibited corruption on full display is characteristic of antisocial behavior
The risks of such contrarian attitudes with aggressive tendencies in a man with the nuclear codes should be concerning for all of Americans and the world The unpredictable nature of his actions make him a dangerous threat to not only the country’s national security but country’s of the world
Unfortunately the country is under the control of a psychopath which affects as WE have seen the entire geopolitical order WE the People are living in perilous times and neither WE nor the Nazi Republicans should normalize this pathological behavior and insist that the media including substack channels start calling this crazy loon who is atop our government for what he is….a crazed demented man with MNPD
Absolutely right. And we are allowing the end of civilization and the world to happen because we allow these malignant narcissists to stay in power: Trump, Musk, Thiel, Altman, Putin, Netanyahu… They will bring everything down just to satisfy their enormous, hollow egos.
These people are so empty, hollow, and souless that no amount of money, power, or hate can fill the depth of the emptiness.
Let me translate your last statement ABOUT USAID all they found there was fraud waste and abuse and now they found another 120 cases of it in Minneapolis 98% have been prosecuted already MILLIONS of dollars have been been discovered as fraud and recently one lady headed up to the billions of dollars And in California, they’re finding the same thing. Or maybe you went to ‘THE LEARING CENTER’. There. Omg. You are obviously one of the most gullible humans on the planet and that’s sad
Hundreds of millions of dollars have been discovered, and these are not even having anything to do with Elon Musk
So keep on ranting in your continual losses.
I JUST LOVE WHEN HATERS CAN’T GIVE IT UP. BECAUSE AT SOME POINT IT ALL ENDS. AND THAT POINT IS COMING SOON TO A REALITY SERIES NEAR YOU
Do you wanna talk about a riot pal then talk about somebody that has weapons in their hand that like buildings on fire that beat the shit out of 1000 police and put them in the hospital and that’s called the George Floyd riots you want to hear about narcissism ego and contrarian there you go.
A police officer got arrested for the death of George Floyd There was a trial to come and people like you who remain blind to reality went out and caused 2 billion 2 billion 2 billion DOLLARS OF DAMAGE AN INJURED 1000 POLICE BURNT DOWN. A POLICE PRECINCT… OCCUPIED BLOCKS OF CITY STREETS FOR WEEKS INTERFERING WITH EVERY LEGAL RESIDENCE RIGHTS
AND YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT 1500 ARMED PEOPLE? One who was illegally shot in the neck at point black range UNARMED. AND AT LEAST SOME JUSTICE WAS GIVEN TO THE FAMILIES WHO WON $5 MILLION FOR WRONGFUL DEATH FROM THE GOVERNMENT
IF YOU WANNA POST SOMETHING PAL, MAKE SURE IT’S TRUTHFUL COMPARATIVE AND PUT THE HATE IN YOUR BACK POCKET
Not a useful comparison just a lazy simple minded attempt at "what aboutism" Foolish but what would you expect from a clown
You see how stupid you are every every single post that you come out with shows your stupidity is even more profound than the previous post. You’re almost at Zero right now and your next post will probably bring you into the negative tally
Donald Trump was elected president by the United States of America electorate two times. Two times and only and only the second time in alternative terms in American history.
And guess why they did that Because they didn’t believe all the bullshit they didn’t believe all the lies. They didn’t believe all the fake trials they didn’t believe the impeachment. They didn’t believe the rape charges. They didn’t believe the indignations that were thrown at this president and his family. They didn’t believe the trial by Robert Muller. They didn’t believe they put down by Biden arresting all of his allies In fact, they did just the opposite… And maybe you’re gonna realize it you’re on the losing end of the deal pal and all you have to do is get behind the winners and you become a winner or you can choose to stay a loser.
Only a moron would continue to support Cheeto and his Nazi regime after seeing what he's done to our democratic government over 18 months Election rigging is what Nazi Republicans do to hold onto power Numerous examples of how they are doing it now eg gerrymandering midterm etc and what they did in order to win by a mere 1.5% of the electorate in 2024 Nazi Republicans cheat
Yeah, well they’re 78 million of us pal and let me tell you now that you said Nazi again. You have proven that you are probably one of the most ignorant human human beings on planet earth Because I would love one day for you to run into a Nazi an actual Nazi and have them do to you what they did to the Jews And I would like to describe it here, but you’re not even worth my words
I wish you well in hell
You've proven you're a Nazi....wear your swastika with pride
I’m gonna be a little soft and little subtle here. You motherfucking lying cocksucking son of a bitch to actually use the word Nazi shows your incredible, indelible unmistakeable, , ignorance and stupidity. I hope that you run into a Nazi someday and they treat you like they treated you. Degrade you and tell you slowly from limb to limb.
And you call yourself protect the vote. You are so subhuman that your mother should’ve put you back in or aborted you. How’s that for subtle so keep using the word Nazi and keep lying to the public here and destroy the truth and the facts and the evidence.
I’m sorry I forgot to mention this. The best president, at least since Bill Clinton or beyond. And the most positively influential human being on planet earth right now
To bring the world together, including the Middle East, which hasn’t been done in 2000 years. For the first time he’ll take with Jimmy Carter started commendably and hopefully be able to finish it. Thank you, Donald Trump
Oh you must be a malignant narcissist yourself A soul less hollow sadist who loves to hurt people, destroy people's lives, and probably been in jail....no doubt for attacking police on J6 Get back under your rock and spare humanity
You know what crawl back into the hole you came from or under that rock and stay there you have no fucking clue about anything other than hate. If you want to add facts to anything you post, go ahead and try it because you haven’t got a one You walk around with your right eye clothes and your right ear closed and all you can hear is the rantings of the left and do you see their popularity lately?
72% of the public Believes the Democrats are in the wrong now they have 20% popularity with the public right now the Democrats in their initiatives and Male Democrats are now as popular as as much as 16%. So why don’t you go look at the statistics and wake up?
This is not a socialist country. This is not a communist country.
And if those are the things you like, I’ll tell you gently get the fuck out of here
Thanks to the reporters, the judges, the people like Professor Richardson, and commenters here for standing up to corruption and the erosion of integrity in our system. Those who still support this administration have to be misinformed. Overwhelming evidence exists about the self-serving Trumps and their undermining of the very fabric of what made our nation better.
I don’t think the supporters are misinformed. I think they like and admire the actions of Trump et al. He’s behaving exactly like they would if they were in charge. The truth is that our only chance to restore decency is to greatly outnumber them at the polls. They see the world through a violent lens of winner-take-all (a la Stephen Miller) and they’re not going to change.
Have you ever watched Fox News. Many MAGAs turn on Fox when they roll out of bed and the last thing they do is turn it off each day. My next door neighbors in FL, two MAGA couples both did this.
You’d think, Phil, that his admirers would have had all the “bedazzled” stripped from their eyes by now, but no. I think they don’t want to really know, but would rather stew in their own delusional cocoons. SMH….just can’t comprehend that kind of willful blindness. 🤷🏻♀️
Phil, I can’t believe you are a party to this anti-semetic charade. It makes me sick to see such a gullible Jew, be overwhelmed by the stupidity and ignorance.
But it looks like New York is a fall guy and he’s going to eventually pay the price
Stand up for Israel or tear the color of your jacket and get the fuck out of here
Tonight's essay is some dark horror story, isn't it? The White House in rubble, obscured with a large arch that will frame an arena around a cage where a bloody battle will take place for the President's amusement. The Justice Department opens a criminal investigation into an 82 year old woman sexually molested by the President. The Pentagon is humiliated and pressured into major financial corruption with the President's son. And 35 former judges, completely powerless, begging a U.S. District Judge for a review of a nearly 2 billion taxpayer slush fund in what is easily the most corrupt self-dealing in American history. And the ultimate horror, as always...the Republican voters, all of them, who support this, cheer it on, and maintain that it is the Democrats who are destroying our country. What a nightmare! How are we ever supposed to sleep at night?
BIZARRO WORLD. All predicted in Superman comics long ago!
Many novels have predicted the same thing.....
with a heavy dose of Scream, Halloween, and IT thrown in
"....we all float..."
I just saw the Mandalorian movie which featured the Jabba the Hut twins and I immediately thought of Trump and his cage fighting spectacle. It’s disgusting and so is he.
Meanwhile... Netanyahu stated that 70% of Gaza will be occupied by the IDF.... This will further squeeze the surviving Gazans into the flimsy Tents that they possess... Essentially all outside aid into Gaza has been stopped... Still no Foreign Correspondents are allowed into Gaza... Meanwhile in Lebanon, over 100 Airstrikes took place today...
Yes the cease fire that never was . Netanyahu as corrupt & malignant as trump. When it was Bosnia it was called genocide so why not now. Israel been propped up by America for way too long, Trumps just made it worse.
100% Colly
I wonder where and when this modern trail of tears will end.
I was in college when the country elected John F. Kennedy as President of the United States and have lived through no more than 65 years US history. I have seen during those years crisis, wars, unrest, corruption, misconduct. In each Presidency we have seen crisis, problems and failures. The Republicans seem to have the loudest megaphones and claim to be victims of the government, even of a government that they may be leading. The theme that they have found the most effective is to attack the government and claim the need to limit or reduce it. They now have control of the government with a President who has no commitment to the country or its history and traditions. What we are seeing is the dismantling of the government and the replacement of our government by a group of corrupt and dishonest gangsters. The question is whether we will be able to retrieve our country or are we going to become an authoritarian outlier. Even if we are able to retrieve our country the rot and corruption is going to take a long time overcome.
I appreciate your long view. I suspect that it will take an entire generation to fix and undo the descent into fascism.
Probably more than one, at this point!
I have got to wonder how much of this whole MMA spectacle is a deliberate attempt on Trump’s part to extort maximum horror and send a huge eff-you to the cultured crowd who never accepted him in Manhattan society or elsewhere. The more disgusted they (we) are, the happier he is.
There’s got to be a whopping big dose of that going on. As with his obsession with Barack Obama — the cultured, brilliant, black Harvard Law graduate and Nobel Peace Laureate comfortable in his own skin, beloved by millions, fully at ease in a tan suit, negotiating an end to Iran’s nuclear stockpile program, announcing the capture of Usama bin Laden, beaming out that big, beautiful, big-eared smile to America.
Dump hates him some black guy. Hates him bigly. Him laugh at Dump. Him smart. Dump show him…
Amen. And he’s brought the entire U.S. wind power industry to a screeching halt, mostly because he’s pissed that some energy entity installed turbines off the coast of his Scottish golf course. The petty retribusiveness is worthy of some grand boo-bah in a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta where
He's definitely slowed it down but certainly it hasn't stopped -
https://www.windpowerengineering.com/51-of-forecasted-us-wind-capacity-expected-to-come-online-in-q4/
Thanks for that info. I’m so done with this crook and his enablers that I’ve come to assume the worst even when it’s not completely warranted.
Your guest a year ago or so, journalist/author Gil Duran published this story, "Peter Thiel Flees to Argentina," 32 days before legacy media did today. Trump's an actor in front of a teleprompter. Thiel's the strategic chess player who, with the other Silicon Valley tech billionaires, bought the 2024 election and funded JD Vance's entire career. Because legacy media's seriously lacking, I'm glad you use so many other sources, too! https://www.thenerdreich.com/peter-thiel-flees-to-argentina/
Thiel is a punk. Like his buddy & sometime business partner, Elon, he believes that he’s “…the smartest guy in the room.” Not true. He has a certain flair for Tech & Math, other than that he’s a full frontal idiot…& a deluded selfish little man. Just read his screeds on the “Anti-Christ.”
No, Trump is authentic in front of a Teleprompter because he goes off script all the time. The most authentic, a political human being, that’s ever sat in the presidents chair. And he’s winning for America not only here, but around the world
It makes me sick to think that Bill Clinton would’ve been a piece of shit if he was treated like Donald Trump is treated by the opposing party. Instead he and neutering Gingrich got together, and we’re one of the best teams in America. But you piece of dog shit do everything you can to hurt America and not support your president who is doing wonderful things on behalf of this country and the world at the same time
He's f(l)ailing.
Hello Fran... DJT has always F(l)ailed... DJT has squandered Billions of $$$, and DJT's Personal Life was a subject of Scandal... DJT has only succeeded in Low-Brow Spectacle like his upcoming 'Patriot Games'...
👆adroitly worded Fran!
My first impression on hearing about the UFC match at the WH sometime ago and now seeing it actually being built like an erector set on the lawn there (oh, the damage!), just nailed the whole “Idiocracy” vibe to this presidency. I saw other online content just now that this is a gathering meme—who knew that the 2006 movie would be so prophetic??!!🤦🏻♀️ I hope “this end” will be like the movie’s and have someone with a working brain take on the job next!
Eyes on the prize, people, not the endless distractions, no matter how gruesome. Walk past the carnage, the psychotic troll-bating, the ghastly tackiness. We’ve known it was there a long time, we know it will likely get worse. Keep it together and just get back to work.
Midterms are around the corner. Not just any midterms, but maybe the most important, and maybe the most dangerous, since the Civil War. Meanwhile, our coffers are empty, and too many of us aren’t doing enough to fill them, sniffing at the fund-raising institutions of the Democratic Party, believing victory will come only after we’ve somehow converted elections into boutique shopping experiences. Others insist on new ideological purity tests, while another group wants to crank up that good ole’ circular firing squad again. (After all, it did such a wonderful job of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory last time, didn’t it?)
Jonathan Capeheart recently wrote that Democrats don’t need an autopsy report from the past, they need to “put foot to ass.” Neither can any of us afford self-indulgent twaddle about how ‘now is the time’ for another political party.
No, now is precisely NOT the time for anything but hard work. It’s time to put aside letter-writing for serious campaigning, fund-raising, door-knocking, and scutwork. Note the distractions, but get on with it. If we don’t win the small right now, the big later on isn’t going to matter much.
I'm with you ICTT. I enjoy reading the posts but agree the reminder and distraction of the every day bs that he and his enablers commit is depressing. I also think focusing our work on the midterms is a more productive and positive use of out time. The work will keep us sane and result in the Government of the People, By the People and For the People.
There is much work to be doing. We have to use the tools we have at hand. We've not the time to fashion new ones in this moment. The labor of agitation thru intelligent discontent and organizing is long and there are no accolades received from it. Show up at the job site anyway. Ready. Pack a lunch because you will need it. Wear your hard toe boots, they're very useful when someone steps on them.