Tonight, the major networks called Arizona for Joe Biden. This means Arizona has voted for a Democrat for president for the first time since 1996, when Ross Perot’s bid for the presidency siphoned off votes from Republican candidate Bob Dole and let Democratic candidate Bill Clinton clinch the state. Before that, the last time Arizona backed a Democrat was in 1948, when it went for Harry Truman.
Once Trump is out of office, how can we convince the news media to STOP reporting about him? If they simply don’t give him any energy or air time with him what a relief it would be!!!
He is not as eloquent as Obama. He is sincere, humble and hardworking. Biden is a soothing tonic to help the nation reestablish its efforts towards becoming a more perfect union. America has always been a work in progress. Biden will get us back on track and will undo much of the division, contempt for the rule of law, dismissive attitude towards allies and chaos that have been hallmarks of the past four years.
Hi Prof R, here’s my Thursday history chat suggestion: please do a history of indigenous peoples of America.
💕Thank you for your commentary and lectures on TTh during pandemic too by the way. You motivated me to care about what is going on & I ended up volunteering for Disability Vote California during September-October 2020.💕
The Tweet of condolence for the members of the team that were killed in the helicopter crash and exchange of human concerns with Francis compared to usual Trump drivel marks a separation of the light bursting at the end of a long dismal night.
I can see the results of a highly structured knowledgeable mind at work with the basics of forming a new Government begin with consultations and recruitment of experienced talent rather than headline seeking announcements and empty promises.
I may be reaching but I have a growing sense of the Camelot promise of the Kennedy era blooming. The solid credentials of his Chief of Staff and advisors already bulge with hope. Consulting with a cooperative Mattis speaks volumes. General Mattis is truly one of the great leaders of our time. His books are filled with erudition and wisdom.
I see Biden as a wedge of light piercing the fog of ignorance and uncertainty that has dominated the White House for four years. Worth the wait.
Yesterday my grandsons' schools in Kentucky went back to total virtual learning. The two in elementary school had attended in person during October after virtual during September. The oldest in high school attended the hybird version that the high school and middle school were set up on. Despite the leadership of our governor but in spite of those who refuse to take the virus seriously, our numbers are rising along with hospital admissions. the governor, Andy Beshear, has had to fight the Republican establishment in the state over his attempts to contain the virus here, including a court case which he won. They have called him a dictator and other names.
But I digress, Because of work schedules, I oversaw the two younger sibling (2nd and 4th grade) as they met with their classes. The younger grandson's teacher asked the class what they liked and did not like about virtual learning. Most said they liked being home, they liked being on the computer, etc. Almost to a child, they all said they did not like being apart physically from their teacher and each other. Most said they cried when they heard they were gong back to total virtual. I wanted to cry.
My oldest grandson is missing playing with the band during his junior year. He is a talented trumpeter who is continuing to hone his talent but having lessons virtually. When he was going i person two days a week, he was able to meet with his band director in person, but now that is out. My second grandson is a budding artist and was looking forward to art lessons. My second granddaughter in another household was awarded a scholarship to study architecture for four weeks at an out-of-state school through a STEM program but cannot take advantage of this. My oldest granddaughter graduated from high school virtually last May and is attending college but with most classes virtually.
I am angry with the current federal administration and with my state politicians who refused to take this pandemic seriously at the first and continue to refuse to take it seriously. However, these children are future voters and if other children are like my grandchildren, they are taking notes on who has really looked after their future and who has not. I feel I have been rather disjointed in this comment but my emotions are high about this.
Morning, all!! Dr. R's Letter tonight is full of Biden news, giving a what's up report as well as future plans for after January 20, 2021, and an ever empathetic future President that we the people have elected. Feels great!
With President-elect Biden's announcement on Ron Klain to become his Chief of Staff, I am getting excited about seeing who he chooses for all the Cabinet position. Klain was interviewed by Lawrence O'Donnell this evening and was most impressive. I'd like to see the Cabinet reflect an emphasis on social justice with women and minorities much more the norm than the exception and giving voice to the lived experience so these diverse perspectives make policies and legislation so much stronger and more successful in solving the inequities in our institutions. I'd like to see a couple of moderate Republicans in the Cabinet like Governor William Weld who did great things as Governor of Massachusetts, a pretty liberal state overall. Governor Weld would be a great Attorney General. Then I could see Mayor Pete Buttigieg as Secretary of State. He speaks five languages, a Rhodes scholar, a US Navy intelligence officer. I could see Senator Elizabeth Warren as Secretary of Commerce and Congresswoman Val Demings of Secretary of Homeland Security. Congresswoman Karen Bass could take on any of several positions. Perhaps Roger Ferguson for Secretary of the Treasury. How about Andrew Yang as Secretary of Health and Human Services with his new economic ideas? With the revolution in technology we'll see over the next couple of decades it would be prudent to have a new position - Secretary of Science and Technology. Michele Flournoy for Secretary of Defense. And, Governor Inslee for Secretary of the Interior with his focus on climate change. There are a million combinations of extremely fine candidates possible. Lots of fun to speculate. Enjoy!
I am so angry that the administration is totally ignoring this country, and the suffering happening to us all. And, by the administration I mean Republicans in positions of power. The Senate sits by while people are dying, jobs are lost, businesses are closing their doors, family struggle to get by. And all they can do is coddle a very sick sociopath who is doing NOTHING....NOTHING. In one day, Biden has done more to begin to help this nation than tRump and the swamp rats have done in 4 years. January 20 cannot come soon enough.
I am wondering if the current situation in the WH is not like an armed person standoff? Insiders may be trying to talk djt back to reality without a real physical catastrophe happening. If they can cajole him to accept the loss and become neutral in the next 2 months( at least in actions, if not rhetoric) then the country benefits. I would suggest that a bucket of his favorite KFC with several soft drinks could help.
Stacey Abrams was my initial choice for the VP position. She will definitely play a huge role in leadership in the future.
I know your comment in the Thursday live chat about Stacey Abrams turning Georgia blue "almost single-handedly" was deliberate hyperbole and I agree with your enthusiastic admiration. She's definitely the future of the party...and she's a Buffy fan! In an interview on the 11/12 episode of Pod Save America, Abrams provides context on the voter registration initiative that started in 2010 and credits the many POC-led grassroots organizations that have contributed to the 2020 GOTV effort. Recent news stories have grossly oversimplified this brilliantly coordinated movement as a one-woman miracle, verging on tokenism and the "Magical Negro" trope.
Thank you, HCR. My earliest childhood memory is thinking that organized religion made no sense. Plus, my family had some Christian hypocrites and bigots that I was always standing up to call out. Today, I’m more accepting of the good and caring behaviors that people of faith exhibit - like Pope Francis and Joe Biden. With death all around us, I’m very grateful for Biden’s considerate remarks and actions rooted, as he states, in his faith and experiences. And, please, Joe and Kamala, bring as many intelligent capable people as possible back to restore our damaged government machinery. ❤️🤍💙
Wow! I’m actually not dreading the news, but excited about it. First, some Republicans have finally come forth to say Biden should receive briefings. Second, Biden is talking to Republicans, I assume to rebuild bridges. Third, he is talking with former experienced, knowledgeable DOD people. Fourth, he has ppl doing reviews of agencies to make recommendations, including DOJ, thank God. Finally, as a Pope Francis-supporting (but clear-eyed Catholic, I was heartened to read about the call to and conversation with Biden. I wish this would shut up PF’s oppositional defiant critics, but they’re mean spirited, so it won’t. To see my country’s president interested in implementing humane and long-held human principles, my day just got better! Sorry to gush so long.
According to the NYTimes and the WaPo, which are both publishing extracts from the court hearings and judges' responses to the Cheeto's lawyers, they are creating a radically schizoid universe between what they are saying on court--where they can be fined and cited as engaging in frivolous lawsuits and charged with fraud--and their public media statements, which are of course totally and insanely deceptive. The whole point is not to win the lawsuits, which they know they cannot. The whole point is to radicalize even further the Cheeto's most violent supporters in order to foment attacks on Dems in general, on the PE and VPE in particular, and to gin up the fascists in Georgia to suppress the Dem vote in the runoff. This is tin-pot dictatorship tactics, enabled by criminals like Moscow Mitch and his minions in the Senate and House, and its design is to destroy democracy as we know it. Gingrich was unable to do this in the 1990s and the GOP has been enraged ever since. Every tactic, every electoral strategy has been designed with one end: to create a one-party system of authoritarian government run by the minority of the extreme Right that dominates the Republican Party.
The Dems completely screwed it up in the 1990s and early 2000s because they would not recognize that their lack of grassroots organizing, the poor performance at the local and state levels, and the outright appropriation of all the tools of government locally and statewide in the Rust Belt, the Midwest, and the Southwest (forget about the South: what they all need is Stacey Abrams clones to get them going) was going to destroy any chance of creating change, which always happens from the bottom-up. It might be that the recognition of this mess at the local level has come too late to save democracy. But I hope not.
I would love to see Lieutenant Colonel Vindman have a place in this administration.
Once Trump is out of office, how can we convince the news media to STOP reporting about him? If they simply don’t give him any energy or air time with him what a relief it would be!!!
He is not as eloquent as Obama. He is sincere, humble and hardworking. Biden is a soothing tonic to help the nation reestablish its efforts towards becoming a more perfect union. America has always been a work in progress. Biden will get us back on track and will undo much of the division, contempt for the rule of law, dismissive attitude towards allies and chaos that have been hallmarks of the past four years.
Hi Prof R, here’s my Thursday history chat suggestion: please do a history of indigenous peoples of America.
💕Thank you for your commentary and lectures on TTh during pandemic too by the way. You motivated me to care about what is going on & I ended up volunteering for Disability Vote California during September-October 2020.💕
Linda in Lomita, CA
The Tweet of condolence for the members of the team that were killed in the helicopter crash and exchange of human concerns with Francis compared to usual Trump drivel marks a separation of the light bursting at the end of a long dismal night.
I can see the results of a highly structured knowledgeable mind at work with the basics of forming a new Government begin with consultations and recruitment of experienced talent rather than headline seeking announcements and empty promises.
I may be reaching but I have a growing sense of the Camelot promise of the Kennedy era blooming. The solid credentials of his Chief of Staff and advisors already bulge with hope. Consulting with a cooperative Mattis speaks volumes. General Mattis is truly one of the great leaders of our time. His books are filled with erudition and wisdom.
I see Biden as a wedge of light piercing the fog of ignorance and uncertainty that has dominated the White House for four years. Worth the wait.
Yesterday my grandsons' schools in Kentucky went back to total virtual learning. The two in elementary school had attended in person during October after virtual during September. The oldest in high school attended the hybird version that the high school and middle school were set up on. Despite the leadership of our governor but in spite of those who refuse to take the virus seriously, our numbers are rising along with hospital admissions. the governor, Andy Beshear, has had to fight the Republican establishment in the state over his attempts to contain the virus here, including a court case which he won. They have called him a dictator and other names.
But I digress, Because of work schedules, I oversaw the two younger sibling (2nd and 4th grade) as they met with their classes. The younger grandson's teacher asked the class what they liked and did not like about virtual learning. Most said they liked being home, they liked being on the computer, etc. Almost to a child, they all said they did not like being apart physically from their teacher and each other. Most said they cried when they heard they were gong back to total virtual. I wanted to cry.
My oldest grandson is missing playing with the band during his junior year. He is a talented trumpeter who is continuing to hone his talent but having lessons virtually. When he was going i person two days a week, he was able to meet with his band director in person, but now that is out. My second grandson is a budding artist and was looking forward to art lessons. My second granddaughter in another household was awarded a scholarship to study architecture for four weeks at an out-of-state school through a STEM program but cannot take advantage of this. My oldest granddaughter graduated from high school virtually last May and is attending college but with most classes virtually.
I am angry with the current federal administration and with my state politicians who refused to take this pandemic seriously at the first and continue to refuse to take it seriously. However, these children are future voters and if other children are like my grandchildren, they are taking notes on who has really looked after their future and who has not. I feel I have been rather disjointed in this comment but my emotions are high about this.
Morning, all!! Dr. R's Letter tonight is full of Biden news, giving a what's up report as well as future plans for after January 20, 2021, and an ever empathetic future President that we the people have elected. Feels great!
With President-elect Biden's announcement on Ron Klain to become his Chief of Staff, I am getting excited about seeing who he chooses for all the Cabinet position. Klain was interviewed by Lawrence O'Donnell this evening and was most impressive. I'd like to see the Cabinet reflect an emphasis on social justice with women and minorities much more the norm than the exception and giving voice to the lived experience so these diverse perspectives make policies and legislation so much stronger and more successful in solving the inequities in our institutions. I'd like to see a couple of moderate Republicans in the Cabinet like Governor William Weld who did great things as Governor of Massachusetts, a pretty liberal state overall. Governor Weld would be a great Attorney General. Then I could see Mayor Pete Buttigieg as Secretary of State. He speaks five languages, a Rhodes scholar, a US Navy intelligence officer. I could see Senator Elizabeth Warren as Secretary of Commerce and Congresswoman Val Demings of Secretary of Homeland Security. Congresswoman Karen Bass could take on any of several positions. Perhaps Roger Ferguson for Secretary of the Treasury. How about Andrew Yang as Secretary of Health and Human Services with his new economic ideas? With the revolution in technology we'll see over the next couple of decades it would be prudent to have a new position - Secretary of Science and Technology. Michele Flournoy for Secretary of Defense. And, Governor Inslee for Secretary of the Interior with his focus on climate change. There are a million combinations of extremely fine candidates possible. Lots of fun to speculate. Enjoy!
I am watching Ron Klain being interviewed on "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell". What a change listening to a grown-up talk.
The Biden-Harris win was a collaborative effort, with all parts needed. Here is an article on the critical role the Navaho played in Arizona: https://www.vox.com/21559183/navajo-nation-arizona-biden-indigenous-voters
I am so angry that the administration is totally ignoring this country, and the suffering happening to us all. And, by the administration I mean Republicans in positions of power. The Senate sits by while people are dying, jobs are lost, businesses are closing their doors, family struggle to get by. And all they can do is coddle a very sick sociopath who is doing NOTHING....NOTHING. In one day, Biden has done more to begin to help this nation than tRump and the swamp rats have done in 4 years. January 20 cannot come soon enough.
I am wondering if the current situation in the WH is not like an armed person standoff? Insiders may be trying to talk djt back to reality without a real physical catastrophe happening. If they can cajole him to accept the loss and become neutral in the next 2 months( at least in actions, if not rhetoric) then the country benefits. I would suggest that a bucket of his favorite KFC with several soft drinks could help.
Stacey Abrams was my initial choice for the VP position. She will definitely play a huge role in leadership in the future.
I know your comment in the Thursday live chat about Stacey Abrams turning Georgia blue "almost single-handedly" was deliberate hyperbole and I agree with your enthusiastic admiration. She's definitely the future of the party...and she's a Buffy fan! In an interview on the 11/12 episode of Pod Save America, Abrams provides context on the voter registration initiative that started in 2010 and credits the many POC-led grassroots organizations that have contributed to the 2020 GOTV effort. Recent news stories have grossly oversimplified this brilliantly coordinated movement as a one-woman miracle, verging on tokenism and the "Magical Negro" trope.
Thank you, HCR. My earliest childhood memory is thinking that organized religion made no sense. Plus, my family had some Christian hypocrites and bigots that I was always standing up to call out. Today, I’m more accepting of the good and caring behaviors that people of faith exhibit - like Pope Francis and Joe Biden. With death all around us, I’m very grateful for Biden’s considerate remarks and actions rooted, as he states, in his faith and experiences. And, please, Joe and Kamala, bring as many intelligent capable people as possible back to restore our damaged government machinery. ❤️🤍💙
Wow! I’m actually not dreading the news, but excited about it. First, some Republicans have finally come forth to say Biden should receive briefings. Second, Biden is talking to Republicans, I assume to rebuild bridges. Third, he is talking with former experienced, knowledgeable DOD people. Fourth, he has ppl doing reviews of agencies to make recommendations, including DOJ, thank God. Finally, as a Pope Francis-supporting (but clear-eyed Catholic, I was heartened to read about the call to and conversation with Biden. I wish this would shut up PF’s oppositional defiant critics, but they’re mean spirited, so it won’t. To see my country’s president interested in implementing humane and long-held human principles, my day just got better! Sorry to gush so long.
According to the NYTimes and the WaPo, which are both publishing extracts from the court hearings and judges' responses to the Cheeto's lawyers, they are creating a radically schizoid universe between what they are saying on court--where they can be fined and cited as engaging in frivolous lawsuits and charged with fraud--and their public media statements, which are of course totally and insanely deceptive. The whole point is not to win the lawsuits, which they know they cannot. The whole point is to radicalize even further the Cheeto's most violent supporters in order to foment attacks on Dems in general, on the PE and VPE in particular, and to gin up the fascists in Georgia to suppress the Dem vote in the runoff. This is tin-pot dictatorship tactics, enabled by criminals like Moscow Mitch and his minions in the Senate and House, and its design is to destroy democracy as we know it. Gingrich was unable to do this in the 1990s and the GOP has been enraged ever since. Every tactic, every electoral strategy has been designed with one end: to create a one-party system of authoritarian government run by the minority of the extreme Right that dominates the Republican Party.
The Dems completely screwed it up in the 1990s and early 2000s because they would not recognize that their lack of grassroots organizing, the poor performance at the local and state levels, and the outright appropriation of all the tools of government locally and statewide in the Rust Belt, the Midwest, and the Southwest (forget about the South: what they all need is Stacey Abrams clones to get them going) was going to destroy any chance of creating change, which always happens from the bottom-up. It might be that the recognition of this mess at the local level has come too late to save democracy. But I hope not.