340 Comments

Don't forget how lucky we are to have people with the intellect and conscience running the show right now - specifically in the white house, both houses of Congress, and the DoJ. They aren't ignoring anything. They have to pull the levers - which they have been doing successfully for just 10 months and they did it during a pandemic. More has happened for the middle class in 2021 than I can remember ever happening. The national awakening because of Trump was needed. Now let's move on and fight the fight and make sure the Democrats don't mess up and not show up at the polls in 2022. That is our job. I think we need to stop second guessing their actions, they really do know what their doing. That is why I wasn't interested in any of the ingenuous that ran against Biden. We couldn't afford a learning curve after Trump destroyed government. These Democrats are not blindly making decisions and neither is Garland. These are wise people. The press persists in trying to make them seem like bumbling idiots. They got to the top of their chosen profession having worked hard to get there . The hate and anger that gave us Trump was real, but he was the result of the perfect storm (maybe Super Storm Sandy was a sign of what was coming). The press aided and abetted his winning, Hillary is just not liked (it doesn't matter why - but Bernie wouldn't have surged as her strongest alternative if she had truly been a strong candidate to beat whomever the Republicans put forward), after two terms of a democrat voters typically go Republican (I still don't understand that). The press and news broadcasters speculate for most of their air time about the Republican idiots and if they will be brought to justice. I guess it is easier than trying to talk about the content of the new infrastructure bill. I ask you, now what? What happens now that it has passed? Surely something exciting.. Instead they rage against Trump, Cruz Green, etc...and that empowers them.. I couldn't even name the representative from the backwaters of North Carolina a year ago! And now I know all three of her names like she is some kind of 90s rock star!! I lived Obama. He was a brilliant, inspiring, man. His administration was the rabbit. Now we have to have a little faith in the tortoises. People that want instant gratification are being unrealistic. Things look bad but we can't believe yet that the outcome is inevitable and dire.

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I want to have your faith Martha but without a voting rights bill nothing the Dems are getting accomplished will come to pass under an autocratic leadership and that’s where, it seems, the Republicans are heading.

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No doubt about it we are going to need a huge turnout in 2022 and 2024. But somewhere I read recently people just really want normal. And I think normal is going to win. Maybe some of the things in our lives that we thought were normal we're not .(white folks thought racism was behind us) But we have to be supportive of our team and not drag them down every time they do something that we think isn't right. Everybody has a different agenda. But someone has to decide what's going to lift the boat and turn the tide. I think that is what Biden is doing and he will get to the voting rights bill when it's it's turn and not before. Don't be so sure he isn't going to do it.

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Hard when I live in a sea of red. But the cult is bat-shit crazy here. Not normal by any stretch.

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The cult appears to be bat-shit crazy anywhere you have a concentration of red voters. Crazy.

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Without federally mandated protections for reality-based government, we are utterly screwed as a nation and probably as a species. This fascist cult of personality stuff isn't just happening in the USA. We need a reality-based world government body that has the teeth to ensure basic human rights for everyone.

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Sadly the UN has never stepped up to that plate. If they had we might not have invaded Iraq?

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This is directly because the UN is hamstrung intentionally by its most powerful members. That includes the US which spends as much on military budgets as the next ten most powerful countries combined.

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Yes, Martha, you are correct, but the rich powers, namely the United State and Israel in particular vetoed every try the UN made. They managed to get that put in the UN charter when it was created way back in 1948. The Democrats should think of this when they refuse to get rid of the filibuster in the Senate. It's the same thing, "We don't like what you are proposin', so we are blocking it totally."

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Nothing could have stopped W/Dickie. War criminals in my view

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I could not agree more, Martha. Excellent analysis! My beef is with the press, even the so-called liberal press! The Biden administration is getting the job done on multiple fronts and the press can’t seem to spend one column noting the successes. Sharon, my question for you: What are you doing to address the situation? Maybe it’s time for you—and all of us—to get involved in our electoral and government processes. What if we all get out of this lovely echo chamber and write to our news providers and to our elected representatives? Remind all of our friends about the importance of personal involvement? Volunteer for and give money to candidates who stand for true democratic values? Thank you for all the great ideas described by other members of this community!

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I grew up in an advertising family (father and grandfather). Question 1: WHAT IS THE MESSAGE:’ QUESTION 2; HOW BEST TO DELIVER IT? In you can’t write your basic message on a single double-spaced page, you have a failed campaign from the outset.

I suggest a simple message of President Biden’s accelerating accomplishments domestically and internationally against Trump’s specific ‘disaccomplishments.’ Then keep focused on the staccato message. Currently I sense more media and cable focus on how disjointed Democrats (and independents?) are rather than a focus on overall accomplishments. Remember—one double-spaced page, then pound hell out of it. Also try a 60-second ‘elevator speech.’ Recently I posted a lengthy comment which sought to cover this message. About 125 of you thought it was a good start in honing down a succinct message. KEY POINTS THEN REPETITION!

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Sounds like a sensible approach. Now, how do we get the various factions in the Democratic party to realize that everyone cannot have everything they want. If each faction goes for broke, we’ll all end up bankrupt—morally, ethically and literally! In order to get our elevator speech together, we need to have some minimal level of consensus. And the divas and celebrities among us (I’m thinking Kyrsten Sinema, Joe Manchin and “the squad”) need to get over themselves—fast! Clearly, the moderate and progressive wings haven’t come to grips with the reality of our collective predicament! Hair on 🔥!!!!!

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Helen Spot on. As was said during the debate before the Declaration of Independence, “We either get together or we will hang separately.’ President Biden is an able quarterback, but his ‘team’ is disparate. Get a simple, positive play book and then execute it. The Republicans have a play book that is destructive and powerful. If we can’t constructive a brief positive message that is credible to a majority of Americans and run with it, then our team deserves to lose.

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What is it that makes the media continue to disparage the Biden administration and Democrats in general? I don't get it.

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I know that one. The republican megabucks own the media.

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Easy. Everybody getting along, getting things done, holding hands and singing "Kum Baya" is B-O-R-R-R-R-I-N-G. Infighting, disunity, back-biting, controversy is more interesting and is more of a story. The press got used to it during the previous "administration" and it's like that same mentality has carried over into the Biden years. Same play, different cast. Recently, there have been some rather large cracks showing within the Republican party, with the "Troll Faction" in the House (Greene, Boebert, Gaetz, etc.) lobbing bombs at the leadership of McCarthy and at McConnell. Suffice it to say, the GOP is in may ways no better off than the Democrats, maybe even worse, but you'd never know it judging by press coverage. Dare I suggest it is almost by design? Keep the attention concentrated on your opponents' divisions while keeping quiet about the even bigger divisions in your own party? Nahhhhh...that's too obvious. Um, isn't it???

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The Republican unity is fraying. Meadows agreed to be deposed. Trump will probably be told he can't claim Executive Privilege before Christmas, Bannon's hearing is next week. So now everyone is thinking about how to save themselves.

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"...the GOP is in *many* ways no better off..."

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It is easier to criticize then to try and understand and communicate complex issues so the general populace will understand. Easier to create headlines that speak to our Id rather than our Ego. We have spent two generations promoting as glamorous the zero sum philosophy.

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For example, just this am on good morning America, ceo of Walmart was on saying everyone should buy presents since they are currently "on the shelf" but who knows for how long.

And the 2nd play book in authoritarianism is, nobody believes anything! Sigh.

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They lean towards “what sells”

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All of which makes me want to remind people, yet again, to email your media of choice every time you hear or read unnecessarily negative coverage.

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Yep. Clicks.

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Following Rupert down the rabbit hole, disgusts me more than I have words to express.

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Jeri, you're singing my song!

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Excellent perspective, Martha.

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Ty Martha, I will keep the faith.

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Martha: Amen, Amen AND Amen. I am totally in agreement with all & feel too that we Dems - and Independents - MUST make our voices heard in one way or another OR all. Thank you for your strength and understanding!

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It's starting to look like we're dangerously close to the tipping point. Democrats are almost certain to lose the House in 2022, which will end all investigations into the insurrection and cement the power of the people behind it just in time for them to finish building the anti-democratic election machinery that will be needed to install a Republican in 2024.

Trump might be the best alternative at that point - he's a known quantity and as subtle as a brick. Whoever might replace him will have the advantage of the anti-democratic infrastructure his people have created, but you can bet they will be much more calculating and user-friendly. Whether Trump or someone else, their first priority will be to ensure that no fair election will be held after 2024.

The failure of Democrats to guard against this possible path of history is a necessary step to cementing the dominance of Republicans, and the failure of the American experiment, effectively forever. We have a year to prevent this. Let's get on with it.

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Yes, Let's get on with it.

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HRC is not liked because of Fox’s 21+ years of the most vile slander, some of which Dems bought. She was voted the most admired woman repeatedly until she announced that she would run. Rupert outdid himself to destroy her, aided by about every Republican and plenty of democrats

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Just to be clear I didn't say she deserved to be not liked. But the fact remains that many people had their opinion shopped primarily by Fox. There is no argument from me that she is an impressive woman.

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The Democrats—well, both Dems and big biz GOPers--have played a major role in setting up this situation, according to a new book. But the Dems should have known better.

That book is entitled, Back of the Hiring Line: A 200-Year History of Immigration Surges, Employer Bias, and Depression of Black Wealth, by Roy Beck.

During times of low immigration, Blacks have advanced and begun to prosper. High immigration--often happening when companies literally sent ships to Europe to bring White Europeans back so they wouldn't have to hire Blacks--has always pushed Blacks back down again.

The current surge has been going on since 1965, became particularly damaging when the numbers reached an annual addition of over 1 million immigrants, and and has played a large role in hollowing out the middle classes.

Beck is thorough. The book draws heavily (but very readably) on academic economic history, publications run by Black people, the determinations of multiple gov't commissions on immigration, all of which warned that mass immigration would take jobs from low/no-skilled Americans (Congress never followed their advice) and the journalism of the author, Roy Beck, who wrote on the issue. One scene from the latter--Blacks in Northampton County VA (sandwiched betw Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic, who had always worked in agriculture (despite "work that Americans won't do), telling Beck that the immigrants work for less, and tolerate harsher conditions...

Had the US followed the Rockefeller Commission's recommendations (1972) or even the Barbara Jordan Commission's recommendations (1990s), I suspect that low/no-skilled Americans would have advanced, and had a lot more hope, and that 45 would not even have been in the running.

The Democrats have lost the working classes, in no small part due to the flood of cheap immigrant labor keeping the working classes--including recent immigrants--down.

In the book, Beck emphasizes that the problem is NOT the fault of immigrants, but the fault of Congress. Besides Congress, the villains include all the employers of low/no skilled workers, who preferred immigrants to African Americans because the former were easier to exploit. Even following Hurricane Katrina, when Blacks set out to help fix the mess, employers brought in bus loads of immigrants, refusing to hire the Blacks.

The book gives the lie to the notion that there are jobs Americans won't do. The employers pushed Blacks, and other American workers out of those jobs in favor of the more malleable immigrants—who would eventually get pushed out by newer immigrants. No wonder Latinos in Texas went for Trump!

I've never said this about any book about immigration before, and I've read a handful of them, but this book will change a lot of minds, maybe yours, and might help change the direction of this country, towards a more stable Democratic path. It's $9 from Amazon in hard copy and for Kindle. Hard copies are not available elsewhere. I think they will become available, but I don't know for sure, or when. I think there are audio copies available.

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To the extent they may be real, the "labor shortages" the Dems complain about are really the complaints of the CHEAP LABOR LOBBY, and if left in place, would help pull Blacks, recent low-skilled immigrants, and low-skilled whites out of their penury, by forcing wages to rise to a livable level.

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"But if Trump is permitted to hand over control over the machinery of our elections to his loyalists, today’s 'crazy' is going to look quaint."

Why this specimen of a man (?) is not arrested and jailed forthwith, I cannot understand! He's a danger to our country, our citizens and to peoples of the world, not to mention, to our beloved planet, home to all life -- sentient and insentient, animate and inanimate.

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As I read this letter that was exactly my thought. This insanity has got to stop, we elected an idiot who is a pathological liar and he’s leading his lunatic followers over the edge of the cliff and the country with them. Why isn’t the Justice department arresting him, are they afraid of setting a precedent, don’t they understand that it won’t matter if we no longer have a country? Or have our laws become so convoluted and nuanced that they are watching this happen and are hamstrung and unable to act? The Russians and the Chinese must be howling with delight, their biggest adversary is self destructing right in front of their eyes and all they had to do was use a little psychological pressure to our electoral system. The bastard is a traitor and we should treat him like one, take off the goddamn white gloves, he’s the last one in our nation to deserve white glove treatment.

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“Or have our laws become so convoluted and nuanced that they are watching this happen and are hamstrung and unable to act?”… that seems to be it in a nutshell Dick! Look at the release of Bill Cosby! If that isn’t an aberration of justice, I’m not sure what is! Our legal system is broken… or at best the wheels of justice mired down in sand. My hair is on🔥 !

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I have faith that the Justice Department is on the trail. They are hamstrung by Trump's Mafia Don status in which his frontmen take the fall. Many were convicted, sent to prison, then pardoned by the Pres. Add to that having no precedent for indicting a former president (Trump keeps claiming Presidential immunity.) Even his financial affairs are similar...someone else always does the dirty work. Make no mistake the list is long, but what exactly to do within the framework of law?

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New York is working on getting him for taxes. He may yet go down for that. I do wonder, however, if him becoming a "martyr" will only make things worse. Not a reason not to charge him, I just wonder.

He's also not an idiot. In his horrific way, he's a genius at what he does.

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He learned from Hitler and Goebbels.

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Agreed, 100%!

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A human with no shred of humanity. WTH is the attraction?

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Abortion and being a bully. Sad how many look at him as a strong person. To me he is weak because he punches down and in his own way, he gets other to do the most dirtiest of deeds so he as he said takes no responsibility. I

It's hard for me to deal with because a lot of the people I know who voted for him are either long term friends (who I'm having less interaction with) and family from my first marriage.

It's also has a lot to do with fox entertainment. Anger, anger and more anger. So many of them are angry at things they can't explain or if they do and you try to tell them why their anger is misplaced refuse to admit that you are right.

I don't know what the answer is, I've grown tired of trying to reach out to them and have cut all ties with most of them. I've got real life issues to deal with and my energy is best served dealing with them.

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And white supremacy...and brainwashing....

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Have you seen the latest way they are fleecing the sheep? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9qv8RSreIM

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Just watched it. Wow. Real or parody?

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Speechless. Was that Boris Epshtein narrating??

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Me too, but cults are a bridge too far for me.

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All you say is true. But the Democrats have the major recent culpability for the continuing poverty among the low/no-skilled classes, and especially among Blacks, although the GOP has certainly participated, according to a new book.

That book is entitled, Back of the Hiring Line: A 200-Year History of Immigration Surges, Employer Bias, and Depression of Black Wealth, by Roy Beck.

During times of low immigration, Blacks have advanced and begun to prosper. But high immigration--often happening when companies literally sent ships to Europe to bring White Europeans back so they wouldn't have to hire Blacks--has always pushed Blacks back down again.

The current surge has been going on since 1965, became particularly damaging when the annual numbers passed 1 million immigrants, and has played a large role in hollowing out the middle classes.

Beck is thorough. The book draws heavily (but very readably) on academic economic history, publications run by Black people, the determinations of multiple gov't commissions on immigration, all of which warned that mass immigration would take jobs from low/no-skilled Americans (Congress never followed their advice) and the journalism of the author, Roy Beck, who wrote on the issue. One scene from the latter--Blacks in Northampton County VA (sandwiched betw Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic, who had always worked in agriculture (despite "work that Americans won't do), telling Beck that the immigrants work for less, and tolerate harsher conditions...

Had the US followed the Rockefeller Commission's recommendations (1972) or even the Barbara Jordan Commission's recommendations (1990s), I suspect that low/no-skilled Americans would have advanced, and had a lot more hope, and that 45 would not even have been in the running.

The Democrats have lost the working classes, in no small part due to the flood of cheap immigrant labor keeping the working classes--including recent immigrants--down.

In the book, Beck emphasizes that the problem is NOT the fault of immigrants, but the fault of Congress. Besides Congress, the villains include all the employers of low/no skilled workers, who preferred immigrants to African Americans because the former were easier to exbploit. Even following Hurricane Katrina, when Blacks set out to help fix the mess, employers brought in bus loads of immigrants, refusing to hire the Blacks.

The book gives the lie to the notion that there are jobs Americans won't do. The employers pushed Blacks, and other American workers out of those jobs in favor of the more malleable immigrants—who would eventually get pushed out by newer immigrants. No wonder Latinos in Texas went for Trump!

To the extent they may have any reality, the "labor shortages" the Dems complain about are really the complaints of the CHEAP LABOR LOBBY, and if left in place, would help pull Blacks, recent low-skilled immigrants, and low-skilled whites out of their penury, by forcing wages to rise to a livable level.

I've never said this about any book about immigration before, and I've read a handful of them, but this book will change a lot of minds, maybe yours, and might help change the direction of this country, towards a more stable Democratic path. It's $9 from Amazon in hard copy and for Kindle. Hard copies are not available elsewhere. I think they will become available, but I don't know for sure, or when. I think there are audio copies available.

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David,

Immigrants working in horrible conditions are mostly associated with the farming economy and meat packing and processing. So, perhaps African Americans and other poor Americans HAVE been frozen out of picking tomatoes, picking beans, and slaughtering cattle, etc.

However, the real culprit for hollowing out low skill jobs has been American Corporate outsourcing of manufacturing to Mexico and China.

Immigration had nothing, at all, to do with the thousands of factory closings we have seen since 1992.

Amazingly, the best candidate for President in 1992 was Ross Perot who clearly saw the future of NAFTA and other international "trade" agreements.

"That giant sucking sound you hear? Yep, that's American jobs heading to Mexico" said Perot.

He was right.

So, although immigration has impacted employment in farming, and meat packing, the vast majority of good jobs in Americ that vanished because corporations moved manufacturing to Mexico and China.

Those corporations did so because Jack Welch granted himself historically stupendous bonuses after outsourcing GE manufacturing to China.

So, we, America, traded good jobs for less educated people for giant bonuses for mostly white males who sometimes were educated and sometimes just hired because their Dad worked at the company before.

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Not that I have the answer, but Trump supporters are almost always older whites with average or less education. They have long feared the presence of a multicultural, multiracial America, in which they will no longer be exceptional. There is a distinct lack of logic and critical thinking, which they have elevated to a religion. Add to that the fervent minority of Evangelicals who want to end abortion and civil rights and there is a hodgepodge of yowling disaffected jerks who think that might makes right. They have not tuned in to Trump's egregious behaviors but only the "news" of him defending their way of life. They will not prevail, but I cannot say they won't create a great deal of havoc first.

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I'm not so sure about "They will not prevail" at least in near-term elections. Moscow McTurtle has engineered this situation with must-pass money and defense bills choking progress. His refusal to vote for the debt ceiling elevation after he caused it is galling. Dastardly and despicable.

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The Democrats need to hammer in all forms of media on "[h]is refusal to vote for the debt ceiling elevation after he caused it. . . ."

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Agree! It will take awhile.

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Aye, if Trump only appealed to Whites. But, he appeals to Latinos in the south BECAUSE of his border policies. Nobody hates illegal immigration from Mexico and South America more than those who have already transitioned to this country and become citizens from that area.

Competition.

South Texas was red for Trump last election, all Latino.

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Hmmm, could that have been due to canceling legal abortion? As strong Catholicsvoting for generally, there may have been a lot of reinforcement for Trump from the church.

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Pharisees all

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Biting off your nose to spite your face

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Perfect description: "hodgepodge of yowling disaffected jerks who think that might makes right"

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Couldn’t not have said it better, despite it describing several family members

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Perhaps that, "no shred of humanity" is the attraction to some? After all, Trump is hardly the first hominid that appeared to have no human qualities. Or, maybe he is too human??

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Please substitute ‘creature’ for man when referring to dopey don!

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But a creature can also mean a beautiful animal ... I placed a question mark after the word "man," because he is no human being, just a wicked entity.

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If you are referring to the clown that was our president, I have no doubt that he would sell this nation out at the drop of a hat, there’s no end to his corruption, and he attracts like minded accomplices like maggots are drawn to things that are rotting.

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Liz, I don't know if you read Greg Olear, but he has some very compelling things to say about that very thing.

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A strong possibility!

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Liz, you are correct. Why do I still hear this crap about Trump is going to jail. SDNY has walked away from it as he has done all of his life.

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As the saying goes "We ain't seen nothing yet!" If the people can't vote, their votes are ignored, uncounted, gerrymandered or rejected then any spending bill successes that the Biden administration might achieve in the meantime will be ephemeral, wisps in the violent wind blowing away our democracy. We are less than one year away from giving it all away as we can't get our priorities right and all our troups to march in the same direction. We are playing toy soldiers while the opposition is using atom bombs.

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Here are the thirty steps from David Pepper's book "Laboratories of Autocracy" where he outlines the actions needed to Reclaim Democracy. We need to put together a ten-point plan from these and get them done starting right now.

Reclaiming Democracy

Step 1: Reframe the Battle: Fulfilling a Constitutional Guarantee

Resistance at the National Level

Step 2: Resist through Federal Legislation and Enforcement

Step 3: Don’t Let the Filibuster Stop You

Step 4: Robust Federal Corruption Enforcement

Step 5: Legislation to Buttress Democracy on Other Fronts

Step 6: Define the Teams Differently

Step 7: Fight for Democracy Everywhere

Step 8: Invest Every Year, Everywhere

Step 9: Challenge Laws Everywhere

Resistance at the State Level

Step 10: ALWAYS Resist – Never Cut Deals Against Democracy

Step 11: Resist Fiercely and Unconventionally

Step 12: When in Power, Create Laboratories of Democracy

Step 13: Run a Candidate in Every Legislative District

Step 14: Run on Corrosion as much as Corruption: In Kansas, “There’s No Place Like … Public Schools”

Step 15: Focus on Any Seat with Leverage Over Power

Step 16: Go Right to the People to Protect Democracy

Step 17: Treat Every Candidate as a Champion of Democracy

Step 18: No “Off-Year” Elections

Step 19: Reflect America, Represent the New Majority

Step 20: Register, Register, Register

Step 21: Boosting Journalism

Step 22: Expose Statehouses; Disrupt the Silence

Resistance at the Individual Level

Step 23: Once Aware, Spread the Word

Step 24: Connect!

Step 25: Know Your Legislator, or His/Her Opponent

Step 26: Run for Office, or Make Sure Someone Else Does

Step 27: Register Voters

Step 28: Put Your Money Where Democracy Is

Step 29: Put Your Time and Voice Where Democracy Is

Step 30: Election Time – VOTE!

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Most importantly: Repeal “Citizens United.” Billionaire Nazis like Charles Koch, the Mercers, etc are pulling the strings.

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Step one of the ten-point plan: Read “Laboratories of Autocracy.” Knowledge is power.

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31. Arrest treasonous leaders who are anti-democracy!! 32. Turn off megaphones of lies and propaganda. 32. Break glass! Use our laws swiftly, this is an emergency! 33. NO government vacations until our country is safe enough from homegrown terrorism. We are the People and Employers. Demand it!

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I agree with you, but just how do we "turn off megaphones of lies and propaganda"? Much of the MSM seems to be following Fox et al down the rabbit hole.

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Visit Robert Hubbell's substack. He opened to everyone this night as Microphone Night to brainstorm ideas of creative messaging.

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/WhctKKXHFZdbFRJcdkCXqpzpXFlxZhdGfGtvHKmHgWmVmhBsjhmnpfFwhhkqJSPWCzjQDDL

It is wonderful, inspiring and empowers every one of us to use our positive power right now to flood this nation with simple messages of what is going well. The antidote to brainwashing of the anti-democracy drones and their propaganda. The majority of Americans want our democracy. Let's shout it out. Drown the negativity out. If you know a celebrity who has a voice, get them to use it! Autocrats apparently love celebrities. Remember: "When you are a celebrity, they will let you do anything." —The Pussygrabber who became the twice impeached president (even though he lost the popular vote. See, celebrities can do anything.

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Thank you! Buying this book today!!!

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This should not be a news flash to Democrats. I have been watching the oozing morass turn into a torrent of horror for a long time. Fox and clones are the main reason why formerly sane friends and family are now devoted cultists. They blast lies and spin 24/7 and the MSM does their milquetoast version. Yesterday, PBS blathered about poll numbers and Joe not being a great orator. Well, duh. Where are the journalists with enough clout to call republicans what they are, enemies of our democracy. HCR didn’t sugar-coat the obvious, wish our “free press” had her guts, and she had their reach…. When “Goebbels” wins, we are done.

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Stuart, the current administration NEEDS your voice! I have asked before, but may I copy and paste? I will give credit of course.

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Time for my weekly ask of Maine U.S. Senators Collins and King to "enact both the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the For the People Act. If not, as an alternative, please enact both the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Our Representative democracy hangs in the balance."

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Maybe we should all do personal phone banks I mean, call only the people we know in purple or red states and engage them into calling their reps

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Just an idea... but people could join a phone bank organized by Common Cause - see https://www.mobilize.us/commoncause/event/376178/ - to call voters in critical states and ask them to contact their Senators regarding the Freedom to Vote Act. Common Cause is partnering with other organizations and I think they do a good job.

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Angus King is on board. It's Susan Collins who remains unconvinced.

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Susan Collins isn't "unconvinced" of anything. She's putting her head in the sand, pretending to care about the nation and the democracy, while at the same time hoping she won't be ousted by the voters of Maine, or be dragged screaming from her home by an angry right-wing mob.

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Yes indeed and I thank him for his support along with my request.

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Get the Freedom to Vote Act passed. Tell the person in line ahead of you at the grocery store. Your family. The Amazon delivery man. Call your Senator and Congressman https://ballotpedia.org/List_of_current_members_of_the_U.S._Congress - nothing else matters right now! We all have responsibilities. Poet Nikki Giovanni implores us in these words from Cotton Candy on a Rainy Day: "... and while I don't expect you to save the world I do think it's not asking too much ... " Rabbi Tarfon says "It is not your responsibility to finish the work of perfecting the world, but you are not free to desist from it either." Gloria Estefan sings Get on your feet, Get up and make it happen Get on your feet, Stand up and take some action. I asked a friend yesterday: Why is no one outraged that more than 700,000 of our neighbors have died of Covid? That 27 people, including children and a pregnant mom drowned in search of what we have and are losing? And finally, tell everyone you know to read this newsletter!

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“And while I don’t expect you to save the world, I do not think it is asking too much.” Exactly! Working to get out the vote in 2022 is the most important work any of us can do right now. Vote blue in 22; once more in 24. Get up and take some action! 🎶 Thanks Sammy!

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I am with you! Our Indivisible is working hard on it. Right now we need everyone! Keep up your good work.

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I am humbled by your use of words. Thank you.

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“Federal protection of our voting rights underpins everything else.”

Absolutely! The voting rights legislation must be the Democratic priority after the housekeeping legislation is done.

If ten Republicans won’t step up in the Senate, then jettisoning the filibuster must become a priority as well.

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I agree. If canceling the filibuster is not a political option it should at least be reversed to the difficult long filibuster of the old days. Not this easy 1minute complain and be done filibuster technique we have today

Also it can be canceled just for the Voting Rights Act

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But the Trojan horses are on the side of the the evil…

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Dr. Richardson: I now have reread today’s LFAA several times and can state unequivocally that, more so than any other reading I recently have encountered, this piece comes closest to capturing the very deep, complex, and tragic sense of this moment. I imagine I’ll have more to say after getting some sleep and fulfilling the day’s obligations.

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This posting is a continuation of the comment I entered 14+ hours earlier and entails an ambitious, yet workable, proposal that, at least partially, would countermand the polarizing influences of a rising political class intent on undoing the very structures of government that were created to preserve representative democracy.

I start with a question: Who among us would dispute the claim that nearly everything disfunctional in our politics can, in some ways, be attributed, at this point, to the Senate filibuster? Consider, for example, that the only reason President Biden has had to ram his entire BBB legislative agenda through a single bill that can only be passed through an unwieldy reconciliation procedure (at best, a ridiculous way to legislate) is because Republicans refuse (as they have with raising the debt ceiling) to allow regular order. Though I grant that neither abolishing the Senate filibuster nor exempting it even to pass bills protective of our most basic rights currently has support from 50 Senators, I would note that, for some time, Congressional scholar Norm Ornstein has pressed for a Senate filibuster rule change that, in my view, would provide an opening for the Senate to function as the deliberative body our Founders had sought to establish. This rule change that likely would pass (it would need support from only 50 Senators) would involve replacing the 60-vote threshold required to end debate with a 41-vote threshold to continue debate, thus shifting the burden from the majority to the minority, 41 of whom would have to be present, speaking nonstop solely about the issue at hand, to sustain a filibuster. I don’t imagine any Senator (as stated, we only need support from 50) could mount a credible opposition in defiance of this reform.

Dare we imagine the possibilities were this rule change enacted and Dems were able at least to have a shot at passing the Freedom to Vote Act, the PRO Act, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, criminal justice reform, gun safety legislation, and more. I suspect Dems would be so mobilized that they likely could win enough seats in 22 to render the likes of a Manchin or Sinema as virtually irrelevant.

In closing, I would ask all of us to prevail upon Biden, as he did with the American Rescue Plan, to get the two coalitions in his Party together and united. Whether it be the Freedom to Vote Act, the Social and Climate Action package, or some other legislation, Biden must be mindful that the fate of the Democratic Party, ultimately, does not rest solely with individual Senators or with different coalitions within the Party. Rather it’s the Party’s leadership that must lead, come up with the deal, and get the job done.

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Just a reminder that if the Voting Rights Bill was made into law, the entire GOP legislative strategy would crumble. Obstructionism and immobility don’t work as well on a level playing field. They’d have far less time to be outlandish and maybe far less of an appetite for it now if they knew it mattered later. It’s not just about the votes. It’s about the right to have a functioning government.

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Protecting our elections should be THE priority of congress!

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Christine— Considering that voting rights are preservative of every other right, I couldn’t agree more.

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Thank you Heather.

Omnicron and the subsequent variants that are from COVID-19 are going to be a fact of life for us for decades to come. If it were handled differently from the start, the outcome could have been different. Water under the bridge, as the expression goes. One unfortunate aspect is that it is fodder for the Trumpers and antivaxxer crowd as they can't make memes fast enough to make fun of it. I saw one the other day from a friend, who has cancer and likely nearing the end of his journey, but yet still has the gumption to minimize this pandemic. He is from Texas and sports "Let's go Brandon " at the end of any comment he makes on Facebook. So be it.

Every day that either Voters Rights acts are not addressed marches us closer to the official end of our Democracy. We are well beyond the pulling the fire alarm in a theater position. I just don't understand why Democrats in this Administration are not making this their priority.

This is what keeps me up at night, frankly it should all of us.

Be safe. Be well.

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Unfortunately, the Rs have seen to it that these financial bills are hanging over everything. This is a cynical ploy to prevent getting the voting rights bills passed. I have long said that death star donny and his minions and the peon brown shirts who support them are a festering cancer on the body politic.

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And, the voting rights bill has GOT to be brought to the floor and passed in order to undo all these anti democratic voting laws and gerrymandering taking place right now in republican states.

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That's right. If they're afraid now, wait till the next evolution. And I'm sorry, but "afraid?" Afraid of losing their job. Their personal safety? I'm sorry, they make it sound like Trump is more dangerous than Vladimir Putin. They're self-serving cowards, plain and simple--Trump has THAT part of his bloviating correct.

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Think of all the violent threats during the 2020 election. They have reason to fear!

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Nope, sorry. Not nearly good enough. They're Congresspeople. They are not defenseless or without means. If they're too afraid to do their job, they should resign. And yes, I can say with 100% certitude if I were in their shoes, and felt threatened, I would take whatever measures I felt were needed to make it not so. Cowards.

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Can you imagine how many threats Nancy Pelosi has received, and yet this older woman leads with her courage. They are indeed cowards.

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Also, I lay the blame for this mess directly at their feet. Their silence in the early days is exactly what permitted the snowballing of bad to happen. They could have stood up and spoken out against Trumpism in the early days, and Trump would have moderated his tone at least. But they didn’t, because they were cowards then too. I am full of disgust for them all, with a few exceptions like Cheney and Kinzinger, although for them too, only the shock of January 6 is what made them finally speak up. Cowards all.

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Robert, I couldn’t agree with you more. My former Congressman neighbor (a general in the National Guard, and still a coward) did resign, and now our new rep is a Jim Jordan wannabe. That’s the problem when they resign - what takes their place is worse.

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If there are legitimate threats, do they not have access to a security detail?

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That and more. Any such threat would be taken VERY seriously by the FBI, and most of them have considerable personal means as well (no, they shouldn't have to--but if you're a freakin' CONGRESS MEMBER, and you've gotta protect yourself to do your job, you do what you have to do). I'm sorry, I've been to war twice--sure, I can understand the environment unsettling them a bit, but precluding them from voting what they claim to really want? If they're folding this easily NOW, what are they going to do if things get worse? Suddenly THEN find a backbone? Please. And wasn't 6 January enough to make them realize they're just as "disposable" as Mike Pence? Wouldn't scare me--it'd FIRE ME UP just like it did Liz Cheney (there's an example: do any of those cowards think they're facing a more daunting challenge than she is? I don't remember HER whining about "dangers to her life"). It's about their jobs, ambitions, privileges and livelihoods more than anything else. So, life is a little "scary" and tough: YOUR FAULT. Fix it or resign.

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They claim that they fear for their safety. Their real fear is being "primaried out."

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Exactly.

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You got that right. Go long or go home.

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I imagine all do, even at the local level. But wonder how many cops are magats…

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At some point, there was a demonstration on my street, in front of our congressman’s house. It was loud, but small (maybe 20 people) and not threatening. But, his kids and wife were home, trapped in the house, and scared. I believe that directly led to his resignation. Anyway, for weeks afterward, we had two unmarked black SUVs parked on our street, 24/7. I don’t know who paid for them, but they were there.

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This local school board member is my hero ! Please contact school board members, local state and federal politicians who are fighting the good fight!!

https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2021/oct/24/jennifer-d-jenkins-im-a-florida-school-board-membe/

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“But if their real mission is to sow political division until they get what they want, a mirror of their ideals in public education, they can’t do it through threats and intimidation. If the real mission of protesting mask mandates at school board meetings is to light fires, I won’t stand by and watch them burn.”

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I think the Trumpublicans and their followers scare me more than the Omicron variant. We are in a house on fire and it seems as if the Democrats in Congress are dithering about which fire hose to use.

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I am in awe of your ability (and humbled by your willingness) to gather, integrate, and summarize essential political and historical information, Dr. Richardson. Thank you for the decades of scholarship, sacrifice, and self-discipline that made you ready for this moment in history.🌿

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THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IS AN ENEMY OF THE STATE. I cannot think of a way to say it more plainly than that. There is no nuance in all this. No wriggle room. As the professor suggests, a future under this party’s machinations will ‘make today’s crazy seem quaint.’

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And the dems are simply the lesser of two evils.

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I’m an inclusive kinda guy, and I think I catch your drift. But in the context of the Professor’s post, your suggestion would involve more nuanced discussion. My perspective would not hold that the Democrats are trying to destroy Democracy. If you would care to elaborate?

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Just so so frustrated and tired. I have apologized in the past to this group. The way forward seems so clear to me, arrest the mob boss if we are a nation of laws. Many others in this group have expressed their frustration with the dems' dithering about much more eloquently than i.

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What on earth do you mean, Lynn?

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Lol I wondered who would jump my case...of course the dems are our only hope, I just WISH we could get our act together on so many fronts.

Our voting rights, our public health...

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No, I respectfully disagree. The dems are NOT our only hope. Any American citizen who believes in our democracy needs to work together. Drop all the party affiliations and fight together.

Excuse my repetition, but have you visited Robert Hubbells' substack this morning? It is open to the public and dedicated to anyone posting ideas of how dems (and I would call expand it to any pro-democracy Americans) to share ideas and messaging that we need to do immediately to combat all the whackjob anti-American messaging. It is really inspiring! I sent it to The Lincoln Project because they could help flood the nation with positivity, jingle messaging, as could we all take to the airwaves and social media. I love it! https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/todays-edition-open-microphone-night?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo2ODQ2NjgzLCJwb3N0X2lkIjo0NDc2MzAyMiwiXyI6IjVlV012IiwiaWF0IjoxNjM4Mjc3MTc1LCJleHAiOjE2MzgyODA3NzUsImlzcyI6InB1Yi0yNzEzNTgiLCJzdWIiOiJwb3N0LXJlYWN0aW9uIn0.TtMXzSE4-HlS-myQ4Fb08jhBssaE4eldCDXY3RRX8qM

Get celebrities to speak out using these short, positive messages being put forth!! Counter the fear and negativity with positivity. Use your power. We can do this. Let's roll!

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Ok the dems, the independents and the Lincoln project republicans...seems like the big tent indeed, yet, the vocal minority still has the megaphone. Don't worry, I will vote, I will campaign, I will keep the faith, I just WISH I could see the mob boss arrested!

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At this point the Democrats inability to decisively act to counter the threat we are all facing does put them in the same boat as the repugnanticans. The independents who will most certainly either vote Democratic or stay home in disgust are going to be looking very carefully at how the democrats handle this conundrum. God help us if they can’t get on top of this. I can’t believe I’m going to say this but maybe we should declare martial law, round up all of the bastards, have quick military trials and hang the lot of them, then we go back to acting civilized, right now acting civilized is going to lead to the destruction of our nation. When you are backed into a corner the only way to survive is to fight like a lion, if you don’t think that we are being backed into a corner I would suggest that you think again.

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Whoa Dick, even I would not condone that idea. That sounds like what trump's cronies are itching to do though.

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Unless something changes in a very fundamental way we will be looking at the results of the election next year and wishing we had acted like a lion to defend our democracy. I know it’s not pretty, but this has gotten ugly and it’s likely going to get a lot uglier before the dust settles. The repugnanticans are playing to win at all cost’s, the Democrats appear to be playing to play, and from the looks of it are for ordained to loose. Everything I read and hear says that the Democrats are going to suffer massive losses especially in the house, think today’s news is unsettling, brace yourself for next November. Look, I was a repugnantican, I know how they think, where they want to take this country is nowhere any of us want to go, they will so anchor the country in the privileged past it will take many generations to be able to correct it, if ever. We are on a knife edge right now, this could go either way. I know what I have proposed is indeed undemocratic, I’m horrified that I even think it, but I’m more horrified at what the future portends if the situation we find ourselves in continues to evolve the way it’s heading.

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If we (Dems) can't pass voting rights legislation we're toast. WTF is Schumer up to? And, please, anyone of this group who might be from CA work as hard as possible to unseat McCarthy. He must be afraid of gun-toting Boebert and the rest of that sorry gang. And the same is true for voters in CO, GA and AZ. Get rid of these wackos.

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We have got to pass voting rights legislation to save our democracy. This IS something to panic about. Or as HCR says, " if Trump is permitted to hand over control over the machinery of our elections to his loyalists, today’s “crazy” is going to look quaint."

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Let's hope Republicans continue to resist vaccinations and "Make America Truly Great Again" with their continued permanent departures. If we could lose 2-300,000 of them, the country would really be great.

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I agree with you, TC. Years ago (pre-tfg) I was moderate leaning left, but I got pushed further left by the antics of the GQP. It goes against my general humanity-loving nature--but I'm so tired of it all that I now think "don't want the vaccine? OK, die and good riddance" but I have friends/family that are immunosuppressed and while fully vaxxed, I worry about breakthrough cases/new variants spreading and they becoming one of the rare fatalities.

Early in tfg's term, a close friend mused about moving to Canada. She is coming closer to doing just that. I used to think that she was a bit extreme, not so much any more. I have discerned many expats among Heather's Herd and wonder how they ended up where they now reside and what drove them to that.

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We are considering becoming expats. I cannot stomach the thought of living in a once democratic nation that becomes a kleptocratic oligarchy.

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We have adult children and grandkids, and a few somewhat dependent family members, I don't feel that I can leave them. My friend is childless and has limited family. My biggest concern, however, having had family with very serious (ultimately fatal) illnesses and having had a career in healthcare, I have learned the value of living close to major medical centers. It can literally be a life and death matter. I think to myself, well--at least you are old,. While I am currently healthy, I've had several family members live about a decade more than my current age.

I feel for the younger generations, they are hit from all sides in this life.

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