My father hated rugby, saying the only rule of the game was that you couldn't use a gun. "Ah yes, there are rules," he said, "but nobody follows them, so what you have is chaotic mud wrestling. And who plays the game? Thugs hell bent on murdering each other."
Perhaps he was describing today's GOP... classless, loud, ugly, pugnacious, flailing, interested only in getting over the goal line, the be all and end all of their existence which conveys on them the power to lord it over others.
Today's elected Democrats don't seem to have caught on to the fact that although they think they may be playing polite pickle ball, the other side is playing a vicious game of rugby. They talk about things that have become meaningless, like "bipartisanship," "getting it done together," "due process," "healthcare for all," and other things one might expect of a civilized society. But they seem unaware that, sadly, the most visible part of this society is anything but civilized. It has become like my father's conception of rugby....mud wrestling by thugs with no rules of play or decorum applicable.
Maggie Hassan, junior senator of New Hampshire, is running ads that show in the Boston area for her next senate run. They talk about what she's promoting in soft, polite terms, and a local character comes on to tout that what she's proposing is bipartisan..."that's the way to go, because when something is bipartisan it sticks." Every time I see this ad I want to scream "You're playing pickle ball against a rugby team!" Within minutes of this ad appearing there's a Halloween style horror ad for a NH GOP candidate depicting Nancy Pelosi as an Addams Family creature with the message "Tell Nancy Pelosi to keep her hands off your bank account!!!!.....vote for xxx ." The juxtaposition of the ads so makes my point about Dems playing pickle ball against a rugby team it's laughable.
Do I know what to do about all this? Hell no, but I do think it's time for democrats to recognize the cognitive dissonance they are practicing and get real about who and what they are dealing with. There IS no bipartisanship. There is NO deal making to be done. Schumer needs to use every single loop hole and procedural gambit available to get things done for good just as McConnell has used procedural gambits to obstruct for decades now. Garland needs to hurry up, accept that he is dealing with a nationwide mafia led by a ruthless Don, and take action to put the scofflaws in jail. Slow and deliberate isn't cutting it...it's just emboldening the thugs to get up to more dirty tricks...and the stakes are horrifyingly high.
Nicely written, but I don't want "us" to become "them." The letter today emphasizes the Democratic goal of slow but sure and weeding out the bad guys, one by one. I do think that Trump is weakened, and surely he's become anathema to some in his party. The Repubs have specialized in tweaking elections for decades. They have not won the popular presidential vote in like, forever. Our goal is to dismantle the entrenched dynamics, such as gerrymandering, redlining, the electoral college, and racism that pervade the party and unfortunately, too many party supporters. "Nothing is so vicious as a wounded animal."
Sorry Hope, but it is hopeless to be nice to a bunch of thieving, lying and murderous thugs. You don't bring a knife to a gunfight. You can speak softly, but should use the big stick when needed. I can find more apt platitudes if needed, like maybe playing Chess in the middle of a Rugby scrimmage is futile.
I would agree, sad but true, look at all the financial offers to get vaccinated. Yet the mandate has been needed to get more people on board with this public health crisis. Sometimes the stick is what is needed, hopefully the justice department will bring it on!
Yes, I think the justice department holds the big stick and as a country of laws that's what we can rely on -- provided the department has the will to punish. I'm afraid I sense a weakness in Garland (and maybe others, too) to do that. Maybe I'm wrong.
Sorry, but we are past the point of slow but sure. The latest insanity...i.e. Paul Gosar tweeting out a animated video of his killing of AOC and threatening President Biden....shows why. He is not being censured, removed from committees, or anything. Yet the 13 Republican congress people who voted for the infrastructure bill are being threatened with removal from committees, even if they are "ranking members". They need to be removed from congress, period. No more mister nice guy.
I'd love to find out that some of the larger Democrats paid him a visit and gave him a chance to demonstrate his courage. Allred and Swalwell come to mind... Heck, I'd bet he'd run away from a confrontation with AOC.
Yes, Hope … we can “ hope” the Dems will weed the bad guys out but one by one is not fast enough… for every one we rid ourselves of, 2 more Marjorie Taylor Greene’s join the Rethuglicans. It’s a cancer that needs to be cut out…chemo and radiation are too weak and take too long.
Yes, I agree with all you (and your dad) said, except I have more faith (and Faith) in Garland. The discovery and convictions must be done right (which is tedious), or the worst, vindication, will happen.
I also lean more toward trusting and knowing that discovery and convictions must be done right. Cases need to be water tight. However, I also agree with something I read the other day reminding us that Garland was a judge (analyzing, interpreting evidence, weighing legal precedents) not a prosecutor (protect the innocent, investigate and prosecute criminals) so his methods are quite different. He likely spends more time weighing the legalities than actually leading the team to dig for evidence therefore perhaps not the right person to lead the Justice Dept.
Let’s not forget what Kamala “was”. And a brilliant one at that. And Garland has a brilliant staff. He is exactly the right one to lead the DOJ in my opinion.
Bloody the noise metaphorically speaking and if that doesn’t get the job done and all other options are exhausted then actually, we are at the tipping point of actually.
Caroline, we need to be careful not to turn into the Republican rugby team for fear that the enemy becomes us. I also want to remind you that there were a few Republicans in the House of representatives that helped the bipartisan bill get passed and sent to the President to sign. Martin Luther King junior turned the trajectory of the black experience into a far better future although there is much more work to be done e.g. the 1619 project.
Biden seems to me to be a steady hand and hopefully will be much more appreciated by the citizens of this country over time.
As a solid rugby fan, I do not embrace your father's take on the game. No offense. But, in fairness he is on to one thing: Politics is a form of pugilism -- blood sport, a fact the Democrats continue to thrive in denial of. We have reached the bare-knuckles stage of poltiical theater in the U.S. thanks to the Republican traitors. The Democrats still want to bring mittens, believing they can talk their way out of anything. The only way to beat a bully is to become one. Perhaps that is the one lesson that is a takeaway from rugby. My favorite teams: Saracens of England; All Blacks from New Zealand.
My father had strong opinions about everything. He would have found it ironically amusing that the one sport he paid any attention to at all and hated was the same one his great grandson excelled at, becoming a member of a European country's national team. Yes, blood sport. I have never seen a bully succumb to words, and while it might be obvious that I love them, I know they appeal only to those willing to be persuaded.
I "weaned" myself off most of the U.S. sports long ago, favoring Euro Football (soccer) and Rugby. Many of those lads with brawn also have brains. As to your dad's great grandson, kudos! To be a member of a national team is quite the honor.
As to a bully "succumbing to words", you are spot on. But. Face one down, and quite often they will cower. I do not see ruggers as bullies, but I suspect many a bully would see himself a rugger but never really make it.
There is a widely held misperception that bullies are "tough guys" when in fact, like Donald Trump, they are hollow inside. They carry within themselves an eternal fear. Sometimes in every sport tempers flare up a bit, which is normal. When I see a red card, I know the lad has stepped way over the line.
Politics is a blood sport only for Republicans. For the Democrats, it’s Fox trot and rugby players look awfully clumsy on the dance floor. Two steps forward, one step back.
Carolyn, well done. Well written! I couldn't agree more. I am starting to agree with Robert Hubbell, too, that Merrick Garland is not willing to face the people who really need to be brought in. Someone on one of the MSNBC shows last night, Chris or Rachel, suggested Garland is wiling to prosecute, lightly, the people who entered the Capitol without permits, but the people behind the whole thing? Nada. I am in favor of the select committee using their own subpoena power and sending a marshal or sergeant at arms (or whatever those people are called) to bring in the people who are in contempt of Congress. Maybe that's what Garland thinks and hopes will happen, but he isn't waiting for us all to guess or read his mind.https://www.findlaw.com/litigation/legal-system/contempt-of-congress-process-and-penalties.html
I looked it up. Darn, it looks like we some other laws that need to be passed or changed! But we need solid majorities for that to ever happen. We can pay the Lincoln Project or develop our own new advertising group to start getting the right kind of messaging out there. The ads need to focus on the Trump base and make it clear how their Republican leaders at almost every level are in it for power and their own money. You do that by having homey scenes where hard working white people are are doing normal things like trying to get a loan and being told their credit rating is poor so they have to pay more. Then have a split screen or follow-up that shows the Board Room or whatever of the banks talking about how to fleece these people for their own profit. There is so much available out there. Heather let us know how nearly every downturn had greedy bankers as the lead cause. So much to share with the ill-informed. Let bygones be bygones? That's just plain stupid in this case.
Dante in his “Inferno”, had a special circle in Hell for bankers, where they were forced to wear lead coats — a symbol of the weight of debt they had placed on others. I find that image useful and informative. Greed has been one of the deadly seven sins for a long time. But I do have one question. Is the Lincoln Brigade a truly bi-partisan effort? I admire their ads. They are indeed brilliant. But, given my long observation of the Republican Party, I wonder who they would be if given power.
When the rats have taken over your neighborhood and are multiplying.... I have to wonder whether bringing meals and clothing to the inhabitants who can neither move from nor fight the hordes of rats is the he most appropriate strategy. The rugby-pickle ball analology resonates. I really believe our democratic progressive goals are very much on target to needs (though not all know this), but the vermin really are the priority. This is not a matter of principle, but of societal health. It's hard to feed the needy when the rats at running around their ankles and across the table. Sometimes you have to close the sewer upstream to clean up the water we all need.
Please do not equate my game with anything being done by the Republicans. I'll admit that there are occasional problems of conduct in it (what sport doesn't have them?) but the game in general , governed by LAWS rather than RULES, is one in which an adherence to a code of sportsmanship is required. GAWD, but I'm tired of people mis-using and misrepresenting what rugby is. I'd love to know where and in what code your father played.
Somehow my reply got lost....the essence of it was that my recollection of my father's rants about rugby (about 75 years ago?) seemed to provide an apt foil compared with pickle ball for what's going on between dems and repubs. I still think it's an apt analogy, though I know little about rugby save the aforementioned rants. I've only seen a few rugby matches and came away thinking it appeared to be mud wrestling interspersed with pushing and shoving. And I once played tennis with a rugger. (I was quite good...a club champion one year). It was a match to behold and perhaps gave birth to my notion of pickle ball vs rugby team as reminiscent of what I see going on.
In addition, rubgy requires more brains and finesse than does American football due to not wearing all that protective gear of helmets and pads. And refs keep control far better than in ice hockey.
So Cruz has nothing more substantive to offer than to criticize a Sesame Street character who has spoken for vaccines longer than Cruz has been alive. For Cruz that was not surprising. Gosar and his "cute" little anime piece should have been under investigation as soon as it came to light. If that had been put out by a citizen they would have been under investigation yesterday.
As a health care worker I am sick to death of listening to the stupidity about "my rights, my body, my choice" from anti-vaxxers, that the majority of the unvaccinated are GQP and those are the ones dying is not a cause for rejoicing, but if that is the hill they want to die on then stay home and die in your beds so you don't take needed health care resources from people that you might have infected.
“Singapore will no longer pay the Covid-19 medical bills for people “unvaccinated by choice”, the government said, as the country grapples with a surge in cases. It said unvaccinated people “disproportionately contribute to the strain on our healthcare resources”. 👏🏻👏🏻
I agree that people who refuse to get vaccinated/wear masks, etc should not take up space in hospitals when they get sick. For you, as a nurse, it must be difficult to listen to these folks while having to care for them. Thank you from those of us who are caring for ourselves and others by getting the vaccine.
The terrible thing is that too many nurses are among the healthcare staff who refuse vaccinations. My MD daughter has told us that nurses in the SW rural hospitals where she practices emergency and hospitalist medicine in, with many covid19 patients over the last almost 2 years, are resistant to vaccinations and good protective measures. Many patients also refuse to believe they have covid19 whether they improve and eventually go home, or deteriorate and die. My cousin in Idaho is undergoing expensive Obamacare paid successful pancreatic cancer care, while he visits with his friends, risking his health and my 90 year old Aunt & Uncle who visit and help him from California. These people are living in an alternative reality which looks like entitlement with no responsibilities to me.
Take another freedom to choose away from us? It’s a slippery slope. Next time it’ll be something YOU don’t want to do. Then how you gonna feel when your liberty is gone?
When my liberty is gone, I will be really bummed. But I don’t equate taking a vaccine with any loss of liberty. (The opposite— now I feel free of worry about passing the virus to my youngest grandchildren.) Nor do I think of liberty as being able to do whatever I want to do, never mind how it affects other people.
It’s bizarre how things have changed. When I worked in Public Health, we were required to get a flu vaccine yearly. None of my staff complained/refused nor did I hear of anyone else doing so throughout the agency. It was right thing to do so you didn’t think twice about it.
“Slippery slope” is one of the logical fallacies. It is also called “thin end of the wedge” and “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.” It assumes there is nothing to stop the downhill slide, but that’s not necessarily true. There may be. “Slippery slope” is common in fearmongering.
...And in my opinion as a retired RN who worked in the nursing field from 1972 till 2015, I think they have totally ignored their responsibility to their patients, as well as to people they care about.
Who has done the punishing, Elaine? Are those who refuse to take the vaccine and, therefore, may expose others to a potentially lethal virus blameless? It is okay in your book to be irresponsible, endangering others with the consequences to be felt only by their victims?
I’m plant based and eat organic food which we all know is very healthy. I think those who eat junk food and don’t take care of their health the way I think they should, should not take up space in hospitals when they are sick. That’s how Gestapo you sound.
Have you considered how many people haven't been able to get badly needed medical procedures, some life-threatening, because the unvaccinated have overrun hospitals? Or how many medical professionals have burned out over the unrelenting wave of Covid patients? I could go on. Those who disregard the responsibility that comes with living in a civil society and willfully spread a disease that has killed millions don't deserve to go to the front of the line for critical medical care.
Hopefully, the new Pfizer pill, Paxlovid, once it has Emergency Use Authorization, will decrease the burden on hospitals by it's effectiveness of decreasing hospital admissions and deaths by EIGHTY NINE percent (no bold face so used all caps.)
People I have tangled with argue that the drug companies make megabucks, therefore the vaccines are no good, and healthy foods will protect them. On the other hand, Ivermectin is great because huge profits were not made from it, at least when it was just a de-wormer for horses, etc.
Yes people are allowed to eat pretty much what they want but in the end that hurts their body not mine. The unvaccinated are a public health risk (unless medically they can't get the vaccination but that is a tiny % of the population) and their decision could impact many people. To compare mandatory vaccines to the Gestapo negates any argument you make because to those who are educated, know history and understand the horrors of what the Gestapo stood for, there is no comparison.
"Have you considered how many people haven't been able to get badly needed medical procedures, some life-threatening, because the unvaccinated have overrun hospitals?" I am one of those people who can not get timely elective surgery. And I bitterly resent all of the non-vaccinated-by-choice covid patients clogging up our local hospitals and putting my life at risk because of their vaccine stupidity. Yes - the least they can do is pay for their medical treatment out of pocket. It is a lower price than I may end up paying. Do you think I sound "gestapo"? How would you suggest I get my surgery - do it myself?
Any utterance out of Cruz’s oral cavity is mindless babble! When are Harvard and Yale going to revoke his diplomas! Book smart possibly yet brain dead and breathing!
Cruz misread the work of Dr. Seuss to fulminate against the Affordable Care Act. The message of Green Eggs and Ham would support trying accessible healthcare even if it's something new for most Americans. So it's not surprising that Cruz is dissing Big Bird for promoting pandemic safety.
Cruz has never learned the
kindergarten lessons of 'work snd play well with others'. Although the GOP has learned the propaganda lessons of Goebbels and Riefenstahl in selling a racist right wing extremist agenda.
Also, is a congressperson threatening another congressperson subject to USCode, Title 18, " Threats against Public Officials" ( up to 5 years in prison)!
I vote most definitely and after what happened to Gabby, Gosar most definitely should be jailed. Pulling that 💩💩💩 and trying to pass it of as humorous is worse than despicable
Remember how Kathy Griffen was vilified and visited by the Secret Service after posing in a photo holding a mock up of trumps severed head??? Her career was virtually ruined. I just don’t get it.
Months ago I suggested that the unvaccinated be personally responsible for any and all COVID related healthcare costs. Now Singapore, with an 85% vaccinated rate, has instituted just such a policy. I think this $ motivation would be much more effective than mandates.
"In Georgia, [Trump] has backed Herschel Walker, whose ex-wife got a protective order against him after he allegedly threatened to shoot her. In Pennsylvania, Trump has endorsed Sean Parnell, whose wife testified that he choked her and abused their children physically and emotionally."
"Representative Paul Gosar ... yesterday posted an anime video in which his face was photoshopped onto a character that killed another character bearing the face of New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The Gosar character also swung swords at a Biden character and fought alongside Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO)."
I remember a time when the US was finally beginning to open its eyes to domestic violence. Now, Republicans are actively endorsing candidates who have a proven history of domestic violence. I remember a time when a member of Congress wouldn't dare release an ad remotely hinting of violence against another member of Congress let alone the president. Gosar's anime rip off is obscene, it left me shaking with anger and disbelief. These trends illustrate the very alarming fact that Republican leaders are willing to stop at nothing to actively push their base towards accepting and commiting increased violence in the home, within our communities and political arenas.
For weeks we have been discussing the Democrat's failure to coalesce and send a message of strength and party unity. Why? Because it simply does not exist. We've watched our leaders waste time, money and resources nitpicking about is "it" too progressive, not progressive enough, too conservative. In the meantime Republicans are literally flinging shit at the American people and no one, NO ONE, has the guts to stand up to them and pull the plug on their vile, immoral, unethical and illegal behaviors. It has gone on for far too long. Who is going to take a stand and speak up?
Tonight, in my mind's eye, I have the image of a house perched on the side of a hill with the rain washing away the ground beneath it. In a few moments there will be a mudslide and the house will go down destroying everything in its path. This is where we are.
Daria, great comment. I'm glad some other people are feeling the same sense of urgency I am, though I am afraid there is a lot of denial going on among Democrats who still hope this will all just blow over. It won't because it has gone on too long and only gotten worse.
We are in the midst of a creeping coup d'etat. Trump's GOP has the upper hand if they can just continue filling the airwaves and internet with their big lies and get to the midterms with DEMs in disarray. It took a born liar and thug like Trump to get the GOP over the top. The GOP's plan to attain a permanent hold on governmental power, despite unfavorable long-term demographic trends, once seemed to be wobbling and wavering, but it turns out Trump has been able to rip the band-aids off all the festering wounds on our body politic left by slavery and genocide and exacerbated by the culture of greed and selfishness which has become the norm ever since Reagan and, arguably, well before that. We are being forced to feel the pain of our rural white male population who imagine they can turn the clock back to the glory days of humble, shuffling African Americans (not the term they use) , women in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant, and cheerful Mexican immigrants staying out of sight as they put food on white folks' tables. Their white pain is real, but their reality is not.
Democrats, on the other hand, continue to let perfection be the enemy of the good, bicker, bicker, bicker as the GOP snickers. Biden, bless his heart, has imagined that passing some long-overdue legislation would be enough to change things, as if this matters to a bunch of angry racists and xenophobes. Joe! Give it up! There is no bipartisanship anymore. You don't have the votes to pass voting rights legislation. You are dealing with angry, well-armed criminals. You need to get them off the street. Now.
Daria, my first job out of graduate school was working for an organization devoted to helping domestic violence survivors. The basic tenet of DV is that the abuser uses power and control to keep the abused in line. Does this sound familiar? The rethuglicans have been using psychological violence to abuse those who don't follow. And there's been NO attempt to stop the abuse. No restraining orders against those who are the worst abusers. The Dems just carry on and whimper when the abuse happens in the open.... Where's the outrage?
Women must begin demonstrating in full force. They are attacking us, openly, blatantly. They are a dying party that have no idea what they are unleashing as they try to pull us all backwards into their tar pits.
As a former DV advocate I totally agree. Power, control and gaslighting…straight out of the DV handbook. And the more $$ they have, the longer they can get away with it.
Pam, that is the question. Where is the outrage? And what are young adults and children living in an ardent right wing environment learning as a result? That it's okay to abuse within their community. Generations of young people are learning, by example, that it's okay to abuse another in order to reach a goal.
Afraid I don't see the rethuglicans as the abused. They've just learned from the best how to psychologically abuse anyone who tries to point out the abuse. Yes, there are some R's who are the abused, i.e Kinsinger, Cheney, but people like McCarthy/McTurtleneck just keep the abuse going.
The culture of greed and selfishness has always been present in our common life. The greedy, selfish people wear different labels at different points in time. Currently, most such people wear the R label. Good character has always been a flimsy foundation for a country.
"Democrats, on the other hand, continue to let perfection be the enemy of the good,"
Exactly David. We need to accept how deadly serious and autocratic the party of Trump has become and develop a realistic OFFENSE, not defence. We need more theatre of our own to crush their despicable and absurd tactics. Gosar should be arrested for depicting MURDER. This is unacceptable. The information feed is so restricted (Matt Taibii, "Hate Inc" that reaching Trump people is nearly impossible. We need a cohesive viewpoint within the Democratic party to truly unify US. This is still not happening.
I think that Jim Wright refers to these folks as wanting the "magic unicorn" of perfect policy that is 100% aligned with their views of Utopia. He also says "If you want a better country, be a better citizen" which is also true; the first thing to do is vote as if your life depends on it, which it does.
"Democrats, on the other hand, continue to let perfection be the enemy of the good, bicker, bicker, bicker as the GOP snickers. Biden, bless his heart, has imagined that passing some long-overdue legislation would be enough to change things, as if this matters to a bunch of angry racists and xenophobes."
Every single Democratic accomplishment has been and will be weaponised by the GOP. That Rona McDaniel and the RNC have been groveling at Trump's feet since last election day is indicative of just how far they'll go to dominate the political landscape. That Democratic leadership have turned the party into us a doormat for the Republican party is outrageous. We have less than a year to pull it together. I am afraid.
If things continue down the road we’re on and there’s zero indication that they won’t, fear will help one be aware & being pissed will help with resisting & fighting back.
Good day y’all. Late to community today. I’ve been saying this one-liner for weeks and have basically lived by it most of my life. Always boots up during the month of October.
Yes, things are scary. It’s especially scary for me to see grown ass legislators getting their shitty knickers in a knot over Big Bird. And that it’s not a comedic parody on SNL. It’s done as being “serious politics”. And that Cruz gets hordes fist bumping after his ridiculous diatribe. Yes that is scary. Like every single other “violent at it’s core” antic. But guess what?
I’m not afraid. Maybe it’s because I’m a woman and have seen this boy bully bullshit since I was a kid beating up boys like this. I just do not feel afraid. Courage and optimism continues to well up in me because of it. And I will fight with all I’ve got to preserve the common good in our nation. That especially means to me, amongst all other things….education, thriving children and women, and voting rights and each vote being counted fairly.
Hi Christine. If you truly do not feel any fear, then I am not sure if I should congratulate you or feel worried for you.
I too am a woman and am definitely afraid of what the GOP will do once back in power. I despise what they are doing now.
Watching the “boy bully bullshit” from Gosar against AOC definitely strikes fear in me. Why? I have been the victim of that kind of violence. I have seen what happens to people when they become numb to violence, especially violence against women and well, anyone not male and white. It’s ugly and hateful and damaging and it still strikes fear in me. For myself and for all others. That fear, and my experiences, then fire up my anger and intent in fighting against all that “boy bully bullshit”.
I welcome that fear. I welcome the anger and motivation that it brings and ignites.
Hear her folks; she's a hard working, smart talking Democracy activist in the trenches. Christine's done a lot more than get her feet wet. She has the spirit that awakes up those around her, pushes the Democratic Party forward and literally supports the American people. More Christines, PLEASE!
I'm afraid too, Daria, but mostly angry because the road we have followed to get where we are is strewn with unseized opportunities. Not every story has a happy ending.
I suppose I get some bitter solace from knowing that this political moment will shrink to insignificance as our marvelous planet shrugs us off, as it has every other extinct species.
I think Biden is a good, decent man who is wholly unprepared for what this moment in our history demands. I don’t know the exact why (magical thinking, willful blindness, a psychological inability to face the ongoing coup d’etat, stuck in the far past when bipartisanship occurred on occasion…) but his and his AG’s floundering is going to cost us all dearly. History will note this but that doesn’t help us right now.
History will also note what we, you and I, did. In 50 years if we, you and I, are asked, " What did you do to help fight back against this takeover of democracy by authoritarian white supremicists?", I want to say I fought back and this is how.
I disagree. Neither the President or the DOJ are floundering. It just takes a whole lot longer to convict the criminal than it was to commit the crime.
Most of us voted for Biden to bring back simple decency and competence, which he is actively restoring. Any legislative accomplishments are in the hands of Congress. There lies my disappointment.
Does anyone else wonder if the political and corporate classes’ are in a barely-orchestrated dance of dysfunction, perpetuated by greed? Are the Ds actually clueless about R intentions? Can they really be so inept in messaging? Or are they willing partners in the charade?
Unless the DEMs find a way to eliminate the filibuster and pass urgently necessary voting rights legislation, I can see no way to dissuade you of this possibility. As you surely know, the corruption of Congress by Big Oil, Big Coal, Big Pharma, and Big Money generally was legalized by the SCOTUS several years ago.
But where is the motivation to alter/remove the filibuster if you’re participating in and benefiting from the dance?
SCOTUS was wrong but where is the legislation to remedy the Pandora’s box they opened? Languishing on some politician’s desk. Maybe when voting rights and campaign finance laws pass, I will reverse my pessimism. Until then, this cynical senior will continue to send letters and calls to congress critters, urging them to prove me wrong.
I feel all the same emotions, Daria. It "feels" as if Democrats are not as united as we would like to be. It feels as if the Republicans are sending a unified message that is effective. But is it really? I think they are circus out of control. We Democrats certainly need to learn how to "message" better and we certainly wish we could be as "disruptive" as the GQP. But there is another reality.
We are a true big tent party. We range from one end of the sensible spectrum to the other. And we ought to be proud of that. The Republicans "seem" united around a Trumpian model but if you dig deeper that is only the surface Fox Fiction appearance. There are millions of Republicans and right leaning Independents (we don't talk about them enough) who have stopped talking about politics and have no particular sympathy for 45 or 46. They just get up each day, feed the kids, go to work, come home, feed the kids, watch a show and pass out. We have not lost these people. We can win them over.
Yes, the truth is an onion that is peeled too slowly. But peeling is happening - you can read it in today's letter. Yes, we squabble as we make the sausage of legislating. That's frustrating but not new. Take a fresh look at what has happened since January 20th.
Breathe deep as you exhale the enormous relief that a seasoned, sensible, sincere and competent person grabbed the baton from a psychopath who was killing people daily in order to make his numbers look good. We are in an infinitely better place. And I truly believe that those folks who plod through life, when push comes to shove, would admit they sleep a lot better now.
As Democrats, I think we are neurotic and despite the power of our diversity we beat ourselves up about it. After all, which "left" vision should we all unite behind. Should we require that we be the party of AOC and Bernie? Fine with me. I am a Warren fan. But my wife is more moderate. Do I ask her to abandon her opinions and ideas? No. I listen and I learn. Very, very often she is spot on.
We passed an American Rescue Plan that sent a boatload of money all across this nation and provided a buffer that may have prevented a huge recession - let alone widespread starvation.
We made vaccinations a priority - helped people get shots! Saved thousands of lives, helped businesses reopen. Unemployment is down two years ahead of projections! Wall Street loves it! People are beginning to live more normally. That is not a small thing, right?
Look at the diversity in our cabinet appointments! Look at the manner in which we are conducting international diplomacy! Look at the fact that we are slowly beginning to regain respect in the world. Sure, the damage done in terms of trust by 45 will take a long time to rebuild. But it is happening. Instead of bullying and threatening, we are negotiating and supporting. This not go unnoticed by Putin and Xi - both of whom are on notice that there is a new sheriff who actually understands what cyber security means.
I agree that we need to re-package our accomplishments and goals. We have a huge treasure of good stuff to talk about. Let's be proud and talk it up!
We just passed a Trillion Dollar Infrastructure bill that will provide many jobs and haul us back up into First World status - roads, bridges, internet, climate impact - it's a big beautiful list. It's the most significant legislation of it's kind since Ike's National Highway project. It's huge!
If the best the Republicans can come up with is a stupid video of a Congressmen using a cartoon to swing swords at fellow politicians and a Senator attacking Big Bird for advocating vaccines....I see that as a sign of weird wobbly weakness. We will never, ever win over the folks who think that Cruz and Gosar are cool. Forget about it.
Let's focus on those hard working folks who plod through life and remind them of why we are creating a safer and more prosperous America. I feel your angst. I just refuse to be beaten down by GQP low lifes and their pathetic clown acts. We can do this. We can prevail.
Very positive post in very negative times; we always fault the media for focusing on the disarray and disunity but WE also have to shout out the progress that has been made in a relatively short time. We’ll be living with the chaos and destruction of the last admn for a long time, but there IS hope in the present…..even if things don’t move as fast as we would like. Easy to chant “Lock them up” but harder to wait for lasting justice.
Bill, The accomplishments of the Biden administration and the Democratic Party are the the 'other' reality or the reality too readily ignored, some of which you highlighted, thank goodness. It has, unfortunately, and too often been in the back seat as bashing the Party is the main dish for some avowed democrats. Yes, there is plenty of fault to be found with the Democratic Party, particularly for not marshalling and serving the power of its numbers. That's is one of the big issues the Party must reckon with, and it's an old story. What about what is happening today as you pointed out -- highlighting the 'governance' being executed by the Biden administration; the determination of the Congressional Progressive Caucus to get to the American people the support, earnings, safety net and opportunity that the Republican Party and American Oligarchs have stolen from them for decades. What about the strengths of Democrats such as Pelosi, Schiff, Clymer, Raskin, Swalwell, Plaskett, Neguse, Warren, Sanders, Klobuchar... and more? We have a lot against us -- a government, which was torn to shreds; the pandemic out of control; social media, Fox News and millions upon millions who have swallowed the LIES. The pro-democracy tent is much larger than its opponents' but, hey, there are a lot of differences within it, too -- we are up against it. Have you noticed, nevertheless, plenty of Democrats and Independents are not crying, but forging head through very rough terrain. We need more!
Thank you for that list of Biden's Executive Orders that have been passed! It is amazing that the news prefers the circus antics rather than shouting from the rooftops all the good things happening! And how many of the sharpie-pen crazed, previous, "so-called" president's executive orders have been rescinded? A lot!! Appears there are people hard at work...perhaps our VP is quietly using her powers...behind the scenes.
Gives me more hope that Garland's people are quietly doing their jobs...
Bill, thank you for your thoughtful response. There is no doubt that the Biden administration has accomplished some truly significant things in the last 10 months. But you, Fern, Penelope and others misunderstand my comment - unfortunately that stupid video is not the best they can come up with. The creeping insidiousness they inject into every day life, normalizing violence, brutality, injustice, inequality, the dumbing down of education and the drive to pit people against one another on the street, in stores at school board meetings are the things we need to be afraid of and stand up against. And WE Democrats are not dominating our own message. THAT is the problem .
Yes, I am very aware of the good things that have happened since Biden took office. I am proud to have voted for a team dedicated to making life better for ALL the people, however, I am disappointed and disheartened by the fact that Democrats, MY party, cannot develop and deliver a message loud and clear enough to counter the civil destruction happening from the Republican grass roots level on up.
I’ve been listening to Thom Hartman’s radio program for over 10 years. Throughout that decade, numerous guests have been asked about D messaging. Yet, nothing has changed. Nothing.
Who exactly should be creating the uniting message we can shout all over social media? Are there no marketing experts who will work with the Ds to come up with an overarching strategy?
Quasi-catchy names for legislation is not enough. Can’t Ds learn from their corporate donors how to market the party’s values?
Boggles my mind to hear Ro Khanna and Mark Pocan, weekly Hartman guests, agree with callers that they need to do a better job of messaging. Over and over and over again.
I am grateful every time I watch Jen Psaki and her daily press messsging. The fact that I do not have to listen Conway or McEnany who fled to Fox, is a total win for me.
Totally agree. Thank you. However, in a Democracy is there room for both your reality based optimism as well as fearful disappointment at continuing lack of civil comportment among cult Republicans ?
All true, Bill And that whole list should be shouted from the housetops by our Dem representatives every time a mic is put in front of them. Frustrating.
It's not about listing accomplishments, Fern, its about messaging. It's about developing a cohesive, coherent message and a strategy to deliver that message, all day, every day, 24/7.
When Trump is the standard-bearer of the Republican Party, then you know they have reached the bottom of the barrel.
With regard to why Democrats cannot coalesce/unite around purging Republicanism from American politics and supporting representative democracy, I generally think most politicians (true progressives are the exception) believe in the New Golden Rule - those who have the gold make the rules.
The only way democracy is restored is to get all the money out of politics and term limit every elective office. We also need to think about term limiting Supreme Court justices. The wealthy in this country have enough money and clout to control members of Congress, the presidency, and now Supreme Court justices. Democracy will not be restored until our defacto plutocracy is ended.
Daria, I've resigned myself to the fact that none of this is going to happen, certainly not in my lifetime. I've experienced the New Golden Rule first hand and daily experience the ugliness that pervades American society. Greed and avarice abound and it preys on the most vulnerable with impunity. This is a country of a few 'haves' and a whole lot of 'have-nots.' The have-nots don't stand a chance against the haves. Money rules!
Anyway, I've greatly reduced my commenting on forums and soon will stop altogether. It's just a way to let off a little steam from time to time. I'm moving on and plan on enjoying my final years around like-minded people who care about others and value relationships over material goods/things.
It's way past time to let the younger generation assume responsibility for guiding the country forward. The sooner that the political dinosaurs die off, the better off the country will be. Right now there are not too many AOCs willing to put up with the crap that the Democratic 'moderates' throw at her. Every single day is another lesson in futility.
As for me, right or wrong, out of sight, out of mind. Watching and reading about all this crap would definitely ruin my day. HCR, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, and Greg Olear are about my limit these days.
Don, thank you. I agree that the New Golden Rule is what propels politics and politicians on both sides of the aisle. I am at a point where I, too, am ready to walk away from most forums, including this one. In reality it's pointless to comment here or anywhere else as the comments go nowhere beyond "these 4 walls".
I wish you all the best in your quest to enjoy your final years with like-minded people. I can guarantee, you'll be very content in doing so.
Mim, Thank you. I won't leave but there is little point in me or anyone else stating that the Democratic Party message is fragmented and uninspired then have people rattle off a list of Dem accomplishments, talk about the big tent and tell me I'm missing the "good" the Dems have done. No, I know what Dems have and have not done. I'm not the one who needs to be convinced that the Dems are generally working for the good of all the people. My thrust is and has been our lousy messaging - it seems that those in a position to fix it simply don't care enough to do so.
Comments on here are more productive than my convo with cultist bro. And i spoke with love and respect, he is stuck. Maybe later but I won’t bet the farm….
Daria, I enjoy reading your comments/links and have learned a lot from them. I’m sort of a newbie( here a couple months) but have to disagree that “ the comments go nowhere beyond these four walls.” Many of the commenters, including you, have provided insight/info/contacts/suggestions that have inspired me to act.My very small contributions may not make a bit of difference, but at least it gives me hope.
I actually mentioned you living on the Yucatán when I suggested to hubby we move out of the country if TFG is again elected. It’s definitely sounds more habitable than Cedros Island, where hubby’s family had roots. If you’re not familiar,it’s a pretty desolate island where his grandfather’s family canned abalone back in the day.
Kathy, I had to look Cedros Island up. Wow. You're not kidding about it being desolate. It would be interesting to visit. Thanks for your kind words. I think I've simply reached a tipping point – my frustration and anger spilleth over. If TFG is reelected Yucatán may just be the ticket for you! We like it.
Daria,I truly understand your frustration and anger.
Hubby’s grandmother( a physically tiny force to be reckoned with :) wanted to give her children a better life as US citizens so she had all of them here, of course when immigration was a much different deal. Her husband stayed on Cedros and she would return there each summer from California with the kids. When her husband became older he moved to Ensenada.
My father-in-law became a much respected electrical engineer in the space program. We’re very grateful for the opportunities he had in a much different time..
Your husband's grandmother sounds extraordinary. The vision she and her husband had for their family is the way it's supposed to be for everyone. Stay well!🌷
I understand what you are saying about preaching to the choir Daria. I feel that way too.
Still, I do find coming here to be of benefit. It helps to know there are like-minded people with similar values, concerns & worries. And, at times I find new ways of considering things, different approaches of looking at a problem or issue. I may not agree but I welcome the opportunity to tickle my brain, to keep it active and not stale.
I value your thoughts and input here and I thank you for contributing. If you leave or take a break (which I do as needed) I respect and understand that and I wish you nothing but the best.
Don, you write, "I'm moving on and plan on enjoying my final years around like-minded people who care about others and value relationships over material goods/things." But aren't many, or most, of HCR's readers those very people you prefer to be around?
My issue with term limits is how to get people to run for office when campaigning is so nasty. Who in their right mind wants that? And I hope you are including lobbying in getting money out of politics.
I suspect Dems aren’t going to stop Repubs ugly behavior because they think it’s going to help Dems show how crazy Repubs are.
Unfortunately, people have both become accustomed to this behavior and it’s just another day in our slowly escalating civil war and they’ve figured out how to see only what they want to see so it’s only helping Repubs get stronger.
I’m going to measure a particular distance behind men & find boot print resistant clothing in preparation for the possibility that Republicans win the war. I’ll be living in a vehicle no matter who wins, so this is just an added element to the misery.
Well said. To have multiple elected officials doing what was portrayed in the AZ Representative's stolen and "repurposed" anime video and to endorse a documented wife abuser (one who really lives in Texas and not Georgia, by the way) is flabbergasting.
That video made me physically sick too Daria. Both the video and the knowledge that absolutely nothing will be done about it. I am disgusted by, and ashamed of, my government, especially those who should do something about this - now and with the urgency it requires.
Teddy Roosevelt's approach to diplomacy was charactorized as "speak softly and carry a big stick" the success of this approach required the possession of superior force, acting justly, never bluffing and only striking when prepared to strike hard. It seems to me that the current administration is having great difficulty with the last part...striking hard. Just waggling the big stick in the air never impressed anyone and encourages the enemy to believe you're bluffing. Time for Garland to strike for democracy and hit Bannon hard and for the democrats to hit hard the filibuster rule protecting voting rights from its iniquitous clutches.
I’m actually prepared to give diplomacy some time. After all, they too see what’s going on in the USA, so why commit to anything when they see the likelihood of America falling apart if Republicans win fully or half-win again like in 2020.
Timing is important too as in "Strike while the iron is hot". If we fail to move when the opportunity presents we may lose the chance completely. There are irons cooling all over the place and one is the possibility of putting away the dfp where he belongs.
The Democrats' response to the traitors has been tepid at best. Garland is Mr. Milque Toast. Hopefully, I am wrong on that assessment but he comes across as weak-kneed.
'Instead of leaving the Republican party, Trump is rebuilding it in his own image.'
Trump is not rebuilding the Republican party. The Republican party is overthrowing our constitutional democratic republic.
Trump personifies the Republican party. He tailored his suit to their style - it did not take much alteration. Red hats are the new white hoods; racist right wing religious extremists need no longer cover their faces. Although the Leonard Leo Supreme Court continues the tradition of covering their white sheets with black robes. (Including, Clarence Thomas, who pulling the affirmative action ladder up behind him, has declared civil rights protections to be the new slavery which is emasculating Black men.)
Trump did not create today's GOP whole cloth, he merely put his brand on their product. Trump is the second coming of their god Ronald Reagan - writ large and writ vulgar. Arousing populists in service of plutocrats was long in place. If Trump brings anything to the table, it's a taste for sexual brutality which appeals to men from the hardhat to the tassel loafer variety - and the women who love them.
Trump has the bully's obsession with domination and the coward's fascination with violence. As January 6 put center stage, when Trump cried 'Hey boys and girls, let's put on an insurrection' they all hopped to - while he hied it back to the White House (and Pence was hidden in a garage.)
Trump tried to co-opt the military, but only got so far as his Pentagon appointees assisting the street brawlers in sacking the Capitol, while Trump supporters of the McConnell and Cruz sort tried overturning the election in the chambers. From Reagan to Trump, from Ailes to Hannity, the right wing revolution is made to be televised.
That and this: "If Trump brings anything to the table, it's a taste for sexual brutality which appeals to men from the hardhat to the tassel loafer variety - and the women who love them." One has only to start a list - I'll begin with Gaetz and Gosar and Greene.
Although I am relieved that the Fourth Estate (the press) is finally starting to go back to its day job of actual investigative reporting, we still have to deal with the dog-whistling, whiplash-inducing idiocy of these same press outlets, which use melodramatic headlines to sell papers (paper and digital). What I see as more promising is that local politics are finally getting some attention from Dems, who are beginning to realize that the grassroots neo-Con movements of the 1980s and forward created the crisis we are now in. I am not sure if it is too little too late. I am hoping it is a start.
Once everyone stops huffing and puffing about the faux controversy over Critical Race Theory, I am predicting that the new rightwing hysteria (and I use that term deliberately, as it means "womb disease" in the original Greek and refers to the Hippocratic idea that women have uteruses that are untethered and wander around their bodies in search of nutrients) will come from the public response and excitement over a new book about the origins of human civilization--which is getting a lot of attention (I suspect) because the two authors are white men, so therefore safe (although one founded the Occupy movement)--The Dawn of Everything, by David Graeber and David Wengrow, both of whom are/were (Graeber died last year) prominent social scientists in anthropology and economics, and who have written an exhaustive account of how anthropology, sociology, archaeology, and economics, by assuming a male default, have been consistently wrong about how civilization came to be. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/11/graeber-wengrow-dawn-of-everything-history-humanity/620177/
For me this is a "well, duh" moment because I have been arguing that line for decades, as have pretty much all of the women in academia in those fields and history for the last 30 years or so. But because we have vaginas, no one in media pays attention. Feeling a little cynical that the white male savior thing that the West still seems to consider necessary is actually being enacted in order to DEBUNK the white male savior thing, but it's a start at least. But because this book has hit the Amazon feed with a bang, expect the rightwingnuts to go bananas.
As a final Tuesday musing (sorry, these have been building up over a very busy couple of weeks!): For those of you who follow John Pavolvitz, he is getting trolled to the max by the MAGA crowd for his new book--full bore hysteria about it. So if you like him and think his essays on religion and human behavior are worth reading and pondering (which I do, even though I am an atheist), "like" his books on Amazon and other bookstore outlets. His newest book, If God is Love, Don't Be a Jerk is the one getting most of the haters' attention.
I laughed at your post, Linda, because it reminded me of something my mother used to say. God looked at Adam and said, “We can do better.” And God created woman. My mother had a dry ironic sense of humor, and she and l used to laugh over her little joke. John Pavlovitz is a deep thinker, and I appreciate his common sense writing. Probably what bothers the fragile right.
John Pavlovitz is my pastor even tho I am Atheist. He is the only actual Christian that I have seen using that title. (My Patron Saint is St. Francis even tho I am not Catholic)
The reviews were fascinating. One of them (from the UK): "By the end of the book, we encounter the archaeological gem that is Minoan Crete – a ‘beautiful irritant for archaeology’ – where all evidence points to the existence of an ancient system of female political rule, most likely a theocracy run by a college of priestesses."
Someone should send this book as a gift to Josh Hawley.
And the wait for Steven Bannon's prosecution continues. Being methodical in such matters is a quality, but this case is hardly rocket science. To mix metaphors, it's a slam dunk for the Justice Department. And forcing Bannon to testify will put enormous pressure on the growing list of others subpoenaed to not play games. The House select committee has identified the key conspirators, now it's time for them to face questioning under oath.
I see it differently. The DOJ is quietly building an irrefutable case from the bottom up, flipping minor insurrectionists and major Rudy Guilianis while obtaining solid, irrefutable evidence that will stick. None of this is a slam dunk with t-Rump's weasley Republican professional criminals. They must be Al Caponed. The House Select Committee is publicly exposing The Truth as they investigate, and put both witnesses and connivers on the stand. When The Fall comes, it will happen quickly, precisely and completely.
I agree. My point regards the legitimacy of subpoenas, which must be enforced to expose The Truth. Bannon was the first to refuse to testify and has an extraordinarily weak case. He needs to be criminally charged ASAP to ensure the others inclined to hold out think again.
Sesame Street started using the character Ronald Grump in 1988 in unflattering skits. So I see the flack about Big Bird to have an audience of one for Sen. Cruz, etc. In 2017, I was quoted in the Wall Street Journal 10-Point column readers response question on DTs first budget and made a reference to Big Bird then.
“Mr. Trump’s budget proposal is one I would expect from some third-world, despot dictator who has no empathy for the well-being of its citizenry. This does not make us safer since it encourages an arms race; it does make us dumber by devaluing the arts and science. The world loses because climate catastrophe can only be diverted by world cooperation. In buying Mr. Trump’s narcissistic, vindictive reality, Earth is headed for the failure of its experiment with civilization. If I have a choice between Sesame Street and another new fighter, I choose the Big Bird that doesn’t fly or carry nuclear weapons.”
That's so important to call it for what it is: climate catastrophe or global warming. "Climate change" is a less alarming term promoted by Newt Gingrich's wordsmith pollster, Frank Luntz:
"In a confidential memo to the Republican party, Luntz is credited with advising the Bush administration that the phrase "global warming" should be abandoned in favour of "climate change", which he called a "less frightening" phrase than the former."
I had decided to use climate catastrophe four years ago, quote was written in March, 2017, because climate change just did not describe its impact. We're just seeing the tip of the iceberg now. Soon catastrophic won't be enough to describe it.
Frank and Newt were just the forerunners to Fox in the effort to turn our politics toxic. Even they were latecomers…. Adlai Stevenson made this comment way back there “I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my republican friends…that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.”
Thank you, Ellie. I have never felt Climate Change fully captured what has been going on --it is factual -- but not nearly as alarming as the truth about what is happening to Earth and its habitants. We are in the Emergency Room. Climate Catastrophe or Earth Emergency?
To mirror my response from my Facebook post, as encouraging the Biden Administration is to its efforts on International terrorism, I feel they are doing nothing more than nailing jello to the wall regarding the January 6th Insurrection. If the Justice Department isn't willing to enforce both its decisions and the law, why bother with subpoenas. It just reinforces the weakness of the Democrats.
Linda, I agree. Investigation (10 months have passed since Jan. 6th), arrest, interrogation, preventive detention as needed, trials. The DOJ needs to get it's collective ass in gear.
I see it differently. The DOJ is quietly building an irrefutable case from the bottom up, flipping minor insurrectionists and major Rudy Guilianis while obtaining solid, irrefutable evidence that will stick. None of this is a slam dunk with t-Rump's weasley Republican professional criminals. They must be Al Caponed. The House Select Committee is publicly exposing The Truth as they investigate, and put both witnesses and connivers on the stand. When The Fall comes, it will happen quickly, precisely and completely.
I lost faith after feeling the same as you about Mueller and count ‘em two impeachments. TFG exploits the foibles of our creaky justice system and I am nearly certain he will prevail dooming our democracy. Desperately hoping I’m wrong!
Well, MaryPat, I do not know what sort of inside information makes you think the DOJ is doing its job as it should, but it seems clear to me that the principal perpetrators of what happened on Jan. 6th are still on the street and acting as if they are the ones with nothing to worry about. Further, if even a tenth of what has been reported about events that day in the MSM is true, Trump and many of his flunkies (several of whom hold elected office) should already be in prison awaiting trial and ratting on one another. In fact, it strikes me there is an unusual number of slam dunks ready to be, well, slam dunked.
What I see being shown by the DOJ - and by extension, by Joe Biden - is excessive caution due to the unfortunate precedent that will need to be established of one President imprisoning another, or, to be more precise, ensuring that no one is above the law and that we are a nation of laws. Any "political" scruples need to be overcome.
From a purely political point of view, waiting until, let's say, the late summer of 2022 to begin trying the coup plotters will have more of a partisan smell to it than just getting it done now, as if it were a really urgent necessity to get these traitors behind bars and out of politics before they bring our nation to its knees. For Democrats and for everyone else, speed is of the essence.
I agree. Plus, while they have crawled along, several of the Jan 6th insurrectionists had time to run for and be elected to office. That should have never been allowed.
Two things occur to me: 1 it took till March, I think, before Garland was confirmed, and 2 he inherited a mess at DOJ, including vacant positions among other things. Also, he seems like a very deliberate man who would naturally go slowly. I’m as eager as everyone to see at least the beginning of indictments.
The stakes could not be higher for the 2022 midterm election. Indictments needs to come down from the Justice Department. And, why has Steven Bannon not been charged with ANYTHING after ignoring a Congressional subpoena???? The longer this goes on, the more emboldened the seditionists will become.
I agree with you about the subpoenas. Right now America yawns every time another one is issued. These subpoenas have no teeth. We could become the next Ethiopia.
Solving cybercrime is great. Protecting AOC is invaluable. This woman's life has been threatened. She has been physically harassed twice and now this.
Infrastructure Bill passage is fabulous. Protect voting rights of there might not be much USA to fix up.
The fascist Republican Party is practicing more and more violent rhetoric. Are we becoming too used to this? Attorney General Garland needs to stop being afraid of the Republicans. Arrest Bannon.
Don't limit Republicans to "facists". Stalin and the Russian "communist" party were even more ruthless, calling themselves in 1945 saviors of "democracy". They allowed just a few select opposition parties to exist after killing and incarcerating their "enemies" which ran from the Boy Scouts to newspapers to universities to religious leaders to business owners to other communists who did not show sufficiently loyalty. Absolutely nothing was allowed to coexist in the same countries with the Russian Communist Party.
Both are forms of totalitarianism, very close on a 360 degree political scale. Fascism is basically communism with private enterprise like Russia and China now.
Absolutely! The name of economic system is inconsequential as totalitarianism serves the dictators, building and protecting their power while funneling wealth in their direction, as they give protection and remuneration back to those who give them the most.
In my opinion the January 6 Commission committed a grave error in referring Bannon and others to the DOJ for ignoring its subpoenas. Had it exercised its inherent contempt powers and sent out Marshals to arrest and detain the scofflaws, even if in a cushy hotel room, the burden of proving why they should be released would have been on Bannon et al, and they would have had to march into court and convince a judge. By referring the matter to DOJ, the Commission retained the burden and allowed the bums to remain at large while Garland's people dither. Poor strategic thinking.
I read that the Steve Bannon "case" is moving along very, very methodically to avoid missteps that might set back desired progress. Who would have believed there are so many anti-American traitors among us?
The Watergate scandal began early in the morning on June 17, 1972. Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. That's two-plus years between the criminal act and the president's resignation.
We are now just 10+ months beyond January 6. It is my belief that under a democracy, accountability does not rush in, guns blazing. Democracy follows the Rule of Law. That takes time.
Watergate happened in an era before the takeover of our cultural environment by the propaganda engine of the movement conservatives. $13 Billion spent on psyop campaigns, 5500 brought university professors, etc., has created the most successful propaganda experiment of human history. Please remember that the key condition of propaganda is that the more successful it is, the less the victims are aware of it.
First, I am profoundly grateful every day for you. I marvel at your ability to put such hard work into this every day. I’m always glad when you take a break! We need you. Second, I am alarmed at how slowly the wheels of justice are turning both in the Congress and in the department of justice and various other jurisdictions investigating Trump and the insurrection. and it is my sense, without any factual basis, but Biden in ministration did not wish to spend it’s energy or political capital in pursuing and prosecuting Trump both for practical and political reasons. However, I cannot see how the country could be any more polarized than it is now, So I do not see a downside to a swift and figure is prosecution of the former president. It seems to me that the danger of allowing a sitting president to commit treason, election fraud etc without consequences outweighs the political and civil fallout. What is your opinion? Are they worried about civil unrest or even civil war?
Last night on MSNBC's Chris Hayes, the lack of judicial where-with-all (i.e. Merrick Garland) to indict and prosecute trump and his minions for criminal offenses was part of the conversation. They have gotten away with criminal offenses while we wring our hands and say how awful it is. That Bannon, et. al. are not in jail for contempt of Congress is also frustrating as hell. What is the point of even going through all this if nothing is going to be done.
We are long past the time where the constant drip, drip, drip of information regarding January 6th is moving anything forward and in the meantime the criminal cabal continues to operate without consequences. As far as I'm concerned AG Garland should be replaced with someone who can stand the heat and do what needs to done to bring criminal charges and prosecute these people. IMO, it has become apparent that, while he might have made a worthy Supreme Court justice, Garland is not an effective U.S. Attorney General.
Garland is coming from the perspective of a judge and not as a prosecutor. A good prosecutor is a little bit hot-headed with enough common sense to know when to push. A judge has to wait until the end in order to make their ruling.
In this case, Garland (who is doing a good job with the mess he was left) need a bit more prosecutorial swagger and a bit less of the judicial restraint.
If the MAGAts riot because tfg is prosecuted, then we should just prepare for that. They tend to resort to (or threaten) violence anyway; it might as well be for a good cause.
We got to this point by not holding treasonous (Confederates) and criminal politicians accountable. The let’s move on attitude eventually gets you to the cliff with no where else to go.
Yes , but it’s more about the world at large watching. As it stands evidence gathering builds a strong case. So this needs the most time and attention. If they bring charges they have to have the most through and documented. Then if they bring charges to TFG there’s a 2 yr Statute of Limitations. So I’m thinking they would like to at least get through 2022. Hopefully nail him before 2024 ? TFG has had 4500 + Litigations in his life time. He’s gotten out of or very cheaply out of most of them by playing the Long Game.Take it to heart when Heather mentioned that they threaten him to not pay his Legal Fees and take His E-Mail list of supporters away that brings him in $.
I hear clearly and share in the frustration expressed in the comments today. You are all excellent writers. Start flooding the newspapers with letters to the editor. Not just one, keep writing every week. Be clear, succinct and firm. And keep those emails and calls to the White House and your Congress people going out. Let’s not be part of the silent majority.
What a palaver! These Republicans are beyond belief! The fact that they are elected officials makes my skin crawl. What a bunch of conniving crooks and liars!
Jeri and Cate, please don't even get me started on that! They also happen to be -- hands down -- the world's most uneducated, bigoted, racist, totalitarian autocrats!
And misogynistic abusers of their women. Trumper women should really take notice--their men are committing heinous acts and should be called out. That might be what we non-repubs have to do daily. No one who has committed atrocious acts should be allowed to run for any public office. WTH! These are our role models for our youth. Stop them!
Can anyone speak to the end game of the The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol? Will it report its findings well before the midterms? Will private citizens be able to sue Trump into bankruptcy for damages for putting democracy in danger, based on the House Select Committee's findings? It seems that $1-10 per US resident, in a class action lawsuit, would do the trick.
Morning, Matt!! I like the idea of private citizens suing the loser guy. Something like Texas is advocating to undermine reproductive rights for their female citizenry.
My father hated rugby, saying the only rule of the game was that you couldn't use a gun. "Ah yes, there are rules," he said, "but nobody follows them, so what you have is chaotic mud wrestling. And who plays the game? Thugs hell bent on murdering each other."
Perhaps he was describing today's GOP... classless, loud, ugly, pugnacious, flailing, interested only in getting over the goal line, the be all and end all of their existence which conveys on them the power to lord it over others.
Today's elected Democrats don't seem to have caught on to the fact that although they think they may be playing polite pickle ball, the other side is playing a vicious game of rugby. They talk about things that have become meaningless, like "bipartisanship," "getting it done together," "due process," "healthcare for all," and other things one might expect of a civilized society. But they seem unaware that, sadly, the most visible part of this society is anything but civilized. It has become like my father's conception of rugby....mud wrestling by thugs with no rules of play or decorum applicable.
Maggie Hassan, junior senator of New Hampshire, is running ads that show in the Boston area for her next senate run. They talk about what she's promoting in soft, polite terms, and a local character comes on to tout that what she's proposing is bipartisan..."that's the way to go, because when something is bipartisan it sticks." Every time I see this ad I want to scream "You're playing pickle ball against a rugby team!" Within minutes of this ad appearing there's a Halloween style horror ad for a NH GOP candidate depicting Nancy Pelosi as an Addams Family creature with the message "Tell Nancy Pelosi to keep her hands off your bank account!!!!.....vote for xxx ." The juxtaposition of the ads so makes my point about Dems playing pickle ball against a rugby team it's laughable.
Do I know what to do about all this? Hell no, but I do think it's time for democrats to recognize the cognitive dissonance they are practicing and get real about who and what they are dealing with. There IS no bipartisanship. There is NO deal making to be done. Schumer needs to use every single loop hole and procedural gambit available to get things done for good just as McConnell has used procedural gambits to obstruct for decades now. Garland needs to hurry up, accept that he is dealing with a nationwide mafia led by a ruthless Don, and take action to put the scofflaws in jail. Slow and deliberate isn't cutting it...it's just emboldening the thugs to get up to more dirty tricks...and the stakes are horrifyingly high.
Nicely written, but I don't want "us" to become "them." The letter today emphasizes the Democratic goal of slow but sure and weeding out the bad guys, one by one. I do think that Trump is weakened, and surely he's become anathema to some in his party. The Repubs have specialized in tweaking elections for decades. They have not won the popular presidential vote in like, forever. Our goal is to dismantle the entrenched dynamics, such as gerrymandering, redlining, the electoral college, and racism that pervade the party and unfortunately, too many party supporters. "Nothing is so vicious as a wounded animal."
Sorry Hope, but it is hopeless to be nice to a bunch of thieving, lying and murderous thugs. You don't bring a knife to a gunfight. You can speak softly, but should use the big stick when needed. I can find more apt platitudes if needed, like maybe playing Chess in the middle of a Rugby scrimmage is futile.
I would agree, sad but true, look at all the financial offers to get vaccinated. Yet the mandate has been needed to get more people on board with this public health crisis. Sometimes the stick is what is needed, hopefully the justice department will bring it on!
Yes, I think the justice department holds the big stick and as a country of laws that's what we can rely on -- provided the department has the will to punish. I'm afraid I sense a weakness in Garland (and maybe others, too) to do that. Maybe I'm wrong.
Rob, I don't think that Hope is talking 'nice'. She's talking strategy and reality. She has aimed at our goals. Give her comment another look.
Sorry, but we are past the point of slow but sure. The latest insanity...i.e. Paul Gosar tweeting out a animated video of his killing of AOC and threatening President Biden....shows why. He is not being censured, removed from committees, or anything. Yet the 13 Republican congress people who voted for the infrastructure bill are being threatened with removal from committees, even if they are "ranking members". They need to be removed from congress, period. No more mister nice guy.
I'd love to find out that some of the larger Democrats paid him a visit and gave him a chance to demonstrate his courage. Allred and Swalwell come to mind... Heck, I'd bet he'd run away from a confrontation with AOC.
I totally agree with you, Hope. Plenty of arrows sticking already and the coming bills into law will be arrows straight up the kiester.
Yes, Hope … we can “ hope” the Dems will weed the bad guys out but one by one is not fast enough… for every one we rid ourselves of, 2 more Marjorie Taylor Greene’s join the Rethuglicans. It’s a cancer that needs to be cut out…chemo and radiation are too weak and take too long.
Thanks Carolyne, thugs playing rugby vs polite pickle ball players. Great image, perfect analogy. What to do, what to do?
I see a deer frozen in the headlights.
… ends badly.
Yes! They need to hire the Lincoln Project to do their ads!!!
Your last comment reminds me of a photo of GW Bush!
Yes, I agree with all you (and your dad) said, except I have more faith (and Faith) in Garland. The discovery and convictions must be done right (which is tedious), or the worst, vindication, will happen.
I also lean more toward trusting and knowing that discovery and convictions must be done right. Cases need to be water tight. However, I also agree with something I read the other day reminding us that Garland was a judge (analyzing, interpreting evidence, weighing legal precedents) not a prosecutor (protect the innocent, investigate and prosecute criminals) so his methods are quite different. He likely spends more time weighing the legalities than actually leading the team to dig for evidence therefore perhaps not the right person to lead the Justice Dept.
Let’s not forget what Kamala “was”. And a brilliant one at that. And Garland has a brilliant staff. He is exactly the right one to lead the DOJ in my opinion.
Garland WAS a prosecutor and is renown for his successful prosecution of the Oklahoma City bombing case.
Good to know, thanks. Interesting that that wasn’t sited in the other newsletter I read.
Yes , their names will be pasted all over the internet as objects if shame
The best way to handle a gang of bullies is to bloody the nose of the biggest one.
Often when challenged, they flee.
They might well .
“They’re coming to take me away…”
Ok, but legally. Permanently.
Bloody the noise metaphorically speaking and if that doesn’t get the job done and all other options are exhausted then actually, we are at the tipping point of actually.
Caroline, we need to be careful not to turn into the Republican rugby team for fear that the enemy becomes us. I also want to remind you that there were a few Republicans in the House of representatives that helped the bipartisan bill get passed and sent to the President to sign. Martin Luther King junior turned the trajectory of the black experience into a far better future although there is much more work to be done e.g. the 1619 project.
Biden seems to me to be a steady hand and hopefully will be much more appreciated by the citizens of this country over time.
Rugby just ISN'T a good analogy.
As a solid rugby fan, I do not embrace your father's take on the game. No offense. But, in fairness he is on to one thing: Politics is a form of pugilism -- blood sport, a fact the Democrats continue to thrive in denial of. We have reached the bare-knuckles stage of poltiical theater in the U.S. thanks to the Republican traitors. The Democrats still want to bring mittens, believing they can talk their way out of anything. The only way to beat a bully is to become one. Perhaps that is the one lesson that is a takeaway from rugby. My favorite teams: Saracens of England; All Blacks from New Zealand.
My father had strong opinions about everything. He would have found it ironically amusing that the one sport he paid any attention to at all and hated was the same one his great grandson excelled at, becoming a member of a European country's national team. Yes, blood sport. I have never seen a bully succumb to words, and while it might be obvious that I love them, I know they appeal only to those willing to be persuaded.
I "weaned" myself off most of the U.S. sports long ago, favoring Euro Football (soccer) and Rugby. Many of those lads with brawn also have brains. As to your dad's great grandson, kudos! To be a member of a national team is quite the honor.
As to a bully "succumbing to words", you are spot on. But. Face one down, and quite often they will cower. I do not see ruggers as bullies, but I suspect many a bully would see himself a rugger but never really make it.
Indeed. Bullies don't last in rugby. As a ref, I've had a few occasions when captains ASKED me to red card one of their own players.
There is a widely held misperception that bullies are "tough guys" when in fact, like Donald Trump, they are hollow inside. They carry within themselves an eternal fear. Sometimes in every sport tempers flare up a bit, which is normal. When I see a red card, I know the lad has stepped way over the line.
I’ve said it before. Scary, but I’m not afraid. I learned a long ass time ago that being a bully is not how you take one down and dirty.
Politics is a blood sport only for Republicans. For the Democrats, it’s Fox trot and rugby players look awfully clumsy on the dance floor. Two steps forward, one step back.
…and also includes the other half of the human race.
Carolyn, well done. Well written! I couldn't agree more. I am starting to agree with Robert Hubbell, too, that Merrick Garland is not willing to face the people who really need to be brought in. Someone on one of the MSNBC shows last night, Chris or Rachel, suggested Garland is wiling to prosecute, lightly, the people who entered the Capitol without permits, but the people behind the whole thing? Nada. I am in favor of the select committee using their own subpoena power and sending a marshal or sergeant at arms (or whatever those people are called) to bring in the people who are in contempt of Congress. Maybe that's what Garland thinks and hopes will happen, but he isn't waiting for us all to guess or read his mind.https://www.findlaw.com/litigation/legal-system/contempt-of-congress-process-and-penalties.html
I looked it up. Darn, it looks like we some other laws that need to be passed or changed! But we need solid majorities for that to ever happen. We can pay the Lincoln Project or develop our own new advertising group to start getting the right kind of messaging out there. The ads need to focus on the Trump base and make it clear how their Republican leaders at almost every level are in it for power and their own money. You do that by having homey scenes where hard working white people are are doing normal things like trying to get a loan and being told their credit rating is poor so they have to pay more. Then have a split screen or follow-up that shows the Board Room or whatever of the banks talking about how to fleece these people for their own profit. There is so much available out there. Heather let us know how nearly every downturn had greedy bankers as the lead cause. So much to share with the ill-informed. Let bygones be bygones? That's just plain stupid in this case.
Dante in his “Inferno”, had a special circle in Hell for bankers, where they were forced to wear lead coats — a symbol of the weight of debt they had placed on others. I find that image useful and informative. Greed has been one of the deadly seven sins for a long time. But I do have one question. Is the Lincoln Brigade a truly bi-partisan effort? I admire their ads. They are indeed brilliant. But, given my long observation of the Republican Party, I wonder who they would be if given power.
Garland is a huge disappointment. At least, at this stage. The passivity among those who lean Democratic is fully angering.
When the rats have taken over your neighborhood and are multiplying.... I have to wonder whether bringing meals and clothing to the inhabitants who can neither move from nor fight the hordes of rats is the he most appropriate strategy. The rugby-pickle ball analology resonates. I really believe our democratic progressive goals are very much on target to needs (though not all know this), but the vermin really are the priority. This is not a matter of principle, but of societal health. It's hard to feed the needy when the rats at running around their ankles and across the table. Sometimes you have to close the sewer upstream to clean up the water we all need.
Please do not equate my game with anything being done by the Republicans. I'll admit that there are occasional problems of conduct in it (what sport doesn't have them?) but the game in general , governed by LAWS rather than RULES, is one in which an adherence to a code of sportsmanship is required. GAWD, but I'm tired of people mis-using and misrepresenting what rugby is. I'd love to know where and in what code your father played.
Somehow my reply got lost....the essence of it was that my recollection of my father's rants about rugby (about 75 years ago?) seemed to provide an apt foil compared with pickle ball for what's going on between dems and repubs. I still think it's an apt analogy, though I know little about rugby save the aforementioned rants. I've only seen a few rugby matches and came away thinking it appeared to be mud wrestling interspersed with pushing and shoving. And I once played tennis with a rugger. (I was quite good...a club champion one year). It was a match to behold and perhaps gave birth to my notion of pickle ball vs rugby team as reminiscent of what I see going on.
In addition, rubgy requires more brains and finesse than does American football due to not wearing all that protective gear of helmets and pads. And refs keep control far better than in ice hockey.
So Cruz has nothing more substantive to offer than to criticize a Sesame Street character who has spoken for vaccines longer than Cruz has been alive. For Cruz that was not surprising. Gosar and his "cute" little anime piece should have been under investigation as soon as it came to light. If that had been put out by a citizen they would have been under investigation yesterday.
As a health care worker I am sick to death of listening to the stupidity about "my rights, my body, my choice" from anti-vaxxers, that the majority of the unvaccinated are GQP and those are the ones dying is not a cause for rejoicing, but if that is the hill they want to die on then stay home and die in your beds so you don't take needed health care resources from people that you might have infected.
“Singapore will no longer pay the Covid-19 medical bills for people “unvaccinated by choice”, the government said, as the country grapples with a surge in cases. It said unvaccinated people “disproportionately contribute to the strain on our healthcare resources”. 👏🏻👏🏻
From The Guardian.
woohoo
Yes!
Wow.
I agree that people who refuse to get vaccinated/wear masks, etc should not take up space in hospitals when they get sick. For you, as a nurse, it must be difficult to listen to these folks while having to care for them. Thank you from those of us who are caring for ourselves and others by getting the vaccine.
The terrible thing is that too many nurses are among the healthcare staff who refuse vaccinations. My MD daughter has told us that nurses in the SW rural hospitals where she practices emergency and hospitalist medicine in, with many covid19 patients over the last almost 2 years, are resistant to vaccinations and good protective measures. Many patients also refuse to believe they have covid19 whether they improve and eventually go home, or deteriorate and die. My cousin in Idaho is undergoing expensive Obamacare paid successful pancreatic cancer care, while he visits with his friends, risking his health and my 90 year old Aunt & Uncle who visit and help him from California. These people are living in an alternative reality which looks like entitlement with no responsibilities to me.
Mandatory vaccines needed, sadly.
Take another freedom to choose away from us? It’s a slippery slope. Next time it’ll be something YOU don’t want to do. Then how you gonna feel when your liberty is gone?
When my liberty is gone, I will be really bummed. But I don’t equate taking a vaccine with any loss of liberty. (The opposite— now I feel free of worry about passing the virus to my youngest grandchildren.) Nor do I think of liberty as being able to do whatever I want to do, never mind how it affects other people.
It’s bizarre how things have changed. When I worked in Public Health, we were required to get a flu vaccine yearly. None of my staff complained/refused nor did I hear of anyone else doing so throughout the agency. It was right thing to do so you didn’t think twice about it.
When you choose to become an RN, you know vaccines are an integral part of our "First, do know harm" mission. Chose to be an accountant instead.
You are another Funny Girl, MaryPat!
“Slippery slope” is one of the logical fallacies. It is also called “thin end of the wedge” and “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.” It assumes there is nothing to stop the downhill slide, but that’s not necessarily true. There may be. “Slippery slope” is common in fearmongering.
Freedom to irresponsibly harm others?
She's just here to attempt to rile us up with her "alternative facts". Best to simply not feed the trolls. ;)
David, it's the entitlement that gets me. What makes anyone "better" than others and therefore "entitled"?
Nurses refusing vaccinations perks MY ear up!
...And in my opinion as a retired RN who worked in the nursing field from 1972 till 2015, I think they have totally ignored their responsibility to their patients, as well as to people they care about.
Singapore is now charging patients a fee for being hospitalized, if they had refused the vaccine.
You seem to like that idea of punishing those who don’t agree with you. How nice.
Who has done the punishing, Elaine? Are those who refuse to take the vaccine and, therefore, may expose others to a potentially lethal virus blameless? It is okay in your book to be irresponsible, endangering others with the consequences to be felt only by their victims?
I’m plant based and eat organic food which we all know is very healthy. I think those who eat junk food and don’t take care of their health the way I think they should, should not take up space in hospitals when they are sick. That’s how Gestapo you sound.
Have you considered how many people haven't been able to get badly needed medical procedures, some life-threatening, because the unvaccinated have overrun hospitals? Or how many medical professionals have burned out over the unrelenting wave of Covid patients? I could go on. Those who disregard the responsibility that comes with living in a civil society and willfully spread a disease that has killed millions don't deserve to go to the front of the line for critical medical care.
Hopefully, the new Pfizer pill, Paxlovid, once it has Emergency Use Authorization, will decrease the burden on hospitals by it's effectiveness of decreasing hospital admissions and deaths by EIGHTY NINE percent (no bold face so used all caps.)
One would hope. But something tells me the anti-vaxers and right-wing media will find fault with it.
People I have tangled with argue that the drug companies make megabucks, therefore the vaccines are no good, and healthy foods will protect them. On the other hand, Ivermectin is great because huge profits were not made from it, at least when it was just a de-wormer for horses, etc.
Yes people are allowed to eat pretty much what they want but in the end that hurts their body not mine. The unvaccinated are a public health risk (unless medically they can't get the vaccination but that is a tiny % of the population) and their decision could impact many people. To compare mandatory vaccines to the Gestapo negates any argument you make because to those who are educated, know history and understand the horrors of what the Gestapo stood for, there is no comparison.
Thank you, GMB. A perfect response.
Are you a troll?
She reads quackery and believes it. She’s posted it before, many months ago. Rational arguments are not heard.
Harsh. Yikes
"Have you considered how many people haven't been able to get badly needed medical procedures, some life-threatening, because the unvaccinated have overrun hospitals?" I am one of those people who can not get timely elective surgery. And I bitterly resent all of the non-vaccinated-by-choice covid patients clogging up our local hospitals and putting my life at risk because of their vaccine stupidity. Yes - the least they can do is pay for their medical treatment out of pocket. It is a lower price than I may end up paying. Do you think I sound "gestapo"? How would you suggest I get my surgery - do it myself?
Any utterance out of Cruz’s oral cavity is mindless babble! When are Harvard and Yale going to revoke his diplomas! Book smart possibly yet brain dead and breathing!
Ted Cruz is Goldman vintage, a fascist wanna be, a hater, a mess.
Worst of the worst, he knows better. Driven by greed and power, he would throw ANYBODY under the bus. May he suffer such…
Evil with a smirk, BTW, he cheated in 2018, Beto won
Prejudice is ubiquitous. Harvard, Princeton, Yale.. prep schools. All threatened.
Love this!
Cruz misread the work of Dr. Seuss to fulminate against the Affordable Care Act. The message of Green Eggs and Ham would support trying accessible healthcare even if it's something new for most Americans. So it's not surprising that Cruz is dissing Big Bird for promoting pandemic safety.
Cruz has never learned the
kindergarten lessons of 'work snd play well with others'. Although the GOP has learned the propaganda lessons of Goebbels and Riefenstahl in selling a racist right wing extremist agenda.
Question- is Gosar violating any copyright with his little “ad”?
Also, is a congressperson threatening another congressperson subject to USCode, Title 18, " Threats against Public Officials" ( up to 5 years in prison)!
I vote most definitely and after what happened to Gabby, Gosar most definitely should be jailed. Pulling that 💩💩💩 and trying to pass it of as humorous is worse than despicable
Well, I know YouTube won't let me get away with something like that, so, I suspect that is the case. Theft of intellectual property, if nothing else.
Parodies are usually exempt from copyright laws. But, of course, this isn’t funny, it’s threatening. THAT should be illegal.
Remember how Kathy Griffen was vilified and visited by the Secret Service after posing in a photo holding a mock up of trumps severed head??? Her career was virtually ruined. I just don’t get it.
Griffin
Months ago I suggested that the unvaccinated be personally responsible for any and all COVID related healthcare costs. Now Singapore, with an 85% vaccinated rate, has instituted just such a policy. I think this $ motivation would be much more effective than mandates.
Ted and Big Bird look alike, and their color is the same! There the resemblance ends.
Check out this editorial cartoon by Anne Telnaes....https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/08/senator-cruzs-feathers-are-ruffled/
Halleluiah Pamela
Edited and reposted.
Excerpts from Today's Letter:
"In Georgia, [Trump] has backed Herschel Walker, whose ex-wife got a protective order against him after he allegedly threatened to shoot her. In Pennsylvania, Trump has endorsed Sean Parnell, whose wife testified that he choked her and abused their children physically and emotionally."
"Representative Paul Gosar ... yesterday posted an anime video in which his face was photoshopped onto a character that killed another character bearing the face of New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The Gosar character also swung swords at a Biden character and fought alongside Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO)."
I remember a time when the US was finally beginning to open its eyes to domestic violence. Now, Republicans are actively endorsing candidates who have a proven history of domestic violence. I remember a time when a member of Congress wouldn't dare release an ad remotely hinting of violence against another member of Congress let alone the president. Gosar's anime rip off is obscene, it left me shaking with anger and disbelief. These trends illustrate the very alarming fact that Republican leaders are willing to stop at nothing to actively push their base towards accepting and commiting increased violence in the home, within our communities and political arenas.
For weeks we have been discussing the Democrat's failure to coalesce and send a message of strength and party unity. Why? Because it simply does not exist. We've watched our leaders waste time, money and resources nitpicking about is "it" too progressive, not progressive enough, too conservative. In the meantime Republicans are literally flinging shit at the American people and no one, NO ONE, has the guts to stand up to them and pull the plug on their vile, immoral, unethical and illegal behaviors. It has gone on for far too long. Who is going to take a stand and speak up?
Tonight, in my mind's eye, I have the image of a house perched on the side of a hill with the rain washing away the ground beneath it. In a few moments there will be a mudslide and the house will go down destroying everything in its path. This is where we are.
Daria, great comment. I'm glad some other people are feeling the same sense of urgency I am, though I am afraid there is a lot of denial going on among Democrats who still hope this will all just blow over. It won't because it has gone on too long and only gotten worse.
We are in the midst of a creeping coup d'etat. Trump's GOP has the upper hand if they can just continue filling the airwaves and internet with their big lies and get to the midterms with DEMs in disarray. It took a born liar and thug like Trump to get the GOP over the top. The GOP's plan to attain a permanent hold on governmental power, despite unfavorable long-term demographic trends, once seemed to be wobbling and wavering, but it turns out Trump has been able to rip the band-aids off all the festering wounds on our body politic left by slavery and genocide and exacerbated by the culture of greed and selfishness which has become the norm ever since Reagan and, arguably, well before that. We are being forced to feel the pain of our rural white male population who imagine they can turn the clock back to the glory days of humble, shuffling African Americans (not the term they use) , women in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant, and cheerful Mexican immigrants staying out of sight as they put food on white folks' tables. Their white pain is real, but their reality is not.
Democrats, on the other hand, continue to let perfection be the enemy of the good, bicker, bicker, bicker as the GOP snickers. Biden, bless his heart, has imagined that passing some long-overdue legislation would be enough to change things, as if this matters to a bunch of angry racists and xenophobes. Joe! Give it up! There is no bipartisanship anymore. You don't have the votes to pass voting rights legislation. You are dealing with angry, well-armed criminals. You need to get them off the street. Now.
Daria, my first job out of graduate school was working for an organization devoted to helping domestic violence survivors. The basic tenet of DV is that the abuser uses power and control to keep the abused in line. Does this sound familiar? The rethuglicans have been using psychological violence to abuse those who don't follow. And there's been NO attempt to stop the abuse. No restraining orders against those who are the worst abusers. The Dems just carry on and whimper when the abuse happens in the open.... Where's the outrage?
Women must begin demonstrating in full force. They are attacking us, openly, blatantly. They are a dying party that have no idea what they are unleashing as they try to pull us all backwards into their tar pits.
And Josh Hawley wants to lead this acceptance of domestic abuse.
As a former DV advocate I totally agree. Power, control and gaslighting…straight out of the DV handbook. And the more $$ they have, the longer they can get away with it.
Pam, that is the question. Where is the outrage? And what are young adults and children living in an ardent right wing environment learning as a result? That it's okay to abuse within their community. Generations of young people are learning, by example, that it's okay to abuse another in order to reach a goal.
Daria, We can only hope that some of those children encounter people in their lives who show them a different way of being in the world.
Tfg the abuser and the Republican Party the abused.
Afraid I don't see the rethuglicans as the abused. They've just learned from the best how to psychologically abuse anyone who tries to point out the abuse. Yes, there are some R's who are the abused, i.e Kinsinger, Cheney, but people like McCarthy/McTurtleneck just keep the abuse going.
The culture of greed and selfishness has always been present in our common life. The greedy, selfish people wear different labels at different points in time. Currently, most such people wear the R label. Good character has always been a flimsy foundation for a country.
"Democrats, on the other hand, continue to let perfection be the enemy of the good,"
Exactly David. We need to accept how deadly serious and autocratic the party of Trump has become and develop a realistic OFFENSE, not defence. We need more theatre of our own to crush their despicable and absurd tactics. Gosar should be arrested for depicting MURDER. This is unacceptable. The information feed is so restricted (Matt Taibii, "Hate Inc" that reaching Trump people is nearly impossible. We need a cohesive viewpoint within the Democratic party to truly unify US. This is still not happening.
I think that Jim Wright refers to these folks as wanting the "magic unicorn" of perfect policy that is 100% aligned with their views of Utopia. He also says "If you want a better country, be a better citizen" which is also true; the first thing to do is vote as if your life depends on it, which it does.
Besides voting, we need to speak out. To our media, to our elected representatives, to the leaders of the Democratic party.
David, this:
"Democrats, on the other hand, continue to let perfection be the enemy of the good, bicker, bicker, bicker as the GOP snickers. Biden, bless his heart, has imagined that passing some long-overdue legislation would be enough to change things, as if this matters to a bunch of angry racists and xenophobes."
Every single Democratic accomplishment has been and will be weaponised by the GOP. That Rona McDaniel and the RNC have been groveling at Trump's feet since last election day is indicative of just how far they'll go to dominate the political landscape. That Democratic leadership have turned the party into us a doormat for the Republican party is outrageous. We have less than a year to pull it together. I am afraid.
I am afraid but also quite pissed.
If things continue down the road we’re on and there’s zero indication that they won’t, fear will help one be aware & being pissed will help with resisting & fighting back.
Good day y’all. Late to community today. I’ve been saying this one-liner for weeks and have basically lived by it most of my life. Always boots up during the month of October.
Yes, things are scary. It’s especially scary for me to see grown ass legislators getting their shitty knickers in a knot over Big Bird. And that it’s not a comedic parody on SNL. It’s done as being “serious politics”. And that Cruz gets hordes fist bumping after his ridiculous diatribe. Yes that is scary. Like every single other “violent at it’s core” antic. But guess what?
I’m not afraid. Maybe it’s because I’m a woman and have seen this boy bully bullshit since I was a kid beating up boys like this. I just do not feel afraid. Courage and optimism continues to well up in me because of it. And I will fight with all I’ve got to preserve the common good in our nation. That especially means to me, amongst all other things….education, thriving children and women, and voting rights and each vote being counted fairly.
Salud and United!
Hi Christine. If you truly do not feel any fear, then I am not sure if I should congratulate you or feel worried for you.
I too am a woman and am definitely afraid of what the GOP will do once back in power. I despise what they are doing now.
Watching the “boy bully bullshit” from Gosar against AOC definitely strikes fear in me. Why? I have been the victim of that kind of violence. I have seen what happens to people when they become numb to violence, especially violence against women and well, anyone not male and white. It’s ugly and hateful and damaging and it still strikes fear in me. For myself and for all others. That fear, and my experiences, then fire up my anger and intent in fighting against all that “boy bully bullshit”.
I welcome that fear. I welcome the anger and motivation that it brings and ignites.
I wish you well.
Healthy fear is what keeps us alert, as prepared as reasonably possible, and serves us well.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56465.The_Gift_of_Fear
Hear her folks; she's a hard working, smart talking Democracy activist in the trenches. Christine's done a lot more than get her feet wet. She has the spirit that awakes up those around her, pushes the Democratic Party forward and literally supports the American people. More Christines, PLEASE!
I'm pissed too, Kasumii. I wish more people were.
I'm pissed, but have no idea how best to use that anger.I think many feel helpless to make change.
Feeling helpless is understandable, but we can't get stuck there. Here are a few ideas.
Start with watching great expression of rage by PoliticsGirl.
https://www.youtube.com/c/PoliticsGirl
Then check out this group of HCR Substackers who are channeling rage into activism in support of democracy. Email heathersherd@gmail.com
Me too Daria. Me too.
I'm afraid too, Daria, but mostly angry because the road we have followed to get where we are is strewn with unseized opportunities. Not every story has a happy ending.
I suppose I get some bitter solace from knowing that this political moment will shrink to insignificance as our marvelous planet shrugs us off, as it has every other extinct species.
I couldn't agree with you more.
I think Biden is a good, decent man who is wholly unprepared for what this moment in our history demands. I don’t know the exact why (magical thinking, willful blindness, a psychological inability to face the ongoing coup d’etat, stuck in the far past when bipartisanship occurred on occasion…) but his and his AG’s floundering is going to cost us all dearly. History will note this but that doesn’t help us right now.
History will also note what we, you and I, did. In 50 years if we, you and I, are asked, " What did you do to help fight back against this takeover of democracy by authoritarian white supremicists?", I want to say I fought back and this is how.
I agree.
I disagree. Neither the President or the DOJ are floundering. It just takes a whole lot longer to convict the criminal than it was to commit the crime.
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/steve-bannon-s-subpoena-case-taking-longer-usual-s-good-n1283539
Agree MaryPat.
Most of us voted for Biden to bring back simple decency and competence, which he is actively restoring. Any legislative accomplishments are in the hands of Congress. There lies my disappointment.
I agree, the leadership at the top just isn't there. We need an Al Franken or a Bernie Sanders.(but sadly that ship, Sanders, has probably sailed).
Agreed Bruce. Or an Elizabeth Warren, Ruben Gallego, Eric Swalwell, Tammy Duckworth, Chris Murphy…
Does anyone else wonder if the political and corporate classes’ are in a barely-orchestrated dance of dysfunction, perpetuated by greed? Are the Ds actually clueless about R intentions? Can they really be so inept in messaging? Or are they willing partners in the charade?
Please dissuade me of this possibility.
Unless the DEMs find a way to eliminate the filibuster and pass urgently necessary voting rights legislation, I can see no way to dissuade you of this possibility. As you surely know, the corruption of Congress by Big Oil, Big Coal, Big Pharma, and Big Money generally was legalized by the SCOTUS several years ago.
But where is the motivation to alter/remove the filibuster if you’re participating in and benefiting from the dance?
SCOTUS was wrong but where is the legislation to remedy the Pandora’s box they opened? Languishing on some politician’s desk. Maybe when voting rights and campaign finance laws pass, I will reverse my pessimism. Until then, this cynical senior will continue to send letters and calls to congress critters, urging them to prove me wrong.
I feel all the same emotions, Daria. It "feels" as if Democrats are not as united as we would like to be. It feels as if the Republicans are sending a unified message that is effective. But is it really? I think they are circus out of control. We Democrats certainly need to learn how to "message" better and we certainly wish we could be as "disruptive" as the GQP. But there is another reality.
We are a true big tent party. We range from one end of the sensible spectrum to the other. And we ought to be proud of that. The Republicans "seem" united around a Trumpian model but if you dig deeper that is only the surface Fox Fiction appearance. There are millions of Republicans and right leaning Independents (we don't talk about them enough) who have stopped talking about politics and have no particular sympathy for 45 or 46. They just get up each day, feed the kids, go to work, come home, feed the kids, watch a show and pass out. We have not lost these people. We can win them over.
Yes, the truth is an onion that is peeled too slowly. But peeling is happening - you can read it in today's letter. Yes, we squabble as we make the sausage of legislating. That's frustrating but not new. Take a fresh look at what has happened since January 20th.
Breathe deep as you exhale the enormous relief that a seasoned, sensible, sincere and competent person grabbed the baton from a psychopath who was killing people daily in order to make his numbers look good. We are in an infinitely better place. And I truly believe that those folks who plod through life, when push comes to shove, would admit they sleep a lot better now.
As Democrats, I think we are neurotic and despite the power of our diversity we beat ourselves up about it. After all, which "left" vision should we all unite behind. Should we require that we be the party of AOC and Bernie? Fine with me. I am a Warren fan. But my wife is more moderate. Do I ask her to abandon her opinions and ideas? No. I listen and I learn. Very, very often she is spot on.
We could focus on the large number of positive things that have happened since January 20th and tout them loud and clear. Here is a list of executive orders. Some are mundane, some are wicked important. Think of it as the foundation of our legacy. https://www.federalregister.gov/presidential-documents/executive-orders/joe-biden/2021
We passed an American Rescue Plan that sent a boatload of money all across this nation and provided a buffer that may have prevented a huge recession - let alone widespread starvation.
We made vaccinations a priority - helped people get shots! Saved thousands of lives, helped businesses reopen. Unemployment is down two years ahead of projections! Wall Street loves it! People are beginning to live more normally. That is not a small thing, right?
Look at the diversity in our cabinet appointments! Look at the manner in which we are conducting international diplomacy! Look at the fact that we are slowly beginning to regain respect in the world. Sure, the damage done in terms of trust by 45 will take a long time to rebuild. But it is happening. Instead of bullying and threatening, we are negotiating and supporting. This not go unnoticed by Putin and Xi - both of whom are on notice that there is a new sheriff who actually understands what cyber security means.
I agree that we need to re-package our accomplishments and goals. We have a huge treasure of good stuff to talk about. Let's be proud and talk it up!
We just passed a Trillion Dollar Infrastructure bill that will provide many jobs and haul us back up into First World status - roads, bridges, internet, climate impact - it's a big beautiful list. It's the most significant legislation of it's kind since Ike's National Highway project. It's huge!
If the best the Republicans can come up with is a stupid video of a Congressmen using a cartoon to swing swords at fellow politicians and a Senator attacking Big Bird for advocating vaccines....I see that as a sign of weird wobbly weakness. We will never, ever win over the folks who think that Cruz and Gosar are cool. Forget about it.
Let's focus on those hard working folks who plod through life and remind them of why we are creating a safer and more prosperous America. I feel your angst. I just refuse to be beaten down by GQP low lifes and their pathetic clown acts. We can do this. We can prevail.
Very positive post in very negative times; we always fault the media for focusing on the disarray and disunity but WE also have to shout out the progress that has been made in a relatively short time. We’ll be living with the chaos and destruction of the last admn for a long time, but there IS hope in the present…..even if things don’t move as fast as we would like. Easy to chant “Lock them up” but harder to wait for lasting justice.
Bill, The accomplishments of the Biden administration and the Democratic Party are the the 'other' reality or the reality too readily ignored, some of which you highlighted, thank goodness. It has, unfortunately, and too often been in the back seat as bashing the Party is the main dish for some avowed democrats. Yes, there is plenty of fault to be found with the Democratic Party, particularly for not marshalling and serving the power of its numbers. That's is one of the big issues the Party must reckon with, and it's an old story. What about what is happening today as you pointed out -- highlighting the 'governance' being executed by the Biden administration; the determination of the Congressional Progressive Caucus to get to the American people the support, earnings, safety net and opportunity that the Republican Party and American Oligarchs have stolen from them for decades. What about the strengths of Democrats such as Pelosi, Schiff, Clymer, Raskin, Swalwell, Plaskett, Neguse, Warren, Sanders, Klobuchar... and more? We have a lot against us -- a government, which was torn to shreds; the pandemic out of control; social media, Fox News and millions upon millions who have swallowed the LIES. The pro-democracy tent is much larger than its opponents' but, hey, there are a lot of differences within it, too -- we are up against it. Have you noticed, nevertheless, plenty of Democrats and Independents are not crying, but forging head through very rough terrain. We need more!
Thank you for that list of Biden's Executive Orders that have been passed! It is amazing that the news prefers the circus antics rather than shouting from the rooftops all the good things happening! And how many of the sharpie-pen crazed, previous, "so-called" president's executive orders have been rescinded? A lot!! Appears there are people hard at work...perhaps our VP is quietly using her powers...behind the scenes.
Gives me more hope that Garland's people are quietly doing their jobs...
Bill, thank you for your thoughtful response. There is no doubt that the Biden administration has accomplished some truly significant things in the last 10 months. But you, Fern, Penelope and others misunderstand my comment - unfortunately that stupid video is not the best they can come up with. The creeping insidiousness they inject into every day life, normalizing violence, brutality, injustice, inequality, the dumbing down of education and the drive to pit people against one another on the street, in stores at school board meetings are the things we need to be afraid of and stand up against. And WE Democrats are not dominating our own message. THAT is the problem .
Yes, I am very aware of the good things that have happened since Biden took office. I am proud to have voted for a team dedicated to making life better for ALL the people, however, I am disappointed and disheartened by the fact that Democrats, MY party, cannot develop and deliver a message loud and clear enough to counter the civil destruction happening from the Republican grass roots level on up.
I’ve been listening to Thom Hartman’s radio program for over 10 years. Throughout that decade, numerous guests have been asked about D messaging. Yet, nothing has changed. Nothing.
Who exactly should be creating the uniting message we can shout all over social media? Are there no marketing experts who will work with the Ds to come up with an overarching strategy?
Quasi-catchy names for legislation is not enough. Can’t Ds learn from their corporate donors how to market the party’s values?
Boggles my mind to hear Ro Khanna and Mark Pocan, weekly Hartman guests, agree with callers that they need to do a better job of messaging. Over and over and over again.
JUST DO IT!
I am grateful every time I watch Jen Psaki and her daily press messsging. The fact that I do not have to listen Conway or McEnany who fled to Fox, is a total win for me.
Just wish she’d stay on longer!
Yes.
AMEN 1000 times!
Well said Daria. I was noodling on something similar while running errands today but you said it much better than I could.
Thanks, Kasumii. Nah, you have a pretty savvy way with words.
Thank you kindly Daria.
https://oliverwillis.com/joe-biden-accomplishments-the-full-list/
Excellent! Thank you.
Most excellent find, Barbara--thank you!
I keep hearing Jennifer Lopez in my head singing “Let’s Get Loud” followed by “Democrats Are Proud” and then a punch list of accomplishments.
Now THAT sounds like a really excellent ad, doesnt it?
Preach Bill! I’m in this church today!!
WOW! And Wonderful! Thank You, Bill Alstrom!
Bravo, Bill! Your clear eyed vision and positive spirit, combined, represent a perfect banner for our victory. Thank you.
Totally agree. Thank you. However, in a Democracy is there room for both your reality based optimism as well as fearful disappointment at continuing lack of civil comportment among cult Republicans ?
Apparently not.
Perhaps we have to create something new?
All true, Bill And that whole list should be shouted from the housetops by our Dem representatives every time a mic is put in front of them. Frustrating.
It's not about listing accomplishments, Fern, its about messaging. It's about developing a cohesive, coherent message and a strategy to deliver that message, all day, every day, 24/7.
It’s been raining for 40 years, since Ronnie, likely way before. Trump was the deluge, what more proof do we need? where’s our ark?
It is us.
When Trump is the standard-bearer of the Republican Party, then you know they have reached the bottom of the barrel.
With regard to why Democrats cannot coalesce/unite around purging Republicanism from American politics and supporting representative democracy, I generally think most politicians (true progressives are the exception) believe in the New Golden Rule - those who have the gold make the rules.
The only way democracy is restored is to get all the money out of politics and term limit every elective office. We also need to think about term limiting Supreme Court justices. The wealthy in this country have enough money and clout to control members of Congress, the presidency, and now Supreme Court justices. Democracy will not be restored until our defacto plutocracy is ended.
Daria, I've resigned myself to the fact that none of this is going to happen, certainly not in my lifetime. I've experienced the New Golden Rule first hand and daily experience the ugliness that pervades American society. Greed and avarice abound and it preys on the most vulnerable with impunity. This is a country of a few 'haves' and a whole lot of 'have-nots.' The have-nots don't stand a chance against the haves. Money rules!
Anyway, I've greatly reduced my commenting on forums and soon will stop altogether. It's just a way to let off a little steam from time to time. I'm moving on and plan on enjoying my final years around like-minded people who care about others and value relationships over material goods/things.
It's way past time to let the younger generation assume responsibility for guiding the country forward. The sooner that the political dinosaurs die off, the better off the country will be. Right now there are not too many AOCs willing to put up with the crap that the Democratic 'moderates' throw at her. Every single day is another lesson in futility.
As for me, right or wrong, out of sight, out of mind. Watching and reading about all this crap would definitely ruin my day. HCR, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, and Greg Olear are about my limit these days.
Best to you!
Don, thank you. I agree that the New Golden Rule is what propels politics and politicians on both sides of the aisle. I am at a point where I, too, am ready to walk away from most forums, including this one. In reality it's pointless to comment here or anywhere else as the comments go nowhere beyond "these 4 walls".
I wish you all the best in your quest to enjoy your final years with like-minded people. I can guarantee, you'll be very content in doing so.
Your comments are not even close to being pointless to me Ms. Fab Daria. I think about drinking a martini with you every week!
Salud!
Salud, Christine! One of these days, my friend!!
Hey, Christine, you know where to find Heather's Herd! @gmail.com Salud!
Please don't leave, Daria.
Mim, Thank you. I won't leave but there is little point in me or anyone else stating that the Democratic Party message is fragmented and uninspired then have people rattle off a list of Dem accomplishments, talk about the big tent and tell me I'm missing the "good" the Dems have done. No, I know what Dems have and have not done. I'm not the one who needs to be convinced that the Dems are generally working for the good of all the people. My thrust is and has been our lousy messaging - it seems that those in a position to fix it simply don't care enough to do so.
Daria, I echo Mim and others — you provide wonderful nourishment to us here and keep us thinking with actions in mind💙!
Comments on here are more productive than my convo with cultist bro. And i spoke with love and respect, he is stuck. Maybe later but I won’t bet the farm….
Thanks, Ashley. 💙!
They take the high road while republicans scrape the bottom of the barrel. this is the consequence.
That is what has puzzled me for decades, Daria.
Daria, I enjoy reading your comments/links and have learned a lot from them. I’m sort of a newbie( here a couple months) but have to disagree that “ the comments go nowhere beyond these four walls.” Many of the commenters, including you, have provided insight/info/contacts/suggestions that have inspired me to act.My very small contributions may not make a bit of difference, but at least it gives me hope.
I actually mentioned you living on the Yucatán when I suggested to hubby we move out of the country if TFG is again elected. It’s definitely sounds more habitable than Cedros Island, where hubby’s family had roots. If you’re not familiar,it’s a pretty desolate island where his grandfather’s family canned abalone back in the day.
Kathy, I had to look Cedros Island up. Wow. You're not kidding about it being desolate. It would be interesting to visit. Thanks for your kind words. I think I've simply reached a tipping point – my frustration and anger spilleth over. If TFG is reelected Yucatán may just be the ticket for you! We like it.
Daria,I truly understand your frustration and anger.
Hubby’s grandmother( a physically tiny force to be reckoned with :) wanted to give her children a better life as US citizens so she had all of them here, of course when immigration was a much different deal. Her husband stayed on Cedros and she would return there each summer from California with the kids. When her husband became older he moved to Ensenada.
My father-in-law became a much respected electrical engineer in the space program. We’re very grateful for the opportunities he had in a much different time..
Stay safe and sane !
Your husband's grandmother sounds extraordinary. The vision she and her husband had for their family is the way it's supposed to be for everyone. Stay well!🌷
I understand what you are saying about preaching to the choir Daria. I feel that way too.
Still, I do find coming here to be of benefit. It helps to know there are like-minded people with similar values, concerns & worries. And, at times I find new ways of considering things, different approaches of looking at a problem or issue. I may not agree but I welcome the opportunity to tickle my brain, to keep it active and not stale.
I value your thoughts and input here and I thank you for contributing. If you leave or take a break (which I do as needed) I respect and understand that and I wish you nothing but the best.
Don, you write, "I'm moving on and plan on enjoying my final years around like-minded people who care about others and value relationships over material goods/things." But aren't many, or most, of HCR's readers those very people you prefer to be around?
My issue with term limits is how to get people to run for office when campaigning is so nasty. Who in their right mind wants that? And I hope you are including lobbying in getting money out of politics.
I suspect Dems aren’t going to stop Repubs ugly behavior because they think it’s going to help Dems show how crazy Repubs are.
Unfortunately, people have both become accustomed to this behavior and it’s just another day in our slowly escalating civil war and they’ve figured out how to see only what they want to see so it’s only helping Repubs get stronger.
I’m going to measure a particular distance behind men & find boot print resistant clothing in preparation for the possibility that Republicans win the war. I’ll be living in a vehicle no matter who wins, so this is just an added element to the misery.
Daria, I'm with you.
Thank you, Linda. I appreciate that.
Well said. To have multiple elected officials doing what was portrayed in the AZ Representative's stolen and "repurposed" anime video and to endorse a documented wife abuser (one who really lives in Texas and not Georgia, by the way) is flabbergasting.
Ditto what Ally House said.
Thank you, Kasumii.
Thank you Ally.
That video made me physically sick too Daria. Both the video and the knowledge that absolutely nothing will be done about it. I am disgusted by, and ashamed of, my government, especially those who should do something about this - now and with the urgency it requires.
I’m sure Fox showed it with glee, Rupert’s favorite thing, hate and violence with no repercussions
I didn't see it & won't be clicking on it. I'm trying hard not to up the popularity of this kind of click bait.
Teddy Roosevelt's approach to diplomacy was charactorized as "speak softly and carry a big stick" the success of this approach required the possession of superior force, acting justly, never bluffing and only striking when prepared to strike hard. It seems to me that the current administration is having great difficulty with the last part...striking hard. Just waggling the big stick in the air never impressed anyone and encourages the enemy to believe you're bluffing. Time for Garland to strike for democracy and hit Bannon hard and for the democrats to hit hard the filibuster rule protecting voting rights from its iniquitous clutches.
I’m actually prepared to give diplomacy some time. After all, they too see what’s going on in the USA, so why commit to anything when they see the likelihood of America falling apart if Republicans win fully or half-win again like in 2020.
Timing is important too as in "Strike while the iron is hot". If we fail to move when the opportunity presents we may lose the chance completely. There are irons cooling all over the place and one is the possibility of putting away the dfp where he belongs.
The iron can only be hot when one actually has the iron.
And a flame to heat it with. Remains to be seen if either exists in this situation.
Agree.
The Democrats' response to the traitors has been tepid at best. Garland is Mr. Milque Toast. Hopefully, I am wrong on that assessment but he comes across as weak-kneed.
'Instead of leaving the Republican party, Trump is rebuilding it in his own image.'
Trump is not rebuilding the Republican party. The Republican party is overthrowing our constitutional democratic republic.
Trump personifies the Republican party. He tailored his suit to their style - it did not take much alteration. Red hats are the new white hoods; racist right wing religious extremists need no longer cover their faces. Although the Leonard Leo Supreme Court continues the tradition of covering their white sheets with black robes. (Including, Clarence Thomas, who pulling the affirmative action ladder up behind him, has declared civil rights protections to be the new slavery which is emasculating Black men.)
Trump did not create today's GOP whole cloth, he merely put his brand on their product. Trump is the second coming of their god Ronald Reagan - writ large and writ vulgar. Arousing populists in service of plutocrats was long in place. If Trump brings anything to the table, it's a taste for sexual brutality which appeals to men from the hardhat to the tassel loafer variety - and the women who love them.
Trump has the bully's obsession with domination and the coward's fascination with violence. As January 6 put center stage, when Trump cried 'Hey boys and girls, let's put on an insurrection' they all hopped to - while he hied it back to the White House (and Pence was hidden in a garage.)
Trump tried to co-opt the military, but only got so far as his Pentagon appointees assisting the street brawlers in sacking the Capitol, while Trump supporters of the McConnell and Cruz sort tried overturning the election in the chambers. From Reagan to Trump, from Ailes to Hannity, the right wing revolution is made to be televised.
"Trump has the bully's obsession with domination and the coward's fascination with violence." Perfect sentence encapsulating TFG.
That and this: "If Trump brings anything to the table, it's a taste for sexual brutality which appeals to men from the hardhat to the tassel loafer variety - and the women who love them." One has only to start a list - I'll begin with Gaetz and Gosar and Greene.
All while playing the bully-victim grievance card.
You have an amazing way with words, lin. Sadly, also with truth.
Yes, she does. Spot ON!
Although I am relieved that the Fourth Estate (the press) is finally starting to go back to its day job of actual investigative reporting, we still have to deal with the dog-whistling, whiplash-inducing idiocy of these same press outlets, which use melodramatic headlines to sell papers (paper and digital). What I see as more promising is that local politics are finally getting some attention from Dems, who are beginning to realize that the grassroots neo-Con movements of the 1980s and forward created the crisis we are now in. I am not sure if it is too little too late. I am hoping it is a start.
Once everyone stops huffing and puffing about the faux controversy over Critical Race Theory, I am predicting that the new rightwing hysteria (and I use that term deliberately, as it means "womb disease" in the original Greek and refers to the Hippocratic idea that women have uteruses that are untethered and wander around their bodies in search of nutrients) will come from the public response and excitement over a new book about the origins of human civilization--which is getting a lot of attention (I suspect) because the two authors are white men, so therefore safe (although one founded the Occupy movement)--The Dawn of Everything, by David Graeber and David Wengrow, both of whom are/were (Graeber died last year) prominent social scientists in anthropology and economics, and who have written an exhaustive account of how anthropology, sociology, archaeology, and economics, by assuming a male default, have been consistently wrong about how civilization came to be. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/11/graeber-wengrow-dawn-of-everything-history-humanity/620177/
For me this is a "well, duh" moment because I have been arguing that line for decades, as have pretty much all of the women in academia in those fields and history for the last 30 years or so. But because we have vaginas, no one in media pays attention. Feeling a little cynical that the white male savior thing that the West still seems to consider necessary is actually being enacted in order to DEBUNK the white male savior thing, but it's a start at least. But because this book has hit the Amazon feed with a bang, expect the rightwingnuts to go bananas.
As a final Tuesday musing (sorry, these have been building up over a very busy couple of weeks!): For those of you who follow John Pavolvitz, he is getting trolled to the max by the MAGA crowd for his new book--full bore hysteria about it. So if you like him and think his essays on religion and human behavior are worth reading and pondering (which I do, even though I am an atheist), "like" his books on Amazon and other bookstore outlets. His newest book, If God is Love, Don't Be a Jerk is the one getting most of the haters' attention.
Happy Tuesday everyone.
I laughed at your post, Linda, because it reminded me of something my mother used to say. God looked at Adam and said, “We can do better.” And God created woman. My mother had a dry ironic sense of humor, and she and l used to laugh over her little joke. John Pavlovitz is a deep thinker, and I appreciate his common sense writing. Probably what bothers the fragile right.
Love him, will order it.
John Pavlovitz is my pastor even tho I am Atheist. He is the only actual Christian that I have seen using that title. (My Patron Saint is St. Francis even tho I am not Catholic)
I'm also an atheist, but I'll listen to wisdom from whereever it comes.
The reviews were fascinating. One of them (from the UK): "By the end of the book, we encounter the archaeological gem that is Minoan Crete – a ‘beautiful irritant for archaeology’ – where all evidence points to the existence of an ancient system of female political rule, most likely a theocracy run by a college of priestesses."
Someone should send this book as a gift to Josh Hawley.
And the wait for Steven Bannon's prosecution continues. Being methodical in such matters is a quality, but this case is hardly rocket science. To mix metaphors, it's a slam dunk for the Justice Department. And forcing Bannon to testify will put enormous pressure on the growing list of others subpoenaed to not play games. The House select committee has identified the key conspirators, now it's time for them to face questioning under oath.
I see it differently. The DOJ is quietly building an irrefutable case from the bottom up, flipping minor insurrectionists and major Rudy Guilianis while obtaining solid, irrefutable evidence that will stick. None of this is a slam dunk with t-Rump's weasley Republican professional criminals. They must be Al Caponed. The House Select Committee is publicly exposing The Truth as they investigate, and put both witnesses and connivers on the stand. When The Fall comes, it will happen quickly, precisely and completely.
I agree. My point regards the legitimacy of subpoenas, which must be enforced to expose The Truth. Bannon was the first to refuse to testify and has an extraordinarily weak case. He needs to be criminally charged ASAP to ensure the others inclined to hold out think again.
Sesame Street started using the character Ronald Grump in 1988 in unflattering skits. So I see the flack about Big Bird to have an audience of one for Sen. Cruz, etc. In 2017, I was quoted in the Wall Street Journal 10-Point column readers response question on DTs first budget and made a reference to Big Bird then.
“Mr. Trump’s budget proposal is one I would expect from some third-world, despot dictator who has no empathy for the well-being of its citizenry. This does not make us safer since it encourages an arms race; it does make us dumber by devaluing the arts and science. The world loses because climate catastrophe can only be diverted by world cooperation. In buying Mr. Trump’s narcissistic, vindictive reality, Earth is headed for the failure of its experiment with civilization. If I have a choice between Sesame Street and another new fighter, I choose the Big Bird that doesn’t fly or carry nuclear weapons.”
That's so important to call it for what it is: climate catastrophe or global warming. "Climate change" is a less alarming term promoted by Newt Gingrich's wordsmith pollster, Frank Luntz:
"In a confidential memo to the Republican party, Luntz is credited with advising the Bush administration that the phrase "global warming" should be abandoned in favour of "climate change", which he called a "less frightening" phrase than the former."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Luntz
I had decided to use climate catastrophe four years ago, quote was written in March, 2017, because climate change just did not describe its impact. We're just seeing the tip of the iceberg now. Soon catastrophic won't be enough to describe it.
…and the iceberg will be melted. Thanks Cathy and all!
Cathy, you are so ahead of your time !
Frank and Newt were just the forerunners to Fox in the effort to turn our politics toxic. Even they were latecomers…. Adlai Stevenson made this comment way back there “I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my republican friends…that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.”
Thank you, Ellie. I have never felt Climate Change fully captured what has been going on --it is factual -- but not nearly as alarming as the truth about what is happening to Earth and its habitants. We are in the Emergency Room. Climate Catastrophe or Earth Emergency?
Climate Comet, headed our way
Thank you, Ellie. I always bristle when I see the phrase "climate change."
OH!
Brilliant, Cathy!
Why isn’t Donald Trump in prison? He is a Traitor.
Thank you Heather.
To mirror my response from my Facebook post, as encouraging the Biden Administration is to its efforts on International terrorism, I feel they are doing nothing more than nailing jello to the wall regarding the January 6th Insurrection. If the Justice Department isn't willing to enforce both its decisions and the law, why bother with subpoenas. It just reinforces the weakness of the Democrats.
Be safe. Be well.
Linda, I agree. Investigation (10 months have passed since Jan. 6th), arrest, interrogation, preventive detention as needed, trials. The DOJ needs to get it's collective ass in gear.
I see it differently. The DOJ is quietly building an irrefutable case from the bottom up, flipping minor insurrectionists and major Rudy Guilianis while obtaining solid, irrefutable evidence that will stick. None of this is a slam dunk with t-Rump's weasley Republican professional criminals. They must be Al Caponed. The House Select Committee is publicly exposing The Truth as they investigate, and put both witnesses and connivers on the stand. When The Fall comes, it will happen quickly, precisely and completely.
I lost faith after feeling the same as you about Mueller and count ‘em two impeachments. TFG exploits the foibles of our creaky justice system and I am nearly certain he will prevail dooming our democracy. Desperately hoping I’m wrong!
True, but Mueller wasn't backed by Biden. Maybe this will help:
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/steve-bannon-s-subpoena-case-taking-longer-usual-s-good-n1283539
Well, MaryPat, I do not know what sort of inside information makes you think the DOJ is doing its job as it should, but it seems clear to me that the principal perpetrators of what happened on Jan. 6th are still on the street and acting as if they are the ones with nothing to worry about. Further, if even a tenth of what has been reported about events that day in the MSM is true, Trump and many of his flunkies (several of whom hold elected office) should already be in prison awaiting trial and ratting on one another. In fact, it strikes me there is an unusual number of slam dunks ready to be, well, slam dunked.
What I see being shown by the DOJ - and by extension, by Joe Biden - is excessive caution due to the unfortunate precedent that will need to be established of one President imprisoning another, or, to be more precise, ensuring that no one is above the law and that we are a nation of laws. Any "political" scruples need to be overcome.
From a purely political point of view, waiting until, let's say, the late summer of 2022 to begin trying the coup plotters will have more of a partisan smell to it than just getting it done now, as if it were a really urgent necessity to get these traitors behind bars and out of politics before they bring our nation to its knees. For Democrats and for everyone else, speed is of the essence.
I agree. Plus, while they have crawled along, several of the Jan 6th insurrectionists had time to run for and be elected to office. That should have never been allowed.
Way past due. The only opinion from DOJ so far is in support of tfg!
Two things occur to me: 1 it took till March, I think, before Garland was confirmed, and 2 he inherited a mess at DOJ, including vacant positions among other things. Also, he seems like a very deliberate man who would naturally go slowly. I’m as eager as everyone to see at least the beginning of indictments.
I just don’t buy that any more. I would love to be wrong! Listen to Gaslight Nation.
The stakes could not be higher for the 2022 midterm election. Indictments needs to come down from the Justice Department. And, why has Steven Bannon not been charged with ANYTHING after ignoring a Congressional subpoena???? The longer this goes on, the more emboldened the seditionists will become.
I agree with you about the subpoenas. Right now America yawns every time another one is issued. These subpoenas have no teeth. We could become the next Ethiopia.
Solving cybercrime is great. Protecting AOC is invaluable. This woman's life has been threatened. She has been physically harassed twice and now this.
Infrastructure Bill passage is fabulous. Protect voting rights of there might not be much USA to fix up.
The fascist Republican Party is practicing more and more violent rhetoric. Are we becoming too used to this? Attorney General Garland needs to stop being afraid of the Republicans. Arrest Bannon.
Don't limit Republicans to "facists". Stalin and the Russian "communist" party were even more ruthless, calling themselves in 1945 saviors of "democracy". They allowed just a few select opposition parties to exist after killing and incarcerating their "enemies" which ran from the Boy Scouts to newspapers to universities to religious leaders to business owners to other communists who did not show sufficiently loyalty. Absolutely nothing was allowed to coexist in the same countries with the Russian Communist Party.
Both are forms of totalitarianism, very close on a 360 degree political scale. Fascism is basically communism with private enterprise like Russia and China now.
Absolutely! The name of economic system is inconsequential as totalitarianism serves the dictators, building and protecting their power while funneling wealth in their direction, as they give protection and remuneration back to those who give them the most.
In my opinion the January 6 Commission committed a grave error in referring Bannon and others to the DOJ for ignoring its subpoenas. Had it exercised its inherent contempt powers and sent out Marshals to arrest and detain the scofflaws, even if in a cushy hotel room, the burden of proving why they should be released would have been on Bannon et al, and they would have had to march into court and convince a judge. By referring the matter to DOJ, the Commission retained the burden and allowed the bums to remain at large while Garland's people dither. Poor strategic thinking.
I read that the Steve Bannon "case" is moving along very, very methodically to avoid missteps that might set back desired progress. Who would have believed there are so many anti-American traitors among us?
Morning, all!! Morning, Dr. R!!
Just yesterday we were talking about time...
The Watergate scandal began early in the morning on June 17, 1972. Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. That's two-plus years between the criminal act and the president's resignation.
We are now just 10+ months beyond January 6. It is my belief that under a democracy, accountability does not rush in, guns blazing. Democracy follows the Rule of Law. That takes time.
But we need to see that something, anything is happening on the part of the DoJ. Strong action against Steve Bannon would give some hope.
The part we can and will see is the House Select Committee's work which both Rep Sciff and Rep Raskin stated will be televised.
Watergate happened in an era before the takeover of our cultural environment by the propaganda engine of the movement conservatives. $13 Billion spent on psyop campaigns, 5500 brought university professors, etc., has created the most successful propaganda experiment of human history. Please remember that the key condition of propaganda is that the more successful it is, the less the victims are aware of it.
Just pointing out the timeline.
Rittenhouse/Kenosha shooting was 18 months ago. Trial started November 2021.
Ahmaud Arbery shot dead February 2020. Trial started November 2021.
Good morning Lynell. Thank you.
I agree. We may not have a looking glass, but we have a history book.
Re Steve Bannon case, this from Joyce Vance: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/steve-bannon-s-subpoena-case-taking-longer-usual-s-good-n1283539?
That was very helpful, and reassuring . Joyce Vance knows of what she speaks.
Slam dunk-o, Lynell. You are one of my fave ball players on this team!
After Morning, Christine!
Excellent article. Just as I thought - Thank You Lynell.
Thanks for this link to the Vance source.
You're welcome!
Good morning, Lynell! Thanks for the timeline reminder.
^^^^ THIS ^^^^
First, I am profoundly grateful every day for you. I marvel at your ability to put such hard work into this every day. I’m always glad when you take a break! We need you. Second, I am alarmed at how slowly the wheels of justice are turning both in the Congress and in the department of justice and various other jurisdictions investigating Trump and the insurrection. and it is my sense, without any factual basis, but Biden in ministration did not wish to spend it’s energy or political capital in pursuing and prosecuting Trump both for practical and political reasons. However, I cannot see how the country could be any more polarized than it is now, So I do not see a downside to a swift and figure is prosecution of the former president. It seems to me that the danger of allowing a sitting president to commit treason, election fraud etc without consequences outweighs the political and civil fallout. What is your opinion? Are they worried about civil unrest or even civil war?
Last night on MSNBC's Chris Hayes, the lack of judicial where-with-all (i.e. Merrick Garland) to indict and prosecute trump and his minions for criminal offenses was part of the conversation. They have gotten away with criminal offenses while we wring our hands and say how awful it is. That Bannon, et. al. are not in jail for contempt of Congress is also frustrating as hell. What is the point of even going through all this if nothing is going to be done.
We are long past the time where the constant drip, drip, drip of information regarding January 6th is moving anything forward and in the meantime the criminal cabal continues to operate without consequences. As far as I'm concerned AG Garland should be replaced with someone who can stand the heat and do what needs to done to bring criminal charges and prosecute these people. IMO, it has become apparent that, while he might have made a worthy Supreme Court justice, Garland is not an effective U.S. Attorney General.
Garland is coming from the perspective of a judge and not as a prosecutor. A good prosecutor is a little bit hot-headed with enough common sense to know when to push. A judge has to wait until the end in order to make their ruling.
In this case, Garland (who is doing a good job with the mess he was left) need a bit more prosecutorial swagger and a bit less of the judicial restraint.
I agree absolutely! If DOJ doesn’t weigh in, the committee findings will have no value.
MG the AG needs a better PR advocate who can defend his decisions!
To replace Garland, I'm thinking of a Rahm Emanuel-type.
If the MAGAts riot because tfg is prosecuted, then we should just prepare for that. They tend to resort to (or threaten) violence anyway; it might as well be for a good cause.
Will be hard to avoid, but one must stand up to the evil.
We got to this point by not holding treasonous (Confederates) and criminal politicians accountable. The let’s move on attitude eventually gets you to the cliff with no where else to go.
Down or back. 😉
Yes , but it’s more about the world at large watching. As it stands evidence gathering builds a strong case. So this needs the most time and attention. If they bring charges they have to have the most through and documented. Then if they bring charges to TFG there’s a 2 yr Statute of Limitations. So I’m thinking they would like to at least get through 2022. Hopefully nail him before 2024 ? TFG has had 4500 + Litigations in his life time. He’s gotten out of or very cheaply out of most of them by playing the Long Game.Take it to heart when Heather mentioned that they threaten him to not pay his Legal Fees and take His E-Mail list of supporters away that brings him in $.
“How did you go bankrupt?”
“Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”
―Ernest Hemingway
Sorry for typos. Was dictating. I meant swift and vigorous prosecution
We're all still waiting for an edit function.
To edit, copy your comment, delete the post, re-post to a new comment, paste then edit and post. Voila!
Yes. It still would be nice to have an edit function.
I hear clearly and share in the frustration expressed in the comments today. You are all excellent writers. Start flooding the newspapers with letters to the editor. Not just one, keep writing every week. Be clear, succinct and firm. And keep those emails and calls to the White House and your Congress people going out. Let’s not be part of the silent majority.
What a palaver! These Republicans are beyond belief! The fact that they are elected officials makes my skin crawl. What a bunch of conniving crooks and liars!
But CRT in the schools... Are we really so stupid? Damn, I guess propaganda works…. Who knew…
Racism works as a motivator.
100%, just another scare word, like socialism. The repub think tanks have been busy painting us with the hate that they exude.
Jeri and Cate, please don't even get me started on that! They also happen to be -- hands down -- the world's most uneducated, bigoted, racist, totalitarian autocrats!
I forgot to add: and misogynistic abusers!
Shut down propaganda stations. Free speech with responsibility.
been waiting for 40 years, instead MSM just blathers the same bull schitt.
And misogynistic abusers of their women. Trumper women should really take notice--their men are committing heinous acts and should be called out. That might be what we non-repubs have to do daily. No one who has committed atrocious acts should be allowed to run for any public office. WTH! These are our role models for our youth. Stop them!
I always felt bad for Beaker. (Just saying.)
Can anyone speak to the end game of the The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol? Will it report its findings well before the midterms? Will private citizens be able to sue Trump into bankruptcy for damages for putting democracy in danger, based on the House Select Committee's findings? It seems that $1-10 per US resident, in a class action lawsuit, would do the trick.
Morning, Matt!! I like the idea of private citizens suing the loser guy. Something like Texas is advocating to undermine reproductive rights for their female citizenry.
Love this, he has certainly been the deluge washing away our foundation…
Does anyone have a crystal ball?
Also couldn’t he be sued for negligent homicide for the thousands of avoidable Covid deaths that rest on his shoulders
Count #1 of the Complaint!
I've got my checkbook out, where do I send my contribution? Let's get that war chest going.