Heather—Your levelheaded commentary of election count developments is a relief from the frenzied noise broadcast from the various news channels as vote tallies from the remaining key states lurch toward finally tilting the electoral vote count to the red or the blue candidate. I find the tightness of the race stunning in that it reveals that half the American people voted for Trump and what he represents. In 2016 his alt right wing was not welcomed by the GOP, yet it managed to overcome resistance in what amounted to a hostile takeover. Four years later after a disastrous administration which savaged the Constitution and governance institutions and traditional norms of decency, Trump is up for reelection. I assumed the tail was wagging the GOP dog and that Republicans out of revulsion and dismay would put country above party and vote for an alternative candidate to be rid of him. But no, Republicans have stuck with him by voting for him which tells me he represents who they are. How did we get here? One hears comments, “it’s not who we are.” It’s sobering to realize that yes, Trumpism, with its odious beliefs, is what half of us have become. Stunning!
I listened to 2 Lincoln Project podcasts/FB live events last night. They were optimistic that Biden would eventually win, but very distraught at the fact that there was no solid repudiation of Trump and Trumpism. One of them said something that was stunning when I heard the words: 70 million people voted for a sociopath. Let that sink in.
The one thing I truly appreciate about the Lincoln Project is that they tell it like it is. If there is going to be a backbone strong enough to stand up against Trumpism it is that of the Lincoln Project. Coming from the crucible of Republican Conservatism they do know how to fight fire with fire.
The problem with the Lincoln Project is they were all the lousy Repuklicans I despised pre-trump. Their spots have not changed. They are very cunning and are positioning themselves to assert their awful brand of politics in the post-trump landscape.
I believe you are right, Syd. I think they are positioning Romney for a run for president in 2024. I read an article this morning that said the number of R's they converted to vote for Biden was insignificant. Will be looking for more substantiation of that assertion but considering that 93% of R's voted for Trump, it's probably true.
Beware of the Old Guard/Corporate Democrats whose weight was thrown toward Kasich instead of AOC in the speechifying department at the Convention. Instead of giving proper weight to an astute, fresh idea Democrat, they catered to their own conservative quasi-inert inner bloodlines rather than cultivate a powerful Democratic voice much beloved by those inheriting the ravaged world shaped significantly by the conservative, dominating (vis a vis divergent Party members), risk-adverse, conflict avoidant Old Guard/Corporate Democrats. I quite agree with Syd's assessment of the Lincoln Project's members as cunning.
"Everything will be alright in the end, so if it is not alright, it is not the end." - Deborah Moggach, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
I have been keeping this in mind as my mantra all day today because it fits. I believe we will be alright at the end of this election. As someone pointed out today, yeah, we're still stuck with the despicable McConnell and his ilk, but at least we will get rid of the swamp monsters that OOO-45 dragged in to destroy every vestige of good government.
I can hardly wait for that breath of fresh air.
I'm grateful to the voting officials and volunteers who are working so hard and so carefully to count and process millions of ballots across the country.
I'm grateful to HCR for helping us stay sane and centered.
I'm going to bed with real hope in my heart for the first time in years.
Quite rightly...this is not the end! Biden will now need to emulate Teddy Roosevelt and use his Presidency as his Bully Pulpit to force the Senate to bend. Only the force of public opinion threatening McConnell for the mid-terms will shift him grudgingly along the "road to righteousness" to move the country forward at a snail's pace.
Add to this the challenges Biden will encounter from Dem. party Progressives, e.g. AOC et al, and from Bernie's supporters. Some have continued to advocate for their left-leaning platforms (their right, certainly); a few tweets I saw were highly critical of what Biden will do before he even DOES anything! I would hope that all of us can decide to unite in service to the greater good rather than to constantly carp about the slice of pie that we didn't get this time around.
The thing is, voters have to be educated that IF you vote, you get a little bit of what you want, then KEEP voting to get farther - KEEP voting! . You cant give up just because it didnt get you EVERYTHING you want. On the other hand - pushing too hard for everything right in the beginning - will put the "opponents" backs up - then where are you? Look at the fight for civil rights - you think WE are frustrated! Look how long its taken for African Americans to get this far - you think they havent had any pushback? This division & partisan divide is nasty - thats an issue that somehow has to be overcome - somehow. I dont really know if this country can ever pull together - for instance, as it did during World War II. I'm sure there were people who were against everything (like now) but from all I've read & people I talked to - pretty much everyone pulled together. Think about that!!! I'm old enough to have had several uncles AND aunts in the service at that time - a couple were hurt but they all came home. It was the RIGHT thing!
Maggie, you are so right! Vote, Keep Voting, and recognize that we all need to band together to advocate for what is right and good. Your example of the Civil Rights movement is perfect. It can't be fought for in fits and starts, it has to be fought for in a non-stop continuous stream. Beyond that, success in the civil rights movement cannot be declared by white people but only by the people who have suffered the most from the denial of Civil Rights.
I'm almost 80. It's clear to me this time is like no other. As it's clear to me that the "old ways" are dead - except for those who've lived long and are still hooked into the old ways of the past in their minds. We live in an oligarchy today. [Google - Gillens and Page.] (University researchers into Democracy). In the '50s - '70's we enjoyed a democracy. A brilliant Princeton philosopher named Wollin after a long and deep study of our democracy concluded we live in a state of "inverted totalitarianism" today. ("While the classical totalitarian regimes aimed at the constant political mobilization of the populace, inverted totalitarianism aims for the mass of the populace to be in a persistent state of political apathy." )Wikipedia. As that song says - "the times they are a changin'". New times require new structures, forms, institutions, approaches, solutions, understandings, ways of seeing. The past is dead. Life is challenging us to develop and grow again.
Political apathy is right! The times sure are changin - the older I get the less I like change. I think many of us did enjoy a democracy through the 50s-70s but not all.
Yeah, Lynell, I think it did. Dont remember anyone actively speaking out against us right then. Do remember numnut's claim that there were people celebrating at the time! But thats just one of many lies..
Yes -- having a more informed citizenry is so important (we have surely failed on THAT recently). A good example of people deciding to pull together despite some resistance to a given issue is seen in the isolationist America First Committee, of which Charles A. Lindbergh was a darling. When the US entered WWII, within days of the attack on Pearl Harbor America First disbanded. Wikipedia has a few good quotes from Lindbergh and others re why it was important to "pull together." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_First_Committee
Oh my. Charles Lindbergh and the America First Committee is a horrible example of people deciding to pull together. Lindbergh's antisemitic tendencies and his pros eugenics stance leave a very bad taste in my mouth. A better example would be the Victory Garden Movement that became a matter of pride for tens of thousands of families across the country.
Here's a book worth reading... The Immortalists: Charles Lindbergh, Dr. Alexis Carrel, and Their Daring Quest to Live Forever David M. Friedman; Ecco/HarperCollins Publishers; 2007.
BUT people DID pull together regardless of Lindbergh & his popularity - in a good way. The Victory Garden was another example, right. I think there were likely a lot of different ways that Americans actually wanted to help the country come together. Thats something that we need more right now.
I think that the world is not going their way. Western society doesn't look as though it is going in a "progressive" direction. AOC etc will I think be marginalized and remain so. Why would the US buck this wider global trend? The US stopped leading the world some time ago. Bush was a disaster with his intervention in Iraq to finish what his father sensibly resisted, Obama mostly withdrew or procrastinated on the international scene once Clinton left him and Trump just kept on digging the hole deeper and deeper.
I agree about the wider global trend. Which is why I hope that Biden can generate strong support for steering a middle course, carefully and strategically. He is not going to be able to accomplish a whole lot (not unless a miracle occurs re control of the Senate...). To me, his greatest gift to the nation (and the world?) will be a sane, competent, truthful presence in the White House. Four years of that can, I hope, heal some of the most egregious rifts in our international relationships and maybe move us forward a centimeter or two... One step at a time!
I think actually firstly you are right about internal politics. He will put the Feds back together and annul by Directive what was destroyed by Directive. However his main agenda will probably be international where he is likely to find more easily non-partisan support.
Given what you see as his greatest gift, at the end of his 4 years what do you sense will have changed? As the two university researchers -Gilens and Page- found - we no longer live in a democracy but an oligarchy. The results of their scrutinizing legislation over a significant period of time showed not the interests of the people in them but rather those of corporations and the rich. "Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organised groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence."(Google).The Earth House is burning. These structures are in place at the same time. Who and What and How will effect the required necessities to meet the fact of this conflagration and the associated multiplicity of political/social/economic/problems?
Stuart, you write great, but apparently have a very short memory? If elected, Biden WILL have to deal with the incalcitrance of the far left wing. You may recall Ted Cruz and the Tea Party managed to shut down the federal government in 2013.
Since when did Cruz and the Tea Party represent the "far left wing"? McConnell can shut down the government whenever he likes by refusing to deal with The House's Budget or the debt ceiling....AOC could too if she voted with the Republicans or abstained in the House vote on the same. I don't think that would be too popular! Where would it get her with the NYC crowd? Progressive measures are not going to be considered by the Senate anyway under McConnell and she can't be seen as aiding and abetting McConnell can she?
I got the point, but I think you missed it, Stuart. The Tea Party were extremists, and insistent on doing things their way. Some people see AOC et al as also extreme (actually they are not) and fear their pushing things too far left. Problem is that we have shifted so far right that what too many people think is far left are actually pretty close to centrist. There are people left of AOC and I am one of them- and consider myself fairly moderate. My values are pretty much what my Dem parents had in mid-20th century. Nowadays you'd have to call us Social Democrats, I guess. What cracks me up is knowing that the Republicans proferred a system of health care back then that was very similar to what the Social Dems and Progressive wing of the Dem party support now. Ironic, isn't it?
Please provide some sources for your observation of the "incalcitrance of the far left wing." Who are they? Ted Cuz and the Tea Party are Republican. Thanks.
Replicated observation leads me to conclude the AOC and Bernie Sanders factions in Congress are not open to compromise and could have a similar obstructionist effect on a Biden administration centrist agenda as did the Tea Party on the Obama agenda.
Whether the faction is of the same or opposing party as the President is irrelevant; the point is that a small fringe group can gum up the entire works.
Are readers on this site so unable to process any idea contrary to the prevailing echo chamber that it is necessary to draw a map for what should be intuitively obvious to even the most casual observer? Let me try...Ted Cruz, a Republican Senator from Texas was elected in 2012. Ted Cruz became the de facto leader of a small group of ultra conservative Republican Congresspeople known as the Tea Party. This group rebelled against Congressional party leadership in both the Senate and House of Representatives, refusing to vote in favor of federal government funding; this led to a shutdown of the federal government in 2013 and ultimately led to the resignation of John Boehner as Speaker of the House.
Agree, Laura. As Dr. R has said, we don't usually get everything we want in a democracy but that is to be expected. Having a Biden win will hopefully restore good government, as you say. I mirror your gratitude to the voting officials and volunteers. They rock! As for Dr. R, well, yeah, she rocks, too!
I agree. No, we didn't get everything, but the mid-terms in two years could produce a Senate flip, and in the meantime, with the Orange Menace and his henchman, Barr, gone, the few remaining moderate Republican Senators will no longer quiver in fear at the maniac's rage and retribution. Moscow Mitch can't live forever, so keep that in mind. He's just as evil as the Menace, and much more crafty, but his venom can't control the entire country
Yes, it's disheartening that the race has been as tight as it is, and the obvious prevalence of hatred and potential violence exists, but Biden will have the bully pulpit, and he has the experience to know how to exert pressure on the opposition. What we all need to resist is the very Democratic habit of eating our young. AOC and the Squad shouldn't be marginalized, and we need to work with all the diverse players on our side to do what is best for everyone. We need to understand that, ugly as it was, the Republicans know how to proceed in lockstep, and we should resolve our differences without a bloodbath within our ranks.
With the Menace no longer in office, hopefully the temperature will come down, if slowly, and without the Attorney General in a despot's pocket, we can take action against potentially violent hate groups. Besides, part of the Menace's frantic desire to remain in office is his frantic fear of prosecution. Now that he won't have that protection, I doubt that he'll have time to be standing on a street corner fomenting violence among the crazies, and Fox will try to remove his stench - they have enough of their own.
This country has myriad problems, much of which can be laid at the doorstep of the Menace and the radical right wing, but we must also address problems for which they are not totally responsible - inequality, racism, lack of quality education across the board, immigration, and much more. Our deepest problems existed before the 2016, although the Menace and his enablers fanned the flames and pushed the buttons to bring all of it to a head. He will be gone, and we must do our best to repair the damage with the means available, and stop whining that it can't be done. I think Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will provide a good new beginning. Early on, Biden wouldn't have been my first choice. Now, however, I think his even temperament, decent instincts, and a lifetime of experience working across the aisle are exactly what we need, and Kamala's intelligence, youth, pragmatism and real experience dealing with racial and cultural issues will make her an invaluable asset to Biden and all of us. We can't be a single-party government, and need to have a way to work together to make things fair and equitable.
We've all been traumatized by the last four years, but if we just hold our collective breath and stand in the rubble, weeping, the Menace and his minions will have won, regardless of who occupies the White House. We're better than that, and more resourceful!
I'm less sanguine about the riches of a Biden-Harris duo. The two have a distinct track record which if continued will not meaningful address the necessity of systemic change. One could even say political choices they've made have contributed to the very spiritual malaise with its spectrum of manifestations on the practical level before us today. That said. We today are living "in the crack" of the cosmic egg. Meaning there is an opening today that hasn't existed in my long life except perhaps for the '60s. Our Earth house is burning. Structures long taken for granted and causative, are finally being questioned. Good ole Joe may want us to heave our sigh of relief, go have brunch, and let him take care of tamping down the uproar. Wrong. Because of the Opening, this is the epic moment when we breathe that sigh and pronto get our rears in gear and our perspicacity shined up, and our petition pens, protest sneakers, and minds running full tilt to challenge our own past-due-date rigid ideas to focus whole heartedly on what are today-tomorrow requirements that must be met courageously, clearly, and creatively. Essential to remember: a higher order solution is demanded for a lower order problem. A problem to be solved cannot be solved with the very-mindset that created it. A broader and deeper (more creative) and more acute consciousness/mind frame is being demanded of us. The kind, for example, that was behind sending that spaceship to the moon. Remember? Our job is to know clearly was is going on and in seeing a detour, put the pressure on those two to do "right" by Us.
Selina, like you, I'm not naive enough to think that two people can solve all of our problems, and we have multitudes. Nor can anyone create great change if the populace is uninformed and unfocused. I am relieved at the prospect of removing the malignant force that has demanded the world's attention and damaged our already-challenged society. As you said, we need to sit up and pay attention, determine what is important to each of us and to our society as a whole, and then participate in repairing as much of it as possible. I do believe that, as many problems as we have, our country has the potential to mend. However, many can't see the forest for the trees, and that's where Heather's work helps to provide clarity. It is incumbent on all of us to understand the source of our many problems, then make a concerted effort to remedy what we can. There will be no easy answers, but I think Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will try to do "right."
Given the depth of the socio-political-economic-health care problems with Biden ominously reassuring the health insurance industry things will be alright, the red flag is up the pole calling upon the population to closely track Good Ole Nice Joe and make thunder when he shows his past austerity colors instead of doing the real changes that must be done. We can't fiddle around and make nicey nice with him when our Earth House burns, ice pack is melting, police are thuggish and killing off Blacks, unemployment and Covid figures are soaring, evictions are rising, schools are being privatized, college loans through the roof....No! Depending on him to do "right" is a perilous dependency. We must insistently and persistently "spur" him towards what is not just "wanted' but is required by the situations.
Frankly, I think your quarrel should have been with the current "president." We will have the opportunity to let President Biden understand our wishes/demands, and I'd be shocked if his response was anything resembling the chaos, criminality, thuggishness, incompetence, racism, privatized education agenda, ignorance of science and lack of care for our citizens displayed by Donald Trump. If our thunder was necessary, it should have been directed at the current dictator. The contrast between the two is stark, and if we're lucky enough to rid ourselves of this scourge, Biden should not be attacked unless or until he abdicates his responsibilities. If he fails to deliver, it should not be difficult to have him impeached by the Senate, who will likely still have a Republican majority - at least until 2022.
Pence can pardon him all he wants, but that doesn't stop New York from pursuing all the state tax fraud. I'll take him getting 20 years in Attica or Sing-Sing for taxes if we can't stick him in the Florence SuperMax for treason.
But like Jacqui Kennedy's mariage to Onassis.....she will walk away with her pot of gold if she can enforce her contract and get paid. The irony of life is that he will probably manage to "screw" her too.
And if this is an opinion survey, the results might not be more representative than the national election variety but here goes:
1. It's probably stated in her contract that she has to wait till he is nolonger in office and that he will leave her formally.....and then she'll have to get her lawyers to rush to get paid before he declares bankruptcy to get out of the €273 million coming due on loans to the Deusche Bank which is looking to offload him.
2. Probably, but he'll find money for the lawyers from the people who still voted for him...so eventually, when the money runs out he get put inside and get to wear orange.
3. Probably again....but for his fear of the part that pardon=guilty.
Her concern was that her son have the same status in his estate as his other children. Typically, the way this kind of agreement is done is through a trust managed by a third party. I think Melania probably hired very good lawyers.
Yes but the Trump family traditions would suggest that he will be screwed by his half brothers no matter what the agreement says. You just have to look at the "Eric" to understand that he would metaphorically or indeed physically rip his mother's heart out if he could benefit finacially by it.
I do not believe that one can simply look at a person and know what is in his mind or heart. You maybe right about his general attitude, but I think that the rest of your judgment is extreme. I have also learned that people often have pain we cannot see, and that what we think we see is a mask to hide that pain. Not saying you are wrong, but just that I believe that we cannot know.
I can understand the potential for pain in Eric's chilhood with such a father and the need to construct a protective persona. My judgement was based upon the resemblance between that persona and the father that he seems to be copying.."sincerest form of flattery" no doubt! The likely "screwing" of Melania's boy comes straight from Trump's attitude towards his own brothers and sisters etc in relation to his own father's money. Eric the copycat?
This is exactly the kind of thing I find offensive, Stuart. I am not interested in exploring the Trump family's issues. I am interested in moving beyond this kind of petty gossip and figuring out how we, as a nation and as a community of people, move into a healthier future.
Melania won’t DARE stray. Trump would bury her. She’d be penniless and her parents, who knows! No, Melania isn’t going anywhere. Life is too good for her.
Trump won’t serve time. Nope. His are white collar crimes hence nada.
Trump won’t resign. His next tactic is revenge on us all until January 20th.
The line up for 2024 will be hilarious including one of the trumps. They’re not done yet.
Yes, and now that our country has shown that Trumpism is alive and well, all the mini Trumps will be lining up. Queue Tom Cotton, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis et al.
The problem that we all have throught the Western world is that we at present and for some time have had only "mini this or that" to chose from in elections. I am currently watching a very good mini series on De Gaule.....not mini-man at all!
Melania has one possible bargaining chip – Barron.
I don’t think he will serve time either, but I expect him to be convicted of something akin to a RICO violation, tax evasion, fraud or related offense - on the Federal level. As has been pointed out, a pardon would not immunize him from State charges.
No idea what will happen re: resignation. It depends on how grievous his offenses are that we know nothing about – yet. Only he knows, and I expect he will weigh the possibility of indictment against the relative peace of a pardon. If he did resign, he would make it all about the unfairness of the election process and how he has been undone by the deep state – how he is a martyr to the cause of himself. And he could resign at Noon on January 19th and MP would have full authority to issue the pardon – DT might do it just to spite the Democrats.
DT Jr. is waiting in the wings, but I believe Nikki is next at bat.
Don't think DT will resign. Suspect he's more likely to file another stupid baseless law suit, which will be ignored, and his term will simply run out. But if he did resign, even if Pence pardoned him (for some reason, I kind of wonder if he actually would), it could only be for federal offenses, not state offenses. New York state is patiently waiting, and they are bulldogs. Won't be much left for the other state in line.
Actually, she would not be penniless. She filed a lawsuit against a rag newspaper and I believe she won something like $10 million. (Don’t quote me.) She also has a new prenup.
His physical health is not good, and his mental and cognitive health is declining. I do not think that the Republican party (or any other party) would let him in. He's broke, so he can't even buy his way in. By that time, hopefully people will be getting on with their lives, and DT will become a bad dream with hangover effects.
I think that his mental state is not declining per se but what we are seeing is his perennial reaction to extreme and prolonged stress. He has always been like that according to Mary Trump. Broke he no doubt is and has been before. He would get out of it in the past by harassment by litigation and by finding some new gullible or criminal source of finance. I think on the question of funding his debt his goose is well and truly cooked; nobody would dream of lending him money nor give him any form of new "lunch ticket" .
I would love an AMA - with just us - after the worst is over and you can breathe. We have QUESTIONS!
1. How soon can we expect indictments from NY? Is there any indictment etiquette that says Dept of Justice goes first? Do you know how happy we would be if he was lead away from the inauguration in handcuffs (don’t want him to flee!)?
2. How many of the current administration are hirable elsewhere? They can’t all go to fox.
3. What harms will he do between now and Jan 20? Is there anyone to stop him? He thinks he will run again in 2024. Is it too much to ask that the Rs stop him? Would his legal trouble stop him?
4. Will we get a breakdown of voters by age? How much did the young ones help? How many of the old ones are dying off?
5. Every time the black vote comes in and saves Democrats the blacks want a seat at the table. Will they get more than a token this time?
6. Is everybody mad about Mitch, Lindsey and Susan? What can we do?
Great list, Deb! May we please add number 7? What can the Democratic Party do to communicate with all Latinx people and assure them we will not head toward a southern hemisphere brand of Socialism?
My friend, who is a Pennsylvania Cuban, feels that much of the immigrant population of Miami have a terrible fear of Communism and Socialism, brought about by Fidel Castro's oppressive regime and that fear superceded all other issues, so Trump's rhetoric served him on this issue in this election. The fact that these labels "stuck" to Biden and the Democratic platform is not their fault, but it hurt their actual causes in the state of Florida and I'm our country.
The problem is really the mis-perception of socialism as meaning some sort of authoritarian government. Somehow this perception must be corrected. And personally I think the dems need to be more progressive in order to compete. I think the dems need to embrace democratic socialism and move in this direction, with medicare for all and such. I think the public wants this, and I don't think so many were taken by Biden's promise to return to the old normal. As much as Biden gives the impression of being normal and calm, which he can bring, he doesn't otherwise bring much to the table. So I think part of the problem has been that Biden's biggest attribute was that he is not trump, and this doesn't bring a lot of excitement.
AOC and the progressives get attention and votes, despite both Republicans and Democrats trying to brand them as evil socialists, because they offer real change for the people and not just for the wealthy. Remember Biden said to the corporate execs that nothing would fundamentally change. How is that to grab people who were already struggling even before the pandemic?
Basically a little less than half the voters just said quite emphatically that in no way did they want to pay for any of what AOC and friends want to offer....when it is offered to others and not just themselves and theirs! That is a very fundamental divide which education will take a very long time to erase. Solidarity is not the name of their game.
AOC and her "fellow-travelers" (so to speak) all just got re-elected in their districts, along with at least one other of similar persuasion. Eventually there will be more, because they are starting to be elected at the local and state level. And slowly people are starting to realize that there are certain public goods that should NOT be in the hands of business, even in a capitalistic economy. That is not only inefficient, it is far more expensive than a system in which public goods are either regulated or managed in common by us through our government. Other nations have demonstrated this conclusively. It is astounding to me that the USA somehow continues to allow a few greedy people to control how they think about things that would benefit both individual human beings and our society as a whole.
One would think that you might be correct from anecdotal evidence but here in Europe and elsewhere we are suffering the pains of nolonger being able to afford what has been put in place and service quality in , health, education, justice and many other ares has gone through the floor as they became cally oriented job creation exercizes rather than efficient and effective service providers
I'm not sure about that. I understand why you said this but I think really those who voted for Trump don't even fully know why, but they like his chaos and racism and believe he'll make it better for them. I'm not sure they are against such things as medicare for all. I think more and more people see this as needed.
But as you said, education is the key. It's the poor level of education in this country, intentionally created two decades or more ago, which is the problem. If we educate people what it means to have single payer insurance and good healthcare, they may see the light. We can't go back to status quo.
For example, a friend read about a woman who has 8 children and voted for Trump because he'd send the kids back to school despite corona. How can one put that in any place to understand in terms of green new deal or anything else?
Stuart it strikes me that such people (not wanting to pay for the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, etc) don't "get" the fact that our Earth House is literally burning down. In denial. If the houses of these folk were burning down, would they be penny pinching in their efforts to halt the devastation? To save their children trapped inside?
The Cubans in Miami are still largely the privileged lot who left Cuba because they couldn't stand to lose their privilege. They abandoned the rest of Cubans who were left behind. And they do not stand in for other populations we label Latino/a/x, especially in the SW, once part of Mexico, or those who came north out of South America. So we need to be careful of the assumptions that we attach to various "ethnic groups". Including people of European descent, who do not represent any one perspective. Why the polls keep failing: they are based on uncertainties that cannot be measured.
I've also read that Cubans who maintained family farms/land were displaced by Socialism which fed their animus. I appreciate reading about your friend's impressions. We need to change the narrative somehow among a million other things that need damage control after the trump debacle.
Carla and Deb: you've hit all the talking points in my lists! But I have another: how will the House and the WH, if Biden does win and gets inaugurated on Jan. 20, shut down Moscow Mitch's agenda of deny, obstruct, and lie when there is a Dem in the WH?
Yes, I’m wondering that, too. McConnell made the Republican Senate the dam in Obama’s river; little of Obama’s legislative agenda got past him, and that was both (I believe) because McConnell and his crowd couldn’t stand to see a black man in the WH and used that racism to feed their partisanism and crush the Democratic initiatives. What’s to keep McConnell from repeating his vow to obstruct a Democratic President?
Nothing, absolutely nothing unless some intrepid person puts a muzzle on him. Except - if we were to become as exercised over his traitorous actions and persisted en masse to show up and protest - make a real racket - a thunder, as we did with getting out the vote - then something would change.
I think we need to have confidence in Joe's long history in the Senate and the relationships that he has maintained. We need to give him a chance to see what he can do to draw on long time relationships like we know he had with John McCain. (Of course Mitch McConnell is no John McCain.) But, I'm hopeful Joe can chip away at some of the animus. With trump not in the equation, then the bully tweets might not have the impact on some of the feckless Republicans in the Senate. Accent on "might not."
The Republican senators' animus is a fixed entity. This crew has demonstrated zero fidelity to the spirit and letter of our Constitutional Democratic Republic. They are not the Republicans of the '50'60's 70's. Gingrich's Contract with (on) America threw down the gauntlet. The opposition was to be regarded as the enemy of the Republican's version of progress, meaning the escalated empowerment of corporations and the rich. Later the absolutists known as the Tea Party took the "take no prisoners" charge to a more outrageous level. Absolutely nothing has occurred since to alter this mean spirited if at times coarse and vicious attitude.
I know you are correct. I appreciate how clearly you state the horror of it all. I guess I still hold on to some smidgeon of hope that Joe can do something. We have read, "Democracy in Chains" and it is all so clearly spelled out. Sad to say.
Carla thank you for letting me know where you are. I am convinced that Joe will "do" more than he ever considered depending on one powerful influence. Us. If we succumb to corporate desired citizen apathetic helplessness, then game over. On the other hand, if we - deciding to be determinedly affixed to him to make happen (no excuses allowed) what we intend, the game opens. To the favor of us All and of our beautiful ravaged and now tumultuous Earth. Join me!
It is encouraging to know that so many of us care and resist. I am trying not to focus on the huge numbers of people who voted for trump. That would make me turn to stone. Instead, since I do historic preservation research, I will resist as best I can. Tonight, I'm helping a student with research for our area's Underground Railroad history. I live right in the middle of a URR pathway. When I think of how brave the Station Master was and how brave the fugitives were and what they went through, I just have to say, to heck with the Reflublicans! We have work to do to make things better.
I think you hit an important note: Heather and a number of other historians have shown the way to understanding problems like these by looking at the patterns of the past, and seeing how the patterns of the present are related (or, sometimes, not). I have never seen so many historians being interviewed by ALL the forms of media since the 50s & 60s (yep, I'm that old). And often diving deeply, too, not just skimming the surface to fit a preconceived idea. I hope this continues. The so-called "polls" have never worked well, no matter how much they fiddled with them and claimed "Ok, this time we've got it right". History is messier, just like the present, but it can give us some clues about how our culture works. We just need to remember that old aphorism about history not repeating, but its parallels can show us where we are likely heading.
Deb Powers, not your fault (your questions are valid). But this is the point at which this entire discussion went off the rails into judgment and conjecture and just plain petty gossip. It is embarrassing to read. And does not reflect well on either us as a community or on Heather's column when we forget where we were headed and end up with this. Makes me sad.
When Trump leaves the White House in Jan, can we all just agree to never give him airtime again? How different would things be if the media hadn't covered HIM 24/7 since the 2016 campaign? He's a showman, and showman need an audience. Maybe Twitter needs a permanently assigned fact-checker for his account. But, maybe, he won't have access behind bars?
I think Trump's Hell will be having Twitter take down his account permanently and he can't get his narcissistic supply. Why should Twitter pay for a full-time fact-checker for an irrelevant liar?
LOL! My view is that Trump's Hell is the place where people ignore his directives or tell him "NO!" And unless I miss my guess he's starting to experience a bit of that now. Thank goodness.
I know you know this, Kelly, but: Like it or not, the office of the President of the United States is and has always been news, no matter who occupies it and no matter the substance. But yes, my sincere hope is come January 20, 2021 we never have to hear from or about him again!
I must disagree that everything coming from the mouth of the man who is President of the Divided States is newsworthy. I resent how much time the media gave him for his partisan campaigning -- which is almost the only thing he has been talking about for months now.
I think the bigger problem is the fact that various media outlets across the board gave Biden/Harris so little coverage. Trump is a master manipulator, he used (abused) the media as a young man partying in New York, during his first run, during his presidency and during his second run, as free campaign advertising. He NEVER stopped campaigning. And Cathy, I agree with you, everything coming out of his mouth is not news. He has inundated Twitter, the airwaves, the internet and print with his obscene, hateful behavior. It's unfortunate that so many choose to follow his example.
The problem is that news has devolved into sensationalism, titillation, and entertainment. So called news programs are filled with partisan talking heads shouting at one another.
Americans’ attention span has been shortened to the point of non-existence. The fact that we have otherwise intelligent adults proudly announcing they and/or their kids have ADHD is disturbing and bullshit. Most can focus for hours on end on Facebook, YouTube, online shopping, or the Kardashians. Americans have become too lazy to inform themselves and vote thoughtfully.
I’m appalled that my own step-kids (All intelligent. All college graduates) make no effort to be informed. They don’t read any newspaper, don’t listen to credible news, don’t read non-fiction, nor take any news magazines. One set are voracious readers of fiction, pulp fiction, or unsourced online material, they know all about song drops by Taylor Swift and the details of every celebrity scandal. Mention William Barr or Amy Coney Barrett and they ask “Who’s that?” It’s embarrassing, not to mention depressing. What’s the worst is they are proudly ignorant and have all somehow acquired ADHD (their diagnosis) late in life.
YES! I agree!! I saw the huge increase in kids showing up with all manner of attention deficit problems in the 16 years of surrounding myself with 18-21 year olds. But, have you noticed how so many bits of media have also shortened? Notice commercials, for one example. They are getting shorter and shorter...some are less than 5 seconds! And we're being bombarded with them at every turn. Commercials often come in longer and shorter versions. They'll edit them down to just a few seconds after showing an initial version of maybe 15 seconds or longer. I have long maintained that the more you inundate a populace with only short tidbits of information their attention spans are also going to shorten. I don't watch commercial TV by desire--my mom has the TV on just for some ambient noise going, something I don't like, but hey...she's my mom--so I can't help but notice things. Most of us ignore it. I'm one of those people who looks for other things. Notice sometimes. It's no wonder these kids are growing up with quick sound bytes and that it is affecting their abilities to concentrate. It know it affects MINE!
When in college I received some excellent advice that could benefit anyone who allegedly can’t concentrate or finds things boring...if you find a lecturer “boring”, force yourself to pay attention by trying to find holes and errors in what he/she is saying.
I taught high school for nine years at three different schools. At the school where I taught for six years, i got a new group of students every nine weeks; I saw a lot of students. I was able to cure alleged ADHD with a piece of paper. The school had an assertive discipline plan which if the teacher chose to implement could lead to a student’s removal from class with a grade of F. My class was impacted and required for graduation. Students received progressive steps, if they got to Step 6, they were WF’ed. I had countless parents claim junior had ADHD and couldn’t control his/her behavior. Amazingly, over six years I had numerous kids get 5 steps, but only one ever unable to control him/herself sufficiently to avoid the consequential sixth step. I coined a term for my students’ real problem—PSS, Pathologically Spoiled Syndrome.
I acknowledge a small percentage of the population has ADHD, but it is rare. The alleged prevalence of ADHD is hugely influenced by an expanded definition, parents seeking SS, and school districts harvesting extra funds. The sooner we banish this bogus diagnosis to the dustheap of history, the better for all concerned.
Well, regardless of what one might think/wish, Trump IS the President and has been for the past 4 years. WHATEVER the President says, thinks, opines, sneezes, sh!ts, has for breakfast, etc. has ALWAYS been reported on by the press. Living under that magnifying glass is something that has always been a part of the trappings that come with the office. With Trump, the press has, in the past 4 years, had to really re-assess exactly what they're going to allow and cover. It is a seeming mark of their integrity that they now are qualifying a lot of what is reported. They simply do not hesitate to now say, "this is a lie", "this is not true", "this is a misrepresentation", etc. This would have been inconceivable not too long ago. They've had to judge the substance and content now of what this President is blathering on about and qualifying it as true or not. Thank God they finally got there. Even Fox is starting to do this too. The press is realising now when it is being used as a propaganda tool. Again, thank God. It'll be interesting to see what effect this will have on the press in the future.
I agree, living under a magnifying glass comes with the office. However, the fact that it has taken 4 years for the press, of any stripe, to finally qualify the content of his near constant verbal diarrhea, is sheer insanity. And look, its not as though he had a long history of truth telling behind him, he's had decades worth of histrionics and publicity stunts which have deeply marred his credibility from the beginning of his presidency. So yes, a president is in a very unique position, and because of that it is the press's responsibility to hold a president's feet to the fire. Always. As far as what the future holds? If Donald is not re-elected, I doubt we will see the same level of media abuse from incoming presidents, at least in the short term. If he is re-elected, it should be incumbent upon the press/media to fact check every word that spills out of his mouth/fingers and qualify them as true or false immediately.
I do agree. But, to now blatantly just say "this is a lie" and for this to come from the nation's most august press organizations, is pretty strong stuff, especially when certain press organizations are going out of their way (too much sometimes, IMO) to show they are not "biased". I expect that if Trump becomes a lame-duck (a gross insult to ducks everywhere) we may possibly see the Republican party begin to distance itself from him in the next couple of months. I COULD happen. If they know what's good for them, they will try to "cut the cord" and ditch the guy.
Newswothy to whom? You don't have to buy the rag in question. In France we have a scatalogical "satyrical" paper that published the "Cartoons of Mohammed" and got their authors assassinated and recently a teacher beheaded because someone didn't like it. I just don't buy the paper! I'll have no one deny me that choice.
I agree that the Office of the President should be given media coverage. However, the media should never play to the theatrics. Do we want news or entertainment?
The problem becomes "freedom of speech". How do you stop him spouting inanities when you can hear the same thing on street corners, in bars and in many homes 24/24 and 7/7. Are we to limit what the other says because "we know better"? What happens when someone decides that that you can't speak anymore as they define "truth" otherwise?
But firstly the media is now concentrated in few hands and those few are practically all "big business" . They are in the game for profits and not "truth" and the general wellbeing of mankind. This can be changed but first you have to get a handle on the Gaffas; Google etc.
It bothers me that this also applies to our food supply as farms are owned by big companies and are squeezing the life out of the family farms they buy up. Another hideous form of income disparity.
That is the real problem isn't it? The consolidation of media sources in the hands of a few people like Murdoch or states who imposing requirements on them to show selected news.
Stuart, I agree but don't see the media/press as purveyors of truth. My view, which may be antiquated, is their role is to report the news about what someone said. It's my role to decide where the truth lies. I am speaking strictly about the media/press who are deemed reputable.
Well, therein lies the rub, Kelly. I would not want the media/press deciding for me what is or isn't considered newsworthy. I have a mute button for that. I made a mistake once when I subscribed to an online news service that touted it gave factual, nonpartisan news. When they started referring to COVID-19 as the CCP virus is when I canceled my subscription.
Most presidents were not as accessible to the press as 45 has been. So to me it's no surprise that the press takes advantage of every opportunity to cover whatever he says. It's my right to choose not to read about it or listen to him whenever the press covers him, which I do frequently.
what happen to the truth in journalism? What we have now is opinion pieces one after the other, who is making sure all that "news" is true and shouldn't that be the yardstick and not ratings?
I agree with you about not listening to the bloviating pile of excrement, but the problem is that since he's the OOO-45, other people DO listen and are swayed by the lies and nonsense he spews. This has major consequences, and could have been reined in by editors reasonably fact checking and limiting how MUCH of his gabble they deliver.
Don't they do that every single moment today. That's the very definition of the media to cover what they feel is newsworthy. Our choice is to choose our news sources. And, I do turn off (not just mute) my preferred news channel (which we should really call commentary channel since we get more opinion than news) when they play any DT clips.
Yes, very true. A similar example is the issue of counting all the votes. I might prefer that ballots cast for a particular candidate be "lost" or blocked from being counted. But, I would want ballots for "my" candidate to be counted in their entirety. No matter how much I disdain a person's choice of who to vote for, we each are free to cast a ballot for whomever we want. Such freedoms must be protected.
I think you are confusing "freedom of the press" with "freedom of speech". Trump can stand in the middle of 5th Avenue saying anything he'd like, it just isn't worth the media coverage he's had for the last five years.
Unfortunately that is just an opinion duly formed in a coherent relationship with your values. Nearly half the population just clearly indicated that they didn't give a "fig" either for your opinion or for your values. Shocking it may be but that is reality.
Yes, that was the most disturbing thing about the election for me. Sometimes I feel stuck in the movie where I'm one of the few people that can detect the evil aliens from outer space that have taken over the bodies of some politicians. Yes, it is our reality these days.
I agree wholeheartedly, Kelly. Unfortunately, 45 has never been worthy of the Office which the media covers, in my opinion, and has been just about 100% theatrics.
Twitter is doing a lovely job masking his tweeted lies these last few days. Every tweet is documented proof of his unfitness for office. I think historians and forensic psychiatrists are going to have a field day in the years to come.
I so appreciate your summary and inclusion of COVID statistics, but I am again today thinking... “At the time of this writing 68.6 million people have voted for Trump.”
Some are fanatic supporters who will follow his rally cries to intimidate voters or give money for lawsuits, as mentioned. But 50% of us?
My sister and I have been discussing this very thing; we both feel that there's something we've missed about him, but have no idea what that might be or where to look for information.
OTOH, if a very large portion of the world's peoples are seemingly looking aghast upon Trump's actions and actively wishing him out, then maybe we haven't missed anything at all.
I'm also looking at this: of the people I know, the ones that support Trump are in the evangelical western christianity flock; the ones who aren't partaking of that religion are against Trump, be they affiliated with the Republicans or Democrats.
I’m pleased that Twitter is hiding his false tweets behind warnings, but they should have been doing this for YEARS!!!! They created this monster by allowing him to get away with this BS for way too long! They are just as culpable as the sycophantic GOP.
As Neil Katyal pointed out, Trump can't go to one court and demand counting stop where he's "winning" while he goes to another court to demand counting continue where he's "losing." Both cases get thrown out for that.
While Bad-Italian-Joke-Come-To-Life Giuliani was raving to Neil Cavuto on Faux Snooze, Cavuto stopped him mid-rant to announce Fox had just awarded Michigan to Biden.
Sauron, er, I mean Dumpty, and his Orcs are only starting to realize that Frodo made it to the pit of fire last night and threw the ring in.
Looks like both Senate seats in Georgia will go to runoff in January - a friend "in the know" told me today he wouldn't be surprised if a billion dollars gets spent on that runoff. If the Ds win both, it puts the Senate at 50-50 and VP Harris spends her days there for the next two years.
Also being reported that the outstanding votes in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are breaking 9:1 for Biden, so Dumpty won't hold PA either.
The big bad wolf has huffed and puffed and he can't blow down Biden's brick house.
Also heard a commentator say the Alaska Senate race is in place and may just go to the Democrat. The race has not been called yet so I hope there is something to it. Wouldn't that be a great November surprise?
Getting both the Georgia seats might be difficult. Are the seats regionally-based within the state? It does look though with the percentage of seats uncounted in the urban areas that Georgia might flip for Biden afterall.
Good analogy - but hate to see wolves get THAT kind of bad press - right now thats another animal that this administration & fan-boys are trying to eradicate. This has nothing whatsoever to do anything here, but I have to wonder has Trump never had anymore to do with actual Nature than the green of a golf course? Seems to have NO concept of anything beyond the size of his rallies! Just a thought.
Just prior to reading this I listened to a podcast with Randy Fernando of Center for Humane Technology. In pondering the unexpected support for Trump, Trump supporters, and the great political divide I believe Trump’s overt use of social media that bypasses scrutiny continues to be beyond dangerous.
Going forward can “The Social Dilemma” that feeds this vast political divide ever be adequately addressed? I’m struggling to imagine any of his followers hitting the “unsubscribe” button for Trump’s rants. How long will this raging narcissist continue to undermine America?
The fact that his family is building “ a media organization” doesn’t bode well for their noxious rabble rousers to reconsider their untenable positions.
To prevent anxiety, I have been avoiding the news since Tuesday, both online and on TV. This letter is the only source for the past 2 days. Like many intelligent, critical thinking, decent ppl, I am aghast at the fact that the election was not a decisive win for an intelligent, critical thinking, decent candidate but that it is so close for an ignorant, deceitful, hateful, authoritarian cult leader. I am dismayed at the turn of this nation where the EVIL IGNORANCE of our past, that we thot had subsided, has rebounded over the past 4 years and appears to remain in control. Out of all the tragedy I have lived thru; the segregation in the South, the useless carnage of Vietnam, the AIDS pandemic, the Twin Towers in NYC, this is turning out to be the worst. Coupled with a viral pandemic this resurgence of lawlessness and terrorism from the ignorant masses and our very government may actually be the end of all those advances I thot had been made. I can imagine myself being an intelligent, critical thinking, decent German citizen watching the events of 1933.
I absolutely agree. On a daily basis for almost the last 4 years I have been asking myself "what did the Germans who resisted Hitler, and saw him for who he was, do to remain hopeful that "morals" would/could once again become the norm?" I am aghast at the number of Americans who support this ignorant, deceitful, hateful, authoritarian cult leader.
My fear is that for the sake of comity we are being lulled into acceptance and addressed like fussy children. The consequences of the election present a dire situation. That the Dems with all the active engagement and money that was mustered are still unable to effect the election of people like McConnell, Graham, Collins, Loeffler, Ronny Jackson (TX), Joni Ernst, etc, is shocking. I for one think that this "do not despair", "all's well," "the most important thing about 'hope' is the ray," "you don't always get what you want," and the disneyfication of the deeper loss coupled with the power of Trump to blow up the landscape needs to be squarely acknowledged. Instead, we are trying to "make the best of it." Big mistake.
We need to re-imagine our democracy and eliminate two-party control and the electoral college.
Most importantly, we need to ensure that resources are delivered equally to all communities. There is no reason why wealthy communities should have better quality education, healthcare and services than poorer communities. This is where segregation commences.
While you are “re-imagining” our democracy, the Republicans are controlling our democracy. “Resources” used to be someone else’s assets. Tell me, how much of your own money have you voluntarily redistributed to poor communities? Democrats are way too willing to redistribute someone else’s money; this is exactly why we face the horror of four more years of Trump. Democrats need to get off their high horses and into the trenches.
There is no law requiring a two-party system. In California, we had a choice of 5-7 presidential candidates from various parties.
Changing the electoral college is a virtually impossible task. Focus on something doable like a party platform that is more palatable to the masses and less Pollyannaish.
First, recognize there’s a problem with the Democratic message. All you have to do is read the comments on this site to see what the problem is. There is scant mention of the economy, jobs, or taxes, all of which are bread and butter issues; the focus is almost entirely on feel-good social change. Posts are filled with name-calling, pie-in-the-sky pronouncements and reflect the writers’ belief that anyone with a differing opinion is a troll.
Some people on this site are so smug that they falsely refer to themselves as the intelligentsia. Smugness is a voter turnoff, I think Hillary Clinton proved that.
If after four years of Donald Trump, the Democratic Party can’t muster a landslide, there is obviously a big problem. Recycling the same old social justice mantra at the expense of attention to what really matters to voters is self-defeating.
No. We need to fund our communities differently. You should already attend School Board and Commission/Council meetings because local governance is self-funding which results in inequality .
I suggest we try a top-down approach towards funding our local governance.
Thank you Heather for your "knock on wood" summation. I also am not tempting fate with saying what I feel until its official.
That said, I am looking forward to mornings when I don't turn on the news with fear of what preposterous, evil doings Trump and his accomplices did during the night. We are a long way from that, but thinking that may be a reality is comforting.
I listened to an interview yesterday with my second favorite Historian, Jon Meacham, Doris Goodwin Kearns as well as top knotch political writers like Barton Gellman and realized that regardless of all of the noise around us, we are living in good times to be able to learn from such an incredible bevy of people first hand including yourself Heather. Whatever happens, we will get through this.
Thank you as always, Professor Richardson for your thoughtful analysis. It helps to calm our frazzled minds. Trump is a bad dream that became a nightmare that wouldn’t stop. That so many people in the United States still voted for him is even scarier.
I have been reading articles in the foreign press and one made me stop. It said that Trump, if he loses, will embark on a 2 month campaign to name as many "conservative' federal judges as possible, with the connivance of Mitch Mc Connell and his band of disciples. He will also wreak havoc on a scale last seen when General Sherman marched to the sea, with changes to the Civil Service laws and executive orders destroying natural habitats and eliminating restrictions which protect the environment. Biden will have to spend six months just trying to undo the damage.
Twenty-two Republican Senate seats will be up for grabs in 2022. Support of Trump until that joyful January day when he vacates the presidency by those planning on running for re-election then is not a 'given.' They will still be around to face the music and this will affect their subservience to McConnell's wishes.
Congratulations to all involved in the effort to slow "the Trump train!"
Nevertheless, we need to pay attention to the apparent fact that, even if Trump himself loses his office, he has had the ability to boost to victory some of his supporters running for office at the state or federal levels. The analyses I have read that make this point suggest that perhaps as many as 25% of Trump supporters are reluctant to reveal themselves to pollsters. This might account for why Trump, who has been receiving 40% approval ratings in the polls throughout the autumn, has been winning the votes on November 3 of anywhere from 45% to 49% of voters.
Yes, that is stunning. Right now it shows him winning 48% of the popular vote. And yet his approval rating always hovered around 40% or so. So 8% of the people voted for him even though they didn’t approve of him? I will never trust the polls again.
I have more than one friend who “dislike the man” but voted for him anyway. I don’t even know how to proceed with these friendships. Right now, I’ve put them on ice.
Okay, folks...and update from GA! Right now Biden is within 15,000 votes of Trump with still 61,000 absentee ballots from Fulton (Atlanta) and Chatham (Savannah) counties remaining to be counted. There is still a VERY good chance Biden could flip GA. AND incumbent Senator David Perdue has now officially slipped under 50%, which means he and Democrat Jon Ossoff will join the January 5th run-off between Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Kelly Loeffler. Sooooo...BOTH Senate seats in GA will not be decided until January. This could conceivably have a major impact on the majority in the Senate. We're currently 48/48...do the math. The money and attention that will be given to this Senate race in GA will be epic and unprecedented. Hang on, y'all...this ain't over!!
Trump tried to sue to stop the count in Chatham county (somebody alleged they say a poll-worker adding unscanned/cancelled ballots into scanned/legit ones. There was no substantial evidence to back it up and a GA judge just threw it out. Onward...
Heather—Your levelheaded commentary of election count developments is a relief from the frenzied noise broadcast from the various news channels as vote tallies from the remaining key states lurch toward finally tilting the electoral vote count to the red or the blue candidate. I find the tightness of the race stunning in that it reveals that half the American people voted for Trump and what he represents. In 2016 his alt right wing was not welcomed by the GOP, yet it managed to overcome resistance in what amounted to a hostile takeover. Four years later after a disastrous administration which savaged the Constitution and governance institutions and traditional norms of decency, Trump is up for reelection. I assumed the tail was wagging the GOP dog and that Republicans out of revulsion and dismay would put country above party and vote for an alternative candidate to be rid of him. But no, Republicans have stuck with him by voting for him which tells me he represents who they are. How did we get here? One hears comments, “it’s not who we are.” It’s sobering to realize that yes, Trumpism, with its odious beliefs, is what half of us have become. Stunning!
I listened to 2 Lincoln Project podcasts/FB live events last night. They were optimistic that Biden would eventually win, but very distraught at the fact that there was no solid repudiation of Trump and Trumpism. One of them said something that was stunning when I heard the words: 70 million people voted for a sociopath. Let that sink in.
The one thing I truly appreciate about the Lincoln Project is that they tell it like it is. If there is going to be a backbone strong enough to stand up against Trumpism it is that of the Lincoln Project. Coming from the crucible of Republican Conservatism they do know how to fight fire with fire.
The problem with the Lincoln Project is they were all the lousy Repuklicans I despised pre-trump. Their spots have not changed. They are very cunning and are positioning themselves to assert their awful brand of politics in the post-trump landscape.
I believe you are right, Syd. I think they are positioning Romney for a run for president in 2024. I read an article this morning that said the number of R's they converted to vote for Biden was insignificant. Will be looking for more substantiation of that assertion but considering that 93% of R's voted for Trump, it's probably true.
Beware of the Old Guard/Corporate Democrats whose weight was thrown toward Kasich instead of AOC in the speechifying department at the Convention. Instead of giving proper weight to an astute, fresh idea Democrat, they catered to their own conservative quasi-inert inner bloodlines rather than cultivate a powerful Democratic voice much beloved by those inheriting the ravaged world shaped significantly by the conservative, dominating (vis a vis divergent Party members), risk-adverse, conflict avoidant Old Guard/Corporate Democrats. I quite agree with Syd's assessment of the Lincoln Project's members as cunning.
The most depressing fact.
"Everything will be alright in the end, so if it is not alright, it is not the end." - Deborah Moggach, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
I have been keeping this in mind as my mantra all day today because it fits. I believe we will be alright at the end of this election. As someone pointed out today, yeah, we're still stuck with the despicable McConnell and his ilk, but at least we will get rid of the swamp monsters that OOO-45 dragged in to destroy every vestige of good government.
I can hardly wait for that breath of fresh air.
I'm grateful to the voting officials and volunteers who are working so hard and so carefully to count and process millions of ballots across the country.
I'm grateful to HCR for helping us stay sane and centered.
I'm going to bed with real hope in my heart for the first time in years.
Quite rightly...this is not the end! Biden will now need to emulate Teddy Roosevelt and use his Presidency as his Bully Pulpit to force the Senate to bend. Only the force of public opinion threatening McConnell for the mid-terms will shift him grudgingly along the "road to righteousness" to move the country forward at a snail's pace.
Add to this the challenges Biden will encounter from Dem. party Progressives, e.g. AOC et al, and from Bernie's supporters. Some have continued to advocate for their left-leaning platforms (their right, certainly); a few tweets I saw were highly critical of what Biden will do before he even DOES anything! I would hope that all of us can decide to unite in service to the greater good rather than to constantly carp about the slice of pie that we didn't get this time around.
The thing is, voters have to be educated that IF you vote, you get a little bit of what you want, then KEEP voting to get farther - KEEP voting! . You cant give up just because it didnt get you EVERYTHING you want. On the other hand - pushing too hard for everything right in the beginning - will put the "opponents" backs up - then where are you? Look at the fight for civil rights - you think WE are frustrated! Look how long its taken for African Americans to get this far - you think they havent had any pushback? This division & partisan divide is nasty - thats an issue that somehow has to be overcome - somehow. I dont really know if this country can ever pull together - for instance, as it did during World War II. I'm sure there were people who were against everything (like now) but from all I've read & people I talked to - pretty much everyone pulled together. Think about that!!! I'm old enough to have had several uncles AND aunts in the service at that time - a couple were hurt but they all came home. It was the RIGHT thing!
Maggie, you are so right! Vote, Keep Voting, and recognize that we all need to band together to advocate for what is right and good. Your example of the Civil Rights movement is perfect. It can't be fought for in fits and starts, it has to be fought for in a non-stop continuous stream. Beyond that, success in the civil rights movement cannot be declared by white people but only by the people who have suffered the most from the denial of Civil Rights.
I'm almost 80. It's clear to me this time is like no other. As it's clear to me that the "old ways" are dead - except for those who've lived long and are still hooked into the old ways of the past in their minds. We live in an oligarchy today. [Google - Gillens and Page.] (University researchers into Democracy). In the '50s - '70's we enjoyed a democracy. A brilliant Princeton philosopher named Wollin after a long and deep study of our democracy concluded we live in a state of "inverted totalitarianism" today. ("While the classical totalitarian regimes aimed at the constant political mobilization of the populace, inverted totalitarianism aims for the mass of the populace to be in a persistent state of political apathy." )Wikipedia. As that song says - "the times they are a changin'". New times require new structures, forms, institutions, approaches, solutions, understandings, ways of seeing. The past is dead. Life is challenging us to develop and grow again.
Political apathy is right! The times sure are changin - the older I get the less I like change. I think many of us did enjoy a democracy through the 50s-70s but not all.
I like to think 9/11 brought the same unity.
Yeah, Lynell, I think it did. Dont remember anyone actively speaking out against us right then. Do remember numnut's claim that there were people celebrating at the time! But thats just one of many lies..
It was an opportunity for us to pull together squandered by poor leadership.
Yes -- having a more informed citizenry is so important (we have surely failed on THAT recently). A good example of people deciding to pull together despite some resistance to a given issue is seen in the isolationist America First Committee, of which Charles A. Lindbergh was a darling. When the US entered WWII, within days of the attack on Pearl Harbor America First disbanded. Wikipedia has a few good quotes from Lindbergh and others re why it was important to "pull together." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_First_Committee
Oh my. Charles Lindbergh and the America First Committee is a horrible example of people deciding to pull together. Lindbergh's antisemitic tendencies and his pros eugenics stance leave a very bad taste in my mouth. A better example would be the Victory Garden Movement that became a matter of pride for tens of thousands of families across the country.
Here's a book worth reading... The Immortalists: Charles Lindbergh, Dr. Alexis Carrel, and Their Daring Quest to Live Forever David M. Friedman; Ecco/HarperCollins Publishers; 2007.
BUT people DID pull together regardless of Lindbergh & his popularity - in a good way. The Victory Garden was another example, right. I think there were likely a lot of different ways that Americans actually wanted to help the country come together. Thats something that we need more right now.
Thats right! I remember reading about that - and I think there was even a tv series that showed that.
Rev. Judith, so as not to flood your in-box, just assume I will click "heart" on all comments you make!
I think that the world is not going their way. Western society doesn't look as though it is going in a "progressive" direction. AOC etc will I think be marginalized and remain so. Why would the US buck this wider global trend? The US stopped leading the world some time ago. Bush was a disaster with his intervention in Iraq to finish what his father sensibly resisted, Obama mostly withdrew or procrastinated on the international scene once Clinton left him and Trump just kept on digging the hole deeper and deeper.
I agree about the wider global trend. Which is why I hope that Biden can generate strong support for steering a middle course, carefully and strategically. He is not going to be able to accomplish a whole lot (not unless a miracle occurs re control of the Senate...). To me, his greatest gift to the nation (and the world?) will be a sane, competent, truthful presence in the White House. Four years of that can, I hope, heal some of the most egregious rifts in our international relationships and maybe move us forward a centimeter or two... One step at a time!
I think actually firstly you are right about internal politics. He will put the Feds back together and annul by Directive what was destroyed by Directive. However his main agenda will probably be international where he is likely to find more easily non-partisan support.
Given what you see as his greatest gift, at the end of his 4 years what do you sense will have changed? As the two university researchers -Gilens and Page- found - we no longer live in a democracy but an oligarchy. The results of their scrutinizing legislation over a significant period of time showed not the interests of the people in them but rather those of corporations and the rich. "Multivariate analysis indicates that economic elites and organised groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while average citizens and mass-based interest groups have little or no independent influence."(Google).The Earth House is burning. These structures are in place at the same time. Who and What and How will effect the required necessities to meet the fact of this conflagration and the associated multiplicity of political/social/economic/problems?
Stuart, you write great, but apparently have a very short memory? If elected, Biden WILL have to deal with the incalcitrance of the far left wing. You may recall Ted Cruz and the Tea Party managed to shut down the federal government in 2013.
Since when did Cruz and the Tea Party represent the "far left wing"? McConnell can shut down the government whenever he likes by refusing to deal with The House's Budget or the debt ceiling....AOC could too if she voted with the Republicans or abstained in the House vote on the same. I don't think that would be too popular! Where would it get her with the NYC crowd? Progressive measures are not going to be considered by the Senate anyway under McConnell and she can't be seen as aiding and abetting McConnell can she?
I got the point, but I think you missed it, Stuart. The Tea Party were extremists, and insistent on doing things their way. Some people see AOC et al as also extreme (actually they are not) and fear their pushing things too far left. Problem is that we have shifted so far right that what too many people think is far left are actually pretty close to centrist. There are people left of AOC and I am one of them- and consider myself fairly moderate. My values are pretty much what my Dem parents had in mid-20th century. Nowadays you'd have to call us Social Democrats, I guess. What cracks me up is knowing that the Republicans proferred a system of health care back then that was very similar to what the Social Dems and Progressive wing of the Dem party support now. Ironic, isn't it?
Please provide some sources for your observation of the "incalcitrance of the far left wing." Who are they? Ted Cuz and the Tea Party are Republican. Thanks.
Replicated observation leads me to conclude the AOC and Bernie Sanders factions in Congress are not open to compromise and could have a similar obstructionist effect on a Biden administration centrist agenda as did the Tea Party on the Obama agenda.
Whether the faction is of the same or opposing party as the President is irrelevant; the point is that a small fringe group can gum up the entire works.
Are readers on this site so unable to process any idea contrary to the prevailing echo chamber that it is necessary to draw a map for what should be intuitively obvious to even the most casual observer? Let me try...Ted Cruz, a Republican Senator from Texas was elected in 2012. Ted Cruz became the de facto leader of a small group of ultra conservative Republican Congresspeople known as the Tea Party. This group rebelled against Congressional party leadership in both the Senate and House of Representatives, refusing to vote in favor of federal government funding; this led to a shutdown of the federal government in 2013 and ultimately led to the resignation of John Boehner as Speaker of the House.
You have a descriptive map of what is. What is your map of "what needs to be brought into manifestation?"
???
Good point. 👍🏻
McTurtleneck is exactly that...a snail..uh I mean snake!
What? The polls portended a Blue Wave yet McConnell rammed through the Barrett confirmation and refused to act on a COVID relief bill.
Agree, Laura. As Dr. R has said, we don't usually get everything we want in a democracy but that is to be expected. Having a Biden win will hopefully restore good government, as you say. I mirror your gratitude to the voting officials and volunteers. They rock! As for Dr. R, well, yeah, she rocks, too!
I agree. No, we didn't get everything, but the mid-terms in two years could produce a Senate flip, and in the meantime, with the Orange Menace and his henchman, Barr, gone, the few remaining moderate Republican Senators will no longer quiver in fear at the maniac's rage and retribution. Moscow Mitch can't live forever, so keep that in mind. He's just as evil as the Menace, and much more crafty, but his venom can't control the entire country
Yes, it's disheartening that the race has been as tight as it is, and the obvious prevalence of hatred and potential violence exists, but Biden will have the bully pulpit, and he has the experience to know how to exert pressure on the opposition. What we all need to resist is the very Democratic habit of eating our young. AOC and the Squad shouldn't be marginalized, and we need to work with all the diverse players on our side to do what is best for everyone. We need to understand that, ugly as it was, the Republicans know how to proceed in lockstep, and we should resolve our differences without a bloodbath within our ranks.
With the Menace no longer in office, hopefully the temperature will come down, if slowly, and without the Attorney General in a despot's pocket, we can take action against potentially violent hate groups. Besides, part of the Menace's frantic desire to remain in office is his frantic fear of prosecution. Now that he won't have that protection, I doubt that he'll have time to be standing on a street corner fomenting violence among the crazies, and Fox will try to remove his stench - they have enough of their own.
This country has myriad problems, much of which can be laid at the doorstep of the Menace and the radical right wing, but we must also address problems for which they are not totally responsible - inequality, racism, lack of quality education across the board, immigration, and much more. Our deepest problems existed before the 2016, although the Menace and his enablers fanned the flames and pushed the buttons to bring all of it to a head. He will be gone, and we must do our best to repair the damage with the means available, and stop whining that it can't be done. I think Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will provide a good new beginning. Early on, Biden wouldn't have been my first choice. Now, however, I think his even temperament, decent instincts, and a lifetime of experience working across the aisle are exactly what we need, and Kamala's intelligence, youth, pragmatism and real experience dealing with racial and cultural issues will make her an invaluable asset to Biden and all of us. We can't be a single-party government, and need to have a way to work together to make things fair and equitable.
We've all been traumatized by the last four years, but if we just hold our collective breath and stand in the rubble, weeping, the Menace and his minions will have won, regardless of who occupies the White House. We're better than that, and more resourceful!
Thank you, Nancy! A thousand times yes!
Yes, I just took my temperature and it is finally 98.6. It has been hovering at 110 degrees for 4 years.
I'm laughing - for the first time in 4 years. We make a goof pair!
I'm less sanguine about the riches of a Biden-Harris duo. The two have a distinct track record which if continued will not meaningful address the necessity of systemic change. One could even say political choices they've made have contributed to the very spiritual malaise with its spectrum of manifestations on the practical level before us today. That said. We today are living "in the crack" of the cosmic egg. Meaning there is an opening today that hasn't existed in my long life except perhaps for the '60s. Our Earth house is burning. Structures long taken for granted and causative, are finally being questioned. Good ole Joe may want us to heave our sigh of relief, go have brunch, and let him take care of tamping down the uproar. Wrong. Because of the Opening, this is the epic moment when we breathe that sigh and pronto get our rears in gear and our perspicacity shined up, and our petition pens, protest sneakers, and minds running full tilt to challenge our own past-due-date rigid ideas to focus whole heartedly on what are today-tomorrow requirements that must be met courageously, clearly, and creatively. Essential to remember: a higher order solution is demanded for a lower order problem. A problem to be solved cannot be solved with the very-mindset that created it. A broader and deeper (more creative) and more acute consciousness/mind frame is being demanded of us. The kind, for example, that was behind sending that spaceship to the moon. Remember? Our job is to know clearly was is going on and in seeing a detour, put the pressure on those two to do "right" by Us.
Selina, like you, I'm not naive enough to think that two people can solve all of our problems, and we have multitudes. Nor can anyone create great change if the populace is uninformed and unfocused. I am relieved at the prospect of removing the malignant force that has demanded the world's attention and damaged our already-challenged society. As you said, we need to sit up and pay attention, determine what is important to each of us and to our society as a whole, and then participate in repairing as much of it as possible. I do believe that, as many problems as we have, our country has the potential to mend. However, many can't see the forest for the trees, and that's where Heather's work helps to provide clarity. It is incumbent on all of us to understand the source of our many problems, then make a concerted effort to remedy what we can. There will be no easy answers, but I think Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will try to do "right."
Given the depth of the socio-political-economic-health care problems with Biden ominously reassuring the health insurance industry things will be alright, the red flag is up the pole calling upon the population to closely track Good Ole Nice Joe and make thunder when he shows his past austerity colors instead of doing the real changes that must be done. We can't fiddle around and make nicey nice with him when our Earth House burns, ice pack is melting, police are thuggish and killing off Blacks, unemployment and Covid figures are soaring, evictions are rising, schools are being privatized, college loans through the roof....No! Depending on him to do "right" is a perilous dependency. We must insistently and persistently "spur" him towards what is not just "wanted' but is required by the situations.
Frankly, I think your quarrel should have been with the current "president." We will have the opportunity to let President Biden understand our wishes/demands, and I'd be shocked if his response was anything resembling the chaos, criminality, thuggishness, incompetence, racism, privatized education agenda, ignorance of science and lack of care for our citizens displayed by Donald Trump. If our thunder was necessary, it should have been directed at the current dictator. The contrast between the two is stark, and if we're lucky enough to rid ourselves of this scourge, Biden should not be attacked unless or until he abdicates his responsibilities. If he fails to deliver, it should not be difficult to have him impeached by the Senate, who will likely still have a Republican majority - at least until 2022.
Such a great movie and quote, Laura. Thanks for the reminder.
It'll be so nice to breathe easy again, rather than collectively holding our breath against the latest atrocities Trump has put forth.
Thank you, Professor Richardson. I look forward to your post-election analysis.
I don't know about the rest of you but my head is spinning like a top, can't sleep, eating too much ...
So, this morning at the breakfast table I struck a somewhat whimsical note and posed the following questions to the family:
If (when) Biden wins:
1. How long before Melania files for divorce?
2. Will Trump be convicted of a felony and, if so, will he serve time?
3. Will Trump resign before Biden is sworn in so MP can pardon him?
4. How long before Nikki Haley announces her intention to run for President in 2024?
Pence can pardon him all he wants, but that doesn't stop New York from pursuing all the state tax fraud. I'll take him getting 20 years in Attica or Sing-Sing for taxes if we can't stick him in the Florence SuperMax for treason.
Melania drank the kool-ade and sold her soul long ago— she’s going nowhere.
If I were a betting person, I'd put $10 on her bailing, but I don't gamble, so we will see what happens and reconvene later to discuss.
But like Jacqui Kennedy's mariage to Onassis.....she will walk away with her pot of gold if she can enforce her contract and get paid. The irony of life is that he will probably manage to "screw" her too.
IF there remains enough to pay her ...
She is probably waiting for him to croak after all those burgers and diet cokes.
And if this is an opinion survey, the results might not be more representative than the national election variety but here goes:
1. It's probably stated in her contract that she has to wait till he is nolonger in office and that he will leave her formally.....and then she'll have to get her lawyers to rush to get paid before he declares bankruptcy to get out of the €273 million coming due on loans to the Deusche Bank which is looking to offload him.
2. Probably, but he'll find money for the lawyers from the people who still voted for him...so eventually, when the money runs out he get put inside and get to wear orange.
3. Probably again....but for his fear of the part that pardon=guilty.
4. I think she'll wait....at least till Jan 21st
I give her 6 months - max before she announces.
Melania or Nicki or both?
Melania: +/- 12months. Nikki: 6months
Her concern was that her son have the same status in his estate as his other children. Typically, the way this kind of agreement is done is through a trust managed by a third party. I think Melania probably hired very good lawyers.
Yes but the Trump family traditions would suggest that he will be screwed by his half brothers no matter what the agreement says. You just have to look at the "Eric" to understand that he would metaphorically or indeed physically rip his mother's heart out if he could benefit finacially by it.
I do not believe that one can simply look at a person and know what is in his mind or heart. You maybe right about his general attitude, but I think that the rest of your judgment is extreme. I have also learned that people often have pain we cannot see, and that what we think we see is a mask to hide that pain. Not saying you are wrong, but just that I believe that we cannot know.
I can understand the potential for pain in Eric's chilhood with such a father and the need to construct a protective persona. My judgement was based upon the resemblance between that persona and the father that he seems to be copying.."sincerest form of flattery" no doubt! The likely "screwing" of Melania's boy comes straight from Trump's attitude towards his own brothers and sisters etc in relation to his own father's money. Eric the copycat?
This is exactly the kind of thing I find offensive, Stuart. I am not interested in exploring the Trump family's issues. I am interested in moving beyond this kind of petty gossip and figuring out how we, as a nation and as a community of people, move into a healthier future.
I have no answers for you, but wondered about Melania voting in person alone on 11/3. I had thought she and her husband mailed in ballots.
In August, the Trumps voted by mail in the Florida primary. Melania voted in person in the general election.
I'll take your memory over mine, CAG. Thanks.
Lynell, you're right. I thought that was what he said.
That is an excellent question.
Melania won’t DARE stray. Trump would bury her. She’d be penniless and her parents, who knows! No, Melania isn’t going anywhere. Life is too good for her.
Trump won’t serve time. Nope. His are white collar crimes hence nada.
Trump won’t resign. His next tactic is revenge on us all until January 20th.
The line up for 2024 will be hilarious including one of the trumps. They’re not done yet.
Yes, and now that our country has shown that Trumpism is alive and well, all the mini Trumps will be lining up. Queue Tom Cotton, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis et al.
Ugh!
Don't forget Maine's own Paul LePage.
Oh please, did you really have to mention that former governor of my home state? Shame on you!!!
The problem that we all have throught the Western world is that we at present and for some time have had only "mini this or that" to chose from in elections. I am currently watching a very good mini series on De Gaule.....not mini-man at all!
Melania has one possible bargaining chip – Barron.
I don’t think he will serve time either, but I expect him to be convicted of something akin to a RICO violation, tax evasion, fraud or related offense - on the Federal level. As has been pointed out, a pardon would not immunize him from State charges.
No idea what will happen re: resignation. It depends on how grievous his offenses are that we know nothing about – yet. Only he knows, and I expect he will weigh the possibility of indictment against the relative peace of a pardon. If he did resign, he would make it all about the unfairness of the election process and how he has been undone by the deep state – how he is a martyr to the cause of himself. And he could resign at Noon on January 19th and MP would have full authority to issue the pardon – DT might do it just to spite the Democrats.
DT Jr. is waiting in the wings, but I believe Nikki is next at bat.
Don’t forget, Duetsche Bank is positioning to seize Trump’s assets. Hopefully, they start with Mar-a-lago.
and Trump Tower in NYC......yeh, Trump on the street!
Heh, heh, heh!
Don't think DT will resign. Suspect he's more likely to file another stupid baseless law suit, which will be ignored, and his term will simply run out. But if he did resign, even if Pence pardoned him (for some reason, I kind of wonder if he actually would), it could only be for federal offenses, not state offenses. New York state is patiently waiting, and they are bulldogs. Won't be much left for the other state in line.
Actually, she would not be penniless. She filed a lawsuit against a rag newspaper and I believe she won something like $10 million. (Don’t quote me.) She also has a new prenup.
Trump for 2024 would require him to show a very important degree of perseverance that he has never been able to even pretend.
His physical health is not good, and his mental and cognitive health is declining. I do not think that the Republican party (or any other party) would let him in. He's broke, so he can't even buy his way in. By that time, hopefully people will be getting on with their lives, and DT will become a bad dream with hangover effects.
I think that his mental state is not declining per se but what we are seeing is his perennial reaction to extreme and prolonged stress. He has always been like that according to Mary Trump. Broke he no doubt is and has been before. He would get out of it in the past by harassment by litigation and by finding some new gullible or criminal source of finance. I think on the question of funding his debt his goose is well and truly cooked; nobody would dream of lending him money nor give him any form of new "lunch ticket" .
Inquiring minds want to know. 🤔
Don't count out our darling mini t governor running...Noem for 2024 is already in the works. She's as crazy as he is.
😹😹😹😹😹😹😹
And Tom Cotton.
Please no.
Absolutely Tom Cotton.
🤮
All excellent questions!!
I would love an AMA - with just us - after the worst is over and you can breathe. We have QUESTIONS!
1. How soon can we expect indictments from NY? Is there any indictment etiquette that says Dept of Justice goes first? Do you know how happy we would be if he was lead away from the inauguration in handcuffs (don’t want him to flee!)?
2. How many of the current administration are hirable elsewhere? They can’t all go to fox.
3. What harms will he do between now and Jan 20? Is there anyone to stop him? He thinks he will run again in 2024. Is it too much to ask that the Rs stop him? Would his legal trouble stop him?
4. Will we get a breakdown of voters by age? How much did the young ones help? How many of the old ones are dying off?
5. Every time the black vote comes in and saves Democrats the blacks want a seat at the table. Will they get more than a token this time?
6. Is everybody mad about Mitch, Lindsey and Susan? What can we do?
Great list, Deb! May we please add number 7? What can the Democratic Party do to communicate with all Latinx people and assure them we will not head toward a southern hemisphere brand of Socialism?
My friend, who is a Pennsylvania Cuban, feels that much of the immigrant population of Miami have a terrible fear of Communism and Socialism, brought about by Fidel Castro's oppressive regime and that fear superceded all other issues, so Trump's rhetoric served him on this issue in this election. The fact that these labels "stuck" to Biden and the Democratic platform is not their fault, but it hurt their actual causes in the state of Florida and I'm our country.
Carla and Tina
The problem is really the mis-perception of socialism as meaning some sort of authoritarian government. Somehow this perception must be corrected. And personally I think the dems need to be more progressive in order to compete. I think the dems need to embrace democratic socialism and move in this direction, with medicare for all and such. I think the public wants this, and I don't think so many were taken by Biden's promise to return to the old normal. As much as Biden gives the impression of being normal and calm, which he can bring, he doesn't otherwise bring much to the table. So I think part of the problem has been that Biden's biggest attribute was that he is not trump, and this doesn't bring a lot of excitement.
AOC and the progressives get attention and votes, despite both Republicans and Democrats trying to brand them as evil socialists, because they offer real change for the people and not just for the wealthy. Remember Biden said to the corporate execs that nothing would fundamentally change. How is that to grab people who were already struggling even before the pandemic?
Basically a little less than half the voters just said quite emphatically that in no way did they want to pay for any of what AOC and friends want to offer....when it is offered to others and not just themselves and theirs! That is a very fundamental divide which education will take a very long time to erase. Solidarity is not the name of their game.
AOC and her "fellow-travelers" (so to speak) all just got re-elected in their districts, along with at least one other of similar persuasion. Eventually there will be more, because they are starting to be elected at the local and state level. And slowly people are starting to realize that there are certain public goods that should NOT be in the hands of business, even in a capitalistic economy. That is not only inefficient, it is far more expensive than a system in which public goods are either regulated or managed in common by us through our government. Other nations have demonstrated this conclusively. It is astounding to me that the USA somehow continues to allow a few greedy people to control how they think about things that would benefit both individual human beings and our society as a whole.
Well stated.
One would think that you might be correct from anecdotal evidence but here in Europe and elsewhere we are suffering the pains of nolonger being able to afford what has been put in place and service quality in , health, education, justice and many other ares has gone through the floor as they became cally oriented job creation exercizes rather than efficient and effective service providers
Hi Stuart
I'm not sure about that. I understand why you said this but I think really those who voted for Trump don't even fully know why, but they like his chaos and racism and believe he'll make it better for them. I'm not sure they are against such things as medicare for all. I think more and more people see this as needed.
But as you said, education is the key. It's the poor level of education in this country, intentionally created two decades or more ago, which is the problem. If we educate people what it means to have single payer insurance and good healthcare, they may see the light. We can't go back to status quo.
For example, a friend read about a woman who has 8 children and voted for Trump because he'd send the kids back to school despite corona. How can one put that in any place to understand in terms of green new deal or anything else?
Read this, Stuart. https://www.democracynow.org/2020/11/5/the_voters_speak_in_squad_we
Stuart it strikes me that such people (not wanting to pay for the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, etc) don't "get" the fact that our Earth House is literally burning down. In denial. If the houses of these folk were burning down, would they be penny pinching in their efforts to halt the devastation? To save their children trapped inside?
The Cubans in Miami are still largely the privileged lot who left Cuba because they couldn't stand to lose their privilege. They abandoned the rest of Cubans who were left behind. And they do not stand in for other populations we label Latino/a/x, especially in the SW, once part of Mexico, or those who came north out of South America. So we need to be careful of the assumptions that we attach to various "ethnic groups". Including people of European descent, who do not represent any one perspective. Why the polls keep failing: they are based on uncertainties that cannot be measured.
The Cubans in Miami thus represent the architypal Trump voter.
I've also read that Cubans who maintained family farms/land were displaced by Socialism which fed their animus. I appreciate reading about your friend's impressions. We need to change the narrative somehow among a million other things that need damage control after the trump debacle.
One of the things Kamala could do is go to these areas in Miami and reassure this sector that they are not forgotten.
in the country.
Carla and Deb: you've hit all the talking points in my lists! But I have another: how will the House and the WH, if Biden does win and gets inaugurated on Jan. 20, shut down Moscow Mitch's agenda of deny, obstruct, and lie when there is a Dem in the WH?
Yes, I’m wondering that, too. McConnell made the Republican Senate the dam in Obama’s river; little of Obama’s legislative agenda got past him, and that was both (I believe) because McConnell and his crowd couldn’t stand to see a black man in the WH and used that racism to feed their partisanism and crush the Democratic initiatives. What’s to keep McConnell from repeating his vow to obstruct a Democratic President?
And my understanding is that the Senate needs to confirm the cabinet too. Let’s hope that doesn’t become another obstacle.
Nothing, absolutely nothing unless some intrepid person puts a muzzle on him. Except - if we were to become as exercised over his traitorous actions and persisted en masse to show up and protest - make a real racket - a thunder, as we did with getting out the vote - then something would change.
I think we need to have confidence in Joe's long history in the Senate and the relationships that he has maintained. We need to give him a chance to see what he can do to draw on long time relationships like we know he had with John McCain. (Of course Mitch McConnell is no John McCain.) But, I'm hopeful Joe can chip away at some of the animus. With trump not in the equation, then the bully tweets might not have the impact on some of the feckless Republicans in the Senate. Accent on "might not."
The Republican senators' animus is a fixed entity. This crew has demonstrated zero fidelity to the spirit and letter of our Constitutional Democratic Republic. They are not the Republicans of the '50'60's 70's. Gingrich's Contract with (on) America threw down the gauntlet. The opposition was to be regarded as the enemy of the Republican's version of progress, meaning the escalated empowerment of corporations and the rich. Later the absolutists known as the Tea Party took the "take no prisoners" charge to a more outrageous level. Absolutely nothing has occurred since to alter this mean spirited if at times coarse and vicious attitude.
I know you are correct. I appreciate how clearly you state the horror of it all. I guess I still hold on to some smidgeon of hope that Joe can do something. We have read, "Democracy in Chains" and it is all so clearly spelled out. Sad to say.
Carla thank you for letting me know where you are. I am convinced that Joe will "do" more than he ever considered depending on one powerful influence. Us. If we succumb to corporate desired citizen apathetic helplessness, then game over. On the other hand, if we - deciding to be determinedly affixed to him to make happen (no excuses allowed) what we intend, the game opens. To the favor of us All and of our beautiful ravaged and now tumultuous Earth. Join me!
It is encouraging to know that so many of us care and resist. I am trying not to focus on the huge numbers of people who voted for trump. That would make me turn to stone. Instead, since I do historic preservation research, I will resist as best I can. Tonight, I'm helping a student with research for our area's Underground Railroad history. I live right in the middle of a URR pathway. When I think of how brave the Station Master was and how brave the fugitives were and what they went through, I just have to say, to heck with the Reflublicans! We have work to do to make things better.
Adding more questions from a friend: 8. What are the best ways for Biden to unify such a terribly divided country?
9. What light does history shed on this that could help Biden in this task?
10. How do we overcome the power of misinformation and the brainwashing effects of what has amounted to state run media at Fox News?
I think you hit an important note: Heather and a number of other historians have shown the way to understanding problems like these by looking at the patterns of the past, and seeing how the patterns of the present are related (or, sometimes, not). I have never seen so many historians being interviewed by ALL the forms of media since the 50s & 60s (yep, I'm that old). And often diving deeply, too, not just skimming the surface to fit a preconceived idea. I hope this continues. The so-called "polls" have never worked well, no matter how much they fiddled with them and claimed "Ok, this time we've got it right". History is messier, just like the present, but it can give us some clues about how our culture works. We just need to remember that old aphorism about history not repeating, but its parallels can show us where we are likely heading.
Deb Powers, not your fault (your questions are valid). But this is the point at which this entire discussion went off the rails into judgment and conjecture and just plain petty gossip. It is embarrassing to read. And does not reflect well on either us as a community or on Heather's column when we forget where we were headed and end up with this. Makes me sad.
Echoes some of my Q’s. Thank you!
When Trump leaves the White House in Jan, can we all just agree to never give him airtime again? How different would things be if the media hadn't covered HIM 24/7 since the 2016 campaign? He's a showman, and showman need an audience. Maybe Twitter needs a permanently assigned fact-checker for his account. But, maybe, he won't have access behind bars?
I think Trump's Hell will be having Twitter take down his account permanently and he can't get his narcissistic supply. Why should Twitter pay for a full-time fact-checker for an irrelevant liar?
LOL! My view is that Trump's Hell is the place where people ignore his directives or tell him "NO!" And unless I miss my guess he's starting to experience a bit of that now. Thank goodness.
And it's Nancy Pelosi who says "NO!" while she is standing over him wagging her finger. Remember the photo from that meeting...
I know you know this, Kelly, but: Like it or not, the office of the President of the United States is and has always been news, no matter who occupies it and no matter the substance. But yes, my sincere hope is come January 20, 2021 we never have to hear from or about him again!
I must disagree that everything coming from the mouth of the man who is President of the Divided States is newsworthy. I resent how much time the media gave him for his partisan campaigning -- which is almost the only thing he has been talking about for months now.
I think the bigger problem is the fact that various media outlets across the board gave Biden/Harris so little coverage. Trump is a master manipulator, he used (abused) the media as a young man partying in New York, during his first run, during his presidency and during his second run, as free campaign advertising. He NEVER stopped campaigning. And Cathy, I agree with you, everything coming out of his mouth is not news. He has inundated Twitter, the airwaves, the internet and print with his obscene, hateful behavior. It's unfortunate that so many choose to follow his example.
The problem is that news has devolved into sensationalism, titillation, and entertainment. So called news programs are filled with partisan talking heads shouting at one another.
Americans’ attention span has been shortened to the point of non-existence. The fact that we have otherwise intelligent adults proudly announcing they and/or their kids have ADHD is disturbing and bullshit. Most can focus for hours on end on Facebook, YouTube, online shopping, or the Kardashians. Americans have become too lazy to inform themselves and vote thoughtfully.
I’m appalled that my own step-kids (All intelligent. All college graduates) make no effort to be informed. They don’t read any newspaper, don’t listen to credible news, don’t read non-fiction, nor take any news magazines. One set are voracious readers of fiction, pulp fiction, or unsourced online material, they know all about song drops by Taylor Swift and the details of every celebrity scandal. Mention William Barr or Amy Coney Barrett and they ask “Who’s that?” It’s embarrassing, not to mention depressing. What’s the worst is they are proudly ignorant and have all somehow acquired ADHD (their diagnosis) late in life.
YES! I agree!! I saw the huge increase in kids showing up with all manner of attention deficit problems in the 16 years of surrounding myself with 18-21 year olds. But, have you noticed how so many bits of media have also shortened? Notice commercials, for one example. They are getting shorter and shorter...some are less than 5 seconds! And we're being bombarded with them at every turn. Commercials often come in longer and shorter versions. They'll edit them down to just a few seconds after showing an initial version of maybe 15 seconds or longer. I have long maintained that the more you inundate a populace with only short tidbits of information their attention spans are also going to shorten. I don't watch commercial TV by desire--my mom has the TV on just for some ambient noise going, something I don't like, but hey...she's my mom--so I can't help but notice things. Most of us ignore it. I'm one of those people who looks for other things. Notice sometimes. It's no wonder these kids are growing up with quick sound bytes and that it is affecting their abilities to concentrate. It know it affects MINE!
When in college I received some excellent advice that could benefit anyone who allegedly can’t concentrate or finds things boring...if you find a lecturer “boring”, force yourself to pay attention by trying to find holes and errors in what he/she is saying.
I taught high school for nine years at three different schools. At the school where I taught for six years, i got a new group of students every nine weeks; I saw a lot of students. I was able to cure alleged ADHD with a piece of paper. The school had an assertive discipline plan which if the teacher chose to implement could lead to a student’s removal from class with a grade of F. My class was impacted and required for graduation. Students received progressive steps, if they got to Step 6, they were WF’ed. I had countless parents claim junior had ADHD and couldn’t control his/her behavior. Amazingly, over six years I had numerous kids get 5 steps, but only one ever unable to control him/herself sufficiently to avoid the consequential sixth step. I coined a term for my students’ real problem—PSS, Pathologically Spoiled Syndrome.
I acknowledge a small percentage of the population has ADHD, but it is rare. The alleged prevalence of ADHD is hugely influenced by an expanded definition, parents seeking SS, and school districts harvesting extra funds. The sooner we banish this bogus diagnosis to the dustheap of history, the better for all concerned.
Well, regardless of what one might think/wish, Trump IS the President and has been for the past 4 years. WHATEVER the President says, thinks, opines, sneezes, sh!ts, has for breakfast, etc. has ALWAYS been reported on by the press. Living under that magnifying glass is something that has always been a part of the trappings that come with the office. With Trump, the press has, in the past 4 years, had to really re-assess exactly what they're going to allow and cover. It is a seeming mark of their integrity that they now are qualifying a lot of what is reported. They simply do not hesitate to now say, "this is a lie", "this is not true", "this is a misrepresentation", etc. This would have been inconceivable not too long ago. They've had to judge the substance and content now of what this President is blathering on about and qualifying it as true or not. Thank God they finally got there. Even Fox is starting to do this too. The press is realising now when it is being used as a propaganda tool. Again, thank God. It'll be interesting to see what effect this will have on the press in the future.
I agree, living under a magnifying glass comes with the office. However, the fact that it has taken 4 years for the press, of any stripe, to finally qualify the content of his near constant verbal diarrhea, is sheer insanity. And look, its not as though he had a long history of truth telling behind him, he's had decades worth of histrionics and publicity stunts which have deeply marred his credibility from the beginning of his presidency. So yes, a president is in a very unique position, and because of that it is the press's responsibility to hold a president's feet to the fire. Always. As far as what the future holds? If Donald is not re-elected, I doubt we will see the same level of media abuse from incoming presidents, at least in the short term. If he is re-elected, it should be incumbent upon the press/media to fact check every word that spills out of his mouth/fingers and qualify them as true or false immediately.
I do agree. But, to now blatantly just say "this is a lie" and for this to come from the nation's most august press organizations, is pretty strong stuff, especially when certain press organizations are going out of their way (too much sometimes, IMO) to show they are not "biased". I expect that if Trump becomes a lame-duck (a gross insult to ducks everywhere) we may possibly see the Republican party begin to distance itself from him in the next couple of months. I COULD happen. If they know what's good for them, they will try to "cut the cord" and ditch the guy.
I wish I could 💕 your comment 40,000 times.
Newswothy to whom? You don't have to buy the rag in question. In France we have a scatalogical "satyrical" paper that published the "Cartoons of Mohammed" and got their authors assassinated and recently a teacher beheaded because someone didn't like it. I just don't buy the paper! I'll have no one deny me that choice.
I agree that the Office of the President should be given media coverage. However, the media should never play to the theatrics. Do we want news or entertainment?
The problem becomes "freedom of speech". How do you stop him spouting inanities when you can hear the same thing on street corners, in bars and in many homes 24/24 and 7/7. Are we to limit what the other says because "we know better"? What happens when someone decides that that you can't speak anymore as they define "truth" otherwise?
I support freedom of speech. I disagree with the media giving attention to everything he says/does when it isn't newsworthy.
But firstly the media is now concentrated in few hands and those few are practically all "big business" . They are in the game for profits and not "truth" and the general wellbeing of mankind. This can be changed but first you have to get a handle on the Gaffas; Google etc.
Dan Rather makes this very point in his book "What Unites Us"...worth a read/listen...
It bothers me that this also applies to our food supply as farms are owned by big companies and are squeezing the life out of the family farms they buy up. Another hideous form of income disparity.
That is the real problem isn't it? The consolidation of media sources in the hands of a few people like Murdoch or states who imposing requirements on them to show selected news.
Stuart, I agree but don't see the media/press as purveyors of truth. My view, which may be antiquated, is their role is to report the news about what someone said. It's my role to decide where the truth lies. I am speaking strictly about the media/press who are deemed reputable.
Agreed.
Well, therein lies the rub, Kelly. I would not want the media/press deciding for me what is or isn't considered newsworthy. I have a mute button for that. I made a mistake once when I subscribed to an online news service that touted it gave factual, nonpartisan news. When they started referring to COVID-19 as the CCP virus is when I canceled my subscription.
Most presidents were not as accessible to the press as 45 has been. So to me it's no surprise that the press takes advantage of every opportunity to cover whatever he says. It's my right to choose not to read about it or listen to him whenever the press covers him, which I do frequently.
what happen to the truth in journalism? What we have now is opinion pieces one after the other, who is making sure all that "news" is true and shouldn't that be the yardstick and not ratings?
I agree with you about not listening to the bloviating pile of excrement, but the problem is that since he's the OOO-45, other people DO listen and are swayed by the lies and nonsense he spews. This has major consequences, and could have been reined in by editors reasonably fact checking and limiting how MUCH of his gabble they deliver.
Don't they do that every single moment today. That's the very definition of the media to cover what they feel is newsworthy. Our choice is to choose our news sources. And, I do turn off (not just mute) my preferred news channel (which we should really call commentary channel since we get more opinion than news) when they play any DT clips.
Yes, very true. A similar example is the issue of counting all the votes. I might prefer that ballots cast for a particular candidate be "lost" or blocked from being counted. But, I would want ballots for "my" candidate to be counted in their entirety. No matter how much I disdain a person's choice of who to vote for, we each are free to cast a ballot for whomever we want. Such freedoms must be protected.
Absolutely. Count every vote, even if it doesn't go our way.
I think you are confusing "freedom of the press" with "freedom of speech". Trump can stand in the middle of 5th Avenue saying anything he'd like, it just isn't worth the media coverage he's had for the last five years.
Unfortunately that is just an opinion duly formed in a coherent relationship with your values. Nearly half the population just clearly indicated that they didn't give a "fig" either for your opinion or for your values. Shocking it may be but that is reality.
Yes, that was the most disturbing thing about the election for me. Sometimes I feel stuck in the movie where I'm one of the few people that can detect the evil aliens from outer space that have taken over the bodies of some politicians. Yes, it is our reality these days.
Read the Bill of Rights. Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press under the First Amendment has little bearing on what is being discussed here.
I agree wholeheartedly, Kelly. Unfortunately, 45 has never been worthy of the Office which the media covers, in my opinion, and has been just about 100% theatrics.
Why do we have to wait until January 20, 2021? Now is a good time! Feels like the sycophant rats are starting a stampede to leave the ship of state.
Twitter is doing a lovely job masking his tweeted lies these last few days. Every tweet is documented proof of his unfitness for office. I think historians and forensic psychiatrists are going to have a field day in the years to come.
Only to jump on the one that might replace it in 2024.
Yes! They won't have learned anything, and they will no more be representing the people who elected them than they do now.
But they do represent the people, just not you.
Trump is a huckster, not a showman.
I so appreciate your summary and inclusion of COVID statistics, but I am again today thinking... “At the time of this writing 68.6 million people have voted for Trump.”
Some are fanatic supporters who will follow his rally cries to intimidate voters or give money for lawsuits, as mentioned. But 50% of us?
What are we missing?
Exactly my worry.
My sister and I have been discussing this very thing; we both feel that there's something we've missed about him, but have no idea what that might be or where to look for information.
OTOH, if a very large portion of the world's peoples are seemingly looking aghast upon Trump's actions and actively wishing him out, then maybe we haven't missed anything at all.
I'm also looking at this: of the people I know, the ones that support Trump are in the evangelical western christianity flock; the ones who aren't partaking of that religion are against Trump, be they affiliated with the Republicans or Democrats.
I think that is very telling.
The people I know who support Trump are all well-educated wealthy.
Good to know, thanks.
I’m pleased that Twitter is hiding his false tweets behind warnings, but they should have been doing this for YEARS!!!! They created this monster by allowing him to get away with this BS for way too long! They are just as culpable as the sycophantic GOP.
109% agree
100%... Fat fingers
109% means you REALLY agree.
As Neil Katyal pointed out, Trump can't go to one court and demand counting stop where he's "winning" while he goes to another court to demand counting continue where he's "losing." Both cases get thrown out for that.
While Bad-Italian-Joke-Come-To-Life Giuliani was raving to Neil Cavuto on Faux Snooze, Cavuto stopped him mid-rant to announce Fox had just awarded Michigan to Biden.
Sauron, er, I mean Dumpty, and his Orcs are only starting to realize that Frodo made it to the pit of fire last night and threw the ring in.
Looks like both Senate seats in Georgia will go to runoff in January - a friend "in the know" told me today he wouldn't be surprised if a billion dollars gets spent on that runoff. If the Ds win both, it puts the Senate at 50-50 and VP Harris spends her days there for the next two years.
Also being reported that the outstanding votes in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are breaking 9:1 for Biden, so Dumpty won't hold PA either.
The big bad wolf has huffed and puffed and he can't blow down Biden's brick house.
Also heard a commentator say the Alaska Senate race is in place and may just go to the Democrat. The race has not been called yet so I hope there is something to it. Wouldn't that be a great November surprise?
That's "in play" rather than "in place". My fingers seem to finish words any way they want to these days.
Getting both the Georgia seats might be difficult. Are the seats regionally-based within the state? It does look though with the percentage of seats uncounted in the urban areas that Georgia might flip for Biden afterall.
Senators serve the entire state, and not a district. So yes, its possible, but regretfully not probable.
TCinLA, I have been thoroughly entertained by your post. Thanks!
Good analogy - but hate to see wolves get THAT kind of bad press - right now thats another animal that this administration & fan-boys are trying to eradicate. This has nothing whatsoever to do anything here, but I have to wonder has Trump never had anymore to do with actual Nature than the green of a golf course? Seems to have NO concept of anything beyond the size of his rallies! Just a thought.
Just prior to reading this I listened to a podcast with Randy Fernando of Center for Humane Technology. In pondering the unexpected support for Trump, Trump supporters, and the great political divide I believe Trump’s overt use of social media that bypasses scrutiny continues to be beyond dangerous.
Going forward can “The Social Dilemma” that feeds this vast political divide ever be adequately addressed? I’m struggling to imagine any of his followers hitting the “unsubscribe” button for Trump’s rants. How long will this raging narcissist continue to undermine America?
The fact that his family is building “ a media organization” doesn’t bode well for their noxious rabble rousers to reconsider their untenable positions.
I’m sure Trump has been emboldened by the millions who have voted for him and will never shut up.
To prevent anxiety, I have been avoiding the news since Tuesday, both online and on TV. This letter is the only source for the past 2 days. Like many intelligent, critical thinking, decent ppl, I am aghast at the fact that the election was not a decisive win for an intelligent, critical thinking, decent candidate but that it is so close for an ignorant, deceitful, hateful, authoritarian cult leader. I am dismayed at the turn of this nation where the EVIL IGNORANCE of our past, that we thot had subsided, has rebounded over the past 4 years and appears to remain in control. Out of all the tragedy I have lived thru; the segregation in the South, the useless carnage of Vietnam, the AIDS pandemic, the Twin Towers in NYC, this is turning out to be the worst. Coupled with a viral pandemic this resurgence of lawlessness and terrorism from the ignorant masses and our very government may actually be the end of all those advances I thot had been made. I can imagine myself being an intelligent, critical thinking, decent German citizen watching the events of 1933.
I absolutely agree. On a daily basis for almost the last 4 years I have been asking myself "what did the Germans who resisted Hitler, and saw him for who he was, do to remain hopeful that "morals" would/could once again become the norm?" I am aghast at the number of Americans who support this ignorant, deceitful, hateful, authoritarian cult leader.
I see dark days ahead.
I totally agree, Rob. I can’t seem to shake the deep malaise that continues to inhabit my being. I hope this too shall pass but I am not optimistic.
Yes! The the medium is the message and it sucks.
My fear is that for the sake of comity we are being lulled into acceptance and addressed like fussy children. The consequences of the election present a dire situation. That the Dems with all the active engagement and money that was mustered are still unable to effect the election of people like McConnell, Graham, Collins, Loeffler, Ronny Jackson (TX), Joni Ernst, etc, is shocking. I for one think that this "do not despair", "all's well," "the most important thing about 'hope' is the ray," "you don't always get what you want," and the disneyfication of the deeper loss coupled with the power of Trump to blow up the landscape needs to be squarely acknowledged. Instead, we are trying to "make the best of it." Big mistake.
We need to re-imagine our democracy and eliminate two-party control and the electoral college.
Most importantly, we need to ensure that resources are delivered equally to all communities. There is no reason why wealthy communities should have better quality education, healthcare and services than poorer communities. This is where segregation commences.
While you are “re-imagining” our democracy, the Republicans are controlling our democracy. “Resources” used to be someone else’s assets. Tell me, how much of your own money have you voluntarily redistributed to poor communities? Democrats are way too willing to redistribute someone else’s money; this is exactly why we face the horror of four more years of Trump. Democrats need to get off their high horses and into the trenches.
There is no law requiring a two-party system. In California, we had a choice of 5-7 presidential candidates from various parties.
Changing the electoral college is a virtually impossible task. Focus on something doable like a party platform that is more palatable to the masses and less Pollyannaish.
Blah-blah-blah. Offer nothing but complaints is far from presenting solutions.
And - Your solutions?
First, recognize there’s a problem with the Democratic message. All you have to do is read the comments on this site to see what the problem is. There is scant mention of the economy, jobs, or taxes, all of which are bread and butter issues; the focus is almost entirely on feel-good social change. Posts are filled with name-calling, pie-in-the-sky pronouncements and reflect the writers’ belief that anyone with a differing opinion is a troll.
Some people on this site are so smug that they falsely refer to themselves as the intelligentsia. Smugness is a voter turnoff, I think Hillary Clinton proved that.
If after four years of Donald Trump, the Democratic Party can’t muster a landslide, there is obviously a big problem. Recycling the same old social justice mantra at the expense of attention to what really matters to voters is self-defeating.
then we will have to attend school board meetings and commissioners meetings etc. etc. etc.....do you honestly see that happening?
No. We need to fund our communities differently. You should already attend School Board and Commission/Council meetings because local governance is self-funding which results in inequality .
I suggest we try a top-down approach towards funding our local governance.
Amen Sister. Non-Republicans need to wake up and toughen up.
Thank you Heather for your "knock on wood" summation. I also am not tempting fate with saying what I feel until its official.
That said, I am looking forward to mornings when I don't turn on the news with fear of what preposterous, evil doings Trump and his accomplices did during the night. We are a long way from that, but thinking that may be a reality is comforting.
I listened to an interview yesterday with my second favorite Historian, Jon Meacham, Doris Goodwin Kearns as well as top knotch political writers like Barton Gellman and realized that regardless of all of the noise around us, we are living in good times to be able to learn from such an incredible bevy of people first hand including yourself Heather. Whatever happens, we will get through this.
Thank you Linda!!!💞
Thank you as always, Professor Richardson for your thoughtful analysis. It helps to calm our frazzled minds. Trump is a bad dream that became a nightmare that wouldn’t stop. That so many people in the United States still voted for him is even scarier.
I have been reading articles in the foreign press and one made me stop. It said that Trump, if he loses, will embark on a 2 month campaign to name as many "conservative' federal judges as possible, with the connivance of Mitch Mc Connell and his band of disciples. He will also wreak havoc on a scale last seen when General Sherman marched to the sea, with changes to the Civil Service laws and executive orders destroying natural habitats and eliminating restrictions which protect the environment. Biden will have to spend six months just trying to undo the damage.
Twenty-two Republican Senate seats will be up for grabs in 2022. Support of Trump until that joyful January day when he vacates the presidency by those planning on running for re-election then is not a 'given.' They will still be around to face the music and this will affect their subservience to McConnell's wishes.
And we have to defend 12 Democratic seats as well. Already the Lincoln Project is on the case against Marco Rubio.
My fears, also.
Great column!
Congratulations to all involved in the effort to slow "the Trump train!"
Nevertheless, we need to pay attention to the apparent fact that, even if Trump himself loses his office, he has had the ability to boost to victory some of his supporters running for office at the state or federal levels. The analyses I have read that make this point suggest that perhaps as many as 25% of Trump supporters are reluctant to reveal themselves to pollsters. This might account for why Trump, who has been receiving 40% approval ratings in the polls throughout the autumn, has been winning the votes on November 3 of anywhere from 45% to 49% of voters.
Yes, that is stunning. Right now it shows him winning 48% of the popular vote. And yet his approval rating always hovered around 40% or so. So 8% of the people voted for him even though they didn’t approve of him? I will never trust the polls again.
I have more than one friend who “dislike the man” but voted for him anyway. I don’t even know how to proceed with these friendships. Right now, I’ve put them on ice.
Okay, folks...and update from GA! Right now Biden is within 15,000 votes of Trump with still 61,000 absentee ballots from Fulton (Atlanta) and Chatham (Savannah) counties remaining to be counted. There is still a VERY good chance Biden could flip GA. AND incumbent Senator David Perdue has now officially slipped under 50%, which means he and Democrat Jon Ossoff will join the January 5th run-off between Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Kelly Loeffler. Sooooo...BOTH Senate seats in GA will not be decided until January. This could conceivably have a major impact on the majority in the Senate. We're currently 48/48...do the math. The money and attention that will be given to this Senate race in GA will be epic and unprecedented. Hang on, y'all...this ain't over!!
Trump tried to sue to stop the count in Chatham county (somebody alleged they say a poll-worker adding unscanned/cancelled ballots into scanned/legit ones. There was no substantial evidence to back it up and a GA judge just threw it out. Onward...
*an update*...typing fast before it got eaten...