Today’s job numbers came in higher than expected, with the U.S. adding 253,000 nonfarm jobs in April. Unemployment fell yet again, to 3.4%, matching a rate not seen since 1969. Black unemployment is at an all-time low of 4.7%. For Hispanics it’s 4.4%, and for Asian Americans, 2.8%. The rate for adult women is 3.1%. Average hourly wages rose 0.5%.
Readers, we are experiencing the best inspired mature government at work in a democracy. President Biden in his quiet way deserves The NOBEL PEACE PRIZE. He deserves re-election and a Congress that will support his goals... VOTE, VOTE, VOTE...
Someone claimed that Biden was / is BORING. If he is, I'm all for him after what seemed like a lifetime under an ignorant narcissistic BRAT who lusted after the spotlight & surrounded himself by GOP ass - kissing yes - men.
Daniel, BRAT is the wrong word. I suggest some better ones: Bloviating, narcissistic criminal, devious, charismatic (still unbelievable to me, not my type of charisma)and completely sinister sexual assailant, rapist and insurrectionist. Good, now I feel better.....
Elizabeth, tRump is all the things you listed, but he is still an immature BRAT. He was never disciplined appropriately growing up and has no recognition of boundaries. He is a psychopath as well.
I don't think it is possible, in a family setting, to adequately discipline a child with sociopathic tendencies. tfg has been a hard case from childhood on up. His parents even sent him to military-style boarding school with no visible result--other than tfg thinks that school made him a better soldier than those with actual battle experience (those guys are "losers"). tfg is the classic textbook definition of narcissistic personality disorder.
If you haven't read Mary Trump's book, Too Much and Never Enough, I urge you to get a copy. In it she talks about the dysfunction in the Trump family (her father was Donald's older brother who resisted the father's demands and drank himself to death). I don't think sociopaths are "born" so much as their weaknesses exploited.
Oh yes, I have read it. I thought it would make my comment too long to bring all that info into it.
Yes, Donald was originally damaged by his mother's hospitalization and subsequent neglect when he was two, plus both his parents had an innate inability to create a normal family environment with love and attention for their children.
Fred only wanted little clones of himself--that demand destroyed Fred, Jr. but Donald watched, learned and copied his fathers behavior. My original point was that sociopathic behavior is likely both innate and learned. One probably needs the tendencies to begin with before those tendencies can grow by poor parenting--or, as in Fred's case, deliberate cruelty as an example.
Both Nature and Nurture play a part in the development of personality disorders. First, one is born with the genetic predisposition, but it may remain dormant if this person is raised in a healthy environment. However, if the person grows up in an unhealthy environment it will likely flip on the switch of gene expression and a personality disorder is born. It is clear that tfg was saddled with both elements.
When I think of Ol' Rumpy as dispassionately as I am able, I see a human-shaped abyss - a great, sucking hole of need that can never be filled or fulfilled. Poor creature. For all the horrific damage he's done, I still pity him. Of course, he belongs behind bars for the rest of his life for inflicting that damage, but still, he's only a pitiful shell of a human.
This might the stupidest cliche of all time. In case you forgot the left said the same thing about GW Bush and Reagan.
It takes a lot of chutzpah to call anyone names when your leader is Biden. Besides befriending former KKK leader Robert Byrd, his history of plagiarism charges, the whopping lies about his personal biography, the sexual assault allegations, The overt racism - calling blacks "monkeys", and his low IQ. The Obama's hated him and thought he was a dufus. They even refused to endorse him for president until they had no choice.
JennSH, Do you have to conflate our worst president with the derriere, which besides having evolved for running, is also a very attractive secondary sex characteristic?
I've used WORSE, such as " hater of children ". I believe that the Christian holy book states " suffer the little children to come unto me " & " if you turn away one of these, you turn me away " & I'm not even by - the - numbers religious, at present.
Appleton and Iler spot on. And and predator needs to be added.
Anyone that has followed Donald Trump since the 80's thought there was no way this criminal could become president. But we did not know yet of the power of misinformation and willful ignorance of so many Americans.
"R"eprobate! But, that word merely sums up all those other more colorful profanities.., each one a vastly more satisfying way of expressing our mutual disgust for a fellow American. So here's a phrase: It's a dirty bird that s--ts in its own nest. Like the word reprobate, not as satisfying but certainly apt for the entire GOP.
Better than having a delusional nutjob ranting & raving, throwing childish tantrums in the WH, & making it stink of fast food & God - knows - what else.
I don't even think the ones who say "boring" understand: he's not "boring". He's quiet and competent.
I can understand how those same folks who are used to 24/7 entertainment might be confused by the difference (like how they might see more cerebral movies as "boring" because they aren't action, action, action).
But I'm with you: I'll take what they think is "boring" ANY day!!
I love being able to sleep at night, not worried about what morning "Tweet" or catastrophic problem I will wake up to as happened EVERY D*** DAY under 45.
TFG was only playing the role of a celebrity reality show businessman and politician - he spends his time trying to be on television and media outlets, chasing ratings and polls. He never had in interest in actually doing the work and letting the results speak for themselves. His only interest continues to be to line his own pockets and avoid prison.
It is SO much better to know government is working in the best interests of the people and nation without having to be filled with angst, fear, dread, anger and suspicion.
I am reassured the current President and (his) administration is aware of the global picture and the moving parts, and is dealing with many issues at once.
REAL ISSUES, not culture triggers - not sensible shoes on M&M candies.
The CHAOS of creating a crisis and then pretending to try to put out the fire
is what the extremists who have taken over the GOP are using as their playbook.
That is destroying the national fabric. But for those who have taken over the GOP,
CRUELTY is the point. Destroying the government is the goal.
The future members of the GOP must've enjoyed pulling the wings off of flies & butterflies, setting fire to anthills, stomping hamsters to death or sticking them in the microwave & they just extended it to people, especially those unable to stand up for themselves.
In line with your comments, Beverly, I boil down Trump's term in office to this: When you, and the millions that support you, want to overthrow not only the government but the institutional values governing most of America, a person like Trump is indispensable. He can create constant chaos, constant fury and confusion among his opponents, and constant fear among his potential allies. He perfectly embodies "flood the zone with shit". (I predict historians will be writing of this Bannon "contribution" to our a nation for decades to come.)
I really think Trump only has two outstanding abilities - being extremely creative in generating chaos, and being the cruelest politician any of us have ever seen. But those two talents, and his love for the limelight, sadly suited the goals of these cultural and political revolutionaries perfectly.
Biden is the 180 degree opposite of Trump – he avoids creating chaos like the plague, and never behaves in cruel ways. He will stand up to bullies, but he never attacks people otherwise. And he seems to have a little need for being in the spotlight, instead just using attention to further some governing strategy he has.
Let’s say something else important about Biden: No president can do it all alone. 46 brings to government service and surrounds himself with and listens to like minded people who are smart, wise, knowledgeable, and dedicated to building positive outcomes for their time at the head of a government. This is the only way I can imagine a genuine world leader can make things truly “work” for the long run and for the good of the people who voted them in and for a country as a whole.
Yup. Please "bore" me some more. Good leadership surrounds itself with experienced experts who feel free to express themselves and offer frank assessments. A smart leader builds people up and praises good work. Very boring and proven to be very effective. And we sleep better each night.
An insecure leader needs to lob insults and create click bait headlines over foolish statements. ""45" never recovered from being unloved by his parents. His role models were monsters of bigotry and "winning" at any cost. We suffer the consequences. For details, read Mary Trump.
I've said this before: compared to the not weekly, not daily, but sometimes hourly crisis/tweet/prior unimaginable CRAP that came out of the WH under tFg, I am all for boring!!
I dream of a time when this country functions WELL for ALL people, and we can go about our lives without worrying about the future we are leaving ALL of humanity.
Voting is at the local level right now here in my area. Ft Worth TX. Seeing more CPAC candidates running for school boards. Since less than 10% registered voters do vote, it doesn’t look good. But my woman’s club and various groups are trying to get out the vote! Vote Local! It’s more important than you realize!
No it’s a mixed bag there. I hear and have heard for the 18 years I’ve lived there constant attacks on “”dem’s” or them “libbies”. All the TIME. I do not get it and frankly tired of the hypocrisy. Cause Texas always looks to the federal government when those pesky weather storms hit …… democracy is being shut out in Texas due to gerrymandering
Since 1995 Republicans have controlled education. Rewriting textbooks. Changing objectives. Demanding schools do No Child Left Behind regulations without funding! Now Gov Abbutt is attacking teachers saying he’s going to do away with woke liberal education. Dude! You’ve been in control for years!
The school board in my district just left TASB, Texas Association of School Boards. Because we’re going to rewrite our own curriculum so we don’t indoctrinate children and won’t have a woke agenda and whatever else false narrative they want to spout. Record numbers of teachers leaving. I won’t say publicly what I’m planning but it ain’t Southlake dragon green!
Good for you if you write your own curriculum. Textbooks were censored in Texas at least going back to the seventies. Right wingers funded Mel and Norma Gabler to scan every book and protest things they found objectionable. Nevermind that Mel's previous occupation was in baggage handling at the airport—they were assumed to know more about what students should learn than those people who spent time in academia.
I posted this earlier this week, the news that the TX legislature is considering a bill where every child third grade and up is trained as a medic to save others during a school massacre. It is incredible. I was speechless.
YES, it bears repeating over and over. Once the school boards and county commissions and local election officials are all MAGA extremists it will be too late.
May I interject a practical act that each of us can participate in which will help to move our Nation forward: SB wisely ties the progress which Dr. Richardson describes to a future mandate that is dependent on VOTE, VOTE and VOTE! But voting by millions of high school seniors and college students can only be achieved first by voter registration followed by aggressive turnout. My nonpartisan 501C3 foundation has registered 102,000 HS seniors (Inspire2Vote) but we need to multiply that by hundreds of thousands more in competitive states and congressional districts (CDs). Because our very democracy is on the line in just 18 months, I’ve merged with an extraordinarily effective C3 run by Harvard students ...www.turnup.us/ They need your help NOW to motivate and register the young voters who want to preserve reproductive rights, effectively control gun violence, fight climate change, enhance voting rights, but they need the resources to get the job done. So please--each of us--go on the website www.turnup.us/ right now and contribute generously (it’s tax deductible) to get the job done!!!EACH OF US CARES BUT WILL EACH OF US ACT NOW? Thank you!
Many thanks Elizabeth; we really appreciate your generous help to these amazing Harvard students who are leading the nonpartisan voter reg in competitive CDs and states. We must start now and continue straight through to Nov24 so you are helping in a very meaningful way!
It’s a 501(c)3... it would help to be able to read IRS filing and disclosure documentation... why not publish a list of those on the board with by-laws...
SB-That information is on the www.turnup.us/ website but the real work is done in the field by the enthusiastic young volunteers in critically competitive states and CDs not by the big names!
We will join and FUND www.turn up.us/ with daylight... we will need phone information and additional details and disclosure... and Federal Reserve wiring instructions...
$25K -- quite small actually. But hopefully significant to a 501c3 doing critical work. Due to MASSIVE Ponzi fraud losses, there's not enough left in this Charitable Remainder Trust to generate enough funds to cover the Tax Accounting costs. In fact, there's a shortfall. The only way to escape annual fees that will, over time, completely deplete the CRT ... is to donate what's left of it to a 501c3 org.
Thanks for the information on "Turnup". That organization gives me hope, since to some extent, I have lost hope with the Silent Generation, which I am a part of.
Thank you. I've put all my hope into the Gen Zers, but it is our job to nurture the angry and disillusioned ones into turning around and becoming activists ala the two Justins. My contribution is organizing a network of drivers taking elderly and handicapped people to the poles....
Ira Lechner Esq., best we speak... I am 84 and verbal is best to initiate.. so, use 518.963.4206 no message machine and 973.379.4446 iPhone txt to start... and we will speak of funding campuses and all that... ZOOM also works... to the iPhone... prompt first.. Sandy
Turn up and Civic Center Vote Forward all great. Please also look at the Civic Influencers website. This organization is laser focused on affecting swing state election numbers.
Biden’s decades of experience has positioned him to see the global chessboard from a high perch. Using shared interests, common goals and precise pressure points, the gears of the machine are meshing like the high tech transmission of a 10 Mega Watt Wind Turbine. Trump Tantrums have been replaced by a series of interlocking initiatives that improve the lives of average citizens and provide security for us all
Yes! We all knew that Biden is committed to a high standard of governance--to preserve our democracy, nurture alliances with allies no matter how thorny, and support quality of life of the middle class and those of need. What I appreciate about this newsletter is that it highlights exactly what is being done behind the scenes. Us voting is a non-issue. We need to convey/convince our friends on the other side what the reality of Biden's leadership translates into. This newsletter is the perfect vehicle with which to do this, and I'm compiling my recipients as I write. The idea that Barnum and Bailey 3-ring circus showmanship trumps (sorry) nose-to-the-grindstone fortitude boggles the mind....
whereby democracy guides capitalism, toward a guarantee of rights and liberties of the earth, species and people.
Finally, we have a president who understands the appropriate role of governance, and economics. Capitalism has NEVER assured people's and species' well being
Not to fawn over the professor's work, but this letter demonstrates with many moving but interconnected parts how effective governing works. The nuts and bolts of the facts are dry but paint a complex picture of expertise and hard work that add up to remarkable progress.
All of it makes me proud and hopeful. Unfortunately, the clown-car Republicans dominate the headlines because reporting about them is easier. If only low-information voters knew what we've read here.
Boring is a million times better than a fascist dictatorship in my opinion. The amazing work of HCR is outstanding... her work makes me forget about my seething anger toward the Fascist/NAZI GQP and calms my frazzled nerves a little bit and gives me hope for the future somewhat.
Yeah Jeri, we were just stupid back then. Over the past 30 years we have gradually(!!!) started to see the pattern which has now become a playing field which we are in the middle of. A field in the making since the 30's. But I was just a "stupid" kid growing up in the 40's,50's,60's who had no clue what all those 'adults' in our government were actually doing. I was mesmerrized with cars, stereos, camping, baseball, & television. Stupid. It never occurred to me that all those (elected/appointed) "adults" would actually be engaged in UN-constitutional behavior.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. Precious few of us, in your stated time period, paid enough attention. It took sprouting wings and getting on with our adult lives for that to happen. Our children are better at it, by far, but they come at it from both sides of the political spectrum.
You are right, Michael. Pass her letter on via FB, Twitter, Instagram, and to every person you know, etc. so hopefully they start reading and develop a little bit of skill in critical thinking.
Michael, I remember learning from my Dad that you always had to look "beyond the headline and below the fold" in the newspaper, and to save the op ed page for last (even after the comics). Not only is the reporting easier because of the RepubliQan antics, but the old standard "if it bleeds it ledes" is also applicable. The constant clown-car crash is easy; complex research and excellent writing like is on display here is hard.
Exactly Michael. HCR proves every sentence that a great education deserves our financial backing. Not just at so called “elite” schools but in all public schools in America. Heather is a thinker. She knows the history, she understands how to send the information out in the form of facts. What a glorious calling. Make that more important than owning another “game boy”!!
Heather’s post demonstrates the incredible work the Biden Administration has and continues to do for democracy. My hope is that the corruption in the Supreme Court can be rooted out before more of our rights are taken away by sold out and corrupt Supreme Court Judges. Appointed for life with no oversight except by the radical Christo fascist oligarchs that are providing their lives of luxury to do their bidding for them.
The camera is an incredible tool. We looked into the eyes of people like Clarence Thomas and saw slease. Didn't you? I sure did. And, guess what...?? ya you guessed it! While we're at it,let's not overlook the other half of that "apple". Birds of a feather sheltering beneath the Christian blanket.., flocking together. If we don't get a handle on this mess, we'll all be "flocked" and deserve it.
Thank you, Professor, for showing how the Biden administration values and works for both our own and international Justice. I hope someday this will not be a partisan effort, that all citizens, here in the USA, too, no matter political party, will embrace and benefit from the values Sullivan noted: “…that U.S. values include women's rights and the ability to criticize leaders without fear. Enabling populations to unleash their full potential means religious tolerance and protection of minorities. It means pressure on other countries to acknowledge freedom, and it means remaining a key source of humanitarian aid. “ It means everyone in America, as we set the example. Not just words, but action.
Yes, but I can’t help but think other countries must also be eyeing the US with caution as they see the Right Wing hordes breathing down the neck of our democracy. Don’t get fooled again.
The Right Wingers AND the moron Evangelicals are now seen as gullible jeters because they now think that Putin is a " man of GAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWDDDD " so the morons become more moronic & ignorant.
Maureen, I have to really wonder if those "other countries" you mention actually give much thought other than at a 'tabloid level. As an example, the UAE actually has a orbiter out there around Mars, China has a space station, all of which takes tremendous "government" effort. So much is going on all around us while we're focused on "tabloid level" excrement. Would I want to live in some of those "other countries"? Nope. Visit? Maybe. We're a drop in the bucket. All wrapped up in ourselves. And, I'll end by saying: Driven by religion, science be damned. And here we are.
Most ignorant, delusional, tapioca - brained egotistical POS " president " in US history. I could go on, but this comment would take 3 - 4 hours to read !
HOW did it happen? He's not the one most people voted for. The Electoral College has been outdated for the best part of two centuries. And of course there was no internet infiltration.
The Electoral vote is outdated and unfair. “Of the 58 presidential elections in the history of the United States, 53 of the winners took both the Electoral College and the popular vote. But in five incredibly close elections—including those for two of the past three presidents—the winner of the Electoral College was in fact the loser of the popular vote.” https://www.history.com/news/presidents-electoral-college-popular-vote
Well Anne.. "we" were fooled. When a political party will go so far as to make up "
false electoral ballots... like making fake passports or drivers licenses..., it was beyond our decent-minded belief that fellow "Americans" would ever do such silliness, thinking that it would pass muster. But, those "Americans" did just that. And, if they(?) would try that kind of trick... what else might "they" have done to pull off his election and quite simply throw Hillary under the bus? Let's not be fooled.., there's a fungus-amungst-US.
Nixon, Bush for example, but I didn't have such UNDILUTED DISLIKE of them, they didn't demand unwavering fealty & devotion bordering on worship like Jabba the Trump. Or act like tantrum - throwing BRATS.
Perhaps a third? "Emotionally Adult Leadership". Technically, Trump is a chronological adult, BUT...
There is and has been more adult energy in Greta Thunberg's discarded fingernail clippings than in the summation of Trump's character, distilled from his entire lifetime. The whole friggen' Republican Party seems to be suffering a similar deficit.
The Right are better at activating their misinformed voters (Fox, Rush, etc). Even today, few voters will hear about any of Joe Biden’s actions. They will hear of Hunter again and again.
Yeah Ralph.. "adult leadership" is what I envisioned was in place as I was growing up. But, now with 20/20 hindsight we can see how the numbers were being arranged. Not 're' arranged..., but 'arranged'! And, it has continued, although now what is being done is right in our face. Is this Patriotism? Of course not. But, hey.. we're focused on the transport of pregnant women being passengers in vehicles driven across state lines for medical care. We have become a 'sick' nation. Under god.
With a background concert of whipporwill arias, I only wish to express my gratitude for Dr Richardson's sharing of her coherent insights, space for me to add my own puny voice without checkmarks, the ability to see what others are thinking, and the best presidency in my lifetime. I voted for President Biden hoping he would manage to turn the temperature down, and I am relieved that he is doing that. I imagine other world leaders are relieved also. Mr Garland is coming through, getting results, though the pace is not what many people hoped for. I prefer to think of the progress this administration is making in the words of the snail who got a ride on the tortoise's back--- "WHEEE!!"
All things are relative. All things. I’m also reminded that we truly discover what we want (and more so what we value) by reminders of what we DO NOT want. For that we can thank DT for being who and what he is also in capital letters. Daily I am grateful for the dedication of Professor HCR and her lessons in pulling together so many competing happenings in our world to allow regular ah-hah moments.
Thank you, Heather, Excellent Letter on what President Biden's administration is doing for Peace in the Middle East. The breadth, the depth, philosophy and the successes of the Biden agenda are staggering! Wisdom and Experience make a huge difference! The job of the rest of us is to have steady tenacity about telling everyone we meet the good President is doing for each of us individually and having a world of peace and human rights for all. We must counter the negativism of the MAGA Republicans with continuous facts and clear messaging about President Biden, his fine character, experience, and accomplishments! I loved hearing Stephanie Ruhle's interview of President Biden this evening when she asked him what is different about him from Trump. His answer was "EVERYTHING!!" So let's erase Trump and his negativity and chaos from our minds and vocabulary and ignore him and the MAGGOTS and use all our oxygen to talk about a campaign of accomplishment. wisdom and vision. We, the People, all of us this time!
Oh, Cathy! How I wish I could wish tfg away, out of the picture, out of sight, out of mind! But every time I open my web browser, his orange countenance fills my screen under some headline or another informing of the latest irate, irrational absurdity he’s splurted! So TIRED of him!
Per Mary Trump's Substack you can access The Scotsman. Without excessive bombast, the paper simply pointed out all the current accusations and court cases that Trump faces. It was just matter of fact reporting on his recent visit. A little bit of snickering about a short red carpet and two pipers welcoming his arrival with very little attention otherwise. The insinuation was that Trump was attempting to show the UK spotlight on himself, while the public is watching the King's coronation. He's "history" in Scotland.
Yeah Hope, tomorrow I'm going down to the carpet store and buy me ten feet of red carpet (actually 7' x 10') to roll out behind my race-trailer at the coming boat races in Standish ME. Ah'll anchor it with a coupla teeeki torches so I'll have a place to hang the engine on my race-boats. Red carpet and some foldable chairs from Harbor Freight. That's what I can afford. Oh yeah... and an ice-chest.
I sure agree with you on that! I'd love to challenge the media to have DT free days!!!! Even an hour each day to have a news program that does not mention his name, and not show his ugly face or voice. One fun thought today was that he gets convicted of seditious conspiracy and not ever be allowed to hold office ever again!
Rose, the media feeds us what they see the majority of people click on. Just like with food, if we all are more discerning in what we consume, they'll eventually see fewer takers and stop stocking junk. I don't say you are checking this coverage out but we need to inspire as many as we can to abandon train wreck news.
I'll keep saying this for anyone to hear and replicate: only click on the stories covering TFG's criminal charges; i.e., DA Willis GA case, DA Bragg NY case, the Carroll rape trial and Special Prosecutor Smith's investigation and possible indictment. Avoid any coverage of any in the 45 orbit focused on nonsensical statements, public appearances, social media posts, ridiculous claims and any other gibberish. As more clicks go to substantive topics, so too will coverage, which will also serve to reduce the ancillary coverage of him and his peanut gallery.
I fully agree, C.! I rarely click on the web browser stories
Since I posted this morning about this, I figured out on my own how to change the browser’s settings and reduce the number of these soap-opera dramas. You click on the three dots (just as you do to edit your cooment on Substack) and request to see less of these types of “stories”. I plan to do this every time tfg’s orange visage clutters my screen.
Thank You Cathy! Went to bed before Ruhle's interview, and will try to catch it yet this morning. Also hope to see you at HH. Congratulations, too, on your 3 years as President of Texas Hill Country League of Women Voters! Look forward to all the good trouble you can cause now that you won't have to be nonpartisan! You Go Girl!
What a wonderful letter with facts, verifiable data and the wide range of progress made by the hard work of competent, knowledgeable and honest members of the current administration. After surviving four years of chaos, with impulsive, irrational and irreversible foreign and domestic policy blunders, I realized upon reading tonight’s letter that I actually have hope for my country again, faith in its leadership enlightened by highly respected professionals and a white haired fellow who has restored our standing in the world, strengthened global partnerships with our allies and been around long enough to know how our political system works, and how it doesn’t. Thank you, Heather. I needed every word of your outstanding letter tonight.
I watched Washington Week in Review on PBS last night and was truly disappointed by the reporting that Trump supporters in Congress still speak with forked tongues and these reporters seemed to be competing for examples. There was a general sentiment that the President and his party would have to capitulate on McCarthy's deal on the debt crisis in some way, and I wanted to send them all HCR's discussion of the Fourteenth Amendment. Very discouraging.
Sadly, this felt more like a lack of preparation than bias. Normally, I like what William Brangham does, but he seemed a little scattered, and the guest reporters sounded like they were in a bar somewhere trading one-ups. Either way it didn't inspire confidence in their reporting.
Thanks Dr. Richardson. The last six years have been cartoonish especially when looney toon ideas are actually enacted into law , in a number of states. It is both laughable and frightening and I am waiting, somewhat impatiently , for the cartoon to end with a big “ that’s all folks!”. Yet the twice impeached, now indicted, former POTUS is the front runner for 2024. ( with more indictments likely) Incredible.
So hard to fathom, but then I never listened to Rush or watched Rupert’s bull Schitt tv. I always thought sane outnumbered stupid/ignorant/greedy/Pharisees. But damn, they do make formidable foes…
they are less numerous than the rest of us (sane ones, imho). but they are brilliant in some very limited ways. cunning. deviousness. persistence. (they played a long game, going back to the Koch brothers 40 years ago, and with deeper roots going even further back. the rest of us, being less cunning and more morally responsible, did not understand or see what they were up to. think of Roger Stone's evil brilliance. Sociopaths have a real advantage when it comes to destruction and creating chaos -- a far easier task than actually Governing.
they found the loop-holes in our Constitutional Law and Electoral Practices. Slowly but surely -- and strategically -- they used these flaws to enact minority rule. We need a major overhaul. We need to fix those loopholes as we would correct software bugs that allow for virus infiltration.
I wouldn’t call them exactly brilliant. Case in point, Marjorie Three Names and lil’ Bo Beep are a couple of ‘em. I might say they are “deviously clever”.
yes, "clever" is a more appropriate descriptor than "brilliant". and i forgot to mention that the clowns (evil and frightening, not funny) showed up after the strategic ones paved the way. the stupidity, insensitivity, and lack of awareness exhibited by these clowns may yet allow the rest of us to wrest back control .... but they stand on some formidable scaffolding (gerrymandered districts, voter suppression, stacked and corrupted judiciary, etc) that was put in place by the clever strategists who paved the way.
Clever...or just following the blueprints laid out for them? There are a boatload of wealthy oligarchs doing the planning and disseminating the plans via fake grassroot organizations funded by Koch money, by Mercer money and too many other dark money orgs.
Empty Green, at least, does seem to have some of the same talent as Ol' Yamface for connecting with their particular fanbase. That is about her only talent. As for Bimbobert--I think she is just plain dumb, ignorant and very lucky to have run in a district evidently full of very gullible idjits.
Fani Willis has her work cut out for her it appears with 8 of the pawns in the steal Georgia’s votes game asking for immunity. I’m guessing that might ensnare Trump’s goons, Eastman, Guiliani, Chesebro, et.al in her wide web of RICO charges. Holding those goons accountable, hopefully in a jail cell will be at least half the battle
The considerate, compassionate and intelligent efforts by the Biden administration gives me hope for our future - even as the incomprehensible and foolish rhetoric of the GOP, oligarchs and white not-christian nationalists strikes terror.
I happened to see Joe Biden drive by in his limo motorcade in Washington. He was visible in the back seat quietly reading some document or email. It was comforting to see the man just doing his job. How unlike his predecessor. I am proud that he is our president.
Read Borowitz's book, "Profiles in Ignorance"...you will be astounded by how many Presidents have been elected who were "intellectually incurious"; who either didn't or couldn't read and were "bored" by briefings and stubbornly remained uninformed.
That's where "political handlers" got their employment: shepherding their willfully ignorant charges into electoral victory. TV "sound bites" ruined this country's politics.
Everything Old is New Again may apply - with a few twists, tweaks, additions. Billy Joel should write a SECOND SONG like he intended to - a follow up to " We Didn't Start the Fire ". It wouldn't be for a shortage of material !
I watched the old film with Clint Eastwood '' Every which way but loose'' and Donald TUMP was in it, his name was 'Clyde'' and Eastwood's mother in the film referred to him as that baboon.
Professor, thank you for the economic data as the necessary update for President Biden's Tuesday budget clash. Per Stephanie Ruhle's interview of Biden on 5/5, the President is fully aware of the 14th Amendment tools to deal with US accounts payable now.
For those following Leonard Leo's dark money scams & his continuing 501(c)3 shell games, see wikipedia.org essay on the fact that the "Judicial Education Project (JEP) & Luxury Yacht Tours and the Judcial Network Crisis (JNC) & Free Rentals FreeTuition & Free Amicus Briefs have been jetisoned for the "85 Fund" and the Honest (sic) Election Project. Go to the "85 Fund " on Wkipedia.
Leo is obnoxious and the devil incarnate along with Mitch. I am liking the fact that these people are being “found out” about their corruption.
Biden is being very patient in his handling of so many crises as they occur. He is surrounded by intelligent and capable staff with whom he relies upon. He is a master delegator who can make things happen. Biden trusts those who he has chosen to inform him of the truths. While the FBI and the DOJ are doing their investigations, it frees him up to concentrate of what matters to our nation. In my opinion, it’s a win-win.
I think the US needs a BS Tsar. An office of detection and explanation before legislation. I wonder what the Pope thinks about the cadre of influencers that still adhere to the Inquisition? How did 5 conservative justices get selected from a reactionary branch of Catholism? And how do they presume to speak for the core of American voters? (I know, rhetorical questions, but still...)
A vital role for crap detection is supposed to be filled by investigative journalism, which seems to have declined from the mainstream media. I heard a mainstream maven just last night claiming the both parties are "talking past each other" on default, as if cutting the baby in half would be the wiser option .
I wonder who might investigate the decline of investigative journalism? Who might examine that loss and give us a solid foundation on which to address it? I can conjecture on corporate owned media, dark money, Jamal Kashoggi getting chopped into pieces, brains rewired to short clip videos rather than in depth reading???
Exactly. Even if you argue that it somehow isn't really the same as bribery, it produces the same outcomes, and that's the problem. If you argue that racial policy means no harm, but yet minorities are still discriminated against, that's de facto racism. If you aim to bias the democratic process with payment large enough to be noticed by a decision maker, that's de facto bribery. It produces the same outcome, and that can be proven.
Does it always "tr%mp" the democratic process? No, but it's a very substantial thumb on the scales, like giving illegal steroids to competing athletes.
THAT's exactly what I felt during Chris Hayes' All In explanation (and illustration - that painting!) last night: "a boa constrictor wrapped around democracy's throat." Someone smote Leonard Leo & fiends please.
I’m very hopeful that Clarence Thomas’ scandals are a start at doing just that. I read somewhere that if George Soros had done all the things he has been accused of, he would be Leonard Leo.
Otherwise known as the Honest Elections Project. 😡😡 we need to have more experts lifting up and spreading out information on how the fascists purposely use deception to confuse and accuse their opposition of their own dirty tricks so that many folks don’t know up from down. We all need more practice at keeping our feet on the ground while discerning what is up from what is down!! Honest Elections Project!! 😡😡 Fox Not News!! It starts in infancy, I know! How to know when a lie is a lie.
LOL. 🤣 I thank you Bryan for sharing your knowledge of the 85 Fund and now I also know of the Scotusblog. (The gifts we find in LFAA are never ending.)
It appears that investigative reporters may save our world, helping us to see, what is up and what is down, amidst the chaos. I can support them. Thank you for the gifts you give us. 🙏
I don’t know, I mean, I’m not so sure that banana republican talibangelicals, who think all sorts of magical sky dude hootenany in the name of religious oppression of others is both desirable and possible, as well as those who actually think “thoughts and prayers” will fix gun violence *and* help their team win the Super Bowl -- don’t also think that “good economic news comes from nowhere” and isn’t due to hard work. So why vote for results when you can vote for prejudice and avarice?
And, I have a new phone and needed to teach it “hootenanny” and “talibangelical.” Thanks.
I, too, will steal talibangelical. I've been calling them the Christian Taliban, but I always get called out by the "real" "Christians" who object to me calling them what they call themselves. Sky Dude hootenany, now... that is priceless. I've been using "Imaginary Sky Pilot" myself (stole that one from Jim Wright).
And if I was the Fwee-dumb Kawkuss, I would be deeply pondering the interview Biden did today with Stephanie Ruhle, how he answered her question about whether he was prepared to use the power of the Fourteenth Amendment to solve the debt ceiling crisis: "I'm not there.... yet."
If Biden invoked the authority of the 14th Amendment and the markets accept the move - with whatever increases in interest rates it will take - it will neuter the Fwee-dumb Fucks and make them irrelevant. 2024 may yet see the destruction of the New Confederacy.
I really appreciate your periodic comments about how well the economy is doing, and how the improvements are actually achieving Biden's stated goals of addressing the economic imbalances that have grown since the 1970's. I am continuously frustrated by the economic press, particularly in what are viewed as main-stream sources.
I am an engineer by training, so I am forever frustrated by the hyper-focus on year-over-year inflation numbers, which are really meaningless. Anyone who has ever designed a control system knows that what's most important is not the static level, but the rate of change... and the rate-of-change of the rate-of-change. If the Fed were to try and design airplanes as they control monetary policy, those planes would all fall out of the sky.
Recent data that I have seen implies that the major component at this point to the year-over-year inflation number is in the Service sector. No one seems to want to explore whether this year-over-year change might actually be a reflection of something positive... a growth of wages at the lowest end of the economic ladder. A trivial example... if in the restaurant industry, a sandwich is now 20% more expensive than it was a couple years ago, but the people back in the kitchen now have health insurance and can feed their children, then that inflation means a reasonable rebalancing of the economy is taking place.
One of my only frustrations with the Biden approach is his high cutoff for increasing taxes--the $400K number. My household income is substantially less than that number, yet I would have no problem paying a bit more in taxes. The two presidents (since Lincoln) who have most increased the national debt as a percentage of GDP are Bush and Trump... by cutting revenue while boosting spending. One can cool off an economy by extracting money either by increasing costs (raising interest rates), or by raising taxes. Raising interest rates hurts lower sectors of the economy by raising credit card interest and mortgage interest... pumping more money from workers to bankers. Restoring taxes on those who can afford it... and I include myself at much less than the $400K tames the deficit while having similar impacts on inflationary pressures.
Your letters and a cup of coffee are how I start each day.... Thank you again for your efforts.
Tom, I think your analysis is interesting. My husband is a control systems guy, and I’ve never really understood what that means - this seems like quite a good explanation. I studied finance, and I like the idea of applying engineering principles to monetary policy. To everything, really.
I, too, wouldn’t mind paying more in taxes, especially if it is going to things like infrastructure, R&D, and the social safety net. Paying more in taxes to increase funding for our already bloated military- not so much.
I usually am a two cup of coffee/read LFAA kind of person. Sometimes three.
I love your assessment from an engineering standpoint, and your discussion of paying more in taxes when they are for the betterment of others. I was asked once why I always voted for the school budgets and for the library, even though I had no kids in school, and don't often use the library system. My reply was that even with no kids in school, it is important to support the schools; they are raising the next generation of leaders, and I don't want to have my "golden years" be less than my "active years".
I love anyone who talks about the rate of change of the rate of change of a system! Thank you! Most of the Republican lawmakers in Congress right now have no idea of this concept, and would have a very difficult time understanding it if it was explained to them.
Readers, we are experiencing the best inspired mature government at work in a democracy. President Biden in his quiet way deserves The NOBEL PEACE PRIZE. He deserves re-election and a Congress that will support his goals... VOTE, VOTE, VOTE...
Someone claimed that Biden was / is BORING. If he is, I'm all for him after what seemed like a lifetime under an ignorant narcissistic BRAT who lusted after the spotlight & surrounded himself by GOP ass - kissing yes - men.
Daniel, BRAT is the wrong word. I suggest some better ones: Bloviating, narcissistic criminal, devious, charismatic (still unbelievable to me, not my type of charisma)and completely sinister sexual assailant, rapist and insurrectionist. Good, now I feel better.....
Elizabeth, tRump is all the things you listed, but he is still an immature BRAT. He was never disciplined appropriately growing up and has no recognition of boundaries. He is a psychopath as well.
I don't think it is possible, in a family setting, to adequately discipline a child with sociopathic tendencies. tfg has been a hard case from childhood on up. His parents even sent him to military-style boarding school with no visible result--other than tfg thinks that school made him a better soldier than those with actual battle experience (those guys are "losers"). tfg is the classic textbook definition of narcissistic personality disorder.
If you haven't read Mary Trump's book, Too Much and Never Enough, I urge you to get a copy. In it she talks about the dysfunction in the Trump family (her father was Donald's older brother who resisted the father's demands and drank himself to death). I don't think sociopaths are "born" so much as their weaknesses exploited.
Oh yes, I have read it. I thought it would make my comment too long to bring all that info into it.
Yes, Donald was originally damaged by his mother's hospitalization and subsequent neglect when he was two, plus both his parents had an innate inability to create a normal family environment with love and attention for their children.
Fred only wanted little clones of himself--that demand destroyed Fred, Jr. but Donald watched, learned and copied his fathers behavior. My original point was that sociopathic behavior is likely both innate and learned. One probably needs the tendencies to begin with before those tendencies can grow by poor parenting--or, as in Fred's case, deliberate cruelty as an example.
Both Nature and Nurture play a part in the development of personality disorders. First, one is born with the genetic predisposition, but it may remain dormant if this person is raised in a healthy environment. However, if the person grows up in an unhealthy environment it will likely flip on the switch of gene expression and a personality disorder is born. It is clear that tfg was saddled with both elements.
Lisa,
It really matters not at all how one becomes a nutty criminal.
It only matters that one IS or is not a nutty criminal.
I just replied with essentially the same explanation, but thank you. That is what my reading and thoughts about the issue are, as well.
Fred Trump raised Donald to be just like him.
Remember Trump’s mentor Roy Cohn’s role, too!
Exactly! Saw film of DT and father visiting properties making sure there were as few people of color as possible (or none) in the apartments.
When I think of Ol' Rumpy as dispassionately as I am able, I see a human-shaped abyss - a great, sucking hole of need that can never be filled or fulfilled. Poor creature. For all the horrific damage he's done, I still pity him. Of course, he belongs behind bars for the rest of his life for inflicting that damage, but still, he's only a pitiful shell of a human.
This might the stupidest cliche of all time. In case you forgot the left said the same thing about GW Bush and Reagan.
It takes a lot of chutzpah to call anyone names when your leader is Biden. Besides befriending former KKK leader Robert Byrd, his history of plagiarism charges, the whopping lies about his personal biography, the sexual assault allegations, The overt racism - calling blacks "monkeys", and his low IQ. The Obama's hated him and thought he was a dufus. They even refused to endorse him for president until they had no choice.
Poor old James, ranting where NO.ONE.CARES. It only serves to make our point, dear, when you prattle on with your delusions. Go back to your marbles.
Sorry- trolling is not going to work with the readers of this newsletter.
James, I love that you describe yourself as an intellectual!
Hey James,
With all this name calling and crank writing maybe you mistook this site for 4chan? Or one of your porn sites with a forum?
I think that Malignant Narcissistic Prevaricator helps to define Trump.
2A people saying mental health is the issue for gun violence & yet they support tfg who has dx mental health issues.
JennSH, is it necessary to conflate a very attractive secondary sex characteristic with the worst US president ever?
JennSH, Do you have to conflate our worst president with the derriere, which besides having evolved for running, is also a very attractive secondary sex characteristic?
You are actually too kind :)
May I add "murdering demonic demagogue"?
Bill, please do add!
I've used WORSE, such as " hater of children ". I believe that the Christian holy book states " suffer the little children to come unto me " & " if you turn away one of these, you turn me away " & I'm not even by - the - numbers religious, at present.
Appleton and Iler spot on. And and predator needs to be added.
Anyone that has followed Donald Trump since the 80's thought there was no way this criminal could become president. But we did not know yet of the power of misinformation and willful ignorance of so many Americans.
Thank you, Whatley! AND active work on the dark right to get to this place. Leo has been at this for years! Thomases too. Puke.
And Putin lately.
And the power of the NRA propelling TFG to president.
"Not my type." You stole his words!
Trump, the Rapist may be reaffirmed soon.
"R"eprobate! But, that word merely sums up all those other more colorful profanities.., each one a vastly more satisfying way of expressing our mutual disgust for a fellow American. So here's a phrase: It's a dirty bird that s--ts in its own nest. Like the word reprobate, not as satisfying but certainly apt for the entire GOP.
lol Lisa..
How about Delusional Dimwitted Man child with illusions of grandeur and lousy hair.
Sick and tired of this bullshit in Ct,
Robert🙏
death star because he destroys everything he touches.
Mehdi Hasan uses the term Gish galloping & firehosing.
Yea Elisabeth!! Feels good 👍
Me too. Thanks.
And so do I after both Daniel and Elisabeth!
Boring is good.
I prefer boring to a clown car, teetering on the edge of a cliff and threatening to take all the rest of us over the edge with him.
I really like boring.
Better than having a delusional nutjob ranting & raving, throwing childish tantrums in the WH, & making it stink of fast food & God - knows - what else.
Catsup....oh, and plugged septic from flushed documents.
Daniel Please don’t hold back—how do you really feel?
I don't even think the ones who say "boring" understand: he's not "boring". He's quiet and competent.
I can understand how those same folks who are used to 24/7 entertainment might be confused by the difference (like how they might see more cerebral movies as "boring" because they aren't action, action, action).
But I'm with you: I'll take what they think is "boring" ANY day!!
I LOVE BORING!
I love being able to sleep at night, not worried about what morning "Tweet" or catastrophic problem I will wake up to as happened EVERY D*** DAY under 45.
TFG was only playing the role of a celebrity reality show businessman and politician - he spends his time trying to be on television and media outlets, chasing ratings and polls. He never had in interest in actually doing the work and letting the results speak for themselves. His only interest continues to be to line his own pockets and avoid prison.
It is SO much better to know government is working in the best interests of the people and nation without having to be filled with angst, fear, dread, anger and suspicion.
I am reassured the current President and (his) administration is aware of the global picture and the moving parts, and is dealing with many issues at once.
REAL ISSUES, not culture triggers - not sensible shoes on M&M candies.
The CHAOS of creating a crisis and then pretending to try to put out the fire
is what the extremists who have taken over the GOP are using as their playbook.
That is destroying the national fabric. But for those who have taken over the GOP,
CRUELTY is the point. Destroying the government is the goal.
The future members of the GOP must've enjoyed pulling the wings off of flies & butterflies, setting fire to anthills, stomping hamsters to death or sticking them in the microwave & they just extended it to people, especially those unable to stand up for themselves.
SBT. sad but true.
In line with your comments, Beverly, I boil down Trump's term in office to this: When you, and the millions that support you, want to overthrow not only the government but the institutional values governing most of America, a person like Trump is indispensable. He can create constant chaos, constant fury and confusion among his opponents, and constant fear among his potential allies. He perfectly embodies "flood the zone with shit". (I predict historians will be writing of this Bannon "contribution" to our a nation for decades to come.)
I really think Trump only has two outstanding abilities - being extremely creative in generating chaos, and being the cruelest politician any of us have ever seen. But those two talents, and his love for the limelight, sadly suited the goals of these cultural and political revolutionaries perfectly.
Biden is the 180 degree opposite of Trump – he avoids creating chaos like the plague, and never behaves in cruel ways. He will stand up to bullies, but he never attacks people otherwise. And he seems to have a little need for being in the spotlight, instead just using attention to further some governing strategy he has.
Exactly, Uncle T!
Let’s say something else important about Biden: No president can do it all alone. 46 brings to government service and surrounds himself with and listens to like minded people who are smart, wise, knowledgeable, and dedicated to building positive outcomes for their time at the head of a government. This is the only way I can imagine a genuine world leader can make things truly “work” for the long run and for the good of the people who voted them in and for a country as a whole.
Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times YES!
Yup. Please "bore" me some more. Good leadership surrounds itself with experienced experts who feel free to express themselves and offer frank assessments. A smart leader builds people up and praises good work. Very boring and proven to be very effective. And we sleep better each night.
An insecure leader needs to lob insults and create click bait headlines over foolish statements. ""45" never recovered from being unloved by his parents. His role models were monsters of bigotry and "winning" at any cost. We suffer the consequences. For details, read Mary Trump.
I love boring.
I've said this before: compared to the not weekly, not daily, but sometimes hourly crisis/tweet/prior unimaginable CRAP that came out of the WH under tFg, I am all for boring!!
I dream of a time when this country functions WELL for ALL people, and we can go about our lives without worrying about the future we are leaving ALL of humanity.
YES!!!Man!!🥰🤗thank you Daniel!!
Voting is at the local level right now here in my area. Ft Worth TX. Seeing more CPAC candidates running for school boards. Since less than 10% registered voters do vote, it doesn’t look good. But my woman’s club and various groups are trying to get out the vote! Vote Local! It’s more important than you realize!
They still don't realise? They need to have the word "democracy" explained to them in very simple terms.
No it’s a mixed bag there. I hear and have heard for the 18 years I’ve lived there constant attacks on “”dem’s” or them “libbies”. All the TIME. I do not get it and frankly tired of the hypocrisy. Cause Texas always looks to the federal government when those pesky weather storms hit …… democracy is being shut out in Texas due to gerrymandering
Since 1995 Republicans have controlled education. Rewriting textbooks. Changing objectives. Demanding schools do No Child Left Behind regulations without funding! Now Gov Abbutt is attacking teachers saying he’s going to do away with woke liberal education. Dude! You’ve been in control for years!
The school board in my district just left TASB, Texas Association of School Boards. Because we’re going to rewrite our own curriculum so we don’t indoctrinate children and won’t have a woke agenda and whatever else false narrative they want to spout. Record numbers of teachers leaving. I won’t say publicly what I’m planning but it ain’t Southlake dragon green!
Good for you if you write your own curriculum. Textbooks were censored in Texas at least going back to the seventies. Right wingers funded Mel and Norma Gabler to scan every book and protest things they found objectionable. Nevermind that Mel's previous occupation was in baggage handling at the airport—they were assumed to know more about what students should learn than those people who spent time in academia.
I posted this earlier this week, the news that the TX legislature is considering a bill where every child third grade and up is trained as a medic to save others during a school massacre. It is incredible. I was speechless.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_Px833tzfs
I’m watching the GCISD school board It’s becoming crazy
Denise, great and important work. Keep at it, it takes time. What about your Gen Z voters?
Over eight million registered voters did not vote in the last big governor election. They no longer believe in the system.
Oh aarrrrggggh.....but they can BE the system! That’s so disheartening
Thanks for all you do, Denise!
Thanks! I love my kids!
YES, it bears repeating over and over. Once the school boards and county commissions and local election officials are all MAGA extremists it will be too late.
Thank you for putting in the work!
Thanks! I just saw a post on Facebook about how are teachers doing? May! We’re doing May! Ha! 13 days left! Yes we’re all counting!
Haha - I’m a former teacher, I remember the countdowns!
😍
May I interject a practical act that each of us can participate in which will help to move our Nation forward: SB wisely ties the progress which Dr. Richardson describes to a future mandate that is dependent on VOTE, VOTE and VOTE! But voting by millions of high school seniors and college students can only be achieved first by voter registration followed by aggressive turnout. My nonpartisan 501C3 foundation has registered 102,000 HS seniors (Inspire2Vote) but we need to multiply that by hundreds of thousands more in competitive states and congressional districts (CDs). Because our very democracy is on the line in just 18 months, I’ve merged with an extraordinarily effective C3 run by Harvard students ...www.turnup.us/ They need your help NOW to motivate and register the young voters who want to preserve reproductive rights, effectively control gun violence, fight climate change, enhance voting rights, but they need the resources to get the job done. So please--each of us--go on the website www.turnup.us/ right now and contribute generously (it’s tax deductible) to get the job done!!!EACH OF US CARES BUT WILL EACH OF US ACT NOW? Thank you!
I just sent $100 and will continue to send donations whenever I can. Thank you Ira. You inspire me. I posted turnup.us on my fb page.
Many thanks Elizabeth; we really appreciate your generous help to these amazing Harvard students who are leading the nonpartisan voter reg in competitive CDs and states. We must start now and continue straight through to Nov24 so you are helping in a very meaningful way!
With the endorsement of S B Lewis, I will share www.turnup.us and donate.
It’s a 501(c)3... it would help to be able to read IRS filing and disclosure documentation... why not publish a list of those on the board with by-laws...
SB-That information is on the www.turnup.us/ website but the real work is done in the field by the enthusiastic young volunteers in critically competitive states and CDs not by the big names!
Terrific.. well prepared.... but no financials... what and who... disclosure on support... and supporters
S B Lewis please post when you feel this is a safe bet for donations.
Thank you, Ira Lochner...
FABULOUS...
Campus by campus... with sub-accounts?
How do you differ from, or work with, if you do, The Civic Center?
We will join and FUND www.turn up.us/ with daylight... we will need phone information and additional details and disclosure... and Federal Reserve wiring instructions...
i too am interested in vetting this 501c3 organization because:
1) i want to participate in supporting its mission
2) i know of a significant sum of money that must be donated to a 501c3 to avoid being consumed by trust administrative fees.
Significant?
$25K -- quite small actually. But hopefully significant to a 501c3 doing critical work. Due to MASSIVE Ponzi fraud losses, there's not enough left in this Charitable Remainder Trust to generate enough funds to cover the Tax Accounting costs. In fact, there's a shortfall. The only way to escape annual fees that will, over time, completely deplete the CRT ... is to donate what's left of it to a 501c3 org.
Integrity is a function of disclosure on line and current...
I saw the IRS letter but nothing else.
Thanks for the information on "Turnup". That organization gives me hope, since to some extent, I have lost hope with the Silent Generation, which I am a part of.
I donated Ira. Great work! 👏🏼👏🏼
Me too! A very worthy cause. Thank you, Ira.
Me too - because we HAVE to succeed!
Publish the financials...
With a plain-language explanation of what that means to people in their lives.
Thank you. I've put all my hope into the Gen Zers, but it is our job to nurture the angry and disillusioned ones into turning around and becoming activists ala the two Justins. My contribution is organizing a network of drivers taking elderly and handicapped people to the poles....
Fabulous. Ira.
Brava Ira !
FABULOUS CONCEPT...
Well said.
Ira Lechner Esq., best we speak... I am 84 and verbal is best to initiate.. so, use 518.963.4206 no message machine and 973.379.4446 iPhone txt to start... and we will speak of funding campuses and all that... ZOOM also works... to the iPhone... prompt first.. Sandy
Turn up and Civic Center Vote Forward all great. Please also look at the Civic Influencers website. This organization is laser focused on affecting swing state election numbers.
Refreshing, exciting, unique - it’s possible that we have survived a dictatorial ignorant narcissist - a modern miracle - VOTE, VOTE, VOTE...
Biden’s decades of experience has positioned him to see the global chessboard from a high perch. Using shared interests, common goals and precise pressure points, the gears of the machine are meshing like the high tech transmission of a 10 Mega Watt Wind Turbine. Trump Tantrums have been replaced by a series of interlocking initiatives that improve the lives of average citizens and provide security for us all
Vote
And a bright, knowledgeable team of professionals on his team ...thank you Joe and Kamala.
Yes!
Our President has become the epitome of what all presidents should strive to become in the foreseeable future!
Yes! We all knew that Biden is committed to a high standard of governance--to preserve our democracy, nurture alliances with allies no matter how thorny, and support quality of life of the middle class and those of need. What I appreciate about this newsletter is that it highlights exactly what is being done behind the scenes. Us voting is a non-issue. We need to convey/convince our friends on the other side what the reality of Biden's leadership translates into. This newsletter is the perfect vehicle with which to do this, and I'm compiling my recipients as I write. The idea that Barnum and Bailey 3-ring circus showmanship trumps (sorry) nose-to-the-grindstone fortitude boggles the mind....
President Biden is engaging in what I call:
"Democracy Capitalism"
whereby democracy guides capitalism, toward a guarantee of rights and liberties of the earth, species and people.
Finally, we have a president who understands the appropriate role of governance, and economics. Capitalism has NEVER assured people's and species' well being
Bam! We’ll said.
Every now and then I think to myself “Biden is going to go down in history as one of our best Presidents.”
Yes, indeed.
I agree! He has my vote of confidence! Age means experience! And he has it!
Says a seriously seasoned one, S Lewis, who has worked tirelessly for human good.
What about Biden’s “Proxy War”?? Nobel PEACE Prize?? Really!
Well said. Ditto.
...and do everything in our power to get the truth out there between inspired people and those in the clown car.
Oh good grief.
Not to fawn over the professor's work, but this letter demonstrates with many moving but interconnected parts how effective governing works. The nuts and bolts of the facts are dry but paint a complex picture of expertise and hard work that add up to remarkable progress.
All of it makes me proud and hopeful. Unfortunately, the clown-car Republicans dominate the headlines because reporting about them is easier. If only low-information voters knew what we've read here.
The GOP are low - hanging fruit. Comedy writers had it easy writing material about The Biggest Loser, his cultists & his administration.
The Biden administration are collectively BORING by comparison. Thank Amun - Ra, Bacchus & Kwan Yin for boring !
Boring is a million times better than a fascist dictatorship in my opinion. The amazing work of HCR is outstanding... her work makes me forget about my seething anger toward the Fascist/NAZI GQP and calms my frazzled nerves a little bit and gives me hope for the future somewhat.
How I miss the days when government hummed along just taking care of business. Yes, I’m old.
And we are numerous. They need to know it's OK to listen to us. They've now got a shining example of productive old age in the White House.
Yeah Jeri, we were just stupid back then. Over the past 30 years we have gradually(!!!) started to see the pattern which has now become a playing field which we are in the middle of. A field in the making since the 30's. But I was just a "stupid" kid growing up in the 40's,50's,60's who had no clue what all those 'adults' in our government were actually doing. I was mesmerrized with cars, stereos, camping, baseball, & television. Stupid. It never occurred to me that all those (elected/appointed) "adults" would actually be engaged in UN-constitutional behavior.
Don’t be too hard on yourself. Precious few of us, in your stated time period, paid enough attention. It took sprouting wings and getting on with our adult lives for that to happen. Our children are better at it, by far, but they come at it from both sides of the political spectrum.
When was that?
You are right, Michael. Pass her letter on via FB, Twitter, Instagram, and to every person you know, etc. so hopefully they start reading and develop a little bit of skill in critical thinking.
We can SHARE!
Michael, I remember learning from my Dad that you always had to look "beyond the headline and below the fold" in the newspaper, and to save the op ed page for last (even after the comics). Not only is the reporting easier because of the RepubliQan antics, but the old standard "if it bleeds it ledes" is also applicable. The constant clown-car crash is easy; complex research and excellent writing like is on display here is hard.
Exactly Michael. HCR proves every sentence that a great education deserves our financial backing. Not just at so called “elite” schools but in all public schools in America. Heather is a thinker. She knows the history, she understands how to send the information out in the form of facts. What a glorious calling. Make that more important than owning another “game boy”!!
She makes me proud to have been a public school teacher...a career small town, NC public school teacher. And I loved it!
Fawn away, Michael!
A flock of fawns for Heather and Joe and Kamala. Works for me, Michael.
Good solid old - school research aided by Ye Olde Internet. Nothing like it.
Heather’s post demonstrates the incredible work the Biden Administration has and continues to do for democracy. My hope is that the corruption in the Supreme Court can be rooted out before more of our rights are taken away by sold out and corrupt Supreme Court Judges. Appointed for life with no oversight except by the radical Christo fascist oligarchs that are providing their lives of luxury to do their bidding for them.
Agreed, Karen! The corruption of SCROTUS is unimaginable...until it isn't. It is a travesty.
The camera is an incredible tool. We looked into the eyes of people like Clarence Thomas and saw slease. Didn't you? I sure did. And, guess what...?? ya you guessed it! While we're at it,let's not overlook the other half of that "apple". Birds of a feather sheltering beneath the Christian blanket.., flocking together. If we don't get a handle on this mess, we'll all be "flocked" and deserve it.
That is my wish also!
Thank you, Professor, for showing how the Biden administration values and works for both our own and international Justice. I hope someday this will not be a partisan effort, that all citizens, here in the USA, too, no matter political party, will embrace and benefit from the values Sullivan noted: “…that U.S. values include women's rights and the ability to criticize leaders without fear. Enabling populations to unleash their full potential means religious tolerance and protection of minorities. It means pressure on other countries to acknowledge freedom, and it means remaining a key source of humanitarian aid. “ It means everyone in America, as we set the example. Not just words, but action.
The USA still has influence in the world, not just as an object of derision, disdain or hatred like it became under Fathead # 45.
Yes, but I can’t help but think other countries must also be eyeing the US with caution as they see the Right Wing hordes breathing down the neck of our democracy. Don’t get fooled again.
The Right Wingers AND the moron Evangelicals are now seen as gullible jeters because they now think that Putin is a " man of GAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWDDDD " so the morons become more moronic & ignorant.
Maureen, I have to really wonder if those "other countries" you mention actually give much thought other than at a 'tabloid level. As an example, the UAE actually has a orbiter out there around Mars, China has a space station, all of which takes tremendous "government" effort. So much is going on all around us while we're focused on "tabloid level" excrement. Would I want to live in some of those "other countries"? Nope. Visit? Maybe. We're a drop in the bucket. All wrapped up in ourselves. And, I'll end by saying: Driven by religion, science be damned. And here we are.
Daniel, I agree 100% with your comment, with one question: Does this mean the prior 44 were Fatheads as well?
I can think of few....
I think #45 was one for the record books.
Most ignorant, delusional, tapioca - brained egotistical POS " president " in US history. I could go on, but this comment would take 3 - 4 hours to read !
HOW did it happen? He's not the one most people voted for. The Electoral College has been outdated for the best part of two centuries. And of course there was no internet infiltration.
The Electoral vote is outdated and unfair. “Of the 58 presidential elections in the history of the United States, 53 of the winners took both the Electoral College and the popular vote. But in five incredibly close elections—including those for two of the past three presidents—the winner of the Electoral College was in fact the loser of the popular vote.” https://www.history.com/news/presidents-electoral-college-popular-vote
Well Anne.. "we" were fooled. When a political party will go so far as to make up "
false electoral ballots... like making fake passports or drivers licenses..., it was beyond our decent-minded belief that fellow "Americans" would ever do such silliness, thinking that it would pass muster. But, those "Americans" did just that. And, if they(?) would try that kind of trick... what else might "they" have done to pull off his election and quite simply throw Hillary under the bus? Let's not be fooled.., there's a fungus-amungst-US.
Anne-Louise, Nope, none at all. Why would anyone think that?
Daniel, You don't need to--I already agree with everything you would write. If you do, gimme a chance at the Epilogue.
Going to bed now....
Nixon, Bush for example, but I didn't have such UNDILUTED DISLIKE of them, they didn't demand unwavering fealty & devotion bordering on worship like Jabba the Trump. Or act like tantrum - throwing BRATS.
Unfit. Unfit for office.
Daniel, I despised both enough for both of us.
If asked to reduce today’s letter into a single word, that word would be “Leadership”.
Two words? “Adult leadership”.
Perhaps a third? "Emotionally Adult Leadership". Technically, Trump is a chronological adult, BUT...
There is and has been more adult energy in Greta Thunberg's discarded fingernail clippings than in the summation of Trump's character, distilled from his entire lifetime. The whole friggen' Republican Party seems to be suffering a similar deficit.
Many more qualifiers than just a third word, but an excellent second sentence. 👍
The Right are better at activating their misinformed voters (Fox, Rush, etc). Even today, few voters will hear about any of Joe Biden’s actions. They will hear of Hunter again and again.
Yeah Ralph.. "adult leadership" is what I envisioned was in place as I was growing up. But, now with 20/20 hindsight we can see how the numbers were being arranged. Not 're' arranged..., but 'arranged'! And, it has continued, although now what is being done is right in our face. Is this Patriotism? Of course not. But, hey.. we're focused on the transport of pregnant women being passengers in vehicles driven across state lines for medical care. We have become a 'sick' nation. Under god.
Benevolently effective leadership. Tffg leads his cult quite well!
With a background concert of whipporwill arias, I only wish to express my gratitude for Dr Richardson's sharing of her coherent insights, space for me to add my own puny voice without checkmarks, the ability to see what others are thinking, and the best presidency in my lifetime. I voted for President Biden hoping he would manage to turn the temperature down, and I am relieved that he is doing that. I imagine other world leaders are relieved also. Mr Garland is coming through, getting results, though the pace is not what many people hoped for. I prefer to think of the progress this administration is making in the words of the snail who got a ride on the tortoise's back--- "WHEEE!!"
Yes to all of what you wrote Ed!
And the snail- make me chuckle. 😀
Thank you Kathy!
Same, Kathy.
All things are relative. All things. I’m also reminded that we truly discover what we want (and more so what we value) by reminders of what we DO NOT want. For that we can thank DT for being who and what he is also in capital letters. Daily I am grateful for the dedication of Professor HCR and her lessons in pulling together so many competing happenings in our world to allow regular ah-hah moments.
❤️❤️👏👏
Thank you, Heather, Excellent Letter on what President Biden's administration is doing for Peace in the Middle East. The breadth, the depth, philosophy and the successes of the Biden agenda are staggering! Wisdom and Experience make a huge difference! The job of the rest of us is to have steady tenacity about telling everyone we meet the good President is doing for each of us individually and having a world of peace and human rights for all. We must counter the negativism of the MAGA Republicans with continuous facts and clear messaging about President Biden, his fine character, experience, and accomplishments! I loved hearing Stephanie Ruhle's interview of President Biden this evening when she asked him what is different about him from Trump. His answer was "EVERYTHING!!" So let's erase Trump and his negativity and chaos from our minds and vocabulary and ignore him and the MAGGOTS and use all our oxygen to talk about a campaign of accomplishment. wisdom and vision. We, the People, all of us this time!
Oh, Cathy! How I wish I could wish tfg away, out of the picture, out of sight, out of mind! But every time I open my web browser, his orange countenance fills my screen under some headline or another informing of the latest irate, irrational absurdity he’s splurted! So TIRED of him!
Per Mary Trump's Substack you can access The Scotsman. Without excessive bombast, the paper simply pointed out all the current accusations and court cases that Trump faces. It was just matter of fact reporting on his recent visit. A little bit of snickering about a short red carpet and two pipers welcoming his arrival with very little attention otherwise. The insinuation was that Trump was attempting to show the UK spotlight on himself, while the public is watching the King's coronation. He's "history" in Scotland.
Thank you for this.
Yeah Hope, tomorrow I'm going down to the carpet store and buy me ten feet of red carpet (actually 7' x 10') to roll out behind my race-trailer at the coming boat races in Standish ME. Ah'll anchor it with a coupla teeeki torches so I'll have a place to hang the engine on my race-boats. Red carpet and some foldable chairs from Harbor Freight. That's what I can afford. Oh yeah... and an ice-chest.
I sure agree with you on that! I'd love to challenge the media to have DT free days!!!! Even an hour each day to have a news program that does not mention his name, and not show his ugly face or voice. One fun thought today was that he gets convicted of seditious conspiracy and not ever be allowed to hold office ever again!
Splurted...very appropriate word for his ill spelled, ill thought out, ungrammatical, often nonsensical but mean and nasty tirades.
Rose, the media feeds us what they see the majority of people click on. Just like with food, if we all are more discerning in what we consume, they'll eventually see fewer takers and stop stocking junk. I don't say you are checking this coverage out but we need to inspire as many as we can to abandon train wreck news.
I'll keep saying this for anyone to hear and replicate: only click on the stories covering TFG's criminal charges; i.e., DA Willis GA case, DA Bragg NY case, the Carroll rape trial and Special Prosecutor Smith's investigation and possible indictment. Avoid any coverage of any in the 45 orbit focused on nonsensical statements, public appearances, social media posts, ridiculous claims and any other gibberish. As more clicks go to substantive topics, so too will coverage, which will also serve to reduce the ancillary coverage of him and his peanut gallery.
I fully agree, C.! I rarely click on the web browser stories
Since I posted this morning about this, I figured out on my own how to change the browser’s settings and reduce the number of these soap-opera dramas. You click on the three dots (just as you do to edit your cooment on Substack) and request to see less of these types of “stories”. I plan to do this every time tfg’s orange visage clutters my screen.
You've got it. Now keep sharing with the rest of the class... actually all of the classes. I'm trying my best to do the same.
Thank You Cathy! Went to bed before Ruhle's interview, and will try to catch it yet this morning. Also hope to see you at HH. Congratulations, too, on your 3 years as President of Texas Hill Country League of Women Voters! Look forward to all the good trouble you can cause now that you won't have to be nonpartisan! You Go Girl!
Again, recognize what you DON’T want and run with what you do want and give it legs. So awesome to witness leadership. Call it boring if you like ...
What a wonderful letter with facts, verifiable data and the wide range of progress made by the hard work of competent, knowledgeable and honest members of the current administration. After surviving four years of chaos, with impulsive, irrational and irreversible foreign and domestic policy blunders, I realized upon reading tonight’s letter that I actually have hope for my country again, faith in its leadership enlightened by highly respected professionals and a white haired fellow who has restored our standing in the world, strengthened global partnerships with our allies and been around long enough to know how our political system works, and how it doesn’t. Thank you, Heather. I needed every word of your outstanding letter tonight.
If only all news outlets were so aware, their hits and misses have more of the latter
I watched Washington Week in Review on PBS last night and was truly disappointed by the reporting that Trump supporters in Congress still speak with forked tongues and these reporters seemed to be competing for examples. There was a general sentiment that the President and his party would have to capitulate on McCarthy's deal on the debt crisis in some way, and I wanted to send them all HCR's discussion of the Fourteenth Amendment. Very discouraging.
Unfortunately PBS has lost their way...
Sadly, this felt more like a lack of preparation than bias. Normally, I like what William Brangham does, but he seemed a little scattered, and the guest reporters sounded like they were in a bar somewhere trading one-ups. Either way it didn't inspire confidence in their reporting.
Exactly. They’re only interested in ratings, so they don’t report on the “boring” work of government.
Thanks Dr. Richardson. The last six years have been cartoonish especially when looney toon ideas are actually enacted into law , in a number of states. It is both laughable and frightening and I am waiting, somewhat impatiently , for the cartoon to end with a big “ that’s all folks!”. Yet the twice impeached, now indicted, former POTUS is the front runner for 2024. ( with more indictments likely) Incredible.
So hard to fathom, but then I never listened to Rush or watched Rupert’s bull Schitt tv. I always thought sane outnumbered stupid/ignorant/greedy/Pharisees. But damn, they do make formidable foes…
Only because they are so numerous. It's not an even match.
they are less numerous than the rest of us (sane ones, imho). but they are brilliant in some very limited ways. cunning. deviousness. persistence. (they played a long game, going back to the Koch brothers 40 years ago, and with deeper roots going even further back. the rest of us, being less cunning and more morally responsible, did not understand or see what they were up to. think of Roger Stone's evil brilliance. Sociopaths have a real advantage when it comes to destruction and creating chaos -- a far easier task than actually Governing.
they found the loop-holes in our Constitutional Law and Electoral Practices. Slowly but surely -- and strategically -- they used these flaws to enact minority rule. We need a major overhaul. We need to fix those loopholes as we would correct software bugs that allow for virus infiltration.
Yes, and if Democrats had paid more attention to their encroachment on state legislatures, we might now be in this place.
I wouldn’t call them exactly brilliant. Case in point, Marjorie Three Names and lil’ Bo Beep are a couple of ‘em. I might say they are “deviously clever”.
yes, "clever" is a more appropriate descriptor than "brilliant". and i forgot to mention that the clowns (evil and frightening, not funny) showed up after the strategic ones paved the way. the stupidity, insensitivity, and lack of awareness exhibited by these clowns may yet allow the rest of us to wrest back control .... but they stand on some formidable scaffolding (gerrymandered districts, voter suppression, stacked and corrupted judiciary, etc) that was put in place by the clever strategists who paved the way.
Clever...or just following the blueprints laid out for them? There are a boatload of wealthy oligarchs doing the planning and disseminating the plans via fake grassroot organizations funded by Koch money, by Mercer money and too many other dark money orgs.
Empty Green, at least, does seem to have some of the same talent as Ol' Yamface for connecting with their particular fanbase. That is about her only talent. As for Bimbobert--I think she is just plain dumb, ignorant and very lucky to have run in a district evidently full of very gullible idjits.
Fani Willis has her work cut out for her it appears with 8 of the pawns in the steal Georgia’s votes game asking for immunity. I’m guessing that might ensnare Trump’s goons, Eastman, Guiliani, Chesebro, et.al in her wide web of RICO charges. Holding those goons accountable, hopefully in a jail cell will be at least half the battle
Thank you Heather.
The considerate, compassionate and intelligent efforts by the Biden administration gives me hope for our future - even as the incomprehensible and foolish rhetoric of the GOP, oligarchs and white not-christian nationalists strikes terror.
I happened to see Joe Biden drive by in his limo motorcade in Washington. He was visible in the back seat quietly reading some document or email. It was comforting to see the man just doing his job. How unlike his predecessor. I am proud that he is our president.
Chump even left the hospital to be driven around saying “look at me.” What a pathetic arse, polluting with every breath he takes
Exactly, me,me,me. With dead Covid 19 patients in every hospital who were not helped by his management of the pandemic.
MIS-management, I know you meant😱
"He was visible in the back seat quietly reading"
Indeed it is always good when a President can read.
George W. Bush and Trump could not and did not read.
But, of course, Biden did not go to Ivy so OF COURSE he can read.
To garner entrance into Ivy one need not be able to read, as Trump and Bush both demonstrated.
Read Borowitz's book, "Profiles in Ignorance"...you will be astounded by how many Presidents have been elected who were "intellectually incurious"; who either didn't or couldn't read and were "bored" by briefings and stubbornly remained uninformed.
That's where "political handlers" got their employment: shepherding their willfully ignorant charges into electoral victory. TV "sound bites" ruined this country's politics.
TL,
I will take a look and thanks for the reference.
My biggest complaint about America is the low bar that "prestigious" private schools like Harvard have for rich white folks.
A special needs guy like George Bush got in, then, BRAGGED about never attending class and GRADUATED.
I went to Texas A&M in the early 1980's and the flunk out rate in the first SIX WEEKS was something like 24%.
If you could not keep up, they sent you home.
At Harvard, nobody even checks to see if you are in class and then???
Boom, you are a Harvard Graduate.
totally ridiculously poor education at those Ivy schools.
A perfect example of "Profiles in Ignorance" and "political handlers"......
Dick Chaney/G.W. Bush.
Yes! Reading is good, otherwise you have to watch FOX News to get your daily dose of misinformation.
Not having ever subscribed to cable (early on, I had no money, later on, I did not want to waste it on TV), I have not ever watched Fox either.
"Clint Eastwood, shooting at Mexican 'bandits?"
Here's a cartoon of Uncle Sam aghast at the flood of immigrants.
Except in 1903, "Europeans were the "Bad Immigrants"
https://forgottenfiles.substack.com/p/when-europeans-were-the-bad-immigrants
Everything Old is New Again may apply - with a few twists, tweaks, additions. Billy Joel should write a SECOND SONG like he intended to - a follow up to " We Didn't Start the Fire ". It wouldn't be for a shortage of material !
I watched the old film with Clint Eastwood '' Every which way but loose'' and Donald TUMP was in it, his name was 'Clyde'' and Eastwood's mother in the film referred to him as that baboon.
Never insult Baboons, John!
Did you throw rubber darts at your screen? Just askin’...
Crazy
Thanks for the laugh, Mr. Philips!
Thank you Heather, as always, for connecting the dots and revealing the prospects for peace in this worried nation of concerned citizens. 😘🇺🇸🌎🕊️
Professor, thank you for the economic data as the necessary update for President Biden's Tuesday budget clash. Per Stephanie Ruhle's interview of Biden on 5/5, the President is fully aware of the 14th Amendment tools to deal with US accounts payable now.
For those following Leonard Leo's dark money scams & his continuing 501(c)3 shell games, see wikipedia.org essay on the fact that the "Judicial Education Project (JEP) & Luxury Yacht Tours and the Judcial Network Crisis (JNC) & Free Rentals FreeTuition & Free Amicus Briefs have been jetisoned for the "85 Fund" and the Honest (sic) Election Project. Go to the "85 Fund " on Wkipedia.
Leo is obnoxious and the devil incarnate along with Mitch. I am liking the fact that these people are being “found out” about their corruption.
Biden is being very patient in his handling of so many crises as they occur. He is surrounded by intelligent and capable staff with whom he relies upon. He is a master delegator who can make things happen. Biden trusts those who he has chosen to inform him of the truths. While the FBI and the DOJ are doing their investigations, it frees him up to concentrate of what matters to our nation. In my opinion, it’s a win-win.
Agreed, wholeheartedly
Leonard Leo chills me to the core. How did he gain so much power and to whom does he answer? Dark Brandon needs to shine a light PDQ.
Inappropriate money (tons of it) is like a boa constrictor wrapped around democracy's throat.
Specifically, the Voting Rights Act or what's left of the VRA.
I think the US needs a BS Tsar. An office of detection and explanation before legislation. I wonder what the Pope thinks about the cadre of influencers that still adhere to the Inquisition? How did 5 conservative justices get selected from a reactionary branch of Catholism? And how do they presume to speak for the core of American voters? (I know, rhetorical questions, but still...)
A vital role for crap detection is supposed to be filled by investigative journalism, which seems to have declined from the mainstream media. I heard a mainstream maven just last night claiming the both parties are "talking past each other" on default, as if cutting the baby in half would be the wiser option .
I wonder who might investigate the decline of investigative journalism? Who might examine that loss and give us a solid foundation on which to address it? I can conjecture on corporate owned media, dark money, Jamal Kashoggi getting chopped into pieces, brains rewired to short clip videos rather than in depth reading???
Yes, but Citizens (are) United. This means it is ok to secretly bribe politicians to make the desired votes.
Exactly. Even if you argue that it somehow isn't really the same as bribery, it produces the same outcomes, and that's the problem. If you argue that racial policy means no harm, but yet minorities are still discriminated against, that's de facto racism. If you aim to bias the democratic process with payment large enough to be noticed by a decision maker, that's de facto bribery. It produces the same outcome, and that can be proven.
Does it always "tr%mp" the democratic process? No, but it's a very substantial thumb on the scales, like giving illegal steroids to competing athletes.
THAT's exactly what I felt during Chris Hayes' All In explanation (and illustration - that painting!) last night: "a boa constrictor wrapped around democracy's throat." Someone smote Leonard Leo & fiends please.
I’m very hopeful that Clarence Thomas’ scandals are a start at doing just that. I read somewhere that if George Soros had done all the things he has been accused of, he would be Leonard Leo.
Great comparison, but poor George Soros.
Otherwise known as the Honest Elections Project. 😡😡 we need to have more experts lifting up and spreading out information on how the fascists purposely use deception to confuse and accuse their opposition of their own dirty tricks so that many folks don’t know up from down. We all need more practice at keeping our feet on the ground while discerning what is up from what is down!! Honest Elections Project!! 😡😡 Fox Not News!! It starts in infancy, I know! How to know when a lie is a lie.
Christy, I think you are ready to write for SCOTUSblog.
LOL. 🤣 I thank you Bryan for sharing your knowledge of the 85 Fund and now I also know of the Scotusblog. (The gifts we find in LFAA are never ending.)
It appears that investigative reporters may save our world, helping us to see, what is up and what is down, amidst the chaos. I can support them. Thank you for the gifts you give us. 🙏
I don’t know, I mean, I’m not so sure that banana republican talibangelicals, who think all sorts of magical sky dude hootenany in the name of religious oppression of others is both desirable and possible, as well as those who actually think “thoughts and prayers” will fix gun violence *and* help their team win the Super Bowl -- don’t also think that “good economic news comes from nowhere” and isn’t due to hard work. So why vote for results when you can vote for prejudice and avarice?
And, I have a new phone and needed to teach it “hootenanny” and “talibangelical.” Thanks.
I may have to use "talibangelical" without attribution, John. Just a heads up.🤣
Do you happen to know a good lawyer? 🤣
Ha!
"I'm looking at the Man in the 🪞 mirror"!🤣
I, too, will steal talibangelical. I've been calling them the Christian Taliban, but I always get called out by the "real" "Christians" who object to me calling them what they call themselves. Sky Dude hootenany, now... that is priceless. I've been using "Imaginary Sky Pilot" myself (stole that one from Jim Wright).
John, where in NorCal?
Durn Autospell!
Great comment John. I thought you might be a troll at first! Fortunately I kept reading....
And if I was the Fwee-dumb Kawkuss, I would be deeply pondering the interview Biden did today with Stephanie Ruhle, how he answered her question about whether he was prepared to use the power of the Fourteenth Amendment to solve the debt ceiling crisis: "I'm not there.... yet."
If Biden invoked the authority of the 14th Amendment and the markets accept the move - with whatever increases in interest rates it will take - it will neuter the Fwee-dumb Fucks and make them irrelevant. 2024 may yet see the destruction of the New Confederacy.
Everyone should go read this:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/05/06/president-biden-msnbc-age/
Thanks, TC. You are right - sharing the article.
I really appreciate your periodic comments about how well the economy is doing, and how the improvements are actually achieving Biden's stated goals of addressing the economic imbalances that have grown since the 1970's. I am continuously frustrated by the economic press, particularly in what are viewed as main-stream sources.
I am an engineer by training, so I am forever frustrated by the hyper-focus on year-over-year inflation numbers, which are really meaningless. Anyone who has ever designed a control system knows that what's most important is not the static level, but the rate of change... and the rate-of-change of the rate-of-change. If the Fed were to try and design airplanes as they control monetary policy, those planes would all fall out of the sky.
Recent data that I have seen implies that the major component at this point to the year-over-year inflation number is in the Service sector. No one seems to want to explore whether this year-over-year change might actually be a reflection of something positive... a growth of wages at the lowest end of the economic ladder. A trivial example... if in the restaurant industry, a sandwich is now 20% more expensive than it was a couple years ago, but the people back in the kitchen now have health insurance and can feed their children, then that inflation means a reasonable rebalancing of the economy is taking place.
One of my only frustrations with the Biden approach is his high cutoff for increasing taxes--the $400K number. My household income is substantially less than that number, yet I would have no problem paying a bit more in taxes. The two presidents (since Lincoln) who have most increased the national debt as a percentage of GDP are Bush and Trump... by cutting revenue while boosting spending. One can cool off an economy by extracting money either by increasing costs (raising interest rates), or by raising taxes. Raising interest rates hurts lower sectors of the economy by raising credit card interest and mortgage interest... pumping more money from workers to bankers. Restoring taxes on those who can afford it... and I include myself at much less than the $400K tames the deficit while having similar impacts on inflationary pressures.
Your letters and a cup of coffee are how I start each day.... Thank you again for your efforts.
Tom Kraus
Tom, I think your analysis is interesting. My husband is a control systems guy, and I’ve never really understood what that means - this seems like quite a good explanation. I studied finance, and I like the idea of applying engineering principles to monetary policy. To everything, really.
I, too, wouldn’t mind paying more in taxes, especially if it is going to things like infrastructure, R&D, and the social safety net. Paying more in taxes to increase funding for our already bloated military- not so much.
I usually am a two cup of coffee/read LFAA kind of person. Sometimes three.
I love your assessment from an engineering standpoint, and your discussion of paying more in taxes when they are for the betterment of others. I was asked once why I always voted for the school budgets and for the library, even though I had no kids in school, and don't often use the library system. My reply was that even with no kids in school, it is important to support the schools; they are raising the next generation of leaders, and I don't want to have my "golden years" be less than my "active years".
Brilliant and easily understandable post.
But of course, you’re an engineer!! You work by the premise that every structure must have a strong base…a premise easily applied to society.
I love anyone who talks about the rate of change of the rate of change of a system! Thank you! Most of the Republican lawmakers in Congress right now have no idea of this concept, and would have a very difficult time understanding it if it was explained to them.