10 Comments

Let the Republican in-fighting begin! Why would Senators fall in line for a one term chaos President.

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Barry~ you're missing the point. It isn't 'one term'. It's forever in their minds. Remember Ernst Röhm, they'll jettison everything to stay in charge.They had four years to correct the flaws of the 2016 Plan, and they did that for 2024. They aren't going away now.....least of all peacefully.

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Yes Robert, and now you are really going to find out what "fake news" actually is.

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Excellent point!

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5 hrs ago·edited 5 hrs ago

And so the authoritarian infrastructure begins to form. Rules, norms and most of all, laws will be broken with reckless abandon. All of the people who thought, “it can’t happen here” will be constantly “shocked” with each new low Trump will go. He has no bottom. He can only offer chaos and destruction.

I have lost my ability to be shocked by this depraved, malignant narcissist years ago. He will take credit for this robust economy while destroying all of the supports for it. “At least the trains run on time”, was the common phrase during Mussolini’s regime. What lies will the infinitely more robust right wing media of our times spew, normalizing the destruction of this experiment in democracy? After all, this is what most of the voters wanted.

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I’m glad to see some signs of more responsible Republicans resisting Trump’s ridiculous appointments. Part of me is leery of what Trump is doing. Cognitive deficits aside. I still think he’s smart like a fox; he must know that these appointments won’t fly because he wants appointments made in Congress’ recess. I think he has other appointees in the wings as replacements for those that can’t get past advise and consent. They may appear more reasonable so that some may sneak through. I know that sounds paranoid. Maybe the Senate will hold him in check out of concern for their own political future. Gaetz may only be seeking a way out of the House to kill his ethics blunders. The House should have gotten rid of him when they could, but they needed his vote; now we will pay the price. He will escape prosecution just like Trump. The whole country is paying the price for our lack of ability for critical thinking. Somehow I failed to fully understand that concept during my 7 disastrous quarters in a for profit college. Now it’s crystal clear. I was schooled in confirmation bias and realized my own. I value your voice of reason.

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People do not believe or care about Trumps criminal behavior or plan to become king. Trump voters say “both sides lie”. Just like Jan 6, so much time has passed, everyone is lining up behind Trump like it never happened.

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I wake up everyday and read HCR. She writes beautiful, accurate, information. But I am also very frustrated each time I read these letters. Scholarly, accurate info is not getting to the majority of Americans that vote. The voting public relies on Facebook lies, tweets and incorrect insta info that comes in short burst, often with pics or at least great, eye catching, bold type. We are allowing our scholarly, correct and extremely well written essays etc to be drown out by Russian propaganda. Until we start pushing back on misinformation and Fox “News” and change the way we deliver our message we will not see progress.

Trump campaigns from the bottom up engaging rural America. Democrats campaign from the top and stay at the top. I live in NC. I did not see one campaign add about CHIPS or anything Biden has done for our state. NC has spent 614 million over the last 10 years on vouchers, taking away from public schools. Not one rural American that I know believes social security is going to be defunded.

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3 hrs ago·edited 2 hrs ago

dear Heather,

Stange as it may sound, I’d be comforted to read a book by you along the lines of

Star-spangled Grift: Graft and Corruption in American Politics in the 20th Century and how a democracy makes it easier and how a democracy survives it

or something along that line. I feel in “me waters” that we are in for a gang-buster season of graft with the Trump V.2 presidency and from my perspective in the present looking forward, the near future feels quite bleak. I know we have had these periods of bald-faced political corruption in the past, we have had media moguls like Hearst in the past, and we have come thru somehow. I need someone like you whose perspective is of longer duration than mine, to clarify how this is able to come about in a democracy and how it has been dealt with—what changes or tweaks lead to the liberal progress we began to enjoy until recently.

It seems, our Supreme Court is now contaminated with graft from billionaire oligarchs like it never has before (am I right about this?). I need you, a historian not a pundit, to frame and interpret the present for me in light of your understanding of the past like you did in your excellent book on Democracy Awakening (thanks or writing that). Good Luck to us all, Sally

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Please only send written text....that is what I have paid for, twice, in fact.

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