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All of this is great news, particularly on the eve of Thanksgiving. Now our challenge is that we communicate all good news to those around us. The Thanksgiving gatherings about to occur might be an excellent place for us to practice and hone our skills at spreading good news.

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The LA Times today has the other half of this argument - let other Rs do the talking about why NOT tffg. I like your good news idea better, Marc, but this cheat sheet might work on other deluded relatives:

Mike Pence, vice president: On Jan. 6, 2021, “President Trump also demanded I choose between him and our Constitution. … Anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States.”

William Barr, second attorney general: “A very petty individual who will always put his interests ahead of the country’s.” He “shouldn’t be anywhere near the Oval Office.”

John F. Kelly, White House chief of staff, Homeland Security secretary and retired Marine general: “A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.’ A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ … A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law. … God help us.”

James N. Mattis, first Defense secretary, retired Marine general: “The first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people. … Instead, he tries to divide us.” He would order the military to “violate the constitutional rights of their fellow citizens. ”

Mark Esper, second Defense secretary: “He’s unfit for office. … His actions are all about him and not about the country. And then, of course, I believe he has integrity and character issues as well.”

More R quotes at https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-11-21/thanksgiving-donald-trump-anti-trump

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This is fantastic! Finally the MSM are getting on board. And I was really happy about Judge Luttig et al. forming a new organization to counter the Federalist Society.

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Yes, that’s something, isn’t it? The Federalist Society definitely needs a challenger!

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This is all good, Alexandra, but I fear that the vast majority of the mind numbingly large number of Americans who voted for the then soon-to-be-Seditionist-Sociopath in 2020, IN SPITE of all the horrors he visited upon the fruited plain, couldn't care less about John Kelly's or Bob Barr's opinion. They want Trump uber alles, no matter what.

The only real question is will there be enough voters to turn out for Biden to counteract the Kool Aid drinkers.

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Margaret Mead Quotes. Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

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Very true, Marc, very true

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Daniel, it is good to remember that TFFG has NEVER won the popular vote, which unfortunately means that a few states will end up pivotal to the election because of the Electoral College. Hard to imagine him getting an increase in popular votes, especially with all his perpetual whining and spouting such word salad anti-democratic drivel. If he is the R candidate I would love to see some spectacularly ginormous losing numbers….humiliatingly low. However, sigh, we all know he would be spouting “stop the steal 2.0”….and in my dreams the country hollers back “Donnie, STOP the SQUEAL”. One can hope, yeah?

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I would love to see those "ginormous losing numbers", Barbara. Of course you are right, about the Seditionist Sociopath being the "biggest loser" electorally. Unfortunately, our body politic is still afflicted by its toxic appendix, the Electoral College.

I am hoping along with you!

BTW, I'm hoping to soon get up towards the newest Cal Poly in our fine State, up in your neck of the woods in Humboldt.

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Daniel, when I started school/employment at Humboldt in 1969 it was Humboldt State College, then Humboldt State Univ…now Cal Poly Humboldt. Locals who’ve lived through the iterations just call it “Humboldt”. Humboldt county is a great place to explore…small towns, bay, lagoons, rivers, forests & the sea—miles upon miles of seashore (watch your back for sneaker waves!). Basically Humboldt is as far north as you can get for college and still pay in-state fees & is one reason I chose it those many years ago…great memories of attending classes (10 yr no-degree program…lol…) and of working there on staff for 40 years!

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Daniel, I just want to stick a reminder post-it note to you. Fake 45 caused over 1 million deaths because of his botched plan about Covid. That means most of those people will not be voting for him. They’re gone.

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To be fair, a substantial COVID death toll was likely even if we had done everything right. But we Yanks outdid ourselves for a way oversized death toll compared to other nations. I have seen estimates that "only" several hundred thousand deaths have "GOP" fingerprints on them.

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That seems plenty to me

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though it leaves many factors unaccounted for, just the difference in mortality rates between vaccinated counties and the unvaccinated ones leaves TFG’s fingerprints on thousands upon thousands of deaths. But MAGA seem to care less and seem quite happy to die for their gilded orange menace

https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/03/03/the-changing-political-geography-of-covid-19-over-the-last-two-years/

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Pretty difficult to actively track who might have lived if they had been vaccinated, worn a mask, or not gone to the malfeasant campaign rally.

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Snooze and lose big time.

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I agree! 👍

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I wandered down the rabbit hole of YouTube yesterday and came across this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdHisbwFPQQ

I wonder if anyone else can make it to the end of this as I did with them yelling and talking over each other. ( confess, it was more like watching a train wreck.) I am absolutely baffled by any people of color supporting Trump, but if you watch this, you can see it isn't just Caucasians who are brainwashed.

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I made it through about 5 minutes. As usual with Trump supporters there’s no there, there.

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I lasted to the end though it was HARD. However, I got an interesting piece of information from it, that being the amount of money given to HBC under Trump as compared to Biden. The host kept hammering the point that they have done tremendously better under Biden, but this guy just refused to listen.

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Gen. Milley's retirement speech was right on target.

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More cheat sheets covering tffg's promises and deliveries, gop flops, etc. Well armed is necessary going forward.

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There's just so many "GOP" crimes and cock-ups that you just lose track without a program.

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D4N, I would love a printable side-by-side comparison list of accomplishments of TFFG’s admin & the Biden/Harris admin (the White House website has good info on this admin’s accomplishments, but alas is not in a printable format). Perhaps w/ sidebar notes showing who benefited from them (thinking tax cuts for the rich & corps, etc) & reference links. Heck, I’d carry a supply with me to pass out in hopes a few folks would actually read it & learn….as it is said “the more you know”….. Kinda Pollyanna-ish of me, but one can hope!

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Barbara, THAT is a wonderful idea and I've thought the same! I think perhaps an email to the WH or Biden campaign would be a worthy effort for us all!

https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

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A link to a some suggestions from earlier in the week for approaching those family dinner table discussions with links to all of the White House responses to the Republican House appropriations bills.

https://georgiafisanick.substack.com/p/turkey-table-talk

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Georgia, excellent website and suggestions!

As someone above suggested (and I emailed to the WH begging for them to forward to the Biden campaign) could you create a one page printable document that could be shared? (Or if this exists somewhere, please someone let us know!)

I had a conversation last week with my hairdresser who is conservative but dislikes "nasty" Trump only because of the way he name calls. She also said that Biden "has done nothing". I started rattling off many of them, all of which she hadn't heard of with the exception of the Infrastructure Act--and that she didn't know what it was doing!!

She is diabetic, so I did mention the Medicare cap on insulin price. (she isn't on insulin or Medicare, but that at least hit close to home.)

A table of his accomplishments would help us letter/postcard writers. Comparing his to Trump's record would help, too.

Thank you!

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Why so late, guys??

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The supporters of TFG don’t care about facts. I think the real question is, Do you like living in a democracy? If so then Biden is the choice. Do you want to experience what living in a Facism country is like then vote TFG because he is telling us exactly what he will do. Democracy or Facism, that’s the bottom line question IMO.

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Love this!

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All of these men want to have their cake and eat it too. They support the policies of the trump era. They are hoping to replace trump and put in someone more mainstream-likable to do the continued eroding of American Rights. They want the skunk out of the room-where-it-happens. It draws too much attention. All of these men had multiple - beyond multiple- chances to come clean about this demigod/golden calf. Yet they don’t do it. Pense, for example, could end this hullabaloo soooooooo quickly by simply telling the truth. All of them could. But not a single one will, in a court of law, reveal the whole truth. They are extending our national pain for their own gain.

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Many people complain about the failures of MSN and the Biden administration to message properly and effectively. We can take it upon ourselves to do this in our own circles.

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It’s also hard to message properly when their opponents are backed by billionaires who own the mainstream media that is helping stifle and counter their messaging. Don’t forget that most effective social media platforms are owned by billionaires who don’t want Biden to succeed. Lastly, it’s hard to motivate people to action who don’t know what is going on due to unintentional &/or willful ignorance, mis/disinformation, and who lack time because their employers help keep them too busy, too tired, and contribute towards making them feel powerless.

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Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”

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And many seem to tune themselves out. Ostriches when we need owls.

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You just said what I’ve been muttering for years. Thanks!

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Hard in a sea of red, but standing up instead of bowing down works too

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You are a warrior, Jeri, and I so admire you!

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Have been but standing up is about all I can do now. Thank you. So many warriors on HCR, TCinLA, Hubbel, Dan Rather, and Greg Olear. And many more that I can't afford.

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I think it was last week that JD Hinckley posted this excellent bullet point list here in this forum:

What Biden’s done:

CREATING MORE JOBS

14 million jobs added

STRONGER ECONOMY

Strongest economic recovery in the G7 since the pandemic

U.S. MANUFACTURING

Bringing semiconductor manufacturing back to the U.S.

CANCELING STUDENT DEBT

Canceled $127 billion in student loan debt for nearly 3.6 million Americans

IMPROVING OUR INFRASTRUCTURE

Passed the Bipartisan

Infrastructure Law

SUPPORTING VETERANS

PACT Act for veterans and their survivors

GUN SAFETY

Most significant gun safety law in decades

CLIMATE ACTION

Passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which takes historic climate action

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS

Executive orders protecting reproductive rights

STRENGTHENED GLOBAL ALLIANCES

Strengthened U.S. alliances and partnerships around the world

LOWERING COSTS

Lowered prescription drug and health care costs

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And this is another great summation of Team Biden accomplishments:

William Weir posted on Quora:

"In only 2–1/2 years, Biden has already set a record for the most jobs ever created in a single presidential term. We have the lowest peacetime unemployment since before the Great Depression, and workforce participation is rising for the first time since Clinton was President. His Rescue Plan launched the fastest economic recovery in history, and the “Biden Boom” led to record consumer spending, record corporate profits, rising home values, record low childhood poverty, the best GDP growth in forty years, and a banner year for the Dow. Despite deliberate sabotage by his predecessor, he brought an end to America’s longest war with a near-record low number of American casualties. He has already cut the record deficit he inherited by half, making record cuts his first two years, and is on track to become only the second President to reduce the deficit every year of his administration. He passed a historic investment in our infrastructure that was budget neutral and that is projected to create as many as 19 million new jobs. Domestic oil production is at a record high and is expected to increase again next year. He brought microchip manufacturing to the US, cut prescription drug prices for seniors, capped insulin prices, and signed a bill to protect our elections from future coup attempts. The biggest challenges in his Presidency so far have been global inflation exacerbated domestically in part by record economic growth on the heels of crippled supply lines due to his predecessor’s failure to address the pandemic and his ill-advised trade war. All of this occurred during the heavy drubbing by a Republican Party that actively tries to sabotage good government."

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Thanks Alexandra-

I just submitted this to Congressman Don Bacon suggesting he discuss it at his Thanksgiving dinner(s).

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Hah! Good for you.

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Thank you Alexandra. Both of the above summations will provide me with some useful information tomorrow around the Thanksgiving table. There is nothing like a few facts to back up the assertions of the progress that Biden has made in the past three years.

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Thanks for the highlights of Biden's work. Please also refer to the White House website to add immigration actions to the list. (The link was way too long to post for some reason.)

Even hearing and knowing all that Biden has accomplished, too many truly don't care as long as their taxes are low, and will "Yes. But," themselves into a pretzel rather than vote D.

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“Domestic oil production is at a record high and is expected to increase again next year.”

Might I suggest cutting this line if there even a scintilla of a chance that a person under the age of thirty who is concerned about climate change will be a recipient of this.

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Marc, that is a stellar idea! Most families are "mixed" and these discussions come up at Thanksgiving. I don't envy people with deluded relatives (my own family is solidly Democratic) but I would be grateful to anyone who is willing to use the table as a good news forum.

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You make an excellent point Alexandra about "us(ing) the table as a good news forum."

It's unfortunate the MSM feeds us sensationalism to bring in the viewers and the ad $$$$s. I'm definitely guilty of bringing up something awful TFFG, SCOTUS or any of the MAGANAZIs has said or done instead of talking up the Biden administration's many accomplishments.

Thanks for making that point.

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Alexandra, my family too…such a relief isn’t it? I read with dismay the disappointment and heartache of others’ experiences….seems like it would be a real appetite killer ‘round the dinner table!

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Tim, it’s sad that a Liberian politician has to provide an example for the peaceful transfer of power to the US because a substantial number of US citizens believe the lies of the former president.

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Wonderful

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