In 1776, as British colonists in North America were contemplating how to construct a new nation, Massachusetts lawyer John Adams famously wrote to friends about the relationship between government and the law.
Senator Tim Scott’s refusal to accept the results of the presidential election if Trump loses should disqualify him from serving another day. It undermines, as Republicans increasingly do, our system of laws.
Perhaps he would change his tune if House members who worked with Trump to overturn the 2020 election results ever face criminal charges. Not holding my breath.
Scott's color or race is irrelevant. He is a Senator. One the highest offices in the land. He was the presidential candidate that came on with a message of "working together" and put on airs that were positive. He sent the message that as a president, he wouldn't be so "MAGA".
And yet, now he actually refuses to state that he would accept the results of our next election. He is not stupid. He KNOWS that the election of 2020 was the best run in recent history. He KNOWS there was no fraud. He KNOWS that it was a fair and clean contest. So why now does he become a fascist? Because King Donald would disapprove if he strayed from the "party line" that the only legitimate election is the one where MAGA wins.
This should send chills down our spines. A US Senator. Scott should resign immediately.
Bill, that would be the honorable thing to do, but the Senator, like many in his party in federal seats, has no honor. If he did, he would "honor" the Constitution and the law, and support candidates that do the same. It is a party of corrupt people with corrupt intent to usurp the will of the People, no matter the cost.
Telling these people they should resign, receiving constant emails asking me to sign petition asking one after another politician to resign (send money to give them petition) is ridiculous. Of course they SHOULD, but why on earth would they at our bequest. They’re right where they want to be to continue with their perfidy.
Scott is angling to be on Trumps administration. If Trump should win.
Yes, I agree Scott should resign. All mega Republicans in Congress that help Trump with the insurrection on January 6th should resign. Their all guilty as hell. Yet it's a mockery to our constitution and our Democracy to see them still govern this country.
IMO his chances are about as good as Kristi Noem's, and for a related reason: Trump has great contempt for people of color, and he has great contempt for women of any color. Meanwhile, the white guys who are angling for this so-called prize are showing their great contempt for the principles on which this country was founded and which it's doing its best to live up to.
Susanna, I am sure you are correct and Scott is as JennSH says, delusional. How corrupting is the lust for power. And yes, he should be ashamed. He took an oath to the Constitution which he violated right in front of all of us.
It's the cavalier way in which so many Republicans in Congress have violated their oath of office (or, at the very least, don't take it seriously) that's convinced me that they really are anti-democracy. Not to mention their affinity for Putin and the so-called "illiberal democracy" of Hungary's Viktor Orbán.
And now I'm reading all this stuff that shows how it didn't start with Trump, or Gingrich, or Reagan, or Nixon either. . . .
Disagree, respectfully. Trump has courted the religious right ever since 2016. He is no more Christian than the devil himself. The sole reason for this is political support for himself. Power. Trump appears to me to be the most transactional and therefore corrupt politican this country has ever seen. Look at his every move - every one of them - and you can see a direct path from that move to his quest for power. Make a black man his VP - knowing that it should siphon off a politically significant number of Democrat votes to Republican votes? Absolutely. Put a woman like Noem in there to help bolster the female vote - a great idea that he would jump all over, if he were convinced it would work. Now that she has turned off the entire nation with the puppy-killing story, Trump has ditched her quickly and completely, it appears. He will put anybody in there who he thinks bolster his chances. That's why he chose Pence - who he just had to loath privately. Pecne helped him get that huge chunk of the religious vote. Purely transactional. BTW, shows the bottemless characther of Pence. Also Scott. And also Noem.
When Trump became a Presidential candidate, I changed political parties as many others. I was absolutely in shock...he IS Godless and immoral......this was NOT new information !!! He has never been faithful to any one of his three wives.
I was even more amazed that the Christian "wrong" were mesmerized by him!!! Is he really the picture of a leader for the land of the free and home of the brave? Did he want to assist in healing the sick and feeding the poor? He has no respect for our military unless he can use them for his own evil purposes/power. Tell me what possible good reason would a true American ever choose to be a part of "governing" with this enemy of freedom!!!!! When he was given the right ...the honor....to hold the position of President of our country....he favored friendship and respect towards dictators and demonstrated disrespect for other, past friends of the USA.
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN!!!!!WIN!!!!! I AM VOTING FOR YOU!
"I was even more amazed that the Christian "wrong" were mesmerized by him!!!" Well Emily - perhaps the corollary is easier to understand. The Christian wrong hate liberals and what they (we) stand for so much that they would literally make a deal with the devil to fight us. Freedom of religion including no religion, abortion (even with limits), LGBTQ rights including marriage, climate change mitigation to them there is no climate change only a world-wide plot by scientists to take over the world order, teaching of evolution in schools. This kind of stuff - to them - is existential. Enough to go to war over. They happily bend the knee to Trump if they think he will deliver them from liberals. And he has promised to.
Gov. Noem was clearly auditioning by trying to depict herself as a tough, self reliant western woman by reporting her killing her own dog because she couldn't train it, nor put a fence around the chickens. But still, the act of trying to create that impression was much more like saying "your the star, go ahead and grab it".
Exactly, the Gnome wants everyone to know that she is a tough gunslinging Prairie Barbie and isn't anything like a wuss snowflake libtard. She could push the nuclear button.
I agree with your assessment of TFFG's motives, Jay, but I doubt that a non-white (I'm looking at you, Marco Rubio) or female running mate will fool voters of color or women. Some, sure, but most Latinos, Af-Ams and women are too politically savvy to pull the lever strictly on ethnicity or gender.
Lauren - I sure hope you are right. For instance, in a state like Georgia where it can really come down to the wire, we need - indeed we require - a consolidated black vote, to offset the white rural wingnuts who vote for the likes of MJT, people whom wild horses could not keep from the polls. There are and have been black politicians and/or businessmen (or doctors) who have fallen firmly into the Trump camp, for reasons none of us understand, and I have to believe they have affected or would affect a statistically significant portion of the Af-Am vote. Perhaps just enough to make the difference. Right now I'd put my money on Tim Scott as his running mate. He's perfect for the corrupt, conniving, racist mind of TFG and his campaign folks.
Donald Trump would do whatever he could to fill his coffers with gold, which is how he looks at every person and every transaction, as a way to make the most money off of it or them. Why Tim Scott is out is not about his own personal racism, but the racism of his party base. It is not the same thing. He can credit his campaign with attracting the KKK and the Nazi party, as well as just plain old racist, White trash!
By comparison with Stacey Abrams, Barbara Lee, Jasmine Crockett, the Justins,, and the Obamas, just to name a few truly powerful people of color, I doubt it. Scott is too wimpy.
I agree! Tfg has no respect for this crazed Black man. Did you hear tfg respond to him “not so fast” when Scott said several times he loved him! It was disgusting!
This kind of focus on Tim Scott has a whiff of racist double standards. One would better condemn the hypocrisy of every person in power (including every one of the Supreme Court conservative majority and Leonard Leo who put them there - Catholic, Irish, Italian, Female, Black Americans) who personally benefitted from the liberalization of American society and is now pulling up the ladder behind them.
As for Stepin Fetchit
"The lazy man character that [Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry] played was based on something that had come from slavery. It was called 'putting on old massa' -- break the tools, break the hoe, do anything to postpone the work that was to be done. Finally, the white characters would become exasperated and do the work themselves. And blacks understood it perfectly, and laughed heartily at it." *
"Perry's film career slowed after 1939 and nearly stopped altogether after 1953. Around that time, Black Americans began to see his Stepin Fetchit persona as an embarrassing and harmful anachronism, echoing negative stereotypes. However, the Stepin Fetchit character has undergone a re-evaluation by some scholars in recent times, who view him as an embodiment of the trickster archetype."**
Thanks for this, lin. The technical academic term for this behavior is, akin to the patriarchal bargain (of which this is actually an excellent example, as powerless men are also swept up in this phenomenon), the "postcolonial bargain" identified by the wonderful scholar Gayatri Spivak, in which previously colonized people (let's face it: usually men) embrace the systems and power structures of their oppressors in order to gain power and influence, to the detriment of their own people. It happens a lot, and it has a lot to do with the brand of corrosive and totalitarian Christianity common to those populations. Scott is merely trying to find a group where he can stand out as an "exception" and he chose the christofascist one. Same for the candidacy of the guy in NC who is running for governor, Mark Robinson. This has nothing to do with education, intelligence, or true commitment to ideas. It's a tactic--and a cynical one at that--that is embraced by people who are also absorbing the bigotry and prejudice of their rightwing pastors when it comes to people who are "different." Homophobia is a huge issue in the Black community, for instance. And if they think that TFG is going to save them from the gays, they will embrace his christofascist ideology.
This is a great risk to American democracy. We can look at Israel as a microcosm, where the 'corrosive and totalitarian' impetus of religious extremism is more clearly apparent than in India, Hungary, Russia et al.
Zionism has been appropriated by Jewish and Christian extremists, Israeli and American. The current Netanyahu regime is run by religious extremist settlers, some associated with Kach - a Kahanist group classified by Israel as a terrorist organization.
It has resulted in unprecedented intelligence failure (ignoring warnings of Hamas plans), unprecedented military failure (Hamas still holds the hostages, Hamas returns to the rubble when IDF leaves), and unprecedented strategic failure (Israel has never been less secure internally and internationally.)
Building on Trump's bromance with Bibi, the Kahanists, are making a revivalist push in the USA.
It does seem too true for many of the more prominent examples who have become too much like oppressors or simply pulled the ladder up, I have worked with several that helped bootstrap at least several others as we helped bootstrap them.
Some seem desperate to remain a small enough number of tokens to avoid losing their personal advantages to actively suppress any advantages given others of their identifiable group.
It was in college, in the 1960s, that I took a course on the Civil War from the wonderful David Hackett Fisher, and for the first time realized that the slur that Black slaves were shiftless and lazy was actually a compliment and affirmation of their humanity. As Prof. Fisher pointed out, why would someone work hard when the fruits of that labor would go to someone else?
You see this theme in the writings of Balzac - where peasants 'play dumb' to confound the privileged. This is a common theme. Choosing to appear 'disabled' as a form of agency for the disadvantaged. In an Icelandic saga, an Irish princess taken into captivity and sold by Russians as a slave pretends to be mute.
"The phrase is believed to have originated among Royal Navy sailors; when a ladder was slung over the side of a ship, the last sailor to climb on board would say, "I'm alright Jack; pull up the ladder." The latter half of the phrase, typically used as "pulling up the ladder behind oneself", has been used to call out unfairness and hypocrisy on the part of those who are seen to have benefitted from opportunities handed out to them, only to deny such opportunities to others."
I can see a lot of Br'er Rabbit in the Stepin Fetchit character, Lin. I think Scott is all rabbit and no fox. I don't think he's stupid, just not bold enough to con a con.
I find it amazing - ironically amazing - that watching Scott’s interview brought some of the same identical words … Stepin Fetchit … to our minds … what an embarrassing individual - and even most so as an African American male … pretty, pretty … pretty sad!!!
Hey that’s my line. When I accused Tim of being a Stepin Fetchet, I was accused of being a racist. Pa-lease… I write satire and biting commentary. I’m about to use Stepin in another work.
I’m issuing a clarion call. Biden is likely not going to be re-elected. That is my guess. Trump is a street mugger. And many if not most people vote with their emotions not their intellect. Trump is trying to be placed in jail and he will get what he wants maybe even tomorrow.
Sorry to rain on your parade, Bill. I must say that while most of the responses to my comment about the horrific Tim Scott were gracious, I did receive an accusation of quasi-racism as well.
There is a subset of thought within those of our fellow liberals and/or folk who strive to be tolerant and caring for our fellow humans irrespective of tribe/ethnicity/nationality/religion, etc., that somehow a white, heterosexual guy like myself simply cannot make any commentary about matters touching upon race that raises negative stereotypes of black people whose words and/or actions raise those stereotypes themselves. This is the type of constipated liberalism that basically puts a target on all of us lefties for the Murdochian Ministry of Mendacity hacks.
The Clarence Thomases, Tim Scotts, and Mark Robinsons of the world, minor league Quislings all, are wholly legitimate targets and moreover, basic free speech, as long as it is delivered within the boundaries of civility and dignity is always the way to go.
Having said that, I cannot help but recalling that years ago, when J.C. Watts, a charismatic, charming former QB for the Oklahoma Sooners became a Republican congressman, that his own father was quoted as saying something along the lines of ...a black man who votes Republican is like a chicken who votes for Colonel Sanders!
If you ever wondered what the term "Uncle Tom" means, go look in the dictionary now - when you get to that, there's a picture of Scott as the perfect example.
After finally reading Uncle Tom's Cabin a couple of years ago, I bristle at the term being used as a pejorative against Blacks. The worse thing the character in the book did was to be kind to people no matter who they were and to accept a situation that he had no power to change with as much grace and dignity as possible. His was one of the literary deaths that never fails to hurt my heart.
OK, how about Stephen, the character Samuel L. Jackson played in "Django Unchained"? He seems to me to emblemize the ultimate oreo - willing to do anything to preserve the favor of his masters. I see a direct line between Stephen and Tim Scott, but I also think Scott's more afraid of being lynched if he says anything to contradict the boss than he is greedy for power (more like status in the case of a VP - they'd never let him DO anything).
Haven't seen Django so I can't comment. As for Scott, one of his worst qualities is that he lacks a moral core, which means he's perfect for Trump. But he'll never be picked as there are too many KKK types who vote for Trump.
The effusive, bopping up and down, wriggling sidewise Scott carries his desire publicly to claim the Trump royal ass to extents of parody, brown-nosing, and fawning obsequiousness I've never seen till this minstrelsy.
Thought the same thing when he made the political scene. Being called an Uncle Tom was a pejorative term to most self-respecting Blacks. Looks like Ole Tim didn’t read the book.
If I were a foreigner living in a far off land, I would say 'if the stupid Americans elect a guy whose gaslighting and ignorance killed 400,000 citizens during Covid, who is under 4 indictments, acts as a 'fluffer' to autocrats like Putin and is as completely corrupt as any 3rd world Banana Republic leader...then America deserves what it reaps. Sort of like Batista government letting Fidel Castro walk away from his first attempted coup or Germans allowing Hitler to become Chancellor with less than a majority of votes.
When the stupid Americans cheat, bamboozle and accuse the sane Americans of their evil, it’s straight out of the Nazi playbook. Not all of us deserve what it reaps…nor does the world
There was a lot of perversity in European history back then. Turns out "nice people" can do amazing evil / destruction, one of the uncoverings by insightful research and literature. Whenever dedicated groups seek extreme social change, all too often nothing gets in their way.
The Batista "government" was the result a coup d'etat arranged by the Mafia to put the general in office so they could turn Havana into a combination of Vegas without rules and the Tijuana sex trade. He lost to Castro because his "army" no longer wanted to fight for him.
True. None the less the attack on the Moncada barracks was an insurrection, Castro and perps did only 22 months in prison and then were released in an amnesty, and thus was born autocratic Cuba.
Possibly you should reread your history a little closer before you defame Benedict Arnold. Although his name has become a catchword for traitor that was not his intent for what he did. He was trying to end the Revlutionary war sooner and to make sure America didn't just become one of France's colonies.
I'd like to think his ethnicity is irrelevant, regardless of how TFG would exploit it. Scott's just another member of the republican party that refused to impeach and continues to promote the big lie. Why should he be any more or less accountable because of his skin color?
Come next January, all the GOP traitors in the House and Senate who worked to overthrow the government on January 6 and supported Trump's treason in 2024 need to be arrested and charged with "conspiracy to commit treason."
But . . . Why wait? This country is UNDER ATTACK. They have declared their intent to overthrow this democracy; they brazenly carry out a program of weaponized propaganda; they have Flynn running all over, setting up militias to ensure violence at polls; they have evangelicals and mobsters working to subvert, intimidate and suppress voting—it’s endless. The RNC is, itself, an Organized Crime Syndicate run by fascist Libertarians who install puppets at every level. They are aligned with Russia with operations to subvert the elections—the Treason runs rampant with the Repugs. The RNC and every one of Koch’s brain-washing institutions need to be dismantled. People like Musk, Thiel, Murdoch need to be deported and their immigrant status revoked forever. We need to get serious about TREASON in this country. And trump? He is an avowed traitor—FFS—shoot him. His corrupt judges? FIRE THE FUCK OUT OF CORRUPT, BIASED JUDGES like Alito, Thomas, Cannon, and anyone appointed by tRump. Fire them NOW.
What is it about being under attack that this country doesn’t understand? ALL of this has been well-documented; books and articles from investigative journalists and former government leaders. We spend god-awful amounts on intelligence agencies and the Defense Department—to what end? So they can stand by and await orders from fascist tyrants of a right-wing overthrow? What the hell? TO DO NOTHING IS TO AID AND ABET THE TRAITORS.
Your comment is valid and I agree. Nothing will happen until Democrats control both houses and Biden wins. That is the only chance we have to see justice prevail to these corrupt traitors. It's up to the majority of the people in this country who believe in Democracy to vote and to encourage other voters who are undecided to vote for Democracy.
I agree with you entirely, but how? Who can fire anyone on SCOTUS or any lifetime appointment? Who can fire the likes of Flynn, who doesn't have any official gov't position? Or sitting congress people? Seriously, if you know which person or body has the authority to oust them, please tell.
We are under attack by (as Hillary Clinton said,) a vast, right-wing conspiracy. They aren’t playing by the rules, as you pointed out. I think a state of emergency should be called; I think the Koch “Cadre”/Mt. Pelerin Group should be arrested for treason and their assets seized. It’s way past trump’s jail time, and his minions plotting to overturn the next election, plotting to foment violence, should be arrested. Put them on a prison ship to await trial. Even now, Flynn is running around the country marshaling militia groups. Arrest him and his band of violent criminals. The entire Koch Empire of Libertarianism needs to be shut down—George Mason U, Cato, Heritage—all of it. It is a network for traitors and treason. Read “Democracy in Chains” if you doubt what they have in mind.
The RNC is no longer a political party. It is an organized crime syndicate managed by Libertarian Fascist Billionaires who install puppets at every level. The Fascist Billionaires pulling the puppet strings need to be arrested; the Puppets who have violated their oaths to office and service need to be expelled, if not arrested. The congressmen who were involved in the J6 coup attempt, along with Clarence Thomas, Ginni Thomas and the rest of them all need to be arrested to face charges. They can deny and delay all they want, from a prison ship.
And lest you doubt that this is “radical” and would be used to turn them against citizens, read Project 2025, read the plans they have made to install and enforce a fascist government, overthrowing this democracy. It’s exactly what they are planning for us. We are beyond playing “nice”—there will be no “peaceful transfer of power”—that has been spelled out. The civil war has already begun.
You want a legal mechanism? These people have already torn down and eroded “legal mechanisms.” The SCOTUS has opened the door for declaring trump above the law. “Corporations are People?” No—that is a fascist tool for handing tremendous power to the Libertarian Fascist Billionaires. “Citizens United” blew equality and fair voting right out the window. Puppet Masters control the RNC. It’s time that sham of a “political party” be torn down.
I totally agree with your premise that we have been watching a right wing revolution unfold, and our Congress, constitution, and judicial system are repeatedly proving they aren't up to the task of a) recognizing it and b) stopping it within a year.
Also, the press makes so much money off of this dangerous situation that they just dangle bait in front of us daily: the "big outrage" of the last 24 hrs., the latest poll, Trump's rally last night, VP choices, etc. The revolution is being both televised, and enormously profited from! 🤬🤮
For 3 to 4 years I've been frequently saying to friends and family that this is a revolution(!), just being carried out by more sneaky, indirect, and corrosive means. Nobody seems to get particularly excited, worried, or engaged when I say that - an ongoing mystery to me.
Where we differ, Dawna, is that I don't see any legal mechanism for doing what you want to see now. But what is perfectly legal - and patriotic - is for 30 million of us to agree that this type of revolution is designed to demoralize, confuse, and frighten the hell out of us. It's worked beautifully, and we've semi-enabled that by our responses.
So I'd like to see the DNC, Biden/Harris, the Lincoln Project, most of the liberal talking heads, etc. agree that it's time to stop taking the Trumpist bait.
Instead, we need to:
1) Stop with the euphemisms and let's name it a modern-day REVOLUTION,
2) Recognize what the MAGAts are doing on about 5 fronts,
3) Stop wasting energy and ink on daily outrages, and
4) GET FOCUSED AND MOBILIZED TO SAVE AMERICA THIS FALL.
After hearing from other writers and going through 8 drafts, I have written a Op-Ed piece about this which I'll be sending to various outlets this week. The New York Times rejected it – surprise, surprise. (Pieces that name the MSM as profiteers off a revolution isn't quite what they what they're looking for, I guess!)
looking for something akin to civil war, TCinLA? Not that I disagree with your assessment of election denialism. It's been a long-standing GOP "trick" , hasn't it!
As Simon Rosenberg points out today, the Republicans have Big Problems in six states - PA, WI, MT, OH, NC, and AZ - bad Senate candidates, all running well behind their Democratic opponent, four of them self-funding morons who are questioned as to where they actually live, two super-MAGA idiots who scare people. And in TX, Rafael Cruz is in danger. The Senate outcome is looking better and better.
Ojala again. I'd like to see it, but I think under a Biden presidency they'll be more likely to go for bipartisanship than expulsion. By all rights and laws anyone who committed or supported insurrection should be thrown out of public office forever. However it would be better politically for the people to vote them out than for a new blue congress to eject them.
Yes. Tim Scott violated his oath of office on national TV. Of course future action (if ever) substantiated by the video recording will challenge the veracity of the recording and claim that NBC and the "Democrat" vermin set him up. Perhaps the claim that MAGA philosophy is at least an ethos will suffice in a MAGA new world? Let Walter explain as he did in The Big Lebowski. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_29yvYpf4w
The Dems are going to have a field day re-quoting his past affirmations that he didn't think 2021 was stolen. lol he'd be breaking one of the Ten Commandments, something he seems to hugely cherish and stand behind as a morally upright Christian.
“ Article I, section 5 of the United States Constitution provides that "Each House [of Congress] may determine the Rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member."
That being said, it is hard to do, particularly now when an oath means nothing.
There are many that need the door held, both in the Senate and House. Something needs to happen to rid ourselves of these people. GA tried to keep MTG off the ballot. That was a laugh.
Thank you....a great reminder to each of us as citizens.
Freedom is NOT free. It requires a commitment not just for today...not only for ourselves.
What kind of world are we leaving for our children and our grandchildren?
Have you considered that the horrible images of rubble, devastation, death, starvation, sickness, a consuming feeling of helplessness felt by a population trying to survive within their own country where not long ago their hospitals were functioning , families were going to school or work...children were playing in the streets....this is Gaza today. It is not the only place experiencing such devastation...there is also Ukraine....a beautiful place once filled with the arts of a deeply gifted and creative population. Thankfully Ukraine continues to provide grain for the world!!!
Have we considered the struggles we are facing with the education of the future populations within the towns, cities, countries of our world....as if COVID has not done its share of damage to the world's children and aged.
There has never been a greater need for SOLID, WISE leadership encouraged by seasoned, respectable, caring, sacrificial, committed, selfless, law abiding and forward thinking leadership.
Yet...we see so many leaving areas of leadership due to corruption, violence, threats on their families or businesses, lack of seriousness from others to fulfill the duty of governance..."of the people, by the people, for the people..." and yes....that means "all of us!!!" This means not for just today but continuing to build upon the foundation of freedoms we have due to those who came before us. What kind of country?...what kind of world?.... are we leaving for our children and grandchildren...?
We need to vote with our eyes open. We need to vote with courage. We need to vote for those that will take responsibility to properly govern and care for this country.....to contribute with determination to leave it better than it is now. We need to be brave as were the men and women who sacrificed to pave the way before us.
This is such a e great call for action --I hope young people who should be the leaders for the future are reading your words. I have seven, almost eight great grandchildren, and I would like to make sure that our "freedoms" and the country, and the earth, will be preserved for them. Sad things heard this morning on NPR: Ukraine is having trouble getting enough young men to fight, and many in the US are supporting third party candidates or not voting at all to protest Biden's sending money for arms to Israel.
What about the students protesting all over this country? They want the war in Israel to end. I understand their compassion and their concern but with all due respect, shouldn't they realize what is going on here in our
country with our Democracy? We need their vote to win our freedom. I hope when September comes , they will realize how critical it is to vote and to save our Democracy or we will suffer the consequences and be under a dictatorship with a authoritarian government.
Two of the possible VP candidates for Trump are called influencers with the Truth and Liberty Coalition which is a main source for Seven Mountain Dominionism. They are Bryon Donalds and Ben Carson. A review of the bio archives (https://truthandliberty.net/bio/) provides other names people may be familiar with in the conservative leadership: Lauren Boebert, Mike Huckabee, Tony Perkins, Bob McEwen, etc.
If anyone needs reminding, here's a wiki article on SMD. It's a wowser, and give you some idea of what many in the Evangelical field are imbibing, and the rough beast which has slouched its way into "Bethlehem" to be born(Yeats). https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Seven_Mountain_Mandate
South Carolinians have two of the worst spineless and lightweight U.S. Senators representing them … which makes me so embarrassed to even tell folks that my father was born in South Carolina!
It's very likely that Trump-directed violence will be unleashed at big-city polling places in swing states. Lara Trump seemed to advocate it last week. Disrupting the vote and third-party candidates are Trump's only chance of winning the Electoral College.
Any public official who speaks like Scott is not exercising free speech but rather, fomenting total disregard of central democratic principles and rule of law. He deserves to be kicked out of the Senate at a minimum.
Expecting Congress to police itself is a noble, but fruitless, pursuit. Absent a working majority nothing much can change short of a national disaster or mass migration from the MAGAGOP.
This is where the public voice can make a difference. We all need to get out of our personal echo chambers and take it to the streets either physically or however you can get to politicians.
Ojala! as they say in Mexico...it translates to "hopefully," but it's more intense than that. It's more like "your lips to God's ears." I have been wondering ever since January 7, 2021 why those congress members who helped plan and execute the insurrection have been allowed to stay in office.
We can keep critisizing Trump and his supporters, but we need to convert it for Mr. Biden to win the election and get certified by thet Congress - not an easy task.
That interview is in a clip on Jay Kuo's substack today, and it is unbelievable. It perfectly illustrates what is meant by, "He is talking out of both sides of his mouth."
It appears they’ve made plans to steal the election—which would explain why they aren’t financing a ground game for the race—so Scott probably thinks the question about accepting election results is moot.
As of last week, the Trump campaign hadn't opened a single field office. And the RNC, which Trump controls via co-chair, Lara Trump, apparently isn't going to contribute money to Congressional candidates. Of course the RNC is spending millions to help pay for Trump's monumental legal bills.
Many Republicans were elected or re-elected to the House or Senate in 2020, yet Trump’s loss was the only one that was rigged? Wouldn’t the corrupt Democrats make it so every Republican lost including tfg in order to take total control of the government?
“He’s living rent free inside your head” is an insult and popular maga refrain oft repeated on you tube channels glorifying dear leader. This is ‘owning the lib’s’ in its finest form. This is who they are and all they have are insults! After all, their leader and “best brander ever” has always reduced his enemies to name calling that usually points to an admission of his own worst character flaws. Sleepy, crooked, crazy, goofy, and lightweight are just a few of the insulting nicknames given his opponents.
Projection? Pure Projection! No one in American history has told more lies and repeatedly subjected others to the projection of his own character flaws and cognitive impairment without an ounce of reflective awareness more than this man. He is devoid of natural human and behavioral emotion. President Biden rightly called him “A sick fuck.”
Trump trauma is real. Even if you feel that your own safety and security have not been directly threatened yet, nonetheless we have been bombarded with media accounts of hatred, cruelty, threats, and chaos daily for nine years now. An unfathomable number of his images and words have been daily thrust in our face and have numbed the brain. Yet even though you personally may have not been directly affected by his malice so far, you probably nonetheless feel empathy for those that suffer the daily torment that has been the prevailing climate for almost a decade.
So, in your own way employing your best skills, if he dwells in your mind, you must try to cast out the demon as best you can and develop a strategy to not allow him to dominate your thoughts any more than necessary. One way is to think of him as the total loser that he is with a goal to work toward vanquishing him from all possible influence over your life come November. “Once your life revolves around hating someone, you’re finished as a thinker, artist, or human”. He is not worth it.
Thank-you Hoyt Bangs, for this insightful description of what the DT/MAGA movement is doing to out politics and culture at large. Above all else, Trump is a thief. Thieves, even when they are not actively stealing from us personally, rob us of our security and peace of mind. We have whole industries designed to mitigate the effect of thieves in our lives.
How we respond, rather than just react, to the MAGA menace will determine just how much of our peace of mind we retain, and what we become while doing it. Mostly, I keep a focus on family, friends, hobbies (gardening!, hiking! woodworking!), and a challenging job. They are all blessings, even if they are a pain-in-the-ass sometimes. This way, I can bring a calmer, sharper, more reasonable self to bear on the issues of the day. Plus, it scares the sh_t out of the MAGAs who know me :)
What are you doing to make sure Democrats get elected? How politically active are you? Are you involved in local politics, community initiatives or the schools and libraries?
I recommend Robert Hubbell and Simon Rosenberg on Substack. We all need to be very aware of opportunities to make sure our Democracy survives, or we won't have happy lives.
How about donating $10K+ and counting—hardly a drop next to the billionaire Libertarian fascists under “Citizens United.”
How about hours spent on Substack bringing articles and books to people’s attention? I’m not so sure they read past the opening comment.
How about sponsoring a bill for abortion rights in a state that is run by 2, Libertarian Fascist families in direct contact with Charles Koch. It’s an uphill battle. How many Repugs actually read books like “Democracy in Chains” or “Dark Money”? These trumpanzees would rather buy Trump paraphernalia stating “Real Men Wear Diapers.”
The very least people could do is research who owns franchises like The Cubs and half of the NFL teams . . . And boycott them. But, apparently that’s a step too far.
So, what, specifically, do you suggest?
I really resent being told to “get involved” with no specifics on how that is applied to actual, Boots-on-the-Ground reality. My husband and I have our fucking address broadcast on the web with the bill for abortion—what risks are YOU taking?
I hear you, Dawna. If one more person tells me to vote, I'm going to gag. (Yes, I know the statistics.) I'm doing everything I can, including donations , calls and postcards. I'm alienating friends and family because so many people just don't want to hear about it. At all. And I'm NOT overdoing it! Aaaargh!
Family? HA. If I never see the Texas contingent again, it’ll be too soon. I am so beyond “niceties” with these people. . . High school reunion in Stefanik’s district? Fo-getta-bout-it . . . Sister who thinks she is smarter than anyone else because she runs a business in AZ? She can go fuck herself. (And she got Covid, too. What an idiot.) The nerve of traitors to spew propaganda at us—we served on active duty, FFS. Who do these diaper-admiring people think they are?
Steve, no doubt you have the solution. Peace and stability in our individual lives begins with working at building and strengthening the family unit through core values Happiness and success within the family and our community should scare the crap out of the magats bent on dividing and destroying us.
The people looking to overturn Democracy in this Country don't care about family happiness. The intent of the chaos and division coming from the Republican Party is to sow distrust in the Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches of our Republic. Dr. Richardson has already pointed out the focused attacks on the judicial in today's paper.
Cast out demons? Scare the opposition? The best way to do this is to register people to vote, drive people to the polls, write postcards, phone bank, donate and vote
Family happiness is secured after we have secured our Democracy in 2024.
Hoyt! This is brilliant. Whenever we let anyone make us miserable for extended periods of time, we have given that person power. Anger is useful if channeled to solutions. Anger as a continuous mantra in the brain is a disease. And it is a victory for the perpetrator.
Letting people "get under my skin" is a relinquishing of personal power. It is a surrender to the evil one we hate. There are only 24 hours a day. I recommend spending a defined number on learning about and spreading the word about the threat to democracy. Tell some people you know about Project 2025. Explain. Then, for the larger rest of the day, find joy in the people and projects you love.
That being said, the greatest form of justice will be on November 5th. I plan to turn my extreme anger into getting as many people as I can to vote. Blue.
You are right, Hoyt. I try to keep a positive attitude that TFG will NOT win while working toward keeping Biden in office. I believe we manifest what we focus on and I focus on a strong Biden WIN. Whatever happens to TFG will not be enough to punish him for what he's done to our country and people since 2015 but if he just fades into oblivion, goes into custody or full dementia it will be gratifying to me.
" I believe we manifest what we focus on and I focus on a strong Biden WIN." I love this, thanks Barbara. A DAILY mantra of BIDEN WIN, BIDEN WIN BIDEN WIN accompanied by good old fashioned democracy in action.
I agree with your comment, you hit on very critical point and it very important.
Your thoughts?
The war in Israel is too complex for the students from the universities to understand even for all Americans comprehend. If there isn't a resolution to solve this, do you think it will have a impact on the students not voting for Biden? And could this affect Biden in winning this election in November?
Hi Patricia, i do think it could affect the vote and the election. Bibi is a friend of trump and also a megalomaniac imo and screwing up the war to help trump may be in the cards. Six months is a long time until the election and the American people and Biden seem to agree that Israel needs to show some resolve and diplomacy to wind this down. i agree that most students are not well informed enough or care enough at this point to make it an issue, and it is way down on list of average Americans relative to most important issues of the day. I bet the Biden campaign team is all over this in alleviating a negative impact.
One way to evict Trump from your head is by wearing a Biden Shirt. So much enthusiasm here. And so few Biden shirts in view.
I wear one on every grocery run in south Florida. The results have been unexpected and astounding:
Zero negative comments.
I want so much to run into another Biden shirt grocery shopping. But Dems keep enthusiasm for Biden locked in their heads too.
Demsmakelifebetter.org and BeantownStrong.com have great shirts. And… if you google “Biden Shirt” or do a “Biden shirt” search on Amazon 99% of the results are anti-Biden.
Wearing a shirt helps evict the constant worrying because it feels good to do something for 2024.
If every Biden fan wore a tshirt grocery shopping, the poles saying it’s a neck-and-neck race would seem trustworthy as Trump.
Hey Shawn, you words have inspired me to wear my Biden shirts more often, I have a collection i wear among friends. The shirt i wear most often in public is "LOCK HIM UP" My newest favorite is a dark Brandon t with Biden glaring through those fiery eyes. Most people are clueless what it means, lol. Thanks for the encouragement. Go Biden!
I don't think of him at all, unless I read something about him or I see images of him on the news. Then I control my thoughts by thinking of mundane aspects associated with him...like how much hairspray he uses to glue that mass into its shell, how is he smelling today, is that the same suit he wore yesterday, how many red ties does he own, who bathes him, etc. It makes me less likely to "hate" him and more likely to find him just a pathetic old sack of potatoes.
Refusing to acknowledge the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election isn’t only a buy-in to the Big Lie, it’s a loyalty oath that is common to fascist regimes. When we hear Republicans support the Big Lie, they are saying the loyalty oath to each other. Their assertion that the Big Lie is true is their justification for refusing to accept electoral defeat and for doing anything they can within and outside the law to achieve their goal of grabbing power. The Big Lie repeated endlessly creates doubts in people who don’t follow politics or the news or who support Republican policies like banning abortion. And, acceptance of the Big Lie is a pledge to accept “alternate facts” in loyalty to the Trumpist party. Then any lie is acceptable for promoting their messaging. In this way, the Big Lie is a many-headed Hydra. Defeating MAGA buttresses actual facts and a country of laws. And MAGA extremism seems to be unpopular in two recent polls that show President Biden leading tRump for likely voters by 4 or 5 points.
It’s the MAGA purity test. Scott needs to hold it up because he thinks he is a candidate. He must have a head injury if he thinks he will be chosen to run as Trump’s veep.
According to James Murphy’s translation, it is indeed an apt comparison. “In the big lie, there is always a certain force of credibility…”. Don’t have the page, Google might. Yes, it does (www.proctors.com au)
Not so sure, Gary, that "they are saying the loyalty oath to each other."
That "each other" language ventures to credit themselves with some vestiges of human life, as if any of them had character of any kind.
Nope. All crave group blindness. All seek to extirpate any individuality in themselves and emulate only the craven packaged, the tribal fevered, the ape-shit chest-beaten.
One knew it would happen, once the billionaires had killed humanities and replaced all that potential decency with the numbered indecencies, categorical vulgarities, and elite anodyne conceits of the living dead's standardized testing.
I don’t buy into dehumanizing others this way. It’s a different worldview, with many factors forming it. Members of that movement have individual backgrounds, familial and regional history, in some a sense of grievance from personal experience. People become cynical, nihilistic, and cleave to powerful authority figures to defeat established authority they feel is illegitimate. Some conservatives I’ve met lack the mental or emotional ability to question their media and can’t stay with a conversation long enough to see the holes in the propaganda they’re fed. Or, they’re so steeped in fundamentalist religion that they fear straying outside that fold.
Bob Altemeyer studied authoritarians for 40 years and warned of the authoritarian movement in this country. He describes authoritarian personalities, power mad personalities, fundamentalist beliefs. See his website, The Authoritarians. https://theauthoritarians.org/
Many people attain power who lack all or most of the ability to experience empathy. I liked George Conway’s review of personality disorder symptoms that seem to apply to Trump (I’m sure that’s searchable) — and that may apply to other power-mad politicians and officials who shamelessly mislead people and stoke propaganda. Such personalities may have their roots in nature, nurture and often both.
Jonathan Haidt et al have studied the moral instincts of people across the political spectrum and many of the values of conservatives have merit. Search Moral Foundations theory.
Cognitive linguist George Lakoff has written about conservatives having an underlying morality based in a strict father family model versus liberals being grounded in a nurturant parent family model. The differences in what seems morally right to these two camps is stunning. See Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think.
We are in a unique, dark time where many people are scared and acting desperately out of fear and a need for belonging. There is so much more, of course.
Yes, Gary, there is, as you conclude, "so much more."
Like, specificity as to characters, details as to their situations. Those who do this best are called artists: of the novel, film, song, theater, memoir, and more. I think we all can be more open to more humanity if we take our artists (as well as those of other cultures) as models for seeing into their complications.
Only, for discussions such as Heather (for instance) provides, a bit of context, a bit of appropriateness, begs some mesh between her concerns and something in (say) Jim Carrey's scenes, character, or performance fit to hers.
All true on your critique of the Big Lie, around a long time, but infamously brought to the fore by Joseph Goebbels. Mind you, he "rode the wind" until the bottom fell out of Nazi overreach (what an understatement that is)
Thank you for calling out the information about junk patents. I had to look this up. While Ozempic has only been out a few years, it may not meet patent status because it’s based on a naturally occurring hormone. While I continue to dodge the diabetes bullet myself despite less than ideal dietary habits - I do love my wine and gin and tonics - I have friends who don’t take some of these medications because of cost.
As always your essays are a welcome eye opener to not only current events but their historical context.
Sioux, relying on pharmaceuticals to restore insulin sensitivity does not work. I can't understand why our tax dollars provide coverage for any of them. If you're addicted to carbs and alcohol you're not likely to enjoy your retirement anyway so cough up the money yourself.
There’s a link between the use of glyphosate herbicides and cereal grains with development of intolerance. So-called “allergies”/ “intolerances” are a write-off for corporations not willing to admit their products cause damage. Reminds me of the tobacco industry . . .
Daniel, if it’s not tmi, I’m curious how ozempic affects your UC. I very much want to try these meds, but I’m worried about the side effects. I have ongoing bowel issues caused by radiation therapy and I’m scared of making it worse. I can manage where I am now, but if it were worse? Ugh.
@KR—you are in Ohio! You have close access to the very best in research and care re: abdominal issues at the Cleveland Clinic. That’s where you should get your information. Yours is a complex case.
Thanks, Dawna. I have a super team at the James. We know exactly what the issue is, and how to manage it. The Clinic is great too. We’re lucky to have such great care so accessible.
Wait a minute—“addicted” is a harsh term. Many people (esp. in American Indian and Hispanic populations) lack the enzymes to metabolize ETOH and carbs. The introduction of wheat flour/products to these populations has been devastating. It’s often a metabolic issue, not an addiction.
I think maintaining metabolic equilibrium with self-generated enzymes gets harder with age. Some harder than others. It won't be long before AI will prescribe a personalized protocol to compensate to extend health-span. Addiction to sugar and alcohol are factors that can inhibit the ability to comply. I've been looking at https://protocol.bryanjohnson.com/
No question! Our immune systems get “sloppy” as we age . . . Tissues get worn out or overwhelmed with inflammatory agents. Sigh. . . I know there is a Sugar Monster in each of us, too. 😋 I try not to keep my weakness (for cookies) around; exercise regularly and drink lots of water. You can always add a splash of cranberry juice or lemonade to water . . .just a splash goes a long way.
I’m sure my mother didn’t realize that back in Forties when I was in elementary school. She painted “Sioux” in red nail polish on my lunch pail. I was embarrassed because no one knew what it said.
My father would no longer recognize this America, the country whose democracy he loved and believed in. It’s horribly sad to think I’m glad he’s no longer here to witness the attempt to destroy our constitution.
Even when, to my great dismay, Trump was elected president, I thought there were still some lines that most Republicans would not cross, but silly me. There is still enough of the foundations of this republic to endure and move forward if enough of us play our cards right; but the abyss yawns.
It was a very skinny 2016 victory, it's amazing how less than 100,000 votes can shift the Electoral College in such a massive way. It's also how Biden managed to win as well, even though his demographic support swamped Trump's. Will they ever do anything about the EC? If we're gonna stick to first past the post, make it cover the whole nation!
Thinly populated states are already over-represented in the Senate, but that makes more sense to me than the EC. I think I was in maybe the 7th grade when a teacher told us about it, and I recall thinking something like WTF at the time. The presidential ticket is the only office with the whole nation as a direct constituency. It is the only office we all get to vote on, except some votes are more equal than others. It is a patently anti-democratic twist in the recognition of our "unalienable" equal justice and protection under law, and it does not seem to have served us well.
Kasich looks like a paragon of virtue compared to Trump.
I’ve been reading so much about the corruption in the Ohio Republican Party, starting at Dewine and Husted and on down the line (shout out to David Pepper). I wonder where Kasich would fall.
Appreciate your sentiments, Gwen. I wonder what he thought of the Gilded Age. Even the Progressives were still often racist. They sometimes say history doesn't repeat itself, but it certainly chimes.
Lincoln fought for the legal rights of black people though he appears to have been phobic of them. I think some racism is clueless racism, which to say diminished by education, and some seems entrenched. I think that Lincoln was the curious and empathetic sort who might have adjusted his perceptions if confronted with modern history. It seems to me he'd be no friend of Trump.
The term "robber barons" harked back to feudal history, which the "Gilded Age" seemed to chime with at the time. The go-to rationalization of plutocrat's dominance is that the wealthy and powerful are the natural leaders of society, and that the natural inferiority of the common people (as a matter of breeding) makes them dependents on the wealthy, who need to be generously compensated for their largess, such as allowing the commoners to make a living. It's the underlying reasoning of "Reaganomics" if you look for it, and just as spurious as ever. After about a century of reforms, we have drifted quite a way back toward a feudalesque economy. Republicans and their ultra-wealthy patrons want to push it back even farther.
Frank I placed a response intended for Gwen under this comment by mistake. With respect to your insight, the Age of the Robber Barons has crossed my mind, too.
I accidentally placed the comment, "I do not", under a response of Frank Loomis. That comment was intended for you. I had wanted to agree with your father; I no longer feel like I even belong in the U.S. for I do not recognize her.
I read a comment that these "interviews" with Scott, Noem and the like are useless. They get asked about a lie, they lie, they get called out on the lie, they double down, and no one cares or changes their mind. Reality TV at it's finest. No one asks ANY policy questions.
They have a policy. It's called Project 2025. And it's written by its makers who are the owners of these Republican candidates and Congresspeople. It's important In fact it's essential that we keep that in focus at all times. The clown show will distract you if you let it. Focus please -focus. The questions are what are our best ways, new ways, lawful ways, of dealing with this immense challenge. For instance other Substacks that are on the path of saving and rebuilding our democracy. Any suggestions? Other than Joyce Vance, Simon Rosenberg, Jessica Craven ....
Yes, Robert Hubbell, a retired lawyer from LA, has a daily newsletter called Today’s Edition. It started as letters to his daughters during the Trump admin. It’s excellent and encouraging.
Excellent vibes reading your updates on the great work being done for US citizens...though the good vibes somewhat "dashed" when I got to the Tim Scott summary...what a pathetic so-called "public" servant. Ugh. Just like so many things in life...three steps forward, and two steps back.
Trump has been making a mockery of our legal system for almost 50 years. He has been involved in over 3500 lawsuits in his litigious career. How much has it cost the defendants in his myriad lawsuits and more importantly, how much has he cost "We the people" typing up courts for his revenge and retribution?
While Donald Trump had no experience in working in government or in public service when he became president of the United States, he brought an astounding history of involvement in thousands of lawsuits to the nation’s highest office. Former federal prosecutor and author James D. Zirin illuminates more than 45 years of Trump’s legal disputes in his new book, Plaintiff in Chief: A Portrait of Donald Trump in 3,500 Lawsuits, published in September 2019.
What a great idea J L. Let's start a 501 C(4) to bring lawsuit after lawsuit against TFFG, his kids, Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, Roger Stone and other cronies. We'll make sure it's all dark money so the PAC doesn't have to report the contributions or who contributed to them.
Now that would be fun! And we have a secret weapon - Heather's newsletter and all of the research she has already done. /S
We must get everyone registered who is eligible and then get all who are registered to vote. We need our country to be a country based on the rule of law. That makes us trustworthy. Thank you for giving context to the events of the day and the importance of our actions.
The Republicans are ready to have armed people stand at predominantly African American precincts to demand voters show them their ID and voting cards (where states have them.) Republican officials have purged people from voter rolls and will try every trick in the book to keep all but their voters away from the polls. The majority of the Supreme Court looks away at these tactics and wants to immunize Trump. I plan to vote early, and those of us who oppose a criminal grifter like Trump should be ready to get out and vote.
Nevertheless, we have the capacity to overwhelm them. In 2020, 70 million eligible voters failed to vote. Stats how that most were Democrats. Plus, using data mining, FT6 has identified about 13 million unregistered who trend heavily Democratic. 60% of unregistered voters have never been asked to register! Yesterday I sent 300 texts using FT 8 software to unregistered Floridians last week volunteers sent 1000,000 in a couple of hours. Another session today.
To win in 2024, FT6 will reach out to millions of unregistered likely Democrats "using our one-of-a-kind database and every outreach method possible (phone and text, postcard, email and targeted ad, and in-person too), where new Democratic voters will make the most impact – in the most flippable states and districts."
Tomorrow night, Democrats are invited to Focus for Democracy's upcoming presentation. Last month, $5 million was pledged to two deserving organizations, Galvanize and Accelerate Change.
My fear is that If he cheats to win, Dems will roll over (remember W) and feel that they have to accept it. Make damn sure that the election is fair and honest. The repubs “election integrity” crap is a mountain higher than Everest.
Without the unlawful actions of nonprofits such as the Heritage Foundation and the Council for National Policy being addressed, we will have let off the hook a multitude of leaders in the conservative movement who met weekly with representatives from Trump's administration and one time (or more) with Trump each month to collaborate on the goals. These nonprofits and others were clearly involved in fueling the big lie and ALEC CEO Lisa Nelson even said at a February 2020 CNP Action meeting that if Trump did not win in certain states that state legislators could question the validity of the election results. It was amazing how quickly the 60 plus lawsuits were filed in courts after Trump's loss in certain states. Leaders in the conservative movement as late as December 10, 2020, and December 30, 2020, were stating in Conservative Action Project memos that new electors were needed and that U.S. Senators needed to question the outcome of the election on January 6, 2021. The Washington Post hired two tax experts to review videos from the February 2020 meetings and the experts felt IRS law was not being followed. (See: Robert O'Harrow, Jr.'s October 14, 2020, article: Videos show closed-door sessions of leading conservative activists: ‘Be not afraid of the accusations that you’re a voter suppressor’" CNP materials and videos can be found at Documented.net.
Trump may have lit the fire, but the nonprofits in the conservative movement poured the gasoline from "sea to shining sea," before Trump threw the match.
Joan, may I recommend this group: https://www.stopthecoup2025.org/. I read the Heritage Foundation’s introduction when it came out & just a bit of the 900 hundred or so pages of the “mandate”…thought it was a spoof at first. No, it is not & IMHO is very very scary. We need to push back against this if we want to remain a democracy.
Trump has admitted he wants to govern by their plan. The Heritage Foundation has a lot of gall to want to take government away from the people and to give it to the billionaires. We will never see representative government again if that happens, and we will have a dictator in charge who thinks he’s above the law. If Trump gets back into office, he’ll never leave.
Heather lists how alphabet agencies do something key for average Americans.
The FTC, the SEC, the FBI, and the DOJ all have specific jurisdictions to waylay the unscrupulous, the careless, the short-sighted, or the plainly cynically criminal and reckless whose actions will hurt Americans.
Funny how Heather gets both the fat Trump and the rotund Tim Scott in her scope, as both clearly hate the rule of law, cannot come close to fathoming it (as Heather begins today's noting how John Adams did understand it). Both the waddling fat and the bobbing, weaving rotund love the cowboy phantasmagoria of apparently unbound selves beyond the law, unaccountable to clear alphabet jurisdictions or plain English.
Heather's earlier book, "How the South Won the Civil War" reminds us of how the cowboy loomed for her post U.S. Civil War. She's returned to it in her most recent book, "Democracy Awakening." And in today's "Letter from an American."
Our cowboy stories are not just entertainment. Our humanities are not just Fun, Travel, and Adventure (F.T.A. for those militarily-acquainted). Instead, they underline, emphasize, focus on the really criminal and cynical among us.
Look forward to your own additions -- maybe perspectives on the fat orange guy's criminality with comparisons elsewhere by Keigo Higashino, Hideo Yokoyama, Seishi Yokomizo, Miyuki Miyabe, Natsu Kirino.
I left out Minae Mizumura -- sorry about that -- but no criminals in any of her work.
Well, maybe the Japanese ministry of education. I consider it criminal for what it's done to humanities -- to anything and everything connected to the human -- in Japanese schools, anyway, to all where standardized testing rules everything. That's junior high, some. And tyrannically all senior high.
Her "The Fall of Language in the Age of English" is an extended essay in book form (Columbia U Press, 2016).
Scott sent me a Motoko Rich piece, which Sue has translated, so I can use it with kids here (and with adult students), on a Japanese-American documentary film maker, Ema Ryan Yamazaki. She has apparently a great film out on Japanese elementary education, a system which is super good (and very nicely human, too -- unlike schools after elementary).
With almost every LFAA providing well-cited historical context to unfolding events, I become more hopeful about America overcoming this 'dark age' that has been born because of the multi-generational focus on the concentration of wealth by the GOP, and the array of methods they use to keep us divided while they work to erode public education, manufacture consent through a consolidated media landscape, and undermine political representation through gerrymandering, voter suppression, and toxic political campaigns.
While I am grateful to see the Biden/Harris administration governing and working to stabilize foreign and domestic policy, as well as justice, I am certain I'm not the only one who still sees many people responsible for the attempted violent overthrow of U.S. government almost 3.5 years ago, and the person who incited the actions, as well as all those in Federal, State, and Local government not yet convicted, and far too many who have not been indicted for participating in the conspiracy and/or acting as accessories after the fact. During this 3.5 year period, I'm certain many have committed minor drug offenses and/or minor crimes against property for which they have been arrested, convicted, sentenced, and imprisoned.
So if we talk about America as a "nation of laws" as long as the criminal organization formerly known as the GOP continues to operate freely, threaten local election officials, discuss plans to take over the Justice Department to make it their own personal prosecutorial bureau, I think we're speaking in aspirational terms. At present we are so far away from "and justice for all" it's not even visible on a map.
Thank you Prof. HCR. This letter covers a lot of ground and I will need to assimilate it overnight. There is good news in that there are people trying to fix what is broken and the bad news is there are others seeking to destroy what we have that still works. A horse race for sure.
Broadcast and press outlets treat elections as a horse race and never address the important issues involved. You have to go to blogs like this one where you can learn the real issues at stake and their historical context. We do a miserable job in many states teaching government or civics, and rural and urban residents don’t even listen to the same news sources.
The fact that the indictment against Representative Henry Cuellar covered the period from 2014, AND that the Democratic machine still supported him over a progressive youthful qualified democratic opponent is damning. He won by less than 300 votes, so the people he represents were forced to have a very questionable leader.
Actions such as this by democrat machines is what leads people to listen to people like Trump. Destroying Bernie’s bid for president to force us to select Hillary or Trump got us where we are also.
The fear of any progressive solutions is the enemy of change. Look at the history of supporting money over people by corporate democrats and we readers of Joyce and Heather see hypocrisy.
Bernie would have lost the popular vote as well as the EC. But continue to live in fantasy land. And the 50,000 Berners who wrote him in in Michigan and Wisconsin to "vote ther conscience" were Trump's winning margin in those states.
Senator Tim Scott’s refusal to accept the results of the presidential election if Trump loses should disqualify him from serving another day. It undermines, as Republicans increasingly do, our system of laws.
Perhaps he would change his tune if House members who worked with Trump to overturn the 2020 election results ever face criminal charges. Not holding my breath.
A Black man, eagerly abandoning democracy, to suck up to a racist! Another nominee for the Benedict Arnold Hall of Infamy!
Scott's color or race is irrelevant. He is a Senator. One the highest offices in the land. He was the presidential candidate that came on with a message of "working together" and put on airs that were positive. He sent the message that as a president, he wouldn't be so "MAGA".
And yet, now he actually refuses to state that he would accept the results of our next election. He is not stupid. He KNOWS that the election of 2020 was the best run in recent history. He KNOWS there was no fraud. He KNOWS that it was a fair and clean contest. So why now does he become a fascist? Because King Donald would disapprove if he strayed from the "party line" that the only legitimate election is the one where MAGA wins.
This should send chills down our spines. A US Senator. Scott should resign immediately.
Bill, that would be the honorable thing to do, but the Senator, like many in his party in federal seats, has no honor. If he did, he would "honor" the Constitution and the law, and support candidates that do the same. It is a party of corrupt people with corrupt intent to usurp the will of the People, no matter the cost.
...and why should he when quite a few members of Scotus are of the same ilk. They have his back.
Steve, that's why I wrote "federal seats" -- it's meant to be inclusive. At least a few justices (as well as some judges) are also corrupt.
Agree
True
He would be treated like Spies, the lawyer mentioned above, if he even hinted he thought the 2024 election would be fair.
Telling these people they should resign, receiving constant emails asking me to sign petition asking one after another politician to resign (send money to give them petition) is ridiculous. Of course they SHOULD, but why on earth would they at our bequest. They’re right where they want to be to continue with their perfidy.
Scott is angling to be on Trumps administration. If Trump should win.
Yes, I agree Scott should resign. All mega Republicans in Congress that help Trump with the insurrection on January 6th should resign. Their all guilty as hell. Yet it's a mockery to our constitution and our Democracy to see them still govern this country.
Agreed. He absolutely should resign for aiding and abetting tyranny and treason.
He should be expelled
Exactly. Tim Scott is the embodiment of embarrassment. He makes Stepin Fetchit look like W.E.B. DuBois.
Tim Scott is delusional. As racist as tfg is, Tim Scott would never be his VP pick.
IMO his chances are about as good as Kristi Noem's, and for a related reason: Trump has great contempt for people of color, and he has great contempt for women of any color. Meanwhile, the white guys who are angling for this so-called prize are showing their great contempt for the principles on which this country was founded and which it's doing its best to live up to.
Susanna, I am sure you are correct and Scott is as JennSH says, delusional. How corrupting is the lust for power. And yes, he should be ashamed. He took an oath to the Constitution which he violated right in front of all of us.
It's the cavalier way in which so many Republicans in Congress have violated their oath of office (or, at the very least, don't take it seriously) that's convinced me that they really are anti-democracy. Not to mention their affinity for Putin and the so-called "illiberal democracy" of Hungary's Viktor Orbán.
And now I'm reading all this stuff that shows how it didn't start with Trump, or Gingrich, or Reagan, or Nixon either. . . .
… but are we doing our best - or is it just a limited few?
Don't worry about "we". You do your part, I do mine. If you can encourage those around you, by all means do it.
Disagree, respectfully. Trump has courted the religious right ever since 2016. He is no more Christian than the devil himself. The sole reason for this is political support for himself. Power. Trump appears to me to be the most transactional and therefore corrupt politican this country has ever seen. Look at his every move - every one of them - and you can see a direct path from that move to his quest for power. Make a black man his VP - knowing that it should siphon off a politically significant number of Democrat votes to Republican votes? Absolutely. Put a woman like Noem in there to help bolster the female vote - a great idea that he would jump all over, if he were convinced it would work. Now that she has turned off the entire nation with the puppy-killing story, Trump has ditched her quickly and completely, it appears. He will put anybody in there who he thinks bolster his chances. That's why he chose Pence - who he just had to loath privately. Pecne helped him get that huge chunk of the religious vote. Purely transactional. BTW, shows the bottemless characther of Pence. Also Scott. And also Noem.
james wheaton,
Agree with you on every point.
When Trump became a Presidential candidate, I changed political parties as many others. I was absolutely in shock...he IS Godless and immoral......this was NOT new information !!! He has never been faithful to any one of his three wives.
I was even more amazed that the Christian "wrong" were mesmerized by him!!! Is he really the picture of a leader for the land of the free and home of the brave? Did he want to assist in healing the sick and feeding the poor? He has no respect for our military unless he can use them for his own evil purposes/power. Tell me what possible good reason would a true American ever choose to be a part of "governing" with this enemy of freedom!!!!! When he was given the right ...the honor....to hold the position of President of our country....he favored friendship and respect towards dictators and demonstrated disrespect for other, past friends of the USA.
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN!!!!!WIN!!!!! I AM VOTING FOR YOU!
"I was even more amazed that the Christian "wrong" were mesmerized by him!!!" Well Emily - perhaps the corollary is easier to understand. The Christian wrong hate liberals and what they (we) stand for so much that they would literally make a deal with the devil to fight us. Freedom of religion including no religion, abortion (even with limits), LGBTQ rights including marriage, climate change mitigation to them there is no climate change only a world-wide plot by scientists to take over the world order, teaching of evolution in schools. This kind of stuff - to them - is existential. Enough to go to war over. They happily bend the knee to Trump if they think he will deliver them from liberals. And he has promised to.
Our Republican Party is dead. Or shoud be.
Gov. Noem was clearly auditioning by trying to depict herself as a tough, self reliant western woman by reporting her killing her own dog because she couldn't train it, nor put a fence around the chickens. But still, the act of trying to create that impression was much more like saying "your the star, go ahead and grab it".
Exactly, the Gnome wants everyone to know that she is a tough gunslinging Prairie Barbie and isn't anything like a wuss snowflake libtard. She could push the nuclear button.
Again, Pretty in Pierre, yet putrid to PETA!!
I agree with your assessment of TFFG's motives, Jay, but I doubt that a non-white (I'm looking at you, Marco Rubio) or female running mate will fool voters of color or women. Some, sure, but most Latinos, Af-Ams and women are too politically savvy to pull the lever strictly on ethnicity or gender.
Lauren - I sure hope you are right. For instance, in a state like Georgia where it can really come down to the wire, we need - indeed we require - a consolidated black vote, to offset the white rural wingnuts who vote for the likes of MJT, people whom wild horses could not keep from the polls. There are and have been black politicians and/or businessmen (or doctors) who have fallen firmly into the Trump camp, for reasons none of us understand, and I have to believe they have affected or would affect a statistically significant portion of the Af-Am vote. Perhaps just enough to make the difference. Right now I'd put my money on Tim Scott as his running mate. He's perfect for the corrupt, conniving, racist mind of TFG and his campaign folks.
Donald Trump would do whatever he could to fill his coffers with gold, which is how he looks at every person and every transaction, as a way to make the most money off of it or them. Why Tim Scott is out is not about his own personal racism, but the racism of his party base. It is not the same thing. He can credit his campaign with attracting the KKK and the Nazi party, as well as just plain old racist, White trash!
Would Scott peel off enough black voters to make a difference?
I'm guessing that Scott has as much appeal to Black voters, especially Black women, as Noem does to dog lovers.
Not sure about that at all. Any person of color who are following this substack - please comment!!
By comparison with Stacey Abrams, Barbara Lee, Jasmine Crockett, the Justins,, and the Obamas, just to name a few truly powerful people of color, I doubt it. Scott is too wimpy.
Let me ask if you assume that Black people vote for candidates based on their race because you vote for candidates based on their race?
yes!
I agree! Tfg has no respect for this crazed Black man. Did you hear tfg respond to him “not so fast” when Scott said several times he loved him! It was disgusting!
He is getting on television!
This kind of focus on Tim Scott has a whiff of racist double standards. One would better condemn the hypocrisy of every person in power (including every one of the Supreme Court conservative majority and Leonard Leo who put them there - Catholic, Irish, Italian, Female, Black Americans) who personally benefitted from the liberalization of American society and is now pulling up the ladder behind them.
As for Stepin Fetchit
"The lazy man character that [Lincoln Theodore Monroe Andrew Perry] played was based on something that had come from slavery. It was called 'putting on old massa' -- break the tools, break the hoe, do anything to postpone the work that was to be done. Finally, the white characters would become exasperated and do the work themselves. And blacks understood it perfectly, and laughed heartily at it." *
"Perry's film career slowed after 1939 and nearly stopped altogether after 1953. Around that time, Black Americans began to see his Stepin Fetchit persona as an embarrassing and harmful anachronism, echoing negative stereotypes. However, the Stepin Fetchit character has undergone a re-evaluation by some scholars in recent times, who view him as an embodiment of the trickster archetype."**
*
https://www.npr.org/2006/03/06/5245089/stepin-fetchit-hollywoods-first-black-film-star
**
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepin_Fetchit
Thanks for this, lin. The technical academic term for this behavior is, akin to the patriarchal bargain (of which this is actually an excellent example, as powerless men are also swept up in this phenomenon), the "postcolonial bargain" identified by the wonderful scholar Gayatri Spivak, in which previously colonized people (let's face it: usually men) embrace the systems and power structures of their oppressors in order to gain power and influence, to the detriment of their own people. It happens a lot, and it has a lot to do with the brand of corrosive and totalitarian Christianity common to those populations. Scott is merely trying to find a group where he can stand out as an "exception" and he chose the christofascist one. Same for the candidacy of the guy in NC who is running for governor, Mark Robinson. This has nothing to do with education, intelligence, or true commitment to ideas. It's a tactic--and a cynical one at that--that is embraced by people who are also absorbing the bigotry and prejudice of their rightwing pastors when it comes to people who are "different." Homophobia is a huge issue in the Black community, for instance. And if they think that TFG is going to save them from the gays, they will embrace his christofascist ideology.
Sounds like Stockholm syndrome to me. Related mental illnesses.
"corrosive and totalitarian Christianity"
This is a great risk to American democracy. We can look at Israel as a microcosm, where the 'corrosive and totalitarian' impetus of religious extremism is more clearly apparent than in India, Hungary, Russia et al.
Zionism has been appropriated by Jewish and Christian extremists, Israeli and American. The current Netanyahu regime is run by religious extremist settlers, some associated with Kach - a Kahanist group classified by Israel as a terrorist organization.
It has resulted in unprecedented intelligence failure (ignoring warnings of Hamas plans), unprecedented military failure (Hamas still holds the hostages, Hamas returns to the rubble when IDF leaves), and unprecedented strategic failure (Israel has never been less secure internally and internationally.)
Building on Trump's bromance with Bibi, the Kahanists, are making a revivalist push in the USA.
Good ole' Meyer Kahan: supreme mobster and one of the architects of the modern Israeli state . . .
It does seem too true for many of the more prominent examples who have become too much like oppressors or simply pulled the ladder up, I have worked with several that helped bootstrap at least several others as we helped bootstrap them.
Some seem desperate to remain a small enough number of tokens to avoid losing their personal advantages to actively suppress any advantages given others of their identifiable group.
It was in college, in the 1960s, that I took a course on the Civil War from the wonderful David Hackett Fisher, and for the first time realized that the slur that Black slaves were shiftless and lazy was actually a compliment and affirmation of their humanity. As Prof. Fisher pointed out, why would someone work hard when the fruits of that labor would go to someone else?
You see this theme in the writings of Balzac - where peasants 'play dumb' to confound the privileged. This is a common theme. Choosing to appear 'disabled' as a form of agency for the disadvantaged. In an Icelandic saga, an Irish princess taken into captivity and sold by Russians as a slave pretends to be mute.
Interesting take, lin•
"Whatever you do, don't throw me in that briar patch," Brer Rabbit
Love your first paragraph, Lin, the term "pulling up the ladder behind them" is perfect!
Just to be clear - that is an old terms.
"The phrase is believed to have originated among Royal Navy sailors; when a ladder was slung over the side of a ship, the last sailor to climb on board would say, "I'm alright Jack; pull up the ladder." The latter half of the phrase, typically used as "pulling up the ladder behind oneself", has been used to call out unfairness and hypocrisy on the part of those who are seen to have benefitted from opportunities handed out to them, only to deny such opportunities to others."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_alright,_Jack
I can see a lot of Br'er Rabbit in the Stepin Fetchit character, Lin. I think Scott is all rabbit and no fox. I don't think he's stupid, just not bold enough to con a con.
I find it amazing - ironically amazing - that watching Scott’s interview brought some of the same identical words … Stepin Fetchit … to our minds … what an embarrassing individual - and even most so as an African American male … pretty, pretty … pretty sad!!!
Wow Daniel, that is a radical comparison and I like it!
Welcome to SC. Scott, Mace, Graham…
Plus, Daniel, he's got a classically stupid face.
Competition with Marble Mouth Marge?
Thanks Daniel, had to look that up, fascinating. I may have seen him in a movie once, no longer recalled.
Hey that’s my line. When I accused Tim of being a Stepin Fetchet, I was accused of being a racist. Pa-lease… I write satire and biting commentary. I’m about to use Stepin in another work.
I’m issuing a clarion call. Biden is likely not going to be re-elected. That is my guess. Trump is a street mugger. And many if not most people vote with their emotions not their intellect. Trump is trying to be placed in jail and he will get what he wants maybe even tomorrow.
Ha!
Sorry to rain on your parade, Bill. I must say that while most of the responses to my comment about the horrific Tim Scott were gracious, I did receive an accusation of quasi-racism as well.
There is a subset of thought within those of our fellow liberals and/or folk who strive to be tolerant and caring for our fellow humans irrespective of tribe/ethnicity/nationality/religion, etc., that somehow a white, heterosexual guy like myself simply cannot make any commentary about matters touching upon race that raises negative stereotypes of black people whose words and/or actions raise those stereotypes themselves. This is the type of constipated liberalism that basically puts a target on all of us lefties for the Murdochian Ministry of Mendacity hacks.
The Clarence Thomases, Tim Scotts, and Mark Robinsons of the world, minor league Quislings all, are wholly legitimate targets and moreover, basic free speech, as long as it is delivered within the boundaries of civility and dignity is always the way to go.
Having said that, I cannot help but recalling that years ago, when J.C. Watts, a charismatic, charming former QB for the Oklahoma Sooners became a Republican congressman, that his own father was quoted as saying something along the lines of ...a black man who votes Republican is like a chicken who votes for Colonel Sanders!
If you ever wondered what the term "Uncle Tom" means, go look in the dictionary now - when you get to that, there's a picture of Scott as the perfect example.
After finally reading Uncle Tom's Cabin a couple of years ago, I bristle at the term being used as a pejorative against Blacks. The worse thing the character in the book did was to be kind to people no matter who they were and to accept a situation that he had no power to change with as much grace and dignity as possible. His was one of the literary deaths that never fails to hurt my heart.
OK, how about Stephen, the character Samuel L. Jackson played in "Django Unchained"? He seems to me to emblemize the ultimate oreo - willing to do anything to preserve the favor of his masters. I see a direct line between Stephen and Tim Scott, but I also think Scott's more afraid of being lynched if he says anything to contradict the boss than he is greedy for power (more like status in the case of a VP - they'd never let him DO anything).
Haven't seen Django so I can't comment. As for Scott, one of his worst qualities is that he lacks a moral core, which means he's perfect for Trump. But he'll never be picked as there are too many KKK types who vote for Trump.
Uncle Tom is so 20th century. In the 21st century the term is Uncle Tim!
Not my president, not my uncle :)
Not quite so perfect, TCinLA.
The effusive, bopping up and down, wriggling sidewise Scott carries his desire publicly to claim the Trump royal ass to extents of parody, brown-nosing, and fawning obsequiousness I've never seen till this minstrelsy.
I've seen some like him before, but he does give a new and original definition to what he's doing.
Thought the same thing when he made the political scene. Being called an Uncle Tom was a pejorative term to most self-respecting Blacks. Looks like Ole Tim didn’t read the book.
The world is watching
If I were a foreigner living in a far off land, I would say 'if the stupid Americans elect a guy whose gaslighting and ignorance killed 400,000 citizens during Covid, who is under 4 indictments, acts as a 'fluffer' to autocrats like Putin and is as completely corrupt as any 3rd world Banana Republic leader...then America deserves what it reaps. Sort of like Batista government letting Fidel Castro walk away from his first attempted coup or Germans allowing Hitler to become Chancellor with less than a majority of votes.
When the stupid Americans cheat, bamboozle and accuse the sane Americans of their evil, it’s straight out of the Nazi playbook. Not all of us deserve what it reaps…nor does the world
Germans are very nice people. What happened there, back then?
Well and truly bamboozled.
There was a lot of perversity in European history back then. Turns out "nice people" can do amazing evil / destruction, one of the uncoverings by insightful research and literature. Whenever dedicated groups seek extreme social change, all too often nothing gets in their way.
The Batista "government" was the result a coup d'etat arranged by the Mafia to put the general in office so they could turn Havana into a combination of Vegas without rules and the Tijuana sex trade. He lost to Castro because his "army" no longer wanted to fight for him.
True. None the less the attack on the Moncada barracks was an insurrection, Castro and perps did only 22 months in prison and then were released in an amnesty, and thus was born autocratic Cuba.
A left autocrat replaced a right autocrat. "Democracy" had nothing to do with events in Cuba.
I've seen this somewhere before...
https://yadontknow.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-big-man.html
Yes. It appears that Scott is a traitor to his race just as MTG betrays her sex.smh
Not to his race. To all of us.
Possibly you should reread your history a little closer before you defame Benedict Arnold. Although his name has become a catchword for traitor that was not his intent for what he did. He was trying to end the Revlutionary war sooner and to make sure America didn't just become one of France's colonies.
Tim Scott is not a "Black man." He is a man who happens to have dark brown skin. When he looks in the mirror he might be seeing another color.
I'd like to think his ethnicity is irrelevant, regardless of how TFG would exploit it. Scott's just another member of the republican party that refused to impeach and continues to promote the big lie. Why should he be any more or less accountable because of his skin color?
Lauren, I think that Trump is playing to certain members of his base and if they care about skin color he is going to play to that.
brilliant comment.
Hey! Don’t insult Benedict Arnold!
Come next January, all the GOP traitors in the House and Senate who worked to overthrow the government on January 6 and supported Trump's treason in 2024 need to be arrested and charged with "conspiracy to commit treason."
But . . . Why wait? This country is UNDER ATTACK. They have declared their intent to overthrow this democracy; they brazenly carry out a program of weaponized propaganda; they have Flynn running all over, setting up militias to ensure violence at polls; they have evangelicals and mobsters working to subvert, intimidate and suppress voting—it’s endless. The RNC is, itself, an Organized Crime Syndicate run by fascist Libertarians who install puppets at every level. They are aligned with Russia with operations to subvert the elections—the Treason runs rampant with the Repugs. The RNC and every one of Koch’s brain-washing institutions need to be dismantled. People like Musk, Thiel, Murdoch need to be deported and their immigrant status revoked forever. We need to get serious about TREASON in this country. And trump? He is an avowed traitor—FFS—shoot him. His corrupt judges? FIRE THE FUCK OUT OF CORRUPT, BIASED JUDGES like Alito, Thomas, Cannon, and anyone appointed by tRump. Fire them NOW.
What is it about being under attack that this country doesn’t understand? ALL of this has been well-documented; books and articles from investigative journalists and former government leaders. We spend god-awful amounts on intelligence agencies and the Defense Department—to what end? So they can stand by and await orders from fascist tyrants of a right-wing overthrow? What the hell? TO DO NOTHING IS TO AID AND ABET THE TRAITORS.
Well, that about sums the situation up.
Your comment is valid and I agree. Nothing will happen until Democrats control both houses and Biden wins. That is the only chance we have to see justice prevail to these corrupt traitors. It's up to the majority of the people in this country who believe in Democracy to vote and to encourage other voters who are undecided to vote for Democracy.
I agree with you entirely, but how? Who can fire anyone on SCOTUS or any lifetime appointment? Who can fire the likes of Flynn, who doesn't have any official gov't position? Or sitting congress people? Seriously, if you know which person or body has the authority to oust them, please tell.
We are under attack by (as Hillary Clinton said,) a vast, right-wing conspiracy. They aren’t playing by the rules, as you pointed out. I think a state of emergency should be called; I think the Koch “Cadre”/Mt. Pelerin Group should be arrested for treason and their assets seized. It’s way past trump’s jail time, and his minions plotting to overturn the next election, plotting to foment violence, should be arrested. Put them on a prison ship to await trial. Even now, Flynn is running around the country marshaling militia groups. Arrest him and his band of violent criminals. The entire Koch Empire of Libertarianism needs to be shut down—George Mason U, Cato, Heritage—all of it. It is a network for traitors and treason. Read “Democracy in Chains” if you doubt what they have in mind.
The RNC is no longer a political party. It is an organized crime syndicate managed by Libertarian Fascist Billionaires who install puppets at every level. The Fascist Billionaires pulling the puppet strings need to be arrested; the Puppets who have violated their oaths to office and service need to be expelled, if not arrested. The congressmen who were involved in the J6 coup attempt, along with Clarence Thomas, Ginni Thomas and the rest of them all need to be arrested to face charges. They can deny and delay all they want, from a prison ship.
And lest you doubt that this is “radical” and would be used to turn them against citizens, read Project 2025, read the plans they have made to install and enforce a fascist government, overthrowing this democracy. It’s exactly what they are planning for us. We are beyond playing “nice”—there will be no “peaceful transfer of power”—that has been spelled out. The civil war has already begun.
You want a legal mechanism? These people have already torn down and eroded “legal mechanisms.” The SCOTUS has opened the door for declaring trump above the law. “Corporations are People?” No—that is a fascist tool for handing tremendous power to the Libertarian Fascist Billionaires. “Citizens United” blew equality and fair voting right out the window. Puppet Masters control the RNC. It’s time that sham of a “political party” be torn down.
Dawna… I agree and especially that the RNC is no longer a political party but an organized crime syndicate!
I totally agree with your premise that we have been watching a right wing revolution unfold, and our Congress, constitution, and judicial system are repeatedly proving they aren't up to the task of a) recognizing it and b) stopping it within a year.
Also, the press makes so much money off of this dangerous situation that they just dangle bait in front of us daily: the "big outrage" of the last 24 hrs., the latest poll, Trump's rally last night, VP choices, etc. The revolution is being both televised, and enormously profited from! 🤬🤮
For 3 to 4 years I've been frequently saying to friends and family that this is a revolution(!), just being carried out by more sneaky, indirect, and corrosive means. Nobody seems to get particularly excited, worried, or engaged when I say that - an ongoing mystery to me.
Where we differ, Dawna, is that I don't see any legal mechanism for doing what you want to see now. But what is perfectly legal - and patriotic - is for 30 million of us to agree that this type of revolution is designed to demoralize, confuse, and frighten the hell out of us. It's worked beautifully, and we've semi-enabled that by our responses.
So I'd like to see the DNC, Biden/Harris, the Lincoln Project, most of the liberal talking heads, etc. agree that it's time to stop taking the Trumpist bait.
Instead, we need to:
1) Stop with the euphemisms and let's name it a modern-day REVOLUTION,
2) Recognize what the MAGAts are doing on about 5 fronts,
3) Stop wasting energy and ink on daily outrages, and
4) GET FOCUSED AND MOBILIZED TO SAVE AMERICA THIS FALL.
After hearing from other writers and going through 8 drafts, I have written a Op-Ed piece about this which I'll be sending to various outlets this week. The New York Times rejected it – surprise, surprise. (Pieces that name the MSM as profiteers off a revolution isn't quite what they what they're looking for, I guess!)
Be our voice
Don't forget: Register Democrats -- save the world.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
ILO Ike, let’s do it
Absolutely, and it should already have happened after 1/6.
looking for something akin to civil war, TCinLA? Not that I disagree with your assessment of election denialism. It's been a long-standing GOP "trick" , hasn't it!
Every day in my dreams! When we have the power, we should use it! They would!
Why wait? Let’s do that now!
Yes , you're right. Biden must win and Democrats must control both houses.
As Simon Rosenberg points out today, the Republicans have Big Problems in six states - PA, WI, MT, OH, NC, and AZ - bad Senate candidates, all running well behind their Democratic opponent, four of them self-funding morons who are questioned as to where they actually live, two super-MAGA idiots who scare people. And in TX, Rafael Cruz is in danger. The Senate outcome is looking better and better.
Biden must win and Democrats must control both houses in November, in order for this to happen.
TCinLA -Absolutely.
Ojala again. I'd like to see it, but I think under a Biden presidency they'll be more likely to go for bipartisanship than expulsion. By all rights and laws anyone who committed or supported insurrection should be thrown out of public office forever. However it would be better politically for the people to vote them out than for a new blue congress to eject them.
I truthfully don’t know why that hasn’t happened already.
Yes. Tim Scott violated his oath of office on national TV. Of course future action (if ever) substantiated by the video recording will challenge the veracity of the recording and claim that NBC and the "Democrat" vermin set him up. Perhaps the claim that MAGA philosophy is at least an ethos will suffice in a MAGA new world? Let Walter explain as he did in The Big Lebowski. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_29yvYpf4w
Ha! The Dude abides!!
The Dems are going to have a field day re-quoting his past affirmations that he didn't think 2021 was stolen. lol he'd be breaking one of the Ten Commandments, something he seems to hugely cherish and stand behind as a morally upright Christian.
R
FYI (and I hope Tim Scott re-reads this: OATH REQUIRED BY THE CONSTITUTION AND BY LAW TO BE TAKEN BY SENATORS
``I, A---- B---- do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I
will support and defend the Constitution of the United
States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I
will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take
this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or
purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully
discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to
enter: So help me God.'' (5 U.S.C. 3331.)
House and Senate oathbreakers should be expelled. Period.
Yes, expelled , not asked to resign. Santos’s name ring a bell?
It does, but it wasn't for the insurrection. Those are the oathbreakers.
I sent Dawna the same question. I'm not being a smart ass, who has the authority to expel sitting congress people?
Per the Constitution:
“ Article I, section 5 of the United States Constitution provides that "Each House [of Congress] may determine the Rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member."
That being said, it is hard to do, particularly now when an oath means nothing.
The Senate should show him the door.
The doorway would be crowded
So sad. So true.
There are many that need the door held, both in the Senate and House. Something needs to happen to rid ourselves of these people. GA tried to keep MTG off the ballot. That was a laugh.
And the Supremes
SWBV,
Thank you....a great reminder to each of us as citizens.
Freedom is NOT free. It requires a commitment not just for today...not only for ourselves.
What kind of world are we leaving for our children and our grandchildren?
Have you considered that the horrible images of rubble, devastation, death, starvation, sickness, a consuming feeling of helplessness felt by a population trying to survive within their own country where not long ago their hospitals were functioning , families were going to school or work...children were playing in the streets....this is Gaza today. It is not the only place experiencing such devastation...there is also Ukraine....a beautiful place once filled with the arts of a deeply gifted and creative population. Thankfully Ukraine continues to provide grain for the world!!!
Have we considered the struggles we are facing with the education of the future populations within the towns, cities, countries of our world....as if COVID has not done its share of damage to the world's children and aged.
There has never been a greater need for SOLID, WISE leadership encouraged by seasoned, respectable, caring, sacrificial, committed, selfless, law abiding and forward thinking leadership.
Yet...we see so many leaving areas of leadership due to corruption, violence, threats on their families or businesses, lack of seriousness from others to fulfill the duty of governance..."of the people, by the people, for the people..." and yes....that means "all of us!!!" This means not for just today but continuing to build upon the foundation of freedoms we have due to those who came before us. What kind of country?...what kind of world?.... are we leaving for our children and grandchildren...?
We need to vote with our eyes open. We need to vote with courage. We need to vote for those that will take responsibility to properly govern and care for this country.....to contribute with determination to leave it better than it is now. We need to be brave as were the men and women who sacrificed to pave the way before us.
Honesty. That's what's missing. Along with compassion and genuine, not faux, patriotism.
This is such a e great call for action --I hope young people who should be the leaders for the future are reading your words. I have seven, almost eight great grandchildren, and I would like to make sure that our "freedoms" and the country, and the earth, will be preserved for them. Sad things heard this morning on NPR: Ukraine is having trouble getting enough young men to fight, and many in the US are supporting third party candidates or not voting at all to protest Biden's sending money for arms to Israel.
Beautifully stated. May I repost?
Lynn O'Neal,
Yes, you may repost. Together with courage and determination and honesty...vote!!!
What about the students protesting all over this country? They want the war in Israel to end. I understand their compassion and their concern but with all due respect, shouldn't they realize what is going on here in our
country with our Democracy? We need their vote to win our freedom. I hope when September comes , they will realize how critical it is to vote and to save our Democracy or we will suffer the consequences and be under a dictatorship with a authoritarian government.
Agreed
Two of the possible VP candidates for Trump are called influencers with the Truth and Liberty Coalition which is a main source for Seven Mountain Dominionism. They are Bryon Donalds and Ben Carson. A review of the bio archives (https://truthandliberty.net/bio/) provides other names people may be familiar with in the conservative leadership: Lauren Boebert, Mike Huckabee, Tony Perkins, Bob McEwen, etc.
If anyone needs reminding, here's a wiki article on SMD. It's a wowser, and give you some idea of what many in the Evangelical field are imbibing, and the rough beast which has slouched its way into "Bethlehem" to be born(Yeats). https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Seven_Mountain_Mandate
Thanks, Frank. As someone who has not an iota of the "God gene" I cannot fathom how these people think.
How is it that we have democratically elected people in Congress who do not believe in democracy?
South Carolinians have two of the worst spineless and lightweight U.S. Senators representing them … which makes me so embarrassed to even tell folks that my father was born in South Carolina!
That stuck out to me as well. I am terribly concerned they're going to try and steal the election.
And Scott is only slightly more obsequious to Trump than Senator Lindsay Graham, unmentioned here.
It's very likely that Trump-directed violence will be unleashed at big-city polling places in swing states. Lara Trump seemed to advocate it last week. Disrupting the vote and third-party candidates are Trump's only chance of winning the Electoral College.
Exactly.
Any public official who speaks like Scott is not exercising free speech but rather, fomenting total disregard of central democratic principles and rule of law. He deserves to be kicked out of the Senate at a minimum.
Expecting Congress to police itself is a noble, but fruitless, pursuit. Absent a working majority nothing much can change short of a national disaster or mass migration from the MAGAGOP.
This is where the public voice can make a difference. We all need to get out of our personal echo chambers and take it to the streets either physically or however you can get to politicians.
Ojala! as they say in Mexico...it translates to "hopefully," but it's more intense than that. It's more like "your lips to God's ears." I have been wondering ever since January 7, 2021 why those congress members who helped plan and execute the insurrection have been allowed to stay in office.
It's way too obvious what Tim Scott is angling for....
We can keep critisizing Trump and his supporters, but we need to convert it for Mr. Biden to win the election and get certified by thet Congress - not an easy task.
That interview is in a clip on Jay Kuo's substack today, and it is unbelievable. It perfectly illustrates what is meant by, "He is talking out of both sides of his mouth."
It appears they’ve made plans to steal the election—which would explain why they aren’t financing a ground game for the race—so Scott probably thinks the question about accepting election results is moot.
As of last week, the Trump campaign hadn't opened a single field office. And the RNC, which Trump controls via co-chair, Lara Trump, apparently isn't going to contribute money to Congressional candidates. Of course the RNC is spending millions to help pay for Trump's monumental legal bills.
Many Republicans were elected or re-elected to the House or Senate in 2020, yet Trump’s loss was the only one that was rigged? Wouldn’t the corrupt Democrats make it so every Republican lost including tfg in order to take total control of the government?
Logic is not a Republican strong suit. The frontal lobes of their brains must be atrophied.
“He’s living rent free inside your head” is an insult and popular maga refrain oft repeated on you tube channels glorifying dear leader. This is ‘owning the lib’s’ in its finest form. This is who they are and all they have are insults! After all, their leader and “best brander ever” has always reduced his enemies to name calling that usually points to an admission of his own worst character flaws. Sleepy, crooked, crazy, goofy, and lightweight are just a few of the insulting nicknames given his opponents.
Projection? Pure Projection! No one in American history has told more lies and repeatedly subjected others to the projection of his own character flaws and cognitive impairment without an ounce of reflective awareness more than this man. He is devoid of natural human and behavioral emotion. President Biden rightly called him “A sick fuck.”
Trump trauma is real. Even if you feel that your own safety and security have not been directly threatened yet, nonetheless we have been bombarded with media accounts of hatred, cruelty, threats, and chaos daily for nine years now. An unfathomable number of his images and words have been daily thrust in our face and have numbed the brain. Yet even though you personally may have not been directly affected by his malice so far, you probably nonetheless feel empathy for those that suffer the daily torment that has been the prevailing climate for almost a decade.
So, in your own way employing your best skills, if he dwells in your mind, you must try to cast out the demon as best you can and develop a strategy to not allow him to dominate your thoughts any more than necessary. One way is to think of him as the total loser that he is with a goal to work toward vanquishing him from all possible influence over your life come November. “Once your life revolves around hating someone, you’re finished as a thinker, artist, or human”. He is not worth it.
"Fucking asshole" is the perfect description of the traitor Trump.
Exactly, Trump is a Freudian dream patient. He's all psychological projection.
"a Freudian dream patient"... wow, a good one.
Thank-you Hoyt Bangs, for this insightful description of what the DT/MAGA movement is doing to out politics and culture at large. Above all else, Trump is a thief. Thieves, even when they are not actively stealing from us personally, rob us of our security and peace of mind. We have whole industries designed to mitigate the effect of thieves in our lives.
How we respond, rather than just react, to the MAGA menace will determine just how much of our peace of mind we retain, and what we become while doing it. Mostly, I keep a focus on family, friends, hobbies (gardening!, hiking! woodworking!), and a challenging job. They are all blessings, even if they are a pain-in-the-ass sometimes. This way, I can bring a calmer, sharper, more reasonable self to bear on the issues of the day. Plus, it scares the sh_t out of the MAGAs who know me :)
What are you doing to make sure Democrats get elected? How politically active are you? Are you involved in local politics, community initiatives or the schools and libraries?
I recommend Robert Hubbell and Simon Rosenberg on Substack. We all need to be very aware of opportunities to make sure our Democracy survives, or we won't have happy lives.
How about donating $10K+ and counting—hardly a drop next to the billionaire Libertarian fascists under “Citizens United.”
How about hours spent on Substack bringing articles and books to people’s attention? I’m not so sure they read past the opening comment.
How about sponsoring a bill for abortion rights in a state that is run by 2, Libertarian Fascist families in direct contact with Charles Koch. It’s an uphill battle. How many Repugs actually read books like “Democracy in Chains” or “Dark Money”? These trumpanzees would rather buy Trump paraphernalia stating “Real Men Wear Diapers.”
The very least people could do is research who owns franchises like The Cubs and half of the NFL teams . . . And boycott them. But, apparently that’s a step too far.
So, what, specifically, do you suggest?
I really resent being told to “get involved” with no specifics on how that is applied to actual, Boots-on-the-Ground reality. My husband and I have our fucking address broadcast on the web with the bill for abortion—what risks are YOU taking?
I hear you, Dawna. If one more person tells me to vote, I'm going to gag. (Yes, I know the statistics.) I'm doing everything I can, including donations , calls and postcards. I'm alienating friends and family because so many people just don't want to hear about it. At all. And I'm NOT overdoing it! Aaaargh!
Family? HA. If I never see the Texas contingent again, it’ll be too soon. I am so beyond “niceties” with these people. . . High school reunion in Stefanik’s district? Fo-getta-bout-it . . . Sister who thinks she is smarter than anyone else because she runs a business in AZ? She can go fuck herself. (And she got Covid, too. What an idiot.) The nerve of traitors to spew propaganda at us—we served on active duty, FFS. Who do these diaper-admiring people think they are?
Two thumbs up, Dawna. Thanks.
I was active in 2020 with registering people to vote. It's vital that people get involved because our freedom depends on it.
Good for you. The line of thought is that with all the voter suppression tactics from the Republicans we can out vote them in massive numbers.
Yes we can.
Steve, no doubt you have the solution. Peace and stability in our individual lives begins with working at building and strengthening the family unit through core values Happiness and success within the family and our community should scare the crap out of the magats bent on dividing and destroying us.
The people looking to overturn Democracy in this Country don't care about family happiness. The intent of the chaos and division coming from the Republican Party is to sow distrust in the Executive, Legislative and Judicial Branches of our Republic. Dr. Richardson has already pointed out the focused attacks on the judicial in today's paper.
Cast out demons? Scare the opposition? The best way to do this is to register people to vote, drive people to the polls, write postcards, phone bank, donate and vote
Family happiness is secured after we have secured our Democracy in 2024.
Excellent comment!
Steve, you are a wise person. Stay calm. Stay sharp and reasonable. It will drive "them" crazy and make them less powerful.
https://bluevoterguide.org/
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/bluevoter
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd2rcG2yP-tOrdKlLhDhLJbI1DRm_TRKXhEU0Zxw3IBdyYJ2A/viewform
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd2rcG2yP-tOrdKlLhDhLJbI1DRm_TRKXhEU0Zxw3IBdyYJ2A/viewform
Same here, I been focusing on my hobbies as well.
Hoyt! This is brilliant. Whenever we let anyone make us miserable for extended periods of time, we have given that person power. Anger is useful if channeled to solutions. Anger as a continuous mantra in the brain is a disease. And it is a victory for the perpetrator.
Letting people "get under my skin" is a relinquishing of personal power. It is a surrender to the evil one we hate. There are only 24 hours a day. I recommend spending a defined number on learning about and spreading the word about the threat to democracy. Tell some people you know about Project 2025. Explain. Then, for the larger rest of the day, find joy in the people and projects you love.
That being said, the greatest form of justice will be on November 5th. I plan to turn my extreme anger into getting as many people as I can to vote. Blue.
Bill, I obviously like your thinking and approach, you have inspired me and I hope others are as moved by your words as well.
Well said!
You are right, Hoyt. I try to keep a positive attitude that TFG will NOT win while working toward keeping Biden in office. I believe we manifest what we focus on and I focus on a strong Biden WIN. Whatever happens to TFG will not be enough to punish him for what he's done to our country and people since 2015 but if he just fades into oblivion, goes into custody or full dementia it will be gratifying to me.
" I believe we manifest what we focus on and I focus on a strong Biden WIN." I love this, thanks Barbara. A DAILY mantra of BIDEN WIN, BIDEN WIN BIDEN WIN accompanied by good old fashioned democracy in action.
Amen, a sermon / polemic greatly enjoyed here.
Thanks Frank, I have to work at not being "too preachy." Hard to shake the genetics of a family of southern Baptist. 😊
I share your inbred need to evangelize about things secular as well, but if there was a moment...
I agree with your comment, you hit on very critical point and it very important.
Your thoughts?
The war in Israel is too complex for the students from the universities to understand even for all Americans comprehend. If there isn't a resolution to solve this, do you think it will have a impact on the students not voting for Biden? And could this affect Biden in winning this election in November?
Hi Patricia, i do think it could affect the vote and the election. Bibi is a friend of trump and also a megalomaniac imo and screwing up the war to help trump may be in the cards. Six months is a long time until the election and the American people and Biden seem to agree that Israel needs to show some resolve and diplomacy to wind this down. i agree that most students are not well informed enough or care enough at this point to make it an issue, and it is way down on list of average Americans relative to most important issues of the day. I bet the Biden campaign team is all over this in alleviating a negative impact.
One way to evict Trump from your head is by wearing a Biden Shirt. So much enthusiasm here. And so few Biden shirts in view.
I wear one on every grocery run in south Florida. The results have been unexpected and astounding:
Zero negative comments.
I want so much to run into another Biden shirt grocery shopping. But Dems keep enthusiasm for Biden locked in their heads too.
Demsmakelifebetter.org and BeantownStrong.com have great shirts. And… if you google “Biden Shirt” or do a “Biden shirt” search on Amazon 99% of the results are anti-Biden.
Wearing a shirt helps evict the constant worrying because it feels good to do something for 2024.
If every Biden fan wore a tshirt grocery shopping, the poles saying it’s a neck-and-neck race would seem trustworthy as Trump.
Hey Shawn, you words have inspired me to wear my Biden shirts more often, I have a collection i wear among friends. The shirt i wear most often in public is "LOCK HIM UP" My newest favorite is a dark Brandon t with Biden glaring through those fiery eyes. Most people are clueless what it means, lol. Thanks for the encouragement. Go Biden!
I don't think of him at all, unless I read something about him or I see images of him on the news. Then I control my thoughts by thinking of mundane aspects associated with him...like how much hairspray he uses to glue that mass into its shell, how is he smelling today, is that the same suit he wore yesterday, how many red ties does he own, who bathes him, etc. It makes me less likely to "hate" him and more likely to find him just a pathetic old sack of potatoes.
A big smile here and thanks for your great post Ellen. Mind control should not be as difficult as some folks make it out to be.
Refusing to acknowledge the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election isn’t only a buy-in to the Big Lie, it’s a loyalty oath that is common to fascist regimes. When we hear Republicans support the Big Lie, they are saying the loyalty oath to each other. Their assertion that the Big Lie is true is their justification for refusing to accept electoral defeat and for doing anything they can within and outside the law to achieve their goal of grabbing power. The Big Lie repeated endlessly creates doubts in people who don’t follow politics or the news or who support Republican policies like banning abortion. And, acceptance of the Big Lie is a pledge to accept “alternate facts” in loyalty to the Trumpist party. Then any lie is acceptable for promoting their messaging. In this way, the Big Lie is a many-headed Hydra. Defeating MAGA buttresses actual facts and a country of laws. And MAGA extremism seems to be unpopular in two recent polls that show President Biden leading tRump for likely voters by 4 or 5 points.
https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/biden-leads-49-45-in-new-abc-poll?r=dpmrd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
It’s the MAGA purity test. Scott needs to hold it up because he thinks he is a candidate. He must have a head injury if he thinks he will be chosen to run as Trump’s veep.
Scott didn't just drink the MAGA Kool-Aid a long time ago, he face-planted in the vat and drowned. He's been morally dead for a long time.
Never, ever, ever happen
Too bad the interviewer didn’t ask Scott why his election should be considered legitimate.
In MAGA land, elections are check valves that only allow votes to flow one way.
Once upon a time, sore losers, braggarts, liars, cheaters and loudmouths were looked down on and not given credence.
If he loses, Timmy should just take his ball and go home.
Straight out of Mien Kampf…
what a comparison, not sure I'd take it that far literally at least. Figuratively, right on!
According to James Murphy’s translation, it is indeed an apt comparison. “In the big lie, there is always a certain force of credibility…”. Don’t have the page, Google might. Yes, it does (www.proctors.com au)
Not so sure, Gary, that "they are saying the loyalty oath to each other."
That "each other" language ventures to credit themselves with some vestiges of human life, as if any of them had character of any kind.
Nope. All crave group blindness. All seek to extirpate any individuality in themselves and emulate only the craven packaged, the tribal fevered, the ape-shit chest-beaten.
One knew it would happen, once the billionaires had killed humanities and replaced all that potential decency with the numbered indecencies, categorical vulgarities, and elite anodyne conceits of the living dead's standardized testing.
I don’t buy into dehumanizing others this way. It’s a different worldview, with many factors forming it. Members of that movement have individual backgrounds, familial and regional history, in some a sense of grievance from personal experience. People become cynical, nihilistic, and cleave to powerful authority figures to defeat established authority they feel is illegitimate. Some conservatives I’ve met lack the mental or emotional ability to question their media and can’t stay with a conversation long enough to see the holes in the propaganda they’re fed. Or, they’re so steeped in fundamentalist religion that they fear straying outside that fold.
Bob Altemeyer studied authoritarians for 40 years and warned of the authoritarian movement in this country. He describes authoritarian personalities, power mad personalities, fundamentalist beliefs. See his website, The Authoritarians. https://theauthoritarians.org/
Many people attain power who lack all or most of the ability to experience empathy. I liked George Conway’s review of personality disorder symptoms that seem to apply to Trump (I’m sure that’s searchable) — and that may apply to other power-mad politicians and officials who shamelessly mislead people and stoke propaganda. Such personalities may have their roots in nature, nurture and often both.
Jonathan Haidt et al have studied the moral instincts of people across the political spectrum and many of the values of conservatives have merit. Search Moral Foundations theory.
Cognitive linguist George Lakoff has written about conservatives having an underlying morality based in a strict father family model versus liberals being grounded in a nurturant parent family model. The differences in what seems morally right to these two camps is stunning. See Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think.
We are in a unique, dark time where many people are scared and acting desperately out of fear and a need for belonging. There is so much more, of course.
Yes, Gary, there is, as you conclude, "so much more."
Like, specificity as to characters, details as to their situations. Those who do this best are called artists: of the novel, film, song, theater, memoir, and more. I think we all can be more open to more humanity if we take our artists (as well as those of other cultures) as models for seeing into their complications.
Like Jim Carrey? LOL
Often, yes, Gary.
Only, for discussions such as Heather (for instance) provides, a bit of context, a bit of appropriateness, begs some mesh between her concerns and something in (say) Jim Carrey's scenes, character, or performance fit to hers.
All true on your critique of the Big Lie, around a long time, but infamously brought to the fore by Joseph Goebbels. Mind you, he "rode the wind" until the bottom fell out of Nazi overreach (what an understatement that is)
Excellent summary, Gary.
Thank you for calling out the information about junk patents. I had to look this up. While Ozempic has only been out a few years, it may not meet patent status because it’s based on a naturally occurring hormone. While I continue to dodge the diabetes bullet myself despite less than ideal dietary habits - I do love my wine and gin and tonics - I have friends who don’t take some of these medications because of cost.
As always your essays are a welcome eye opener to not only current events but their historical context.
I looked up junk patents too, a way to artificially keep generics at bay.
Sioux while I’m not at risk for diabetes I’ll join you in a few glasses of wine! Cheers!
I'll mix the G&T; I make several different good ones.
Oooh that sounds good! We can meet on my screened porch overlooking our koi pond.
I’m in!
I had a blood orange G&T over the weekend - outstanding!
Ooooo, must try. How sweet was it; I'm not much for sweet that isn't rum...
More tart, and it had a slice of dried blood orange and a sprig of mint for garnish. A pretty drink.
I shall research. My Christmas gift was a traveling bartender kit; my birthday gift was a bamboo rack if I use it at home. I'd love to try this one.
Sioux, relying on pharmaceuticals to restore insulin sensitivity does not work. I can't understand why our tax dollars provide coverage for any of them. If you're addicted to carbs and alcohol you're not likely to enjoy your retirement anyway so cough up the money yourself.
I'm sorry -- works for me.
Besides Type II I have chronic UC. No carbs. No nada.
There’s a link between the use of glyphosate herbicides and cereal grains with development of intolerance. So-called “allergies”/ “intolerances” are a write-off for corporations not willing to admit their products cause damage. Reminds me of the tobacco industry . . .
Daniel, if it’s not tmi, I’m curious how ozempic affects your UC. I very much want to try these meds, but I’m worried about the side effects. I have ongoing bowel issues caused by radiation therapy and I’m scared of making it worse. I can manage where I am now, but if it were worse? Ugh.
@KR—you are in Ohio! You have close access to the very best in research and care re: abdominal issues at the Cleveland Clinic. That’s where you should get your information. Yours is a complex case.
Thanks, Dawna. I have a super team at the James. We know exactly what the issue is, and how to manage it. The Clinic is great too. We’re lucky to have such great care so accessible.
Don't take my advice. I'm not your physician.
Diabetes under control. I get UC out-bursts once in a while.
It was prescribed to replace the usual meds. Also take pioglitazone for diabetes. Also HBP, COPD, Glaucoma, etc.
I was just wondering what your experience was, and if it exacerbated your symptoms, not looking for advice. Wish you the best.
Been there with UC and T2D. Check out from library Dr. William Davis' book Super Gut. I use his recipe for SIBO yogurt and Clove Green Tea.
Body needs the good microbiome for gut mucusous layer, avoid inflammation and digest glucose.
Yogurt is out. Poison.
Yea, store bought is different. Need to ferment for 36 hrs.
Also, different microorganisms from yogurt. Might make a difference for some.
Wait a minute—“addicted” is a harsh term. Many people (esp. in American Indian and Hispanic populations) lack the enzymes to metabolize ETOH and carbs. The introduction of wheat flour/products to these populations has been devastating. It’s often a metabolic issue, not an addiction.
I think maintaining metabolic equilibrium with self-generated enzymes gets harder with age. Some harder than others. It won't be long before AI will prescribe a personalized protocol to compensate to extend health-span. Addiction to sugar and alcohol are factors that can inhibit the ability to comply. I've been looking at https://protocol.bryanjohnson.com/
No question! Our immune systems get “sloppy” as we age . . . Tissues get worn out or overwhelmed with inflammatory agents. Sigh. . . I know there is a Sugar Monster in each of us, too. 😋 I try not to keep my weakness (for cookies) around; exercise regularly and drink lots of water. You can always add a splash of cranberry juice or lemonade to water . . .just a splash goes a long way.
If you are not an enrolled member of the Sioux Tribe it is cultural appropriation to spell your name as you have.
I’m sure my mother didn’t realize that back in Forties when I was in elementary school. She painted “Sioux” in red nail polish on my lunch pail. I was embarrassed because no one knew what it said.
My father would no longer recognize this America, the country whose democracy he loved and believed in. It’s horribly sad to think I’m glad he’s no longer here to witness the attempt to destroy our constitution.
Even when, to my great dismay, Trump was elected president, I thought there were still some lines that most Republicans would not cross, but silly me. There is still enough of the foundations of this republic to endure and move forward if enough of us play our cards right; but the abyss yawns.
It was a very skinny 2016 victory, it's amazing how less than 100,000 votes can shift the Electoral College in such a massive way. It's also how Biden managed to win as well, even though his demographic support swamped Trump's. Will they ever do anything about the EC? If we're gonna stick to first past the post, make it cover the whole nation!
Thinly populated states are already over-represented in the Senate, but that makes more sense to me than the EC. I think I was in maybe the 7th grade when a teacher told us about it, and I recall thinking something like WTF at the time. The presidential ticket is the only office with the whole nation as a direct constituency. It is the only office we all get to vote on, except some votes are more equal than others. It is a patently anti-democratic twist in the recognition of our "unalienable" equal justice and protection under law, and it does not seem to have served us well.
My dad fought in WWII to defeat the Nazis. He would be horrified to see where the country is now. And he thought John Kasich was terrible.
Kasich looks like a paragon of virtue compared to Trump.
I’ve been reading so much about the corruption in the Ohio Republican Party, starting at Dewine and Husted and on down the line (shout out to David Pepper). I wonder where Kasich would fall.
I think the same thing all the time. Even worse, my father would be devasted that his son, my brother, is a Trumpster. :-(
Appreciate your sentiments, Gwen. I wonder what he thought of the Gilded Age. Even the Progressives were still often racist. They sometimes say history doesn't repeat itself, but it certainly chimes.
Lincoln fought for the legal rights of black people though he appears to have been phobic of them. I think some racism is clueless racism, which to say diminished by education, and some seems entrenched. I think that Lincoln was the curious and empathetic sort who might have adjusted his perceptions if confronted with modern history. It seems to me he'd be no friend of Trump.
The term "robber barons" harked back to feudal history, which the "Gilded Age" seemed to chime with at the time. The go-to rationalization of plutocrat's dominance is that the wealthy and powerful are the natural leaders of society, and that the natural inferiority of the common people (as a matter of breeding) makes them dependents on the wealthy, who need to be generously compensated for their largess, such as allowing the commoners to make a living. It's the underlying reasoning of "Reaganomics" if you look for it, and just as spurious as ever. After about a century of reforms, we have drifted quite a way back toward a feudalesque economy. Republicans and their ultra-wealthy patrons want to push it back even farther.
Frank I placed a response intended for Gwen under this comment by mistake. With respect to your insight, the Age of the Robber Barons has crossed my mind, too.
Gwen,
I accidentally placed the comment, "I do not", under a response of Frank Loomis. That comment was intended for you. I had wanted to agree with your father; I no longer feel like I even belong in the U.S. for I do not recognize her.
Ned.
I read a comment that these "interviews" with Scott, Noem and the like are useless. They get asked about a lie, they lie, they get called out on the lie, they double down, and no one cares or changes their mind. Reality TV at it's finest. No one asks ANY policy questions.
Maybe they have no policy (other than shameless selfishness).
They have a policy. It's called Project 2025. And it's written by its makers who are the owners of these Republican candidates and Congresspeople. It's important In fact it's essential that we keep that in focus at all times. The clown show will distract you if you let it. Focus please -focus. The questions are what are our best ways, new ways, lawful ways, of dealing with this immense challenge. For instance other Substacks that are on the path of saving and rebuilding our democracy. Any suggestions? Other than Joyce Vance, Simon Rosenberg, Jessica Craven ....
Yes, Robert Hubbell, a retired lawyer from LA, has a daily newsletter called Today’s Edition. It started as letters to his daughters during the Trump admin. It’s excellent and encouraging.
TC in LA has a good one called "That's Another Fine Mess". He brings a lot of different experiences and perspectives to the table.
Join the electoral grass roots organizations. I think there are a few. And they network, i hear.
"...and no one cares or changes their mind."
Some do. https://rvat.org/
JL, that is their only policy.
Excellent vibes reading your updates on the great work being done for US citizens...though the good vibes somewhat "dashed" when I got to the Tim Scott summary...what a pathetic so-called "public" servant. Ugh. Just like so many things in life...three steps forward, and two steps back.
The concern I have is why is Trump not in jail
yet?-He is making a mockery of our legal system that John Adams endorsed miss goes to all the judges so far and these criminal trials
Trump has been making a mockery of our legal system for almost 50 years. He has been involved in over 3500 lawsuits in his litigious career. How much has it cost the defendants in his myriad lawsuits and more importantly, how much has he cost "We the people" typing up courts for his revenge and retribution?
https://www.abajournal.com/web/article/attorney-and-author-on-his-portrait-of-donald-trump-through-more-than-3500-lawsuits.
This is the opening paragraph from the article:
While Donald Trump had no experience in working in government or in public service when he became president of the United States, he brought an astounding history of involvement in thousands of lawsuits to the nation’s highest office. Former federal prosecutor and author James D. Zirin illuminates more than 45 years of Trump’s legal disputes in his new book, Plaintiff in Chief: A Portrait of Donald Trump in 3,500 Lawsuits, published in September 2019.
Lawsuits for fun and profit. It's easy when you're filthy rich!
What a great idea J L. Let's start a 501 C(4) to bring lawsuit after lawsuit against TFFG, his kids, Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, Roger Stone and other cronies. We'll make sure it's all dark money so the PAC doesn't have to report the contributions or who contributed to them.
Now that would be fun! And we have a secret weapon - Heather's newsletter and all of the research she has already done. /S
A well tried tactic has been to bring law suits and actually make them pay, sometimes all the way to bankruptcy.
I bet that's interesting! "lawyers are a .... best friend"
We must get everyone registered who is eligible and then get all who are registered to vote. We need our country to be a country based on the rule of law. That makes us trustworthy. Thank you for giving context to the events of the day and the importance of our actions.
The Republicans are ready to have armed people stand at predominantly African American precincts to demand voters show them their ID and voting cards (where states have them.) Republican officials have purged people from voter rolls and will try every trick in the book to keep all but their voters away from the polls. The majority of the Supreme Court looks away at these tactics and wants to immunize Trump. I plan to vote early, and those of us who oppose a criminal grifter like Trump should be ready to get out and vote.
You are so right, the fix is in.
I wish it were not.
Nevertheless, we have the capacity to overwhelm them. In 2020, 70 million eligible voters failed to vote. Stats how that most were Democrats. Plus, using data mining, FT6 has identified about 13 million unregistered who trend heavily Democratic. 60% of unregistered voters have never been asked to register! Yesterday I sent 300 texts using FT 8 software to unregistered Floridians last week volunteers sent 1000,000 in a couple of hours. Another session today.
To win in 2024, FT6 will reach out to millions of unregistered likely Democrats "using our one-of-a-kind database and every outreach method possible (phone and text, postcard, email and targeted ad, and in-person too), where new Democratic voters will make the most impact – in the most flippable states and districts."
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
Meanwhile also support other organizations. https://democrats.org/share/
Tomorrow night, Democrats are invited to Focus for Democracy's upcoming presentation. Last month, $5 million was pledged to two deserving organizations, Galvanize and Accelerate Change.
https://www.galvanizeusa.org/
https://acceleratechange.org/
Tuesday, May 7th at 8 pm Eastern.
Click here to register: http://tinyurl.com/F4D7MAY
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My fear is that If he cheats to win, Dems will roll over (remember W) and feel that they have to accept it. Make damn sure that the election is fair and honest. The repubs “election integrity” crap is a mountain higher than Everest.
Without the unlawful actions of nonprofits such as the Heritage Foundation and the Council for National Policy being addressed, we will have let off the hook a multitude of leaders in the conservative movement who met weekly with representatives from Trump's administration and one time (or more) with Trump each month to collaborate on the goals. These nonprofits and others were clearly involved in fueling the big lie and ALEC CEO Lisa Nelson even said at a February 2020 CNP Action meeting that if Trump did not win in certain states that state legislators could question the validity of the election results. It was amazing how quickly the 60 plus lawsuits were filed in courts after Trump's loss in certain states. Leaders in the conservative movement as late as December 10, 2020, and December 30, 2020, were stating in Conservative Action Project memos that new electors were needed and that U.S. Senators needed to question the outcome of the election on January 6, 2021. The Washington Post hired two tax experts to review videos from the February 2020 meetings and the experts felt IRS law was not being followed. (See: Robert O'Harrow, Jr.'s October 14, 2020, article: Videos show closed-door sessions of leading conservative activists: ‘Be not afraid of the accusations that you’re a voter suppressor’" CNP materials and videos can be found at Documented.net.
Trump may have lit the fire, but the nonprofits in the conservative movement poured the gasoline from "sea to shining sea," before Trump threw the match.
Ann, yes I read that over 100 conservative organizations signed onto the Heritage Foundation's 2025 Project, or whatever it's called.
Joan, may I recommend this group: https://www.stopthecoup2025.org/. I read the Heritage Foundation’s introduction when it came out & just a bit of the 900 hundred or so pages of the “mandate”…thought it was a spoof at first. No, it is not & IMHO is very very scary. We need to push back against this if we want to remain a democracy.
Trump has admitted he wants to govern by their plan. The Heritage Foundation has a lot of gall to want to take government away from the people and to give it to the billionaires. We will never see representative government again if that happens, and we will have a dictator in charge who thinks he’s above the law. If Trump gets back into office, he’ll never leave.
Thank you. The action has never let up.
Heather lists how alphabet agencies do something key for average Americans.
The FTC, the SEC, the FBI, and the DOJ all have specific jurisdictions to waylay the unscrupulous, the careless, the short-sighted, or the plainly cynically criminal and reckless whose actions will hurt Americans.
Funny how Heather gets both the fat Trump and the rotund Tim Scott in her scope, as both clearly hate the rule of law, cannot come close to fathoming it (as Heather begins today's noting how John Adams did understand it). Both the waddling fat and the bobbing, weaving rotund love the cowboy phantasmagoria of apparently unbound selves beyond the law, unaccountable to clear alphabet jurisdictions or plain English.
Heather's earlier book, "How the South Won the Civil War" reminds us of how the cowboy loomed for her post U.S. Civil War. She's returned to it in her most recent book, "Democracy Awakening." And in today's "Letter from an American."
Our cowboy stories are not just entertainment. Our humanities are not just Fun, Travel, and Adventure (F.T.A. for those militarily-acquainted). Instead, they underline, emphasize, focus on the really criminal and cynical among us.
Too many of those.
Well said.
Many, many decent souls commenting here, Miriam.
Look forward to your own additions -- maybe perspectives on the fat orange guy's criminality with comparisons elsewhere by Keigo Higashino, Hideo Yokoyama, Seishi Yokomizo, Miyuki Miyabe, Natsu Kirino.
You just listed all my favorite authors.
I left out Minae Mizumura -- sorry about that -- but no criminals in any of her work.
Well, maybe the Japanese ministry of education. I consider it criminal for what it's done to humanities -- to anything and everything connected to the human -- in Japanese schools, anyway, to all where standardized testing rules everything. That's junior high, some. And tyrannically all senior high.
Her "The Fall of Language in the Age of English" is an extended essay in book form (Columbia U Press, 2016).
Scott sent me a Motoko Rich piece, which Sue has translated, so I can use it with kids here (and with adult students), on a Japanese-American documentary film maker, Ema Ryan Yamazaki. She has apparently a great film out on Japanese elementary education, a system which is super good (and very nicely human, too -- unlike schools after elementary).
Tim Scott humiliates himself daily for Trump. But that is what sycophants do for the Strongman.
And for what the guy the "outside slaves" called the "house n - - - er" did for Ol' Massa, as Scott does for Trump.
Thank you Professor Richardson.
With almost every LFAA providing well-cited historical context to unfolding events, I become more hopeful about America overcoming this 'dark age' that has been born because of the multi-generational focus on the concentration of wealth by the GOP, and the array of methods they use to keep us divided while they work to erode public education, manufacture consent through a consolidated media landscape, and undermine political representation through gerrymandering, voter suppression, and toxic political campaigns.
While I am grateful to see the Biden/Harris administration governing and working to stabilize foreign and domestic policy, as well as justice, I am certain I'm not the only one who still sees many people responsible for the attempted violent overthrow of U.S. government almost 3.5 years ago, and the person who incited the actions, as well as all those in Federal, State, and Local government not yet convicted, and far too many who have not been indicted for participating in the conspiracy and/or acting as accessories after the fact. During this 3.5 year period, I'm certain many have committed minor drug offenses and/or minor crimes against property for which they have been arrested, convicted, sentenced, and imprisoned.
So if we talk about America as a "nation of laws" as long as the criminal organization formerly known as the GOP continues to operate freely, threaten local election officials, discuss plans to take over the Justice Department to make it their own personal prosecutorial bureau, I think we're speaking in aspirational terms. At present we are so far away from "and justice for all" it's not even visible on a map.
Thank you Prof. HCR. This letter covers a lot of ground and I will need to assimilate it overnight. There is good news in that there are people trying to fix what is broken and the bad news is there are others seeking to destroy what we have that still works. A horse race for sure.
No, it's not a horse race. That's the point.
Broadcast and press outlets treat elections as a horse race and never address the important issues involved. You have to go to blogs like this one where you can learn the real issues at stake and their historical context. We do a miserable job in many states teaching government or civics, and rural and urban residents don’t even listen to the same news sources.
The fact that the indictment against Representative Henry Cuellar covered the period from 2014, AND that the Democratic machine still supported him over a progressive youthful qualified democratic opponent is damning. He won by less than 300 votes, so the people he represents were forced to have a very questionable leader.
Actions such as this by democrat machines is what leads people to listen to people like Trump. Destroying Bernie’s bid for president to force us to select Hillary or Trump got us where we are also.
The fear of any progressive solutions is the enemy of change. Look at the history of supporting money over people by corporate democrats and we readers of Joyce and Heather see hypocrisy.
Bernie would have lost the popular vote as well as the EC. But continue to live in fantasy land. And the 50,000 Berners who wrote him in in Michigan and Wisconsin to "vote ther conscience" were Trump's winning margin in those states.
Which is why I am furious (still) at the Bernie Bros, of which the OP here seems to be a member.
Bernie helped chump, many Bernie lovers still do
Excellent points!
Who’s Who in Trump’s NY Election Interference Trial? Use this visual Guide (May 5th)
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/05/05/trumps-ny-election-interference-trial-visual-guide-who-is-who/
#electioninterferencecase #hushmoneytrial #alvinbragg