Remember how American voters so hated Project 2025, the playbook for a second Trump term written by the Heritage Foundation and other right-wing institutions, that Trump said he had nothing to do with it, and then one of its key architects, Russell Vought, told undercover filmmakers that Trump was only running away from the project as political cover?
If DJT is Putin's Puppet... Then Putin is succeeding Brilliantly in Damaging the U.S., and Europe... DJT will not always be with Us, but the Damage that DJT has done will persist...
trump lies. He changes his mind more often than a baby has his diaper changed. Republican then democrat then republican. Was for abortion (even late term) now he avoids the issue by assigning it to the states. How many people has he "don't really know him"? he says he is a great advocator for the environment then destroys it with his Wall and golf courses. Trivial but how many wives and dalliances?
"Campaigning to destroy NATO; opposing aid to Ukraine; demolishing the free world’s confidence in America’s ability to keep top secret information confidential; utterly destroying our seniormost intelligence and military agencies; installing Trojan horses to lead them: Trump’s goal appears to be, to paraphrase Ron DeSantis, to “Make America Russia.”
They want to gut the country, create chaos similar to Yeltsin’s time in Russia, and steal the country blind, plus takeover companies and industries at their pleasure. Forget the unelected bureaucrats. What about Elon and Vivek? Who elected them to make decisions.?!
In one election the undoing of the USA. Thanks to all you who voted for this mess. You will have successed in, among othe issues, keeping a trans from using the bathroom of their choice. Good going Americans, I hope you are happy now.
I've seen allegations of Putin's techies having hacked pro-orange felon votes at the top of ballots which Musk provided to them -- with no down-ballot voting on them at all.
Have also seen allegations of some millions of Dem inner city (black) votes having been suppressed as illegitimate, set aside as provisional, then unceremoniously dumped.
That is entirely believable. Why the silence about the obvious potential for enormous election fraud from the Democrats ? The only reason that seems acceptable is that the Intelligence services reports argued that the potential loss of life and US state cohesion from a bloody uncontrollable insurgent civil war breaking out when Trump lost was thought to be a greater threat than the slow burn loss of life and US state cohesion when he was returned. I am hoping that this is what is called a Golden Bridge event. Allowing your mortal enemies an acceptable retreat via a seeming gain. If not, than Kruschev and his loyalists have indeed played a blinder that will go down in history as one of the greatest and most successful Intelligence operations in modern history. The political capture of the USA without a shot being fired.
Stephen Spoonamore, cyber security expert explains it all...It does seem plausible. I hope I'm not so desperate that I'm buying into a conspiracy theory.
I have been following him too. Heard his interview with Thom Hartmann and then went to his SubStack You know, he blames the huge number of bullet ballots in the swing states as being invalid. And as a statistition, he has proved it. But the problem is, only Kamala Harris can ask for a recount of those states! She’s hard to get in ahold of right now, sadly. I believe that today is the last day he met. The man can be made.
No need to get this complicated. This is the effect of voter suppression laws that passed in Georgia and Alabama in the wake of Trump's 2020 loss and the voter roll purge in Pennsylvania this fall, as well as a bunch of last minute rule changes that did not go into effect but created confusion nonetheless. The entire question of "what did the Harris campaign/Democrats/Biden do wrong?" is predicated on the counter factual that this was a free and fair election; it was not.
Phil, I'm sure when you say "allegations" you are using the term to avoid being castrated in court for defamation or false accusation, even tho you actually watched the driver, whom we all know ram his car into the crowd. So, I would rather state the source. I just hate it when credibility of "allegations" surfaces disclosing a legitimate technicality that would arouse DOUBT as to the accusation..., thus making it appear 'trumped up' and subsequently resulting "it" being dismissed. I hate it when that happens. Newsroom love it because it gives them something to publish, promising "facts at eleven.., stay tuned". No? So, show me the gotttdammmned ballots! AND>>> please, not photo-shoped versions. The frustration-level I'm implying, surely doesn't just rest with me. Just the facts maam.., please. (Dragnet - Joe Friday, Det)
The trouble with this, other than its extreme unlikelihood, is that it is a case of fighting the last war. We need to figure out how to fight the next battle. Thinking about mistakes we made in the last battle will be useful. Grasping at straws to say that those mistakes did not make a difference won't.
If you read that "Duty to Warn" letter, it reports that there is enough of an anomaly in one key area (votes on 600,000 ballots in key swing states that push the margin of victory past the recount threshold; these votes list only a vote for Trump; no other candidate, office, measure, etc.)
I would call that "compelling evidence" that any of tfg's cries of fraud lacked.
Ally, why did Kamala folod like a cheap card table? Did she know something the rest of us didn't?
I notice a number of trolls and bots on here defending the count, which is expected. The fact that "the ballot counting machines were not connected to the internet is not necessarily true. There was lots of time between 2020 and 2024 to change as Musk said one line of code.
As others have noted, the race was about race. That seems to be all that most Trump voters cared about, enough so, to win him a plurality, and the election, with the help of the rural, depopulated, and small state bias inherent in the Electoral College system provided for by the Constitution. It wasn’t about the economy. It wasn’t about Project 2025. It was not even about Leadership in any positive sense. There is no question but that the Democratic Party and its candidates focus their appeal, or at least are seen to, on Americas increasingly urban multiethnic, tolerant, contented and homogenous society. Like Dillinger said, ‘It’s where the voters are’. Trump played on this and focused his appeal on the opposite. And he won, with Pennsylvania being the most glaring example of strategic failure for Kamala Harris. As Kremlin experts understand, racism is alive and well in America. There is no reason not to expect it to be. It is an enduring aspect of human social behavior. What Trump has done, with the help of the likes of Ron DeSantos, is to legitimize racism once again. It is ok for American society once again to think and act in these terms. Why ? Because everyone’s neighbor is doing it, but no one can be stopped from doing it, because laws and rules have been passed declaring it dead. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris went to north Philadelphia to hold a rally that attracted thousands from the neighborhood, and Trump went to Hersey where few gathered to listen to him. And then proceeded to insult Philadelphia, and New York, and Bridgeport, and Newark, and Baltimore, and urban America generally, at Madison Square Garden, that architectural travesty and disgrace to the Nation that should be torn down. But I digress.
1992, black journalist Joseph Boyce, " at one time the last thing anyone wanted to be called was a racist, whether you were or not. It was a mark to be avoided. And today I don't think people really care that much, some of them, you know. They'll say, ' yeah, I'm a racist, so what, so what are you going to do about it?'"
I think this reductionist view misses the point. Lots of data out there to disprove that latent racism moved the election to the orange side. There is more to it, for one we need to figure out how to message to people who are not interested in politics.
And I’m criticized for being angry because after all, it was our side that didn’t rise to the occasion and prevent this monster from destroy everything good in America. And when I suggest that the last chance to save America is to encourage or hope the good generals who still obey the constitution temporarily suspends it and declare a military coup in order to preserve the original concept of the constitution. And I’m criticized for being an asshole. Go ahead, call me an asshole. You are about to be put in your place.
(From "Donald's Vanity Tantrums")
Welcome to The New Snazzy Nazi States of America
(Introducing The Goose-Step, Two-Step March)
A new dance craze is sweeping the nation called, The Goose-Step, Two-step March. This invigorating new exercise is easy to learn! First, link arms on the dance floor. As you move backward in line, turn your head to the right and lift your left leg straight up as high as it will go. Then step forward as you turn your head to the left and lift your right leg straight up in the air.
It's very similar to square dancing or line dancing. Soon the dance floor will be filled with goose-steppers. Forward, backward, round and round. If you step out of line, you are tagged, the caller detains you, interrogates you, strip searches you, and sends you off to detainment camps for disloyalty.
This new dance craze is not to be confused with serious charges of criminal activity. By the time the youngins reach the age of reason, they will be quick to form into lines upon request for impromptu Goose-Step, Two-Step Marches and other forms of family entertainment
I guess we could ask them, "Since you, like Trump, tried to deny his connection to Project 2025, so you know it is bad, and since you now know Project 2025 is in play, what will you do to help us stop it?"
As a retired federal employee- HUGE understatement. If they do all the Project 2025 plans we will have a depression in 6 - 8 months. Not a recession- a depression, 1929 style.
And they will blame it on the aftermath of Biden’s failed policies and tell us to wait for Trump’s policies to take effect and cure things. And the fools will believe them.
I believe we should be watchful of our finances and begin to go into defensive mode. The irony is that anyone who has any degree of wealth should be allright since this whole revolution is really a money grab.
Another government imposed Shock Doctrine (see The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein). It will cause massive poverty, political violence, suicides, and decimate the middle class further, increasing our already sky-high inequality. All to benefit the already rich. It's dystopia.
Except they don’t keep their money lying around in cash and 99% of their wealth is on paper; stocks and options. When things go south if they don’t cash that in before the millions of little people like us sell their values sinks, their companies struggle.
We had a neighbor who bragged constantly about how much wealth they had in stock and real estate. Suddenly a dot come bust wiped out all the stock they were too complacent to sell, options were worthless because they were higher than the current stock price and then shortly afterward afterward a massive real estate bust making their properties under water. We watched them sink into despair as they lost almost everything.
Trump is a pauper, he lives on borrowed money and current stock values that he can’t pull out. He has massive bank loans coming due. This is why being POTUS is so important to him.
Trump’s (less than) half of America has trouble with cause and effect. I guess it has to be right in their face for them to notice. And then they will shift the blame elsewhere probably, just like that cult leader, who is DARVO - all the way down.
Sadly, that is the goal of Musk. He thinks destroying our economy will allow him to reshape our society to his will. He'll teach us to live within our means.
The unprofessional journalists and news agencies who allowed the Republicans to keep Project 2025 a secret for 12 months leading up to the Nov 5th election is to blame. Project 2025 is a regime change that crushes our democracy to bits, and allowed the GOP to camouflage this as a zealot Christian National program, plus allowed Trump to avoid being transparent with disclosure is a major backstab from MSM to all of America. The angry public should threaten civil protest and force Biden and Harris to support us.
I always felt that If Trump managed to get into office again, there would be general strikes all over the country. I don't see the appetite, sadly.
Joe Biden welcomed Trump into the Oval Office with a smile. (That was devastating to me, a lifelong Dem - I mean, I don't want Dems to obstruct the transfer of power, but did he HAVE to do it with a big smile? Knowing the contempt Trump has for him? )
I keep thinking of the Tolerance Paradox: the more one extends tolerance to the intolerant, the more the tolerant are treated poorly until they're eventually overcome.
You're talking about an American public, of which 40% cannot read and comprehend the instructions on a bottle of aspirin, and a total population of 60% reads at a 6th grade level or less, 80% of whom have no idea how the government works. Do you think any of these Gammas know what a "general strike" is?
We have been in this fight since 1954, when Brown v Board began the dismantling of Jim Crow, a dismantling that produced the festering White Resentment that has now given us the Groper-in-Chief.
Technically speaking all kinds of people have been in this fight since the beginning when those prejudiced Pilgrims first spied the Native Americans.
In keeping with the topic of this election I was referring to the time period of 2016 to now. At this moment the data points of how this madman is still around are numerous. But. It is the biggest lie ever that this election was not about hatred of the other. That hatred begins with people of color and spirals outward to anyone not white, rich and male.
Yes Barbara, worn out, worried and other responses too. I can't say anyone else will enjoy this video of John Oliver's response as much as I did but I offer it as an example of robust creativity and looking squarely at so much that few of us want to deal with. I was lit up smiling as I watched the post-election episode of "Last Week Tonight", https://youtu.be/LU2atCWyAos?si=efwuHpvErBjh-6Cs .
Joan Lederman -- Regretfully I am not able to watch this because of restrictions from Canada (where I live). I'm going to continue try to find a back door. But, do you have the actual date of this episode? You only said "post-election". Anything else?
Will see how worn out they are after he starts interning his perceived enemies! Who else will fill the privatized prisons/interment camps after the demonized and vilified immigrants are deported!?
Louis it has been 16 days since the election that will have such catastrophic results. We are stunned and numb as the takeover is flashing before our computer eyes. People will rouse. Even the people I trust to know the most about the world we find ourselves in such as Dr. Richardson and Simon Rosenberg are openly expressing how exhausted they are.
Yes, the Tolerance Paradox sums it up perfectly. I completely agree. Of all the thing that have been so alarming since the election, Joe Biden smiling and welcoming 45 was absolutely crushing. I don't understand why we continue to pretend this is just another election.
I wrote a piece on the White House visit. You can click on it on the name "Trilogy" besides my name. Not trying to drum up business but that is where my thoughts are. I was devasted as well at President Biden's poor play of the White House visit.
I agree - they should be shouting WTAF from the roof tops. I felt the same way when Hakeem Jeffries was saying how he would 'reach across the asile' They should be shouting about the sexual predators nominated for top positions - it's like the Dems are deer caught in headlights and frozen in place.
Absolutely. We need now to be Obstructionists not accommodationists. There is an election in 2 years. It should be a no brainer to win back both houses. But then maybe there won’t be any more elections.
Hopefully, Hakeem and other Democratic Party leaders are huddling with their staffs & consultants, preparing to launch a counter-offensive, as soon as all of us “tired & worn-out” troops have had a chance to do some post-election rejuvenating.
Hopefully a battle plan more serious than the one engineered by Bluto (John Belushi) in Animal House.
I attended a recent online National meeting of “Indivisible,” which has a 30 page guidebook for resistance at the local level, which they believe, unlike 2016, is where people like us can fight the battles that will have meaning, impact, and a cumulative effect.
More specifically, Indivisible points out battles need to be fought at the state, county, and town levels; putting pressure on those locally elected officials if you happen to live in a red state or red county. If you live in a blue state or county, your form of political engagement might be more along the lines of supporting (rather than battling) local officials.
For more info, including formation of a local Indivisible group or joining an existing group, here is the link.
For those of us who are “tired & worn out,” we might find such a group to be energizing.
I’m not naiive to how bleak the current picture is, especially in the context of what others in this wonderful community of HCR’s have said about the literacy rates in this country, and their susceptibility to Big Lies, which are nonstop, the latest being the so-called “mandate.”
The only “man-dates” I see are of “Bros” like Trump, Musk, Vance, Gaetz, etc…celebrating, planning their work, and working their plan, with powerful tools of “news” domination in their control.
I think Dany Carvy his Biden down perfectly. I never liked Biden. One lasting thing he could do is to pardon Leonard Peltier, Native activist falsely accused of aiding and abetting in the deaths of two FBI agents. And who is now dying in a Florida Federal prison after 50 years of confinement.
Biden's toddling into the Amazon forest after his little speech was a stark revelation to me that he is, in fact, in cognitive decline. A fully competent leader would have anticipated the poor optics and never agreed to that choreography. Biden's handlers are failing him at the end of his presidency, and he is not aware enough to override their blunders.
It makes me physically nauseous to think of the current administration turning over power to people they know will attempt everything to destroy our democracy.
I don’t entirely agree. P2025 wasn’t a secret; it was talked about although perhaps not by what we used to call the main stream media. They let us down in innumerable ways. Two plus weeks after the election, I see articles about how people are “shocked” at tfg’s plans, including some health industry consultants in DC. (Aside: one wonders how useful consultants who are “shocked” that tfg is going to do what he said are to clients.) my point is that info about P2025 was available and some writers went to great length to explain what it meant. Like other of tfg’s plans, people ignored or were ignorant. Because, you know, eggs.
Agreed. Eggs. And all the rest of life...beating them down.
For those of us who pay attention, Project 2025 was discussed endlessly. But too many people don't take an interest in "politics". Over 90 million people checked out of the system and didn't vote.
They are completely clueless. We might as well have been discussing "string theory". We Democrats didn't connect with them at the level where they live. Long, grueling stressful days.
My Mother in Law (97 and at home) has a very nice young woman who helps her - it keeps her out of an institution - "Mom" is happier and the government saves a lot of money.
She asked the young woman (who has four kids) if she voted. "No, I didn't have time."
Millions and millions of us don't read Substack, the NYTimes or...anything. They just grind through each day, trying to make ends meet, trying to care for their kids with lousy housing and bills, bills, bills.
If we are to get enough of the working class back - to resume some form of democracy and decency, Democrats have to create a whole new strategy. We need to be the party of POPULISM. We need to channel the frustration and rage of well over 90 million people who see life as awful and don't see a change in their futures. We need to offer some hope with some concrete policies - they need MONEY.
In the richest nation to have ever existed, anyone who works a full time job should have decent housing, clean water, adequate food, healthcare and education. Full stop, no exceptions. NO excuses.
There are trillions of dollars in the hands of a few (mostly white guys). As Tom Rush sang: "The problem with America is that the poor have too much money and the rich don't have enough". /s
Have you seen Mark Zuckerberg's yacht(s)? Google it. Read about it. Then look at Brin and Gates "vessels". Our oligarchs are hoarding the national treasure while the people who hold our lives together are trying to decide whether to buy 6 or 12 eggs this week.
You have hit the nail on the head! The working poor are overwhelmed just trying to stay alive. Minimum wage at $7:50 in some states means you cannot pay rent and eat well and pay all your bills. The stress must be unimaginable to those of us doing well. These are the people the dems should be helping and bringing into the fold. But how to reach them?
When I ran my small manufacturing business in Brooklyn, I gave my employees Metro cards, I paid 75% of their health insurance, bought them turkeys (or veg alternate) at Thanksgiving, and many other small untaxable perks. Their low, but above minimum wages ,were taxed higher than corporate leaders.
But, by giving the extras wherever I could it made a difference. They didn't quit the minute they were eligible for Unemployment. They stayed and we became a community for several decades.
The taxes on the working classes are too high. We need good public schools, public transportation, decent afordable housing.
Are we even going to have the opportunity to pursue a "whole new strategy"??
Much as I'm trying to focus on the here and now, I woke up last night completely stressed about what's going to happen. The retirement funds that we have worked so hard for... the health care insurance we're going to need... friends and family who will be threatened. Meanwhile, the cabinet of the new administration is just a sh*t show. All those people who are happy that they now "own the libs" -- and for WHAT?!
Or believed it was just Trump being Trump! 'He's just angry and trying to scare us'... And many believed that the 'rule of laws ', would put him in a place where he could not hurt us. I sure did. Not impeach him for insurrection failed my criteria to adhere to rules of law. And the documents crimes that are so blatantly true.
Agree. It was all over You Tube beginning last year or the first of this year. I know I’ve known about it for months and got the word out as often as possible along with links to the explanations. The corporate media though didn’t do nearly what it could have early on however. There’s a lot of has to answer for though.
Unfortunately the media (WaPo in particular) has bent over backwards to normalize Trump. Many of my friends, and I have canceled our subscriptions. Now I can ad Delta to my do not fly list.
However SS and Medicare do need attention. They are unsustainable as they are. Perhaps some of their inevitable shortfalls could be reversed if for every $150000 someone made in retirement, their SS payments would decline by 33% and their Medicare premiums would double. These numbers have no basis in facts. Just an idea.
Secondly the major welfare program, FEMA has to go. States should self insure for the natural disasters that they know are coming. Unfortunately that will mean state income taxes will be needed to fund these recovery plans.
Similarly , farm welfare has to end.
Instead these grifters want to cut food stamps and support for the bottom of our economy. They don’t seem to want to acknowledge that half our population is below average intellectually and/ or physically. Unfortunately many cannot follow basic instructions.
Is there abuse of our current welfare system? Of course. Medicare fraud is rampant too. Maybe big oil welfare can finally go away?
There are plenty of complicated opportunities for our “entrepreneurs “. Hopefully they won’t choose to pick on those who are already underserved.
I disagree with FEMA being abolished and states covering disaster management, especially after seeing the impact of hurricanes this year. It takes collaboration across state lines and multiple agencies to manage a disaster. A single state can't manage that alone.
Yes it can if it is prepared. These storms are not a surprise. The problem is they will have to tax their residents and, of course, they sell their low/no taxes as an incentive. Maybe FEMA could become a lending agency to help out when a storm is as crazy as they were this year. But, the bad news is that the storms will get more frequent and much worse as they ignore global warming (you can't say those words in FL). I aim not talking about just the SE. I am talking about all 50 states.
I am in support of changes that have to be made. What I am suggesting would directly affect me. We all know that one knee replacement will use up the meager amount paid into Medicare. Social Security needs to support those who did not make much when they worked. Not people making $150,000 or more. The average SS payment is around $1500. Anyone at that level certainly didn't have discretionary cash for a 401k or IRA, if these were even available to them.There should probably be a minimum payment of $2500 which should be subsidized by high income recipients. Certainly today's workers will need to see higher deductions as their retirement costs will be much higher. Additionally, SS deductions should go all the way up like Medicare does. As for Elon and Don, they just want to screw the poorest among us so they can have more. Pathetic.
FEMA has to go ?! Are you kidding?! Many states that get hit hardest are among the poorest. AND natural disasters don't care about state boundaries. Divvying up responses to disasters by state would seriously complicate response times and capabilities. You need to rethink this!
Planning is the essence of their response. Unfortunately, those "poorest" states will have to have really high income taxes. Every state should be self insured. No natural disasters are a "surprise". We know they are coming. CA has fires and floods, MN has tornadoes and floods, FL has hurricanes. The list goes on and on.
Mike, you have taxation reversed. If taxes were equitable, we would have sufficient funds to operate all our social programs with the benefit of having a more equal society. When taxes should’ve been raised on the ultra rich Bush had Trump gave them tax breaks. Everyone should pay their fair share.
I agree. Take Reagan, Bush, Trump tax cuts away and we probably have a balanced budget. But subsidizing states is not the way to a "fair share". States like LA, FL, NC, SC, GA get far more from the feds than they pay in. In some cases almost 3:1. FEMA is just another welfare program for them. They need to create income through a state income tax or high property taxes to cover the costs for disaster recovery.
They stop money influx, thus giving working people and businesses a tax cuts, while they keep those on the program currently until the fund runs dry, then too bad, we told you it was a bad program.
They keep their promise to not take away at first from those on the programs, and they give tax cuts to everyone else.
Mike, FEMA was created to fill a gap in capabilities that states couldn't fill when responding to natural disasters. It has helped communities recover from disasters and become more resilient. Its job is complex and evolving as science and society gain a better understanding of the severe risks that we face in different geographic and different climate conditions. FEMA is expensive, but it has helped tens of millions of people stay in middle class after experiencing disasters that have taken 100% of what they owned due to floods, winds and fires. Most of these disasters span two or more states. Most disasters are not foreseen by states because states' focus is necessarily local and not regional. Would you have those millions of disaster victims languish in poverty and rheteby reduce our national GDP enough, to the point of your wallet feeling it?
To me, it's obvious you don't know the limits of your knowledge.
Assuming that states don't foresee disasters is ridiculous. Of course FL knows they will have hurricanes every year. They may not attribute the increased frequency and intensity to global warming but they know things won't get better. CA knows they will have fires and mud slides and floods. Again, they know these occurrences will not get better in the future. MN has tornadoes and floods, same thing; it won't get better.
Sure FEMA has been an effective welfare program where states refuse to tax their residents sufficiently to cover these events. I am sorry for people who buy a trailer in an area that is a flood plain or a target for hurricanes or tornadoes.
Maybe FEMA could be a lending agency for those who are needy?
I have saved the multiple warnings from 98% and others of how it could/will be…I understand fear tactics have been used to tire, confuse, and throw us a tizzy, but I moved years to remote/self sufficient as possible …plan B ya know. *Let’s hope it works. * Well …it may be about to come full circle and reality ..trust gone, reality replaced with lies proven with little to no consequences but plenty of delay.
I will likely by then have closed all accounts FB, donations, subscriptions.
People with too much unaccountable power tend to become bullies (corrupt). Any precedents in history (yup)? Democratic power attempts to make power accountable. That's what regulation is. There can be bad regulation, even malicious regulation (think of "Jim Crow" laws) but law keeps society civilized.
Those (in every society) who want to dominate and exploit people, to impose their own will if they can, fight boundaries and accountability tooth and nail. It the foreign films I like to watch are any guide, bullies emerge in childhood worldwide, and some people admire that. Successful liberators are often subject to attack and assassination. Some seem to live to subjugate others if they can. It's a reoccurring theme throughout history with a very ugly wake of victims.
"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is not democracy."
My bully theory about the election is this: Trump is a thug, living by thug rules; loyalty is a must, never admit to being wrong or wrongdoing, kindness is weakness, lying is fine as long as it keeps you in power, revenge is key, and snitches get stitches. Many Americans follow these rules, hoping that it gets them money and power, possibly because some of them have had to live under thug rules in their own communities. Some of these people run large corporations, where profit is more important than anything else. Maybe keeping this in mind will help us figure a way out of this mess. Of course, not all in MAGA , or whoever voted for Trump are thugs, many are just drastically misguided and misinformed. So, how do we reinstate democracy, rule of law, ethics, civil rights, common sense, facts, truth rather than bias in journalism, a system of checks and balances that works, separation of church and state? How can we take care of those unable to earn a wage; our children, some of our disabled, our elderly? How can we save the planet? What is our playbook, our strategy? I don't have answers, but I do believe we can fix what's broken. I have come to know that boycotting can be a powerful tool. We can continue to teach that kindness is a gentle strength, and teach critical thinking skills. We can stand up for what moves us toward equality. We can expose corruption. What else do we have? Ideas, anyone?
Here is an idea. Find the people who don't believe that the Democratic Party is there for them and offer them something. Not political philosophies. Offer them money so they can survive and then thrive, pay taxes, raise families. Restore the "American Dream".
Here's a campaign slogan:
"If you work full time, "you" are entitled to decent housing, clean water, adequate food, healthcare and education. Then "you" take it from there. A baseline of a reasonable existence - with a level playing field. The cream will rise to the top as the education kicks in. Or not. At the very least we, as the "People's Party", need to alleviate the suffering.
Bill, you just spoke the words of Frances Perkins, the architect of the New Deal: “The people are what matter to government, and a government should aim to provide the means by which all the people under its jurisdiction can access the best possible life.” Some call it pragmatic capitalism.
I would suggest we take our letter writing abilities to those we elected to stand up for our values and organize in groups and communities to reverse the impact of the decisions of the uninformed and the likes of the Scrambled Egg and his cohort to use the laws we still have against corruption.
For at least 50 years our country has had a declining middle class & growing population who are working poor. Blockbuster films & celebrity worship are our bread & circuses. All attempts to change the direction will help. So good to see positive ideas!
Republicans did an excellent job of gutting unions which were the backbone of the middle class. Once unions were busted, white collar compensation also cratered.
Trump told us he would bring down our government—the “deep state.” America either didn’t believe him or didn’t care. His first step in the process is to appoint crackpots in charge of our institutions. His second step will be to destroy our safety net. There are already plans afoot to destroy Medicaid. Surely, Obama Care is next. If the government can survive for two more years, we may have a chance to begin reconstruction.
"This was digital demotivation, something that I have seen and studied in other settings. I was supposed to be driven towards indifference, towards not doing anything, towards not voting. I was being nudged by a phantom....This time the oligarch was Elon Musk, and this time the demotivational messages were deceptive to an even higher degree: they were presented as Harris campaign ads."
So here we are. Watch Simon Rosenberg's excellent discussions with 3 other titans of American politics Rick Wilson, Joe Trippe and Stuart Stevens. They are discussing what happened, seem to be scratching their heads on what's next and are determined to do what they can to counteract this incoming Administration.
The number of core MAGA voters could not have won this election. Something else not seen before happened. There was massive propaganda.
Why haven't the pundits addressed Russian interference? Trump spread the big lie. His Jan 6 message was "stop the steal" This time, he apparently, with Musk's and Russkie help, performed a steal. Musk said it would be easy.
If voters were wary of the "other" it was because Russia and a complying media and Republican proaganda targeted visceral voters. To me the "other" is Russia.
The FBI said in a statement it was aware of the threats, many of which originated from Russian email domains, but the agency also downplayed their risk. “None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far,” the statement said.
Hartmann elsewhere cited and interviewed Stephen Spoonamore, who was CEO or CTO at seven high technology firms including two that specialized in hacking and counter-hacking operations. He wrote a memo alleging that to "a near certainty" the results have been changed at a scale which reversed the election. He recommends a hand recount to most likely require reversal. He cites to a letter from 7 experts in computer science who go into detail. https://freespeechforpeople.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/letter-to-vp-harris-111324.pdf
I don't think Spoonamore knows jack about law. Many of the acts alleged may be crimes -- either state and/or federal.
Every other state has similar provisions. AZ and NV apparently aberrant...that may be enough. But note that Greg Palast also says 2.7 million votes are missing.
The requirements for TROs are usually iminent and imediate threats..
We had Consitutional crises before...Bush v Gore. A civil war.
I read the piece that was linked to. Here's my problem. I need to see examples. It's all very well to talk about that there were videos produced that were negative about Harris but they were produced as though they were part of the Harris campaign. But I need to see an example. Or two. It's not that I don't believe it but I just Need to see an example. Or two.
Yes, Patricia, we cannot fall prey to Giuliani’s contention that they “just know” there was fraud in the 2020 election, giving Biden/Harris the win. Need verifiable proof, tho any that can be documented will likely come after the inauguration & who knows what actual impact that would have.
Of course, Barbara, they're "scratching their heads."
Dems long ago lost any ability they might have had to cite the humanities that could have kept them in touch with our vast working classes all betrayed by the (other) elites who off-shored their jobs by the tens of millions.
But Dems liked their status quo where they could remain totally out of touch from the betrayed working classes.
Honestly Phil I doubt a whole lot of people who worked extremely hard to elect the Harris/Walz ticket are open to Democratic Party critiques right now.
Let people rest. To continue to relitigate the Biden Administration at this time appears inelegant.
Quite true. But what did we offer the struggling average hard working families who have checked out of the system? Why couldn't we motivate 10 or 20 million of the 90 plus million who did not vote?
Because we spent a lot of time on political philosophies and social justice (I'm a big fan of that) but very little time offering concrete help - that means MONEY for those millions who are desperately trying to just get by.
Bill, I agree with your premise, but not your conclusion. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I will say (write) again, we can blame disaffected voters on gerrymandering and the Electoral College. If one believes one's vote doesn't count, one is not motivated to stand in line and vote.
I'm not a news nerd, but I paid considerable attention to the election. Harris/Walz devoted 99%-plus of their attention to the "battleground states," so named because they were the only states that mattered with respect to Electoral College votes. Other states' precincts are so severely gerrymandered, they are deemed "red" or "blue" before the first vote is ever cast. Why speak when your voice is being silenced by the System?
Everything is too bad now. We have a president who is a pig and his piglets are hungry to transform our democracy into whatever the want without guardrails. They were I’ll destroy more guardrails as quickly as possible. The carnage is coming soon and I can hardly stand to watch.
More than Fox. Fox + social media, or soc media +??? I think Fox got wise. Just watch what is trending on social and run the entertainment ‘news’ of what is trending highest, even if it’s mostly bots.
I don’t know that Fox Propaganda Network got wise so much as that they were fined three quarters of a billion dollars for lying about Dominion voting machines. That sort of hit stings, and calls for more subtle subterfuge.
I agree, social media and Russian skulduggery have serious negative impacts on American democracy. Not to mention gerrymandering, voter suppression and so on.
Constantly bombarded by ads based on LIES about VP Harris!
At one rally trump ranted that ‘women locked themselves in the house at night, because immigrant rapists allegedly freed by Harris roamed their streets’!!
This coming from a creature who is a convicted sexual predator himself! Yet they voted for him!
You wrote “ At one rally trump ranted that ‘women locked themselves in the house at night, because immigrant rapists allegedly freed by Harris roamed their streets’!!
This coming from a creature who is a convicted sexual predator himself! Yet they voted for him!”
One small but meaningful speck of silver lining on the enormous black storm cloud over America that is the coming Trump presidency, is that Matt Gaetz will NOT become the Attorney General.
And mot of them couldn't red and comprehend anything about it if you gave it to them. Just make sure the Stupor Bowl is played in January and they have March Madness in the spring, and they'll be happy.
“Stupor Bowl”….love it! As I have posted before, the 2006 movie—now a cult classic—Idiocracy, should be played on rotation on the TeeVee for the next 4 years (at least). Who knew it would be so prescient!
So now it’s a big shoulda woulda coulda for the people who didn’t bother voting or even the ones who voted for him— just wait until they see what his handpicked team will do and we don’t have long to wait— for those of us who are grieving this loss— if your health is good be grateful, enjoy nature when you can stay loving with your family and batten down the hatches!
Can you say right-wing propaganda? Half the country fell for the misinformation directed against Biden and Harris. There’s little doubt that, sooner or later, public outrage over what these so-called "geniuses" have in store will become loud and clear. However, if these fascists get their way, we may not even have future elections to correct the disastrous choices made by an uninformed and misled electorate.
The maga cult didn’t care, it was getting their vote! The 9 million democratic voters who sat out this election…..were led by their racism and misogyny!
The next challenge is ‘will anybody’ stop him from occupying the WH for life!!??
I remember learning about Project 2025 in April. (the short Wikipedia article, now long gone. I sent the link to every left wing news person possible. Rachael, Heather, all my left wing friends to send to their left wing friends. Here a number of times. Finally it started to catch on. It really pays not to have a TV since I was 19. I read real news. In print that I can study. TV news is there and then gone. (I guess) Not stressed in time for the election. I made sure all knew that News Max was started by a cousin to see how gullible people were (the paper addition) He is long dead now.
I fear that millions of Americans have already quit caring. I'm hoping that the next 4 years will be painful enough to wake up a few million and we can get back on a better track, but I just don't know. I'm not quitting though.
I didn’t see one political blurb that said that chump was a major supporter of P2025. Nobody disputed Fox, some said Democracy was at risk, but nobody said your SS and Medicare will be at risk. That’s a bit more personal to most. Messaging was mostly about abortion.
Thank goodness for the odd tidbit of good news (e.g. Biden's judicial appointments getting through). No more Delta flights for me -- too scary considering they are so excited about being deregulated. And as someone with family that must be vetted periodically for security clearances - the skirting of such similar requirements for these wackos is mindbendingly insane.
Ditto on the arrogance of the Delta airlines executive. How many Boeing accidents did we need to see? All those close calls? There’s a reason for regulations. Safety anyone? The arrogance is appalling.
Malignant narcissism has always been a component of human nature and human societies from way back, and it often becomes institutionalized; racism, sexism, royalty, caste systems, etc. Has this excess in our nature not been a blight on the history and fulfillment of our species? Isn't harming others for personal gain exact what evil is all about? Might it not kill us all?
"the devil hath power To assume a pleasing shape;" - Hamlet
We can’t forget Victor’s influence on the administration. He is the right wing hero. But I am afraid that many Trump voters are fine with a Christian-Nationalist dictator.
I”m flying Delta twice in the coming weeks. I”ll be letting the staff know how I feel about their CEO. And it may be my last Delta flight until Bastien resigns.
Basically, the airlines are pissed because they will be answerable to their customers when they screw up flights. A move (thanks Pete B!) that is exceedingly popular with the public. Yet another gotcha for those who think they'll be "better off" with the Felon in Chief in office.
Many years ago I got stranded midway between a long distance US flight and was given a nice hotel room and a fee breakfast. Years later, post Reagan, it happened again. This time time I got a discount coupon for a stay at selected motels and no other help. I called all the :"discount" places and they were unpleasantly expensive, even with the discount. I called around and found a place much cheaper and nearer the airport. On the jitney bus over to the nice enough motel it seemed my fellow passengers mostly or all were in airline uniforms. It was a place where airline employees seemed to stay.
In general I notice a trend toward companies dumping as much responsibility and risk onto customers as possible, from non-existent customer service to DIY checkout lanes.
I’m thinking their glee comes from the actions Lina Khan has taken to stop their making $$ on extraneous activities, like making them refund your ticket price if a flight is cancelled. I recognize there may be other extra sources of income they have counted on as well.
Well, of course, a CEO of a large airline is so happy that Biden regulations put in place will be, in fact, put to rest. Forget about their passengers safety. Their purse gets bigger and bigger. Speaking of bigger…the debacle surrounding Matt Gaetz and the release of the report is stalled until 12/5. Lawrence O’Donnell said tonight that he thinks one, maybe two Republicans will side with the Dems to release it. If the House won’t do it, Amy Klobuchar mentioned that the Senate will demand to see the report. Making Gaetz the AG should make every man, woman, and child shudder. The good news is that the Dems are going full-force in approving judicial nominations. We have over 200 approved and the Senate hopes to make it with 25 more.
That sounds hopeful, but in that regard, I believe the unqualified candidates to be appointed to the Cabinet are a smoke screen to run outthe clock before they take full control to dismantle the government itself. I wrote this comment to Ben Meiselas' interview of Congressman Raja Krishnamoorth a few hours ago :
We know all that, sir. The issue is the CLEAR and Present Danger that exists at this moment to dismantle our government and eliminate the Constitution that many thousands of us over the years have sworn to "PROTECT AGAINST ALL ENEMIES, FOREIGN and DOMESTIC WITH OUR LIVES"!
It is the responsibility of our dear POTUS, as Comander-in-Chief, to step in NOW and arrest all these traitorous thugs whose aim is to destroy our nation for the benefit of Vladimir Putin, our known enemy.
That is what they scream loudly is their intention. WHAT GIVES? SCOTUS gives him full permission to carry out an official act, legal or not. I believe saving our Nation from Domestic enemies is as legal as from a foriegn attack. Does a shooting war have to happen first? 1860 is not that long ago.
With the aid and encouragement of Hitler, the Republican Party attempted a coup to overthrow our government in 1939. Senate Majority Leader Robert Taft and several others were caught in action and indicted. It was only the mistrial that set them free to try again. They are still at it.Do we need any more than Jan. 6, 2021 to know that these people attempted a coup once again.
I am so disappointed in the Biden administration, willingly turning over our Democracy to thugs who are bankrolled by Putin.
When we learned (from the WALL STREET JOURNAL no less!!) a month before the election that Elon Musk has been in contact with Putin since 2022 (when Musk acquired Twitter) I thought that news would be "STOP THE PRESSES". But no one even reported on it. And Musk retains his security clearance with our government.
God help us.
We are losing the battle and there is no one coming to save us.
Donald Trump was elected. Joe Biden isn't "turning over" anything nor is he responsible for the perfidy of the media or the brainwashed cult of the "electorate". Biden did a magnificent job and he "owes" us nothing more. We have to take responsibility for our own actions and decisions regarding how we move forward from this.
You wrote “ Well, of course, a CEO of a large airline is so happy that Biden regulations put in place will be, in fact, put to rest. Forget about their passengers safety.”
Recall the holy writ of Saint Milton Friedman: Maximizing corporate shareholder value trumps everything else, period.
a confidant of St. Reagan. His thesis was that corporations have a duty to be as greedy and ruthless as possible; and somehow the public bought it. The rape of India by the East India Company would seem a fitting precedent. Yet despite a wave of public-serving regulations by and for the people in the early to mid 20th Century, American corporations were doing just fine.
What changed after Reagan was the notion that with few exceptions, activities related the making of profit should be uniquely exempt from the duties we otherwise share as citizens of a self-regulating nation , and that has given us a culture increasingly shaped by oligarchs. and resulting in increasingly threatening consequences, such as climate change, or inadequately vetted planes falling out of the sky.
Your comment gets to the heart of the problem. IMHO, only aggressive large scale boycotts of the oligarchs' business interests will have a meaningful impact on their actions. This will require the emergence of enlightened messianic leadership. This forum should take the lead in identifying the best candidates.
I’m not sure it’s the safety regs Delta is as gleeful about. It’s the protections for customers around hidden fees and having to compensate fliers whose flights are disrupted, cancelled, etc.
Bastian won't be happy for too long. Once the Trump Recession/Depression hits (and that's what we need to call it), the airlines will virtually cease to exist. No one will be able to afford to fly. The world will end up like the movie Elysium.
Biden is still in office. Biden should take steps iIF anymore are needed to formally confirm the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) as the 28th Amendment to our Constitution.
I am an Active ABA member & last August our House of Delegates formally passed a resolution declaring the ERA is already the 28th Amendment. Long time since Seneca.
HCR is right about the fact that 2 Biden Judges were appointed to the Federal bench today. Ted Cruz & another R Senator were absent. No word on whether Cruz went to Cancun for a traditional Thanksgiving or why he was a No-Show at the Senate hearing.
"There's a crack in everything that's how the light gets in."
SAT12, he has been one of my faves since his first album (still have it!) came out in 1967. Having reached solid senior citizen status @ 75, one of my now favorite lines is “I ache in the places where I used to play”….🤪
Well I have written two emails to VP Harris and requested that the government do a forensic investigation into election interference. I'm not as educated as most of you wonderful substackers, but I am certain that the election was hacked and we need to do all we can to make sure these people are not appointed, and if possible, arrested for treason. Heather, is there such a possibility in history please? Anyone?
Obviously the election was RIGGED. Two can play at this game. I'm drawing up my slate of alternate electors right now. Anybody want to be an elector? Apparently there's no penalty.
Obviously the election was RIGGED. Two can play at this game. I'm drawing up my slate of alternate electors right now. Anybody want to be an elector? Apparently there's no penalty.
No conclusion to Heather's piece today. At the end, Biden makes a bit of lame duck progress.
But the MAGA convicted criminal makes much more "progress" pushing priorities for the U.S.'s most nihilist, dark money billionaires who aim to dismantle all federal limits to their predations.
Good of Heather today that she doesn't laugh at all at the obvious clown show the convicted criminal puts on as he names sexual deviants, obvious incompetents, and clueless TV stars to run his bureaucracy. Sure, it may deserve some laughs -- they'll all mutually only damage each other, our Keystone Cops of 100 years later.
But good of Heather not to laugh. The clown show is window dressing. The worst U.S. billionaires now really run the show -- they all in cahoots with all the world's worst oligarchs, murderers, dictators.
A wise old Italian lady, whose blog I read, has likened the Trump line-up to a bunch of second-rate actors from Casting Central - the goody, the baddy, and so on through the range.
P.S. I've just seen that same thought expressed by two well-known American commentators - one mentioned "central casting", so that it looks as though everybody came from Fox News, the other said that the White House is going to look like a reality TV set. Jennifer Rubin was particularly pungent.
Your first two sentences are spot on. I kept reading through Heather's essay looking for a ray of hope, or at least a punchy conclusion. 'Twas not to be.
I see more than a ray of hope because what happens next largely depends on us. Trump got less than 50% of the popular vote and not everyone who voted for him is a hardcore MAGAt. If all of us refuse to bend the knee, but simply assert that we are also Americans and have the same rights as the MAGAts do, they haven't a prayer.
If, on the other hand, we all act like Jeff Bezos, then we are done. The choice is ours. I have made mine.
See my comment above to Marlene, Phil. This clown show is the distraction to run out the clock before the treasonous traitors can be stopped right now by POTUS.
Sorry, Ransom, but unless we can verify Putin's hacking of votes, MAGA won.
The American people have had it with democracy. More than those who love the old republic, the ever-aspiring democracy, more have attended schools that taught them only to love vulgarity, hate, and the wildest of lies mixed in with plenty of "bing-bing-boing-bong" even more vulgar "entertainment."
Dems might have responded with reference to our humanities, to see, succor the working classes all abandoned by other elites who did tens of millions of offshoring of their jobs. Might have. But Dems went to similar schools, and never learned any humanities to get in touch with, stay in touch with any non-elites.
So it was all just forever-forever-forever fundraising for them. And lots of celebrities.
Trust Fund babies. Great example of why we need heavy inheritance tax laws. Giving over the wealth of a nation to those because of birth is much like picking your Olympic team because their parents were athletes on the team before...Warren Buffet.
Sadly, he and most all of the billionaire club have done little to protect the country.
"Trump has refused to sign the official documents required by the 2022 Presidential Transition Act. Those documents mandate ethics commitments and require the incoming president to disclose private donations. They also limit those donations. Without the paperwork, Trump appointees cannot start the process of getting security clearances through the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the team says it is planning to do its own vetting of its candidates instead."
Trump may have beaten Kamala Harris, but he did not "beat" the United States government.
If I were required by the organization I had been chosen to lead to follow an official rule (in this case the 2022 Presidential Transition Act) and refused to do so, the existing leadership of the organization would be within its rights to tear up my employment contract.
I am reminded of how disgustingly friendly Joe Biden was when Trump met with him at the White House recently. That fit the pattern of Democrats playing "nice" while Republicans "come prepared for a knife fight". We saw this behavior in how Al Gore and his team behaved during the 2000 Florida recount.
If I could wave a magic wand, I would have current President Joe Biden - since he is still in a fashion "running the country" - declare Trump has violated the terms of employment by the US government and deny him his "employment contract".
PS I think we can all acknowledge that if the roles had been reversed Trump WOULD do this. (ref: January 6th).
I know it's foolish to think of Joe Biden playing hardball, but one can always dream.
Well, but 'the existing leadership' in this case is not the employer/hirer, and has no such powers. They could refuse to do a peaceful transition of power, I suppose, but, you know, that's been tried... In any case, being truculant around Trump instead of pleasant would just be childish.
How do you know “they have no such powers”? Has this theory been tested? Are you saying “defending the Constitution from domestic enemies” doesn’t give Biden the power to use any non-violent means at his disposal to save American democracy from Trump?
What non-violent, legal, means do you thing Biden (or anyone) have to keep a duly elected president-elect from assuming the office? Can't even impeach him until he's already in the White House. Arrest him for lying (about everything)? This new transition ethics thing isn't even enforceable until he assumes office without following it!
It’s simple. A presidential declaration! A national address! Think creatively, my friend. This is a goddamn national emergency. And PS the Democrats were quick to eject Al Franken from the Senate. That’s the only time they’ve ever displayed the kind of ruthlessness they need to display now to save our country!
I wonder, Pax, if this Congress had any balls (metaphorically for female reps)/spine, might they not use this fact to begin, yet again, impeachment proceedings? Maybe this time McConnell, in his last term before retirement, would give the nod to his party to do so. But then again, that would just give us Vance as POTUS….frying pan or fire…which to choose?
I posit, as sitting VP, she has constraints on any unilateral action that could be taken, unless it’s in regards to specifics of the election, like requesting recounts, etc. Tho, as I understand it, there are requirements/limitations around that process as well. We are so used to TFFFG and his acolytes screaming & ranting about “stolen, rigged, faked & illegal” outcomes (or just saying it loudly & repeatedly—for YEARS—to “bend” the narrative) that we don’t recognize “normal” behavior any more!!!
Someone on You Tube(I think)suggested that Pres Biden resign making VP Harris the 47th President so that trumpers would have to burn all their #47 shite. Now that is what I call genius. If only the Real Dark Brandon would stand up and do that.
Heather, I am so glad I am at the ending years of my life rather than the beginning or middle years. We are facing a nightmare of unbelievable times. This was a hard letter to read but read them we must in order to learn the truth. What will this country be like as my young great grandsons grow into adulthood? Will my son, in remission from multiple myeloma, lose his insurance? And will I lose my Social Security benefits and Medicare? I can no longer sleep without taking a sleeping pill or I will worry all night long.
I fear this too, Ruth. I am glad I am now an old broad well past reproductive years, but depend on SS/MediCare & pension to survive, so am scared they will muck with benefits. Sometimes I wake in the night shaking and can’t get back to sleep. Lol…it’s 4 in the morning as I write this & have been awake now for a couple of hours…. How I would love a night of restful, rejuvenating sleep!!!
Yes. I understand. I worry for my granddaughter but am glad to be at the ending years rather than at the beginning. I marvel at the hopefulness of those who are still bearing children!
Yes, I will likely never be a grandma now. Understandably for multiple reasons. Sad for my kids who wanted children but decided against it given the climate crisis and now this!
I don't feel I have received the satisfaction I deserve for working as hard as I did all my life, but I feel that way, too, glad knowing it won't go on forever. The nightmare we are facing was behind the scenes all along, the hypocrisy, lies & abuse have caught up. I'm not downplaying the very real threats we face, but I hope, somehow, through this we can help young people claim their right to life in very real ways. It's been too long. I hope we can find rest, not be consumed by worry, & be of some comfort in such uncertainty. It's terrifying to see what is being done & not being able to control it, but I think it's valuable to validate that what we're witnessing is very wrong & that we are on the side of those coming up in it. There's are so many people blaming the very people being most hurt, we can show we know there is better, even if we don't have all the answers to fixing it. I wish for peace & encouragement for us. Every day we're still here is for good reason & the power of our caring will carry on. THAT'S real legacy, greater than any dynasty. 💖
And I have friends that keep telling me don’t worry. It’s only for four years. I don’t know the longer. I live the more I’d like to move from this country.
The U.S. with its rule by law modeled democracy for a world with many countries following that example.
Gone soon. The Clarence court killed the main principle of no one above the law. Refused to honor let alone read the Constitution's Article 14, section three expressly forbidding any insurrectionist criminal from holding public office. Expressly ruled that a monarch newly trump the Constitution. The U.S. didn't just get a felon at the top, but a self-centered madman determined to destroy all the institutions that had held together the republic.
And then gone, too, anyone in the world to hold together the military alliances that protected democracies.
Totally triumphant soon the world's worst in totalitarian league with the U.S. billionaire worst.
The effect on the world is and will be horrific, Phil, but it does matter very much to me that I now can choose to live in a place where the children in our family don't have to endure active shooter drills. Where I as a woman feel safer on the street than I ever have in my life because men here don't have guns. Where women have bodily autonomy, protected by law and public support. Where everyone has public health care, where young people go to college for free and the level of higher education is the highest in Europe. Where religion isn't a cancer. Where everyone I meet understands the insanity of what the US has just done. It matters. It's keeping me sane. The whole world didn't make this atrocious choice. The US did.
I’ve had a hankering for New Zealand since the mid-60’s. Knew someone who taught grade school there for a time before returning to the U.S. Also, in the late 60’s my then husband and I picked up a couple of young women from NZ who were backpacking around the USA & we gave them food & shelter for a few days…was wonderful getting to be acquainted with them & they offered to return the hospitality should be ever be “down under”. My grandmother also traveled there, a cruise ship stop over (the old timey ships, not the floating Las Vegas ones of today), and was really impressed.
Barbara, it is the most fabulous place. My husband and I did a two-month writing residence on the South Island, the Otago Peninsula. We hung out on beaches with sea lions and penguins. We walked and bused everywhere. The people are amazing. Art and culture really matter. It's stunningly gorgeous in a mythic way. Make it happen!
I live in a country (Japan) which has all the qualities you seek.
Go figure. 90 years ago it was just entering its own fascist madness. All that reversed since the mass death trip of WWII, but a serious bit of the old patriarchy remains, a very new, un-Japanese wealth gap is growing, and the schools have just gone bonkers for everything so U.S. standardized test oriented that no humanities remain in any schools (like current black hole U.S. education).
But again, yours above most well-put, each sentence aptly stronger and stronger as you near your oh-so-fitting three-word conclusion.
Phil, I know you're a fellow expat and humanitarian! That 90 year perspective on Japan is important, and you're right about the dangers that every country has to be vigilant about now and ever.
My new girlfriend and I are thinking along the same lines. We could do it but she has two dogs and I have 7 cats. Go figure how this is going to work out.
Seven cats! We have two and they feel like a hundred. I guess with your name it was inevitable (or an alias...) I brought my cat over from California and it's not easy but it is doable. No quarantine period, so there's that. Maybe Canada for you, and you could drive them in a convoy?
I can travel to far off lands so I don’t have to watch a steady diet of the destruction that tRump will visit upon our country. It would be worth it to not have to be around to see this “show”.
I hope all your US dollars are safely in country and exchanged for hour currency. When our economy tanks our once heralded dollars will be worth what the ruble is currently.
Yes I have heard the same; "don't worry he'll be gone in 4 years", and even if it were true, 4 more years of trump is a very, very, long time. Voters have rewarded his bad behavior by giving him 4 more years to get rid of any opposition to him staying in power. I am so... not looking forward to witnessing that.
Trump may very well be gone in four years (or sooner) but this MAGA stuff is no longer just Trump's show. It is something that will be with us far after he has gone to his reward.
Naziism didn't die with Hitler in the bunker in Berlin. Racism didn't magically disappear at Appomattox.
There is the problem. Everyone has been conditioned to believe we can just vote him and his cronies out. Never mind the statement "vote this time and you won't have to vote anymore. "
I’m not sure why, Rickey, but your comment had me searching for this cover of the song The Sound Of Silence….puts a different perspective on it & is compelling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4
Disturbed (the band) has an even more chilling, raw, cover of it as well. Been awhile since I’d stumbled over it on YouTube and thought “whoa and wow!”
We all know that saying it doesn't make it so. The problem is that many only listen to one source of information. How long will it take for them to realize that they, too, are affected by the reality of the mayhem Trump and his minions are intent on causing?
I guess, BE, to put it succinctly “don’t worry he’ll be gone in 4 years…..well, so might our country”. We’ll see if Americans can come together, stand strong, and resist this with all we’ve got. 🗽🇺🇸
It’s not a simple thing to get a residency permit in another country. In Canada it takes several years to even know if you will be accepted. And you need to apply from your country of origin. Some folks think it would be better to reside in Mexico — well, Mexico’s government is even more corrupt than Trump’s will be. Plus there are the drug cartels that wield a huge amount of power. Not to mention crumbling infrastructure.
Everyone talks of leaving, but no one actualky ever does. You are correct most countries require you to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars, speak their language and have a degree in a field they are in need of. No free phones, free medical, free housing, free meals, and thousands in spending money when you illegally enter their countries.
Janis, I recently saw an article about some cruise ship lines offering 2, 3 & even 4 yr travel “packages” for those who would rather be on the high seas and ports of call than in the States…..
What agency enforces the Presidential Transition Act? Without FBI vetting, signed documents, and security clearances, Trump's people shouldn't be installed. He shouldn't be getting daily security briefings now, either. Enforce the law!
Two points on this scheiße show from Trump. 1st, Social Security was not funded by tax revenues but by savings collected from recipients and their employers. Second, there is no mandate, landslide, or, even, a decisive victory for Trump. Interesting vid. talking about possible problems with ballots.
Reality has no meaning for these creatures. Reality is whatever they say it is. Until real reality bites them in the butt. But when that happens, they're not the ones who will be hurt.
Well, once the Trust Fund runs out, and even before that, it really is more complicated regarding social security. The only honest position is that the current generation is being taxed to pay the retirement generation not to suffer in poverty. And then in turn they will get the same treatment! Funds extracted from workers go directly to retirees. That is the brilliance of the program. And that is exactly why it cannot be privatized as GW Bush wanted to do.
Unfortunately, that may be true, given the demographics. What may happen is that Trumps cuts social security benefits by, say, twenty per cent as a proxy for the tax rate on benefits received. Then he keeps his promise of not taxing Social Security benefits.
Well Ned, yes SS is a forced savings program. But for any of us that collect for more than a few years, we get back significantly more than we paid in. And we can’t simply raise the rate for our grandchildren. Certainly we can make contributions go all the way up like Medicare contributions. That might help a little and we can means test eligibility And we can raise Medicare premiums based on income.
While I despise Don, I think he did win decisively. Many Americans are fine with a dictatorship based on religion and nationalism. Even if it adversely effects their wallet.
Agree with much of what you say, Mike. But “win decisively” to me only means it was “decided” (determined) he won by our electoral system. As the numbers now stand, he did not crack the 50% level, so to me there is no popular “mandate”…more like he squeaked through with a popular “meh”. Pundits will spend years debating the why of it all (I have my opinion too).
By vote tally, Trump did not win decisively. In the sense that he crossed a lot of thresholds thought to be safely Democratic as well as co-winning the two Houses of Congress, then, yes, there was a decision -- thank you, Kathy Hughes -- in that.
Thanks for the article, MaryPat. Like other openly biassed reporters, Thom Hartmann presents interesting views that I take with a grain of salt. People are spooked by this election. I am lucky if l get a hundred views in a week off of a give post on social media. This one got five thousand in four days. Not my magic, obviously. The post hit a nerve.
The following is a developing plan. One way to throw monkey wrenches into the Unartful DOGErs plans might be civil suits in blue state courts seeking injunctions against the firing of Federal civil servants whose actions are essential to the health and safety of the citizens in their states. Underlying such suits is the fact that the Federal government is funded by citizens of their states, making such firing a violation of the principle of no taxation without representation. Under such circumstances, citizens could stop paying Federal taxes and give those taxes to their states so they can provide the no longer available services to their citizens. Red state citizens will be hurt, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles. And, with IRS staff cut, it will be impossible for the MAGAts running what’s left of the federal government to prosecute non-payers. There are lots of loose ends here, but I think there’s a kernel of possibility.
Governors are already getting together. (PBS NewsHour governor of Illinois interview) Governors acting in unison can represent all the democratic power we need right now.. Furthermore, as they will be acting in unchartered waters! new ideas for America's governing can be examined and proposed. If any governor is a MAGA h/she can be disinvited to be take part in their general endeavors. Along with taking on Federal benefits that get slashed by MAGA etc., there must , early on, be a statement requiring that when DJT's term of office ends, all the emergency measures taken on by individual, or pairs of states, will be reevaluated. I really like Barry Gerber's forward looking thinking. Thank you so much.
I go back to Maya Angelou, when they tell you who they are, listen. Project 2025 is here and the price of bacon was not enough reason to let “them” take over our government. And how long will it be before they admit they have screwed up and for the GOP members in Congress to stand up against them.
Over the course of the next four years, it’s likely that most of the 70+ million Trump voters will find out why the world would be better off without them.
Yeah.. they’re gonna find out.. but so fuckin’what? The rest of the world will have to suffer because of their ignorance.. I hate his supporters, god help me , but I do.
Yes. What they have unleashed will make it impossible to slow the climate-induced shrinking of livable space, which will lead to a collapse of civilization caused by competition for what’s left of it. This is what 70+ million Americans have voted for and have delivered to all of humanity (and, what is even more tragic, to all large mammals). Those 74 million American voters have, in my judgment, sacrificed their right to life. Unfortunately, we have no feasible way to rid ourselves of them, so we’re all stuck with the consequences of their malfeasance.
They are all going to heaven at the end of the day (so they think), so there is that ... I'm not sure if the marjorie taylor greene supporters (I think it is fitting that copy and paste didn't capitalize) believe in heaven or are just happy to pull others who do along for the ride.
Don't think for once despite the above paragraph I believe in eternal life. I've got no fracking clue, but probably consciousness does not live on after death. We need to prioritize the life that we have, in the universe that we have.
I feel the same way. And yes -- it is not only this country but the entire world that will suffer. And apparently all developed nations have turned to the right wing politicians who promise "they alone can fix it" (see: Argentina)
They are not in power to “prove” anything to people but to carry over the mandates of white supremacy evangelicals and oligarchs. This is what Project 2025 is all about. Check current life for Argentinians. When Musk said there would be “hardship” nobody translated those hardships into the everyday life of regular citizens.
I'm wondering what else President Biden can do now, since, after all, he has absolute immunity, to further protect us? Can he add 5 more Justices to the court, since the Senate is working with him? And/or does he need to scuttle some of the mechanisms (I have no idea what these would be) to prevent Trump/Russia from getting their hands on them? Why has no one invoked the 14th amendment? I have so many questions. I'm convinced the airlines are all pretty corrupt when it comes to ripping us off. But if they don't want safety regulations, maybe they don't want passengers. People talk about staging another march in January, but it seems like a general strike might be more effective. But back to the main point, what else should we ask Biden to do now, and what else CAN he do to safeguard the Constitution, the Republic, our citizens, and our allies?
Bloodshed? Hmm. He's itching to make us look like we're the ones inciting violence, which he could manipulate by having infiltrators join a peaceful march. A strike is passive resistance. But in terms of bloodshed and mayhem, over a million US citizens died of Covid during his last term in office. He put children in cages. Nancy Pelosi's husband was attacked with a hammer by one of his lunatics. Now women are dying because they can't get medical treatment after miscarriages. Now, already. And he promises mass deportation and the destruction of most of the departments of our government, firing government workers, releasing the J6 convicts, and taking vengeance on his enemies with the blessing of the Supreme Court. I don't think sitting back to watch will prevent people from being hurt, rounded up and incarcerated, deported or disappeared. Standing together is an act of courage. But I don't think a march will have the same impact as a general strike. And doing nothing or "playing it safe' is capitulation. It's what the Germans did.
Slipping through the hands of Justice repeatedly, Trump's victories have made me very, very weary. I can't get my head or heart around it all. Now, there are greedy puppets galore who dance on the Constitution and decency itself.
If President Biden won’t intervene in this conspiracy to gut the Constitutional Republic and the three independent branches, he should resign and let Kamala take it on. The criminal threats of prison, firing squad and court-martial of critics and use of military against citizens engaged in peaceful protest should be proof enough—if project 2025 isn’t specific enough to show Government stifling of freedoms in the interest of theocracy and kleptocracy. Our National Security will be compromised. The voter suppression will be complete by midterms. It’s time to test the powers given to POTUS by the Supreme Court. Starting with nominating and passing more justices and pushing ethical reforms for them.
Did the President swear to protect the US from threats domestic and foreign? How is this NOT an insurrection? Over half the population has once again supported the electoral college loser.
It's too bad American voters didn't dislike Project 2025 enough or care to protect their government services enough to vote for Harris/Walz.
Understatement, Angela.
They were lied to, Angela.
They were not informed. Rather disinformed.
"forgive them for they know not what they do".
This could turn out to be the greatest fifth column operation in history. They work from St Petersburg.
If DJT is Putin's Puppet... Then Putin is succeeding Brilliantly in Damaging the U.S., and Europe... DJT will not always be with Us, but the Damage that DJT has done will persist...
Divide and conquer. Putin wins. He needent have invaded Ukraine to take it over, he just need to get tRump elected.
You said it well.
Trump told us that he had nothing to do with Project 2025. So he has no mandate to carry it out!
Trump lied. Again.
trump lies. He changes his mind more often than a baby has his diaper changed. Republican then democrat then republican. Was for abortion (even late term) now he avoids the issue by assigning it to the states. How many people has he "don't really know him"? he says he is a great advocator for the environment then destroys it with his Wall and golf courses. Trivial but how many wives and dalliances?
https://open.substack.com/pub/thomhartmann/p/are-trumps-appointees-the-trojan-b16?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=7ygy0
"Campaigning to destroy NATO; opposing aid to Ukraine; demolishing the free world’s confidence in America’s ability to keep top secret information confidential; utterly destroying our seniormost intelligence and military agencies; installing Trojan horses to lead them: Trump’s goal appears to be, to paraphrase Ron DeSantis, to “Make America Russia.”
They want to gut the country, create chaos similar to Yeltsin’s time in Russia, and steal the country blind, plus takeover companies and industries at their pleasure. Forget the unelected bureaucrats. What about Elon and Vivek? Who elected them to make decisions.?!
In one election the undoing of the USA. Thanks to all you who voted for this mess. You will have successed in, among othe issues, keeping a trans from using the bathroom of their choice. Good going Americans, I hope you are happy now.
Make Russia Great Again
It made me sick reading this!
My thoughts exactly.
Remind me never to fly Delta again (not that I'll have the money to take a plane trip anytime soon).
The goal of Putin and Trump and the Heritage Foundation which is filled with Christian Nationalists, is to destroy the USA. If you want to understand more about the CNs, I recommend you read Andra Watkins' Substack. https://substack.com/@andrawatkins?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-page
I've seen allegations of Putin's techies having hacked pro-orange felon votes at the top of ballots which Musk provided to them -- with no down-ballot voting on them at all.
Have also seen allegations of some millions of Dem inner city (black) votes having been suppressed as illegitimate, set aside as provisional, then unceremoniously dumped.
That is entirely believable. Why the silence about the obvious potential for enormous election fraud from the Democrats ? The only reason that seems acceptable is that the Intelligence services reports argued that the potential loss of life and US state cohesion from a bloody uncontrollable insurgent civil war breaking out when Trump lost was thought to be a greater threat than the slow burn loss of life and US state cohesion when he was returned. I am hoping that this is what is called a Golden Bridge event. Allowing your mortal enemies an acceptable retreat via a seeming gain. If not, than Kruschev and his loyalists have indeed played a blinder that will go down in history as one of the greatest and most successful Intelligence operations in modern history. The political capture of the USA without a shot being fired.
Stephen Spoonamore, cyber security expert explains it all...It does seem plausible. I hope I'm not so desperate that I'm buying into a conspiracy theory.
You are buying into nonsense.
I have been following him too. Heard his interview with Thom Hartmann and then went to his SubStack You know, he blames the huge number of bullet ballots in the swing states as being invalid. And as a statistition, he has proved it. But the problem is, only Kamala Harris can ask for a recount of those states! She’s hard to get in ahold of right now, sadly. I believe that today is the last day he met. The man can be made.
Yeah, well Russia did help elect a traitor to the presidency. Let that thought marinate.
Acquiescence
Phil, might you be referring to Spoonamore's "Duty To Warn" letter? https://substack.com/inbox/post/151721941?r=1nic41&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true
Yes, JohnM.
We know the there has been a lot of voter suppression. The question to what degree did it make a difference???
Sure, but we’ll never know because the DOJ has failed us again.
So Trump is correct in wanting to abolish it unless he hsa total control?
No need to get this complicated. This is the effect of voter suppression laws that passed in Georgia and Alabama in the wake of Trump's 2020 loss and the voter roll purge in Pennsylvania this fall, as well as a bunch of last minute rule changes that did not go into effect but created confusion nonetheless. The entire question of "what did the Harris campaign/Democrats/Biden do wrong?" is predicated on the counter factual that this was a free and fair election; it was not.
Phil, I'm sure when you say "allegations" you are using the term to avoid being castrated in court for defamation or false accusation, even tho you actually watched the driver, whom we all know ram his car into the crowd. So, I would rather state the source. I just hate it when credibility of "allegations" surfaces disclosing a legitimate technicality that would arouse DOUBT as to the accusation..., thus making it appear 'trumped up' and subsequently resulting "it" being dismissed. I hate it when that happens. Newsroom love it because it gives them something to publish, promising "facts at eleven.., stay tuned". No? So, show me the gotttdammmned ballots! AND>>> please, not photo-shoped versions. The frustration-level I'm implying, surely doesn't just rest with me. Just the facts maam.., please. (Dragnet - Joe Friday, Det)
The trouble with this, other than its extreme unlikelihood, is that it is a case of fighting the last war. We need to figure out how to fight the next battle. Thinking about mistakes we made in the last battle will be useful. Grasping at straws to say that those mistakes did not make a difference won't.
Why—other than that you find it pleasing—would you believe such charges any more that you believed Trump’s allegations of vote-rigging?
If you read that "Duty to Warn" letter, it reports that there is enough of an anomaly in one key area (votes on 600,000 ballots in key swing states that push the margin of victory past the recount threshold; these votes list only a vote for Trump; no other candidate, office, measure, etc.)
I would call that "compelling evidence" that any of tfg's cries of fraud lacked.
Read Robert Hubbell on Today's Edition (Substack) for an effective rebuttal.
Ally, why did Kamala folod like a cheap card table? Did she know something the rest of us didn't?
I notice a number of trolls and bots on here defending the count, which is expected. The fact that "the ballot counting machines were not connected to the internet is not necessarily true. There was lots of time between 2020 and 2024 to change as Musk said one line of code.
Call it what ever want it. I'll call it bullshit.
As others have noted, the race was about race. That seems to be all that most Trump voters cared about, enough so, to win him a plurality, and the election, with the help of the rural, depopulated, and small state bias inherent in the Electoral College system provided for by the Constitution. It wasn’t about the economy. It wasn’t about Project 2025. It was not even about Leadership in any positive sense. There is no question but that the Democratic Party and its candidates focus their appeal, or at least are seen to, on Americas increasingly urban multiethnic, tolerant, contented and homogenous society. Like Dillinger said, ‘It’s where the voters are’. Trump played on this and focused his appeal on the opposite. And he won, with Pennsylvania being the most glaring example of strategic failure for Kamala Harris. As Kremlin experts understand, racism is alive and well in America. There is no reason not to expect it to be. It is an enduring aspect of human social behavior. What Trump has done, with the help of the likes of Ron DeSantos, is to legitimize racism once again. It is ok for American society once again to think and act in these terms. Why ? Because everyone’s neighbor is doing it, but no one can be stopped from doing it, because laws and rules have been passed declaring it dead. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris went to north Philadelphia to hold a rally that attracted thousands from the neighborhood, and Trump went to Hersey where few gathered to listen to him. And then proceeded to insult Philadelphia, and New York, and Bridgeport, and Newark, and Baltimore, and urban America generally, at Madison Square Garden, that architectural travesty and disgrace to the Nation that should be torn down. But I digress.
1992, black journalist Joseph Boyce, " at one time the last thing anyone wanted to be called was a racist, whether you were or not. It was a mark to be avoided. And today I don't think people really care that much, some of them, you know. They'll say, ' yeah, I'm a racist, so what, so what are you going to do about it?'"
I think this reductionist view misses the point. Lots of data out there to disprove that latent racism moved the election to the orange side. There is more to it, for one we need to figure out how to message to people who are not interested in politics.
Trump apparently did that.
And I’m criticized for being angry because after all, it was our side that didn’t rise to the occasion and prevent this monster from destroy everything good in America. And when I suggest that the last chance to save America is to encourage or hope the good generals who still obey the constitution temporarily suspends it and declare a military coup in order to preserve the original concept of the constitution. And I’m criticized for being an asshole. Go ahead, call me an asshole. You are about to be put in your place.
(From "Donald's Vanity Tantrums")
Welcome to The New Snazzy Nazi States of America
(Introducing The Goose-Step, Two-Step March)
A new dance craze is sweeping the nation called, The Goose-Step, Two-step March. This invigorating new exercise is easy to learn! First, link arms on the dance floor. As you move backward in line, turn your head to the right and lift your left leg straight up as high as it will go. Then step forward as you turn your head to the left and lift your right leg straight up in the air.
It's very similar to square dancing or line dancing. Soon the dance floor will be filled with goose-steppers. Forward, backward, round and round. If you step out of line, you are tagged, the caller detains you, interrogates you, strip searches you, and sends you off to detainment camps for disloyalty.
This new dance craze is not to be confused with serious charges of criminal activity. By the time the youngins reach the age of reason, they will be quick to form into lines upon request for impromptu Goose-Step, Two-Step Marches and other forms of family entertainment
General Milley, Where Are You?
We need Ike, sad to say
Thank you. It could be done although a radical thought. I would so easily put my faith in them then what we are about to experience.
This is what I call serious humor.
Well… it comes out of my head that way. I’ve just begun Part II on the crazy appointments being made.
Kudos to you. Frankly, I think you're talented.
Bill Katz, I share your anger, your frustration, and your dread.
Not criticizing.
It was easy to see through the lies, though. But most couldn't be bothered to take a few moments to check.
How can we engage those people??
I guess we could ask them, "Since you, like Trump, tried to deny his connection to Project 2025, so you know it is bad, and since you now know Project 2025 is in play, what will you do to help us stop it?"
more like from the boardrooms of some if not many corporations and right wing think tanks.
But they were dumb enough to believe the lies.
How about "do not forgive them, for they either know what they do or choose to not know what they do".
Nope.....not forgiven. I attempted with 2 relatives. They didn't want to know. Enforced ignorance doesn't give anyone, even relatives, a pass.
I can forgive small things but not the big things. Damage is damage no matter what the reason and people must suffer through it.
Trump lied that he didn’t know anything about it
As a retired federal employee- HUGE understatement. If they do all the Project 2025 plans we will have a depression in 6 - 8 months. Not a recession- a depression, 1929 style.
It will be VERY painful for everyone. If Project 2025 is even partially implemented, I suspect the depression of the 1930's will seem tame.
Musk and his vicious sidekick have declared that there will be a period of "pain - but then we will be safer." Safer from what?
We need to be safe from them.
If consumers can’t afford products, then yes, we tip into a depression.
"you will own nothing and be happy.."
Those 2 are safe. They have nothing to worry about given their wealth. But everyone else has to tighten their belts….
And they will blame it on the aftermath of Biden’s failed policies and tell us to wait for Trump’s policies to take effect and cure things. And the fools will believe them.
I believe we should be watchful of our finances and begin to go into defensive mode. The irony is that anyone who has any degree of wealth should be allright since this whole revolution is really a money grab.
Bill, a lot of people are already very worried about their finances. And yes, only the very wealthy will be safe.
Which is the plan.
Another government imposed Shock Doctrine (see The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein). It will cause massive poverty, political violence, suicides, and decimate the middle class further, increasing our already sky-high inequality. All to benefit the already rich. It's dystopia.
A depression won't affect DonOLD and his billionaires cabinet..
Except they don’t keep their money lying around in cash and 99% of their wealth is on paper; stocks and options. When things go south if they don’t cash that in before the millions of little people like us sell their values sinks, their companies struggle.
We had a neighbor who bragged constantly about how much wealth they had in stock and real estate. Suddenly a dot come bust wiped out all the stock they were too complacent to sell, options were worthless because they were higher than the current stock price and then shortly afterward afterward a massive real estate bust making their properties under water. We watched them sink into despair as they lost almost everything.
Trump is a pauper, he lives on borrowed money and current stock values that he can’t pull out. He has massive bank loans coming due. This is why being POTUS is so important to him.
I've been reading about Warren Buffett selling loads of his stocks and he's sitting on $300B in cash...he's probably preparing for a depression
Yes, I’ve been following his moves. I often wonder why he isn’t richer that Musk.
Trump’s (less than) half of America has trouble with cause and effect. I guess it has to be right in their face for them to notice. And then they will shift the blame elsewhere probably, just like that cult leader, who is DARVO - all the way down.
Sadly, that is the goal of Musk. He thinks destroying our economy will allow him to reshape our society to his will. He'll teach us to live within our means.
Remember Musk said “it’s going to hurt for a while at fist”
Ditto, Judy.
The unprofessional journalists and news agencies who allowed the Republicans to keep Project 2025 a secret for 12 months leading up to the Nov 5th election is to blame. Project 2025 is a regime change that crushes our democracy to bits, and allowed the GOP to camouflage this as a zealot Christian National program, plus allowed Trump to avoid being transparent with disclosure is a major backstab from MSM to all of America. The angry public should threaten civil protest and force Biden and Harris to support us.
I always felt that If Trump managed to get into office again, there would be general strikes all over the country. I don't see the appetite, sadly.
Joe Biden welcomed Trump into the Oval Office with a smile. (That was devastating to me, a lifelong Dem - I mean, I don't want Dems to obstruct the transfer of power, but did he HAVE to do it with a big smile? Knowing the contempt Trump has for him? )
I keep thinking of the Tolerance Paradox: the more one extends tolerance to the intolerant, the more the tolerant are treated poorly until they're eventually overcome.
You're talking about an American public, of which 40% cannot read and comprehend the instructions on a bottle of aspirin, and a total population of 60% reads at a 6th grade level or less, 80% of whom have no idea how the government works. Do you think any of these Gammas know what a "general strike" is?
People who did vote for Harris are beyond stunned. And worried. We have been in this fight since 2016. People are just plain worn out.
And yet, Barbara, we somehow summon our resolve to resist and persist!🗽
We have to.
"We have been in this fight since 2016"
We have been in this fight since 1954, when Brown v Board began the dismantling of Jim Crow, a dismantling that produced the festering White Resentment that has now given us the Groper-in-Chief.
Technically speaking all kinds of people have been in this fight since the beginning when those prejudiced Pilgrims first spied the Native Americans.
In keeping with the topic of this election I was referring to the time period of 2016 to now. At this moment the data points of how this madman is still around are numerous. But. It is the biggest lie ever that this election was not about hatred of the other. That hatred begins with people of color and spirals outward to anyone not white, rich and male.
Yes Barbara, worn out, worried and other responses too. I can't say anyone else will enjoy this video of John Oliver's response as much as I did but I offer it as an example of robust creativity and looking squarely at so much that few of us want to deal with. I was lit up smiling as I watched the post-election episode of "Last Week Tonight", https://youtu.be/LU2atCWyAos?si=efwuHpvErBjh-6Cs .
Thanks for this Joan.
Thanks, I was a bit afraid to even watch John Oliver last week, although I love him. But this was what I needed this morning.
Joan Lederman -- Regretfully I am not able to watch this because of restrictions from Canada (where I live). I'm going to continue try to find a back door. But, do you have the actual date of this episode? You only said "post-election". Anything else?
Will see how worn out they are after he starts interning his perceived enemies! Who else will fill the privatized prisons/interment camps after the demonized and vilified immigrants are deported!?
Louis it has been 16 days since the election that will have such catastrophic results. We are stunned and numb as the takeover is flashing before our computer eyes. People will rouse. Even the people I trust to know the most about the world we find ourselves in such as Dr. Richardson and Simon Rosenberg are openly expressing how exhausted they are.
yes, it's all about education.
No critical thinking or basic logic - maximum gullibility
Please provide the source of the percentages you use.
Also, would you define what you mean when calling someone a Gamma and how that relates to ignorance about what a "general strike" is.
Gammas - read "Brave New World."
Yes, the Tolerance Paradox sums it up perfectly. I completely agree. Of all the thing that have been so alarming since the election, Joe Biden smiling and welcoming 45 was absolutely crushing. I don't understand why we continue to pretend this is just another election.
I wrote a piece on the White House visit. You can click on it on the name "Trilogy" besides my name. Not trying to drum up business but that is where my thoughts are. I was devasted as well at President Biden's poor play of the White House visit.
Thank you Barbara. Your piece is extremely thoughtful and I couldn't have articulated it better.
I agree - they should be shouting WTAF from the roof tops. I felt the same way when Hakeem Jeffries was saying how he would 'reach across the asile' They should be shouting about the sexual predators nominated for top positions - it's like the Dems are deer caught in headlights and frozen in place.
Absolutely. We need now to be Obstructionists not accommodationists. There is an election in 2 years. It should be a no brainer to win back both houses. But then maybe there won’t be any more elections.
Hopefully, Hakeem and other Democratic Party leaders are huddling with their staffs & consultants, preparing to launch a counter-offensive, as soon as all of us “tired & worn-out” troops have had a chance to do some post-election rejuvenating.
Hopefully a battle plan more serious than the one engineered by Bluto (John Belushi) in Animal House.
I attended a recent online National meeting of “Indivisible,” which has a 30 page guidebook for resistance at the local level, which they believe, unlike 2016, is where people like us can fight the battles that will have meaning, impact, and a cumulative effect.
More specifically, Indivisible points out battles need to be fought at the state, county, and town levels; putting pressure on those locally elected officials if you happen to live in a red state or red county. If you live in a blue state or county, your form of political engagement might be more along the lines of supporting (rather than battling) local officials.
For more info, including formation of a local Indivisible group or joining an existing group, here is the link.
https://indivisible.org/
For those of us who are “tired & worn out,” we might find such a group to be energizing.
I’m not naiive to how bleak the current picture is, especially in the context of what others in this wonderful community of HCR’s have said about the literacy rates in this country, and their susceptibility to Big Lies, which are nonstop, the latest being the so-called “mandate.”
The only “man-dates” I see are of “Bros” like Trump, Musk, Vance, Gaetz, etc…celebrating, planning their work, and working their plan, with powerful tools of “news” domination in their control.
SNL still making a chaciture out of President Biden, sad, cheap shot and pathetic!
I think Dany Carvy his Biden down perfectly. I never liked Biden. One lasting thing he could do is to pardon Leonard Peltier, Native activist falsely accused of aiding and abetting in the deaths of two FBI agents. And who is now dying in a Florida Federal prison after 50 years of confinement.
Biden did it to himself. He promised us in 2020 that he would be a transition president, and in 2024 he betrayed us.
STOP
Why Monroe is right.
Biden's toddling into the Amazon forest after his little speech was a stark revelation to me that he is, in fact, in cognitive decline. A fully competent leader would have anticipated the poor optics and never agreed to that choreography. Biden's handlers are failing him at the end of his presidency, and he is not aware enough to override their blunders.
It makes me physically nauseous to think of the current administration turning over power to people they know will attempt everything to destroy our democracy.
Adolf Hitler.
True last statement
I don’t entirely agree. P2025 wasn’t a secret; it was talked about although perhaps not by what we used to call the main stream media. They let us down in innumerable ways. Two plus weeks after the election, I see articles about how people are “shocked” at tfg’s plans, including some health industry consultants in DC. (Aside: one wonders how useful consultants who are “shocked” that tfg is going to do what he said are to clients.) my point is that info about P2025 was available and some writers went to great length to explain what it meant. Like other of tfg’s plans, people ignored or were ignorant. Because, you know, eggs.
Agreed. Eggs. And all the rest of life...beating them down.
For those of us who pay attention, Project 2025 was discussed endlessly. But too many people don't take an interest in "politics". Over 90 million people checked out of the system and didn't vote.
They are completely clueless. We might as well have been discussing "string theory". We Democrats didn't connect with them at the level where they live. Long, grueling stressful days.
My Mother in Law (97 and at home) has a very nice young woman who helps her - it keeps her out of an institution - "Mom" is happier and the government saves a lot of money.
She asked the young woman (who has four kids) if she voted. "No, I didn't have time."
Millions and millions of us don't read Substack, the NYTimes or...anything. They just grind through each day, trying to make ends meet, trying to care for their kids with lousy housing and bills, bills, bills.
If we are to get enough of the working class back - to resume some form of democracy and decency, Democrats have to create a whole new strategy. We need to be the party of POPULISM. We need to channel the frustration and rage of well over 90 million people who see life as awful and don't see a change in their futures. We need to offer some hope with some concrete policies - they need MONEY.
In the richest nation to have ever existed, anyone who works a full time job should have decent housing, clean water, adequate food, healthcare and education. Full stop, no exceptions. NO excuses.
There are trillions of dollars in the hands of a few (mostly white guys). As Tom Rush sang: "The problem with America is that the poor have too much money and the rich don't have enough". /s
Have you seen Mark Zuckerberg's yacht(s)? Google it. Read about it. Then look at Brin and Gates "vessels". Our oligarchs are hoarding the national treasure while the people who hold our lives together are trying to decide whether to buy 6 or 12 eggs this week.
You have hit the nail on the head! The working poor are overwhelmed just trying to stay alive. Minimum wage at $7:50 in some states means you cannot pay rent and eat well and pay all your bills. The stress must be unimaginable to those of us doing well. These are the people the dems should be helping and bringing into the fold. But how to reach them?
When I ran my small manufacturing business in Brooklyn, I gave my employees Metro cards, I paid 75% of their health insurance, bought them turkeys (or veg alternate) at Thanksgiving, and many other small untaxable perks. Their low, but above minimum wages ,were taxed higher than corporate leaders.
But, by giving the extras wherever I could it made a difference. They didn't quit the minute they were eligible for Unemployment. They stayed and we became a community for several decades.
The taxes on the working classes are too high. We need good public schools, public transportation, decent afordable housing.
Yes, yes, yes! Good for you for taking good care of your employees!
Are we even going to have the opportunity to pursue a "whole new strategy"??
Much as I'm trying to focus on the here and now, I woke up last night completely stressed about what's going to happen. The retirement funds that we have worked so hard for... the health care insurance we're going to need... friends and family who will be threatened. Meanwhile, the cabinet of the new administration is just a sh*t show. All those people who are happy that they now "own the libs" -- and for WHAT?!
Well said, Bill.
Or believed it was just Trump being Trump! 'He's just angry and trying to scare us'... And many believed that the 'rule of laws ', would put him in a place where he could not hurt us. I sure did. Not impeach him for insurrection failed my criteria to adhere to rules of law. And the documents crimes that are so blatantly true.
But MLMinET........
They said it wasn't them.
So, let's go with eggs.
Basically, the website was a recruitment portal. They have been recruiting and training for years - well funded. How many thousands only they know.
And bacon, don't forget bacon. A strange food combination- one cancels out the other.
Agree. It was all over You Tube beginning last year or the first of this year. I know I’ve known about it for months and got the word out as often as possible along with links to the explanations. The corporate media though didn’t do nearly what it could have early on however. There’s a lot of has to answer for though.
Project 3025 was no secrete. Neither was Kevin Robert's ultimatum.
Unfortunately the media (WaPo in particular) has bent over backwards to normalize Trump. Many of my friends, and I have canceled our subscriptions. Now I can ad Delta to my do not fly list.
However SS and Medicare do need attention. They are unsustainable as they are. Perhaps some of their inevitable shortfalls could be reversed if for every $150000 someone made in retirement, their SS payments would decline by 33% and their Medicare premiums would double. These numbers have no basis in facts. Just an idea.
Secondly the major welfare program, FEMA has to go. States should self insure for the natural disasters that they know are coming. Unfortunately that will mean state income taxes will be needed to fund these recovery plans.
Similarly , farm welfare has to end.
Instead these grifters want to cut food stamps and support for the bottom of our economy. They don’t seem to want to acknowledge that half our population is below average intellectually and/ or physically. Unfortunately many cannot follow basic instructions.
Is there abuse of our current welfare system? Of course. Medicare fraud is rampant too. Maybe big oil welfare can finally go away?
There are plenty of complicated opportunities for our “entrepreneurs “. Hopefully they won’t choose to pick on those who are already underserved.
I disagree with FEMA being abolished and states covering disaster management, especially after seeing the impact of hurricanes this year. It takes collaboration across state lines and multiple agencies to manage a disaster. A single state can't manage that alone.
Yes it can if it is prepared. These storms are not a surprise. The problem is they will have to tax their residents and, of course, they sell their low/no taxes as an incentive. Maybe FEMA could become a lending agency to help out when a storm is as crazy as they were this year. But, the bad news is that the storms will get more frequent and much worse as they ignore global warming (you can't say those words in FL). I aim not talking about just the SE. I am talking about all 50 states.
Natural disasters are going to get worse. Every state will be affected in some way or another by them. I'm in favor of keeping FEMA.
Medicare premiums are already income-based. https://www.medicare.gov/basics/costs/medicare-costs
And the percentage increase to Social security payments are frequently erased by the increases in payments to Medicare basic premiums.
And I am paying for them.
Sort of but still way too low for high earners. They use more health care options than low income sets.
Seems like you’re posting a resume for a job with Musk the space Nazi who is in line to find $2 trillion dollars to cut!!
I am in support of changes that have to be made. What I am suggesting would directly affect me. We all know that one knee replacement will use up the meager amount paid into Medicare. Social Security needs to support those who did not make much when they worked. Not people making $150,000 or more. The average SS payment is around $1500. Anyone at that level certainly didn't have discretionary cash for a 401k or IRA, if these were even available to them.There should probably be a minimum payment of $2500 which should be subsidized by high income recipients. Certainly today's workers will need to see higher deductions as their retirement costs will be much higher. Additionally, SS deductions should go all the way up like Medicare does. As for Elon and Don, they just want to screw the poorest among us so they can have more. Pathetic.
FEMA has to go ?! Are you kidding?! Many states that get hit hardest are among the poorest. AND natural disasters don't care about state boundaries. Divvying up responses to disasters by state would seriously complicate response times and capabilities. You need to rethink this!
Planning is the essence of their response. Unfortunately, those "poorest" states will have to have really high income taxes. Every state should be self insured. No natural disasters are a "surprise". We know they are coming. CA has fires and floods, MN has tornadoes and floods, FL has hurricanes. The list goes on and on.
Mike, you have taxation reversed. If taxes were equitable, we would have sufficient funds to operate all our social programs with the benefit of having a more equal society. When taxes should’ve been raised on the ultra rich Bush had Trump gave them tax breaks. Everyone should pay their fair share.
I agree. Take Reagan, Bush, Trump tax cuts away and we probably have a balanced budget. But subsidizing states is not the way to a "fair share". States like LA, FL, NC, SC, GA get far more from the feds than they pay in. In some cases almost 3:1. FEMA is just another welfare program for them. They need to create income through a state income tax or high property taxes to cover the costs for disaster recovery.
SS & Medicare
Here is what I see:
They stop money influx, thus giving working people and businesses a tax cuts, while they keep those on the program currently until the fund runs dry, then too bad, we told you it was a bad program.
They keep their promise to not take away at first from those on the programs, and they give tax cuts to everyone else.
Mike, FEMA was created to fill a gap in capabilities that states couldn't fill when responding to natural disasters. It has helped communities recover from disasters and become more resilient. Its job is complex and evolving as science and society gain a better understanding of the severe risks that we face in different geographic and different climate conditions. FEMA is expensive, but it has helped tens of millions of people stay in middle class after experiencing disasters that have taken 100% of what they owned due to floods, winds and fires. Most of these disasters span two or more states. Most disasters are not foreseen by states because states' focus is necessarily local and not regional. Would you have those millions of disaster victims languish in poverty and rheteby reduce our national GDP enough, to the point of your wallet feeling it?
To me, it's obvious you don't know the limits of your knowledge.
Assuming that states don't foresee disasters is ridiculous. Of course FL knows they will have hurricanes every year. They may not attribute the increased frequency and intensity to global warming but they know things won't get better. CA knows they will have fires and mud slides and floods. Again, they know these occurrences will not get better in the future. MN has tornadoes and floods, same thing; it won't get better.
Sure FEMA has been an effective welfare program where states refuse to tax their residents sufficiently to cover these events. I am sorry for people who buy a trailer in an area that is a flood plain or a target for hurricanes or tornadoes.
Maybe FEMA could be a lending agency for those who are needy?
Sadly, the ones who can least tolerate the devastation about to be hoisted on this country — the elderly — will be the hardest hit. Of course.
I have saved the multiple warnings from 98% and others of how it could/will be…I understand fear tactics have been used to tire, confuse, and throw us a tizzy, but I moved years to remote/self sufficient as possible …plan B ya know. *Let’s hope it works. * Well …it may be about to come full circle and reality ..trust gone, reality replaced with lies proven with little to no consequences but plenty of delay.
I will likely by then have closed all accounts FB, donations, subscriptions.
Best of luck.
The dems are either impotent or complicit...either one or both are very disheartening and scary.
Sadly, those protest are exactly what they want so they can use the military to establish rule.
Unfortunately, Joe is not home.
How to force anything at this point…
“Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, one by one.”
― Charles MacKay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
Hard to accomplish-persuade-say anything until suffering makes the blinders come off. -\o/-
People with too much unaccountable power tend to become bullies (corrupt). Any precedents in history (yup)? Democratic power attempts to make power accountable. That's what regulation is. There can be bad regulation, even malicious regulation (think of "Jim Crow" laws) but law keeps society civilized.
Those (in every society) who want to dominate and exploit people, to impose their own will if they can, fight boundaries and accountability tooth and nail. It the foreign films I like to watch are any guide, bullies emerge in childhood worldwide, and some people admire that. Successful liberators are often subject to attack and assassination. Some seem to live to subjugate others if they can. It's a reoccurring theme throughout history with a very ugly wake of victims.
"As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is not democracy."
My bully theory about the election is this: Trump is a thug, living by thug rules; loyalty is a must, never admit to being wrong or wrongdoing, kindness is weakness, lying is fine as long as it keeps you in power, revenge is key, and snitches get stitches. Many Americans follow these rules, hoping that it gets them money and power, possibly because some of them have had to live under thug rules in their own communities. Some of these people run large corporations, where profit is more important than anything else. Maybe keeping this in mind will help us figure a way out of this mess. Of course, not all in MAGA , or whoever voted for Trump are thugs, many are just drastically misguided and misinformed. So, how do we reinstate democracy, rule of law, ethics, civil rights, common sense, facts, truth rather than bias in journalism, a system of checks and balances that works, separation of church and state? How can we take care of those unable to earn a wage; our children, some of our disabled, our elderly? How can we save the planet? What is our playbook, our strategy? I don't have answers, but I do believe we can fix what's broken. I have come to know that boycotting can be a powerful tool. We can continue to teach that kindness is a gentle strength, and teach critical thinking skills. We can stand up for what moves us toward equality. We can expose corruption. What else do we have? Ideas, anyone?
Here is an idea. Find the people who don't believe that the Democratic Party is there for them and offer them something. Not political philosophies. Offer them money so they can survive and then thrive, pay taxes, raise families. Restore the "American Dream".
Here's a campaign slogan:
"If you work full time, "you" are entitled to decent housing, clean water, adequate food, healthcare and education. Then "you" take it from there. A baseline of a reasonable existence - with a level playing field. The cream will rise to the top as the education kicks in. Or not. At the very least we, as the "People's Party", need to alleviate the suffering.
Bill, you just spoke the words of Frances Perkins, the architect of the New Deal: “The people are what matter to government, and a government should aim to provide the means by which all the people under its jurisdiction can access the best possible life.” Some call it pragmatic capitalism.
I would suggest we take our letter writing abilities to those we elected to stand up for our values and organize in groups and communities to reverse the impact of the decisions of the uninformed and the likes of the Scrambled Egg and his cohort to use the laws we still have against corruption.
Essay writing programs where students learn to listen to others and quote them.
Also cite humanities in connection with good personal issues uncovered in others.
Look up Project 2029....a response some people are working on to counteract P2025
When the Trump Depression comes, boycotting won't be necessary as no one will be able to afford anything besides the basics (if that).
For at least 50 years our country has had a declining middle class & growing population who are working poor. Blockbuster films & celebrity worship are our bread & circuses. All attempts to change the direction will help. So good to see positive ideas!
Republicans did an excellent job of gutting unions which were the backbone of the middle class. Once unions were busted, white collar compensation also cratered.
It’s seemed like unions were having a revival in the recent past
J L, I absolutely agree with your comment, but I think there is a typo in the first line, which should read "...with too much unaccountable power..."
Thanks. I tend to be typo prone..
Trump told us he would bring down our government—the “deep state.” America either didn’t believe him or didn’t care. His first step in the process is to appoint crackpots in charge of our institutions. His second step will be to destroy our safety net. There are already plans afoot to destroy Medicaid. Surely, Obama Care is next. If the government can survive for two more years, we may have a chance to begin reconstruction.
What is really too bad is that the American voters had no idea who or what they were voting for. The massive disinformation and rage media smothered the truth. Timothy Snyder writes of the "digital campaign in his Substack https://substack.com/home/post/p-151786690#:~:text=THINKING%20ABOUT...-,The%20Phantom%20Campaign,-Digital%20Oligarchy%20vs.
"This was digital demotivation, something that I have seen and studied in other settings. I was supposed to be driven towards indifference, towards not doing anything, towards not voting. I was being nudged by a phantom....This time the oligarch was Elon Musk, and this time the demotivational messages were deceptive to an even higher degree: they were presented as Harris campaign ads."
So here we are. Watch Simon Rosenberg's excellent discussions with 3 other titans of American politics Rick Wilson, Joe Trippe and Stuart Stevens. They are discussing what happened, seem to be scratching their heads on what's next and are determined to do what they can to counteract this incoming Administration.
The number of core MAGA voters could not have won this election. Something else not seen before happened. There was massive propaganda.
More likely it was the result of a Russian psyop operation. Yesterday Thom Hartmann outlined it. https://hartmannreport.com/p/are-trumps-appointees-the-trojan-b16?utm_campaign=email-half-post&r=zc69i&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Why haven't the pundits addressed Russian interference? Trump spread the big lie. His Jan 6 message was "stop the steal" This time, he apparently, with Musk's and Russkie help, performed a steal. Musk said it would be easy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV58O0USCaY
If voters were wary of the "other" it was because Russia and a complying media and Republican proaganda targeted visceral voters. To me the "other" is Russia.
The FBI said in a statement it was aware of the threats, many of which originated from Russian email domains, but the agency also downplayed their risk. “None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far,” the statement said.
Hartmann elsewhere cited and interviewed Stephen Spoonamore, who was CEO or CTO at seven high technology firms including two that specialized in hacking and counter-hacking operations. He wrote a memo alleging that to "a near certainty" the results have been changed at a scale which reversed the election. He recommends a hand recount to most likely require reversal. He cites to a letter from 7 experts in computer science who go into detail. https://freespeechforpeople.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/letter-to-vp-harris-111324.pdf
I don't think Spoonamore knows jack about law. Many of the acts alleged may be crimes -- either state and/or federal.
Proof of crime might trigger it, depending on the facts and statute. Feds: https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/scams-and-safety/common-frauds-and-scams/election-crimes-and-security
Pa. https://govt.westlaw.com/pac/Document/NE9692E70343011DA8A989F4EECDB8638?originationContext=document&transitionType=StatuteNavigator&needToInjectTerms=False&viewType=FullText&ppcid=4373140374c44d6283d5fa30147210e8&contextData=%28sc.Default%29
https://whyy.org/articles/lancaster-county-voter-registration-fraud-investigation-elections-2024/
Every other state has similar provisions. AZ and NV apparently aberrant...that may be enough. But note that Greg Palast also says 2.7 million votes are missing.
The requirements for TROs are usually iminent and imediate threats..
We had Consitutional crises before...Bush v Gore. A civil war.
I read the piece that was linked to. Here's my problem. I need to see examples. It's all very well to talk about that there were videos produced that were negative about Harris but they were produced as though they were part of the Harris campaign. But I need to see an example. Or two. It's not that I don't believe it but I just Need to see an example. Or two.
Yes, Patricia, we cannot fall prey to Giuliani’s contention that they “just know” there was fraud in the 2020 election, giving Biden/Harris the win. Need verifiable proof, tho any that can be documented will likely come after the inauguration & who knows what actual impact that would have.
And speaker Mike Johnson’s allegation they ‘just know’ huge number of “illegal immigrants” are voting though they don’t have evidence.
Brava Patricia, I read both cited writers! They posit their hypothesis because they need to sell books!
I would ask Mr. Snyder. You are correct though. I would like to see what those ads looked like too.
And when you report fake ads, show some examples so we can recognize them and see who posts them.
Of course, Barbara, they're "scratching their heads."
Dems long ago lost any ability they might have had to cite the humanities that could have kept them in touch with our vast working classes all betrayed by the (other) elites who off-shored their jobs by the tens of millions.
But Dems liked their status quo where they could remain totally out of touch from the betrayed working classes.
Honestly Phil I doubt a whole lot of people who worked extremely hard to elect the Harris/Walz ticket are open to Democratic Party critiques right now.
Let people rest. To continue to relitigate the Biden Administration at this time appears inelegant.
Sacred space. Sacred pause.
What was the margin again? 256,000 votes short in a few swing states. Erghhh
In 2020 over 81 million voted for President Biden!!
Less than 72 million voted for VP Harris !!
That’s a 9,000,000 vote LOSS!
Racism and misogyny won out over preserving our Democratic Republic form of government!
Quite true. But what did we offer the struggling average hard working families who have checked out of the system? Why couldn't we motivate 10 or 20 million of the 90 plus million who did not vote?
Because we spent a lot of time on political philosophies and social justice (I'm a big fan of that) but very little time offering concrete help - that means MONEY for those millions who are desperately trying to just get by.
Bill, I agree with your premise, but not your conclusion. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I will say (write) again, we can blame disaffected voters on gerrymandering and the Electoral College. If one believes one's vote doesn't count, one is not motivated to stand in line and vote.
I'm not a news nerd, but I paid considerable attention to the election. Harris/Walz devoted 99%-plus of their attention to the "battleground states," so named because they were the only states that mattered with respect to Electoral College votes. Other states' precincts are so severely gerrymandered, they are deemed "red" or "blue" before the first vote is ever cast. Why speak when your voice is being silenced by the System?
Exactly!!! Biden was a white male and Harris was a black female. That says it all.
Everything is too bad now. We have a president who is a pig and his piglets are hungry to transform our democracy into whatever the want without guardrails. They were I’ll destroy more guardrails as quickly as possible. The carnage is coming soon and I can hardly stand to watch.
We should not generalize because the average voter was not educated on this massive blueprint to dismantle our Constitution and Government structure.
Not educated, or actively misled by the Fox Propaganda Network and their fellow travelers on the right?
More than Fox. Fox + social media, or soc media +??? I think Fox got wise. Just watch what is trending on social and run the entertainment ‘news’ of what is trending highest, even if it’s mostly bots.
I don’t know that Fox Propaganda Network got wise so much as that they were fined three quarters of a billion dollars for lying about Dominion voting machines. That sort of hit stings, and calls for more subtle subterfuge.
I agree, social media and Russian skulduggery have serious negative impacts on American democracy. Not to mention gerrymandering, voter suppression and so on.
Both. The misinformation and disinformation channels augmented an alternative narrative.
Constantly bombarded by ads based on LIES about VP Harris!
At one rally trump ranted that ‘women locked themselves in the house at night, because immigrant rapists allegedly freed by Harris roamed their streets’!!
This coming from a creature who is a convicted sexual predator himself! Yet they voted for him!
You wrote “ At one rally trump ranted that ‘women locked themselves in the house at night, because immigrant rapists allegedly freed by Harris roamed their streets’!!
This coming from a creature who is a convicted sexual predator himself! Yet they voted for him!”
One small but meaningful speck of silver lining on the enormous black storm cloud over America that is the coming Trump presidency, is that Matt Gaetz will NOT become the Attorney General.
And mot of them couldn't red and comprehend anything about it if you gave it to them. Just make sure the Stupor Bowl is played in January and they have March Madness in the spring, and they'll be happy.
“Stupor Bowl”….love it! As I have posted before, the 2006 movie—now a cult classic—Idiocracy, should be played on rotation on the TeeVee for the next 4 years (at least). Who knew it would be so prescient!
I’ve been calling it the “Stupor Bowl” for years. Good to see that it is a shared perception.
The Stupefying of America brought to you by……..
So now it’s a big shoulda woulda coulda for the people who didn’t bother voting or even the ones who voted for him— just wait until they see what his handpicked team will do and we don’t have long to wait— for those of us who are grieving this loss— if your health is good be grateful, enjoy nature when you can stay loving with your family and batten down the hatches!
Can you say right-wing propaganda? Half the country fell for the misinformation directed against Biden and Harris. There’s little doubt that, sooner or later, public outrage over what these so-called "geniuses" have in store will become loud and clear. However, if these fascists get their way, we may not even have future elections to correct the disastrous choices made by an uninformed and misled electorate.
Harvey, I don't think it was Misinformation, I think it was DISinformation, deliberate and laser focused.
The Groper-in-Chief's voters chose Project 2025 rather than a black female. We will see how well they like the reward for their bigotry.
The maga cult didn’t care, it was getting their vote! The 9 million democratic voters who sat out this election…..were led by their racism and misogyny!
The next challenge is ‘will anybody’ stop him from occupying the WH for life!!??
I remember learning about Project 2025 in April. (the short Wikipedia article, now long gone. I sent the link to every left wing news person possible. Rachael, Heather, all my left wing friends to send to their left wing friends. Here a number of times. Finally it started to catch on. It really pays not to have a TV since I was 19. I read real news. In print that I can study. TV news is there and then gone. (I guess) Not stressed in time for the election. I made sure all knew that News Max was started by a cousin to see how gullible people were (the paper addition) He is long dead now.
I fear that millions of Americans have already quit caring. I'm hoping that the next 4 years will be painful enough to wake up a few million and we can get back on a better track, but I just don't know. I'm not quitting though.
Rupert kept telling them that chump didn’t like P2025. Who disputes Rupert, absolutely no one…
Boy, did I hear that in spades from my MAGAt "friends".
I didn’t see one political blurb that said that chump was a major supporter of P2025. Nobody disputed Fox, some said Democracy was at risk, but nobody said your SS and Medicare will be at risk. That’s a bit more personal to most. Messaging was mostly about abortion.
Thank goodness for the odd tidbit of good news (e.g. Biden's judicial appointments getting through). No more Delta flights for me -- too scary considering they are so excited about being deregulated. And as someone with family that must be vetted periodically for security clearances - the skirting of such similar requirements for these wackos is mindbendingly insane.
Ditto on the arrogance of the Delta airlines executive. How many Boeing accidents did we need to see? All those close calls? There’s a reason for regulations. Safety anyone? The arrogance is appalling.
Malignant narcissism has always been a component of human nature and human societies from way back, and it often becomes institutionalized; racism, sexism, royalty, caste systems, etc. Has this excess in our nature not been a blight on the history and fulfillment of our species? Isn't harming others for personal gain exact what evil is all about? Might it not kill us all?
"the devil hath power To assume a pleasing shape;" - Hamlet
I like that Hamlet quote
Milei is their role model. Poverty in Argentina has reached approx 53% and going up: no jobs no food no reliable power grid.
But my suspicion is that the wealthiest of Argentina are still plenty rich, and perhaps that's the point.
Exactly the point. I mean, Elon Musk TOLD US "there would be hardship". This is an oligarchy now. That, and white christian nationalism.
What I find odd is that it’s likely neither Ramaswami nor Musk are Christians at all. Hmmm, maybe Christian nationalism is just a tool.
And certainly not Trump.
white christian nationalism = means
oligarchy = end
Do they in the slightest way resemble Jesus,
or his tormentors?
Agree. It is all about sustaining the oligarchs’ rule.
We can’t forget Victor’s influence on the administration. He is the right wing hero. But I am afraid that many Trump voters are fine with a Christian-Nationalist dictator.
Mike, I think you misspelled "most". Almost 100% of my MAGAt friends are in that Christian Nationalism camp.
Sadly, what he is doing there was done in Siuth America before. Same song, same results brought to you by Milton Friedman.
There's no reason for poverty in Argentina! They have the natural resources sustain a thriving economy.
So do we. Perhaps concentration of wealth?
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both” — Louis Brandeis
I recall some years ago that someone in the UN claimed the world poverty is not (at least not yet) a resource problem but a political problem.
I”m flying Delta twice in the coming weeks. I”ll be letting the staff know how I feel about their CEO. And it may be my last Delta flight until Bastien resigns.
Don't. They have no say or power over upper management. I used to work in the industry. It just makes their jobs harder.
Basically, the airlines are pissed because they will be answerable to their customers when they screw up flights. A move (thanks Pete B!) that is exceedingly popular with the public. Yet another gotcha for those who think they'll be "better off" with the Felon in Chief in office.
Many years ago I got stranded midway between a long distance US flight and was given a nice hotel room and a fee breakfast. Years later, post Reagan, it happened again. This time time I got a discount coupon for a stay at selected motels and no other help. I called all the :"discount" places and they were unpleasantly expensive, even with the discount. I called around and found a place much cheaper and nearer the airport. On the jitney bus over to the nice enough motel it seemed my fellow passengers mostly or all were in airline uniforms. It was a place where airline employees seemed to stay.
In general I notice a trend toward companies dumping as much responsibility and risk onto customers as possible, from non-existent customer service to DIY checkout lanes.
I’m thinking their glee comes from the actions Lina Khan has taken to stop their making $$ on extraneous activities, like making them refund your ticket price if a flight is cancelled. I recognize there may be other extra sources of income they have counted on as well.
Well, of course, a CEO of a large airline is so happy that Biden regulations put in place will be, in fact, put to rest. Forget about their passengers safety. Their purse gets bigger and bigger. Speaking of bigger…the debacle surrounding Matt Gaetz and the release of the report is stalled until 12/5. Lawrence O’Donnell said tonight that he thinks one, maybe two Republicans will side with the Dems to release it. If the House won’t do it, Amy Klobuchar mentioned that the Senate will demand to see the report. Making Gaetz the AG should make every man, woman, and child shudder. The good news is that the Dems are going full-force in approving judicial nominations. We have over 200 approved and the Senate hopes to make it with 25 more.
That sounds hopeful, but in that regard, I believe the unqualified candidates to be appointed to the Cabinet are a smoke screen to run outthe clock before they take full control to dismantle the government itself. I wrote this comment to Ben Meiselas' interview of Congressman Raja Krishnamoorth a few hours ago :
We know all that, sir. The issue is the CLEAR and Present Danger that exists at this moment to dismantle our government and eliminate the Constitution that many thousands of us over the years have sworn to "PROTECT AGAINST ALL ENEMIES, FOREIGN and DOMESTIC WITH OUR LIVES"!
It is the responsibility of our dear POTUS, as Comander-in-Chief, to step in NOW and arrest all these traitorous thugs whose aim is to destroy our nation for the benefit of Vladimir Putin, our known enemy.
That is what they scream loudly is their intention. WHAT GIVES? SCOTUS gives him full permission to carry out an official act, legal or not. I believe saving our Nation from Domestic enemies is as legal as from a foriegn attack. Does a shooting war have to happen first? 1860 is not that long ago.
With the aid and encouragement of Hitler, the Republican Party attempted a coup to overthrow our government in 1939. Senate Majority Leader Robert Taft and several others were caught in action and indicted. It was only the mistrial that set them free to try again. They are still at it.Do we need any more than Jan. 6, 2021 to know that these people attempted a coup once again.
What more do we need to know??
I am so disappointed in the Biden administration, willingly turning over our Democracy to thugs who are bankrolled by Putin.
When we learned (from the WALL STREET JOURNAL no less!!) a month before the election that Elon Musk has been in contact with Putin since 2022 (when Musk acquired Twitter) I thought that news would be "STOP THE PRESSES". But no one even reported on it. And Musk retains his security clearance with our government.
God help us.
We are losing the battle and there is no one coming to save us.
Donald Trump was elected. Joe Biden isn't "turning over" anything nor is he responsible for the perfidy of the media or the brainwashed cult of the "electorate". Biden did a magnificent job and he "owes" us nothing more. We have to take responsibility for our own actions and decisions regarding how we move forward from this.
Remember when Watergate was big news?
https://open.substack.com/pub/thomhartmann/p/are-trumps-appointees-the-trojan-b16?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Follow the money.
You wrote “ Well, of course, a CEO of a large airline is so happy that Biden regulations put in place will be, in fact, put to rest. Forget about their passengers safety.”
Recall the holy writ of Saint Milton Friedman: Maximizing corporate shareholder value trumps everything else, period.
a confidant of St. Reagan. His thesis was that corporations have a duty to be as greedy and ruthless as possible; and somehow the public bought it. The rape of India by the East India Company would seem a fitting precedent. Yet despite a wave of public-serving regulations by and for the people in the early to mid 20th Century, American corporations were doing just fine.
What changed after Reagan was the notion that with few exceptions, activities related the making of profit should be uniquely exempt from the duties we otherwise share as citizens of a self-regulating nation , and that has given us a culture increasingly shaped by oligarchs. and resulting in increasingly threatening consequences, such as climate change, or inadequately vetted planes falling out of the sky.
Your second paragraph sums up the situation admirably well, tragically.
Your comment gets to the heart of the problem. IMHO, only aggressive large scale boycotts of the oligarchs' business interests will have a meaningful impact on their actions. This will require the emergence of enlightened messianic leadership. This forum should take the lead in identifying the best candidates.
And there you have it…sigh.
I’m not sure it’s the safety regs Delta is as gleeful about. It’s the protections for customers around hidden fees and having to compensate fliers whose flights are disrupted, cancelled, etc.
Bastian won't be happy for too long. Once the Trump Recession/Depression hits (and that's what we need to call it), the airlines will virtually cease to exist. No one will be able to afford to fly. The world will end up like the movie Elysium.
Wow! I expected this, but maybe not so brazenly and quickly. I’m speechless. And scared.
Biden is still in office. Biden should take steps iIF anymore are needed to formally confirm the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) as the 28th Amendment to our Constitution.
I am an Active ABA member & last August our House of Delegates formally passed a resolution declaring the ERA is already the 28th Amendment. Long time since Seneca.
HCR is right about the fact that 2 Biden Judges were appointed to the Federal bench today. Ted Cruz & another R Senator were absent. No word on whether Cruz went to Cancun for a traditional Thanksgiving or why he was a No-Show at the Senate hearing.
"There's a crack in everything that's how the light gets in."
Another great line from Leonard Cohen: “If you don’t become the ocean, you’ll be seasick everyday.”
SAT12, he has been one of my faves since his first album (still have it!) came out in 1967. Having reached solid senior citizen status @ 75, one of my now favorite lines is “I ache in the places where I used to play”….🤪
🎶I said to Hank Williams how lonely does it get?
Hank Williams hasn't answered yet
But, I hear him coughing all night long
Oh, a 100 floors above me in the Tower of Song 🎶
...
🎶 I feel so close to everything wel lost 🎶
Search for MARTHA WAINRIGHTS's cover on YouTube or on Spotify. Caution: Mind blowing.
He was an amazingly gifted songwriter.
Watch trailer for “Ratified,” an inspiring film about the 100-year fight for equality: ratifythefilm.com
Be invited to stream it by subscribing at https://voteequality.us/join-us/
Grab the bar and hold on tight the roller coaster has no breaks. Where it stops, if it stops, nobody knows.
It all sounds dreadfully ominous!
Well I have written two emails to VP Harris and requested that the government do a forensic investigation into election interference. I'm not as educated as most of you wonderful substackers, but I am certain that the election was hacked and we need to do all we can to make sure these people are not appointed, and if possible, arrested for treason. Heather, is there such a possibility in history please? Anyone?
Obviously the election was RIGGED. Two can play at this game. I'm drawing up my slate of alternate electors right now. Anybody want to be an elector? Apparently there's no penalty.
Obviously the election was RIGGED. Two can play at this game. I'm drawing up my slate of alternate electors right now. Anybody want to be an elector? Apparently there's no penalty.
No conclusion to Heather's piece today. At the end, Biden makes a bit of lame duck progress.
But the MAGA convicted criminal makes much more "progress" pushing priorities for the U.S.'s most nihilist, dark money billionaires who aim to dismantle all federal limits to their predations.
Good of Heather today that she doesn't laugh at all at the obvious clown show the convicted criminal puts on as he names sexual deviants, obvious incompetents, and clueless TV stars to run his bureaucracy. Sure, it may deserve some laughs -- they'll all mutually only damage each other, our Keystone Cops of 100 years later.
But good of Heather not to laugh. The clown show is window dressing. The worst U.S. billionaires now really run the show -- they all in cahoots with all the world's worst oligarchs, murderers, dictators.
When the clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace becomes a circus.
Turkish proverb.
A wise old Italian lady, whose blog I read, has likened the Trump line-up to a bunch of second-rate actors from Casting Central - the goody, the baddy, and so on through the range.
And they’re all the ugly
P.S. I've just seen that same thought expressed by two well-known American commentators - one mentioned "central casting", so that it looks as though everybody came from Fox News, the other said that the White House is going to look like a reality TV set. Jennifer Rubin was particularly pungent.
I saw that too, but without your spaghetti western specificity.
Your first two sentences are spot on. I kept reading through Heather's essay looking for a ray of hope, or at least a punchy conclusion. 'Twas not to be.
Heather has her back to the wall, unflinchingly describing the arrival of the tidal wave.
So are others. The people I have looked to for answers have none at this point. We are seemingly frozen and waiting.
Maybe paralysed rather than frozen. Which way to move. We just don't know. But this can't go on for very long. I'd be stocking up the fridge/pantry.
Yes. Paralyzed is the better term. I have been considering stocking up on things. The problem is I am moving on January 31.
Hugs and all the best.
Better! A few extra boxes, and leave the refrigerator till last.
I am stocking up the frig, pantry, garage, root cellar,, secret chest...
https://open.substack.com/pub/thomhartmann/p/are-trumps-appointees-the-trojan-b16?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
I see more than a ray of hope because what happens next largely depends on us. Trump got less than 50% of the popular vote and not everyone who voted for him is a hardcore MAGAt. If all of us refuse to bend the knee, but simply assert that we are also Americans and have the same rights as the MAGAts do, they haven't a prayer.
If, on the other hand, we all act like Jeff Bezos, then we are done. The choice is ours. I have made mine.
See my comment above to Marlene, Phil. This clown show is the distraction to run out the clock before the treasonous traitors can be stopped right now by POTUS.
Sorry, Ransom, but unless we can verify Putin's hacking of votes, MAGA won.
The American people have had it with democracy. More than those who love the old republic, the ever-aspiring democracy, more have attended schools that taught them only to love vulgarity, hate, and the wildest of lies mixed in with plenty of "bing-bing-boing-bong" even more vulgar "entertainment."
Dems might have responded with reference to our humanities, to see, succor the working classes all abandoned by other elites who did tens of millions of offshoring of their jobs. Might have. But Dems went to similar schools, and never learned any humanities to get in touch with, stay in touch with any non-elites.
So it was all just forever-forever-forever fundraising for them. And lots of celebrities.
Phil I am dreading having to witness more of the “bing-bing-boing-bong” of Life Accordion To Trump for the next 4 years….ugh…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S65jqrHQi_c
https://open.substack.com/pub/thomhartmann/p/are-trumps-appointees-the-trojan-b16?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Call them what they are
Trust Fund babies. Great example of why we need heavy inheritance tax laws. Giving over the wealth of a nation to those because of birth is much like picking your Olympic team because their parents were athletes on the team before...Warren Buffet.
Sadly, he and most all of the billionaire club have done little to protect the country.
Heather writes:
"Trump has refused to sign the official documents required by the 2022 Presidential Transition Act. Those documents mandate ethics commitments and require the incoming president to disclose private donations. They also limit those donations. Without the paperwork, Trump appointees cannot start the process of getting security clearances through the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the team says it is planning to do its own vetting of its candidates instead."
Trump may have beaten Kamala Harris, but he did not "beat" the United States government.
If I were required by the organization I had been chosen to lead to follow an official rule (in this case the 2022 Presidential Transition Act) and refused to do so, the existing leadership of the organization would be within its rights to tear up my employment contract.
I am reminded of how disgustingly friendly Joe Biden was when Trump met with him at the White House recently. That fit the pattern of Democrats playing "nice" while Republicans "come prepared for a knife fight". We saw this behavior in how Al Gore and his team behaved during the 2000 Florida recount.
If I could wave a magic wand, I would have current President Joe Biden - since he is still in a fashion "running the country" - declare Trump has violated the terms of employment by the US government and deny him his "employment contract".
PS I think we can all acknowledge that if the roles had been reversed Trump WOULD do this. (ref: January 6th).
I know it's foolish to think of Joe Biden playing hardball, but one can always dream.
Good night.
I like this. Thank you.
You’re welcome! 👊🇺🇸
Well, but 'the existing leadership' in this case is not the employer/hirer, and has no such powers. They could refuse to do a peaceful transition of power, I suppose, but, you know, that's been tried... In any case, being truculant around Trump instead of pleasant would just be childish.
How do you know “they have no such powers”? Has this theory been tested? Are you saying “defending the Constitution from domestic enemies” doesn’t give Biden the power to use any non-violent means at his disposal to save American democracy from Trump?
Biden should speak in a National address and list the ways Trump/Musk etc are breaking laws (like 60 minutes started their show).
What non-violent, legal, means do you thing Biden (or anyone) have to keep a duly elected president-elect from assuming the office? Can't even impeach him until he's already in the White House. Arrest him for lying (about everything)? This new transition ethics thing isn't even enforceable until he assumes office without following it!
It’s simple. A presidential declaration! A national address! Think creatively, my friend. This is a goddamn national emergency. And PS the Democrats were quick to eject Al Franken from the Senate. That’s the only time they’ve ever displayed the kind of ruthlessness they need to display now to save our country!
I wonder, Pax, if this Congress had any balls (metaphorically for female reps)/spine, might they not use this fact to begin, yet again, impeachment proceedings? Maybe this time McConnell, in his last term before retirement, would give the nod to his party to do so. But then again, that would just give us Vance as POTUS….frying pan or fire…which to choose?
If you reject Trump for violating this Act, you reject his VP as well. Where the F is Kamala “the prosecutor” Harris in all of this? SMH
I posit, as sitting VP, she has constraints on any unilateral action that could be taken, unless it’s in regards to specifics of the election, like requesting recounts, etc. Tho, as I understand it, there are requirements/limitations around that process as well. We are so used to TFFFG and his acolytes screaming & ranting about “stolen, rigged, faked & illegal” outcomes (or just saying it loudly & repeatedly—for YEARS—to “bend” the narrative) that we don’t recognize “normal” behavior any more!!!
Snap. I think i just typed almost the same post.
"Great minds …" I guess.
👊🇺🇸
Someone on You Tube(I think)suggested that Pres Biden resign making VP Harris the 47th President so that trumpers would have to burn all their #47 shite. Now that is what I call genius. If only the Real Dark Brandon would stand up and do that.
Heather, I am so glad I am at the ending years of my life rather than the beginning or middle years. We are facing a nightmare of unbelievable times. This was a hard letter to read but read them we must in order to learn the truth. What will this country be like as my young great grandsons grow into adulthood? Will my son, in remission from multiple myeloma, lose his insurance? And will I lose my Social Security benefits and Medicare? I can no longer sleep without taking a sleeping pill or I will worry all night long.
💔💔💔💔💔
I fear this too, Ruth. I am glad I am now an old broad well past reproductive years, but depend on SS/MediCare & pension to survive, so am scared they will muck with benefits. Sometimes I wake in the night shaking and can’t get back to sleep. Lol…it’s 4 in the morning as I write this & have been awake now for a couple of hours…. How I would love a night of restful, rejuvenating sleep!!!
This is happening to many of us. If Harris had won, the republicans would’ve still slept!
So true, Sheila!!!!
I made it to 5 today, Barbara. In much the same boat as you.
Yes. I understand. I worry for my granddaughter but am glad to be at the ending years rather than at the beginning. I marvel at the hopefulness of those who are still bearing children!
Yes, I will likely never be a grandma now. Understandably for multiple reasons. Sad for my kids who wanted children but decided against it given the climate crisis and now this!
I don't feel I have received the satisfaction I deserve for working as hard as I did all my life, but I feel that way, too, glad knowing it won't go on forever. The nightmare we are facing was behind the scenes all along, the hypocrisy, lies & abuse have caught up. I'm not downplaying the very real threats we face, but I hope, somehow, through this we can help young people claim their right to life in very real ways. It's been too long. I hope we can find rest, not be consumed by worry, & be of some comfort in such uncertainty. It's terrifying to see what is being done & not being able to control it, but I think it's valuable to validate that what we're witnessing is very wrong & that we are on the side of those coming up in it. There's are so many people blaming the very people being most hurt, we can show we know there is better, even if we don't have all the answers to fixing it. I wish for peace & encouragement for us. Every day we're still here is for good reason & the power of our caring will carry on. THAT'S real legacy, greater than any dynasty. 💖
I’m terrified… for families, for individuals, for our country.
You should be.
And I have friends that keep telling me don’t worry. It’s only for four years. I don’t know the longer. I live the more I’d like to move from this country.
Doesn't matter where you go, Janis.
The U.S. with its rule by law modeled democracy for a world with many countries following that example.
Gone soon. The Clarence court killed the main principle of no one above the law. Refused to honor let alone read the Constitution's Article 14, section three expressly forbidding any insurrectionist criminal from holding public office. Expressly ruled that a monarch newly trump the Constitution. The U.S. didn't just get a felon at the top, but a self-centered madman determined to destroy all the institutions that had held together the republic.
And then gone, too, anyone in the world to hold together the military alliances that protected democracies.
Totally triumphant soon the world's worst in totalitarian league with the U.S. billionaire worst.
The effect on the world is and will be horrific, Phil, but it does matter very much to me that I now can choose to live in a place where the children in our family don't have to endure active shooter drills. Where I as a woman feel safer on the street than I ever have in my life because men here don't have guns. Where women have bodily autonomy, protected by law and public support. Where everyone has public health care, where young people go to college for free and the level of higher education is the highest in Europe. Where religion isn't a cancer. Where everyone I meet understands the insanity of what the US has just done. It matters. It's keeping me sane. The whole world didn't make this atrocious choice. The US did.
Alexandra, where is this place?
Pax, I've just gotten residence in Scotland. Fabulous country. But New Zealand is also somewhere I could live very happily.
I’ve had a hankering for New Zealand since the mid-60’s. Knew someone who taught grade school there for a time before returning to the U.S. Also, in the late 60’s my then husband and I picked up a couple of young women from NZ who were backpacking around the USA & we gave them food & shelter for a few days…was wonderful getting to be acquainted with them & they offered to return the hospitality should be ever be “down under”. My grandmother also traveled there, a cruise ship stop over (the old timey ships, not the floating Las Vegas ones of today), and was really impressed.
Barbara, it is the most fabulous place. My husband and I did a two-month writing residence on the South Island, the Otago Peninsula. We hung out on beaches with sea lions and penguins. We walked and bused everywhere. The people are amazing. Art and culture really matter. It's stunningly gorgeous in a mythic way. Make it happen!
Most well-put, Alexandra.
I live in a country (Japan) which has all the qualities you seek.
Go figure. 90 years ago it was just entering its own fascist madness. All that reversed since the mass death trip of WWII, but a serious bit of the old patriarchy remains, a very new, un-Japanese wealth gap is growing, and the schools have just gone bonkers for everything so U.S. standardized test oriented that no humanities remain in any schools (like current black hole U.S. education).
But again, yours above most well-put, each sentence aptly stronger and stronger as you near your oh-so-fitting three-word conclusion.
Phil, I know you're a fellow expat and humanitarian! That 90 year perspective on Japan is important, and you're right about the dangers that every country has to be vigilant about now and ever.
Scotland (as I can see from yours to Pax, above). Very good, Alexandra.
My new girlfriend and I are thinking along the same lines. We could do it but she has two dogs and I have 7 cats. Go figure how this is going to work out.
Seven cats! We have two and they feel like a hundred. I guess with your name it was inevitable (or an alias...) I brought my cat over from California and it's not easy but it is doable. No quarantine period, so there's that. Maybe Canada for you, and you could drive them in a convoy?
I don't "like", but am forced to agree.
And Putin didn't have to fire a shot at the USA to conquer it, us.
I can travel to far off lands so I don’t have to watch a steady diet of the destruction that tRump will visit upon our country. It would be worth it to not have to be around to see this “show”.
I hope all your US dollars are safely in country and exchanged for hour currency. When our economy tanks our once heralded dollars will be worth what the ruble is currently.
Possibly
Yes I have heard the same; "don't worry he'll be gone in 4 years", and even if it were true, 4 more years of trump is a very, very, long time. Voters have rewarded his bad behavior by giving him 4 more years to get rid of any opposition to him staying in power. I am so... not looking forward to witnessing that.
Trump may very well be gone in four years (or sooner) but this MAGA stuff is no longer just Trump's show. It is something that will be with us far after he has gone to his reward.
Naziism didn't die with Hitler in the bunker in Berlin. Racism didn't magically disappear at Appomattox.
There is the problem. Everyone has been conditioned to believe we can just vote him and his cronies out. Never mind the statement "vote this time and you won't have to vote anymore. "
I’m not sure why, Rickey, but your comment had me searching for this cover of the song The Sound Of Silence….puts a different perspective on it & is compelling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4
Exactly.
Disturbed (the band) has an even more chilling, raw, cover of it as well. Been awhile since I’d stumbled over it on YouTube and thought “whoa and wow!”
Less than 50%. Sweeping mandate. They said so.
We all know that saying it doesn't make it so. The problem is that many only listen to one source of information. How long will it take for them to realize that they, too, are affected by the reality of the mayhem Trump and his minions are intent on causing?
Not long.
And then, what will they do about it?
Blame Biden.
Wish I had a crystal ball as well as a vivid imagination.
Hmmmm….Anne-Louise, thinking of “sweeping”, I hope we can sweep this regime into the dustbin of history!!!
I guess, BE, to put it succinctly “don’t worry he’ll be gone in 4 years…..well, so might our country”. We’ll see if Americans can come together, stand strong, and resist this with all we’ve got. 🗽🇺🇸
It’s not a simple thing to get a residency permit in another country. In Canada it takes several years to even know if you will be accepted. And you need to apply from your country of origin. Some folks think it would be better to reside in Mexico — well, Mexico’s government is even more corrupt than Trump’s will be. Plus there are the drug cartels that wield a huge amount of power. Not to mention crumbling infrastructure.
Everyone talks of leaving, but no one actualky ever does. You are correct most countries require you to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars, speak their language and have a degree in a field they are in need of. No free phones, free medical, free housing, free meals, and thousands in spending money when you illegally enter their countries.
I’m not looking to relocate. I said I will travel to distant lands.
Janis, I recently saw an article about some cruise ship lines offering 2, 3 & even 4 yr travel “packages” for those who would rather be on the high seas and ports of call than in the States…..
What agency enforces the Presidential Transition Act? Without FBI vetting, signed documents, and security clearances, Trump's people shouldn't be installed. He shouldn't be getting daily security briefings now, either. Enforce the law!
Law? You think that matters to them?
https://open.substack.com/pub/thomhartmann/p/are-trumps-appointees-the-trojan-b16?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Two points on this scheiße show from Trump. 1st, Social Security was not funded by tax revenues but by savings collected from recipients and their employers. Second, there is no mandate, landslide, or, even, a decisive victory for Trump. Interesting vid. talking about possible problems with ballots.
https://youtu.be/RJR5uQpweko
Reality has no meaning for these creatures. Reality is whatever they say it is. Until real reality bites them in the butt. But when that happens, they're not the ones who will be hurt.
Well, once the Trust Fund runs out, and even before that, it really is more complicated regarding social security. The only honest position is that the current generation is being taxed to pay the retirement generation not to suffer in poverty. And then in turn they will get the same treatment! Funds extracted from workers go directly to retirees. That is the brilliance of the program. And that is exactly why it cannot be privatized as GW Bush wanted to do.
Unfortunately, that may be true, given the demographics. What may happen is that Trumps cuts social security benefits by, say, twenty per cent as a proxy for the tax rate on benefits received. Then he keeps his promise of not taxing Social Security benefits.
Thank you for the YouTube link !
Well Ned, yes SS is a forced savings program. But for any of us that collect for more than a few years, we get back significantly more than we paid in. And we can’t simply raise the rate for our grandchildren. Certainly we can make contributions go all the way up like Medicare contributions. That might help a little and we can means test eligibility And we can raise Medicare premiums based on income.
While I despise Don, I think he did win decisively. Many Americans are fine with a dictatorship based on religion and nationalism. Even if it adversely effects their wallet.
Agree with much of what you say, Mike. But “win decisively” to me only means it was “decided” (determined) he won by our electoral system. As the numbers now stand, he did not crack the 50% level, so to me there is no popular “mandate”…more like he squeaked through with a popular “meh”. Pundits will spend years debating the why of it all (I have my opinion too).
By vote tally, Trump did not win decisively. In the sense that he crossed a lot of thresholds thought to be safely Democratic as well as co-winning the two Houses of Congress, then, yes, there was a decision -- thank you, Kathy Hughes -- in that.
https://open.substack.com/pub/thomhartmann/p/are-trumps-appointees-the-trojan-b16?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Thanks for the article, MaryPat. Like other openly biassed reporters, Thom Hartmann presents interesting views that I take with a grain of salt. People are spooked by this election. I am lucky if l get a hundred views in a week off of a give post on social media. This one got five thousand in four days. Not my magic, obviously. The post hit a nerve.
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7259852498906025984/
The following is a developing plan. One way to throw monkey wrenches into the Unartful DOGErs plans might be civil suits in blue state courts seeking injunctions against the firing of Federal civil servants whose actions are essential to the health and safety of the citizens in their states. Underlying such suits is the fact that the Federal government is funded by citizens of their states, making such firing a violation of the principle of no taxation without representation. Under such circumstances, citizens could stop paying Federal taxes and give those taxes to their states so they can provide the no longer available services to their citizens. Red state citizens will be hurt, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles. And, with IRS staff cut, it will be impossible for the MAGAts running what’s left of the federal government to prosecute non-payers. There are lots of loose ends here, but I think there’s a kernel of possibility.
Right on Barry Gerber, now you’re talkin’ 👍
Governors are already getting together. (PBS NewsHour governor of Illinois interview) Governors acting in unison can represent all the democratic power we need right now.. Furthermore, as they will be acting in unchartered waters! new ideas for America's governing can be examined and proposed. If any governor is a MAGA h/she can be disinvited to be take part in their general endeavors. Along with taking on Federal benefits that get slashed by MAGA etc., there must , early on, be a statement requiring that when DJT's term of office ends, all the emergency measures taken on by individual, or pairs of states, will be reevaluated. I really like Barry Gerber's forward looking thinking. Thank you so much.
👍
I go back to Maya Angelou, when they tell you who they are, listen. Project 2025 is here and the price of bacon was not enough reason to let “them” take over our government. And how long will it be before they admit they have screwed up and for the GOP members in Congress to stand up against them.
Over the course of the next four years, it’s likely that most of the 70+ million Trump voters will find out why the world would be better off without them.
Yeah.. they’re gonna find out.. but so fuckin’what? The rest of the world will have to suffer because of their ignorance.. I hate his supporters, god help me , but I do.
Yes. What they have unleashed will make it impossible to slow the climate-induced shrinking of livable space, which will lead to a collapse of civilization caused by competition for what’s left of it. This is what 70+ million Americans have voted for and have delivered to all of humanity (and, what is even more tragic, to all large mammals). Those 74 million American voters have, in my judgment, sacrificed their right to life. Unfortunately, we have no feasible way to rid ourselves of them, so we’re all stuck with the consequences of their malfeasance.
They are all going to heaven at the end of the day (so they think), so there is that ... I'm not sure if the marjorie taylor greene supporters (I think it is fitting that copy and paste didn't capitalize) believe in heaven or are just happy to pull others who do along for the ride.
Don't think for once despite the above paragraph I believe in eternal life. I've got no fracking clue, but probably consciousness does not live on after death. We need to prioritize the life that we have, in the universe that we have.
I feel the same way. And yes -- it is not only this country but the entire world that will suffer. And apparently all developed nations have turned to the right wing politicians who promise "they alone can fix it" (see: Argentina)
Welcome to the club. There aren’t many of us, apparently, maybe because it’s so dark. At least there’s not much danger of bumping into each other.
They are not in power to “prove” anything to people but to carry over the mandates of white supremacy evangelicals and oligarchs. This is what Project 2025 is all about. Check current life for Argentinians. When Musk said there would be “hardship” nobody translated those hardships into the everyday life of regular citizens.
Sadly, they seem to have only one mantra, "It's the Democrats' fault."
No, they'll say it's the "Libtards'" fault.
Same thing, Joelle, ditto “the elites”…whoever “they” are!
I'm wondering what else President Biden can do now, since, after all, he has absolute immunity, to further protect us? Can he add 5 more Justices to the court, since the Senate is working with him? And/or does he need to scuttle some of the mechanisms (I have no idea what these would be) to prevent Trump/Russia from getting their hands on them? Why has no one invoked the 14th amendment? I have so many questions. I'm convinced the airlines are all pretty corrupt when it comes to ripping us off. But if they don't want safety regulations, maybe they don't want passengers. People talk about staging another march in January, but it seems like a general strike might be more effective. But back to the main point, what else should we ask Biden to do now, and what else CAN he do to safeguard the Constitution, the Republic, our citizens, and our allies?
General strike. But here, there's a risk of bloodshed.
Bloodshed? Hmm. He's itching to make us look like we're the ones inciting violence, which he could manipulate by having infiltrators join a peaceful march. A strike is passive resistance. But in terms of bloodshed and mayhem, over a million US citizens died of Covid during his last term in office. He put children in cages. Nancy Pelosi's husband was attacked with a hammer by one of his lunatics. Now women are dying because they can't get medical treatment after miscarriages. Now, already. And he promises mass deportation and the destruction of most of the departments of our government, firing government workers, releasing the J6 convicts, and taking vengeance on his enemies with the blessing of the Supreme Court. I don't think sitting back to watch will prevent people from being hurt, rounded up and incarcerated, deported or disappeared. Standing together is an act of courage. But I don't think a march will have the same impact as a general strike. And doing nothing or "playing it safe' is capitulation. It's what the Germans did.
Slipping through the hands of Justice repeatedly, Trump's victories have made me very, very weary. I can't get my head or heart around it all. Now, there are greedy puppets galore who dance on the Constitution and decency itself.
If President Biden won’t intervene in this conspiracy to gut the Constitutional Republic and the three independent branches, he should resign and let Kamala take it on. The criminal threats of prison, firing squad and court-martial of critics and use of military against citizens engaged in peaceful protest should be proof enough—if project 2025 isn’t specific enough to show Government stifling of freedoms in the interest of theocracy and kleptocracy. Our National Security will be compromised. The voter suppression will be complete by midterms. It’s time to test the powers given to POTUS by the Supreme Court. Starting with nominating and passing more justices and pushing ethical reforms for them.
Did the President swear to protect the US from threats domestic and foreign? How is this NOT an insurrection? Over half the population has once again supported the electoral college loser.
Fewer than 1/3 of the registered voters supported the electoral college loser.
1/3 didn't vote, 1/3 voted for Kamala and Tim and 1/3 voted for the big orange turd.