For months now it has felt weirdly as if life in the United States of America is playing out on a split screen. That sense is very strong tonight. On one side is a country that in the past three years has invested in its people more completely than in any era since the 1960s. The American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act jump-started the U.S. economy after the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic; are rebuilding our roads, bridges, harbors, and internet infrastructure; have attracted $200 billion in private investment for chip manufacturing; and have invested billions in addressing the effects of climate change.
A remarkable time we are in, and Dr. Richardson, you report with such clarity. Biden is without doubt the leader for our times, and the tired, but dangerous republican rhetoric droning on in the sewers and stagnant backwaters of our national psyche are beyond the pale. Our new speaker of the house, I believe is particularly dangerous. He is very smooth, utterly arrogant and self righteous. He scares the crap out of me. Keep up the great work...we need you.
I, too, think we are watching life in America on a split screen. But what seems so weird to me is how the media splits the screen with the negative Trumpism part being 80% and the positive Biden part as only 20%. No wonder people don't appreciate all the good things that are geared to help the middle and lower groups live better! It is so disheartening!
I think that New YorkState's judicial oversight authorities are not going to give representative Stefonic's letter a great deal of their time. After all, this is a judicial proceeding for which there is a substantial trial record and verbatim transcript, which transcript would include defendant Donald Trump's maunderngs, and refusals to answer questions directly, and Trump's incessant attempts to give electioneering speeches, and treatment court proceedings as one of his political rallies. I have not read the five-page letter in which Representative Stefonic lays out her accusations, but is the quality of the legal scholarship and advocacy is anything like with the former president's lawyers have been peppering the court with over the past several months, New York regulators will be justified in rejecting her complaints out of hand. To paraphrase the late Christopher Hitchens, that which is asserted without facts to support allegations made, maybe rejected forthwith without elaborating on the reasons therefore. The New York authorities, I would think, would instead focus on the former president's inability to conform his behavior to the standard expected of any litigant in the courts of New York State, or any state, or judicial forum that comes to mind. With any luck, New York voters residing in representative Stefonic's district will send her packing in the next election. One would certainly hope so.
"As workers at non-union plants begin to explore unionization, Honda and Toyota have already announced wage hikes to match those in the new UAW contracts, and Subaru is hinting it will do the same. "
I have never belonged to a union or worked in a unionized company, and I have sometimes strongly disliked some of the things I have seen individual unions do; but I strongly support them, as a necessary balance of power. Like Biden said, unions (substantially) enabled the middle class. That and anti-trust, which also needs (more) reinvigorating.
Trump's speech accusing: “liars and leeches” who have been “sucking the life and blood” out of the country. Was this about the Mango Muffin and his polished family?
I think this is one of the most effective Dr. Richardson's posts because it so clearly shows the contrast been President Biden and Trump.
Trump is NOT the mastermind. What is left out is that Trump is a populist puppet for a radically conservative movement that has been working towards a Christian nationalist authoritarian government for the last 50 years, when the Heritage Foundation was founded in 1973. It has been funded over that time by many of the wealthiest in this country. It has corrupted our legislative process with gerrymandering through OPERATION REDMAP, stacked the judiciary with like-minded judges through the influence of the Federalist Society, has destroyed the legislative process with the elevation of Mike Johnson as Speaker, and is ready to continue to dismantle the executive branch departments and agencies under the guise of "limited government" with Project 2025 on Day One of a new Republican administration.
I have been researching Heritage and found out that Project 2025 is not their first "Mandate for Leadership." They have been producing similar thousand-page tomes describing their wish list for policy and government change since the days of Ronald Reagan.
A link to their timeline of "successes" is below. What is beyond scary is the relentlessness of their vision and how very close we have come to it coming to fruition. Every American should read this to know what we are up against and realize how much has already been put in place by these extremists. Add in the current tilt in the mainstream media with the focus on Trump and the lack of coverage of Biden's accomplishments, and the playing field is now tilted far right. WE ARE NOT SAFE YET.
There's another split screen that's getting but minor attention and that's the expanding development of gas, oil and coal projects around the world as our climate moves to irreversible heating.
Thank you Heather. I do think since the economic disaster from the GWB administration, too many Americans were left behind in the subsequent recovery. It caused generational despair. Then Banks and Wall Street received a massive bailout and McConnell and the GOP blocked the Obama/Biden administration from passing a recovery package for Main Street.
While I fully support the Biden administration’s effort to rebuild the economy in a sensible manner from the middle (which does represent the growth engine of America) it is like having your home destroyed and now the foundation is being poured in a meticulous manner -great, but you have no roof, electricity, or plumbing yet.
Our society does not have the patience or will to endure necessary long-term healing that is necessary to undo the damage created by Reagan, GWB, and Trump. While the impatience is understandable, the frustration and polarizing conflict has been created and amplified by outlets like Fox, Sinclair, and others. Instead of understanding how trickle-down fraud has harmed them and stolen from their future (while weakening America) they blame immigration, or taxes, or anything they are told instead of the root cause for their anger and resentment.
So when President Biden thinks of the great things we can accomplish together, while that is true, it is a vision that is rejected by far too many people.
Heather often reminds us that Trump is a continuation of a century old movement to limit improvement in the lives of ordinary Americans and to concentrate power. That needs to be reiterated here. The concentration of wealth, the decline of unionism, the privatization of retirement plans that are self-funded, the constant threats to cut social security and medicaid is juxtaposed to the bogeyman that those who actually are working to make the lives of ordinary Americans better are really anti-American, looking to give the jobs and security of real Americans to Black and Brown people (who they demonize with the most vile rhetoric), and to kill unborn babies. That sums up the current Republican Party.
Trump is not the first authoritarian wannabe that has used fear, racism and sexism to scare the masses while preaching he’s (they) is the only one that can fix it. Trump just does it in a more obtuse, dystopian way and, amazingly, is honest that he will tear down constitutional democracy and the institutions that maintain it.
They have given up on winning majorities. They have moved on to stealing the presidency, gerrymandering Congress (or just not letting it work) and stacking the Supreme Court. They openly admit that authoritarian leaders around the World are their soulmates.
We have Fox to thank for Americans seeing and believing in only the Trumpian
view of the U.S. They are the most watched station, and they do incredible harm.
I fear we won't be able to head off becoming a "Christian nationalist" government. I do not think Biden will be re-elected, because all the good he does gets drowned out by the extremely effective MAGA machine, aided and abetted by Fox.
Waiting for folks here to call me a troll and tell me I'm a downer, all because I read and pay attention to the dire warnings I read here.
The slow grinding corruption of Elise Stefanik's principles is one of those political mysteries. She wasn't always willing to align herself with the hard, crazy right. She's a 2006 Harvard graduate. And to think: her guiding light is a 77 year oled, multiple bankrupt, thrice married, serial philanderer who has only ever thought of himself and explicitly plans to weaponize the DOJ under the Project 2025's guidelines. NY-21 would do the country a favor by send her packing in 2024.
Reporters don’t write stories about all those planes that land safely. The media has always emphasized the unusual, dramatic, or sensational. The disgruntled are more interesting than the satisfied. But now we have added a cadre of well-paid pundits, con men, and liars who disgorge opinion and claim it as “news” to “stir up the base” or “own the libs.” Unedited, often anonymous, rantings in social media add fuel to the hate-mongering. Throw in religious zealotry and intolerance and you have a dangerously combustible mixture. Still...as voters showed across the country this week, if given the chance to voice their opinion on a ballot, they’ll reject extremists. Vote! Even if the lines are long. Vote, because the future of our democracy depends on it.
A remarkable time we are in, and Dr. Richardson, you report with such clarity. Biden is without doubt the leader for our times, and the tired, but dangerous republican rhetoric droning on in the sewers and stagnant backwaters of our national psyche are beyond the pale. Our new speaker of the house, I believe is particularly dangerous. He is very smooth, utterly arrogant and self righteous. He scares the crap out of me. Keep up the great work...we need you.
I, too, think we are watching life in America on a split screen. But what seems so weird to me is how the media splits the screen with the negative Trumpism part being 80% and the positive Biden part as only 20%. No wonder people don't appreciate all the good things that are geared to help the middle and lower groups live better! It is so disheartening!
I think that New YorkState's judicial oversight authorities are not going to give representative Stefonic's letter a great deal of their time. After all, this is a judicial proceeding for which there is a substantial trial record and verbatim transcript, which transcript would include defendant Donald Trump's maunderngs, and refusals to answer questions directly, and Trump's incessant attempts to give electioneering speeches, and treatment court proceedings as one of his political rallies. I have not read the five-page letter in which Representative Stefonic lays out her accusations, but is the quality of the legal scholarship and advocacy is anything like with the former president's lawyers have been peppering the court with over the past several months, New York regulators will be justified in rejecting her complaints out of hand. To paraphrase the late Christopher Hitchens, that which is asserted without facts to support allegations made, maybe rejected forthwith without elaborating on the reasons therefore. The New York authorities, I would think, would instead focus on the former president's inability to conform his behavior to the standard expected of any litigant in the courts of New York State, or any state, or judicial forum that comes to mind. With any luck, New York voters residing in representative Stefonic's district will send her packing in the next election. One would certainly hope so.
"As workers at non-union plants begin to explore unionization, Honda and Toyota have already announced wage hikes to match those in the new UAW contracts, and Subaru is hinting it will do the same. "
I have never belonged to a union or worked in a unionized company, and I have sometimes strongly disliked some of the things I have seen individual unions do; but I strongly support them, as a necessary balance of power. Like Biden said, unions (substantially) enabled the middle class. That and anti-trust, which also needs (more) reinvigorating.
Trump's speech accusing: “liars and leeches” who have been “sucking the life and blood” out of the country. Was this about the Mango Muffin and his polished family?
Maybe we should be actively boycotting the businesses that support Trump. Today it was the founder of Home Depot.
Thank you Heather.
A split screen indeed.
And now Manchin isn’t running again.
It’s interesting how some democrats are lamenting this - as if forgetting what a pain he’s been time and again.
I think this is one of the most effective Dr. Richardson's posts because it so clearly shows the contrast been President Biden and Trump.
Trump is NOT the mastermind. What is left out is that Trump is a populist puppet for a radically conservative movement that has been working towards a Christian nationalist authoritarian government for the last 50 years, when the Heritage Foundation was founded in 1973. It has been funded over that time by many of the wealthiest in this country. It has corrupted our legislative process with gerrymandering through OPERATION REDMAP, stacked the judiciary with like-minded judges through the influence of the Federalist Society, has destroyed the legislative process with the elevation of Mike Johnson as Speaker, and is ready to continue to dismantle the executive branch departments and agencies under the guise of "limited government" with Project 2025 on Day One of a new Republican administration.
I have been researching Heritage and found out that Project 2025 is not their first "Mandate for Leadership." They have been producing similar thousand-page tomes describing their wish list for policy and government change since the days of Ronald Reagan.
A link to their timeline of "successes" is below. What is beyond scary is the relentlessness of their vision and how very close we have come to it coming to fruition. Every American should read this to know what we are up against and realize how much has already been put in place by these extremists. Add in the current tilt in the mainstream media with the focus on Trump and the lack of coverage of Biden's accomplishments, and the playing field is now tilted far right. WE ARE NOT SAFE YET.
https://www.heritage.org/article/timeline-heritage-successes
There's another split screen that's getting but minor attention and that's the expanding development of gas, oil and coal projects around the world as our climate moves to irreversible heating.
On the one hand you have the positive message of a leader, on the other hand you have the paranoid screed of a loser. Think about it.
Thank you Heather. I do think since the economic disaster from the GWB administration, too many Americans were left behind in the subsequent recovery. It caused generational despair. Then Banks and Wall Street received a massive bailout and McConnell and the GOP blocked the Obama/Biden administration from passing a recovery package for Main Street.
While I fully support the Biden administration’s effort to rebuild the economy in a sensible manner from the middle (which does represent the growth engine of America) it is like having your home destroyed and now the foundation is being poured in a meticulous manner -great, but you have no roof, electricity, or plumbing yet.
Our society does not have the patience or will to endure necessary long-term healing that is necessary to undo the damage created by Reagan, GWB, and Trump. While the impatience is understandable, the frustration and polarizing conflict has been created and amplified by outlets like Fox, Sinclair, and others. Instead of understanding how trickle-down fraud has harmed them and stolen from their future (while weakening America) they blame immigration, or taxes, or anything they are told instead of the root cause for their anger and resentment.
So when President Biden thinks of the great things we can accomplish together, while that is true, it is a vision that is rejected by far too many people.
Heather often reminds us that Trump is a continuation of a century old movement to limit improvement in the lives of ordinary Americans and to concentrate power. That needs to be reiterated here. The concentration of wealth, the decline of unionism, the privatization of retirement plans that are self-funded, the constant threats to cut social security and medicaid is juxtaposed to the bogeyman that those who actually are working to make the lives of ordinary Americans better are really anti-American, looking to give the jobs and security of real Americans to Black and Brown people (who they demonize with the most vile rhetoric), and to kill unborn babies. That sums up the current Republican Party.
Trump is not the first authoritarian wannabe that has used fear, racism and sexism to scare the masses while preaching he’s (they) is the only one that can fix it. Trump just does it in a more obtuse, dystopian way and, amazingly, is honest that he will tear down constitutional democracy and the institutions that maintain it.
They have given up on winning majorities. They have moved on to stealing the presidency, gerrymandering Congress (or just not letting it work) and stacking the Supreme Court. They openly admit that authoritarian leaders around the World are their soulmates.
This is real.
We have Fox to thank for Americans seeing and believing in only the Trumpian
view of the U.S. They are the most watched station, and they do incredible harm.
I fear we won't be able to head off becoming a "Christian nationalist" government. I do not think Biden will be re-elected, because all the good he does gets drowned out by the extremely effective MAGA machine, aided and abetted by Fox.
Waiting for folks here to call me a troll and tell me I'm a downer, all because I read and pay attention to the dire warnings I read here.
The slow grinding corruption of Elise Stefanik's principles is one of those political mysteries. She wasn't always willing to align herself with the hard, crazy right. She's a 2006 Harvard graduate. And to think: her guiding light is a 77 year oled, multiple bankrupt, thrice married, serial philanderer who has only ever thought of himself and explicitly plans to weaponize the DOJ under the Project 2025's guidelines. NY-21 would do the country a favor by send her packing in 2024.
Two different messages
Trump-doom and gloom
Biden-upbeat and positive
Reporters don’t write stories about all those planes that land safely. The media has always emphasized the unusual, dramatic, or sensational. The disgruntled are more interesting than the satisfied. But now we have added a cadre of well-paid pundits, con men, and liars who disgorge opinion and claim it as “news” to “stir up the base” or “own the libs.” Unedited, often anonymous, rantings in social media add fuel to the hate-mongering. Throw in religious zealotry and intolerance and you have a dangerously combustible mixture. Still...as voters showed across the country this week, if given the chance to voice their opinion on a ballot, they’ll reject extremists. Vote! Even if the lines are long. Vote, because the future of our democracy depends on it.