In 1918, at the end of four years of World War I’s devastation, leaders negotiated for the guns in Europe to fall silent once and for all on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
I am having great difficulty feeling reverent or patriotic about this year's Veterans Day, even tho' I recognize it is about those who served -- including my father who served in Europe during WWII. The election of the con man, denigrator of our troops, and lover of Putin, has tarnished what the day should represent for me. I've not forgotten those who fought for us, but these public displays filled with those who denigrate the very thing the day stands for -- Service -- make me want to barf. I will remember their and my Father's service in my own way privately.
I may be a super idealist, but I believe it is time to dig in and fight for those principles and beliefs we have always taken pride in. The fact that we have a "leader" who has no standards or principles should cause us to redouble our efforts to emphasize them and to point out the differences with the Dumpster.
If you read down in this thread you'll see I said plenty . . . but here's a few, encourage Representatives and Senators to use the processes they have to change, slow down, block, or just gum up the process, State Governments (e.g. California in particular) can take steps to protect the vulnerable within their borders, individuals can organize with and among others to slow things or even block.
You’re correct but it’s now an uphill battle because this autocrat has young Vance and they intend to destroy our institutions and be in power at least for the rest of my life.
Well, the cult that follows Trump may not necessarily follow JDV. We shall see.
I am looking at how many Americans who voted for Trump are not Christian Nationalists or White Supremacists and who believed Trump at face value. Clearly they have different sources of information than I do. For one, unlike most American Journalists, I have been reading Project 2025 in a Democrats Abroad book club and what is in store for parents is not good at all.
I recognize that CNs do not care at all about anything except exacting revenge with their belief in a White Supremacist vengeful God, but they also think End-of-Days is near and they will be carried off to heaven. While they wait, they will have to deal with temporal realities.
A friend in the now vilified Higher Education world, was sharing articles on how planned changes to education will effect Higher Ed. It is not good. So, if people can remember how things were before this happened, it will be helpful to record what things happened under Biden that a country ruled by the super wealthy does not want to have in place.
According to Robert Hubbell, 93 mil eligible voters did not vote. They may wake up from their jadedness at how it makes no difference who is in charge if the things they have counted on all of their lives are suddenly gone. We shall see. It seems that keeping good sources of information alive will be important to helping the US as a backsliding democracy not slide so far back it cannot return.
The reason Trump won is that psyops attacked the psyche, and they voted "agin" us rather than for him. Psyops can make an Alaskan buy snow water. 90% voted contrary to their own economic and physical health. Why would someone on SSI (or any government benefit) vote to cut it.? Hispanics and Moslems supported a guy who plans to deport them -- even if they are citizens. During his administration he was working on "denaturalization.
You got it right on SS. My rep made commercials about the promise of SS and Medicare and how he would protect it, and yet he voted 25 times to cut it. his opponent never touched that. It was the DNCC commercials that did and that came very late after he had already run those promise commercials with Seniors. Democrats are not nearly aggressive enough.
And most Dreamers have proven themselves to be the citizens we want. One even became a Rhodes Scholar!! How many Americans can say that? Not our president to be-not even a masters degree. I noticed on the list there were several "colored" people on it. So "colored " people can be smarter than whites!
Not to mention the collateral damage of the tens of thousands of others with too much pigmentation to qualify as “good” who will be caught up in Trump & Cos. Sweeps.
A mere 1% error rate snags and deports, imprisons or otherwise abuses 110,000 “good” Americans.
U bet one of my fave Mainer friends was lamenting the fact that she and her husband depend so much on their social security checks— I tried reassurance with her because tampering with Social security is one of the least popular actions these repugs will be taking— they like being popular!
If you sincerely want to understand folks who voted for Trump; "Why would someone on SSI (or any government benefit) vote to cut it.?"
You need to shed YOUR biases about what rights people have to their beliefs and values. And examine what role the media they have access to, think Fox, has told them. For example, it was widely reported that Fox aired time and again the lie that illegal immigrants were given housing while veterans went homeless. So if you're a veteran on SSI and you hear that day after day, what do you tink you would do?
I am a 20 year veteran of the US Navy, I am an Immigrant and I am on Social Security.
I question why someone one on Social Security would vote to cut it. It is not a bias, it is a question of fact. Many who voted against themselves will rue the day that they did. They are entitled to consuming the false and misleading information from Fox News and put their critical thinking aside, if they so desire and that gives me the right to question their vote for someone who has stated that he will end entitlement programs.
So to answer your question, I would voted to protect my benefits as a retiree, my social security benefits and to vote for those who will vow to uphold the Constitution and protect or expand my rights. That is what I would do.
Daniel, I hang onto every word that you write. My concept of Psyops is limited. I am assuming it means relentless misinformation. Would you mind explaining it in detail?
Yes, and not only that. "You will never have to vote again. Just this last time and then, never worry about it." (I know I'm paraphrasing somewhat, but I believe I got most of it right.)
I did my national service in the United States Peace Corps in a small, impoverished country in southern Africa. I didn't feel, as a representative of the United States and as a visitor to the country, that I could honorably engage in political discussions, especially not with actual citizens of the country.
The so-called "President" had been a figurehead who had worked for freedom and independence from the British Empire, went about the job of establishing a personality cult even before he saw to it that his major opponents fled the country or, on the way, died mysterious deaths. He anointed himself "President for Life" and lived the high life until he eventually did die.
In putting his attention on becoming a "big man" supposedly beloved by his people (read: subjects), the "President for Life" apparently spent little or no time establishing honest and durable institutions. Instead, the country had corrupt sham institutions that apparently existed to buy loyalty. The most obvious indicator of corruption, to me at least, was that in the third poorest country in the world, government ministers traveled in chauffeured Mercedes, wrapped in their giant ego's.
Thus it was no wonder that the succeeding "Presidents" have all been crooks who gathered as much money and privileges as they could. I had the dubious honor of meeting one of these Presidential con men, a former poor villager who finagled his way to power and who was later convicted of grand larceny, has spent the last few decades living off government benefits and what he stole, and never seeing the inside of a prison.
Is this our future? One dictator - "President for Life", of course - followed by another and another and yet another, with fixed elections and a treasury that existed to enrich a cabal of con artists. Of course the country still remains near the bottom of the 180 countries of the world in terms of gross national product and, I would dare say, human poverty and instability.
The word for this type of government is "kleptocracy", a country built on, by and for theft, and there are numerous other countries, many in Africa, whose mineral and oil profits all disappear and never reach down to the poor majority, indigent and hungry. Is that our future?
Don't forget the guy in Venezuela. He lost bigly, but because he had the military and a people who declared the "official" count for him, he won. The original opponent was a women who was essentially banned from all use of facilities: restaurants, gas stations, hotels, etc. Anyone aiding her was punished. Unofficially the opponent was like 60-70% ahead. The opposition leader had to flee the country.
I am so disturbed by that statement and am not into conspiracies but… I strongly feel that the notes DO NOT pass the smell test. Why would people who voted for the Felon also vote for Dem Governors, etc.? Doesn’t make sense to me.
We’ve got to get rid of the electoral college system. I think among the 93 million who are either jaded or otherwise indifferent to the concept of democracy are indifferent because the electoral college system eliminates the significance of a single vote except in a few “battleground states.” If we accept the concept that the majority of Americans are not assholes, then we have to provide a clear path for the 93 million indifferent to get off their asses and vote. In theory, that would yield a better result with respect to the preservation of democracy.
The majority of Americans are not assholes if you look more closely at the numbers.
Of the approximately 262 million adults in the US, about 161 million are registered to vote, so about 62% of the population. About 73 million votes were *apparently* cast for the orange anus and fascism, which is 45% of that 62%.
So, the way it looks to me based on these numbers, about 28% of our fellow citizens grabbed the wheel and steered us into the oncoming tanks. Nowhere near the majority, which offers a modicum of comfort, I guess.
I've been asking that we not drive the narrative that it's "over half the country" because this reinforces the false claim that this awful cretin's re-election was some kind of mandate. It's not and we have to avoid regurgitating false, demoralizing
"No one in this world, so far as I know-and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me-has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby. The mistake that is made always runs the other way. Because the plain people are able to speak and understand, and even, in many cases, to read and write, it is assumed that they have ideas in their heads, and an appetite for more. This assumption is a folly." H.L. Mencken 1926
If you don't vote you have no say. No say allows autocrats to win. We can encourage people to vote just like we can lead a horse to water........ we are who we are, based on who votes, and then how they vote. The overall numbers game does not work.
Yes, but that "28%" constitutes a loosely woven (red) blanket which covered the majority of our land, and is composed of people of all colors. You and I are their next-door neighbors. So, we are now the "assholes". Time to get to work. That blanket will fall apart - watch.
It will never happen, simply because it would require a Constitutional amendment to somehow miraculously get through Congress and be ratified by 2/3 of the state legislatures. Even the Equal Rights Amendment, designed to equalize female rights with those of men, has yet to get through this process after decades of consideration.
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement among a group of U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all their electoral votes to whichever presidential ticket wins the overall popular vote in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
17 states have signed on. So far. No constitutional amendment apparently required.
Agree William! Simple psychology. People buy lottery tickets. Why, because when your number is drawn, you win. Done. Not so in our election system for president.., nope We've got the ElectoralCollege. Huh? err ahh can you explain that to me? Huh (again)? Wait a minute.., tell me again..., it's a College? No? Okay..., tell me once more, so can understand... cause I'm still confused. Like, what State is that "College" located in? THAT.., my dear friends, is the "state" we're in. Time to implement the KISS principle, or kiss it good-bye.
I hear ya— my public school educated right over this one and that was probably because my history teachers didn’t understand it either but our forefathers invented it as a clause like making sure you’re wearing a belt and suspenders— they didn’t want to take too many chances with the hou pillow or less educated masses.
I want to know what 'good sources of information' you would suggest. The info pumped out to citizens through MSM and social media are partners in the 'disinformation overload'. I look for accurate facts, but they are hard to come by. I want to know, and I want to be able to share it with others.
Substack is opinion it is not news. Using it as news is potentially just as misleading as Fox is. That doesn't mean it is bad, it is mostly filled with worthwhile OPINION but it is NOT NEWS!
Read the New York Times. Read the Associated Press. Those are the two most authoritative sources of actual news in this country. But please stop acting like Substack is even remotely a source of news. There are great commentators like Heather Richardson but do not confuse her commentary with actual news. She writes with a terrific historical perspective but she would be the first to tell you that she is NOT a journalist.
Celeste, I read The Guardian. And, of course like you and many others HCR, Joyce Vance, TCinLA, Timothy Snyder, Greg Olear. Thom Hartman et al. The Guardian is truly independent: reader supported. Right now I’m feeling a bit ‘shy’ of any news. But no matter what I honor veterans knowing how grateful I am for their courage.
I read the Guardian daily - and I read Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Inquirer. I also read three other newspapers but thru the lens of a skeptic, the press let us down. I cancelled WaPo and will not gio back until Bezos is gone - I will not hold my breath.
My family is filled with Veteran's and my family heritage is too. I am having a problem celebrating today because Trump called military suckers and losers, the top brass called him unfit to serve, he was elected. I have more self-respect than to vote for a person who denigrates my family. Tough day on many levels.
The Guardian is a pretty good source of news too but I do not consider it a good as the New York Times or the AP. It is heavily slanted to the left although many of their pure news stories are fairly unbiased. So it is a leftist slanted paper/ online source and it is not that great at keeping their political lean or of their news unlike the Times which has a heavy historical bias towards unbiased news. And please don't confuse the Times' news with is opinions. In their opinion columns you will find many different slants because they have a history of trying to provide a variety of view points but that is NOT NEWS! That is opinion and it is always clearly labeled as such. That is the problem with other papers and definitely TV/ cable. I watch MSNBC because their shows are good and palatable, but MSNBC provides ALL commentary/ opinion, and very little news. If you think you are getting news from the likes of Laurence o'Donnell or Joy Reid or even Rachel Maddow, you are way off base. Pretty much every person on MSNBC provides opinion, often good opinion but still OPINION not NEWS.
Will Rupert be on the job? Well, he has a son with his evil skill. The gnashing of teeth will be heard all across the land, and Dems will be blamed. That part is de rigueur
Can't disagree, and sad thing is that this year's turnout was about the 2nd highest, period. "half the electorate" often don't vote with things are "calm". Don't count on a "wake up". Interestingly, in the movie Civil War, one theme is just how many Americans were engaged in ignoring the military struggle going on in the nation.
I am counting on a wake up when I read about what people believe Trump was going to offer them. States that voted Trump and Republicans into power clearly have majority populations who interpreted the disfunction in the House as a mandate to get rid of conflicts between president and congress. Yet, they voted against vouchers in Arizona, and voted in abortion protections and wage protections too. So, there is a disconnect in information and desires. I know lots of Americans that ignore the big picture and are caught up in their personal struggles. A child with autism, or bipolar disorder, or flunking out of high school, or doing drugs, or all sorts of issues that take a lot of family energy to address, and my friends are not suffering from housing or food insecurity. I can only imagine what that adds to take one's attention away from what is going on, especially if you are not used to reading for information.
Wait until Floridians see what will happen to FEMA. The state will be required to provide more hurricane protection and privatization of FEMA supported flood insurance.
Thanks Linda, seems that ditching the ACA is a top priority, while majority polls overall support it these days. While a majority of ACA users are black, its hardly just them. The article i elsewhere quoted from the Hill offers a stark lineup on what the maga gop wants... and it is stark. Needless to say Climate Change is back to being a "hoax", i remember when they removed the banner pages from the EPA back in 2016.
Linda, I am dumbfounded that 93 million eligible voters stayed home when they should have realized the gravity of this year’s vote. I have no confidence whatsoever they will “wake up.” But they WILL have to live with the results of their compliance-by-inactivity.
After being shocked and devastated by the election result, I am saddened to have arrive at “well, this is what you chose when you voted for tfg or didn’t vote at all; so don’t expect me to step in. I did everything one person could to explain what this choice meant. I’m through with empathy, for now anyway. FAFO.” We’re now in the FO phase.
Agree - the only way for people to wake up is to have them experience the pain. I know that sounds draconian but if they are bailed out of the troubles they will only see it as a Trump win. Why? This campaign was won and lost (depending on view point) by a press and media that failed to do its duty and by social media and Fox that manipulate truth in order to manipulate the people. That is why people voted Harris out but voted for abortion coverage. Harris was evil in social media - they vote against her. Conversely, abortion is an internal issue and abortion won.
There was a video in a Guardian article today where he just looked at the Trump voters in Michigan and the non--Trump voters. It was interesting. Here is the link. Scroll down and see the video. What people are believing is astounding.
At the same time, we get a list of the states that voted Trump and lots of republicans in and voted to protect abortion. Naively believing that it won't be a nationwide ban, and birth control too at some point. Then, we get this article in ProPublica telling us about people voting against Vouchers, yet they also voted in people who will just go around their complaints. More naive people. I can see why con men make so much money off of people. It is just to easy.
I also read about people voting to protect unions and pay in states that voted for Trump and his henchmen. So, somehow they do not understand how things work, and that even if the US has strong states rights, there are a million and one ways to get around them if you have a large majority, wild violent people backing you, and a huge number of apathetic people who are probably also confrontation averse.
It is seriously wrong to blame this election failure on the press (not counting Fox as "press"). You are correct to point out that there was massive disinformation but I contend that the left wing contributed with its "stop listening to the media" campaign (often engaged in right here in Heather's Substack) when in fact the vast majority weren't interested in the biases of places like Substack and one they stopped following the mainstream media, they were left with the disinformation. So WE (although j honestly don't include myself because I repeatedly tried to object to this false characterization of the MSM as "evil") are too blame because we pulled the plug on people who maybe MIGHT have used MSM reports as at least a way of trying to understand the conflicts but once they abandoned those reports, what were they going to use a a source of information? Fox? That certainly doesn't sound like a smart idea. And the likelihood that they would turn to something like Substack was about zero.
So we should acknowledge our role in this. By demonizing the best (if not perfect) source of unbiased information available to the masses of people, we pretty much pushed them to see sources like Fox as what to follow and we will now pay the price of that folly.
Unfortunately I know a bunch of them. They are all males. I imagine there are women in that group, but it would be great to know the stats. Of the ones I know personally, they are comfortable and expect that there will not be really big changes to their lifestyes either way. Also, they will experience less than others. But, you never know.
Yes, those young white and even black males may have buyers regret when Trump puts into place mandatory military service as he said he would do if president.
I thought I knew what Leonard Leo was about, but looking at his wiki page, a long history of mental damage from Catholicism, dead daddy, friendship with Clarence Thomas and Wiley manipulation of money. Disgusting little man.
for sure, and just check out the "Supremes" apart from all the justice apptments under McConnell... he's the brains behind all that, NOT Trump. And Mitch wasn't even "MAGA", in the literal sense of the word.
True, the fascists have young Vance, but they have a weapon that is even more potent, more evil, more effective: Right Wing Media. "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on." - G.W. Bush, White House Correspondents' Dinner, 3-31-2001.
yes - social media and Fox offer 24/7 news that maniuplautes rather than inform - the nonstop verbage, coupled with not reporting many stories that makes Trump look bad is a form of brain washing. The traditional press - newspapers? Owned by billionaires...who also know how to manipulate and when to manipulate. There is a famous journalist, assigned to the Middle East desk of the WSJ, who said to his boss that WSJ had a moral responsibility to tell the truth about Gaza, to inform what was happening from multiple perspectives. He was let go. Manipulation wins at the expense of truth and understanding. Uniformed citizens make bad decisions.
I just saw that Stephen Miller, a Hard-Core Zionist, has been appointed Deputy Chief Of Staff For Policy... Among other things, one of Issues is closing the Border, and Mass-Deportations... This is not looking Good...
Many of us have given everything we had (not the least of all Kamala Harris!!!) and still a majority voted for a monster. People can make excuses, talking heads lay the blame …. bottom line those trumpsters are willingly evil. And, approx 15 million fewer people than in 2020 (13 m less for Harris 1.5 m for trump thought it was okay to not vote in 2024. That is disgraceful, inexcusable and something that cannot be worked with. I’m angry and the fight has left me. In many ways it is the loss of hope that is the most painful.
I appreciate your sentiments, bit I'm having trouble with the word *fight". . maybe it's because I'm female. There are already too much
abuses in progress. I don't think I can win a war, so I prefer sneaking around and attacking from behind. We have to hamstring Trump's administration the same way the oilygarchy henchmen did every Democratic admin since Carter. I'd be quite happy to hear of the decapitation of the new admin; I just don't have the muscle to swing the sword.
The vote for Trump was a betrayal of the dead from Gettysburg to Arlington to the dead buried above Omaha Beach in France and everything they fought to defend. That is why it is so sickening - because those who cast their votes for him had no sense of their obligations to history and sacrifice.
His grandpa Frederick dodged the German draft and fled to America, set up brothels and raked in dough. Just a chip off the old evil block. And a hero to so many ignorant fools.
You know, I've seen that argument constantly and I'm not sure how much we ought to accept it. Look, everyone but everyone saw his corruption, his incitement to lynch his VP and the Speaker on January 6, his incitement to riot and overthrow a free and fair election on that day, his conviction on felony charges in NY and in the case of rape against E. Jean Carrol, his Nuremberg rally at MSG, his rambling reveries of derangement, his statement that he'd be dictator on day one, his infantile behavior and language, his gross mishandling and refusal to hand over classified documents, his unhinged debate performances and on and on and on . . . . Whoever voted for this has a choice: Either they are stupid, cruel, utterly reckless and irresponsible adults, or with no moral compass at all, or a combination of all of the above. It's not as though his malice and derangement have been hidden and were a secret. Their votes were inexcusable.
You have listed all the reason why his statement "I don't need anymore votes, I have all I need." is very telling. You know he gloats over how he screws the system. He screwed it.
Rupert Murdock, part of the "Three Amigos" immigrants together with Peter Thiel and Elon Musk come to this country and made billions while enjoying all the benefits of a democracy and the rule of law but they are determined that that system would work for them only by perverting and substituting it by a dictatorship.
Rupert ,specialist in brain washing, Elon financing the maga campaign with what for him is small change and finally Peter by supporting the next proxy president of the US, Vance.
Steve, I agreed 💯 % with your statement. I normally call them stupid or low IQ people for simplicity reasons but your show a clearer definition of them.
Great point. It is one of the things that has been repeated in history. People who have risen to dictatorial power rarely did it by lying about it. That is a classic historical inaccuracy, because it is easier to accept when you believe period have been misled. Hitler was really clear about what he planned to do, as was Trump. The people who voted for both of them (yes don't forget Hitler didn't overthrow the German government he was elected) decided that they wanted what these men were"selling". And this time we can't even blame the electoral college weirdness. The majority of Americans voted for the MAGA madness. Not a huge majority, but unlike 2016, a majority just the same. And 10+ million people who voted for Biden in 2020 simply stayed home
I seriously lay much of the blame for this debacle at Biden's feet. He held the power to lead the country in the right direction and put self above country for far too long, leaving us with no real chance at changing the course. It might not have made a difference anyway, because the past three elections have all been about hating the incumbents and throwing them out and in that case there may have been no chance of victory anyway. But at least we might have had a chance. As it turned out, we never really got out of the starting gate.
I have used the phrase "drunk the Kool-Aid" a lot. I've read some things lately posing another concept: disinformation as psy-ops. It really does seem to fit, at least with what I see in my retired cop cohort. These are people who served in law enforcement at the local level for 20+ years (or married to them), many of them also veterans. To an individual, they bought into the rhetoric around the "hot button issues" and all made huge proclamations of their Christian "faith".
I'd say citizens who had little support to imagine their full range of choices. Here's another opportunity for improving how we educate young people to think for themselves and investigate the world.
Agree Liz. But, just like what's crept in over the past 30 or so years, which we only now seem to see with 20/20 hindsight, we did zero to stop that show. I really think the 'red blanket' is loosely woven, and it's going to fall apart. We're far from "done".
True, it was a betrayal. What are the causes for the betrayal? Racism. Misogyny. Ignorance. Xenophobia. Homophobia. Stupidity. Christian nationalism. The KKK has succeeded, on behalf of the oligarchs, of "winning the war." Check out HCR's book, "How the South Won the Civil War."
Pretty simple to me. The military deals in 'discipline' and they see the Democrat operation lacks discipline in so many ways..., just ask them. They'll probably just look the other way and say "I just told you" (with their vote). And, as long as they can be entertained with Faux News in every waiting room, etc. Ughhhh.
Remember, all the promises made in the Civil War crumbled under the intransigence of the "South"... and, don't military tend to favour Republicans ie including Trump, like "law and order" sheriffs etc across the country?
Frank.., two magic words you just used, "Law" and "Order". Nice shot. Makes the word discipline come to mind along with behavior. Because without some kind of alignment with those latter two words, the ones you mentioned won't work. The big red poorly woven blanket covering most of our nation is comprised of people who look out there with a myoptic-view and see intelligent behavior, and common-sense discipline, lacking amongst their "libtard" (their pet name) neighbors. They admire the way Sheriff Joe Arpaio runs his jail..., cause Sheriff Joe isn't about to let the lunatics run the asylum. Trump voters think that approach has merit. Myopia at work. Let's see how little-dickie Trump makes out. His red-blanket will unravel.
The heart and soul of our nation is on life-support and the MAGA movement is removing that life support through ignorance or greed or malice or all of the above.
I share your nausea and might actually vomit on the day he welcomes the January 6th insurrectionists to the White House and gives them all the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
If He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named does award those seditionists Presidential Medal of Freedom medals, the medal will be forever besmirched, sullied and rendered an obscene caricature.
The original, pre-Trump medal will have to be retired and another medal created to fill the void it will leave with one that upholds the original honor of it, and what it takes to warrant being awarded one.
Trump is by far Putin’s most successful investment.
From that point forward I'd agree, but prior to that some very wonderful and amazing people were awarded that Medal including one person of my personal acquaintance.
I shook my head with that, but I'm a middle of the road secular kind of guy! But Rush !!! omg i forget how outrageously "End of the World" those evangelicals and their ilk are. Sigh
I wrote then that President Biden should create a new Presidential Medal, one that wouldn't be duklued by the likes of Limbaugh and that scuzzy Seal Team guy who murdered innocent civilians.
We should plan a very different event to happen on whatever that day is - an event honoring the heroes who defended the Capitol, with music and readings that are faithful and true to our Constitution and our democratic republic.
those spirits do continue . . . separate from the medal . . . the medal is merely a visible symbol. My father was proud of his decorations, but that stemmed from the recognition of his sacrifice(s) in the name of our defense. The medal can be tarnished, but the recognition by the people who awarded it is never tarnished.
I hear you. As I was cleaning and organizing drawers today, I put all our American flags at the bottom of one and told my husband, “ I won’t hang a flag again until T is out of office because I’m having a hard time “celebrating America” now given that so many of us embrace a lying fascist. It’s really hard to feel patriotic. I too, will remember my Dad and other veterans privately. Thank God my Dad didn’t live to see what has happened to his beloved country.
I hear you. My Dad was a WWII vet, flew in the South Pacific. I'm thankful that he's gone, so that he can't see what the country he fought to save has become.
I can never excuse the denigration of all of our veterans and active duty military personnel by not showing up in France to honor our fallen WWII soldiers and for what he did at Arlington National Cemetery. My father and ALL of my uncles served in WWII as well.
Many states have already been preparing for Trump's return as our Fascist leader. Is it time to break up the country into several smaller countries?
My Dad also served in WWII. He was a bombardier in the Pacific Theatre, flew in a B-24 Liberator, dropping bombs on the enemy. He was my hero. I’m grateful that he’s not here to see what’s happened to the country he fought to save.
Being Austrian by descent, I have family who died in the Holocaust. I have such a strong sense of déjà vu now. Yes, it can happen here.
I live with a sense of 'cellular memory' that may be similar to what you describe as a "strong sense of déjà vu". It's motivating me to be more alert and intentional.
My Harris Walz banner stating truth over lies and my American flag still wave. If the orange traitor is sworn in, I will remove them. I. too, will not fly the flag while an American traitor sits in the highest office of the land.
The destroyer can't touch what you do or feel privately. Right now we are prevented from fully sharing these things, but we will heal and know how to react.
I plan to play an impromptu solo recital in my garage today (it's raining pretty hard here, so I need to be under cover.) I will play a medley of the service songs, America the Beautiful, My Country T'is of Thee, Battle Hymn of the Republic, and When Johnny Comes Marching Home. I will finish with Finlandia.
Then I will go to rehearsal and make music with other people. We usually honor our Veterans in our group; I'm not in charge, so I wonder what we'll do...
I understand fully. My (half)brother served in the Pacific Theater in a submarine. My high school student body president has his name on the Vietnam Nam wall. By working at the VA I had the honor of helping vets of all the wars fought in my lifetime and heard many stories. My dad is buried at Arlington. I’m as horrified as you are about the upcoming administration. Nothing good will come of it.
Cynthia, While for a host of reasons I fully empathize with your convictions, I felt it worthwhile to note that this afternoon I will stand with Veterans for Peace (VFP), an organization that recognizes Veterans Day as Armistice Day, the original day Congress created as “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace.”
I fully support that Barbara, in fact I feel it was a mistake to combine the recognition of the Armistice and our Veterans into a single remembrance. Both are important but for different tho’ related reasons. Nonetheless I will honor my Father and other Veterans with a private remembrance. As it stands I already maintain an altar or shrine with my father’s burial flag (he passed many years later) and his Bronze Star.
Cynthia, You will be in my thoughts today. I also would note I posted in reaction to this thread largely because, at a time our country needs protection from what Donald Trump is going to use his two-point margin to do, I don’t think we can afford to spend many more calories despairing in lieu of engaging in the various resistance movements that are starting to emerge within the grassroots.
Yup . . . my purpose in posting has much to do with maintaining my fighting spirit. Until I can engage in a more direct manner posting and discussing online helps keep the spirits up . . . it also serves the additional purpose of letting others know they're not alone.
Thank you to your father & his compatriots that served so valiantly. My apologies to all of those brave people that fought so that we could, in less than a century, actually select a convicted felon to bring about what they fought so hard against! I'd say it is unbelievable but alas it is not!
Thank you for putting exactly how I feel to paper! It’s going to take a long time for me to feel good about our country and even some of my friends. I am devastated and despondent. Heather’s letters are the only thing I can barely to read.
Janis Schoen: I am numb from the shock of the election. I realize that I am a hopeful and obviously naive person. I was so much filled with joy at the prospect of Kamala Harris becoming our President. She has done so much good in her life as a prosecutor. She is an intelligent, hardworking, joyful and righteous woman.
I am heart broken and frightened for the future of my children and grandchildren and for what our country has meant to the "free" world and for those who long to be "free".
Once again we have disappointed our allies.
Trump and the "fake christians" and the extremely wealthy who think nothing of our citizenry and have left behind any shred of morality they may have had, are going to use every resource in this country to their advantage: "drill baby drill!"....that includes using our hard-working citizenry by increasing taxes, and transforming Social Security and Medicare to the economic advantage of the already wealthy. They will also use our natural resources to line their pockets. We the citizens will pay the price.
Once more I lament! "How could we have possibly elected this man who only wants to take from us, from our resources...????" We have allowed the few extremely wealthy to rule and we...the regular citizenry will pay the price along with our children and grandchildren!!!!)
Other than "brainwashing" and removing books from our libraries, which does not benefit anyone, I have heard nothing about supporting our education system in a positive way.
Rather than accepting one another...they want to decide who is human and who is someone less than. I want to say, "Have you looked in the mirror lately?" Have you lost your minds as well as your soul? God Himself created us as individuals and has given us choice. We can choose hate or we can choose mutual respect and appreciation for each other. We are each unique creations to be valued!
Thanks to those much superior writers who may read this and for whom I hold deep respect, I am more controlled by my heart and my emotions than the rules of proper writing. Please forgive me.
Emily. There is nothing to forgive, my dear. Speak. Speak your truth. Write your story now. As you navigate these times, get a journal, continue a journal.
I will declare that the one hope remaining for the United States really the Disunited States of America, is for the American military to temporarily suspend the constitution and declare a coup. They are our last hope. We are about to join totalitarian world governments and this portends badly for the US. That’s it. Believe it. The massive reshuffling of our government is at hand.
My hope for the American military is not for a coup, but that they follow their training and their ethos, that they refuse to follow orders that are not lawful. "From every mountainside let 'Hell, no!' ring."
This is a misreading of the immunity ruling. He had immunity for core official duties and reviewable immunity for other official duties but no immunity for non official duties. This is how they (jack Smith and Chutkin) planned to try to "get him" for Jan 6 by showing it was totally outside his official duties. Unfortunately by winning the election the clock has run out. The Justice department doesn't prosecute sitting Presidents and Trump so be "sitting" before they can start let alone finish the Jan 6 trial. So that case is going to be dismissed.
And it should be clear that this outcome is another failure of the Biden administration and his AG appointee Merrick Garland. They sat on the Jan 6 case for almost two years and now time has run out. Had Biden and/or Garland taken this seriously enough at the outset, we might have seen Trump convicted long ago which might have made it almost impossible for him to run for office again. But they sat on their hands and now it is all over.
If anything rather than suspending the Constitution it should be buttressed and reinforced . . . I realize that sounds daunting, but rather than your idea . . . use the States to enforce the Constitution as it is actually written, complete with amendments. Remember the USA is a Federation of individual States (a Federal Republic)
A military coup would establish an even more dangerous precedent than all other means. We are established in a military tradition that is faithful to the constitution and is led by civilians. Trump was legally elected president, which is terrifying. There are many ways to resist his fever dream orders in the military, in the courts, the states, our hearts and minds.
The election was bought by oligarchs and orchestrated by Putin. Legally elected, my arse. He knew the fix was in when he stopped looking for voters and switched to crazy entertaining. He was so flum floxed by Joe dropping out that the propaganda had to do a uturn. And boy, did they. Sexism and racism on steroids. Chump stopped worrying and became alternative reality
Actually, it goes back to Milton Friedman and his "free marketism" and the conservative cult like belief in his garbage of no government involvement in business and that business has only one purpose -profit. Friedman was sent to Russia by GH Bush to help them move to a capitalistic economy which lead to the selling off of public infrastructure to the wealthy. Americans swept in to help scoop up money happily, Bill Browder wrote in his book how he was lured there and then how he was forced out by the Putin machine. We are going to see something similar here I am afraid. There are way too many fascists wearing badges and military fatigues, as well as nut cases that openly carry.
You will get the shock of your life after Jan 20 when you find SCOTUS, both House of Congress led by the executive all with one voice to crush what you consider a stoppable step into authoritarianism. The constitution will be hobbled like a paraplegic in a rolling chair. Stay tuned. But it’s the military that could come down with an iron fist on the authoritarians before they wipe out the good remaining.
Trump is looney tunes at this point. As Heather pointed out yesterday, it is unlikely he will finish his term as President.
I'm assuming Joe Biden and the joint chiefs are preparing for a possible coup by Trump and his cadre of immigrants. I'm sure they have identified the possible officers in every branch that are potential traitors to the Constitution.
Any action against the people or any government within the US should be met with swift court martialling and demotion. This is what happened to Ronnie Jackson and it needs to start happening again right now.
Maria, if you don't think that Trump is not considering that then you don't believe Trump is a Fascist. Look what he did at Lafayette Park and at Arlington National Cemetery.
At Lafayette Park he had his brown shirts take off any identifying markings and shoot rubber bullets at people and tear gas. I was watching NBC live when it happened. Don't think for one second Trump will not use the military for his Fascist actions.
Only about 1/3 of registered voters voted for Trump this year. And most of them are ignorant of what Trump has done since 2015. He calls in making America great again and nothing could be further from the truth.
Bill was suggesting that the military mount a coup to overthrow him. That simply won’t happen. As for Orange, I would put nothing past him.
But, while the rank and file may be more inclined to obey whatever his fever brain may come up with, the top brass understands their primary loyalty isn’t to a person or to the office, but to the Constitution. The top brass would never go along with that. Miley expressed his regrets about Lafayette Park, understanding how bad the optics were.
I wouldn't put anything past Trump either Maria. And within a month or so ALL of the violent insurrections will be free. Many of them are still 100% behind Trump and will gladly take up arms to support his every whim.
This is a terrible idea Bill. It smears the name and purpose of our country. It reduces us to little better than the Trump/MAGA cult we need to defeat. If it takes this to achieve victory then I am not sure victory is worth it because in the end it says anyone who feels aggrieved can rise up and declare a coup. We have spent centuries fighting against this concept and using it will not save our country, it will destroy it.
Bill, we all "get it". We all understand the threat.
Do you have a plan? Who would lead this coup? How long would this "junta" occupy the White House? Would they disband Congress and the Court system?
And if this "military" solution were to remove the Orange Menace from office, who would they install that the country would get behind? And when would the next election be held? In four years?
And to be effective, they would need to arrest members of Congress who have supported the Orange thing.
This idea is out of a movie. I fully understand your rage and frustration. I think mine is equal to or may double yours :)
There may indeed, need to be a rebellion. But it needs to be a groundswell from the people. It needs to be states standing strong - upholding the US Constitution and their own.
We live in two of several states that are solid blue. I don't feel entirely safe. But a hell of a lot safer than the folks in red states.
And there are forces that will oppose much of what Trump, Vance and Miller are planning. Watch for "show" deportations. The oligarchs can't afford to lose their entire workforces...
Nothing anyone has predicted has come true. Let's get ready for a boatload of surprises. Especially when you have a capricious narcissist leading us. How long do you think his team will last? How many Chief of Staffs will he have this time? Will the Supreme Court really be a puppet court? Don't be too sure.
Planning a military coup would only harden the MAGA forces and in their minds hate us more. Horrible shit is going to happen. Watch Republican support slide away as people actually "feel" the pain of his policies.
So many have repeated "It's the economy, stupid!" Carville was right again. News flash to Trumpers. Deportations mean more expensive food. Tariffs mean a huge percentage of our products will be more expensive. Trumpers: you just voted for inflation.
And ladies, you just voted for Gilead. You are not going to like the uniforms.
The pendulum will swing, Bill. Lots of pain and suffering before that happens, I agree. But that's what it is going to take.
You all don’t seem to understand. The nation as we have known it is gone. It’s not coming back. The metamorphosis is completing as we chit chat. The monster is about to arise.
My dad was at Pearl Harbor when it was bombed and I had two uncles who fought for our freedoms in Europe. They are all gone now. I miss them, especially my dad but I’m glad they weren’t around to see this horror.
My dad was at Juno Beach while grandpa was in the skies flying over him. My brother retired from Marine corps, me, Army. Sister served Navy. I'm extremely proud of my family's service, past and present. As you are saying, I'm sure all those who have passed are screaming and want to return to fix this. I'm horrified and furious.
I'm also not enchanted with the election of a waste of air and clean water who has the emotions and personality of a spoiled bully. He's stuck with early teenage boy thoughts, attitudes and behaviors, while his body is that of an old man with age-related dementia. A demented teenager with silver spoon hemorrhoids and his finger on the button is terrifying. At least he doesn't know history. He said he wanted his generals to be like Adolph's. I believe at least 3 of the conspirators were such generals who developed the plan that resulted in a Colonel putting the device in the conference room.
Service yes...but sacrifice is the the key word in my view laying down their lives for others is the ultimate human act.In the UK we have public remembrance with the words "they shall not grow old that we that are left grow old,age shall not weary them,nor the years condem,🇬🇧🇺🇸at the going down of the sun,and in the morning we will remember them".Suckers? Non of them! What was in it for them? If one has to ask this your inhuman.
I am traveling through Europe because I needed to remove myself during the election because I am struck dumb by the fact that we could possibly elect and or chose a rapist and convicted criminal for president. What do Americans want at this point? As a nation we have lost any kind of moral ground, our treatment of Palestine, our fixation on money and power by all of our so called politicians has created a state that was bordering on fascist but now shows the world that the USA is fascist.
My father also. My brother served in Vietnam. All the way back I have male relative who served and stick to the vows they made. I wish someone would make him say the pledge of Allegiance. My guess is that he doesn't know it.
This Veterans' Day I shall honor the service of my mother, WWII Army Nurse, and my dad, WWII Army Air Force Mechanic, and all they did to keep us free. We are now engaged in a political war, just as much a threat to our democracy as their war. May we be as brave and committed as our forefathers and foremothers, and as successful. Thank you, Heather and everyone here, for your service.
Thanks MP! In this new political war, we must do everything in our power to protect our Constitution! I saw this comment in another Substack:
From the author…”Here's what I wrote to President Biden today at whitehouse.gov/contact:
Dear President Biden, thank you for the many achievements of your presidency. There’s one more act that would cement your legacy as the most progressive leader in my lifetime: RESIGN.
Yes, please resign and make Kamala Harris the 47th President of the United States for the last two months of democracy in America. Let her become our first Madam President. Let Doug Emhoff become the first First Gentleman.
Urge her to appoint Pete Buttigieg as her Vice-President. Let his husband (Chasten Buttigieg) become the second Gentleman.
When you were running for President in 2020, you swore to appoint a woman as your running mate and you kept that promise. Now you have the opportunity to double-down on that pledge and give us a woman of color for our first female President and a gay man for the President of the Senate.
This would be a shining moment in American history. You are uniquely positioned to gift us with this slice of joy. Thank you for considering this petition.”
Folks were adding comments - things like “pardon Hunter” and provide a broad preemptive pardon for President Biden as well. Also, put executive orders in place to bring attention to policies we need to protect.
It would be a bold move but now is the time for BOLD ACTION! Thoughts? 🇺🇸
While celebrating Veterans' Day, Heather's fans may like to note.
There's a super good hour-long conversation here between Heather and Jon Stewart (this next line its link):
Jon Stewart on Trump’s Win and What’s Next w/ Heather Cox Richardson | The Weekly Show
My favorite part, Heather reminding Jon, all of us, how Kamala and Dems had several campaign policies on offer, but Republicans had a narrative. And the American people like narratives – even if untrue, as were all the orange felon’s of illegals raping U.S. women and taking all the jobs.
Phil B., U.S. Army Spec. 5 translator/interpreter of Vietnamese, 2 Sept. 1969 -- 4 Apr. 1972
Lynell, most grateful! It was a wide ranging look at what just happened but with Heather`s brilliant grasp of history, context and, most important, her ability to think and make connections. It also avoided ending in despair--a way forward. Two smart people.
Not sure what's wrong with me, tech-wise, but this is the second time I had a link which got me to the You Tube site, but when I copy-&-pasted it turned into something quite uselessly other.
Nothing wrong with you tech-wise. Phil. I have been having that experience with You Tube lately, not with this podcast, but others that are left leaning. I get some ridiculous one that is about coyotes or fish or something that is not political. I just keep trying over and over and eventually get to see what I wanted to see. This worries me. What's going on with You Tube?
Phil, Thank you for your service. And the video, Wow! Jon is right. You have to be clear eyed first. I'm not there yet. It's going to take me a while. I don't have addictions like Jon did, but I do have two adult children who are very ill and I need to do everything I can to help them. It's mostly very small things but they do add up. I'm not going to stop paying attention to what's happening in my country though. This community helps a lot.
On this Veterans Day, marked as a day of peace and remembrance, I want to reflect on the story of the poppy and its profound symbolism for those who sacrificed in the fight against fascism and in defense of peace and democracy.
The poppy became a symbol of remembrance after the devastation of World War I, inspired by the haunting beauty of fields of red poppies growing over the battle-scarred land of Flanders, Belgium. It was Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae's poem, In Flanders Fields, written in 1915, that captured the resilience and sacrifice of fallen soldiers. He wrote of poppies blowing "between the crosses, row on row," a stark reminder of the soldiers who laid down their lives on the battlefield.
In the decades that followed, the poppy evolved into a universal emblem of remembrance. Its simple, bright red color evokes both the blood of those who gave their lives and the resilience of the human spirit to bloom even in the darkest of times. Today, the poppy reminds us not only of the courage of soldiers who fought for freedom but also of the ongoing need to uphold the ideals they fought for—peace, justice, and a world free from tyranny.
As autocratic regimes and conflicts challenge these ideals again in the present day, Veterans Day stands as a powerful call to remember the sacrifices made for peace and the imperative to protect the principles of a just world. In honoring our veterans, we reconsecrate ourselves to creating a future where the horrors of past wars remain in history, and where the promise of peace guides us forward.
This Veterans Day, as we wear or remember the poppy, let it remind us of the weight of our responsibility to uphold peace and resist forces that threaten the freedoms so many have fought to protect.
Elaine. As I said in my post, I will be speaking at our local remembrance service tomorrow. I will be wearing a poppy which I got in Canada and reading Flander’s Field.
I still call it Armistice Day—and honor the British Remembrance Sunday as well—because we are ALL “veterans” in the struggles against tyranny and oppression. I honor my family, friends, and colleagues who decided to take up arms but I don’t honor or admire the men who put them all in harm’s way, who promoted and fomented these wars, and who delighted in the slaughter. Hegel justified his view of history as the movement of “genius” in cycles from systems of oppression to systems of liberation because otherwise, history would merely be a “slaughter-bench.” Our history is an abattoir, a slaughter-bench. It has “progressed” in fits and starts when the cataclysm has been so enormous that everyone is literally nauseated by it. Humans are not good at learning from their mistakes. But at least I can honor the dead who—far beyond the military personnel who fought the battles—protected their loved ones, their homelands, and their societies from the forces of evil. So that is why I prefer Armistice Day, and why I like to wear the poppy for Remembrance Sunday. Purple poppies—which honor the horses and dogs who lost their lives in the war in senseless acts of violence directed at innocent animals—are becoming more popular too in the UK. I have a collection of those, too.
In Flanders fields the poppies grow/between the crosses, row on row. First the tombstones, then the poppies. Mille papaveri rossi, for those of you who know the songs of Fabrizio de André One of the greatest anti-war songs ever written.
Anne-Louise (and others): the poem I always taught when I was teaching Western and/or World Civ was Dulce et Decorum Est, by Wilfred Owen. Students always found it shocking because they didn't understand the ways in which WW1 changed humanity. https://poets.org/poem/dulce-et-decorum-est
I've sung in Brittens War Requiem, so I know Wilfred Owen! I am the enemy you killed, my friend, I knew you in this dark. Yes, when my young grandfather was killed in France, my very young grandmother used a piece of poetry in the death notice she put in the paper, which shocked me, when I found it, by its bloodthirsty violence - something about the glory of a warlike death in agony. She was of the Vera Brittain generation.
Thank you for the wonderful history of why we celebrate Veterans Day. I truly wonder how we will feel about this holiday next year when we are under the leadership of an authoritarian. When we are no longer part of NATO.
Not only the convicted criminal is going to do this, Christopher.
All those other supporters of criminality, fraud, raping women, grabbing pussy, and telling lies about immigrants, and then more lies and more lies are all likely to support same policies of the U.S. soon dumping on democracy's allies and giving the world to its worst dictators and oligarchs.
Exactly. I am deeply saddened by the thought of all those who sacrificed, fought in the horrors of war, and all those who died for our democracy. I feel doubtful that it will survive the mess we find ourselves in.
Our media has changed so rapidly and those in charge of it were keenly aware of it's power. The Oligarchs are (and have been) in charge of the messaging that Americans hear every day. It is loud, and conspiratorial and full of hate and lies. Between the media debacle (sane washing trump as well) and the rise of Christian nationalism via the Federalist Society who have been steadfastly working to undermine our democratic freedoms; I don't think we stand a chance. The SCOTUS is now a disgraceful group of Federalist Society judges appointed by the thug; and they've given him the power of unfettered and complete lawlessness!
It is shocking to think that a person who is such a poor excuse for a decent human has been given the Presidency of our great country.
Not only "has been gifted America," but presented, too, with a now-highly-vulnerable host of countries in the east of Europe which N.A.T.O., soon likely abandoned by the convicted criminal and his criminal cohort, can scarcely defend.
Thanks, Lynell- "Putin fights for years to acquire Ukraine. But has been gifted America without firing a shot". This is the most concise and true assessment of what has happened, alongside The Onion's equally true headline, "America Defeats America", which echoes the Pogo quote from long ago, "We have met the enemy and he is us".
While I share your sentiments and those of many others who post on this site, it's important to remember that what happened almost one week ago was the result of millions of voters who believed that Trump would lead them in ways Trump promised. Sadly, many of those promises were crosswise to the other promises that were made to others. In the midst of it all, one cannot deny that the president-elect pretty much cleaned the table. In many respects we have had the building what some might call, "A perfect storm," domestically and internationally. Finally, and is the way it ends with political contests where winners and losers are made, "We'll see!"
As much as I would like to vehemently disagree, I cannot. I will say that the key word in your first sentence "believed" is precisely the point. Trump mastered the Orwellian tactic of repeating the lie over and over and over again until it becomes difficult to impossible to know the truth.
And are not the oligarchs the power behind the throne since at least Reagan? Or think they are. In my lifetime they have massively shaped many (not all) aspects of American society to their benefit. The weight of money piled against human rights on the scales of justice is the choke point for liberty and justice for all, and yet we as a nation don't treat it as such, though we did once, and anti-trust, anti-corruption, and campaign reform was popular. How many other more specific problems (such as climate abuse, social abuse) are exacerbated by the unregulated power of money?
Citizens United should have NEVER seen the light of day. Perhaps instituting term limits for some political positions would have significantly reduced the corruption. Sadly, I agree with you.
I try to tell myself that Americans just wanted a disruptor, massive change. But his change is more towards this monetary/power corruption, not away from it.
What the hell are we leaving our children? Especially if your child isn't a white, straight male?!
In an election, belief (hope or think, if one prefers) that her/his candidate will deliver on their promises, is why people (you and me included) vote the way they do.
Ummmmm … what does your generic statement have to do with the specifics we’re discussing? I and I suspect most desire to learn why some voted as they did. Sometimes that why has nothing to do directly with them but with the information they were bombarded with. e.g. why did they believe the way they did?
I dunno. I was responding to your response to my post. However, to be more clear would take more time and space that is offered, here. But one simple answer to why Trumpists believe as they do would demand getting into their singular or collective heads.
As Dorothy Thompson has been quoted to say (by both TCinLA and Greg Olear) “…reason never yet swept a world off its feet, and Hitler, an agitator of genius knows this. Self-interest, expressed in the most pathetic terms, does.” Everything she wrote about Hitler fits chump to a tee. Especially the “little man” part. It’s what got her expelled from Germany and it’s what chump can’t tolerate either. He’s a little empty man all puffed up with bullschittery.
In an interview, Putin’s presidential aide Nikolay Patrushev said today: "To achieve success in the election, Donald Trump relied on certain forces to which he has corresponding obligations. As a responsible person, he will be obliged to fulfill them."
He is a criminal. He is compromised as many believed. There are no guardrails to reign in his ego and his desire to be powerful and emulate the autocratic regimes he admires.
Russian control of his personal life via nudes of his wife spread everywhere is a reminder to him...we own you.
Orange Hitler and his Orange cult want a civil war......so if this goes down they would be fighting for a spray tanned, diaper wearing, felon,child molester, rapist,liar,........now the other side would be fighting for freedom, protecting their wives, daughters ,families, homes, the constitution, the environment and all that is Mother Earth......Kevin from Project 2025 said there could be bloodshed in the future..........Maga should think again about who will be shedding the most blood .
Because I couldn't lie on the application to the Navy (my Dad was against me going into the service, but he said "Anything but the G** D**m Army") I broke a 5 generation line of service in my paternal line. My enlistment would have preceded DADT. I think that my inability to lie saved me from being a victim of MST; none of the lesbian women I know were not the victims of MST, and several of them were discharged because of their orientation.
My family was all Army or AF, so I knewI didn’t want that. I was commissioned into the Navy before DADT. I continue to believe that many people do not know their sexual orientation by the age they can join the military, so many of us awakened while in the midst and said “oh shit what now?” Hide. Dual lives. Etc. I did become a DADT casualty, because I could not lie at that point - I knew. So…. I was sent to the USMC for 10 months, where apparently I was not a “threat to unit cohesion and morale.” WhenI discovered different colors of silencers, I knew they had to be pink. FTN
I'd like to point out that rather than throw our collective hands up in defeat, we might learn from the example of the brave Ukrainians who have stood in the breach facing Putin's onslaught!
Right. I am realizing this last week how very, very, very lucky I have been, being born during the history of this when I was (1959). I walked through doors that had just been opened for me, with only a nod to those who opened them for me. I rolled my eyes at sexism. And, as a white woman, I am ashamed to say I did not pay attention much to racism, except to think that is was passing, particularly after Obama was elected.
Well, nope.
I admit I was looking forward to being able to think less obsessively about politics with a Harris win. I was ready to walk out of the “upside down” and enjoy the right side up again, for the rest of my life.
Because people aren’t in any mood to learn. A good public education has been truly gutted by years of defunding, homeschooling and vouchers. People now are civically illiterate. They have no clue about the government and the laws for good or ill that affects their lives. The saying that “Ignorance is our greatest danger” has never been more true.
I graduated from high school a long time ago with high grades and I didn't know 90 percent of the history I'm learning from Heather. I'm not sure public education ever was so great.
I'm seventy-two and took American History in junior high and high school in the second half of the 1960s. I got the John Wayne/Walt Disney/How the West Was Won version, but didn't know I had been propagandized. Two years ago I found out because I was assigned to teach 8th grade American History in Los Angeles and read a couple of contemporary books to, I thought, refresh my memory. What I discovered shocked me. I'm relearning American History as I teach it, and it's a very sobering experience. I fully agree with HCR that what we are seeing now is basically the South having won the Civil War.
Those of us in the Baby Boom were taught History by the winners. The country was invested in getting women back in the home and raising children who thought this was the greatest nation in the world.
I grew up in an area where the incarceration of people with Japanese heritage happened, so I could see/hear for myself that we were not getting the whole story. I also saw shop window signs saying "we do not serve Indians". Ironically we were also taught how to recognise propaganda.
I grew up in the DC suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, where virtually all residents were government workers or other white-collar professionals. I didn't have a black schoolmate until my senior year in high school, when we got exactly one. I don't remember any Hispanics either, but we did have some Indians and other Asians whose parents were diplomats or the like.
I'm glad to know it's not just me. It's incredible that you just have to read up first in order to teach. Thankfully, you're an intelligent person who's taking the initiative. I'm sure many don't.
I know too many teachers who just teach from the textbook. When they are assigned a new class, they literally read the lesson they are supposed to teach the day before they teach it. I have contempt for them and don't want to be like them.
I recommend "The True History of the United States" by Danny Sjursen, as a starting point. It's a compilation of the lectures he gave to plebes when he taught American History at West Point. Another good one is HCR's "How the South Won the Civil War."
War is a tremendous money-maker. Vietnam, for example, was the first war in which thousands of helicopters were used. Thousands were also shot down and had to be replaced, and for every single one, money went into the pockets of folks here in the United States.
There was an attempt to make war-profiteering illegal in the U.S. It was called the War Profiteering Prevention Act of 2007, but - surprise, surprise - was never passed into law.
As a child in Canada we called it Poppy Day, my parents Remembrance Day and when we moved to the States Veteran’s day. My Father was an Electrical/Mechanical Engineer and a Munitions expert in WWll for the Canadian Navy. He came home with small pieces of shrapnel that would slowly migrate out enough so that they could be removed. Thank you Dad, love and miss you.
Those of us who have been alive for a while and who have been paying attention, have learned that the only thing wars do is lead to other wars. They solve one problem, but the wreckage of the war eventually leads to another People who never wanted the war suffer and die because their leaders couldn’t solve problems.
I just watched your interview with Jon Stewart and it is by far the best piece I have seen or read in a week. Thank you for your calm, reality-based and intelligent commentary with a bit of hope at the end. I so value your perspective and knowledge. "Do the right thing!" I may sleep tonight and that alone would be a blessing. Many thanks!
Do the right thing, even as the walls are closing in. Joe and Kamala did that and aren’t through yet. I imagine that Obama and Joe are the saddest people in the land.
There is one more bit about what happened in 1918 which casts it in a bit of a different light. The war, in terms of its outcome was over by the end of the third week of that September. All parties to it knew that, but decided that instead of calling a halt then and there, that they would keep their troops in the field, suffering and dying for another six weeks, while they made arrangements for big parties and parades in the major cities of the victorious nations. In my view, this was a horrifically immoral disregard for the lives of the troops on the front lines. The troops doing the fighting would occasionally find a way to have a bit of humor at the expense of the brass hats. I am particularly fond of Arthur Guiterman's poem "Pershing at the Front." Carl Sandburg's offering "Grass" is fitting as well.
If some way could be found to force Putin and his cronies to don uniforms and go charging forward on the next Russian meat wave attack, that war would be over in an instant.
Putting Putin at the head of his forces, I'm sure that's what trump has in mind as his way of ending the war in 24 hours. ; ) ; ) If you believe that I have this fantastic bridge to sell you!
I am having great difficulty feeling reverent or patriotic about this year's Veterans Day, even tho' I recognize it is about those who served -- including my father who served in Europe during WWII. The election of the con man, denigrator of our troops, and lover of Putin, has tarnished what the day should represent for me. I've not forgotten those who fought for us, but these public displays filled with those who denigrate the very thing the day stands for -- Service -- make me want to barf. I will remember their and my Father's service in my own way privately.
I may be a super idealist, but I believe it is time to dig in and fight for those principles and beliefs we have always taken pride in. The fact that we have a "leader" who has no standards or principles should cause us to redouble our efforts to emphasize them and to point out the differences with the Dumpster.
There's other ways I can do that besides joining in with a parade infiltrated with traitors and poseurs.
Yes! Cynthia. What “other ways” do you have in mind?
If you read down in this thread you'll see I said plenty . . . but here's a few, encourage Representatives and Senators to use the processes they have to change, slow down, block, or just gum up the process, State Governments (e.g. California in particular) can take steps to protect the vulnerable within their borders, individuals can organize with and among others to slow things or even block.
Indeed we have countless ways and resources— hey we’re Americans!
You’re correct but it’s now an uphill battle because this autocrat has young Vance and they intend to destroy our institutions and be in power at least for the rest of my life.
Well, the cult that follows Trump may not necessarily follow JDV. We shall see.
I am looking at how many Americans who voted for Trump are not Christian Nationalists or White Supremacists and who believed Trump at face value. Clearly they have different sources of information than I do. For one, unlike most American Journalists, I have been reading Project 2025 in a Democrats Abroad book club and what is in store for parents is not good at all.
I recognize that CNs do not care at all about anything except exacting revenge with their belief in a White Supremacist vengeful God, but they also think End-of-Days is near and they will be carried off to heaven. While they wait, they will have to deal with temporal realities.
A friend in the now vilified Higher Education world, was sharing articles on how planned changes to education will effect Higher Ed. It is not good. So, if people can remember how things were before this happened, it will be helpful to record what things happened under Biden that a country ruled by the super wealthy does not want to have in place.
According to Robert Hubbell, 93 mil eligible voters did not vote. They may wake up from their jadedness at how it makes no difference who is in charge if the things they have counted on all of their lives are suddenly gone. We shall see. It seems that keeping good sources of information alive will be important to helping the US as a backsliding democracy not slide so far back it cannot return.
The reason Trump won is that psyops attacked the psyche, and they voted "agin" us rather than for him. Psyops can make an Alaskan buy snow water. 90% voted contrary to their own economic and physical health. Why would someone on SSI (or any government benefit) vote to cut it.? Hispanics and Moslems supported a guy who plans to deport them -- even if they are citizens. During his administration he was working on "denaturalization.
"https://immpolicytracking.org/media/documents/ACLU_Fact_Sheet_on_Denaturalization.pdf
You got it right on SS. My rep made commercials about the promise of SS and Medicare and how he would protect it, and yet he voted 25 times to cut it. his opponent never touched that. It was the DNCC commercials that did and that came very late after he had already run those promise commercials with Seniors. Democrats are not nearly aggressive enough.
You have to really wonder about that. So much for "dreamers".... 11 million, really!
And most Dreamers have proven themselves to be the citizens we want. One even became a Rhodes Scholar!! How many Americans can say that? Not our president to be-not even a masters degree. I noticed on the list there were several "colored" people on it. So "colored " people can be smarter than whites!
Not to mention the collateral damage of the tens of thousands of others with too much pigmentation to qualify as “good” who will be caught up in Trump & Cos. Sweeps.
A mere 1% error rate snags and deports, imprisons or otherwise abuses 110,000 “good” Americans.
I keep thinking about a photo I saw: A person holding up a sign saying "KEEP THE GOVERNMENT'S HANDS OFF MY SOCIAL SECURITY"
Yes, there really is that much stupidity/ignorance out there.
U bet one of my fave Mainer friends was lamenting the fact that she and her husband depend so much on their social security checks— I tried reassurance with her because tampering with Social security is one of the least popular actions these repugs will be taking— they like being popular!
If you sincerely want to understand folks who voted for Trump; "Why would someone on SSI (or any government benefit) vote to cut it.?"
You need to shed YOUR biases about what rights people have to their beliefs and values. And examine what role the media they have access to, think Fox, has told them. For example, it was widely reported that Fox aired time and again the lie that illegal immigrants were given housing while veterans went homeless. So if you're a veteran on SSI and you hear that day after day, what do you tink you would do?
I am a 20 year veteran of the US Navy, I am an Immigrant and I am on Social Security.
I question why someone one on Social Security would vote to cut it. It is not a bias, it is a question of fact. Many who voted against themselves will rue the day that they did. They are entitled to consuming the false and misleading information from Fox News and put their critical thinking aside, if they so desire and that gives me the right to question their vote for someone who has stated that he will end entitlement programs.
So to answer your question, I would voted to protect my benefits as a retiree, my social security benefits and to vote for those who will vow to uphold the Constitution and protect or expand my rights. That is what I would do.
Daniel, I hang onto every word that you write. My concept of Psyops is limited. I am assuming it means relentless misinformation. Would you mind explaining it in detail?
Thank you for the fact sheet!
Well bottom line for many economically disadvantaged citizens made their survival during the inflationary period more real than the principles
Never forget this statement "I have all the votes I need."
Yes, and not only that. "You will never have to vote again. Just this last time and then, never worry about it." (I know I'm paraphrasing somewhat, but I believe I got most of it right.)
Terrifying.
Just like Putin and Orban....you know exactly who would be the winner in those countries for many years to come.
I did my national service in the United States Peace Corps in a small, impoverished country in southern Africa. I didn't feel, as a representative of the United States and as a visitor to the country, that I could honorably engage in political discussions, especially not with actual citizens of the country.
The so-called "President" had been a figurehead who had worked for freedom and independence from the British Empire, went about the job of establishing a personality cult even before he saw to it that his major opponents fled the country or, on the way, died mysterious deaths. He anointed himself "President for Life" and lived the high life until he eventually did die.
In putting his attention on becoming a "big man" supposedly beloved by his people (read: subjects), the "President for Life" apparently spent little or no time establishing honest and durable institutions. Instead, the country had corrupt sham institutions that apparently existed to buy loyalty. The most obvious indicator of corruption, to me at least, was that in the third poorest country in the world, government ministers traveled in chauffeured Mercedes, wrapped in their giant ego's.
Thus it was no wonder that the succeeding "Presidents" have all been crooks who gathered as much money and privileges as they could. I had the dubious honor of meeting one of these Presidential con men, a former poor villager who finagled his way to power and who was later convicted of grand larceny, has spent the last few decades living off government benefits and what he stole, and never seeing the inside of a prison.
Is this our future? One dictator - "President for Life", of course - followed by another and another and yet another, with fixed elections and a treasury that existed to enrich a cabal of con artists. Of course the country still remains near the bottom of the 180 countries of the world in terms of gross national product and, I would dare say, human poverty and instability.
The word for this type of government is "kleptocracy", a country built on, by and for theft, and there are numerous other countries, many in Africa, whose mineral and oil profits all disappear and never reach down to the poor majority, indigent and hungry. Is that our future?
Don't forget the guy in Venezuela. He lost bigly, but because he had the military and a people who declared the "official" count for him, he won. The original opponent was a women who was essentially banned from all use of facilities: restaurants, gas stations, hotels, etc. Anyone aiding her was punished. Unofficially the opponent was like 60-70% ahead. The opposition leader had to flee the country.
I am so disturbed by that statement and am not into conspiracies but… I strongly feel that the notes DO NOT pass the smell test. Why would people who voted for the Felon also vote for Dem Governors, etc.? Doesn’t make sense to me.
We’ve got to get rid of the electoral college system. I think among the 93 million who are either jaded or otherwise indifferent to the concept of democracy are indifferent because the electoral college system eliminates the significance of a single vote except in a few “battleground states.” If we accept the concept that the majority of Americans are not assholes, then we have to provide a clear path for the 93 million indifferent to get off their asses and vote. In theory, that would yield a better result with respect to the preservation of democracy.
The majority of Americans are not assholes if you look more closely at the numbers.
Of the approximately 262 million adults in the US, about 161 million are registered to vote, so about 62% of the population. About 73 million votes were *apparently* cast for the orange anus and fascism, which is 45% of that 62%.
So, the way it looks to me based on these numbers, about 28% of our fellow citizens grabbed the wheel and steered us into the oncoming tanks. Nowhere near the majority, which offers a modicum of comfort, I guess.
I've been asking that we not drive the narrative that it's "over half the country" because this reinforces the false claim that this awful cretin's re-election was some kind of mandate. It's not and we have to avoid regurgitating false, demoralizing
claims...not obey in advance.
Thanks for reading.
"No one in this world, so far as I know-and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me-has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby. The mistake that is made always runs the other way. Because the plain people are able to speak and understand, and even, in many cases, to read and write, it is assumed that they have ideas in their heads, and an appetite for more. This assumption is a folly." H.L. Mencken 1926
I hope this helps.
If you don't vote you have no say. No say allows autocrats to win. We can encourage people to vote just like we can lead a horse to water........ we are who we are, based on who votes, and then how they vote. The overall numbers game does not work.
They would claim a mandate even if they win elections by one vote.
Thanks for your comment, very illuminating🌞
Yes, but that "28%" constitutes a loosely woven (red) blanket which covered the majority of our land, and is composed of people of all colors. You and I are their next-door neighbors. So, we are now the "assholes". Time to get to work. That blanket will fall apart - watch.
Good point ME. Thanks for the asshole math. Also, there was a story in the NYT recently titled WE WERE WRONG ABOUT URANUS. Good article. No joke.
Love your quantitative analysis and yes that gives me more hope!
It will never happen, simply because it would require a Constitutional amendment to somehow miraculously get through Congress and be ratified by 2/3 of the state legislatures. Even the Equal Rights Amendment, designed to equalize female rights with those of men, has yet to get through this process after decades of consideration.
The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC) is an agreement among a group of U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all their electoral votes to whichever presidential ticket wins the overall popular vote in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
17 states have signed on. So far. No constitutional amendment apparently required.
Agree William! Simple psychology. People buy lottery tickets. Why, because when your number is drawn, you win. Done. Not so in our election system for president.., nope We've got the ElectoralCollege. Huh? err ahh can you explain that to me? Huh (again)? Wait a minute.., tell me again..., it's a College? No? Okay..., tell me once more, so can understand... cause I'm still confused. Like, what State is that "College" located in? THAT.., my dear friends, is the "state" we're in. Time to implement the KISS principle, or kiss it good-bye.
I hear ya— my public school educated right over this one and that was probably because my history teachers didn’t understand it either but our forefathers invented it as a clause like making sure you’re wearing a belt and suspenders— they didn’t want to take too many chances with the hou pillow or less educated masses.
The really weird/strange/odd part of this election is tffg got the popular vote - must be 3rd time is the charm?
Right on target 🎯
Now, we need to find someone to implement that great solution 👍
Sooooooo agree !!!
May the Rapture happen for the CNs sooner than later, that the rest of us be rid of them once and for all, and get on with the real work.
Gee, Gen thats harsh! True but harsh.
I want to know what 'good sources of information' you would suggest. The info pumped out to citizens through MSM and social media are partners in the 'disinformation overload'. I look for accurate facts, but they are hard to come by. I want to know, and I want to be able to share it with others.
They are out there. Substack is fill of them. Public Notice, Judd Legum, and many more.
Substack is opinion it is not news. Using it as news is potentially just as misleading as Fox is. That doesn't mean it is bad, it is mostly filled with worthwhile OPINION but it is NOT NEWS!
Read the New York Times. Read the Associated Press. Those are the two most authoritative sources of actual news in this country. But please stop acting like Substack is even remotely a source of news. There are great commentators like Heather Richardson but do not confuse her commentary with actual news. She writes with a terrific historical perspective but she would be the first to tell you that she is NOT a journalist.
Celeste, I read The Guardian. And, of course like you and many others HCR, Joyce Vance, TCinLA, Timothy Snyder, Greg Olear. Thom Hartman et al. The Guardian is truly independent: reader supported. Right now I’m feeling a bit ‘shy’ of any news. But no matter what I honor veterans knowing how grateful I am for their courage.
I read the Guardian daily - and I read Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Inquirer. I also read three other newspapers but thru the lens of a skeptic, the press let us down. I cancelled WaPo and will not gio back until Bezos is gone - I will not hold my breath.
My family is filled with Veteran's and my family heritage is too. I am having a problem celebrating today because Trump called military suckers and losers, the top brass called him unfit to serve, he was elected. I have more self-respect than to vote for a person who denigrates my family. Tough day on many levels.
The Guardian is a pretty good source of news too but I do not consider it a good as the New York Times or the AP. It is heavily slanted to the left although many of their pure news stories are fairly unbiased. So it is a leftist slanted paper/ online source and it is not that great at keeping their political lean or of their news unlike the Times which has a heavy historical bias towards unbiased news. And please don't confuse the Times' news with is opinions. In their opinion columns you will find many different slants because they have a history of trying to provide a variety of view points but that is NOT NEWS! That is opinion and it is always clearly labeled as such. That is the problem with other papers and definitely TV/ cable. I watch MSNBC because their shows are good and palatable, but MSNBC provides ALL commentary/ opinion, and very little news. If you think you are getting news from the likes of Laurence o'Donnell or Joy Reid or even Rachel Maddow, you are way off base. Pretty much every person on MSNBC provides opinion, often good opinion but still OPINION not NEWS.
thank you, and noted.
Will Rupert be on the job? Well, he has a son with his evil skill. The gnashing of teeth will be heard all across the land, and Dems will be blamed. That part is de rigueur
Can't disagree, and sad thing is that this year's turnout was about the 2nd highest, period. "half the electorate" often don't vote with things are "calm". Don't count on a "wake up". Interestingly, in the movie Civil War, one theme is just how many Americans were engaged in ignoring the military struggle going on in the nation.
In my small Ct town (19,000 registered voters out of 28,000 people got to count the under 18 group.) about 80-90% voted. Kamala won.
Glad to hear that
I am counting on a wake up when I read about what people believe Trump was going to offer them. States that voted Trump and Republicans into power clearly have majority populations who interpreted the disfunction in the House as a mandate to get rid of conflicts between president and congress. Yet, they voted against vouchers in Arizona, and voted in abortion protections and wage protections too. So, there is a disconnect in information and desires. I know lots of Americans that ignore the big picture and are caught up in their personal struggles. A child with autism, or bipolar disorder, or flunking out of high school, or doing drugs, or all sorts of issues that take a lot of family energy to address, and my friends are not suffering from housing or food insecurity. I can only imagine what that adds to take one's attention away from what is going on, especially if you are not used to reading for information.
Wait until Floridians see what will happen to FEMA. The state will be required to provide more hurricane protection and privatization of FEMA supported flood insurance.
Thanks Linda, seems that ditching the ACA is a top priority, while majority polls overall support it these days. While a majority of ACA users are black, its hardly just them. The article i elsewhere quoted from the Hill offers a stark lineup on what the maga gop wants... and it is stark. Needless to say Climate Change is back to being a "hoax", i remember when they removed the banner pages from the EPA back in 2016.
Linda, I am dumbfounded that 93 million eligible voters stayed home when they should have realized the gravity of this year’s vote. I have no confidence whatsoever they will “wake up.” But they WILL have to live with the results of their compliance-by-inactivity.
After being shocked and devastated by the election result, I am saddened to have arrive at “well, this is what you chose when you voted for tfg or didn’t vote at all; so don’t expect me to step in. I did everything one person could to explain what this choice meant. I’m through with empathy, for now anyway. FAFO.” We’re now in the FO phase.
Agree - the only way for people to wake up is to have them experience the pain. I know that sounds draconian but if they are bailed out of the troubles they will only see it as a Trump win. Why? This campaign was won and lost (depending on view point) by a press and media that failed to do its duty and by social media and Fox that manipulate truth in order to manipulate the people. That is why people voted Harris out but voted for abortion coverage. Harris was evil in social media - they vote against her. Conversely, abortion is an internal issue and abortion won.
As well as the barrage of disinformation. Another reader has named it as PsyOps, and I cannot disagree with that.
There was a video in a Guardian article today where he just looked at the Trump voters in Michigan and the non--Trump voters. It was interesting. Here is the link. Scroll down and see the video. What people are believing is astounding.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/10/donald-trump-the-left-social-media-rightwing-propaganda-progressives-woke?utm_term=673192d530aecb9f87cd92cebb58cc28&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUK&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUK_email
At the same time, we get a list of the states that voted Trump and lots of republicans in and voted to protect abortion. Naively believing that it won't be a nationwide ban, and birth control too at some point. Then, we get this article in ProPublica telling us about people voting against Vouchers, yet they also voted in people who will just go around their complaints. More naive people. I can see why con men make so much money off of people. It is just to easy.
https://www.propublica.org/article/school-vouchers-2024-election-trump?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=majorinvestigations&utm_content=river
I also read about people voting to protect unions and pay in states that voted for Trump and his henchmen. So, somehow they do not understand how things work, and that even if the US has strong states rights, there are a million and one ways to get around them if you have a large majority, wild violent people backing you, and a huge number of apathetic people who are probably also confrontation averse.
It is seriously wrong to blame this election failure on the press (not counting Fox as "press"). You are correct to point out that there was massive disinformation but I contend that the left wing contributed with its "stop listening to the media" campaign (often engaged in right here in Heather's Substack) when in fact the vast majority weren't interested in the biases of places like Substack and one they stopped following the mainstream media, they were left with the disinformation. So WE (although j honestly don't include myself because I repeatedly tried to object to this false characterization of the MSM as "evil") are too blame because we pulled the plug on people who maybe MIGHT have used MSM reports as at least a way of trying to understand the conflicts but once they abandoned those reports, what were they going to use a a source of information? Fox? That certainly doesn't sound like a smart idea. And the likelihood that they would turn to something like Substack was about zero.
So we should acknowledge our role in this. By demonizing the best (if not perfect) source of unbiased information available to the masses of people, we pretty much pushed them to see sources like Fox as what to follow and we will now pay the price of that folly.
Draconian is good
Unfortunately I know a bunch of them. They are all males. I imagine there are women in that group, but it would be great to know the stats. Of the ones I know personally, they are comfortable and expect that there will not be really big changes to their lifestyes either way. Also, they will experience less than others. But, you never know.
Yes, those young white and even black males may have buyers regret when Trump puts into place mandatory military service as he said he would do if president.
Do not forget Leonard Leo and what he was caught saying about now using his capital to eradicate the last vestiges of liberalism out of society.
I thought I knew what Leonard Leo was about, but looking at his wiki page, a long history of mental damage from Catholicism, dead daddy, friendship with Clarence Thomas and Wiley manipulation of money. Disgusting little man.
yup.
for sure, and just check out the "Supremes" apart from all the justice apptments under McConnell... he's the brains behind all that, NOT Trump. And Mitch wasn't even "MAGA", in the literal sense of the word.
True, the fascists have young Vance, but they have a weapon that is even more potent, more evil, more effective: Right Wing Media. "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on." - G.W. Bush, White House Correspondents' Dinner, 3-31-2001.
yes - social media and Fox offer 24/7 news that maniuplautes rather than inform - the nonstop verbage, coupled with not reporting many stories that makes Trump look bad is a form of brain washing. The traditional press - newspapers? Owned by billionaires...who also know how to manipulate and when to manipulate. There is a famous journalist, assigned to the Middle East desk of the WSJ, who said to his boss that WSJ had a moral responsibility to tell the truth about Gaza, to inform what was happening from multiple perspectives. He was let go. Manipulation wins at the expense of truth and understanding. Uniformed citizens make bad decisions.
Sadly ,you ate right.
And also, you ARE right. 😙
I just saw that Stephen Miller, a Hard-Core Zionist, has been appointed Deputy Chief Of Staff For Policy... Among other things, one of Issues is closing the Border, and Mass-Deportations... This is not looking Good...
Was demacracy a passing fad?
Many of us have given everything we had (not the least of all Kamala Harris!!!) and still a majority voted for a monster. People can make excuses, talking heads lay the blame …. bottom line those trumpsters are willingly evil. And, approx 15 million fewer people than in 2020 (13 m less for Harris 1.5 m for trump thought it was okay to not vote in 2024. That is disgraceful, inexcusable and something that cannot be worked with. I’m angry and the fight has left me. In many ways it is the loss of hope that is the most painful.
Humans love excuses— my dear dog doesn’t require them
Yay Charles we need to be cheered on— the wounds of losing this existential election are still so fresh.
I appreciate your sentiments, bit I'm having trouble with the word *fight". . maybe it's because I'm female. There are already too much
abuses in progress. I don't think I can win a war, so I prefer sneaking around and attacking from behind. We have to hamstring Trump's administration the same way the oilygarchy henchmen did every Democratic admin since Carter. I'd be quite happy to hear of the decapitation of the new admin; I just don't have the muscle to swing the sword.
The vote for Trump was a betrayal of the dead from Gettysburg to Arlington to the dead buried above Omaha Beach in France and everything they fought to defend. That is why it is so sickening - because those who cast their votes for him had no sense of their obligations to history and sacrifice.
And to elect a man who dodged the draft by having his daddy have a tenant write a letter saying that Trump had bone spurs in inexcusable.
His grandpa Frederick dodged the German draft and fled to America, set up brothels and raked in dough. Just a chip off the old evil block. And a hero to so many ignorant fools.
Gary..., FTS fer crissakes.
But we should all realize and remember the disinformation war waged by other autocrats succeeded in manipulating much of our less educated citizens.
You know, I've seen that argument constantly and I'm not sure how much we ought to accept it. Look, everyone but everyone saw his corruption, his incitement to lynch his VP and the Speaker on January 6, his incitement to riot and overthrow a free and fair election on that day, his conviction on felony charges in NY and in the case of rape against E. Jean Carrol, his Nuremberg rally at MSG, his rambling reveries of derangement, his statement that he'd be dictator on day one, his infantile behavior and language, his gross mishandling and refusal to hand over classified documents, his unhinged debate performances and on and on and on . . . . Whoever voted for this has a choice: Either they are stupid, cruel, utterly reckless and irresponsible adults, or with no moral compass at all, or a combination of all of the above. It's not as though his malice and derangement have been hidden and were a secret. Their votes were inexcusable.
You have listed all the reason why his statement "I don't need anymore votes, I have all I need." is very telling. You know he gloats over how he screws the system. He screwed it.
And there's much more to come....brace yourself.
I cant be absolute about this, but doesn't Fox either ignore or play down a lot of this? Decoding Fox has made such claims.
Rupert Murdock, part of the "Three Amigos" immigrants together with Peter Thiel and Elon Musk come to this country and made billions while enjoying all the benefits of a democracy and the rule of law but they are determined that that system would work for them only by perverting and substituting it by a dictatorship.
Rupert ,specialist in brain washing, Elon financing the maga campaign with what for him is small change and finally Peter by supporting the next proxy president of the US, Vance.
For sure, Trump is hardly succeeding "all by himself", thanks, Ricardo
Yep - those three are far more dangerous immigrants than "their eating the dogs" etc.
Steve, I agreed 💯 % with your statement. I normally call them stupid or low IQ people for simplicity reasons but your show a clearer definition of them.
Thanks.
Great point. It is one of the things that has been repeated in history. People who have risen to dictatorial power rarely did it by lying about it. That is a classic historical inaccuracy, because it is easier to accept when you believe period have been misled. Hitler was really clear about what he planned to do, as was Trump. The people who voted for both of them (yes don't forget Hitler didn't overthrow the German government he was elected) decided that they wanted what these men were"selling". And this time we can't even blame the electoral college weirdness. The majority of Americans voted for the MAGA madness. Not a huge majority, but unlike 2016, a majority just the same. And 10+ million people who voted for Biden in 2020 simply stayed home
I seriously lay much of the blame for this debacle at Biden's feet. He held the power to lead the country in the right direction and put self above country for far too long, leaving us with no real chance at changing the course. It might not have made a difference anyway, because the past three elections have all been about hating the incumbents and throwing them out and in that case there may have been no chance of victory anyway. But at least we might have had a chance. As it turned out, we never really got out of the starting gate.
Sigh...
I have used the phrase "drunk the Kool-Aid" a lot. I've read some things lately posing another concept: disinformation as psy-ops. It really does seem to fit, at least with what I see in my retired cop cohort. These are people who served in law enforcement at the local level for 20+ years (or married to them), many of them also veterans. To an individual, they bought into the rhetoric around the "hot button issues" and all made huge proclamations of their Christian "faith".
I'd say citizens who had little support to imagine their full range of choices. Here's another opportunity for improving how we educate young people to think for themselves and investigate the world.
Agree Liz. But, just like what's crept in over the past 30 or so years, which we only now seem to see with 20/20 hindsight, we did zero to stop that show. I really think the 'red blanket' is loosely woven, and it's going to fall apart. We're far from "done".
He spits on the graves of our fallen
His spit is poisonous as everything about him.
Right up there with Polonium Tea.
😁
Take care, who knew tea could be so dangerous.
'shits and spits'...just to be clear. all toxic for sure
I fully agree.
True, it was a betrayal. What are the causes for the betrayal? Racism. Misogyny. Ignorance. Xenophobia. Homophobia. Stupidity. Christian nationalism. The KKK has succeeded, on behalf of the oligarchs, of "winning the war." Check out HCR's book, "How the South Won the Civil War."
I agree Steve, and yet a great number of veterans voted to put a want to be Hitler in the White House. I don't get it! What have they done?
I think the officers were split, those who worked with Trump - experiencing him in action were not split, the enlisted men are Trumpers.
Bottom line - Trump is America's middle finger, even as he does harm to the rest of the body.
Pretty simple to me. The military deals in 'discipline' and they see the Democrat operation lacks discipline in so many ways..., just ask them. They'll probably just look the other way and say "I just told you" (with their vote). And, as long as they can be entertained with Faux News in every waiting room, etc. Ughhhh.
Been suckered.
Remember, all the promises made in the Civil War crumbled under the intransigence of the "South"... and, don't military tend to favour Republicans ie including Trump, like "law and order" sheriffs etc across the country?
Frank.., two magic words you just used, "Law" and "Order". Nice shot. Makes the word discipline come to mind along with behavior. Because without some kind of alignment with those latter two words, the ones you mentioned won't work. The big red poorly woven blanket covering most of our nation is comprised of people who look out there with a myoptic-view and see intelligent behavior, and common-sense discipline, lacking amongst their "libtard" (their pet name) neighbors. They admire the way Sheriff Joe Arpaio runs his jail..., cause Sheriff Joe isn't about to let the lunatics run the asylum. Trump voters think that approach has merit. Myopia at work. Let's see how little-dickie Trump makes out. His red-blanket will unravel.
lol, for sure. "law and order" well that depends on what social interests etc underlie the "laws".
Exactly so.
Correct 100%
Don’t trumpers call this “Suckers and Losers Day”?
Steve, I'm sure that a good number of them as good hypocrite they are, will be displaying American flags today.
The heart and soul of our nation is on life-support and the MAGA movement is removing that life support through ignorance or greed or malice or all of the above.
I share your nausea and might actually vomit on the day he welcomes the January 6th insurrectionists to the White House and gives them all the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
If He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named does award those seditionists Presidential Medal of Freedom medals, the medal will be forever besmirched, sullied and rendered an obscene caricature.
The original, pre-Trump medal will have to be retired and another medal created to fill the void it will leave with one that upholds the original honor of it, and what it takes to warrant being awarded one.
Trump is by far Putin’s most successful investment.
As far as I'm concerned, that medal lost all its value and then some when he awarded it to the now-dead (good riddance) waling pustule, Rush Limbaugh.
From that point forward I'd agree, but prior to that some very wonderful and amazing people were awarded that Medal including one person of my personal acquaintance.
Yes, the true value was great, and previous awardees deserved the honor, until Trump besmirched it.
As everything that comes close to him.
I agree.
I shook my head with that, but I'm a middle of the road secular kind of guy! But Rush !!! omg i forget how outrageously "End of the World" those evangelicals and their ilk are. Sigh
They’re waiting for the Rapture.
I wrote then that President Biden should create a new Presidential Medal, one that wouldn't be duklued by the likes of Limbaugh and that scuzzy Seal Team guy who murdered innocent civilians.
Don't worry Mis, trump will find a way to trash it too.
Point taken.
Don't forget Jim Jordan
Rickey, I had forgotten him and now you brought him back...🥴
Not good.
So true
The medal should have a photo of Hitler on it. The medal of freedom has lost its meaning to these traitors and no longer represents this country.
That's why they gladly accept one.
I think a photo of putin on the medal would be most appropriate, now.
It cost him no Russian lives but is going to cost Americans .
What, in his entire life, has Trump touched that hasn’t been degraded, pornographied, sullied, besmirched and turned to utter fecal mass?
None come to mind.
Rush Limbaugh proves your concern has already occurred
Miriam Adelson is another example.
We should plan a very different event to happen on whatever that day is - an event honoring the heroes who defended the Capitol, with music and readings that are faithful and true to our Constitution and our democratic republic.
Biden should award the Medal of Freedom to those that defended the Capitol as a show of gratitude and contrast.
Absolutely!!!
From that point forward the symbolism of that medal will be worth little more than the cheap metal it is crafted from.
Its meaning has already been desecrated — when it was given to Rush Limbaugh.
I'll go further and say that from then, the medal will be worthless.
No the brave spirits live on the medals but a symbol.
those spirits do continue . . . separate from the medal . . . the medal is merely a visible symbol. My father was proud of his decorations, but that stemmed from the recognition of his sacrifice(s) in the name of our defense. The medal can be tarnished, but the recognition by the people who awarded it is never tarnished.
No recent mention of pardoning them all? He did say that during the campaign, after all they are Patriots!
🤮
I hear you. As I was cleaning and organizing drawers today, I put all our American flags at the bottom of one and told my husband, “ I won’t hang a flag again until T is out of office because I’m having a hard time “celebrating America” now given that so many of us embrace a lying fascist. It’s really hard to feel patriotic. I too, will remember my Dad and other veterans privately. Thank God my Dad didn’t live to see what has happened to his beloved country.
I hear you. My Dad was a WWII vet, flew in the South Pacific. I'm thankful that he's gone, so that he can't see what the country he fought to save has become.
I can never excuse the denigration of all of our veterans and active duty military personnel by not showing up in France to honor our fallen WWII soldiers and for what he did at Arlington National Cemetery. My father and ALL of my uncles served in WWII as well.
Many states have already been preparing for Trump's return as our Fascist leader. Is it time to break up the country into several smaller countries?
My Dad also served in WWII. He was a bombardier in the Pacific Theatre, flew in a B-24 Liberator, dropping bombs on the enemy. He was my hero. I’m grateful that he’s not here to see what’s happened to the country he fought to save.
Being Austrian by descent, I have family who died in the Holocaust. I have such a strong sense of déjà vu now. Yes, it can happen here.
I live with a sense of 'cellular memory' that may be similar to what you describe as a "strong sense of déjà vu". It's motivating me to be more alert and intentional.
A recurrent theme since I lived in VT decades ago, "Is it time to break up the country into several smaller countries?"
United we are no more, the civil war solved nothing, as it turns out
I agree, I will move to sanity.
Yes. I have been contemplating the same question. It seems inevitable to me.
Perhaps something along the lines of a coalition of countries, to provide strength and support beyond what one country can do on its own.
Just a thought.
My father also fought in WW11...flew over Japan...stationed at Guam...My sentiments exactly!
I feel the same way too. My Dad flew in the South Pacific and I’m glad he’s no longer here to see what we have become.
Mine too. I wish I could talk to him about what has happened.
My Harris Walz banner stating truth over lies and my American flag still wave. If the orange traitor is sworn in, I will remove them. I. too, will not fly the flag while an American traitor sits in the highest office of the land.
Likewise . . . my Father was very proud of his service . . . as am I.
Yes totally agree with that!
The destroyer can't touch what you do or feel privately. Right now we are prevented from fully sharing these things, but we will heal and know how to react.
Which is why I honor those Veterans privately at home.
Cynthia, I always take the time to send a personal message to those veterans I know. They are all firmly opposed to death star.
That's very good . . . I want to say Hoorah!
I plan to play an impromptu solo recital in my garage today (it's raining pretty hard here, so I need to be under cover.) I will play a medley of the service songs, America the Beautiful, My Country T'is of Thee, Battle Hymn of the Republic, and When Johnny Comes Marching Home. I will finish with Finlandia.
Then I will go to rehearsal and make music with other people. We usually honor our Veterans in our group; I'm not in charge, so I wonder what we'll do...
This, too, is true. What you can control is how you feel about and react to things that are beyond your control.
You feel what you feel, you choose to react or not
Yes he can, every morning when I wake up….
I understand fully. My (half)brother served in the Pacific Theater in a submarine. My high school student body president has his name on the Vietnam Nam wall. By working at the VA I had the honor of helping vets of all the wars fought in my lifetime and heard many stories. My dad is buried at Arlington. I’m as horrified as you are about the upcoming administration. Nothing good will come of it.
Cynthia, While for a host of reasons I fully empathize with your convictions, I felt it worthwhile to note that this afternoon I will stand with Veterans for Peace (VFP), an organization that recognizes Veterans Day as Armistice Day, the original day Congress created as “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace.”
I fully support that Barbara, in fact I feel it was a mistake to combine the recognition of the Armistice and our Veterans into a single remembrance. Both are important but for different tho’ related reasons. Nonetheless I will honor my Father and other Veterans with a private remembrance. As it stands I already maintain an altar or shrine with my father’s burial flag (he passed many years later) and his Bronze Star.
Cynthia, You will be in my thoughts today. I also would note I posted in reaction to this thread largely because, at a time our country needs protection from what Donald Trump is going to use his two-point margin to do, I don’t think we can afford to spend many more calories despairing in lieu of engaging in the various resistance movements that are starting to emerge within the grassroots.
Yup . . . my purpose in posting has much to do with maintaining my fighting spirit. Until I can engage in a more direct manner posting and discussing online helps keep the spirits up . . . it also serves the additional purpose of letting others know they're not alone.
Cynthia, I hear you.
Thank you to your father & his compatriots that served so valiantly. My apologies to all of those brave people that fought so that we could, in less than a century, actually select a convicted felon to bring about what they fought so hard against! I'd say it is unbelievable but alas it is not!
Thank you for putting exactly how I feel to paper! It’s going to take a long time for me to feel good about our country and even some of my friends. I am devastated and despondent. Heather’s letters are the only thing I can barely to read.
Emily Pfaff,
Janis Schoen: I am numb from the shock of the election. I realize that I am a hopeful and obviously naive person. I was so much filled with joy at the prospect of Kamala Harris becoming our President. She has done so much good in her life as a prosecutor. She is an intelligent, hardworking, joyful and righteous woman.
I am heart broken and frightened for the future of my children and grandchildren and for what our country has meant to the "free" world and for those who long to be "free".
Once again we have disappointed our allies.
Trump and the "fake christians" and the extremely wealthy who think nothing of our citizenry and have left behind any shred of morality they may have had, are going to use every resource in this country to their advantage: "drill baby drill!"....that includes using our hard-working citizenry by increasing taxes, and transforming Social Security and Medicare to the economic advantage of the already wealthy. They will also use our natural resources to line their pockets. We the citizens will pay the price.
Once more I lament! "How could we have possibly elected this man who only wants to take from us, from our resources...????" We have allowed the few extremely wealthy to rule and we...the regular citizenry will pay the price along with our children and grandchildren!!!!)
Other than "brainwashing" and removing books from our libraries, which does not benefit anyone, I have heard nothing about supporting our education system in a positive way.
Rather than accepting one another...they want to decide who is human and who is someone less than. I want to say, "Have you looked in the mirror lately?" Have you lost your minds as well as your soul? God Himself created us as individuals and has given us choice. We can choose hate or we can choose mutual respect and appreciation for each other. We are each unique creations to be valued!
Thanks to those much superior writers who may read this and for whom I hold deep respect, I am more controlled by my heart and my emotions than the rules of proper writing. Please forgive me.
Emily. There is nothing to forgive, my dear. Speak. Speak your truth. Write your story now. As you navigate these times, get a journal, continue a journal.
Emily what you put down is very well written and expresses feelings I know many, if not all, of us feel.
I wish I could give you a *hug* rather than this virtual one!
I will declare that the one hope remaining for the United States really the Disunited States of America, is for the American military to temporarily suspend the constitution and declare a coup. They are our last hope. We are about to join totalitarian world governments and this portends badly for the US. That’s it. Believe it. The massive reshuffling of our government is at hand.
My hope for the American military is not for a coup, but that they follow their training and their ethos, that they refuse to follow orders that are not lawful. "From every mountainside let 'Hell, no!' ring."
Trouble is, the COF will -make- it law.
Not sure what you mean here, Mike. Are they going to try to Schedule F the JAG corps? Or at least the civilian equivalent?
Doesn't have the COF complete presidential immunity? He can order anything he pleases.
This is a misreading of the immunity ruling. He had immunity for core official duties and reviewable immunity for other official duties but no immunity for non official duties. This is how they (jack Smith and Chutkin) planned to try to "get him" for Jan 6 by showing it was totally outside his official duties. Unfortunately by winning the election the clock has run out. The Justice department doesn't prosecute sitting Presidents and Trump so be "sitting" before they can start let alone finish the Jan 6 trial. So that case is going to be dismissed.
And it should be clear that this outcome is another failure of the Biden administration and his AG appointee Merrick Garland. They sat on the Jan 6 case for almost two years and now time has run out. Had Biden and/or Garland taken this seriously enough at the outset, we might have seen Trump convicted long ago which might have made it almost impossible for him to run for office again. But they sat on their hands and now it is all over.
If anything rather than suspending the Constitution it should be buttressed and reinforced . . . I realize that sounds daunting, but rather than your idea . . . use the States to enforce the Constitution as it is actually written, complete with amendments. Remember the USA is a Federation of individual States (a Federal Republic)
A military coup would establish an even more dangerous precedent than all other means. We are established in a military tradition that is faithful to the constitution and is led by civilians. Trump was legally elected president, which is terrifying. There are many ways to resist his fever dream orders in the military, in the courts, the states, our hearts and minds.
The election was bought by oligarchs and orchestrated by Putin. Legally elected, my arse. He knew the fix was in when he stopped looking for voters and switched to crazy entertaining. He was so flum floxed by Joe dropping out that the propaganda had to do a uturn. And boy, did they. Sexism and racism on steroids. Chump stopped worrying and became alternative reality
Actually, it goes back to Milton Friedman and his "free marketism" and the conservative cult like belief in his garbage of no government involvement in business and that business has only one purpose -profit. Friedman was sent to Russia by GH Bush to help them move to a capitalistic economy which lead to the selling off of public infrastructure to the wealthy. Americans swept in to help scoop up money happily, Bill Browder wrote in his book how he was lured there and then how he was forced out by the Putin machine. We are going to see something similar here I am afraid. There are way too many fascists wearing badges and military fatigues, as well as nut cases that openly carry.
Thank you for that. I wondered how the oligarch’s wound up with most of Russia. That was before Putin had a machine wasn’t it.
I agree which is why I framed my reply to Bill the way I did.
You will get the shock of your life after Jan 20 when you find SCOTUS, both House of Congress led by the executive all with one voice to crush what you consider a stoppable step into authoritarianism. The constitution will be hobbled like a paraplegic in a rolling chair. Stay tuned. But it’s the military that could come down with an iron fist on the authoritarians before they wipe out the good remaining.
Trump is looney tunes at this point. As Heather pointed out yesterday, it is unlikely he will finish his term as President.
I'm assuming Joe Biden and the joint chiefs are preparing for a possible coup by Trump and his cadre of immigrants. I'm sure they have identified the possible officers in every branch that are potential traitors to the Constitution.
Any action against the people or any government within the US should be met with swift court martialling and demotion. This is what happened to Ronnie Jackson and it needs to start happening again right now.
You have posted some fairly rancid garbage on this site, but this one takes the cake.
A military coup? You might want to re-think this one.
Maria, if you don't think that Trump is not considering that then you don't believe Trump is a Fascist. Look what he did at Lafayette Park and at Arlington National Cemetery.
At Lafayette Park he had his brown shirts take off any identifying markings and shoot rubber bullets at people and tear gas. I was watching NBC live when it happened. Don't think for one second Trump will not use the military for his Fascist actions.
Only about 1/3 of registered voters voted for Trump this year. And most of them are ignorant of what Trump has done since 2015. He calls in making America great again and nothing could be further from the truth.
Bill was suggesting that the military mount a coup to overthrow him. That simply won’t happen. As for Orange, I would put nothing past him.
But, while the rank and file may be more inclined to obey whatever his fever brain may come up with, the top brass understands their primary loyalty isn’t to a person or to the office, but to the Constitution. The top brass would never go along with that. Miley expressed his regrets about Lafayette Park, understanding how bad the optics were.
I wouldn't put anything past Trump either Maria. And within a month or so ALL of the violent insurrections will be free. Many of them are still 100% behind Trump and will gladly take up arms to support his every whim.
Remember my words. And maybe it’s you who is rancid.
This is a terrible idea Bill. It smears the name and purpose of our country. It reduces us to little better than the Trump/MAGA cult we need to defeat. If it takes this to achieve victory then I am not sure victory is worth it because in the end it says anyone who feels aggrieved can rise up and declare a coup. We have spent centuries fighting against this concept and using it will not save our country, it will destroy it.
The nation is about to be destroyed in its entirety. You just don’t get it. Watch and wait and you will learn something.
Bill, we all "get it". We all understand the threat.
Do you have a plan? Who would lead this coup? How long would this "junta" occupy the White House? Would they disband Congress and the Court system?
And if this "military" solution were to remove the Orange Menace from office, who would they install that the country would get behind? And when would the next election be held? In four years?
And to be effective, they would need to arrest members of Congress who have supported the Orange thing.
This idea is out of a movie. I fully understand your rage and frustration. I think mine is equal to or may double yours :)
There may indeed, need to be a rebellion. But it needs to be a groundswell from the people. It needs to be states standing strong - upholding the US Constitution and their own.
We live in two of several states that are solid blue. I don't feel entirely safe. But a hell of a lot safer than the folks in red states.
And there are forces that will oppose much of what Trump, Vance and Miller are planning. Watch for "show" deportations. The oligarchs can't afford to lose their entire workforces...
Nothing anyone has predicted has come true. Let's get ready for a boatload of surprises. Especially when you have a capricious narcissist leading us. How long do you think his team will last? How many Chief of Staffs will he have this time? Will the Supreme Court really be a puppet court? Don't be too sure.
Planning a military coup would only harden the MAGA forces and in their minds hate us more. Horrible shit is going to happen. Watch Republican support slide away as people actually "feel" the pain of his policies.
So many have repeated "It's the economy, stupid!" Carville was right again. News flash to Trumpers. Deportations mean more expensive food. Tariffs mean a huge percentage of our products will be more expensive. Trumpers: you just voted for inflation.
And ladies, you just voted for Gilead. You are not going to like the uniforms.
The pendulum will swing, Bill. Lots of pain and suffering before that happens, I agree. But that's what it is going to take.
In the meantime, find a place to grow some food.
Would you all just stop it? I swear I'm going to turn this car around!
I think that is premature.
Yesterday Elon Musk said that the Federal Reserve Board should be eliminated.
Trump will give him carte blanche to do what he wants to the economy.
Project 2025 has already started. Much of it will be enacted behind the curtains. We need to be diligent and engaged.
I agree, but it IS a thought.
the more ideas and thoughts that are examined the better off the discussion.
Yes.
Your opinion. I know who Trump is.
to whom are you replying Bill?
Everyone. lol. Trump is a monster. He must be stopped
You all don’t seem to understand. The nation as we have known it is gone. It’s not coming back. The metamorphosis is completing as we chit chat. The monster is about to arise.
I agree. I have been fantasizing that some right minded generals would stage a coup, suspend the constitution and call for new elections in July 2025.
Then we become just another banana republic but without the bananas.
This is what we have become.
I definitely agree.
My dad was at Pearl Harbor when it was bombed and I had two uncles who fought for our freedoms in Europe. They are all gone now. I miss them, especially my dad but I’m glad they weren’t around to see this horror.
I too am glad they aren’t around to see this horror. I know my Father would be shocked it came to this actually!
My father would probably be a MAGA. So good that he isn’t around.
My dad was at Juno Beach while grandpa was in the skies flying over him. My brother retired from Marine corps, me, Army. Sister served Navy. I'm extremely proud of my family's service, past and present. As you are saying, I'm sure all those who have passed are screaming and want to return to fix this. I'm horrified and furious.
I'm also not enchanted with the election of a waste of air and clean water who has the emotions and personality of a spoiled bully. He's stuck with early teenage boy thoughts, attitudes and behaviors, while his body is that of an old man with age-related dementia. A demented teenager with silver spoon hemorrhoids and his finger on the button is terrifying. At least he doesn't know history. He said he wanted his generals to be like Adolph's. I believe at least 3 of the conspirators were such generals who developed the plan that resulted in a Colonel putting the device in the conference room.
Who knows what could happen . . . sadly for the World it didn't take Hitler out.
All the more reason to venerate the day.
Oh I do . . . just not in a way that lumps my celebration of those who serve with those who'd tear it all down.
Service yes...but sacrifice is the the key word in my view laying down their lives for others is the ultimate human act.In the UK we have public remembrance with the words "they shall not grow old that we that are left grow old,age shall not weary them,nor the years condem,🇬🇧🇺🇸at the going down of the sun,and in the morning we will remember them".Suckers? Non of them! What was in it for them? If one has to ask this your inhuman.
I am traveling through Europe because I needed to remove myself during the election because I am struck dumb by the fact that we could possibly elect and or chose a rapist and convicted criminal for president. What do Americans want at this point? As a nation we have lost any kind of moral ground, our treatment of Palestine, our fixation on money and power by all of our so called politicians has created a state that was bordering on fascist but now shows the world that the USA is fascist.
My father also. My brother served in Vietnam. All the way back I have male relative who served and stick to the vows they made. I wish someone would make him say the pledge of Allegiance. My guess is that he doesn't know it.
This Veterans' Day I shall honor the service of my mother, WWII Army Nurse, and my dad, WWII Army Air Force Mechanic, and all they did to keep us free. We are now engaged in a political war, just as much a threat to our democracy as their war. May we be as brave and committed as our forefathers and foremothers, and as successful. Thank you, Heather and everyone here, for your service.
Well said, MP.
❤️🤍💙🗽
Eloquently spoken, Ms Sercu.
🙏🏻
My mother also served in the European Theater as an Army Nurse in WWII her brother in the US Army. I agree with your timely statement, MaryPat.
I'd love to hear more about your mom! Is her story at the Women Veterans Memorial?
Thanks MP! In this new political war, we must do everything in our power to protect our Constitution! I saw this comment in another Substack:
From the author…”Here's what I wrote to President Biden today at whitehouse.gov/contact:
Dear President Biden, thank you for the many achievements of your presidency. There’s one more act that would cement your legacy as the most progressive leader in my lifetime: RESIGN.
Yes, please resign and make Kamala Harris the 47th President of the United States for the last two months of democracy in America. Let her become our first Madam President. Let Doug Emhoff become the first First Gentleman.
Urge her to appoint Pete Buttigieg as her Vice-President. Let his husband (Chasten Buttigieg) become the second Gentleman.
When you were running for President in 2020, you swore to appoint a woman as your running mate and you kept that promise. Now you have the opportunity to double-down on that pledge and give us a woman of color for our first female President and a gay man for the President of the Senate.
This would be a shining moment in American history. You are uniquely positioned to gift us with this slice of joy. Thank you for considering this petition.”
Folks were adding comments - things like “pardon Hunter” and provide a broad preemptive pardon for President Biden as well. Also, put executive orders in place to bring attention to policies we need to protect.
It would be a bold move but now is the time for BOLD ACTION! Thoughts? 🇺🇸
While celebrating Veterans' Day, Heather's fans may like to note.
There's a super good hour-long conversation here between Heather and Jon Stewart (this next line its link):
Jon Stewart on Trump’s Win and What’s Next w/ Heather Cox Richardson | The Weekly Show
My favorite part, Heather reminding Jon, all of us, how Kamala and Dems had several campaign policies on offer, but Republicans had a narrative. And the American people like narratives – even if untrue, as were all the orange felon’s of illegals raping U.S. women and taking all the jobs.
Phil B., U.S. Army Spec. 5 translator/interpreter of Vietnamese, 2 Sept. 1969 -- 4 Apr. 1972
It's so good, that podcast.
I watched that this morning. Outstanding!
Morning, Ally! I almost missed it; so glad I didn't!
Morning, Lynell!!
Here's the link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7cKOaBdFWo
Lynell, most grateful! It was a wide ranging look at what just happened but with Heather`s brilliant grasp of history, context and, most important, her ability to think and make connections. It also avoided ending in despair--a way forward. Two smart people.
Thank you, Lynell.
Not sure what's wrong with me, tech-wise, but this is the second time I had a link which got me to the You Tube site, but when I copy-&-pasted it turned into something quite uselessly other.
Nothing wrong with you tech-wise. Phil. I have been having that experience with You Tube lately, not with this podcast, but others that are left leaning. I get some ridiculous one that is about coyotes or fish or something that is not political. I just keep trying over and over and eventually get to see what I wanted to see. This worries me. What's going on with You Tube?
Thank you! The best one hour I've listened to after Tuesday.
Are you familiar with Sedgwick Tourison or his book ‘Talking With Victor Charlie’?
I've done a quick search and can see a bit about it, Alec.
So thank you for the note. I was out of the U.S. (for many years, actually) when it came out, and so totally missed hearing anything about it.
Thanks to you, will seek out a copy.
It’s taken time, but there’s some good information re Vietnam’s effect on the Republic. Tourison was a very sane lifer, did three tours in Vietnam.
This is true. I worked on the same issue with him for several years after the war, though a continent apart. Sane lifer, smart guy.
Thank you for your service, Phil. So agree on the Jon Stuart Dr. Richardson broadcast! I
listening to it is the best investment of time. We shall overcome!
Phil, Thank you for your service. And the video, Wow! Jon is right. You have to be clear eyed first. I'm not there yet. It's going to take me a while. I don't have addictions like Jon did, but I do have two adult children who are very ill and I need to do everything I can to help them. It's mostly very small things but they do add up. I'm not going to stop paying attention to what's happening in my country though. This community helps a lot.
On this Veterans Day, marked as a day of peace and remembrance, I want to reflect on the story of the poppy and its profound symbolism for those who sacrificed in the fight against fascism and in defense of peace and democracy.
The poppy became a symbol of remembrance after the devastation of World War I, inspired by the haunting beauty of fields of red poppies growing over the battle-scarred land of Flanders, Belgium. It was Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae's poem, In Flanders Fields, written in 1915, that captured the resilience and sacrifice of fallen soldiers. He wrote of poppies blowing "between the crosses, row on row," a stark reminder of the soldiers who laid down their lives on the battlefield.
In the decades that followed, the poppy evolved into a universal emblem of remembrance. Its simple, bright red color evokes both the blood of those who gave their lives and the resilience of the human spirit to bloom even in the darkest of times. Today, the poppy reminds us not only of the courage of soldiers who fought for freedom but also of the ongoing need to uphold the ideals they fought for—peace, justice, and a world free from tyranny.
As autocratic regimes and conflicts challenge these ideals again in the present day, Veterans Day stands as a powerful call to remember the sacrifices made for peace and the imperative to protect the principles of a just world. In honoring our veterans, we reconsecrate ourselves to creating a future where the horrors of past wars remain in history, and where the promise of peace guides us forward.
This Veterans Day, as we wear or remember the poppy, let it remind us of the weight of our responsibility to uphold peace and resist forces that threaten the freedoms so many have fought to protect.
Elaine. As I said in my post, I will be speaking at our local remembrance service tomorrow. I will be wearing a poppy which I got in Canada and reading Flander’s Field.
They hand these out to be worn on November 11 in Britain still.
Elaine Cimino,
Thank you on this Veteran's Day for sharing the story of the poppy .
Words do not express the high regard I hold for those who fought and continue to fight for freedom in this world and within this beloved nation.
It is only due to their sacrifices that we stand. But for how long? We do have disease within....
Beautifully written. Thank you.
Yes!!
I still call it Armistice Day—and honor the British Remembrance Sunday as well—because we are ALL “veterans” in the struggles against tyranny and oppression. I honor my family, friends, and colleagues who decided to take up arms but I don’t honor or admire the men who put them all in harm’s way, who promoted and fomented these wars, and who delighted in the slaughter. Hegel justified his view of history as the movement of “genius” in cycles from systems of oppression to systems of liberation because otherwise, history would merely be a “slaughter-bench.” Our history is an abattoir, a slaughter-bench. It has “progressed” in fits and starts when the cataclysm has been so enormous that everyone is literally nauseated by it. Humans are not good at learning from their mistakes. But at least I can honor the dead who—far beyond the military personnel who fought the battles—protected their loved ones, their homelands, and their societies from the forces of evil. So that is why I prefer Armistice Day, and why I like to wear the poppy for Remembrance Sunday. Purple poppies—which honor the horses and dogs who lost their lives in the war in senseless acts of violence directed at innocent animals—are becoming more popular too in the UK. I have a collection of those, too.
Well said. I remember when I was a child there would be people selling poppies to wear on Armistice Day.
in Canada poppies are everywhere for Remembrance Day. It's a public service and bank holiday, but not a general holiday.
And people always bought them.
“…Poppies for young men, death's bitter trade
All of those young lives betrayed…”
Sting “Children’s Crusade” — https://youtu.be/JEVqh0r6JdM?si=H_R3zGaz3B8OErCR
My red poppies are beautiful, but no poppies bloom this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere. 😞
In Flanders fields the poppies grow/between the crosses, row on row. First the tombstones, then the poppies. Mille papaveri rossi, for those of you who know the songs of Fabrizio de André One of the greatest anti-war songs ever written.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoYw0LHEWLM
Anne-Louise (and others): the poem I always taught when I was teaching Western and/or World Civ was Dulce et Decorum Est, by Wilfred Owen. Students always found it shocking because they didn't understand the ways in which WW1 changed humanity. https://poets.org/poem/dulce-et-decorum-est
I've sung in Brittens War Requiem, so I know Wilfred Owen! I am the enemy you killed, my friend, I knew you in this dark. Yes, when my young grandfather was killed in France, my very young grandmother used a piece of poetry in the death notice she put in the paper, which shocked me, when I found it, by its bloodthirsty violence - something about the glory of a warlike death in agony. She was of the Vera Brittain generation.
Anne-Louise Luccarini,
Thank you for this link ...".greatest anti war songs ever."...tragic/beautiful.....
I have been posting the many postbox covers and other remembrances done by the Brits this year. They have gone all out.
Thank you for the wonderful history of why we celebrate Veterans Day. I truly wonder how we will feel about this holiday next year when we are under the leadership of an authoritarian. When we are no longer part of NATO.
The history and valor of our veterans cannot be erased.
That's not leadership.
Well Trump is about to put all of their efforts in vain.
Not only the convicted criminal is going to do this, Christopher.
All those other supporters of criminality, fraud, raping women, grabbing pussy, and telling lies about immigrants, and then more lies and more lies are all likely to support same policies of the U.S. soon dumping on democracy's allies and giving the world to its worst dictators and oligarchs.
Exactly. I am deeply saddened by the thought of all those who sacrificed, fought in the horrors of war, and all those who died for our democracy. I feel doubtful that it will survive the mess we find ourselves in.
Our media has changed so rapidly and those in charge of it were keenly aware of it's power. The Oligarchs are (and have been) in charge of the messaging that Americans hear every day. It is loud, and conspiratorial and full of hate and lies. Between the media debacle (sane washing trump as well) and the rise of Christian nationalism via the Federalist Society who have been steadfastly working to undermine our democratic freedoms; I don't think we stand a chance. The SCOTUS is now a disgraceful group of Federalist Society judges appointed by the thug; and they've given him the power of unfettered and complete lawlessness!
It is shocking to think that a person who is such a poor excuse for a decent human has been given the Presidency of our great country.
Alas, I am not the author of this, Phil, but I happily co-opt it for others to see:
"Putin fights for years to acquire Ukraine. But has been gifted America without firing a shot"
So sadly cogent, Lynell.
Not only "has been gifted America," but presented, too, with a now-highly-vulnerable host of countries in the east of Europe which N.A.T.O., soon likely abandoned by the convicted criminal and his criminal cohort, can scarcely defend.
Thanks, Lynell- "Putin fights for years to acquire Ukraine. But has been gifted America without firing a shot". This is the most concise and true assessment of what has happened, alongside The Onion's equally true headline, "America Defeats America", which echoes the Pogo quote from long ago, "We have met the enemy and he is us".
While I share your sentiments and those of many others who post on this site, it's important to remember that what happened almost one week ago was the result of millions of voters who believed that Trump would lead them in ways Trump promised. Sadly, many of those promises were crosswise to the other promises that were made to others. In the midst of it all, one cannot deny that the president-elect pretty much cleaned the table. In many respects we have had the building what some might call, "A perfect storm," domestically and internationally. Finally, and is the way it ends with political contests where winners and losers are made, "We'll see!"
As much as I would like to vehemently disagree, I cannot. I will say that the key word in your first sentence "believed" is precisely the point. Trump mastered the Orwellian tactic of repeating the lie over and over and over again until it becomes difficult to impossible to know the truth.
And that truth is going to bite us hard. All of us, except the oligarchs.
And are not the oligarchs the power behind the throne since at least Reagan? Or think they are. In my lifetime they have massively shaped many (not all) aspects of American society to their benefit. The weight of money piled against human rights on the scales of justice is the choke point for liberty and justice for all, and yet we as a nation don't treat it as such, though we did once, and anti-trust, anti-corruption, and campaign reform was popular. How many other more specific problems (such as climate abuse, social abuse) are exacerbated by the unregulated power of money?
Citizens United should have NEVER seen the light of day. Perhaps instituting term limits for some political positions would have significantly reduced the corruption. Sadly, I agree with you.
I try to tell myself that Americans just wanted a disruptor, massive change. But his change is more towards this monetary/power corruption, not away from it.
What the hell are we leaving our children? Especially if your child isn't a white, straight male?!
In an election, belief (hope or think, if one prefers) that her/his candidate will deliver on their promises, is why people (you and me included) vote the way they do.
Ummmmm … what does your generic statement have to do with the specifics we’re discussing? I and I suspect most desire to learn why some voted as they did. Sometimes that why has nothing to do directly with them but with the information they were bombarded with. e.g. why did they believe the way they did?
I dunno. I was responding to your response to my post. However, to be more clear would take more time and space that is offered, here. But one simple answer to why Trumpists believe as they do would demand getting into their singular or collective heads.
The Democratic party came to the contest using reason and logic. The MAGAs used emotion.
As Dorothy Thompson has been quoted to say (by both TCinLA and Greg Olear) “…reason never yet swept a world off its feet, and Hitler, an agitator of genius knows this. Self-interest, expressed in the most pathetic terms, does.” Everything she wrote about Hitler fits chump to a tee. Especially the “little man” part. It’s what got her expelled from Germany and it’s what chump can’t tolerate either. He’s a little empty man all puffed up with bullschittery.
In an interview, Putin’s presidential aide Nikolay Patrushev said today: "To achieve success in the election, Donald Trump relied on certain forces to which he has corresponding obligations. As a responsible person, he will be obliged to fulfill them."
He is a criminal. He is compromised as many believed. There are no guardrails to reign in his ego and his desire to be powerful and emulate the autocratic regimes he admires.
Russian control of his personal life via nudes of his wife spread everywhere is a reminder to him...we own you.
Trump is a total insult to Veterans’ Day. A chronic draft dodger who trashes veterans at every opportunity and belittles their sacrifice!
Orange Hitler and his Orange cult want a civil war......so if this goes down they would be fighting for a spray tanned, diaper wearing, felon,child molester, rapist,liar,........now the other side would be fighting for freedom, protecting their wives, daughters ,families, homes, the constitution, the environment and all that is Mother Earth......Kevin from Project 2025 said there could be bloodshed in the future..........Maga should think again about who will be shedding the most blood .
But he did make the generous offer to “the left” to accept what they do.
Happy to hear from Heather so early in the evening! Thank you.
Yes, her name appearing is something to pounce on. I hope that she finds this a source of strength, and not an increasing weight.
🙌🏼
Thank you for that!
I have a question. As we get closer to January 20th. What platform will be trustworthy? Any ideas?
Tomorrow I will be wearing my dog tags with pink silencers because of DADT, over my Harris/Walz shirt. Come at me bro.
Thank you, John.
I have to add on, John.
Because I couldn't lie on the application to the Navy (my Dad was against me going into the service, but he said "Anything but the G** D**m Army") I broke a 5 generation line of service in my paternal line. My enlistment would have preceded DADT. I think that my inability to lie saved me from being a victim of MST; none of the lesbian women I know were not the victims of MST, and several of them were discharged because of their orientation.
Thank you for your pink silencers.
My family was all Army or AF, so I knewI didn’t want that. I was commissioned into the Navy before DADT. I continue to believe that many people do not know their sexual orientation by the age they can join the military, so many of us awakened while in the midst and said “oh shit what now?” Hide. Dual lives. Etc. I did become a DADT casualty, because I could not lie at that point - I knew. So…. I was sent to the USMC for 10 months, where apparently I was not a “threat to unit cohesion and morale.” WhenI discovered different colors of silencers, I knew they had to be pink. FTN
John, I was one of those "born that way" gay folk. Mom had a photo of me at age 6, wearing boys trunks and holding a frog on a visit to the late.
I'd like to point out that rather than throw our collective hands up in defeat, we might learn from the example of the brave Ukrainians who have stood in the breach facing Putin's onslaught!
Slava Ukraini . . . Heroyam Slava 🇺🇦🌻
HURRAH!! for that!
Right. I am realizing this last week how very, very, very lucky I have been, being born during the history of this when I was (1959). I walked through doors that had just been opened for me, with only a nod to those who opened them for me. I rolled my eyes at sexism. And, as a white woman, I am ashamed to say I did not pay attention much to racism, except to think that is was passing, particularly after Obama was elected.
Well, nope.
I admit I was looking forward to being able to think less obsessively about politics with a Harris win. I was ready to walk out of the “upside down” and enjoy the right side up again, for the rest of my life.
Well, nope on that front, too.
You captured my beliefs perfectly. I'm a year ahead of you (1958 model year) and cast my first presidential vote for Jimmy Carter in 1976.
Yep I was so happy when when Obama got elected! I thought finally my country was living up to our supposed ideals about all people being equal.
George W Bush and Dick Cheney certainly initiated needless war and bloodshed And before then Vietnam. History teaches us much and we ignore it. Why?
Because people aren’t in any mood to learn. A good public education has been truly gutted by years of defunding, homeschooling and vouchers. People now are civically illiterate. They have no clue about the government and the laws for good or ill that affects their lives. The saying that “Ignorance is our greatest danger” has never been more true.
I graduated from high school a long time ago with high grades and I didn't know 90 percent of the history I'm learning from Heather. I'm not sure public education ever was so great.
I'm seventy-two and took American History in junior high and high school in the second half of the 1960s. I got the John Wayne/Walt Disney/How the West Was Won version, but didn't know I had been propagandized. Two years ago I found out because I was assigned to teach 8th grade American History in Los Angeles and read a couple of contemporary books to, I thought, refresh my memory. What I discovered shocked me. I'm relearning American History as I teach it, and it's a very sobering experience. I fully agree with HCR that what we are seeing now is basically the South having won the Civil War.
Those of us in the Baby Boom were taught History by the winners. The country was invested in getting women back in the home and raising children who thought this was the greatest nation in the world.
I grew up in an area where the incarceration of people with Japanese heritage happened, so I could see/hear for myself that we were not getting the whole story. I also saw shop window signs saying "we do not serve Indians". Ironically we were also taught how to recognise propaganda.
I grew up in the DC suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, where virtually all residents were government workers or other white-collar professionals. I didn't have a black schoolmate until my senior year in high school, when we got exactly one. I don't remember any Hispanics either, but we did have some Indians and other Asians whose parents were diplomats or the like.
I'm glad to know it's not just me. It's incredible that you just have to read up first in order to teach. Thankfully, you're an intelligent person who's taking the initiative. I'm sure many don't.
Hi, Trevy -
I know too many teachers who just teach from the textbook. When they are assigned a new class, they literally read the lesson they are supposed to teach the day before they teach it. I have contempt for them and don't want to be like them.
I recommend "The True History of the United States" by Danny Sjursen, as a starting point. It's a compilation of the lectures he gave to plebes when he taught American History at West Point. Another good one is HCR's "How the South Won the Civil War."
Cheers.
Thanks, Joel. I'll start with Heather's 😊
Fully agree with this…
War is a tremendous money-maker. Vietnam, for example, was the first war in which thousands of helicopters were used. Thousands were also shot down and had to be replaced, and for every single one, money went into the pockets of folks here in the United States.
There was an attempt to make war-profiteering illegal in the U.S. It was called the War Profiteering Prevention Act of 2007, but - surprise, surprise - was never passed into law.
Cheju’s Haliburton and subsidiary companies made lots of $$$$
W/Dickie would have none of that. Reminds me. Erik Prince should resurface any minute to help with the destruction
Mistyped CHENEY VP and former SecDef. Talk about conflict of interest.
Believe me, Seth...I remember Cheney & Halliburton vividly ! Knew immediately who you were speaking of!
New generations come along, and memories are lost.
Because we think, "This time it'll be different", because we're special (dare I say, exceptional?)
As a child in Canada we called it Poppy Day, my parents Remembrance Day and when we moved to the States Veteran’s day. My Father was an Electrical/Mechanical Engineer and a Munitions expert in WWll for the Canadian Navy. He came home with small pieces of shrapnel that would slowly migrate out enough so that they could be removed. Thank you Dad, love and miss you.
❤️🍁❤️🍁❤️
Those of us who have been alive for a while and who have been paying attention, have learned that the only thing wars do is lead to other wars. They solve one problem, but the wreckage of the war eventually leads to another People who never wanted the war suffer and die because their leaders couldn’t solve problems.
Not "couldn't" but wouldn't.
Heather,
I just watched your interview with Jon Stewart and it is by far the best piece I have seen or read in a week. Thank you for your calm, reality-based and intelligent commentary with a bit of hope at the end. I so value your perspective and knowledge. "Do the right thing!" I may sleep tonight and that alone would be a blessing. Many thanks!
Do the right thing, even as the walls are closing in. Joe and Kamala did that and aren’t through yet. I imagine that Obama and Joe are the saddest people in the land.
I sent it to my half-sister in Washington State, who is suffering and unresigned.
As are so many of us.
There is one more bit about what happened in 1918 which casts it in a bit of a different light. The war, in terms of its outcome was over by the end of the third week of that September. All parties to it knew that, but decided that instead of calling a halt then and there, that they would keep their troops in the field, suffering and dying for another six weeks, while they made arrangements for big parties and parades in the major cities of the victorious nations. In my view, this was a horrifically immoral disregard for the lives of the troops on the front lines. The troops doing the fighting would occasionally find a way to have a bit of humor at the expense of the brass hats. I am particularly fond of Arthur Guiterman's poem "Pershing at the Front." Carl Sandburg's offering "Grass" is fitting as well.
If some way could be found to force Putin and his cronies to don uniforms and go charging forward on the next Russian meat wave attack, that war would be over in an instant.
Putting Putin at the head of his forces, I'm sure that's what trump has in mind as his way of ending the war in 24 hours. ; ) ; ) If you believe that I have this fantastic bridge to sell you!
Hey! .....why..... there isn't even...any piling driven yet!?!?!! What the heck??