Trump and Republican Party leaders are refusing to acknowledge that Democrat Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris have won the 2020 election. Despite Biden’s win in the Electoral College and his win of 4.4 million* and counting in the popular vote, Trump insists—without evidence-- that there has been fraud and will not concede the election. So far, most Republican leaders are following his lead. This morning, for example, Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) suggested, contrary to the facts, that there are irregularities in the ballot counting.
On Sunday, I wrote to my senator, Senator Pat Toomey, via CAUSES, to tell him what I thought about his Friday CBS THIS MORNING interview:
Senator Toomey - you really showed your true colors on Friday on CBS This Morning, trying to disqualify mail-in-ballots as NOT LEGAL BALLOTS. You KNEW ballots received after Nov 3rd were never in the count. You KNEW the rules about poll watchers, and when Republicans cried about the distance, you KNEW they ruled in your favor when you complained about a lack of transparency. And there is no such thing as an illegal ruling by the PA Supreme Court; you can argue an incorrect ruling, but the PASC is not a criminal cabal. I am gobsmacked that you threw so much shade on a democratic process that put YOU in your Senate seat. SHAME ON YOU!
I was hoping I could stop writing this after Biden's win, but the evidence is clear: The two enemies of Trump and the Republican Party are truth and democracy. That's why lying and voter suppression are really their only two campaign strategies. Their continued actions in the face of their loss only further prove this.
The saddest part of all is that the Rs are very active using fakery to divide this country. They are pitting family members against each other; they are exacerbating the feeling of isolation from the pandemic; and they are adding imaginary fears on top of real fears brought by the pandemic.
I just had a college acquaintance post her Q-Anon manifesto on her FB page. I can tell she didn’t write it. It says 2 major things - THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL POST and I AM NOT GOING TO DEBATE ANYBODY ON THIS, and after that was truths scattered with Q-Anon fiction.
When I read yesterday that the GSA won’t provide the Biden team with information they have a right to receive and that they need to do their job I was absolutely furious. Pissing and whining about a supposedly “stolen” election is one thing but active obstruction is a whole different ball game. The Biden team needs to do whatever they can to force these idiots to do what they are supposed to, be it lawsuits or whatever is within their legal power to do. This is an absolute outrage against America and cannot be permitted. Let little donnie play all the golf he wants. The real adults have a country to run.
The idea of Trump holding rallies fills me with dread.
He may have some motivation to use them as fundraising events for his attempt to undo the outcome of the election in the courts, but they are just as likely to drift perilously close to inciting his true believers to settle scores for him in the streets. He would, as is his wont, deny any responsibility if violence followed directly from his rallies.
I hope that cooler heads prevail and he is dissuaded from holding rallies, and I hope against hope, that no violence results should he not listen to reason. Senator Graham and those like him who are encouraging the President in his mad folly to reverse the will of the people, deserve all the public scorn that can be directed toward them. The fact that Graham was reelected is one of the biggest disappointments of this election.
Lindsey's re-election is, indeed, the biggest disappointment of this cycle. He's demonstrated himself to be beneath the dignity of elected office. Such a fraud of a man, both politically as well as personally.
I spoke with a voter from SC this weekend who split their ticket- for Biden and Graham. I think that may have happened in a number of cases where people realized Trump was a fraud but were afraid to give the Democrats unbridled power in Congress.
Senators are such powerful people. I think voters are loathe to give up that source of power for their state when they have high ranking senators. Even when they are absolutely horrible people.
That probably has something to do with their decision, but in Jaime Harrison's case, he is very connected in Washington and was state Chair of the Democratic party ... The vote for Graham was, IMO, about striking some kind of imagined balance. It infuriates me to think that Graham represents balance of any kind, but I really do think many voters bought the Biden=Socialism=Communism garbage. Boggles the mind ...
South Carolina was always going to be rough for Jaime. Democrat. Black. Against a ranking Senator. And yes, the ridiculous socialist, commie narrative. That Jaime Harrison is one tough guy.
I agree. the socialism communism thing is strong and I realize always has been after reading HCR's books. How do we help people understand that the very things they are fighting against would benefit them?
I think any stated “fear of socialism” in South Carolina is a euphemism for “I can’t vote for a Black person.” I wish I were wrong. It will change, and soon. It just wasn’t soon enough for this election.
I believe there is a lot to this as well RD. From my point of view it’s another point of evidence of their cowardice, just like I believe it was cowardice that swayed Polls. Hold your nose, close your eyes, and lie.
I find it interesting that Democrats are disappointed and shocked about Grahams and McConnells re-election and no one is siting election fraud in those instances. This whole thing is just so insane.
There is simply no reason to doubt the vote totals in either of those elections. McGrath was never that strong a candidate. Lindsay definitely benefited from voter suppression efforts but it's impossible to say by how much.
I have wondered. I wonder if their silence about the national election is partly due to fear we might look more closely at theirs. They are so hypocritical and icky, I just don’t get their appeal to anyone.
His motivation is definately to rile up his followers to violence, and, I suspect, to spread COVID even farther. There should be a law against campaigning once voting begins.
(1) Donald Trump received more votes than any president in US history. Only the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris ticket received more votes.
(2) The election system works. Even an autocrat is unable to tamper with it effectively.
Autocrats are not welcome in America. This election cycle saw an unprecedented turnout of Republicans, including at least seven professional campaign organizations (Lincoln Project, Rep. Voters Against Trump, 43 Alumni for Biden, et al), actively and sometimes viciously fighting against their own party’s candidate.
Face it people, we narrowly averted reelecting our own Mussolini, our own Hitler imitator.
Even so, this guy broke all kinds of records for votes cast in his favor. This man was a legitimate president. Quibbling about whether or not he won more popular votes in 2016, quibbling about our antiquated electoral college system, misses the point. The point of a democracy is that the elected leaders represent The electorate. This man got more votes than any president in history. He IS the voice of that electorate. That electorate probably constitutes close to half the country. We have a total of 340 million people, and probably 150 to 160,000,000 of them are Trumpsters, conservatives, people who don’t recognize their unconscious bias, people who choose a men-first whites-first straights-first social model because It feels comfortable and familiar to them. If you think these people are just going to change overnight, or even in four years, you are sadly deluded.
And I do not care if I get a single “like.“ I’m not here to get your approval. I am 62 years old and I have lived for my entire life with a father who grew up in Nazi Germany and he has never changed. Slightly, barely, but essentially, no. I am a truck driver. I will caveat that by saying I’m also an Eagle Scout, top of my class in high school, Engineering degree, pilots license, more jobs than I can count in more industries that I can remember. So I’m not just a truck driving schmuck.
What I posted above are facts. That is the reality. We are a divided country. My father who never really outgrew his Nazi social upbringing in Germany, and all the truck drivers and warehouse workers that I meet who are Trumpsters, they are not just going to disappear or convert. I haven’t seen it happen yet, why would it happen now. These people live in a different universe, the universe I would classify as the social model of the past, and they just don’t want to change.
One more thing. If you haven’t noticed, they ADORE Trump. It is astonishing the level of reverence and adoration I have witnessed. The comparisons to Nazi Germany and Hitler are reasonable, substantive, and logical. I’m sorry I’m being very defiant this morning because I’m reading a lot of baloney and deluded silliness. If you seen the adoration that I’ve seen, if you’ve seen the obstinate refusal to join the progressive side, you would understand my defiance.
So we work with people who can change. The young. The new to America. The non-English speaking. The economically depressed. Hard work, everyday, here on out.
And, we also must practice setting aside being aghast at the seeming impossibility that's actually the reality that millions love Trump. Roland's experience is they "adore" Agent Chaos. Suspend your critic for a moment, and get curious about what's going on inside these people. And, consider that in the context of our collective experience of governance over the past 50 years. Exxon, BP, Katrina, invasion of sovereign Iraq based on lies, Flint people poisoned and the governor uncharged, children in cages mothers sterilized, 2008 Wall Street crash-culprits not charged-1000's of people hurt- the people pay the bill, Obamacare instead of Medicare for All, nonaction on climate catastrophe (potential job source), Opiod Crisis, U.S. jobs outsourced in 2016 1,457,000 Total number of U.S. jobs outsourced in 2015 2,382,000, stratospheric wealth gap, USA-"not" a Democracy(Gilens & Page research)- "is" an inverted totalitarian state (Wollin) - in summation:“economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy,” while average citizens “have little or no independent influence.” When did the USA government demonstrate creative, authentic, meaningful responses to the needs of the people and environment? On the Big Business-governmental level, who has ever been held accountable for the damage they did? On the street level, who is held accountable for crimes? What lessons might the People take from these experiences? The more and keener our understanding, the more portals for required "right action" are opened.
I have been thinking the same things, Roland. That nearly half the country voted for this regime after living through the the past 4 years is beyond frightening. I have seen the devotion - I have a lot of friends who passionately believe in this regime. I’ve known them for decades and it threw me into a personal crisis when he was elected and they all suddenly felt free to speak their minds. I couldn’t understand how so many people that I thought I knew so well could support him. Over 4 years they have only become MORE supportive of him and they are all now spewing the same nonsense about a “stolen” election. There is no “listening to reason”. They will not listen. Period. They have made up their minds and that’s it. So, I don’t argue with them. But I listen to them. We are ALL Americans. How do we come back together? I don’t know the answer to that but I do know that we have a brutal uphill battle ahead of us and all the ‘kumbaya’ in the world won’t change that.
My take on this is that the veneer of civilization is very thin and always has been. We may have wonderful technology (which is more invasive and lethal), but we are still the same mammals that fell out of trees or walked out of the cave. I read a lot of history and I see the same play all the time. The elite manage to saddle ordinary people with all sorts of burdens while they swain around as the entitled. All major religions have a component which addresses this imbalance in the hopes of getting those in power to behave better. It has not really worked very well. For those who follow death star donny, he has given them carte blanche to be un PC to put it simply. And they love that. It is also something that I call the class clown mentality where someone sticks a finger into authority. Then we have the religious who would rather see the country go down in flames as long as abortion is illegal and same sex marriage doesn't exist. Some of them expect the end times which may actually happen, but not in the way they expect. I had one person on FB post a meme blaming the CA fires on atheists. We in Oregon were also suffering though destroyed homes and red smoke filled skies, so I politely let her have it and reminded her that a lot of the people who lost their homes and businesses here in Oregon were Rs just like her. She backtracked, but i think she meant that post exactly as it seemed. Then there are the progressives who want everything their way right now. It isn't going to happen because in our system progress is very slow and requires a long game, patience, constant vigilance and a willingness to compromise. Right now we have a lot of people at both extreme ends and that makes our system difficult to run. I also hope we can get through the next couple months without death star burning everything he can to the ground.
Keren, I am replying to you and Jen: As I'm sure you have noted, by 2040, based on current demographics, 70% of the Senate will represent 30% of the population. This 30% will obviously be overwhelmingly Republican; states like California and New York which are overwhelmingly Blue and represent 15% of the population of the USA, will diminish dramatically in importance in future elections and appointments to Judicial, Ambassadorial, Cabinet posts, etc. It will also impact the Electoral College. I recommend you consider moving to Canada.
Karen (apologies for the typo on your name before), as noted by some others, when you combine the gerrymandering and the implications of the SCOTUS vote against the Voting Rights Act with the fact that a minority of the population will actually control the majority of the Senate...and this minority is rural, conservative and Republican, the implication should be clear. It was already demonstrated in this election that the progressive wing, led by "the squad" may have some excellent ideas, but they don't have the votes and the trend is against them. You must expect that - unless trends change - the USA will continue to move to the right.
Roland, what you write is genuinely frightening, but historically the masses have always been attracted to a demagogue who spouts the words they want to hear:
"I will make your lives better by removing all those terrible people who are preventing you from doing so"...be they Mexicans, Jews, Muslims, or whatever.
You related Trump to Mussolini and Hitler and the link is apt...it is an omen for 2024.
Thank you for being the voice we need to hear. You’ve gotten your super-power legitimately, thru family experience w the dark side. Your words mean a lot to me.
I understand what you are saying. I do believe that part of it is clinging to the past. However, part of it is taking the lid off racism and other ugliness which may be a form of clinging to the past where being a white heterosexual male was all someone needed. Some of it is religious issues like abortion. And yes, they live in a different universe and inhabit only Fox and far right internet sites. If they have absolutely no argument, it's fake news. I see some people trying to bridge the rural urban gap here in Oregon. But the person I have in mind wants to burn bridges with "establishment" Ds and get in their faces. Politics has always been the art of the possible and to succeed in our system, some compromise is necessary. What I see often now is two extremes.
To Michelle I wish we all could read THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS so we could begin to understand the depth of the need to address racism in our country. It’s hard to read, to hear of the continuing personal affronts, of physical attacks, of financial Tricks on black and brown Americans. Black LIVES MATTER is a necessary reminder. And it is still happening far too often
I understand that need. I hope that change will come sooner rather than later. Right now here in Oregon the legislature has allocated a large pot of money to black areas and black businesses. It may be federal money; I would have to check. Nonetheless, it is going to the black community. Of course, a timber company in northeast Oregon has filed a lawsuit complaining that they should be able to compete for this money. The people doing this have a history of creating problems for various programs that do not benefit them. I grew up in Indiana and I am well aware of the racism that exists. In my home county for a long time black people only lived south of the railroad tracks in Elkhart. They could not stay in the county seat overnight. My spouse has Sioux ancestry and we are in contact with many of his relatives. I read Lakota America and I am still furious. As for my own background, I spent three and half years studying and in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone, so I have that perspective. In my graduate course in 19th century history, in addition to the four or five books assigned, I had to read five each term....so I read about slavery. 14 extra books. I have continued to read about that. I recommend Saving Savannah about that city before, during, and after the Civil War and how the plantation owners operated to make things difficult for black people, even after the war. I also recommend The New Jim Crow which shows how the war on drugs was really a war on black people. As for the person, I was talking about, she is local and kvetching about the Marion County Ds. I know many of them and many have spent their lifetimes seeking justice and a better place for all. They include POC and at least one Jewish person who lost family in the Holocaust. I have taken on anyone who wants to pretend that we are not a racist society.
I don't dispute your observations. My life background is quite different from yours but I also see the blind adoration that many seem to feel toward trump. Do you have any ideas how to introduce a different reality to these folks, any way to get them to see the dangers of an autocratic government? Or do we just have to wait for this generation to die off and hope they haven't completely indoctrinated their offspring? (I don't pose that question callously, just realistically.)
I have been uniquely forced into the position of facing it constantly with my own father, and he is incorrigible.
He has gleaned a lot from me, seeing unconscious racism and sexism, but despite superficial changes in behavior in order not to embarrass himself socially, nothing sways him from his convictions. Mitt Romney was his choice a few elections back, and that was his favorite candidate ever. He respects and admires anyone who is rich and who came their on their own, and no one else makes it on the list. Nothing will ever dent that. A rich white man, self-made, is the cat's meow, the be-all and end-all, and a close second is any other rich self-made person.
Of course he is just one person with a particular individual make-up, by no means does he represent all 150m or so Republicans/conservatives in America. But he is a typical member of the clan.
I just love him, I engage with him as much as I can on all the political and social subjects, and of course I model my side of it by being myself. Germans are very political animals, and he is quite representative in that way. He loves discussing political and social issues of any kind, he loves being challenged, but even after years and years, he rarely budges much. He is obstinately Republican, he obsitnately favors rich people, particularly white straight men. And he has voted Republican his entire life, that's his clan, that's where he feels at home.
Fundamental change is non-existent. The basic values from 1930s Germany, although no longer spoken aloud anymore, nevertheless have never faded away. It's all still there.
Thank you for your thoughtful response. Change is hard for all of us but perhaps more so for people who feel less secure in themselves. I have a sister who refuses to engage in any conversation that approaches political or social justice issues and I know she votes for the Republicans. She is educated but doesn't use critical thinking skills - relies more on emotion and finance to make her choices. And religion in some kind of way that I absolutely do not understand. I try to be kind and accepting but I am not able to just not talk about issues that are meaningful to me. I am at the point of realizing we will never be able to really feel close.
I am not the 'sharpest tool in the shed', if fact rather dim-witted at times! I'm glad you commented, gives me lots to think about and very much appreciated
Thank you for your honesty and vulnerability. The fact that you are here, in this forum, shows you are much sharper than you give yourself credit for. You are soaking it up from the right sources. The real blockheads, the real dummies, are the ones who cannot see past the image, the fake veneer, they can't see beneath the surface. You are doing a magnificent job of taking in solid information. Congratulations!!
Keep reporting on West VA. We need your input about the people, industry and politics. For me, 'a coastal mid-Atlantic liberal Democrat', it is helpful to have a 'boots on the ground' resource. And for some reason, on a personal level, reason unknown, my ashes are ending up in west VA! My NJ family are flummoxed, but have promised to get me back there at the appropriate time. 'West VA, mountain mama(?), Take me home...
I am not deluded, I just think that we can change a new generation through education, etc. Of course, nothing changes overnight, but we can continue to stand tall and strong to fight for a democratic government of the people, by the people, and for the people. That hope stands paramount in my heart and soul.
Yes of course! I’m completely with you. But I’m now 62 and I was thinking the same thing 40 years ago. California has advanced, no question about it. But the nation still has this unbelievable population of diehards. And now they’re not electing Ronald Reagan and the two Bushes, they’re going for a mobster, Russia mafia front man, sex criminal who should by all rights being a registered sex offender, financial criminal, tax evader, and the list goes on. Wow. There is a subset of America, my father being one of them, the coworkers I mentioned being a different variety, who are absolutely immune to education and change.
Let me be clear that you are speaking for me when you say "we can continue to stand tall and strong to fight for a democratic government of the people, by the people, and for the people. That hope stands paramount in my heart and soul." Straight out of my heart. I don't know how you just got 6 "likes," you should have dozens and dozens for those words of beauty.
I agree Roland. These people are not going to go away, especially if Trump continues to hold rallies and engage them through the various media outlets. I also agree that we narrowly averted losing our democracy to a dictator. These people have probably always been out there but Trump has emboldened them. However, the big question is what do we do about it?
Support education of civics, critical thinking skills, and empathy, along with reinstatement of a broader Fairness Doctrine that includes social media.
“The real alternative is to strengthen our ability to govern ourselves well by supporting the kinds of schools and jobs that train us in the habits of citizenship, by creating the background conditions in which we can solve more problems in our families and communities, and by reforming electoral systems and legislative procedures to strengthen the incentives for politicians to move beyond demagoguery.”
Bryan Garsten, “How to Protect America From the Next Donald Trump”
Love them. Talk to them. Be yourself with them, in the most loving way possible, but also honestly. I am calm and self-assured, but also emphatic and Italian-esque and passionate, it varies. But always respectful, and always loving, because we are all One, even if it doesn't look that way.
Pray, hope, and dream of unity. I do not have the answer. I am unable to get through to them with my values, neither my dad nor the others. So I just be myself. Just like here in this Comments forum, I say it like I see it. For my honesty, and for my lovingness, they love me back, they respect me, some of them even admire me, but at core they remain part of that clan, that "cult" as you call it, aptly.
Excellent and timely insight. It took me longer, even though Europe in the 1930s is part of my family heritage. Plus his paternal grandparents are from Kallstadt, Germany, so now I feel even more strongly about the personal connection.
The fact that he received so many votes is terrifying, and even worse some of my family members voted for him. At this point they are so brain washed it is impossible to talk to them about their reasons for voting for Trump. It feels like they have joined a cult.
Yes. My father acts like a member of a cult. Same with the Trumpsters I know from work. They are just mesmerized with him. It's so similar to Mussolini and Hitler, you have no idea.
Roland, I think that you are correct that we have an incredibly divided country. What scares me is that Republicans are willing to tear down our system b/c this election they didn’t win. It is just immoral.
No I did not adjust for population growth. Good point. But numbers are numbers. Just under half the country is conservative, old world, Republican, Trump supporters, whatever convenient label you want to use. These are real people and call them whatever you like, they are a force. They are a reality.
I’m saying the Germans under Hitler are eminently comparable to Trumpsters under Trump in this way: they share the same levels of devotion, adoration, and zeal. Off the charts in some cases. There is one enormous difference between Trump and Hitler, but their devotees, their followers, are interchangeable. Obviously not every Trumpster is a rabidly crazy fan of Trump. But if you look at the devotion of the Germans in 1930s for Hitler, and the devotion for Trump in 2020, wow they’re similar. The support of the core, the base, is incredibly solid.
The huge difference between Hitler and Trump is this: Hitler delivered on his promises. The German nation was in severe deprivation, a Great Depression, and Hitler was the German FDR. The autobahns, which incidentally inspired Eisenhower to build the American interstate highway system. The Volkswagen Beetle, Hitler’s conception, a car for the average common folks, the folks wagon. He created jobs, he brought the country out of starvation and the cold, literally, and plenty more. So the Germans fell in love with Hitler because he changed that economy the way FDR changed ours. Trump hasn’t done squat for the average American, so that is why I called him a Mussolini or Hitler imitator. He’s a fraud, a con man. But Trumpsters don’t see that that. They adore him.
Thanks. I agree with your assessment above. Germany was in a dire position after WWI, and the Versailles treaty added to their humiliation. I also agree the level of devotion in the devotees of both looks very similar. I guess the trumpsters’ adoration is based on their PERCEIVED situation rather than their actual one.
I am a big fan of Michael Steele but I wasn’t always. He is very bright, funny, but reasonable and he realizes the present GOP is off the charts. The begging of money for Fake 45’s defense is almost laughable except we know his base will dutifully fund him. Are they all under some spell? The fact that the GSA will not allow Biden and his staff members to have access is illegal, is it not? My guess is that they are destroying important documents. Maybe all of F45’s Dick and Jane books.
So they want a recount? Okay, let Fake 45, Rudy, and the rest of the heathens sit at those tables and count those votes themselves. We will have Nancy, Schiff, Swalwell, and Klobuchar watch them do it! Should take them oh...about a week or so to complete their so-called investigation.
Well, we had one day to celebrate. The King of Distractions along with his pool of ass-lickers, have done it again. I am clinching my teeth to where they are singing “Let me go!”. Praying that the Biden campaign had worked out this scenario in advance and that they have a plan.
Vote counters were teams of Ds and Rs BOTH. They always are. In my little county, by law, a D and R must sign the vote totals, the mid-day counts, etc., etc. I accompanied my election official downtown after we closed the polls and packed up equipment to deliver stuff back to the election commission. If a scanner/counter malfunctions during the day, TWO people respond at the same time, one D and one R. The good people who sat there and did the hard work of processing the mail in ballots should speak up LOUDLY.
Here in Oregon where we vote by mail, we had to go to two people because a R election worker decided to fill in spots which voters had left blank. She was caught and did not seem to understand that what she did was wrong. Now it's two people and I am assuming, one D and one R. We have mail in elections here for 20 or so years with few problems. Many people I know, including us, carried our ballots to a drop box site instead of mailing them because of the P.O. which I do hope we can get fixed.
So two questions. If everyone who voted for Biden sent him just one dollar more today, (and maybe another dollar or two to the Georgia senators in the runoff), could that money be used to set up his transition team? And, could the rest of it be used to sue the Trump Admin for refusing to let the GSA do its job?
Exactly! My very small grassroots donation plan is to (1) Vote Save America for a split between the 2 candidates and (2) BidenHarris for whatever they need. BH has raised M’s - but I imagine legal challenges are costly! But, honestly-office space? In the Covid Era? What do you think...first Prez transition in history on Zoom? ❤️🤍💙
There are things that give me hope in our terrible situation. On 60 minutes last night, a very earnest republican who heads up the Pennsylvania elections testified effectively for the correctness of the process. I think that testimony can and will be repeated by all the states. In Sarasota county FL, where I live, I am impressed by the running of the government by officials and their professionalism. I will put my faith in these officials to do the correct thing when called to testify.
Current republicans study demographics just like other politicians. They know that unless they change their stance on social issues such as gay rights, women’s rights, equal and affordable health care for all, an end to voter suppression, equal education in public schools, fair taxes to pay for good government at all levels, and clear separation of religious beliefs from civil law, there is no hope for them to win elections after 2024. If I fail to make the case, ask your grandchildren.
There are such Republicans. The GOP mainstream calls them "Rhinos." Quietly, they may even occasionally vote Democratic. There aren't many, if any, in Congress. In dealing with people with whom you disagree, think of them as opponents or adversaries but never as enemies, a practice of the departing administration, and still, today, of too many Republicans.
While a Fifth Column is useful in war, I still contend that there are no "Good Republicans." As I said years ago when this became the Repugnant Party, "THE ONLY GOOD REPUBLICAN IS A DEAD REPUBLICAN!" Of course I refer to Dwight Eisenhower, the only decent Republican in my lifetime.
Those "good ppl" who can no longer countenance the disgusting actions of the current Repugnant Party, should vociferously leave it and become non-affiliated or form a "Lincoln Party." That would get the attention of the party. If they stay they should be smeared with the same shit and disdain the Repugnant Party deserves.
Not a solution! Even if half of the 70,000,000 leave the GOP and form a third party, we still have to deal with 35,000,000 who believe the crap with which Trump, Fox, Sinclair, Breitbart, and now, OAN, have been, and are continuing to poison them. If they want to start a Civil War (or continue the original one), that might help because then they all would clearly be committing treason. But that won't happen. We must defeat them in the courts. We are a nation of laws, even for them.
I've always kind of had the pipe dream that BOTH Democrat and Republican parties could have splits within their parties: Democrats with a far left party, and Republicans with a far right party. It'd be interesting to then see how the resulting 4 parties would fare with a voting populace. The centre right and left is still that great source of the majority of votes in this country, but there were be a lot of compromising and coalition-ing going on. It'll never happen, of course, because neither of the current parties dares to go there out of fear of its split benefiting the opposition. For many years of my life I lived in a country with more than a dozen political parties and it was always interesting to note how they would then form coalitions ON SPECIFIC ISSUES. The parties weren't trying to represent all things to all people. It's an interesting concept of governance that is quite foreign to the way this country has always operated. It's slow and a bit cumbersome at times, but it does ultimately work. Wow...compromise for the benefit of the broader good. What a concept. Just throwing this out there...I'll go away now...
Even my dad, diehard Republican that he is, has told me he thinks we should have a multi-party system like they have in Germany and so many other countries. The 2-party system is quite monolithic, and also unusual on the world scene.
In Abraham Lincoln's time, paradoxically because the current Republicans are always invoking his name, that's exactly what we had in America. We had more than 2 political parties, of course we are talking viable ones, strong ones, large ones, not marginal ones. In the 1860 presidential election, it was a 4-way competition between: (1) Republican Party, (2) Northern Democratic Party, (3) Southern Democratic Party, and (4) Constitutional Union Party. I'm leaving out the marginal political parties, there have always been those as well.
So Bruce, you're conjuring up old American history, not just a stray unique vision of what could be.
The "Republicans" are a motley crew that have assembled over the past several decades. The Southern Democrats of Lincoln's era, for example, post-Civil War continued to be the premier political party in the South, KKK and all, reactionary and racist as hell, until Lyndon Johnson turned them all to the Republican Party when he established the Voting Rights Act. LBJ was a Democrat, and he turned his entire Southern Democratic electorate into Republicans. For the 1st half of the 1900s, and going back well into the 1800, Southern Democrats were the monolithic party of the South.
As I said, it was a "pipe dream" and the chance of any more *serious* [emphasis mine] political parties in this country ever gaining much traction with the electorate has a snowballs' chance in hell of succeeding. Ross Perot's run was one I also remember as having an effect in an election, as well as Jill Stein's in 2016. In every instance recently it seems people end up viewing those parties as having a negative effect on one or the other party's voter totals. None of them ever seems to really get off the ground and that's a shame, IMO. So we keep lumbering through elections with the same two parties trying to be all things to all people, and coming up short. Democrats especially have it hard as I think we're probably the biggest and most diverse party. Trying to get all Democrats on board with something is really like herding cats. There are ALWAYS going to be disaffected, disenfranchised segments. The same holds true with the Republican party to a degree. However, I think they will very likely be going through an upcoming split between Trumpists and more moderate Republicans in the next 2-4 years. In the end, EACH party seems bent on exploiting their rival party's divisions. And so it goes. I just wish parties could have maybe fewer, or purer ideologies, rather than trying to be EVERYTHING. Like I said, a "pipe dream" (though I don't smoke a pipe...). Still, I guess living in a democracy means not always getting what you want politically and accepting that, eh?
There are some shocking revelations in today's Letter. The fact that Trump's campaign is falsely seeking money for a "defense fund", while the small print makes it clear that the money will be used for other purposes makes them look like snake oil hucksters. The refusal of the GSA to release funds and provide access to office space and equipment is unprecedented and mind-boggling. This will definitely be the worst transition ever; why can't Trump be as gracious as George W. Bush was to the incoming Obama administration? Because it simply is not in his nature; the words "gracious" and "courtesy" are not part of his vocabulary, as he has proven many times over his lifetime.
Trump reminds me of a chant I recall from many years ago, when the NY Knicks were playing in Madison Square Garden. The crowd shouted "If you ain't Number 1, you're nothing". He divides the world into winners and losers; also-rans don't count, no matter what the situation may be.
The idea that he has lost...be it at golf (where he is a notorious cheat), with women, or in an election, is anathema to him and he simply cannot cope with it. He will simply say "You won because you cheated, so I won't play anymore." He will not accept that there are rules, regulations, precedents, or necessary actions to prepare for the changeover. He would rather maintain a scorched earth policy and let the incoming administration do the best they can to cope with this dangerous situation. He would prefer to burn the White House down, as the British did in 1814, than let someone else move in.
Yesterday, Saturday, the day the election was called, I was hopeful! Today I spent the day reading and researching the Trump supporters reaction trying to understand and further my awareness. OK ... and now I’m worried! I worry more after reading tonight’s newsletter.
Do the Republican members of our government have any sense of decency left or has the total corruption of power completely taken over?
Why do they follow Trump?
How did he ever get so much power?
And will he ever go away?
My parents were staunch republicans and they would be horrified at what is happening here and now, especially at the gross amorality of these people.
I hope and pray that we can hold on to this election!
And I’d like to know what recourse Biden’s team has? Is the director of the GSA breaking any laws? In a Times article today, it said she can wait until all certified counts are in from every state.
Would understanding Trump’s refusal to concede lie in his fear of falling to the wrath of legal suits he has been protected from and the inevitable shame and demise? Ones he can’t afford emotionally or financially? The Republicans who uphold the voter fraud myths may possibly be aware the eviceration of the Trump Myth has ramifications throughout the entire party.
I’m worried that he will start a nuclear war or something so far off the rails like that. I’m actually uncomfortable with SNL mocking him as a “Loser,” his deepest fear, because it’s poking the wounded monster. And the monster is still in charge for three more months.
I share your concerns, Jeanne. The next few months feel dangerous. I only hope there are people quietly protecting this country from this Impulsive and damaged man.
Trump's niece, in an interview for The Guardian, said that the one single greatest fear of Donald Trump is that he will become irrelevant/inconsequential. She warns folks to watch out that he'll start "breaking stuff" in the next 2 months. He's that unhinged. So far, she has pegged him and his behaviour better than anyone.
I made the mistake of thinking he was irrelevant and inconsequential. I thought he was so flawed and damaged as a candidate that no way in hell could he gain traction. I badly underestimated his ability to dupe and mesmerize the gullibles, the Red clan. It is inconceivable how anyone can be so easily deceived, but they constitute nearly half of America. If I didn't have my father as a lifetime case study, I would be completely baffled.
I did my part with anyone in my circle to talk about what a malignant narcissist and fool he was just from years of him being on my TV and being interviewed by Stern and Letterman. I never worked. They thought he was funny and a showman. Ugh
I don’t want anyone to stop fighting him. Especially legally. I just fear his ability to destroy the country or world further in a deranged, jealous rage. Once he’s powerless, I will join in the mockery. Or at least feel free to laugh at it.
I have believed that the young military guard holding the 'football' as they call it, has had the whole world in his hands for four years. Praying for him to continue to be strong every day.
Relief is so intense, I can understand SNL - especially based in NYC - sticking a harpoon in the Orange Whale. (Lorne Michaels take note to tone it down? Maybe. But, after 4 years, this moment also calls for a bit of comic relief.) But, YOU are right to express concern about the nuclear codes and the desperation of Trump. TV channel deal, his Twitter account and debt relief, pardons, the Roy Cohn never admit failure tactics are more his focus? But, where is Barr? And, where are the Joint Chiefs? Cause, you never know! ❤️🤍💙
I agree, I usually love SNL. And Trump has caused so much misery and even death, he deserves mocking at the very least! I would just be so much more comfortable if he were behind bars. Maybe even in a padded cell!
Do you think Barr will help the country now? Uphold the Rule of Law? I do believe in miracles!
Barr will never go against his own demented vision. He and Trump got along because Trump thought he could control Barr and Barr saw Trump as a stepping stone to more power. Trump has cast him aside, but Barr isn't gone yet.
Can you explain? What ramifications? And yes, I can easily believe that a good part of Trump's fixation on remaining in the WH comes from visceral fear of the legal and financial consequences of losing the protection of the presidency. Maybe he thinks if he can hang on now, he can somehow amass enough wealth and power over the next four years to fend off the personal price of his lifetime of profligacy. He can see the piper ahead of him, waiting and ready.
The Republican Party is a very different one than the one I belonged to long ago, or that of my parents and grandparents. The party, by its broad allegiance to Trump without censure these past four years, has branded themselves rather broadly by his "style", his behaviors, his morality, his vision of America. Should, when he leaves, their charismatic (to some) media icon possibly ends up in prison, or is revealed to be as unsavory as threat of legal actions imply -- this, indeed, reflects very badly on his party. I'm an independent. I can almost without fail tell what party a speaker is from by their pugnacious style, their non-empathic tone. I hope we as a nation move away from that.
HCR, I disagree with the following: "in their modern incarnation, Republicans will definitely have a hard time surviving unless they change the system even more than they already have. They are in the minority in the country, and a Democratic administration will likely pass a new voting rights act to replace the one the Supreme Court gutted in 2013."
The Republicans did very well in this election, much better than the polls anticipated. NC might be the outlier because of the unique circumstances there. However, I think they represent a very substantial number of people and could do better if they had a less inflammatory and divisive leader. Some commentators, including Tucker Carlson, have (in my opinion) analyzed the mood of the country and correctly observed the frustration of the "have-nots" and their deep-seated desire for a "Messiah" to lead them out of their misery. In effect, they are where the Dems used to be. I hope that Biden will address this anomaly, as the election of 2022 is vital if he wants to pass his program. As for the Voting Rights Act, it will be virtually impossible to pass a new act unless some Republicans defect (or the Dems win both seats in Georgia) and they must then contend with a 6-3 banace in the SCOTUS.
I would love to spend the next month interviewing Trump supporters and asking the How did YOUR life improve over the last four years? Because if it’s really have-nots voting for him, they have been sold a dream. Only Democratic policies and programs will truly help them.
I have wondered this myownself. From what I’ve read, that doesn’t matter to his supporters as much as that trump hates their “enemies.” If you hate who I hate, we’re bonded. Admittedly this makes so sense to me, but hate and fear are powerful. They have propelled trump all his life, after all.
Honestly, fewer taxes and regulations would cause my family to be able to make a lot more money. I vote against my interests every election because I think the country's interests are better served by building a better financial safety net.
If someone truly believes the country would be better off by leaving everyone to find their own way unfettered and unaided except for voluntary charity, they're not going to vote for what they consider forced redistribution even if it would line their own pockets.
Biden wants to raise taxes on people making more than $400,000. My taxes will not go up under that plan. I think voting for him is both better for the average American AND better for the country. It might mean less profit for big pharma and big corporations. But they can handle it.
I agree with Suzanne about voting against my financial interests a lot. The following are not my opinions. (1) I have heard the argument from Republicans I know not to be fooled by the taxing over $400,000. That the rich got rich by being smart and because they are rich they can afford professionals to find ways that they hardly pay any of those taxes. So taxing the rich equates to the rich avoiding paying those taxes by legal means. Then the taxing trickles down. That there is no way our taxes won't be raised (2) They are all for equality for every human but not for giving away things for free. Lots of older families of immigrants who came in the "right way" (usually through Ellis Island) and established themselves here through the "right processes" and worked hard with the proper identification and learned english. They seem very afraid of losing things or "giving away" things they and their ancestors worked so hard to get. They believe that millions of people want to live here for a reason and that we shouldn't just establish free programs and benefits and that those benefits take away from their family. (3) Most strongly dislike Trump but just feel he is the buffoon figurehead and really not the one to watch. They just vote red down the line. (4) Lots of red voters at the higher levels vote both red and blue at the local government levels such as for local common pleas Judges and city reps.
If the Dems get the Senate, they can close those tax loopholes that those “smart” Republicans find to cheat our country. I don’t buy that. I am going to trust Biden and Harris and the Democratic leadership to rebalance our nation’s wealth. And if that sounds scary to some people, I want you to imagine being black, having grown up perhaps in a family whose ancestor fought in WWII but didn’t get any of the benefits of the GI Bill. No college aid, no business loans, no mortgage if you’re black. So now those ancestors have to rent. And they have nothing to pass down to the next generation. And they stay living in poorer neighborhoods with schools with fewer resources. And now, in this generation, you’re a single mom with three beautiful black sons. And you work three jobs because you didn’t make it to college. And your mom lives with you. And you are renting way over on the east side where you can afford it and the building owner will accept your application. So your children have long commutes to school and you have a long commute to work. And you’re barely making it. And the haves are making billions during the pandemic while you and your family members and friends slip into poverty along with 8 million other Americans.
I am a socialist and proud of that. No one NEEDs a billion dollars. That’s ridiculous. And it is not the Way of Beauty. It is a sickness called greed.
Appalachia's grievances are real...WV's been a waste dump site for coal mining and then for hauled in out-of-state fracking. It's been considered and treated as a throw-away state ravaged by extraction industries that benefited out-of-state owners. These grievances are what the polls got wrong in 2016 when VW went for Trump hoping for a change. "West Virginia's surprising boom, and bust, tells the story of Trump's promise to help the 'forgotten man.' Under Trump, the once-neglected Ohio Valley boomed, until this year."
I've been wondering for a while now why W VA couldn't be a prime state to develop 21st-century energy resources to give job-displaced coal workers there a leg up that HAS legs. It would have to start with beefing up the educational system, resources, and opportunities. Most people, I think, would appreciate a hand up when they're down. Give the state some SMART attention.
They are a proud people. They don't want government handouts. It fries them that others get ahead of them in line for opportunity. The toll on the people is horrendous: obesity, diabetes, opioids, suicides, a lost generation of youth to autism (?)making many fearful of vaccinations, poverty. Check out the movie "The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia."The Whites game the system they're trapped in which is rigged vs them. Billboards advertizing dialysis! Mountain-top removal spewing micro fine particles into the air that you don't want to breathe. Regulatory agencies to protect the water, environment look the other way. Permits granted to polluting businesses. Storage tanks and leach fields leaking toxics. Life expectancy along the Kanawa River valley lower than average. I hold my breath driving along county rd 60 past Dow plant in Belle (!) spewing flames and god know what and ore processing plants between Charleston to Fayetteville. Some of this is anecdotal from living there on and off (2012-2016) and hearing about/seeing what goes on. Other is published public record.Yet they are sensitive to others coming in telling them how to lead their lives, which doesn't help them. Locals are wary of strangers...are not kin. Kinship is HUGE. It's a beautiful state most from farther west drive right through to get to the east coast beaches. There are great outdoor recreational efforts like rafting down the New River, rock climbing, hiking,biking, etc. that depend on tourisim, not helped by the pandemic. Other forms of energy doable but fought by coal mining interests. WVirginians are famous for their strikes vs unjust managerial efforts to break unions...miners, teachers. The list goes on. Corruption is huge. Stunning.
Where can I see this movie--on Netflix or Amazon? The people in West Virginia have such untapped potential, and they've been neglected for far too long. It isn't a matter of telling them how to live but of opening up possibilities for them to grab when they see viable alternatives. And what benefits them helps us all.
We don't really know what Trump supporters are. If we did, we could have voted Biden in with a landslide. Very good, intelligent, hardworking, decent people voted for Trump. Why a deceitful, evil, gaslighting narcssist could win means our COUNTRY is losing. For insights, I think back on my lobbying days, trying to convince Michigan Governor Granholm (a Democrat) and her staff, to stop saying every student must go to college (to become techies) to save our failng auto-based economy. They denigrated probably half our population who are gifted in mechanical and construction and other trades, along with many front-line service workers. I love Obama, but he did the same thing. The problem is those critical jobs should be paying decent wages, with full healthcare coverage (whether with other benefits or Medicare-for-all-who-want-it), and with RESPECT.
MaryPat, sorry for the rant coming up! Its not at you - I completely agree that jobs that ARE just that critical should received good wages - healthcare etc. and above all Respect.
My dad had his own plumbing & heating business - he was able to repair/fix pretty much anything he set his mind to. My ex-husband was the same way - and I'm proud to say my son has the same abilities. It frosts me a lot to hear ANYONE look down their nose at someone just because they arent college-educated or because - heavens above - they get their hands dirty! I worked at a construction company for 29 years (in the office) and our carpenters and laborers were union & DID get paid well & have good benefits and the last years I worked there there were more & more women hired for the same jobs. Which frankly was a long time coming.
“Very good, intelligent, hardworking, decent people voted for Trump.” RESOUNDINGLY NO!
Very good, decent ppl would not vote for a misogynist who admits to assaulting women. Very good, decent ppl would not vote for a bully and stochastic terrorist who incites his cult following to attack ppl. His “very good ppl on both sides” were the white supremacists and neo-Nazi’s who have killed a peaceful protestor. Intelligent ppl would see thru and object to his blatant, unfounded lies & conspiracy theories. There are NO “very good, decent” Nazis, Klansmen, Racists or tRump supporters.
Rob, I'd have to disagree, or at least qualify your statement. When I lived in Germany in 1967-1968, I found two curiosities: one, every German of military age I talked to had been on the Eastern front; and two, all the Germans I met knew pretty clearly what was going on, were not supportive of the Nazis (or so they said), and felt powerless to do anything about the direction their country was taking. These were otherwise decent people who weren't ready to storm the barricades. Before we cast aspersions, maybe we should ask what we would be prepared to do had Trump prevailed.
Did they volunteer to be Nazi soldiers or were the drafted? Some ppl volunteered to fight in Vietnam, a lot were drafted. All of us were kids, brainwashed by ideas of patriotism and chosen by “our friends & neighbors.” Some well off ppl shirked that patriotic responsibility by getting doctors to fake medical problems for deferment. Others had to expatriate to more civilized nations. I chose the Air Force and was smart enuf to work in an office doing NSA cold war stuff.
However, ppl who chose the Repugnant Party and willfully supported a mentally defective wannabe despot with a despicable history of racism, sexism, and disgusting behavior, have no excuse and take on the same unforgiveable disgrace.
Our personal experience with relatives and friends that went hard core tRump this election wasn't as much about lack of truth and knowledge but the lack of effort to search out the truth and knowledge. Was much easier to just click and share the misinformation vitriol and watch others squirm because if it. Think back to another’s post from another of Heather’s letters that explained the “Trump2020” mantra. Just the pleasure in hating on those who didn't wave the same flag. I got disgusted with who I felt had the wherewithal to do the research, just didn't want to take the time to do it. It was much more meaningful to them that they were shoving their loyalty to tRump down people’s throats. I deleted FB. My partner did not. He somehow felt if he kept fact checking one of them would enter into a more meaningful debate. Nope, he was called some derogatory things and labeled antifa. Based in the definition of ignorance, it is an apt description.
This is my thought exactly. Given a "regular" Republican candidate I believe they could win handily in 2024. I believe they would have won both the popular vote and the electoral in 2016 if their candidate hadn't been Trump.
I think this is both because the Democrats don't have a big enough reliable base and because FOX News does a good job of rallying the right to the Republicans.
I agree with you Suzanne, and I agree with Steven. This victory was just as close as it looked. The conservative “minority“ could easily take the 2024 election. For as long as I’ve been voting, since 1980, it’s been back-and-forth. The pendulum swings back-and-forth. Eight years of Reagan, surprisingly four years of HW Bush, but then Clinton seesaws back to Bush Jr. swings back to Obama swings back to Trump reverses to Biden-Harris. Even if Biden gets a second term, any betting agency is going to give odds favoring a Republican after Biden. Diminishing or discounting the Republicans and the conservatives as a so-called minority is a mistaken analysis. There’s a damn good reason we’ve had Ronald Reagan, Bush Senior, Bush Junior, and Trump. I disagree emphatically with anyone who says Trump was an illegitimate president. He was not. He spoke for close to half the country. Think about that. He broke a record this past week. He has more votes than any prior US president in history. Only Joe Biden has surpassed him in votes. Do you think the Republicans are just going away because they narrowly lost one close election? What delusion.
Watch out for Tom Cotton, Mario Rubio, Josh Hawley, etc. They are young, attractive candidates with very strong "right wing" views. They could make a very strong race against an 81 year old Biden (if he chooses to run again). Can you name any Democrat who could compete effectively? At this point, if I were a betting man, I would have to put my money on red.
Roland, thank you for sharing your background so that we get where you are coming from. Can you share any insight to what "those" Republicans want from government? I live semi rural in Eastern WA. That means I'm on 10 acres about 30 minutes from the 2nd largest city in the state. I'm surrounded by trump backers & all I can tell is they want to keep their guns ( & out here you need them for the coyotes) & they don't want to wear masks to prevent covid 19. I hope there is more, but I'm not hearing that. And I'm amazed that people move out here & THEN ask about the internet....especially when they need it for work. (It's mostly satellite with pockets of CenturyLink & Comcast....generally not high speed).
This past Saturday morning on many different forums it felt like Mitt Romney was already throwing his hat in the ring for 2024. He was everywhere straddling the line.
Steven, I absolutely agree with you. With the gerrymandering for House seats and the fact that land = senate seats, I'm not sure we ever have a democratic majority in either legislative branch again. If you couple that with vast majorities of conservatives in state legislatures and federal courts, I think Biden may also be our last Dem president for awhile. I hardly slept last night after reading the vitriol spewing from conservative "friends" on FB over the weekend. This is far from over, and it's not a large leap back to Trumpism in the next election. I've even heard that Tucker Carlson may decide to run.
All of my conservative "friends" disappeared from FB over the weekend. Not a peep after Saturday morning. Me thinks they all went over to the right wing parler app -which the Democrats need to keep an eye on. Places like that are where you will hear what they are thinking or what is being stirred up. I don't want to look myself. Someone else do it.....
Is anyone else out there concerned about the Nov 7th NPR story of Trump “quietly” firing the leaders of three agencies; those overseeing nuclear security, electricity, and natural gas regulation?
I’m reminded of Mary Trump’s prediction that if he loses, he’ll take us down with him.
My wife has been a Biden backer since way before he announced he was running. She sent him a donation today to defend the attacks on the election results. I have no doubt that DJT will do anything he can to cling to the presidency, including fomenting armed insurrection. His 70 million minions still yearn for him to do so. These are perilous times! As Churchill said, "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." We must still be vigilant, and continue to fight for our democracy!
Morning, all!! Again, many thanks, Dr. R, for this latest Letter. Seems the honeymoon was a short one. Time to regroup, hunker down, for what's to come.
What was it that FDR said in his inaugural speech of 1933? "So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is...fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."
As a nation, for the past 4 years, a great majority of us have been terrorized by one inconsequential, uneducated, narcissistic, and bigoted man and his henchmen -- and women -- who thought he had us cornered. But, on Saturday, we breathed a sigh of relief. It was as though the weight of the world was lifted from our shoulders! I, for one, fell asleep for 3 solid hours after quickly rejoicing with friends over the phone.
We fought through and survived four years of pain, anguish, and abuse by this administration. Surely, despite the fear tactics they are and will be using, we shall overcome these barriers, too! Of course, we must be prepared and alerted to all their cheap and underhanded methods of cheating their way into power, but I am determined to stand up to them and their unstable leader. I refuse to be paralysed by their threats -- I can take another 71 or 2 days of our fight for democracy, justice, and decency! Together, we can continue to confront the "nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." We've come so far in defeating this fascist regime -- we can continue until its demise on 20th Jan., 2021. All their barriers will be for naught, right?!
On Sunday, I wrote to my senator, Senator Pat Toomey, via CAUSES, to tell him what I thought about his Friday CBS THIS MORNING interview:
Senator Toomey - you really showed your true colors on Friday on CBS This Morning, trying to disqualify mail-in-ballots as NOT LEGAL BALLOTS. You KNEW ballots received after Nov 3rd were never in the count. You KNEW the rules about poll watchers, and when Republicans cried about the distance, you KNEW they ruled in your favor when you complained about a lack of transparency. And there is no such thing as an illegal ruling by the PA Supreme Court; you can argue an incorrect ruling, but the PASC is not a criminal cabal. I am gobsmacked that you threw so much shade on a democratic process that put YOU in your Senate seat. SHAME ON YOU!
Ooooh...the same process that put HIM in office! Good point! 👍
Fabulous letter!
Thanks!
I was hoping I could stop writing this after Biden's win, but the evidence is clear: The two enemies of Trump and the Republican Party are truth and democracy. That's why lying and voter suppression are really their only two campaign strategies. Their continued actions in the face of their loss only further prove this.
The saddest part of all is that the Rs are very active using fakery to divide this country. They are pitting family members against each other; they are exacerbating the feeling of isolation from the pandemic; and they are adding imaginary fears on top of real fears brought by the pandemic.
I just had a college acquaintance post her Q-Anon manifesto on her FB page. I can tell she didn’t write it. It says 2 major things - THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL POST and I AM NOT GOING TO DEBATE ANYBODY ON THIS, and after that was truths scattered with Q-Anon fiction.
When I read yesterday that the GSA won’t provide the Biden team with information they have a right to receive and that they need to do their job I was absolutely furious. Pissing and whining about a supposedly “stolen” election is one thing but active obstruction is a whole different ball game. The Biden team needs to do whatever they can to force these idiots to do what they are supposed to, be it lawsuits or whatever is within their legal power to do. This is an absolute outrage against America and cannot be permitted. Let little donnie play all the golf he wants. The real adults have a country to run.
Agree. That pissed me off too. This is what happens when a wannabe dictator puts his loyalists in positions of power and gets rid of everyone else.
The idea of Trump holding rallies fills me with dread.
He may have some motivation to use them as fundraising events for his attempt to undo the outcome of the election in the courts, but they are just as likely to drift perilously close to inciting his true believers to settle scores for him in the streets. He would, as is his wont, deny any responsibility if violence followed directly from his rallies.
I hope that cooler heads prevail and he is dissuaded from holding rallies, and I hope against hope, that no violence results should he not listen to reason. Senator Graham and those like him who are encouraging the President in his mad folly to reverse the will of the people, deserve all the public scorn that can be directed toward them. The fact that Graham was reelected is one of the biggest disappointments of this election.
Lindsey's re-election is, indeed, the biggest disappointment of this cycle. He's demonstrated himself to be beneath the dignity of elected office. Such a fraud of a man, both politically as well as personally.
I spoke with a voter from SC this weekend who split their ticket- for Biden and Graham. I think that may have happened in a number of cases where people realized Trump was a fraud but were afraid to give the Democrats unbridled power in Congress.
Senators are such powerful people. I think voters are loathe to give up that source of power for their state when they have high ranking senators. Even when they are absolutely horrible people.
That probably has something to do with their decision, but in Jaime Harrison's case, he is very connected in Washington and was state Chair of the Democratic party ... The vote for Graham was, IMO, about striking some kind of imagined balance. It infuriates me to think that Graham represents balance of any kind, but I really do think many voters bought the Biden=Socialism=Communism garbage. Boggles the mind ...
South Carolina was always going to be rough for Jaime. Democrat. Black. Against a ranking Senator. And yes, the ridiculous socialist, commie narrative. That Jaime Harrison is one tough guy.
You're right - SC politics is hardball! But I've got to say, there are some really wonderful people there - including members of my own family.
I agree. the socialism communism thing is strong and I realize always has been after reading HCR's books. How do we help people understand that the very things they are fighting against would benefit them?
I think any stated “fear of socialism” in South Carolina is a euphemism for “I can’t vote for a Black person.” I wish I were wrong. It will change, and soon. It just wasn’t soon enough for this election.
I believe there is a lot to this as well RD. From my point of view it’s another point of evidence of their cowardice, just like I believe it was cowardice that swayed Polls. Hold your nose, close your eyes, and lie.
I agree, only McConnell is worse.
I find it interesting that Democrats are disappointed and shocked about Grahams and McConnells re-election and no one is siting election fraud in those instances. This whole thing is just so insane.
There is simply no reason to doubt the vote totals in either of those elections. McGrath was never that strong a candidate. Lindsay definitely benefited from voter suppression efforts but it's impossible to say by how much.
I have wondered. I wonder if their silence about the national election is partly due to fear we might look more closely at theirs. They are so hypocritical and icky, I just don’t get their appeal to anyone.
Having cut my political teeth in SC, I am confident there would have been a major stink if the Democratic party suspected fraud.
*citing
His motivation is definately to rile up his followers to violence, and, I suspect, to spread COVID even farther. There should be a law against campaigning once voting begins.
What We Know:
(1) Donald Trump received more votes than any president in US history. Only the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris ticket received more votes.
(2) The election system works. Even an autocrat is unable to tamper with it effectively.
Autocrats are not welcome in America. This election cycle saw an unprecedented turnout of Republicans, including at least seven professional campaign organizations (Lincoln Project, Rep. Voters Against Trump, 43 Alumni for Biden, et al), actively and sometimes viciously fighting against their own party’s candidate.
Face it people, we narrowly averted reelecting our own Mussolini, our own Hitler imitator.
Even so, this guy broke all kinds of records for votes cast in his favor. This man was a legitimate president. Quibbling about whether or not he won more popular votes in 2016, quibbling about our antiquated electoral college system, misses the point. The point of a democracy is that the elected leaders represent The electorate. This man got more votes than any president in history. He IS the voice of that electorate. That electorate probably constitutes close to half the country. We have a total of 340 million people, and probably 150 to 160,000,000 of them are Trumpsters, conservatives, people who don’t recognize their unconscious bias, people who choose a men-first whites-first straights-first social model because It feels comfortable and familiar to them. If you think these people are just going to change overnight, or even in four years, you are sadly deluded.
And I do not care if I get a single “like.“ I’m not here to get your approval. I am 62 years old and I have lived for my entire life with a father who grew up in Nazi Germany and he has never changed. Slightly, barely, but essentially, no. I am a truck driver. I will caveat that by saying I’m also an Eagle Scout, top of my class in high school, Engineering degree, pilots license, more jobs than I can count in more industries that I can remember. So I’m not just a truck driving schmuck.
What I posted above are facts. That is the reality. We are a divided country. My father who never really outgrew his Nazi social upbringing in Germany, and all the truck drivers and warehouse workers that I meet who are Trumpsters, they are not just going to disappear or convert. I haven’t seen it happen yet, why would it happen now. These people live in a different universe, the universe I would classify as the social model of the past, and they just don’t want to change.
One more thing. If you haven’t noticed, they ADORE Trump. It is astonishing the level of reverence and adoration I have witnessed. The comparisons to Nazi Germany and Hitler are reasonable, substantive, and logical. I’m sorry I’m being very defiant this morning because I’m reading a lot of baloney and deluded silliness. If you seen the adoration that I’ve seen, if you’ve seen the obstinate refusal to join the progressive side, you would understand my defiance.
So we work with people who can change. The young. The new to America. The non-English speaking. The economically depressed. Hard work, everyday, here on out.
And, we also must practice setting aside being aghast at the seeming impossibility that's actually the reality that millions love Trump. Roland's experience is they "adore" Agent Chaos. Suspend your critic for a moment, and get curious about what's going on inside these people. And, consider that in the context of our collective experience of governance over the past 50 years. Exxon, BP, Katrina, invasion of sovereign Iraq based on lies, Flint people poisoned and the governor uncharged, children in cages mothers sterilized, 2008 Wall Street crash-culprits not charged-1000's of people hurt- the people pay the bill, Obamacare instead of Medicare for All, nonaction on climate catastrophe (potential job source), Opiod Crisis, U.S. jobs outsourced in 2016 1,457,000 Total number of U.S. jobs outsourced in 2015 2,382,000, stratospheric wealth gap, USA-"not" a Democracy(Gilens & Page research)- "is" an inverted totalitarian state (Wollin) - in summation:“economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy,” while average citizens “have little or no independent influence.” When did the USA government demonstrate creative, authentic, meaningful responses to the needs of the people and environment? On the Big Business-governmental level, who has ever been held accountable for the damage they did? On the street level, who is held accountable for crimes? What lessons might the People take from these experiences? The more and keener our understanding, the more portals for required "right action" are opened.
Thank you.
I have been thinking the same things, Roland. That nearly half the country voted for this regime after living through the the past 4 years is beyond frightening. I have seen the devotion - I have a lot of friends who passionately believe in this regime. I’ve known them for decades and it threw me into a personal crisis when he was elected and they all suddenly felt free to speak their minds. I couldn’t understand how so many people that I thought I knew so well could support him. Over 4 years they have only become MORE supportive of him and they are all now spewing the same nonsense about a “stolen” election. There is no “listening to reason”. They will not listen. Period. They have made up their minds and that’s it. So, I don’t argue with them. But I listen to them. We are ALL Americans. How do we come back together? I don’t know the answer to that but I do know that we have a brutal uphill battle ahead of us and all the ‘kumbaya’ in the world won’t change that.
My take on this is that the veneer of civilization is very thin and always has been. We may have wonderful technology (which is more invasive and lethal), but we are still the same mammals that fell out of trees or walked out of the cave. I read a lot of history and I see the same play all the time. The elite manage to saddle ordinary people with all sorts of burdens while they swain around as the entitled. All major religions have a component which addresses this imbalance in the hopes of getting those in power to behave better. It has not really worked very well. For those who follow death star donny, he has given them carte blanche to be un PC to put it simply. And they love that. It is also something that I call the class clown mentality where someone sticks a finger into authority. Then we have the religious who would rather see the country go down in flames as long as abortion is illegal and same sex marriage doesn't exist. Some of them expect the end times which may actually happen, but not in the way they expect. I had one person on FB post a meme blaming the CA fires on atheists. We in Oregon were also suffering though destroyed homes and red smoke filled skies, so I politely let her have it and reminded her that a lot of the people who lost their homes and businesses here in Oregon were Rs just like her. She backtracked, but i think she meant that post exactly as it seemed. Then there are the progressives who want everything their way right now. It isn't going to happen because in our system progress is very slow and requires a long game, patience, constant vigilance and a willingness to compromise. Right now we have a lot of people at both extreme ends and that makes our system difficult to run. I also hope we can get through the next couple months without death star burning everything he can to the ground.
Keren, I am replying to you and Jen: As I'm sure you have noted, by 2040, based on current demographics, 70% of the Senate will represent 30% of the population. This 30% will obviously be overwhelmingly Republican; states like California and New York which are overwhelmingly Blue and represent 15% of the population of the USA, will diminish dramatically in importance in future elections and appointments to Judicial, Ambassadorial, Cabinet posts, etc. It will also impact the Electoral College. I recommend you consider moving to Canada.
I’m not sure I understand your implication, Steven.
Karen (apologies for the typo on your name before), as noted by some others, when you combine the gerrymandering and the implications of the SCOTUS vote against the Voting Rights Act with the fact that a minority of the population will actually control the majority of the Senate...and this minority is rural, conservative and Republican, the implication should be clear. It was already demonstrated in this election that the progressive wing, led by "the squad" may have some excellent ideas, but they don't have the votes and the trend is against them. You must expect that - unless trends change - the USA will continue to move to the right.
Roland, what you write is genuinely frightening, but historically the masses have always been attracted to a demagogue who spouts the words they want to hear:
"I will make your lives better by removing all those terrible people who are preventing you from doing so"...be they Mexicans, Jews, Muslims, or whatever.
You related Trump to Mussolini and Hitler and the link is apt...it is an omen for 2024.
Thank you for being the voice we need to hear. You’ve gotten your super-power legitimately, thru family experience w the dark side. Your words mean a lot to me.
I understand what you are saying. I do believe that part of it is clinging to the past. However, part of it is taking the lid off racism and other ugliness which may be a form of clinging to the past where being a white heterosexual male was all someone needed. Some of it is religious issues like abortion. And yes, they live in a different universe and inhabit only Fox and far right internet sites. If they have absolutely no argument, it's fake news. I see some people trying to bridge the rural urban gap here in Oregon. But the person I have in mind wants to burn bridges with "establishment" Ds and get in their faces. Politics has always been the art of the possible and to succeed in our system, some compromise is necessary. What I see often now is two extremes.
To Michelle I wish we all could read THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS so we could begin to understand the depth of the need to address racism in our country. It’s hard to read, to hear of the continuing personal affronts, of physical attacks, of financial Tricks on black and brown Americans. Black LIVES MATTER is a necessary reminder. And it is still happening far too often
I understand that need. I hope that change will come sooner rather than later. Right now here in Oregon the legislature has allocated a large pot of money to black areas and black businesses. It may be federal money; I would have to check. Nonetheless, it is going to the black community. Of course, a timber company in northeast Oregon has filed a lawsuit complaining that they should be able to compete for this money. The people doing this have a history of creating problems for various programs that do not benefit them. I grew up in Indiana and I am well aware of the racism that exists. In my home county for a long time black people only lived south of the railroad tracks in Elkhart. They could not stay in the county seat overnight. My spouse has Sioux ancestry and we are in contact with many of his relatives. I read Lakota America and I am still furious. As for my own background, I spent three and half years studying and in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone, so I have that perspective. In my graduate course in 19th century history, in addition to the four or five books assigned, I had to read five each term....so I read about slavery. 14 extra books. I have continued to read about that. I recommend Saving Savannah about that city before, during, and after the Civil War and how the plantation owners operated to make things difficult for black people, even after the war. I also recommend The New Jim Crow which shows how the war on drugs was really a war on black people. As for the person, I was talking about, she is local and kvetching about the Marion County Ds. I know many of them and many have spent their lifetimes seeking justice and a better place for all. They include POC and at least one Jewish person who lost family in the Holocaust. I have taken on anyone who wants to pretend that we are not a racist society.
I don't dispute your observations. My life background is quite different from yours but I also see the blind adoration that many seem to feel toward trump. Do you have any ideas how to introduce a different reality to these folks, any way to get them to see the dangers of an autocratic government? Or do we just have to wait for this generation to die off and hope they haven't completely indoctrinated their offspring? (I don't pose that question callously, just realistically.)
I have been uniquely forced into the position of facing it constantly with my own father, and he is incorrigible.
He has gleaned a lot from me, seeing unconscious racism and sexism, but despite superficial changes in behavior in order not to embarrass himself socially, nothing sways him from his convictions. Mitt Romney was his choice a few elections back, and that was his favorite candidate ever. He respects and admires anyone who is rich and who came their on their own, and no one else makes it on the list. Nothing will ever dent that. A rich white man, self-made, is the cat's meow, the be-all and end-all, and a close second is any other rich self-made person.
Of course he is just one person with a particular individual make-up, by no means does he represent all 150m or so Republicans/conservatives in America. But he is a typical member of the clan.
I just love him, I engage with him as much as I can on all the political and social subjects, and of course I model my side of it by being myself. Germans are very political animals, and he is quite representative in that way. He loves discussing political and social issues of any kind, he loves being challenged, but even after years and years, he rarely budges much. He is obstinately Republican, he obsitnately favors rich people, particularly white straight men. And he has voted Republican his entire life, that's his clan, that's where he feels at home.
Fundamental change is non-existent. The basic values from 1930s Germany, although no longer spoken aloud anymore, nevertheless have never faded away. It's all still there.
Thank you for your thoughtful response. Change is hard for all of us but perhaps more so for people who feel less secure in themselves. I have a sister who refuses to engage in any conversation that approaches political or social justice issues and I know she votes for the Republicans. She is educated but doesn't use critical thinking skills - relies more on emotion and finance to make her choices. And religion in some kind of way that I absolutely do not understand. I try to be kind and accepting but I am not able to just not talk about issues that are meaningful to me. I am at the point of realizing we will never be able to really feel close.
I am not the 'sharpest tool in the shed', if fact rather dim-witted at times! I'm glad you commented, gives me lots to think about and very much appreciated
Thank you for your honesty and vulnerability. The fact that you are here, in this forum, shows you are much sharper than you give yourself credit for. You are soaking it up from the right sources. The real blockheads, the real dummies, are the ones who cannot see past the image, the fake veneer, they can't see beneath the surface. You are doing a magnificent job of taking in solid information. Congratulations!!
Keep reporting on West VA. We need your input about the people, industry and politics. For me, 'a coastal mid-Atlantic liberal Democrat', it is helpful to have a 'boots on the ground' resource. And for some reason, on a personal level, reason unknown, my ashes are ending up in west VA! My NJ family are flummoxed, but have promised to get me back there at the appropriate time. 'West VA, mountain mama(?), Take me home...
I am not deluded, I just think that we can change a new generation through education, etc. Of course, nothing changes overnight, but we can continue to stand tall and strong to fight for a democratic government of the people, by the people, and for the people. That hope stands paramount in my heart and soul.
Yes of course! I’m completely with you. But I’m now 62 and I was thinking the same thing 40 years ago. California has advanced, no question about it. But the nation still has this unbelievable population of diehards. And now they’re not electing Ronald Reagan and the two Bushes, they’re going for a mobster, Russia mafia front man, sex criminal who should by all rights being a registered sex offender, financial criminal, tax evader, and the list goes on. Wow. There is a subset of America, my father being one of them, the coworkers I mentioned being a different variety, who are absolutely immune to education and change.
Yes, of course, the over 50s will not change, but our youth can and do through education. I see it everyday in my classes.
Let me be clear that you are speaking for me when you say "we can continue to stand tall and strong to fight for a democratic government of the people, by the people, and for the people. That hope stands paramount in my heart and soul." Straight out of my heart. I don't know how you just got 6 "likes," you should have dozens and dozens for those words of beauty.
Thank you! Your words are sufficient!
I agree Roland. These people are not going to go away, especially if Trump continues to hold rallies and engage them through the various media outlets. I also agree that we narrowly averted losing our democracy to a dictator. These people have probably always been out there but Trump has emboldened them. However, the big question is what do we do about it?
Support education of civics, critical thinking skills, and empathy, along with reinstatement of a broader Fairness Doctrine that includes social media.
“The real alternative is to strengthen our ability to govern ourselves well by supporting the kinds of schools and jobs that train us in the habits of citizenship, by creating the background conditions in which we can solve more problems in our families and communities, and by reforming electoral systems and legislative procedures to strengthen the incentives for politicians to move beyond demagoguery.”
Bryan Garsten, “How to Protect America From the Next Donald Trump”
NY Times 11/09/2020
https://twitter.com/ellie_kona/status/1325895986573570048?s=21
One thing: engage and listen
Yes, absolutely. Just be yourself. Respectful and considerate, always respectful, and also loving, but also clear in your values and conviction.
Love them. Talk to them. Be yourself with them, in the most loving way possible, but also honestly. I am calm and self-assured, but also emphatic and Italian-esque and passionate, it varies. But always respectful, and always loving, because we are all One, even if it doesn't look that way.
Pray, hope, and dream of unity. I do not have the answer. I am unable to get through to them with my values, neither my dad nor the others. So I just be myself. Just like here in this Comments forum, I say it like I see it. For my honesty, and for my lovingness, they love me back, they respect me, some of them even admire me, but at core they remain part of that clan, that "cult" as you call it, aptly.
"Donald Trump received more votes than any president in US history."
There are also many more US citizens than any time in US history. So...not that big a deal, if you ask me.
It's not the numbers, it's the percentage.
Thanks for your insight.
My immediate reaction to DJT’s rallies in 2015-2016 was, ‘This in Europe in the ‘30s’. His behavior as president has only reinforced that thought.
Excellent and timely insight. It took me longer, even though Europe in the 1930s is part of my family heritage. Plus his paternal grandparents are from Kallstadt, Germany, so now I feel even more strongly about the personal connection.
The fact that he received so many votes is terrifying, and even worse some of my family members voted for him. At this point they are so brain washed it is impossible to talk to them about their reasons for voting for Trump. It feels like they have joined a cult.
Yes. My father acts like a member of a cult. Same with the Trumpsters I know from work. They are just mesmerized with him. It's so similar to Mussolini and Hitler, you have no idea.
Roland, I think that you are correct that we have an incredibly divided country. What scares me is that Republicans are willing to tear down our system b/c this election they didn’t win. It is just immoral.
Were the votes adjusted for inflation? I paid more for a gallon of milk this week than at any time in history.
No I did not adjust for population growth. Good point. But numbers are numbers. Just under half the country is conservative, old world, Republican, Trump supporters, whatever convenient label you want to use. These are real people and call them whatever you like, they are a force. They are a reality.
Help me with my history, Roland. Why would trump be so appealing to average Germans after their horrible history with Hitler?
I’m saying the Germans under Hitler are eminently comparable to Trumpsters under Trump in this way: they share the same levels of devotion, adoration, and zeal. Off the charts in some cases. There is one enormous difference between Trump and Hitler, but their devotees, their followers, are interchangeable. Obviously not every Trumpster is a rabidly crazy fan of Trump. But if you look at the devotion of the Germans in 1930s for Hitler, and the devotion for Trump in 2020, wow they’re similar. The support of the core, the base, is incredibly solid.
The huge difference between Hitler and Trump is this: Hitler delivered on his promises. The German nation was in severe deprivation, a Great Depression, and Hitler was the German FDR. The autobahns, which incidentally inspired Eisenhower to build the American interstate highway system. The Volkswagen Beetle, Hitler’s conception, a car for the average common folks, the folks wagon. He created jobs, he brought the country out of starvation and the cold, literally, and plenty more. So the Germans fell in love with Hitler because he changed that economy the way FDR changed ours. Trump hasn’t done squat for the average American, so that is why I called him a Mussolini or Hitler imitator. He’s a fraud, a con man. But Trumpsters don’t see that that. They adore him.
Thanks. I agree with your assessment above. Germany was in a dire position after WWI, and the Versailles treaty added to their humiliation. I also agree the level of devotion in the devotees of both looks very similar. I guess the trumpsters’ adoration is based on their PERCEIVED situation rather than their actual one.
I am a big fan of Michael Steele but I wasn’t always. He is very bright, funny, but reasonable and he realizes the present GOP is off the charts. The begging of money for Fake 45’s defense is almost laughable except we know his base will dutifully fund him. Are they all under some spell? The fact that the GSA will not allow Biden and his staff members to have access is illegal, is it not? My guess is that they are destroying important documents. Maybe all of F45’s Dick and Jane books.
So they want a recount? Okay, let Fake 45, Rudy, and the rest of the heathens sit at those tables and count those votes themselves. We will have Nancy, Schiff, Swalwell, and Klobuchar watch them do it! Should take them oh...about a week or so to complete their so-called investigation.
Well, we had one day to celebrate. The King of Distractions along with his pool of ass-lickers, have done it again. I am clinching my teeth to where they are singing “Let me go!”. Praying that the Biden campaign had worked out this scenario in advance and that they have a plan.
Vote counters were teams of Ds and Rs BOTH. They always are. In my little county, by law, a D and R must sign the vote totals, the mid-day counts, etc., etc. I accompanied my election official downtown after we closed the polls and packed up equipment to deliver stuff back to the election commission. If a scanner/counter malfunctions during the day, TWO people respond at the same time, one D and one R. The good people who sat there and did the hard work of processing the mail in ballots should speak up LOUDLY.
Here in Oregon where we vote by mail, we had to go to two people because a R election worker decided to fill in spots which voters had left blank. She was caught and did not seem to understand that what she did was wrong. Now it's two people and I am assuming, one D and one R. We have mail in elections here for 20 or so years with few problems. Many people I know, including us, carried our ballots to a drop box site instead of mailing them because of the P.O. which I do hope we can get fixed.
If she genuinely didn't know what she did wrong, she's too dumb to be a worker.
So two questions. If everyone who voted for Biden sent him just one dollar more today, (and maybe another dollar or two to the Georgia senators in the runoff), could that money be used to set up his transition team? And, could the rest of it be used to sue the Trump Admin for refusing to let the GSA do its job?
Exactly! My very small grassroots donation plan is to (1) Vote Save America for a split between the 2 candidates and (2) BidenHarris for whatever they need. BH has raised M’s - but I imagine legal challenges are costly! But, honestly-office space? In the Covid Era? What do you think...first Prez transition in history on Zoom? ❤️🤍💙
There are things that give me hope in our terrible situation. On 60 minutes last night, a very earnest republican who heads up the Pennsylvania elections testified effectively for the correctness of the process. I think that testimony can and will be repeated by all the states. In Sarasota county FL, where I live, I am impressed by the running of the government by officials and their professionalism. I will put my faith in these officials to do the correct thing when called to testify.
Current republicans study demographics just like other politicians. They know that unless they change their stance on social issues such as gay rights, women’s rights, equal and affordable health care for all, an end to voter suppression, equal education in public schools, fair taxes to pay for good government at all levels, and clear separation of religious beliefs from civil law, there is no hope for them to win elections after 2024. If I fail to make the case, ask your grandchildren.
There are such Republicans. The GOP mainstream calls them "Rhinos." Quietly, they may even occasionally vote Democratic. There aren't many, if any, in Congress. In dealing with people with whom you disagree, think of them as opponents or adversaries but never as enemies, a practice of the departing administration, and still, today, of too many Republicans.
While a Fifth Column is useful in war, I still contend that there are no "Good Republicans." As I said years ago when this became the Repugnant Party, "THE ONLY GOOD REPUBLICAN IS A DEAD REPUBLICAN!" Of course I refer to Dwight Eisenhower, the only decent Republican in my lifetime.
Those "good ppl" who can no longer countenance the disgusting actions of the current Repugnant Party, should vociferously leave it and become non-affiliated or form a "Lincoln Party." That would get the attention of the party. If they stay they should be smeared with the same shit and disdain the Repugnant Party deserves.
Not a solution! Even if half of the 70,000,000 leave the GOP and form a third party, we still have to deal with 35,000,000 who believe the crap with which Trump, Fox, Sinclair, Breitbart, and now, OAN, have been, and are continuing to poison them. If they want to start a Civil War (or continue the original one), that might help because then they all would clearly be committing treason. But that won't happen. We must defeat them in the courts. We are a nation of laws, even for them.
I've always kind of had the pipe dream that BOTH Democrat and Republican parties could have splits within their parties: Democrats with a far left party, and Republicans with a far right party. It'd be interesting to then see how the resulting 4 parties would fare with a voting populace. The centre right and left is still that great source of the majority of votes in this country, but there were be a lot of compromising and coalition-ing going on. It'll never happen, of course, because neither of the current parties dares to go there out of fear of its split benefiting the opposition. For many years of my life I lived in a country with more than a dozen political parties and it was always interesting to note how they would then form coalitions ON SPECIFIC ISSUES. The parties weren't trying to represent all things to all people. It's an interesting concept of governance that is quite foreign to the way this country has always operated. It's slow and a bit cumbersome at times, but it does ultimately work. Wow...compromise for the benefit of the broader good. What a concept. Just throwing this out there...I'll go away now...
Even my dad, diehard Republican that he is, has told me he thinks we should have a multi-party system like they have in Germany and so many other countries. The 2-party system is quite monolithic, and also unusual on the world scene.
In Abraham Lincoln's time, paradoxically because the current Republicans are always invoking his name, that's exactly what we had in America. We had more than 2 political parties, of course we are talking viable ones, strong ones, large ones, not marginal ones. In the 1860 presidential election, it was a 4-way competition between: (1) Republican Party, (2) Northern Democratic Party, (3) Southern Democratic Party, and (4) Constitutional Union Party. I'm leaving out the marginal political parties, there have always been those as well.
So Bruce, you're conjuring up old American history, not just a stray unique vision of what could be.
The "Republicans" are a motley crew that have assembled over the past several decades. The Southern Democrats of Lincoln's era, for example, post-Civil War continued to be the premier political party in the South, KKK and all, reactionary and racist as hell, until Lyndon Johnson turned them all to the Republican Party when he established the Voting Rights Act. LBJ was a Democrat, and he turned his entire Southern Democratic electorate into Republicans. For the 1st half of the 1900s, and going back well into the 1800, Southern Democrats were the monolithic party of the South.
As I said, it was a "pipe dream" and the chance of any more *serious* [emphasis mine] political parties in this country ever gaining much traction with the electorate has a snowballs' chance in hell of succeeding. Ross Perot's run was one I also remember as having an effect in an election, as well as Jill Stein's in 2016. In every instance recently it seems people end up viewing those parties as having a negative effect on one or the other party's voter totals. None of them ever seems to really get off the ground and that's a shame, IMO. So we keep lumbering through elections with the same two parties trying to be all things to all people, and coming up short. Democrats especially have it hard as I think we're probably the biggest and most diverse party. Trying to get all Democrats on board with something is really like herding cats. There are ALWAYS going to be disaffected, disenfranchised segments. The same holds true with the Republican party to a degree. However, I think they will very likely be going through an upcoming split between Trumpists and more moderate Republicans in the next 2-4 years. In the end, EACH party seems bent on exploiting their rival party's divisions. And so it goes. I just wish parties could have maybe fewer, or purer ideologies, rather than trying to be EVERYTHING. Like I said, a "pipe dream" (though I don't smoke a pipe...). Still, I guess living in a democracy means not always getting what you want politically and accepting that, eh?
I love this idea.
Jacob, respectfully, the term is RINOs, Republicans in Name Only.
I know, but 'rhino' has wonderful imagery.
Haha! I didn’t know that and carried over the misspelling.
Maybe Jeff Flake and (Bob?) Corker were Rhinos. They have integrity and that cost them their jobs.
Liberals are only trying to bring the same rights to all people. What is so horrible or difficult to understand about that concept?
Read "Strangers in Their Own Land" by Arlie Hochschild. Great read.
Thank you. People could stop drinking the cool aid of fear and unempowerment
There are some shocking revelations in today's Letter. The fact that Trump's campaign is falsely seeking money for a "defense fund", while the small print makes it clear that the money will be used for other purposes makes them look like snake oil hucksters. The refusal of the GSA to release funds and provide access to office space and equipment is unprecedented and mind-boggling. This will definitely be the worst transition ever; why can't Trump be as gracious as George W. Bush was to the incoming Obama administration? Because it simply is not in his nature; the words "gracious" and "courtesy" are not part of his vocabulary, as he has proven many times over his lifetime.
Trump reminds me of a chant I recall from many years ago, when the NY Knicks were playing in Madison Square Garden. The crowd shouted "If you ain't Number 1, you're nothing". He divides the world into winners and losers; also-rans don't count, no matter what the situation may be.
The idea that he has lost...be it at golf (where he is a notorious cheat), with women, or in an election, is anathema to him and he simply cannot cope with it. He will simply say "You won because you cheated, so I won't play anymore." He will not accept that there are rules, regulations, precedents, or necessary actions to prepare for the changeover. He would rather maintain a scorched earth policy and let the incoming administration do the best they can to cope with this dangerous situation. He would prefer to burn the White House down, as the British did in 1814, than let someone else move in.
You can't expect a lifelong Churl to act other than "churlish."
I didn't realize that churl was also a noun...it fits perfectly.
Yesterday, Saturday, the day the election was called, I was hopeful! Today I spent the day reading and researching the Trump supporters reaction trying to understand and further my awareness. OK ... and now I’m worried! I worry more after reading tonight’s newsletter.
Do the Republican members of our government have any sense of decency left or has the total corruption of power completely taken over?
Why do they follow Trump?
How did he ever get so much power?
And will he ever go away?
My parents were staunch republicans and they would be horrified at what is happening here and now, especially at the gross amorality of these people.
I hope and pray that we can hold on to this election!
When money is your god...
And I’d like to know what recourse Biden’s team has? Is the director of the GSA breaking any laws? In a Times article today, it said she can wait until all certified counts are in from every state.
Mine too and active at the local level. I have wondered regularly what my dad would say to what is going on today.
Would understanding Trump’s refusal to concede lie in his fear of falling to the wrath of legal suits he has been protected from and the inevitable shame and demise? Ones he can’t afford emotionally or financially? The Republicans who uphold the voter fraud myths may possibly be aware the eviceration of the Trump Myth has ramifications throughout the entire party.
I’m worried that he will start a nuclear war or something so far off the rails like that. I’m actually uncomfortable with SNL mocking him as a “Loser,” his deepest fear, because it’s poking the wounded monster. And the monster is still in charge for three more months.
I share your concerns, Jeanne. The next few months feel dangerous. I only hope there are people quietly protecting this country from this Impulsive and damaged man.
Trump's niece, in an interview for The Guardian, said that the one single greatest fear of Donald Trump is that he will become irrelevant/inconsequential. She warns folks to watch out that he'll start "breaking stuff" in the next 2 months. He's that unhinged. So far, she has pegged him and his behaviour better than anyone.
Agreed. If only we had started making him feel irrelevant and inconsequential in 2015.
I made the mistake of thinking he was irrelevant and inconsequential. I thought he was so flawed and damaged as a candidate that no way in hell could he gain traction. I badly underestimated his ability to dupe and mesmerize the gullibles, the Red clan. It is inconceivable how anyone can be so easily deceived, but they constitute nearly half of America. If I didn't have my father as a lifetime case study, I would be completely baffled.
I did my part with anyone in my circle to talk about what a malignant narcissist and fool he was just from years of him being on my TV and being interviewed by Stern and Letterman. I never worked. They thought he was funny and a showman. Ugh
Ditto.
Absolutely correct, Bruce. This is a dangerous period.
Walking on eggshells gives a narcissist more power.
I've lived with one.. walk quietly, then run like hell once safe to do so.
Exactly. Me too n
Me three
Me 4
I don’t want anyone to stop fighting him. Especially legally. I just fear his ability to destroy the country or world further in a deranged, jealous rage. Once he’s powerless, I will join in the mockery. Or at least feel free to laugh at it.
I have believed that the young military guard holding the 'football' as they call it, has had the whole world in his hands for four years. Praying for him to continue to be strong every day.
Relief is so intense, I can understand SNL - especially based in NYC - sticking a harpoon in the Orange Whale. (Lorne Michaels take note to tone it down? Maybe. But, after 4 years, this moment also calls for a bit of comic relief.) But, YOU are right to express concern about the nuclear codes and the desperation of Trump. TV channel deal, his Twitter account and debt relief, pardons, the Roy Cohn never admit failure tactics are more his focus? But, where is Barr? And, where are the Joint Chiefs? Cause, you never know! ❤️🤍💙
I agree, I usually love SNL. And Trump has caused so much misery and even death, he deserves mocking at the very least! I would just be so much more comfortable if he were behind bars. Maybe even in a padded cell!
Do you think Barr will help the country now? Uphold the Rule of Law? I do believe in miracles!
Barr will never go against the orange Cheeto.
Barr will never go against his own demented vision. He and Trump got along because Trump thought he could control Barr and Barr saw Trump as a stepping stone to more power. Trump has cast him aside, but Barr isn't gone yet.
Barr is pure evil in my book. I have always thought he and McConnell are more dangerous than Trump. I guess it’s the trio that is so dangerous. 🤢
I think the country ran out of miracles on February 22, 1980 in Lake Placid, New York.
That was a good miracle. I am looking for a different kind now, that will take much much more teamwork.
No.
Not that miracle.
And isn’t he firing the head of the nuclear agency?
He did, yes.
Can you explain? What ramifications? And yes, I can easily believe that a good part of Trump's fixation on remaining in the WH comes from visceral fear of the legal and financial consequences of losing the protection of the presidency. Maybe he thinks if he can hang on now, he can somehow amass enough wealth and power over the next four years to fend off the personal price of his lifetime of profligacy. He can see the piper ahead of him, waiting and ready.
The Republican Party is a very different one than the one I belonged to long ago, or that of my parents and grandparents. The party, by its broad allegiance to Trump without censure these past four years, has branded themselves rather broadly by his "style", his behaviors, his morality, his vision of America. Should, when he leaves, their charismatic (to some) media icon possibly ends up in prison, or is revealed to be as unsavory as threat of legal actions imply -- this, indeed, reflects very badly on his party. I'm an independent. I can almost without fail tell what party a speaker is from by their pugnacious style, their non-empathic tone. I hope we as a nation move away from that.
HCR, I disagree with the following: "in their modern incarnation, Republicans will definitely have a hard time surviving unless they change the system even more than they already have. They are in the minority in the country, and a Democratic administration will likely pass a new voting rights act to replace the one the Supreme Court gutted in 2013."
The Republicans did very well in this election, much better than the polls anticipated. NC might be the outlier because of the unique circumstances there. However, I think they represent a very substantial number of people and could do better if they had a less inflammatory and divisive leader. Some commentators, including Tucker Carlson, have (in my opinion) analyzed the mood of the country and correctly observed the frustration of the "have-nots" and their deep-seated desire for a "Messiah" to lead them out of their misery. In effect, they are where the Dems used to be. I hope that Biden will address this anomaly, as the election of 2022 is vital if he wants to pass his program. As for the Voting Rights Act, it will be virtually impossible to pass a new act unless some Republicans defect (or the Dems win both seats in Georgia) and they must then contend with a 6-3 banace in the SCOTUS.
I would love to spend the next month interviewing Trump supporters and asking the How did YOUR life improve over the last four years? Because if it’s really have-nots voting for him, they have been sold a dream. Only Democratic policies and programs will truly help them.
I have wondered this myownself. From what I’ve read, that doesn’t matter to his supporters as much as that trump hates their “enemies.” If you hate who I hate, we’re bonded. Admittedly this makes so sense to me, but hate and fear are powerful. They have propelled trump all his life, after all.
Honestly, fewer taxes and regulations would cause my family to be able to make a lot more money. I vote against my interests every election because I think the country's interests are better served by building a better financial safety net.
If someone truly believes the country would be better off by leaving everyone to find their own way unfettered and unaided except for voluntary charity, they're not going to vote for what they consider forced redistribution even if it would line their own pockets.
Biden wants to raise taxes on people making more than $400,000. My taxes will not go up under that plan. I think voting for him is both better for the average American AND better for the country. It might mean less profit for big pharma and big corporations. But they can handle it.
I agree with Suzanne about voting against my financial interests a lot. The following are not my opinions. (1) I have heard the argument from Republicans I know not to be fooled by the taxing over $400,000. That the rich got rich by being smart and because they are rich they can afford professionals to find ways that they hardly pay any of those taxes. So taxing the rich equates to the rich avoiding paying those taxes by legal means. Then the taxing trickles down. That there is no way our taxes won't be raised (2) They are all for equality for every human but not for giving away things for free. Lots of older families of immigrants who came in the "right way" (usually through Ellis Island) and established themselves here through the "right processes" and worked hard with the proper identification and learned english. They seem very afraid of losing things or "giving away" things they and their ancestors worked so hard to get. They believe that millions of people want to live here for a reason and that we shouldn't just establish free programs and benefits and that those benefits take away from their family. (3) Most strongly dislike Trump but just feel he is the buffoon figurehead and really not the one to watch. They just vote red down the line. (4) Lots of red voters at the higher levels vote both red and blue at the local government levels such as for local common pleas Judges and city reps.
If the Dems get the Senate, they can close those tax loopholes that those “smart” Republicans find to cheat our country. I don’t buy that. I am going to trust Biden and Harris and the Democratic leadership to rebalance our nation’s wealth. And if that sounds scary to some people, I want you to imagine being black, having grown up perhaps in a family whose ancestor fought in WWII but didn’t get any of the benefits of the GI Bill. No college aid, no business loans, no mortgage if you’re black. So now those ancestors have to rent. And they have nothing to pass down to the next generation. And they stay living in poorer neighborhoods with schools with fewer resources. And now, in this generation, you’re a single mom with three beautiful black sons. And you work three jobs because you didn’t make it to college. And your mom lives with you. And you are renting way over on the east side where you can afford it and the building owner will accept your application. So your children have long commutes to school and you have a long commute to work. And you’re barely making it. And the haves are making billions during the pandemic while you and your family members and friends slip into poverty along with 8 million other Americans.
I am a socialist and proud of that. No one NEEDs a billion dollars. That’s ridiculous. And it is not the Way of Beauty. It is a sickness called greed.
Appalachia's grievances are real...WV's been a waste dump site for coal mining and then for hauled in out-of-state fracking. It's been considered and treated as a throw-away state ravaged by extraction industries that benefited out-of-state owners. These grievances are what the polls got wrong in 2016 when VW went for Trump hoping for a change. "West Virginia's surprising boom, and bust, tells the story of Trump's promise to help the 'forgotten man.' Under Trump, the once-neglected Ohio Valley boomed, until this year."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/10/30/trump-economy-west-virginia-forgotten-man/
I've been wondering for a while now why W VA couldn't be a prime state to develop 21st-century energy resources to give job-displaced coal workers there a leg up that HAS legs. It would have to start with beefing up the educational system, resources, and opportunities. Most people, I think, would appreciate a hand up when they're down. Give the state some SMART attention.
They are a proud people. They don't want government handouts. It fries them that others get ahead of them in line for opportunity. The toll on the people is horrendous: obesity, diabetes, opioids, suicides, a lost generation of youth to autism (?)making many fearful of vaccinations, poverty. Check out the movie "The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia."The Whites game the system they're trapped in which is rigged vs them. Billboards advertizing dialysis! Mountain-top removal spewing micro fine particles into the air that you don't want to breathe. Regulatory agencies to protect the water, environment look the other way. Permits granted to polluting businesses. Storage tanks and leach fields leaking toxics. Life expectancy along the Kanawa River valley lower than average. I hold my breath driving along county rd 60 past Dow plant in Belle (!) spewing flames and god know what and ore processing plants between Charleston to Fayetteville. Some of this is anecdotal from living there on and off (2012-2016) and hearing about/seeing what goes on. Other is published public record.Yet they are sensitive to others coming in telling them how to lead their lives, which doesn't help them. Locals are wary of strangers...are not kin. Kinship is HUGE. It's a beautiful state most from farther west drive right through to get to the east coast beaches. There are great outdoor recreational efforts like rafting down the New River, rock climbing, hiking,biking, etc. that depend on tourisim, not helped by the pandemic. Other forms of energy doable but fought by coal mining interests. WVirginians are famous for their strikes vs unjust managerial efforts to break unions...miners, teachers. The list goes on. Corruption is huge. Stunning.
Where can I see this movie--on Netflix or Amazon? The people in West Virginia have such untapped potential, and they've been neglected for far too long. It isn't a matter of telling them how to live but of opening up possibilities for them to grab when they see viable alternatives. And what benefits them helps us all.
Search shows on Prime Video:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1396227/
Wow. That is quite a documentary! Thanks for the heads up.
trump susupporters Are Ignorant!!! Plain And Simple!!!
They lacked Truth and Knowledge!!!🤔😧
We don't really know what Trump supporters are. If we did, we could have voted Biden in with a landslide. Very good, intelligent, hardworking, decent people voted for Trump. Why a deceitful, evil, gaslighting narcssist could win means our COUNTRY is losing. For insights, I think back on my lobbying days, trying to convince Michigan Governor Granholm (a Democrat) and her staff, to stop saying every student must go to college (to become techies) to save our failng auto-based economy. They denigrated probably half our population who are gifted in mechanical and construction and other trades, along with many front-line service workers. I love Obama, but he did the same thing. The problem is those critical jobs should be paying decent wages, with full healthcare coverage (whether with other benefits or Medicare-for-all-who-want-it), and with RESPECT.
MaryPat, sorry for the rant coming up! Its not at you - I completely agree that jobs that ARE just that critical should received good wages - healthcare etc. and above all Respect.
My dad had his own plumbing & heating business - he was able to repair/fix pretty much anything he set his mind to. My ex-husband was the same way - and I'm proud to say my son has the same abilities. It frosts me a lot to hear ANYONE look down their nose at someone just because they arent college-educated or because - heavens above - they get their hands dirty! I worked at a construction company for 29 years (in the office) and our carpenters and laborers were union & DID get paid well & have good benefits and the last years I worked there there were more & more women hired for the same jobs. Which frankly was a long time coming.
“Very good, intelligent, hardworking, decent people voted for Trump.” RESOUNDINGLY NO!
Very good, decent ppl would not vote for a misogynist who admits to assaulting women. Very good, decent ppl would not vote for a bully and stochastic terrorist who incites his cult following to attack ppl. His “very good ppl on both sides” were the white supremacists and neo-Nazi’s who have killed a peaceful protestor. Intelligent ppl would see thru and object to his blatant, unfounded lies & conspiracy theories. There are NO “very good, decent” Nazis, Klansmen, Racists or tRump supporters.
Rob, I'd have to disagree, or at least qualify your statement. When I lived in Germany in 1967-1968, I found two curiosities: one, every German of military age I talked to had been on the Eastern front; and two, all the Germans I met knew pretty clearly what was going on, were not supportive of the Nazis (or so they said), and felt powerless to do anything about the direction their country was taking. These were otherwise decent people who weren't ready to storm the barricades. Before we cast aspersions, maybe we should ask what we would be prepared to do had Trump prevailed.
Did they volunteer to be Nazi soldiers or were the drafted? Some ppl volunteered to fight in Vietnam, a lot were drafted. All of us were kids, brainwashed by ideas of patriotism and chosen by “our friends & neighbors.” Some well off ppl shirked that patriotic responsibility by getting doctors to fake medical problems for deferment. Others had to expatriate to more civilized nations. I chose the Air Force and was smart enuf to work in an office doing NSA cold war stuff.
However, ppl who chose the Repugnant Party and willfully supported a mentally defective wannabe despot with a despicable history of racism, sexism, and disgusting behavior, have no excuse and take on the same unforgiveable disgrace.
"Be kinder to each other." - Alex Trebek
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." - Edmund Burke
Our personal experience with relatives and friends that went hard core tRump this election wasn't as much about lack of truth and knowledge but the lack of effort to search out the truth and knowledge. Was much easier to just click and share the misinformation vitriol and watch others squirm because if it. Think back to another’s post from another of Heather’s letters that explained the “Trump2020” mantra. Just the pleasure in hating on those who didn't wave the same flag. I got disgusted with who I felt had the wherewithal to do the research, just didn't want to take the time to do it. It was much more meaningful to them that they were shoving their loyalty to tRump down people’s throats. I deleted FB. My partner did not. He somehow felt if he kept fact checking one of them would enter into a more meaningful debate. Nope, he was called some derogatory things and labeled antifa. Based in the definition of ignorance, it is an apt description.
Perhaps a louder voice is speaking: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/counties-with-worst-virus-surges-overwhelmingly-voted-trump
Yes, the virus. 😕
This is my thought exactly. Given a "regular" Republican candidate I believe they could win handily in 2024. I believe they would have won both the popular vote and the electoral in 2016 if their candidate hadn't been Trump.
I think this is both because the Democrats don't have a big enough reliable base and because FOX News does a good job of rallying the right to the Republicans.
I agree with you Suzanne, and I agree with Steven. This victory was just as close as it looked. The conservative “minority“ could easily take the 2024 election. For as long as I’ve been voting, since 1980, it’s been back-and-forth. The pendulum swings back-and-forth. Eight years of Reagan, surprisingly four years of HW Bush, but then Clinton seesaws back to Bush Jr. swings back to Obama swings back to Trump reverses to Biden-Harris. Even if Biden gets a second term, any betting agency is going to give odds favoring a Republican after Biden. Diminishing or discounting the Republicans and the conservatives as a so-called minority is a mistaken analysis. There’s a damn good reason we’ve had Ronald Reagan, Bush Senior, Bush Junior, and Trump. I disagree emphatically with anyone who says Trump was an illegitimate president. He was not. He spoke for close to half the country. Think about that. He broke a record this past week. He has more votes than any prior US president in history. Only Joe Biden has surpassed him in votes. Do you think the Republicans are just going away because they narrowly lost one close election? What delusion.
Watch out for Tom Cotton, Mario Rubio, Josh Hawley, etc. They are young, attractive candidates with very strong "right wing" views. They could make a very strong race against an 81 year old Biden (if he chooses to run again). Can you name any Democrat who could compete effectively? At this point, if I were a betting man, I would have to put my money on red.
Kamala Harris
Pete Buttegieg
Cory Booker, Andrew Yang
I think the Republicans saying they'd never win again aren't being honest. They're stirring up their constituents. Hopefully not to violence.
Roland, thank you for sharing your background so that we get where you are coming from. Can you share any insight to what "those" Republicans want from government? I live semi rural in Eastern WA. That means I'm on 10 acres about 30 minutes from the 2nd largest city in the state. I'm surrounded by trump backers & all I can tell is they want to keep their guns ( & out here you need them for the coyotes) & they don't want to wear masks to prevent covid 19. I hope there is more, but I'm not hearing that. And I'm amazed that people move out here & THEN ask about the internet....especially when they need it for work. (It's mostly satellite with pockets of CenturyLink & Comcast....generally not high speed).
This past Saturday morning on many different forums it felt like Mitt Romney was already throwing his hat in the ring for 2024. He was everywhere straddling the line.
Steven, I absolutely agree with you. With the gerrymandering for House seats and the fact that land = senate seats, I'm not sure we ever have a democratic majority in either legislative branch again. If you couple that with vast majorities of conservatives in state legislatures and federal courts, I think Biden may also be our last Dem president for awhile. I hardly slept last night after reading the vitriol spewing from conservative "friends" on FB over the weekend. This is far from over, and it's not a large leap back to Trumpism in the next election. I've even heard that Tucker Carlson may decide to run.
All of my conservative "friends" disappeared from FB over the weekend. Not a peep after Saturday morning. Me thinks they all went over to the right wing parler app -which the Democrats need to keep an eye on. Places like that are where you will hear what they are thinking or what is being stirred up. I don't want to look myself. Someone else do it.....
I can’t stomach it, either.
Is anyone else out there concerned about the Nov 7th NPR story of Trump “quietly” firing the leaders of three agencies; those overseeing nuclear security, electricity, and natural gas regulation?
I’m reminded of Mary Trump’s prediction that if he loses, he’ll take us down with him.
Yeah - did see that & felt that there wasnt much concern in the media about it. Should be.
Agreed.
Terrifying if you ask me.
CORRECTION: November 6th NPR story
My wife has been a Biden backer since way before he announced he was running. She sent him a donation today to defend the attacks on the election results. I have no doubt that DJT will do anything he can to cling to the presidency, including fomenting armed insurrection. His 70 million minions still yearn for him to do so. These are perilous times! As Churchill said, "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." We must still be vigilant, and continue to fight for our democracy!
Morning, all!! Again, many thanks, Dr. R, for this latest Letter. Seems the honeymoon was a short one. Time to regroup, hunker down, for what's to come.
What was it that FDR said in his inaugural speech of 1933? "So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is...fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."
As a nation, for the past 4 years, a great majority of us have been terrorized by one inconsequential, uneducated, narcissistic, and bigoted man and his henchmen -- and women -- who thought he had us cornered. But, on Saturday, we breathed a sigh of relief. It was as though the weight of the world was lifted from our shoulders! I, for one, fell asleep for 3 solid hours after quickly rejoicing with friends over the phone.
We fought through and survived four years of pain, anguish, and abuse by this administration. Surely, despite the fear tactics they are and will be using, we shall overcome these barriers, too! Of course, we must be prepared and alerted to all their cheap and underhanded methods of cheating their way into power, but I am determined to stand up to them and their unstable leader. I refuse to be paralysed by their threats -- I can take another 71 or 2 days of our fight for democracy, justice, and decency! Together, we can continue to confront the "nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." We've come so far in defeating this fascist regime -- we can continue until its demise on 20th Jan., 2021. All their barriers will be for naught, right?!
A possible Thoreau connection to the “We have nothing to fear...” quote https://www.thoreausociety.org/news-article/thoreau-fdr
Interesting! Thanks!