Please encourage young people to vote. The first Trump Presidency was a disaster for all of us, but especially for them since they have so much life left to live.
Imagine having another Kavanaugh, Gorsuch or Comey-Barrett on SCOTUS who will likely be on the court throughout much of our children's and grandchildren's lives.
My granddaughter turns 18 this week. She told me yesterday that she is excited to vote for her first time in "the most important election ever". She has been registering her high school friends to vote.
Sally, I served as a deputy voter registrar in our Sept primary (and will do so again in Nov.) Serving next to me was an impressively ambitious young woman who is one of 4 or 5 running Kamala's national social media accounts (she was also a delegate at the DNC.) Using tiktok videos, they've been trying to influence young people of voting age to VOTE. Let's hope their efforts, as well as those of others, energize those whose future is most at threat in this climate (political as well as environmental.)
Sadly, we really need them here. There has been big pushback in our "blue" state from Republicans, using their usual tactics. One newcomer state Senate candidate has about 3 times the $$ in his campaign chest (where from?) than the others and it is usually bitter this year.
I suspect you might be talking about a certain candidate in Addison County - the guy with all the yard signs? Exactly my question about him, though he does own most of rural Bristol.
We had a candidates’ forum last week in our village. It was packed. All the man did was smirk and shake his head at the Dems’ replies. He had no answers to the questions put to him, totally unprepared and didn’t care. Proud of being a businessman! He says he’s not voting for trump, not for Kamala either, but do we believe him?
My only granddaughter turned 11 in July. She is so smart and talented. I want a safe and decent place for her to live after I am gone. At 81 my days are numbered!
Trump 1st term: 4 years of wasted time. Donnie dementia descends on the country. An epidemic of ignorance, hate, cruelty, violence, and fascism. Never again.
We all know and agree how dangerous, rotten, insane and any number of demeaning descriptives this horse fly is. But let us not forget how an essentially good, honest arbiter of government, Joe Biden, allowed himself to get swindled by posterity.
Can you say border nada? Go ahead and say it: BORDER NADA. He refused to act for almost three years. He had no intention of continuing to stop (in some manner of Trump) illegal crossings. And it’s not about feeling a lack of empathy toward Black and brown people. No nation on earth allows the mess we allowed for three years. ( Witness the upheaval in mostly Western Europe toward open borders. (UK leaves the Union. Frances comes dangerously close in the most recent election. Holland, yes kind and gentle Holland has gone far right. Germany is on the threshold of far right.) Now, I know I’m probably upsetting many of you who speak adoringly of all that is spoken by the Good Angels at the top. I’m clearly not a cheerleader. I’m clearly 100% in support of Kamala Harris for president. Don’t even try to question my values. I’m not a troll. I’m human with the same fears as anyone else.
We have something else underlying Trump support; It’s the blame game. I’m white therefore I’m privileged. Do you realize I’m sick and tired of hearing this. And I’m on your side. Try to understand the MAGAs hatred for this concept and you will begin to understand what there is such anger on the other side. You don’t build a cohesive society by blaming each other for the ghosts of the past. Now toss into the salad the false inclinations of social media and AI and you get; Welcome to the New Snazzy Nazi States of America.
If Trump gets in, we all lose. But it didn’t need to be this way. Just remember why.
Even yesterday, you seemed blind to what HCR had just written. Try reading her many entries on the subject of immigration policy -- for which Congress is responsible -- and how Trump succeeded in sabotaging all attempts in the House at dealing with the problem, so that he could use it... as you, Sir, are just using it.
Good. And too, I was against the ukranian war we could have said simply no nato. Ukraian was never a suitable candidate for nato but instead, we forced the hand of a tyrant and now we have a domestic monster about to take the White House. Oy. I make a whole lot of sense but you want to keep blinders on and join the chairleaders. Think for yourself it’s a good feeling to experience.
If you're opposed to the blame game, Bill, why put the mishegas at the border on Biden? It's been a mess and a problem for at least 30 years, and Joe's been hamstrung by Congress. If one has to assign fault, it's Congress'. Reagan's couldn't get 'er done, nor Bush 2's, nor Clinton's, nor Obama's, nor TFG's, for that matter, and all of them had Congress in their party at one time or another during their presidencies.
what to do is a question needing far more than critique . It can’t be FIXED. It CAN be better, more humane, the good parts cited. These are our neighbors whose presence was in America long before we ‘settled’ in CA. The issues don’t start in Mexico , the drug cartels/corruption/mismanagement are only a part of , they, the Mexicans, are hard workers willing to do what farmers do and have done for years..I don’t have the answer. Big Pharma too! As much a part as China or wherever fentanyl comes from…and a lot of representatives/lobbyist/people $idled with that part …it’s complicated is understated. Unity and willingness DOES include Congress , our Presidents, our people voting. No continuation of using it , the problem.
The potential fix is a Marshall-like plan to build Central America. I’ve mentioned that before but now I’m the dirty dog here but this is because I’m nobody’s cheer leader. Just now listened to public radio interview and the woman said exactly what I have just stated which is that Joe Biden was nowhere to be found for 3 years but only after he saw numbers going down. I’m impatient with dumb people. That’s a general statement, btw.
Lauren, politics being disingenuous, Biden could have just make an executive order even if it wasn’t successful just so they could have more successfully run on it. That’s the way things work didn’t you know that. Trump is a master of twisty politics. One needs to play fire with fire. As to the blame game, yes it’s fine ae leaders in office but not your neighbors.
What Some Ancient Rulers Have in Common with Trump
During ancient Egyptian dynasties, monarchs often defaced or destroyed statues representing the previous ruler to erase the reputation and deeds of the former ruler. Sometimes damage was limited to facial disfigurement as with Pharaoh Senwosrett III (1878-1840 BC) whose nose was broken off because ancients believed that the life force emanates through the nose.
Trump shares this goal when renegotiating and tearing up Clinton and Obama-era treaties.
NAFTA is one such remake that removes Clinton’s name from the global trade agreement. As Politico writer Adam Behsudi quotes Lori Wallace, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch said, “For those who trusted Trump’s pledge to make NAFTA ‘much better’ for working people, it’s a punch in the face because the proposal describes TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) or any other same-old, same-old trade deal.” There are no improvements -- only the removal of the Obama legacy and any other former president’s name.
This symbolic effigy-smashing of Obama extends to the Iran Nuclear Deal, to recertify to Congress every 90 days that the Iranians are complying with the rules; the Paris Climate Agreement; The Affordable Healthcare Act and all other agreements that Obama successfully negotiated regarding the environment and human rights.
In the land that I call home, tens of millions of Americans who couldn’t tell the difference between shit and Shinola, resulting in the election of a malevolent quasi-life form that makes George W. seem like Jesus, Moses, and George Washington rolled into one. Maybe our next president, if we are still electing presidents that is, will take cues from Trump and the ancients as well. A good start would be to remove any future White House portrait of him that might eventually be installed.
Yet I see eye to eye with what you have just written here... Except that ancient Egyptians had some clear awareness of what they were doing, they were never indulging in destruction for destruction's sake.
Mao's Cultural Revolution might provide a better example of the kind of destruction the MAGA monsters have in store for the world.
Peter, you don’t get any arguments from me on this. I have only made positions as to why one side becomes so calcified and blind. This is my reasoning backed by the ancients predisposition to smashing noses not unlike Biden did with all things border. And believe it or not, most Americans were frustrated by his inactivity. All accept his cheerleaders.
If only, our law and order country would of convicted and jailed Trump atfter the Jan 6th almost immediately. How about taking all kinds of files on our government plans, secrets, endangering our FBI, et al. Why the **** isn't he already in jail. Treasonous orange monster.
Joe Biden this, Joe Biden that...Katman, it's everyday with you. Please learn another song and make it a 3 min instead of sonata. FRFR! I don't like that 74mil "WHITE" people have been gearing up to vote for 45 but I don't harp on it every damn day. FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES! Spilt milk dude, spilt milk.
Finland has even closed some of its borders to Russians. I agree 100% with you that Biden should have done this border bill on day one. He did institute some control programs, but even an idiot can see that it was not working. BUT it was trump and our "enemies within" who sabotaged the new bill.
1. Finland: Russia -- not comparable. Finland closed ALL borders with Russia as a DEFENSE measure. Likewise most of Russia's other European neighbors.
2. Like the imaginary issue of unauthorized voters (designed to exclude "the wrong kind of voters" who might not support GOP, the migrant issue is an artificially inflated one, playing on people's fear of change and MAGA's need for an enemy to hate.
3. Where the Democratic Party machine did potentially great damage to its electoral cause was in refusing to allow Palestinian, Arab and Muslim delegates ANY voice at the Democratic national convention. A rogue elephant in the room.
But this is a thorny issue where President Biden's experience and professionalism negated his humanity. And I don't expect most Americans to be able to understand the ingrown weaknesses of US foreign policy... often to do with a gross over-projection of material power, deeply resented by those on the receiving end...
If the fact that trump spent 39 minutes swaying to his personal playlist and not answering questions, doesn't alert someone that all is not right, nothing will. If I go to a rally, I expect some speaking not swaying. Maybe he thought he could sway his audience to his way of thinking. How come he gets a town hall where people are preselected to ask questions like: How do you feel about immigrants or what is your name. Kamala gets an interview. lets see what FOX comes up with.
I liked Lauren’s post so much, it furthered as did breakfast .
How long do we look at the age old glass half filled/half emptied without admitting THE Lesson. I spoke of this years ago, time to say it yet again. TFG has made it poignantly clear, will I thank him, credit due , though assuredly not to his liking because he ( and his cult) look at the ‘empty’ portion, the only way convenient to the MAGA directive.
Whether The Lesson is obvious having ridden its ride for 9+ years and hopefully a sufficient we -are BLUE💙 in the face and vote accordingly. An increasing number are big enough to see the error/admit theirs/become a part of solutions/and do something they’ve ’never done before’..
Alot of that last paragraph some ‘still yet’ ,as we say here bouts , won’t get that , hopefully enough do. Thanks ahead.
The Lesson is an old one, history has written about it many times, not throwing the baby out with the deeper bath water is an example - but not as ancient as the mistakes of war ,too many innocents , brilliant minds, or the duped cost .
A change is needed. Quick get rich schemes/racism/superior being status/emphasis on the petty ie strongest,fastest,beauty, age,sex…needs a reality check…part of this is maturity (or lack thereof) hormones, but all of it needs a reality check!
Trying to rewrite the book leaving out the real story leads to nothing but convenient disinformation/leading truth away ..for the sake of ‘looking good’.
Looking good and Being Good…anyone having difficulty with understanding The Lesson?
I will thank you if you lose Trump, if you ‘missed the lesson’ /it’ll be the same complain .. it was rigged you’d be right too blah blah..hopefully the majority though , the WE, can repair, replace, and regroup to better a young 250+ year system of equality, and opportunity from a very harsh, very long, repeated insidiously, Lesson.
I was shopping Saturday, and as I concluded my transaction, asked the young saleswoman if she was registered and planning to vote. She showed me her feminist tattoo and assured me she was voting to Kamala Harris, because it "mattered to young women like me". We need to keep encouraging folks to vote!!
I volunteered for a Kamala Harris phone-bank, I zoom into the site – sign in my phone number and a robot makes the calls – and then I go through the introduction, encouraging people to vote. One of the replies was from a man who told me I’M VOTING FOR SANITY, NOT FASCISM!
Gary and others, I do hope that young people vote in large numbers for a future where they at least have a chance. They are already facing an uncertain future because we are leaving them a broken planet. We have no children, but have many great and great great nieces and nephews. I also have many ex-students who have children and now grandchildren and the parents are worried as they should be. One of them has plenty of money and she and her husband could afford to leave the country, but she also acknowledges that no place is now safe from the perils of climate change....just ask the people in Asheville.
Michele - It's almost seems trite now, but it really takes a village. So many women I know choose not to get married or have children. And some have chosen to have children without a partner. And that's great.
One of my wife's sayings is, "It takes a helluva man to beat no man at all."
Fortunately, we live in a time where a woman can choose what kind of relationship she wants, or no relationship at all. Many of the women I know are the primary bread winners in their relationship. Good on them. Not that women make equal pay for equal work. Maybe someday.
After Vice President Harris takes the oath of office in three months, I hope she expands the Supreme Court by two seats and only two. ¿Why? That will undo the court packing engineered by Senator McConnell and candidate Trump; the Court will be restored to a one-vote G.O.P.-appointed majority.
The first nominee ought to be Attorney General Garland, not only to amend a wrong-doing, but also as a salute to a good man who has stood bravely against a sustained attack against our republic. On the recommendation of Justice Garland, listen to my fellow conservative, former Representative Ken Buck.
I plan to vote the Saturday before Election Day at the courthouse. I will have my vote count to keep the Orange Menace away from a position he can’t handle and never could.
Here's where I'm very grateful for Marc Elias and Democracy Docket and his team of lawyers fighting voter siuppression all over the countrfy. It's not in my budget right now to upgrade, but I'm sharing his newsletter wherever I can.
Ojala (Spanish for "may God will ") that corrupt SCOTUS rejects spurious claims of rigging and voter fraud again.
Not super relevant, but many Spanish words and expressions come from Arabic, from the 700 years Spain was under Moorish rule. Ojala comes from Insh'Allah (sp?)
You are, of course, assuming that your vote will be counted, especially if you live in a swing state. And, if you're in one of these states, that your life will not be threatened when you go to vote.
Spray their eyes full of pepper spray, use 2 cans of it if necessary. I am going to take some with me when i vote and not take any crap off of these TUMP goon squad members. Just let them threaten me.
John, be very careful. The maggots carry guns. Advisedly, your life is THE MOST important thing. Since you’re in HCR’s site of brain power over violence, I’m figuring you use yours well. Salut!
I am sure president Biden has already made perversions with
state officials and the national guard and the military to prevent any violence from happening. Biden may be in his 80's but he knows what is capable of.
PA is key to the electoral vote, Chris. He told PA voters to go to the polls on Jan. 5, as HCR reports. May his lemmings follow orders. Also would be good to nail down NV and GA.
I live in a heavily Blue area near Detroit. I voted last week then took my absentee ballot to the city admin building and put it directly into the inside ballot receptacle. That's as close as I could get to making sure it is really tabulated.
In civilized states we vote by mail. Our ballots arrive in plenty of time for us to sit down with our voter's guide or other trusted information and take some time filling those little ovals. Then we can take them to a local drop box or drop them in the mail. We can then go online and find out when our ballots are received and counted.
No concerns about long lines or intimidation, no concerns about violence at the polls. Higher voter participation and lower cost.
I hope that all 50 states will eventually see the sanity of voting by mail.
Marilyn, there is precisely one way to conclude that you are wrong, and that one way is to do whatever it takes to avoid thinking about your conclusion.
MSM miss entirely irrefutable statistics: 1) How many of older voters (65+) who voted for him in 16 and 20 have died? Without going through the math, it is clear that approximately 5M to 6M (or more) who were likely Trump voters in 2020 (and I presume would have voted for him again in 2024) have died ! That reduces his 2020 margin from 74M to at most 69M;
2) How many younger voters who are more likely to vote for Harris have turned 18 since 2020? Approximately 16M have turned 18 years of age since 2020, and now 41M are GenZ who have been eligible to register and vote since 2020! 3) Assume that only 40% of the 17M who turned 18 in the last four years have registered to vote (approx 6M) and that 60% to 65% of that GenZ group will vote for Harris (approx 4M) while 2M will vote for Trump! 4) Note that virtually none of the GenZ have been polled!
5) To conclude, reduce Joe's total vote of 81M by 2M to 79M to reflect the diminishment by death of older voters, plus add the approximate new young voters of 4M to Harris' potential vote total this year resulting in Joe's new adjusted number equal to a new projected total of 83M.
6) By contrast, reduce Trump's vote by deaths to 69M from the 2020 total of 74M and increase his vote by 2M from new young voters resulting in 71M.
Conclusion: So how does Trump get a majority which consists now of only 71M from his 2020 vote total of 74M (adjusted down by deaths plus 2M more of new younger voters) as compared to Harris' 83M potential voters?
Finally, consider the 10-15% of Republican voters who won't vote for Trump thereby reducing his total number of 71M to approximately 64M or even lower to 60M?
Biden could do that with a stoke of his pen under his new found presidential powers granted him by SCOTUS. I’ll wait to see if on Election Day he does such a thing. People will always have the power! Right On ✊🏼
Biden won't take advantage of this new "gift" from SCOTUS. He is either too not with it and overwhelmed by the current disasters (Gaza, Ukraine, hurricanes), he's not thinking about it. He is too much a nice guy. His advisors should push him to do something. He shouldn't be afraid of anything being political. trump already has made everything political.
Same issue as we had with Obama on the Garland appointment in 2016. He was unwilling to push the boundaries of his power since "it had never been done before". And we know how well that turned out, sigh.
Trump of course had no problem at least trying to push those boundaries.
There is really no hesitation on the part of most Democrats. Republicans will never support eliminating it, because if you just look at the numbers, it is clear they will never win another Presidential election without the electoral college. Just won't happen. And with the current GOP mostly "MAGA" types, there is zero chance of changing the constitution to fix this, especially when it takes 37 out of 50 states to ratify a constitutional amendment. And please, don't get caught up in Robert Reich's so-called National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. It is stalled and even if it ever passes, it will never actually change the outcome of an election. The states involved simply won't let it and for good reason. The only way to change the electoral vote/college outcome is to fix the constitution, which just can't happen right now. I expect it will take 20-40 more years before a change in the Constitution re: Electoral College will ever take place.
Stupefying, Jon, how Republicans never plan to compete for new voters.
The Electoral College, plus heavy gerrymandering, let them from now on and long forward stay in some racist, misogynist, billionaire, and "Christian" nationalist past.
If they get really thumped this year, maybe some remnants of them might entertain forming a new party? It's obviously a rhetorical Q -- and obviously depending on the numbers November 5.
Rhetorical or not, Phil, they pull tricks to reduce opposition rather than attracting new voters because their positions and policies are largely unappealing to the majority.
Yes, Joan, but to amend the Constitution which created the EC, one needs 2/3 of Congress or ratification of 3/4 of states. That's not happening any time soon for either issue.
With you on that, Jon. Democracy's only hope is to win the battleground states to assure 270+ EC votes for Harris. A landslide in Congress could make for a quicker amendment to the constitution, but that's highly unlikely. Reality-based thinking says narrow wins for either party.
Jon, sadly politics these days seems to be a zero sum game, at least for many. Equally sad is that we may not have 20 to 40 years. "Unless we change direction, we are likely to end up where we're headed." (I recall hearing that quote attributed to Confucius, but maybe it came from a fortune cookie that I read long ago.)
What the data I am reading is that people over 50 are more likely to switch from voting for Trump to voting for Kamala because they have a recollection of the Republican party before Trump took over, and feel that they don't recognize their party anymore. Women Gen Zers are more likely to vote for Harris, while males are turning more in Trump's direction. Apparently he excites them. White voters are Trump's biggest base, and that is a problem. On the other hand, Jay Kuo said yesterday that he did not think that the polls are realistic.
So, we can hope that more and more youth, especially those disaffected by Gaza, will see that Trump is not good for their future and come out in bigger numbers and vote. However, the youth in my household have all relied on me to get them voting. That is nagging them to be current in their registration, and to have a plan for voting. My daughter had my guidance to vote from abroad. It is not so simple. In fact, with my local Democrats Abroad we have made ourselves available on certain days to help people here with voting. It is the young ones for the most part, but also the first time voters be they young or old who need help. Then, there is a Vote from Abroad online help day on October 20.
Yes , this is definitely true. This why President Biden, President Obama, Senator Bernie Sanders, President of the Workers Union Shawn Flain, President Bill Clinton and former congress woman
Liz Cheney out there helping out in the swing states for Vice-President Kamala Harris to win. It would be great if former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to help Kamala campaign in Pennsylvania. She is a strong force to gravitate people to listen.
@ Ira. He underperformed in the Republican primary, and many of his former supporters are now his enemies. . https://rvat.org/
Please comment on social media...."Not suckers or losers" to vets groups, military, military dependents, history sites. Vote vets has thousands of testimonials of 2020 Trump voters that flipped. According to Facebook, there are 4 million veterans or active duty members on Facebook, and 12.5 million family members of veterans or active duty members on Facebook. Requires constant reminders.
I also like "Trump hates dogs," "Trump stole from kids with cancer," and "don't slit your own throat" as comments.
Trump won't get a majority of the popular vote. If anything, Harris may INCREASE the lead on Trump that Biden got in 2020.
But that completely ignores the fact that if, say, 5,000,000 more people in California and New York vote for Harris, but 200,000 in the swing states vote for Trump instead of Harris compared to 4 years ago, Trump will still win the electoral vote by possible 40-50 votes. The system just skews everything. Unfortunately, the polls on electoral votes still show Trump well within the margin of polling error, and last time (2020), he outperformed his poll numbers by 3-4% but he was BEHIND by much more than that. If he outperforms his current numbers in the swing states, he will win by almost as much as he did in 2016.
It doesn't look good, very sad to say. I really hope I am wrong.
Well, I too hope you are wrong. "Perform" is an increasingly inappropriate word - he's not. He's doing nothing. Why? Because it doesn't matter any more? because all 2025 is scheduled to break loose on 5 November? Elon and JD aligned with Bannon?
Much higher Gen Z registration is hopeful, Jon, as their main concerns are for environment, health autonomy, and LGTBQ+ rights. Everyone's concerned about rent, food and gas prices, so I exclude the economy from my specifically Gen Z list of priorities. As I mentioned in an earlier reply to you, Boomers are leaning Harris as Project 2025 calls for severe cuts to social security and medicare. And let's not forget women of all ages who want control of their bodies returned to them.
Please keep in mind that we’re not seeing the full results of polling. The “horse race” questions are not telling us what messages are being tested nor which ones are moving the opinions of which voter demographics. You can be assured that the Harris/Walz campaign is polling extensively in battleground states, and conducting focus groups as well to find effective messaging to carry through the election. They’re also likely testing who are effective “messengers” to talk with voters in particular locales. It’s not unheard of that some pollsters would try to achieve results to make their candidate appear more popular than they are to gain an advantage perceptually, but most would not want to damage their reputation by doing so. It has happened in my state, however.
That is one view but history of the Trump elections suggests otherwise. In both elections 2016 and 2020 the polls UNDER reported Trump's vote, showing a close race in 2016 which Trump actually won and a massive Trump defeat in 2020 which in fact he only lost by about 200,000 votes in the six swing states that mattered.
I of course am only referring to the electoral college polling and results which are all that count. Polling in this election shows Trump only slightly behind Harris, which resembles 2016. Also although you are correct that Trump- run polls can be misleading, that also applies to Harris run polls and realclearpolitics and 538.com both have many unbiased polls which also show the race dead even.
I do like the way you think, and calculate, Ira!! Thank You! I agree! And if you include the massive efforts of the League of Women Voters and other groups to register high school students to vote, Harris's total would be even higher.
Not to burst the bubble…but your last sentence “Stats don’t lie” is great! I love the analogy of your 6 point argument. But they are not stats. They are your assumptions. Yet, I’m on board with your assumptions
I don't buy you analysis, given that those who have studied public opinion (polls and otherwise) call it tied. Feel good optimism or playing with numbers does us no good -- it only makes us worry less and WORK LESS to make Harris win.
I believe in polls because historically they are very accurate. Not perfect of course (they picked Hillary to win in 2016 and they were wrong) but very very close in most elections.
It's your right to disagree, but I tend to think mathematical analysis works best in the long run.
You're forgetting that Harris has the majority of Boomer voters according to polls, ira, so your stats need to be adjusted, although past patterns are more reliable than polls. Still, we musn't forget that TFG is threatening social security and medicare, which is a pretty good indicator of elder turnout for Harris.
C'mon that's not a good argument. They pick people randomly. So over let's say 200 polls during election season that is at most a few hundred thousand people out of 200 million voters. And yet they have managed to accurately predict the outcome of 16 out of the last 18 presidential elections. You don't have to like it but it is reality.
ira, it still boils down to where they live. The outdated EC has neutered the popular vote, and insured that a small number of people in a handful of states really matter.
Yes but… a significant lead such as discussed above of more than 10M votes simply based on the number of 65+ deaths and probable votes of New GenZ will form the base for adding to another 8M or so adult voters leading potentially to a 16-20M plurality! Thus, that would include the Big Three Midwest Blue Wall plus NC and GA and probably even AZ that will lead to well more than 300 EC votes!
Am confident that he hurts his numbers each and every day with moderate R women as well as regular businessmen who have never embraced radical economic potential; she has smartly made a big pitch for small business which no D has ever paid any attention to before, correct? As well as very strong pro-union buy-in? And a very substantial number of Vets such as me are pissed at his losers and suckers talk and are influenced by ex-top-brass vs Rump which has never happened before either! Finally Ds are very fearful justifiably of the future if he wins so our turnout will be the largest in history by far while the other moderate side is either so-so for him or 10-15% actively negative ala Cheney— have we ever seen that before? No way— makes sense, I hope?
I watched the "town hall" which was "moderated" by Kristi Noem tonight. All of it. It was unlike anything I had ever seen from Trump, and there's been a lot to see. I know we Dems and left-leaning independents say this often but -- HOW -- HOW -- are the polls "tied" with the race a toss-up? As Trump gets angrier and more deranged, it appears the polls are moving closer to him.
I saw a headline on MSNBC that said " Harris's favorability advantage with Trump erased" (must have been the NBC poll they were referring to.). I went to 538 and saw that Trump's favorabilit tracker average was still almost ten (10) points underwater while Harris' was about break even.
It is confounding. The pundits tell us the "vibe" is gone. The "glow" has worn off.
Ugh. I commend you for getting through the entire “town hall”. I didn’t even try because the sound of his voice is like fingernails on a chalkboard, but if I had tried I doubt I’d have made it through 10 minutes. To me it is increasingly apparent that the reason for the “close race” is the media’s continued tactic of normalizing the bizarre. Thank goodness for Dr Richardson’s clear voice in the void.
"Thank goodness for Dr Richardson’s clear voice in the void."
Gimme a break -- she's preaching to the choir here. A complete waste of everyone's time. No one who subscribes to HCR is going to change their mind! Go do it on Fox "News," like Mayor Pete has been doing for years, and that Kamela is going to do this Wednesday.
I'm a veteran of the Civil Rights movement in the '70s, and I've been an activist all my life. Go work in a swing state to knock on doors! THAT matters! I did about five months of that split between two Obama campaigns and Hillary's. All of my activism has been VERY satisfying. In addition to our contributions to the campaigns, I met, worked with, and spent hang out time after hours with a bunch of great people! At 83, my body is no longer capable of that, so we're sending as much money to Senate and House campaigns as we can. THIS matters. Talk is cheap. Get off the computer or phone and WORK for the team.
What I learned in the Movement -- if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem!
the choir needs some preaching to, too (and some very sensible fact-based discussion when MSM have mainly abandoned any effort to bring us the facts that Dr R does) in such satanic times.
I don't think anyone here is saying 'let's read Heather Richardson and we'll have done our duty to defend democracy'.
Jim, HCR isn’t trying to affect our vote, she is arming us with facts and context so we can intelligently act, as you have done all your life! Thankyou for that!
Also, don’t underestimate the influence of this group on children, grandchildren, family, friends-- many in swing states.
Thousands of people read this Substack. If each reader has even 10-20 people of voting age in their immediate circle we have reached a sizeable group of voters.
This is political action and in my opinion as far from a “ waste of time” as something can be!
HCR has armed me to the teeth with facts! With YEARS of reading every LFAA. I’ve become more confident and surely more willing to open my mouth to A: Have a conversation about how the US Constitution is a living document. That Fascism will never be tolerated by the Constitution and the history of fascism in our government has been put down over and over. These are very, very scary times for America at this moment
B: I flat refuse to accept any of MAGA, Evangelical doctrine as having any place in our society and I’m backed by facts while I sneak around at night and throw Trump/Vance signs in the back of my truck. When I decide to face to face confront MAGA, and believe I do, I have courage, not fear. My most recent was in Mechanicsburg, PA Cracker Barrel last Wednesday night. So yes, she is writing to her fans with every expectation they will spread the word about Trump and fascism. We must!
Jim, you’re a warrior! Thank you for all your hard work and dedication.
Also a veteran of the Civil Rights movement, at 80 the knocking on doors part isn't possible for me right now. Postcards and donations are my thing. Live in a blue, blue state (Ct.) Where my senators and reps are on the front lines and have been for over 15 years. So I focus on critical races down ballot and also donate to David Hogg. (Survivor of Parkland.)
Trump is now literally dancing around questions. 39 minutes of music instead of answering questions.
But thats not the point. It never loses him any votes, so keep going strong.
Agree. I feel the same. VA Gov Glen Youngkin denial of Trumps quote, denying Trump’s actual quote, denying the truth, reality really, just shows the danger of 9 years of lying. The effect of lying at scale has consequences. There is an effect on all of us. For some it is an unease as we witness an epidemic of ignorance, paranoid persecution, and mass delusion. I’ve found Dr Bandy Lee, forensic psychiatrist substack and various speakers critical of the former guy both educational and enlightening. The case of Donald is frightening, the followers more so, the consequences are so unsettling. These are experts in mental health, the cream of the crop at the end of their careers, the esteemed practitioners of mental health and disorders. The mental health experts are saying Donnie is displaying many key signs of dementia. Historians and the military generals who served him are calling him a fascist dictator. A collection of Nobel Laureates have called his economic plan a disaster, certain to cause a recession. His racism and elevation of conspiracy inspires his white nationalism militia followers to armed intimidation with lethal violence.
How is this both sides-ism even possible? How could the poles even claim to be close? How can media treat both sides as moral equivalents? Bill Clinton might say, “It’s Populism stupid.”
“Tapper pressed Republican Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin to comment on Trump’s statement that as commander-in-chief, he would use the military against political opposition. When Youngkin denied that Trump had said any such thing, Tapper replied: “I’m literally reading his quotes to you.” Youngkin’s willingness to deny what was right in front of him did not exactly quell talk of fascism, since in his dystopian novel 1984 about authoritarianism, George Orwell famously wrote: “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes Tapper pressed Republican Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin to comment on Trump’s statement that as commander-in-chief, he would use the military against political opposition. When Youngkin denied that Trump had said any such thing, Tapper replied: “I’m literally reading his quotes to you.” Youngkin’s willingness to deny what was right in front of him did not exactly quell talk of fascism, since in his dystopian novel 1984 about authoritarianism, George Orwell famously wrote: ‘The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command’…”
The Party—NSDAP, Communist Party, MAGA, or whatever—performs a pseudo-religious function, acting as a substitute, a fake Almighty God, and commanding blind submission. A simulacrum of the ultimate authority. Hence, the attempt, both in Russia and America, to hijack the Christian religion and use it for other purposes… Could anything be more diabolical?
*
‘9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate…’
Isaiah 6:9-11
*
As a young man, Stalin attended a seminary, where he plainly learned plenty…
*
“Our old Nobodaddy Joe
watches us from down below.
At the seminary, he
grew jealous of the Deity;
plotted there to take His place,
liquidate the human race,
leaving only Party cadres,
indispensable cadavers
and of course His Privates, We.”
*
And now, Stalin’s current disciple in the Kremlin has a faithful follower in Mar-a-Lago… who can't wait to get his little clutches onto the vast material and military power of America.
“For now, understand that the GOP is manipulating the data, which is manipulating the media, which in turn is driving many people into bouts of anxiety. The race has not fundamentally changed in anyway. They’re trying to vibe shift it, and we should understand that. The antidote to this cynical ploy is action. Donate. Organize. Vote.”
Here, I'm going to repeat something I wrote yesterday:
*
The primary factor is a racketeering shakedown, one with which media owners are often complicit.
The business decision when faced with very credible threats of extreme violence if the MAGA Führer and Deputy Führer, would-be Gauleiters and would-be Reichsführer-SS Miller have their way… has been clever-cleverly to cut risks and losses by opting for the most lucrative win-win version of the traditional “horse race”, the photo finish.
By thus hedging their bets, editors can always claim that they were obeying orders while upholding their own very special version of “objectivity”—such a smart way of selling one’s country while appearing to do nothing worse than gambling on its survival…
Viewed from outside, the weirdest thing of all is not the wildly erratic doings of Orangepeel Führer or his poor wretched followers so shocked out of their wits by natural reality that they repel assistance by FEMA (because of its initial F for Fed) and turn out truckfulls of heavily armed stormtroopers to hunt down FEMA teams—among the latest aberrations—but the fact that around half the American population should even think of voting for a dimestore crime boss whose entire reputation rests on sado-masochistic TV shows which, in earlier times, could never have gotten further than a Coney Island sideshow.
How could so much cretinism even be possible?
How can America’s reputation survive this?
Even if voters do succeed in barring the way to raving madness on a scale the world has not seen since Mao’s Cultural Revolution, the aftermath will almost certainly be violent and it will take a long, long time even to begin clearing the wreckage it leaves behind.
It’s difficult to find another ‘pedestrian’ commenter amongst the others who have substack articles to sell! Thanks for the terse comment and the link! Kuo is fact based and a lucid writer!
The GOP leaning polls are the R's efforts to "flood the zone with shit" in the memorable words of Slob Bannon. All part and parcel of a effort to make it APPEAR that Trump is a strong candidate, gaining strength instead of the weak, tired and increasingly unhinged hot mess that he truly is.
The ‘Looking Good ‘ crowd T.L. , thanks , excellent synapse. I think the numbers aforementioned 70-80 million ‘followers’ has depleted by a significant margin. I’m hope banking on this while voting Blue💙
You might be missing the fact that 70-80 million of our "fellow citizens" actually are true supporters of Trump's fascism, racism and misogyny. And most of those live in the key states that are primarily GOP. So they get the benefit of the electoral college. And it looks like the GOP will hold the Senate (I can't see any chance of any other outcome, we are absolutely going to lose West Virginia and Montana, and very very little chance of picking up a current GOP seat, so at BEST it will be 49-51 against us in the Senate. We may take back the House which would be good (anythiing to get Mike Johnson out of the speaker's seat) but it still won't be enough to actually have a working coalition government even if we win the White House.
Not really confounding, unfortunately. I think it is quite accurate.
SFHaine: if those "pundits" are looking for vibe, and glow, I hope they too watched that spectacle - half an hour of bad jokes and sashaying up and down in front of a cyc with "TOWN HALL" written on it.
Because polling companies got largely bought out by Republicans and are trying to BS the American people. And legacy media is not calling that out. Remember the driveway about the red wave? Same crap, on steroids.
One of the rumbles that is starting is that some polls are manipulated to appear to favor trump, by bad designs or faulty analysis. The rationale is it creates more fodder for the plan to assault the election results because they don't match the "polls"
It may be a very good year to watch the actual polls themselves. I did in 2008, and the crap I saw was stunning. Voting machines that were down, ran out of paper ballots, the hard drive on the central polling site computer crashed AS DID THE BACKUP DRIVE.
All very strange.
This was in a red suburb of Denver, where this year Boebert thinks she can stay in congress.
We pretty much all get a ballot in the mail--I got notice mine was sent Friday, but as of yesterday's mail it isn't here. But there will still be some who go to the polls.
Trump and his allies aren’t even trying to win the election—they’re focused on seizing power by any means necessary. From stoking chaos to undermining democracy, their strategy is clear: if they can’t win fairly, they’ll break the system to stay in control.
As Trump leans into chaos and authoritarianism, Harris presents a starkly different vision—one rooted in stability, policy, and outreach. The election is shaping up to be not just a contest of ideas, but a fight for the future of American democracy itself.
I just read a piece in The Bullwork that points out how many voters are relatively clueless about the composition of the Senate and the House and that it is essential to try to raise this awareness if the turnaround is going to have any chance vis a vis the Supreme Court as well as policies.
How did half the country miss the lessons of history? There were 3 WWII vets in my family, 2 brothers & a sister & we knew at an early age why they fought & what one brother gave his life protecting.
Kathleen, same here - my dad and 2 uncles saw combat in WWII.
Trump went to Arlington National Cemetery and desecrated the graves of all who have served in the military with a photo-op thumbs up. I can not and will not ever forgive him for this heinous act of disrespect for every one who gave up part of their lives so that we would live in a free country.
Gary, this was not something NEW! He has been offending veterans for almost a decade, possibly longer. He didn't like John McCain because he was "shot down" and Trump likes "winners", not "losers" who get shot down. He slandered Afghan vets who were wounded. The guy has been a disrespectful idiot for years.
But he has conned so many and they have all bought into it. I am very scared for the country right now. I do not see this ending well at all.
We can take no comfort in JD being convicted felon Donald Trump's VP pick either. Like someone said on Sunday, "There is no lie too big for Trump and Vance."
Who else could lie 602 times in a debate and be declared the winner or 161 times in a press conference and not be called out for it except by one news service on both occasions?
I am happy to say I voted for Kamala from France over two weeks ago and received a notice from my electoral board in Oregon that my vote was registered. Same for my wife. We live in France - and will do so as long as we can. It is interesting that it has just been in the past few weeks that the French press has gotten its hair on fire over a looming Trump presidency - they are rightly horrified and at the same time, at least to judge from television, bemused at how foolish the American electorate can be to even consider Trump.
As someone over 60 who, like Professor Richardson, taught and published in history and classics for many years, I'm philosophical about it. Failure IS an option, and sometimes societies choose to do so willfully. We are selfish, and selfish societies eventually cease to thrive. If the US chooses Trump this go, it will be a signal that the US has chosen to fail, but it has been a series of choices over decades. I could cite so many authors concerning our current moment: from Tacitus to Thucydides, from Shirer to Kershaw, from Orwell to Neil Postman, but the one I keep coming back to is Hannah Arendt.
In her Origins of Totalitarianism - more relevant than ever - she stated succinctly and chillingly, "The only thing that stands between humanity and nuclear annihilation is the stability of the American republic."
Whether Harris wins or loses, I'm afeared that is gone.
Thank you for all you have done to teach history to your students for including a history lesson here. I also worry about nuclear war (starting either in Ukraine or the Middle East). And I also worry about a climate crisis tipping point being reached and exceeded if Trump is president.
If Trump is elected, the classic statement by Pogo will be proven true. “We have met the enemy and they is us.“
Indeed. A terrible and stupid risk - sheer madness for which I shall never forgive the mob (I can scarcely consider people who put the country in such danger fellow citizens or countrymen).
Steve, HCR’s history lessons have taught me that our experiment with a ‘democratic Republic’ has been tested and attacked since its inception! HOPE! Hope is my source of strength!
Thanks for encouraging me not to lose hope, Louis. I remain “cautiously hopeful”. But I’m also aware that Gore should have won Florida… and that John Kerry should have won Ohio. Democrats play by the rules. Republicans do not.
I am suddenly quite terrified of the idea the JD Vance could end up President of America this to the United States in a short while. Vote Harris-Walz. The country you save may be your own...
So... the military is just going to roll over for Trump?! I don't think so. Trump, the Republican Party, MAGA, the six corrupt conservative SCOTUS justices and his white-trash billionaire enablers are "the enemy within." The conservatives are the Nazis. In America in 2024, we don't do Nazi.
Except we do. Did you notice how many people on Jan 6 wore swastikas? Have you seen the skinhead patrols in some of our bigger cities? It reminds me of Clockwork Orange. Apparently (according to Woodward's book) Trump even kept a copy of Mein Kampf on his dresser to read. Apparently he liked Hitler. Not totally surprising either.
I wish you were right. I see far too many of my former friends who, while they support Israel 100%, also adopt all the philosophy of the Nazi's minus the swastikas. There is a small subset of these who do support, with all the trimmings, the Nazi philosophy. To be succinct: They love them some White Power.
I just added this comment to HCR’s OCT 13th substack, I’ll copy it forward.
I cannot believe that the Republican National Committee is not ashamed of the Presidential candidate they spit on the sidewalk for the United States to waste time on, and why Fox News is not embarrassed to run so many hours of litter from their studio. This election is costing us so many millions of dollars to keep a mentally unstable man out of being our American President for four years. Meanwhile climate change destroyed millions of lives, we need men and women to rebuild homes and infrastructure to repair communities from the hurricanes. And as Dr. Julio Friedman, chief scientist at Carbon Direct is trying to solve the technical challenges around carbon management and CO2 removal—there are hundreds of manufacturing and technological jobs coming that needs human capital to meet the Climate Mitigation targets so our younger generation has a future on this planet. The Republicans are wasting our precious time.
They are not ashamed because Vance is the true candidate. That was telegraphed when Musk joined a rally. The senile one is a useful distraction and the media may be the most snookered of all.
“I was at Trump's golden escalator launch, flew out of Washington with him in 2020 and have probably been'' to 100 rallies, give or take. Have never seen anything like tonight.” The headline over Marianne LeVine’s Washington Post story about the event read: “Trump sways and bops to music for 39 minutes in bizarre town-hall episode.''
''George Orwell famously wrote: “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”''
Rod Serling never produced anything more eerie and mind-bending.
Heather - This facinating analysis was just forwarded to me. I hope you will have a chance to read it.
about the role of Trump as Satan and how that plays into the strange following. I don't know if you apreciate articles that seem relevant but I am going to try to paste the link. Worked. Thanks.
Subject: Trump and Trumpism: An outstanding psychological profile
There is some reason to consider Trump in religious terms, even if this article points out it is more a mass psychology case. If we try to consider Trump as Satan or probably more like Antichrist, what should be done to fight him or the perception of him? Deep self-scrutiny and ascesis like Christ fought temptation in the desert? Or should it rather be, good news, a joyful, sound message that blows away all the dark clouds? Personally, as a secular person, I could not honestly promote such a campaign, but what about clergy and the many preachers in the States?
It’s increasingly hard not to believe we are all living in some bizarre dystopian novel created by a science fiction writer with a flair for Orwellian imagination mixed with dark humor and a touch of madness. Up ahead of us waits a misty voting booth ever receding into a future we can’t quite reach while a Greek chorus sings a play by Aristophanes. Can this be the country in which I’ve lived and worked for nearly 80 years?
Each day, it becomes clearer that Trump’s mental decline is accelerating. So his campaign has decided to allow Trump to self-destruct before our eyes. The media is fixated upon his antics. He is their shiny object. Meanwhile, where’s JD?
Trump refuses to address the issues with policies because he can’t. He’s too far gone. So they let him run around, going to places they know he has no chance of winning. Why? To feed his massive ego. The rally at Madison Square Garden is a perfect example.
The media needs to stop covering these events, but not because they shouldn’t do so in a normal world. They need to call this fight as the TFG is incapable of continuing. Of course, they won’t.
Roberto Duran knew enough to say, “No mas.” That’s something Trump will never say. The only way to proceed is to starve his ego. So, walk away from this sad, sad spectacle. Just walk away.
Is anyone trying to keep Musk in order? It suddenly struck me, as I wrote that, that it might just be possible for them to offend him if they aren't wary.
I hope more than a few “undecideds” realize what a message that venue sends since it was the sight of the NAZI hooray in 1939. Something that should shame us all.
Still can’t wrap my head around the fact that it’s entirely possible that the US will turn into a fascist dictatorship in a few weeks. And how it is possible that still millions of Americans cheer for Rump. And the more deranged he becomes, the louder they cheer… Starting at the schools was a very good idea in the long run, thanks, Mr. Powell.
It happened in Germany. Not at all surprising that it could happen here as well. Many people have warned about this for years. It is not new. Its just that staring down the barrel of the gun at 21 days, it is finally starting to reach people that it actually could happen.
It's especially painful to watch this all unfolding from Germany, where I currently live. Although the Nazis are (re)gaining ground here as well. But I shudder to think what enormous momentum a Trump victory in the US would give them here...
And, I have to add Mike, the recent results in Austria. Our son, partner and 2 grandkids live there and are having THAT experience of knowing that the people in your community (rural) have embraced the hate.
Mike, I don’t believe it is the recent schooling system that tells this story…his staunchest supporters are in the latter generations. Yes he is appealing to some younger ‘bros’ but the 18 to 29 year olds are not as a whole buying in judging by the polls I have seen. My impression is that these young people are a lot more savvy culling through social media posts, aware that there is a lot of distortion. I haven’t seen stats on Fox viewership but judging by the interviews of people at his rallies it seems that it is the older generation who are not able to see beyond their chosen stream of media outlets and influencers.
Of the younger people I know of there is a lot of concern about climate abuse. They get stuck with the consequences of our folly.
As for schools, my personal impression is that there has been a lot of political pressure to lean toward viewing them as trade schools over generalized preparation for life, including providing some kind of beginner's guide to being a well informed and BS-detecting citizen and voter. Democracy is not about picking from somebody else's prepared menu so much as collectively formulating the questions and agendas our representatives are charged with facilitating. It's not government of the people, by the people, for the people with the preponderance of citizens tuned out or on the sidelines.
I have no doubt that public schools are a crucial piece of society. As parents we really struggled with trying to find the best educational environment for our three kids in the ‘90s and early ‘00. I had a mixed education of public and alternative schools. We believed in an environment that allowed for the humanities as well as science and math, ideally allowing for interdisciplinary exploration. Public schools do have a mission of molding the young into productive (I would add obedient) citizens able to contribute to the economy and most have to approach this en mass through rigid course requirements and standardized progress measurements. Many kids can get lost in the cracks. Add to that, teachers are wildly underpaid and overloaded. Unlike some the religious schools in our area, there was no outright indoctrination but there was a crimping of exploration and innovation. Two of our kids did Lincoln Douglas Debate and that was probably the most meaningful and empowering aspect of their public high school experience. And the sports are an additional bonus. The school choice/parental control movement and subsidization are dangerous in that they are a deliberate attempt to undermine the collective project, writ large. I would love to see more meaningful exploration in the public discourse that looks at the public school system based on the experiences of the generation actually in or emerging from it with an emphasis on what they are/did not learning/learn as it relates to the functioning of the democracy and their rights and responsibility there to. This would also lead to a better understanding of how they are sourcing and connecting to information. This seems crucial as we blindly deepen our involvement with AI.
But we need to make sure the younger generations actually vote. If their turnout is low, we are in big trouble. They've done a good job of turning out to vote since 2018. Hopefully, they will keep the trend going.
Then maybe, just maybe, the younger people found their own education online whilst the Republicans tried to eliminate the humanities and critical thinking from the American school system...
I think so. My 2 youngest kids are in that age range and are not getting their news from MSM. While my older kids born in the 1990s are more likely to.
Good point. I remember when the younger kids told each other on Tic Tok to buy up all those Trump rally tickets and then didn't show and how Trump ended up cancelling that rally. I thought it was ingenious of the kids to network that way and have an immediate real world affect.
Just another example of why voting in 2024 may be the most important thing we do in our lifetimes. No excuses.
Please encourage young people to vote. The first Trump Presidency was a disaster for all of us, but especially for them since they have so much life left to live.
Imagine having another Kavanaugh, Gorsuch or Comey-Barrett on SCOTUS who will likely be on the court throughout much of our children's and grandchildren's lives.
My granddaughter turns 18 this week. She told me yesterday that she is excited to vote for her first time in "the most important election ever". She has been registering her high school friends to vote.
Sally, I served as a deputy voter registrar in our Sept primary (and will do so again in Nov.) Serving next to me was an impressively ambitious young woman who is one of 4 or 5 running Kamala's national social media accounts (she was also a delegate at the DNC.) Using tiktok videos, they've been trying to influence young people of voting age to VOTE. Let's hope their efforts, as well as those of others, energize those whose future is most at threat in this climate (political as well as environmental.)
Also, I should point out that this young woman was 18 years old and voted in her first election that day. 🥳
Thank GOODNESS there are parents out there who have taught their DAUGHTERS their voices count!
I hope she was paying a little attention.
Tell them all to move to Pennsylvania,lol.
Sadly, we really need them here. There has been big pushback in our "blue" state from Republicans, using their usual tactics. One newcomer state Senate candidate has about 3 times the $$ in his campaign chest (where from?) than the others and it is usually bitter this year.
I suspect you might be talking about a certain candidate in Addison County - the guy with all the yard signs? Exactly my question about him, though he does own most of rural Bristol.
We had a candidates’ forum last week in our village. It was packed. All the man did was smirk and shake his head at the Dems’ replies. He had no answers to the questions put to him, totally unprepared and didn’t care. Proud of being a businessman! He says he’s not voting for trump, not for Kamala either, but do we believe him?
MS Roth...SCARY , ISN'T.IT...!
Such a shame😔
My only granddaughter turned 11 in July. She is so smart and talented. I want a safe and decent place for her to live after I am gone. At 81 my days are numbered!
I know - we old women have to vote like the welfare of our progeny depends on it, because it does.
We are not going back...
President Jimmy Carter voted for VP Harris for POTUS TODAY!!! He’s 100! 🤩🤩🤩
That might be you in 19 years!!! 😁😁
Thank her for all of us.🫶
AND her parents for letting her blossom into a formidable woman!
(Hopefully, the need for a woman to be "formidable" will soon pass due to equality in our society/culture.
That is true patriotism.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
My grandson, too!
She is a hero!! Thank her for me please.
Very smart young lady😉🇺🇸
Bravo 👏
Trump 1st term: 4 years of wasted time. Donnie dementia descends on the country. An epidemic of ignorance, hate, cruelty, violence, and fascism. Never again.
We all know and agree how dangerous, rotten, insane and any number of demeaning descriptives this horse fly is. But let us not forget how an essentially good, honest arbiter of government, Joe Biden, allowed himself to get swindled by posterity.
Can you say border nada? Go ahead and say it: BORDER NADA. He refused to act for almost three years. He had no intention of continuing to stop (in some manner of Trump) illegal crossings. And it’s not about feeling a lack of empathy toward Black and brown people. No nation on earth allows the mess we allowed for three years. ( Witness the upheaval in mostly Western Europe toward open borders. (UK leaves the Union. Frances comes dangerously close in the most recent election. Holland, yes kind and gentle Holland has gone far right. Germany is on the threshold of far right.) Now, I know I’m probably upsetting many of you who speak adoringly of all that is spoken by the Good Angels at the top. I’m clearly not a cheerleader. I’m clearly 100% in support of Kamala Harris for president. Don’t even try to question my values. I’m not a troll. I’m human with the same fears as anyone else.
We have something else underlying Trump support; It’s the blame game. I’m white therefore I’m privileged. Do you realize I’m sick and tired of hearing this. And I’m on your side. Try to understand the MAGAs hatred for this concept and you will begin to understand what there is such anger on the other side. You don’t build a cohesive society by blaming each other for the ghosts of the past. Now toss into the salad the false inclinations of social media and AI and you get; Welcome to the New Snazzy Nazi States of America.
If Trump gets in, we all lose. But it didn’t need to be this way. Just remember why.
Even yesterday, you seemed blind to what HCR had just written. Try reading her many entries on the subject of immigration policy -- for which Congress is responsible -- and how Trump succeeded in sabotaging all attempts in the House at dealing with the problem, so that he could use it... as you, Sir, are just using it.
Right on, Peter. He's a broken record. I don't read his comments or respond to him anymore.
Good. And too, I was against the ukranian war we could have said simply no nato. Ukraian was never a suitable candidate for nato but instead, we forced the hand of a tyrant and now we have a domestic monster about to take the White House. Oy. I make a whole lot of sense but you want to keep blinders on and join the chairleaders. Think for yourself it’s a good feeling to experience.
Peter, like Doug, when I see Katz, I scroll on by. Dave Fake News was going to do a piece on him, but just couldn’t find the right words
Yeah, this "little lady" is doing the same these days.
PLEASE NOTE: The original was "Listen up, young lady". I have misquoted Mr. Katz in this post. My humblest apologies.
Dave, would you like me to write one for you? I’m real good at self loathing.
If you're opposed to the blame game, Bill, why put the mishegas at the border on Biden? It's been a mess and a problem for at least 30 years, and Joe's been hamstrung by Congress. If one has to assign fault, it's Congress'. Reagan's couldn't get 'er done, nor Bush 2's, nor Clinton's, nor Obama's, nor TFG's, for that matter, and all of them had Congress in their party at one time or another during their presidencies.
EXACTLY. Thanks…
what to do is a question needing far more than critique . It can’t be FIXED. It CAN be better, more humane, the good parts cited. These are our neighbors whose presence was in America long before we ‘settled’ in CA. The issues don’t start in Mexico , the drug cartels/corruption/mismanagement are only a part of , they, the Mexicans, are hard workers willing to do what farmers do and have done for years..I don’t have the answer. Big Pharma too! As much a part as China or wherever fentanyl comes from…and a lot of representatives/lobbyist/people $idled with that part …it’s complicated is understated. Unity and willingness DOES include Congress , our Presidents, our people voting. No continuation of using it , the problem.
I’m voting 💙
The potential fix is a Marshall-like plan to build Central America. I’ve mentioned that before but now I’m the dirty dog here but this is because I’m nobody’s cheer leader. Just now listened to public radio interview and the woman said exactly what I have just stated which is that Joe Biden was nowhere to be found for 3 years but only after he saw numbers going down. I’m impatient with dumb people. That’s a general statement, btw.
Brava Lauren !
Lauren, politics being disingenuous, Biden could have just make an executive order even if it wasn’t successful just so they could have more successfully run on it. That’s the way things work didn’t you know that. Trump is a master of twisty politics. One needs to play fire with fire. As to the blame game, yes it’s fine ae leaders in office but not your neighbors.
What Some Ancient Rulers Have in Common with Trump
During ancient Egyptian dynasties, monarchs often defaced or destroyed statues representing the previous ruler to erase the reputation and deeds of the former ruler. Sometimes damage was limited to facial disfigurement as with Pharaoh Senwosrett III (1878-1840 BC) whose nose was broken off because ancients believed that the life force emanates through the nose.
Trump shares this goal when renegotiating and tearing up Clinton and Obama-era treaties.
NAFTA is one such remake that removes Clinton’s name from the global trade agreement. As Politico writer Adam Behsudi quotes Lori Wallace, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch said, “For those who trusted Trump’s pledge to make NAFTA ‘much better’ for working people, it’s a punch in the face because the proposal describes TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) or any other same-old, same-old trade deal.” There are no improvements -- only the removal of the Obama legacy and any other former president’s name.
This symbolic effigy-smashing of Obama extends to the Iran Nuclear Deal, to recertify to Congress every 90 days that the Iranians are complying with the rules; the Paris Climate Agreement; The Affordable Healthcare Act and all other agreements that Obama successfully negotiated regarding the environment and human rights.
In the land that I call home, tens of millions of Americans who couldn’t tell the difference between shit and Shinola, resulting in the election of a malevolent quasi-life form that makes George W. seem like Jesus, Moses, and George Washington rolled into one. Maybe our next president, if we are still electing presidents that is, will take cues from Trump and the ancients as well. A good start would be to remove any future White House portrait of him that might eventually be installed.
Yet I see eye to eye with what you have just written here... Except that ancient Egyptians had some clear awareness of what they were doing, they were never indulging in destruction for destruction's sake.
Mao's Cultural Revolution might provide a better example of the kind of destruction the MAGA monsters have in store for the world.
Peter, you don’t get any arguments from me on this. I have only made positions as to why one side becomes so calcified and blind. This is my reasoning backed by the ancients predisposition to smashing noses not unlike Biden did with all things border. And believe it or not, most Americans were frustrated by his inactivity. All accept his cheerleaders.
If only, our law and order country would of convicted and jailed Trump atfter the Jan 6th almost immediately. How about taking all kinds of files on our government plans, secrets, endangering our FBI, et al. Why the **** isn't he already in jail. Treasonous orange monster.
Joe Biden this, Joe Biden that...Katman, it's everyday with you. Please learn another song and make it a 3 min instead of sonata. FRFR! I don't like that 74mil "WHITE" people have been gearing up to vote for 45 but I don't harp on it every damn day. FACTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES! Spilt milk dude, spilt milk.
Finland has even closed some of its borders to Russians. I agree 100% with you that Biden should have done this border bill on day one. He did institute some control programs, but even an idiot can see that it was not working. BUT it was trump and our "enemies within" who sabotaged the new bill.
1. Finland: Russia -- not comparable. Finland closed ALL borders with Russia as a DEFENSE measure. Likewise most of Russia's other European neighbors.
2. Like the imaginary issue of unauthorized voters (designed to exclude "the wrong kind of voters" who might not support GOP, the migrant issue is an artificially inflated one, playing on people's fear of change and MAGA's need for an enemy to hate.
3. Where the Democratic Party machine did potentially great damage to its electoral cause was in refusing to allow Palestinian, Arab and Muslim delegates ANY voice at the Democratic national convention. A rogue elephant in the room.
But this is a thorny issue where President Biden's experience and professionalism negated his humanity. And I don't expect most Americans to be able to understand the ingrown weaknesses of US foreign policy... often to do with a gross over-projection of material power, deeply resented by those on the receiving end...
I call him "Kreator of Katastrophic Kaos"
There's only one choice in this election that makes any sense Ted. And it's not Dementia Donald. Vote!
If the fact that trump spent 39 minutes swaying to his personal playlist and not answering questions, doesn't alert someone that all is not right, nothing will. If I go to a rally, I expect some speaking not swaying. Maybe he thought he could sway his audience to his way of thinking. How come he gets a town hall where people are preselected to ask questions like: How do you feel about immigrants or what is your name. Kamala gets an interview. lets see what FOX comes up with.
I liked Lauren’s post so much, it furthered as did breakfast .
How long do we look at the age old glass half filled/half emptied without admitting THE Lesson. I spoke of this years ago, time to say it yet again. TFG has made it poignantly clear, will I thank him, credit due , though assuredly not to his liking because he ( and his cult) look at the ‘empty’ portion, the only way convenient to the MAGA directive.
Whether The Lesson is obvious having ridden its ride for 9+ years and hopefully a sufficient we -are BLUE💙 in the face and vote accordingly. An increasing number are big enough to see the error/admit theirs/become a part of solutions/and do something they’ve ’never done before’..
Alot of that last paragraph some ‘still yet’ ,as we say here bouts , won’t get that , hopefully enough do. Thanks ahead.
The Lesson is an old one, history has written about it many times, not throwing the baby out with the deeper bath water is an example - but not as ancient as the mistakes of war ,too many innocents , brilliant minds, or the duped cost .
A change is needed. Quick get rich schemes/racism/superior being status/emphasis on the petty ie strongest,fastest,beauty, age,sex…needs a reality check…part of this is maturity (or lack thereof) hormones, but all of it needs a reality check!
Trying to rewrite the book leaving out the real story leads to nothing but convenient disinformation/leading truth away ..for the sake of ‘looking good’.
Looking good and Being Good…anyone having difficulty with understanding The Lesson?
I will thank you if you lose Trump, if you ‘missed the lesson’ /it’ll be the same complain .. it was rigged you’d be right too blah blah..hopefully the majority though , the WE, can repair, replace, and regroup to better a young 250+ year system of equality, and opportunity from a very harsh, very long, repeated insidiously, Lesson.
I’ll be voting 💙
I was shopping Saturday, and as I concluded my transaction, asked the young saleswoman if she was registered and planning to vote. She showed me her feminist tattoo and assured me she was voting to Kamala Harris, because it "mattered to young women like me". We need to keep encouraging folks to vote!!
I volunteered for a Kamala Harris phone-bank, I zoom into the site – sign in my phone number and a robot makes the calls – and then I go through the introduction, encouraging people to vote. One of the replies was from a man who told me I’M VOTING FOR SANITY, NOT FASCISM!
Not to mention another minimum 4-year setback in climate policy.
… or especially — a Clarence “___ “ Thomas — even for any additional period of time?
Gary and others, I do hope that young people vote in large numbers for a future where they at least have a chance. They are already facing an uncertain future because we are leaving them a broken planet. We have no children, but have many great and great great nieces and nephews. I also have many ex-students who have children and now grandchildren and the parents are worried as they should be. One of them has plenty of money and she and her husband could afford to leave the country, but she also acknowledges that no place is now safe from the perils of climate change....just ask the people in Asheville.
Michele - It's almost seems trite now, but it really takes a village. So many women I know choose not to get married or have children. And some have chosen to have children without a partner. And that's great.
One of my wife's sayings is, "It takes a helluva man to beat no man at all."
Fortunately, we live in a time where a woman can choose what kind of relationship she wants, or no relationship at all. Many of the women I know are the primary bread winners in their relationship. Good on them. Not that women make equal pay for equal work. Maybe someday.
She and her husband could do what Zelensky did.
After Vice President Harris takes the oath of office in three months, I hope she expands the Supreme Court by two seats and only two. ¿Why? That will undo the court packing engineered by Senator McConnell and candidate Trump; the Court will be restored to a one-vote G.O.P.-appointed majority.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5089395/user-clip-representative-ken-buck-decorum
The first nominee ought to be Attorney General Garland, not only to amend a wrong-doing, but also as a salute to a good man who has stood bravely against a sustained attack against our republic. On the recommendation of Justice Garland, listen to my fellow conservative, former Representative Ken Buck.
What should have occurred.
Judge Garland confirmed in 2016 to replaced the deceased Justice Antonin Scalia => five-to-four Democratic-appointed majority.
Judge Gorsuch confirmed to replace retiring Justice Kennedy in 2018 => five-to-four Democratic-appointed majority.
Judge Kavanaugh or, preferably, Judge Coney Barret confirmed to replace the deceased Justice Ginsburg in 2020 => five-to-four Republican-appointed majority.
DNC Anytime Training signup link (call on your schedule!) Share the link with your own message in an email or text: https://events.democrats.org/event/551644/
To share on any platform, just click on the link and share from there!
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I plan to vote the Saturday before Election Day at the courthouse. I will have my vote count to keep the Orange Menace away from a position he can’t handle and never could.
I plan to vote tomorrow.
Yes, but we also need to be prepared for legal battles against Supreme Court favoring Trump.
Here's where I'm very grateful for Marc Elias and Democracy Docket and his team of lawyers fighting voter siuppression all over the countrfy. It's not in my budget right now to upgrade, but I'm sharing his newsletter wherever I can.
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/Mark+Elias/FMfcgzQXJZnmmglHhFKJLBBSKLNGSPTr
He has a podcast also.
Ojala (Spanish for "may God will ") that corrupt SCOTUS rejects spurious claims of rigging and voter fraud again.
Not super relevant, but many Spanish words and expressions come from Arabic, from the 700 years Spain was under Moorish rule. Ojala comes from Insh'Allah (sp?)
I thought I was the only one who knew that! It's more old world than new world Spanish. I do love history and language.
Interesting
Though Supremes refused to engage in 2020. Tba
You are, of course, assuming that your vote will be counted, especially if you live in a swing state. And, if you're in one of these states, that your life will not be threatened when you go to vote.
Spray their eyes full of pepper spray, use 2 cans of it if necessary. I am going to take some with me when i vote and not take any crap off of these TUMP goon squad members. Just let them threaten me.
John, be very careful. The maggots carry guns. Advisedly, your life is THE MOST important thing. Since you’re in HCR’s site of brain power over violence, I’m figuring you use yours well. Salut!
Hopefully our goverment has a plan to protect voters all over this USof A
Outbreaks of unrest/violence is what they're looking for.
Hope it doesn't come to that John.
I am sure president Biden has already made perversions with
state officials and the national guard and the military to prevent any violence from happening. Biden may be in his 80's but he knows what is capable of.
I think you meant to say provisions, not perversions
Yes I did.
Weapons are not allowed inside polls
Be peace
Maybe vote won’t be counted but can hope it will ..and vote. Maybe will be threatened when voting, but can vote anyway.
Not worried about the popular vote as much as I'm worried about the electoral vote.
PA is key to the electoral vote, Chris. He told PA voters to go to the polls on Jan. 5, as HCR reports. May his lemmings follow orders. Also would be good to nail down NV and GA.
Isn't she up to 276 now? Not as many as Biden however.
I live in a heavily Blue area near Detroit. I voted last week then took my absentee ballot to the city admin building and put it directly into the inside ballot receptacle. That's as close as I could get to making sure it is really tabulated.
Don't states have a site where you can see if your vote was recorded?
I'm not afraid. I won't be. And neither should you.
:(
In civilized states we vote by mail. Our ballots arrive in plenty of time for us to sit down with our voter's guide or other trusted information and take some time filling those little ovals. Then we can take them to a local drop box or drop them in the mail. We can then go online and find out when our ballots are received and counted.
No concerns about long lines or intimidation, no concerns about violence at the polls. Higher voter participation and lower cost.
I hope that all 50 states will eventually see the sanity of voting by mail.
I agree. We must be relentless on getting people to vote. Failure isn't an option for us.
Our lifetime? Without hyperbole, probably the most important election in our country's history.
Amen!
Trump is speaking falsely, so he’s either lying or ill-informed.
Which of these two things do you want for your president?
Marilyn, there is precisely one way to conclude that you are wrong, and that one way is to do whatever it takes to avoid thinking about your conclusion.
MSM miss entirely irrefutable statistics: 1) How many of older voters (65+) who voted for him in 16 and 20 have died? Without going through the math, it is clear that approximately 5M to 6M (or more) who were likely Trump voters in 2020 (and I presume would have voted for him again in 2024) have died ! That reduces his 2020 margin from 74M to at most 69M;
2) How many younger voters who are more likely to vote for Harris have turned 18 since 2020? Approximately 16M have turned 18 years of age since 2020, and now 41M are GenZ who have been eligible to register and vote since 2020! 3) Assume that only 40% of the 17M who turned 18 in the last four years have registered to vote (approx 6M) and that 60% to 65% of that GenZ group will vote for Harris (approx 4M) while 2M will vote for Trump! 4) Note that virtually none of the GenZ have been polled!
5) To conclude, reduce Joe's total vote of 81M by 2M to 79M to reflect the diminishment by death of older voters, plus add the approximate new young voters of 4M to Harris' potential vote total this year resulting in Joe's new adjusted number equal to a new projected total of 83M.
6) By contrast, reduce Trump's vote by deaths to 69M from the 2020 total of 74M and increase his vote by 2M from new young voters resulting in 71M.
Conclusion: So how does Trump get a majority which consists now of only 71M from his 2020 vote total of 74M (adjusted down by deaths plus 2M more of new younger voters) as compared to Harris' 83M potential voters?
Finally, consider the 10-15% of Republican voters who won't vote for Trump thereby reducing his total number of 71M to approximately 64M or even lower to 60M?
Stats don't lie!
Unfortunately the popular vote is not the entire equation here in the US. We really need electoral college reform or to eliminate it altogether.
Eliminate the electoral college and get rid of the filibuster.
Biden could do that with a stoke of his pen under his new found presidential powers granted him by SCOTUS. I’ll wait to see if on Election Day he does such a thing. People will always have the power! Right On ✊🏼
Biden won't take advantage of this new "gift" from SCOTUS. He is either too not with it and overwhelmed by the current disasters (Gaza, Ukraine, hurricanes), he's not thinking about it. He is too much a nice guy. His advisors should push him to do something. He shouldn't be afraid of anything being political. trump already has made everything political.
Same issue as we had with Obama on the Garland appointment in 2016. He was unwilling to push the boundaries of his power since "it had never been done before". And we know how well that turned out, sigh.
Trump of course had no problem at least trying to push those boundaries.
"What are two things unlikely to happen anytime soon, Ken."
I cannot understand the hesitation.
There is really no hesitation on the part of most Democrats. Republicans will never support eliminating it, because if you just look at the numbers, it is clear they will never win another Presidential election without the electoral college. Just won't happen. And with the current GOP mostly "MAGA" types, there is zero chance of changing the constitution to fix this, especially when it takes 37 out of 50 states to ratify a constitutional amendment. And please, don't get caught up in Robert Reich's so-called National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. It is stalled and even if it ever passes, it will never actually change the outcome of an election. The states involved simply won't let it and for good reason. The only way to change the electoral vote/college outcome is to fix the constitution, which just can't happen right now. I expect it will take 20-40 more years before a change in the Constitution re: Electoral College will ever take place.
Its sad, but I believe it is true.
Stupefying, Jon, how Republicans never plan to compete for new voters.
The Electoral College, plus heavy gerrymandering, let them from now on and long forward stay in some racist, misogynist, billionaire, and "Christian" nationalist past.
If they get really thumped this year, maybe some remnants of them might entertain forming a new party? It's obviously a rhetorical Q -- and obviously depending on the numbers November 5.
Rhetorical or not, Phil, they pull tricks to reduce opposition rather than attracting new voters because their positions and policies are largely unappealing to the majority.
like the abortion bans.
If only we(democrats) listened to Howard Dean when he ran for President and was campaigning on 50 state strategy we might not be in this mess
entirely.
Liz Chaney foresees the formation of a new party for Republicans.
Is this electoral college issue like the chronically-stalled effort to overturn Citizen's United?
Definitely Joan.
Yes, Joan, but to amend the Constitution which created the EC, one needs 2/3 of Congress or ratification of 3/4 of states. That's not happening any time soon for either issue.
Yes, and the Equal Rights Amendment that would make women real.
Did that ever get approved? I know people like Schafler? were pushing hard against it.
Yeah, why are we listening to all these women?
(JUST KIDDING!!!)
I can't think of a thing to say to that. Expletive, expletive.
I certainly wish I had better things to report.
But I also believe in the truth, not trying to manifest fantasy.
Manifesting fantasy is like setting an elephant trap.
With you on that, Jon. Democracy's only hope is to win the battleground states to assure 270+ EC votes for Harris. A landslide in Congress could make for a quicker amendment to the constitution, but that's highly unlikely. Reality-based thinking says narrow wins for either party.
Jon, sadly politics these days seems to be a zero sum game, at least for many. Equally sad is that we may not have 20 to 40 years. "Unless we change direction, we are likely to end up where we're headed." (I recall hearing that quote attributed to Confucius, but maybe it came from a fortune cookie that I read long ago.)
Absolutely, Abby. But this time around we need 270, and the way to get that is to overwhelm them with blue votes
Yes , I agree. If we would of had an electoral college reform or deleted it , Presidential candidates Al Gore and Hillary Clinton would of won.
What the data I am reading is that people over 50 are more likely to switch from voting for Trump to voting for Kamala because they have a recollection of the Republican party before Trump took over, and feel that they don't recognize their party anymore. Women Gen Zers are more likely to vote for Harris, while males are turning more in Trump's direction. Apparently he excites them. White voters are Trump's biggest base, and that is a problem. On the other hand, Jay Kuo said yesterday that he did not think that the polls are realistic.
https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/its-manipulation-plain-and-simple
So, we can hope that more and more youth, especially those disaffected by Gaza, will see that Trump is not good for their future and come out in bigger numbers and vote. However, the youth in my household have all relied on me to get them voting. That is nagging them to be current in their registration, and to have a plan for voting. My daughter had my guidance to vote from abroad. It is not so simple. In fact, with my local Democrats Abroad we have made ourselves available on certain days to help people here with voting. It is the young ones for the most part, but also the first time voters be they young or old who need help. Then, there is a Vote from Abroad online help day on October 20.
https://www.votefromabroad.org/voter-support/
Here is a link to Democrats Abroad voter help. https://www.democratsabroad.org/?utm_campaign=24_hour_zoom_marathon_emea2&utm_medium=email&utm_source=democratsabroad
Yes , read Simon's take on the recent flood of partisan polls.
Thanks for sharing these links for people
Overall numbers don't matter. Thanks to the Electoral College, what matters is swing states. Do you have those numbers?
Yes , this is definitely true. This why President Biden, President Obama, Senator Bernie Sanders, President of the Workers Union Shawn Flain, President Bill Clinton and former congress woman
Liz Cheney out there helping out in the swing states for Vice-President Kamala Harris to win. It would be great if former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to help Kamala campaign in Pennsylvania. She is a strong force to gravitate people to listen.
Oops.
Those are some interesting numbers and a new take in voting patterns. Creative thinking. Good job!
@ Ira. He underperformed in the Republican primary, and many of his former supporters are now his enemies. . https://rvat.org/
Please comment on social media...."Not suckers or losers" to vets groups, military, military dependents, history sites. Vote vets has thousands of testimonials of 2020 Trump voters that flipped. According to Facebook, there are 4 million veterans or active duty members on Facebook, and 12.5 million family members of veterans or active duty members on Facebook. Requires constant reminders.
I also like "Trump hates dogs," "Trump stole from kids with cancer," and "don't slit your own throat" as comments.
I'm fond of the ads on porn sites alerting users that TFG would ban porn along with abortion and birth control. Not that I've seen the ads...
I really hope you are right…
Trump won't get a majority of the popular vote. If anything, Harris may INCREASE the lead on Trump that Biden got in 2020.
But that completely ignores the fact that if, say, 5,000,000 more people in California and New York vote for Harris, but 200,000 in the swing states vote for Trump instead of Harris compared to 4 years ago, Trump will still win the electoral vote by possible 40-50 votes. The system just skews everything. Unfortunately, the polls on electoral votes still show Trump well within the margin of polling error, and last time (2020), he outperformed his poll numbers by 3-4% but he was BEHIND by much more than that. If he outperforms his current numbers in the swing states, he will win by almost as much as he did in 2016.
It doesn't look good, very sad to say. I really hope I am wrong.
Well, I too hope you are wrong. "Perform" is an increasingly inappropriate word - he's not. He's doing nothing. Why? Because it doesn't matter any more? because all 2025 is scheduled to break loose on 5 November? Elon and JD aligned with Bannon?
Much higher Gen Z registration is hopeful, Jon, as their main concerns are for environment, health autonomy, and LGTBQ+ rights. Everyone's concerned about rent, food and gas prices, so I exclude the economy from my specifically Gen Z list of priorities. As I mentioned in an earlier reply to you, Boomers are leaning Harris as Project 2025 calls for severe cuts to social security and medicare. And let's not forget women of all ages who want control of their bodies returned to them.
Please keep in mind that we’re not seeing the full results of polling. The “horse race” questions are not telling us what messages are being tested nor which ones are moving the opinions of which voter demographics. You can be assured that the Harris/Walz campaign is polling extensively in battleground states, and conducting focus groups as well to find effective messaging to carry through the election. They’re also likely testing who are effective “messengers” to talk with voters in particular locales. It’s not unheard of that some pollsters would try to achieve results to make their candidate appear more popular than they are to gain an advantage perceptually, but most would not want to damage their reputation by doing so. It has happened in my state, however.
That is one view but history of the Trump elections suggests otherwise. In both elections 2016 and 2020 the polls UNDER reported Trump's vote, showing a close race in 2016 which Trump actually won and a massive Trump defeat in 2020 which in fact he only lost by about 200,000 votes in the six swing states that mattered.
I of course am only referring to the electoral college polling and results which are all that count. Polling in this election shows Trump only slightly behind Harris, which resembles 2016. Also although you are correct that Trump- run polls can be misleading, that also applies to Harris run polls and realclearpolitics and 538.com both have many unbiased polls which also show the race dead even.
.
I do like the way you think, and calculate, Ira!! Thank You! I agree! And if you include the massive efforts of the League of Women Voters and other groups to register high school students to vote, Harris's total would be even higher.
Not to burst the bubble…but your last sentence “Stats don’t lie” is great! I love the analogy of your 6 point argument. But they are not stats. They are your assumptions. Yet, I’m on board with your assumptions
I don't buy you analysis, given that those who have studied public opinion (polls and otherwise) call it tied. Feel good optimism or playing with numbers does us no good -- it only makes us worry less and WORK LESS to make Harris win.
Do you believe in polls ??? why??? don't
I believe in polls because historically they are very accurate. Not perfect of course (they picked Hillary to win in 2016 and they were wrong) but very very close in most elections.
It's your right to disagree, but I tend to think mathematical analysis works best in the long run.
You're forgetting that Harris has the majority of Boomer voters according to polls, ira, so your stats need to be adjusted, although past patterns are more reliable than polls. Still, we musn't forget that TFG is threatening social security and medicare, which is a pretty good indicator of elder turnout for Harris.
Polls smolds!! but after 59 years of voting I've never been called by the polls so who do they call and how do they determine who to call?
C'mon that's not a good argument. They pick people randomly. So over let's say 200 polls during election season that is at most a few hundred thousand people out of 200 million voters. And yet they have managed to accurately predict the outcome of 16 out of the last 18 presidential elections. You don't have to like it but it is reality.
But at the same time they can miss as they did in 2016. Maybe they will be wrong again.
Thanks, ira.
ira, it still boils down to where they live. The outdated EC has neutered the popular vote, and insured that a small number of people in a handful of states really matter.
Yes but… a significant lead such as discussed above of more than 10M votes simply based on the number of 65+ deaths and probable votes of New GenZ will form the base for adding to another 8M or so adult voters leading potentially to a 16-20M plurality! Thus, that would include the Big Three Midwest Blue Wall plus NC and GA and probably even AZ that will lead to well more than 300 EC votes!
I wish I could get the drugs that you get!
Am confident that he hurts his numbers each and every day with moderate R women as well as regular businessmen who have never embraced radical economic potential; she has smartly made a big pitch for small business which no D has ever paid any attention to before, correct? As well as very strong pro-union buy-in? And a very substantial number of Vets such as me are pissed at his losers and suckers talk and are influenced by ex-top-brass vs Rump which has never happened before either! Finally Ds are very fearful justifiably of the future if he wins so our turnout will be the largest in history by far while the other moderate side is either so-so for him or 10-15% actively negative ala Cheney— have we ever seen that before? No way— makes sense, I hope?
So lets hope the polls which dont reflect this are simply wrong. And what of all the Americans who have become 55 plus since then ?
I watched the "town hall" which was "moderated" by Kristi Noem tonight. All of it. It was unlike anything I had ever seen from Trump, and there's been a lot to see. I know we Dems and left-leaning independents say this often but -- HOW -- HOW -- are the polls "tied" with the race a toss-up? As Trump gets angrier and more deranged, it appears the polls are moving closer to him.
I saw a headline on MSNBC that said " Harris's favorability advantage with Trump erased" (must have been the NBC poll they were referring to.). I went to 538 and saw that Trump's favorabilit tracker average was still almost ten (10) points underwater while Harris' was about break even.
It is confounding. The pundits tell us the "vibe" is gone. The "glow" has worn off.
CONFOUNDING.
Ugh. I commend you for getting through the entire “town hall”. I didn’t even try because the sound of his voice is like fingernails on a chalkboard, but if I had tried I doubt I’d have made it through 10 minutes. To me it is increasingly apparent that the reason for the “close race” is the media’s continued tactic of normalizing the bizarre. Thank goodness for Dr Richardson’s clear voice in the void.
"Thank goodness for Dr Richardson’s clear voice in the void."
Gimme a break -- she's preaching to the choir here. A complete waste of everyone's time. No one who subscribes to HCR is going to change their mind! Go do it on Fox "News," like Mayor Pete has been doing for years, and that Kamela is going to do this Wednesday.
I'm a veteran of the Civil Rights movement in the '70s, and I've been an activist all my life. Go work in a swing state to knock on doors! THAT matters! I did about five months of that split between two Obama campaigns and Hillary's. All of my activism has been VERY satisfying. In addition to our contributions to the campaigns, I met, worked with, and spent hang out time after hours with a bunch of great people! At 83, my body is no longer capable of that, so we're sending as much money to Senate and House campaigns as we can. THIS matters. Talk is cheap. Get off the computer or phone and WORK for the team.
What I learned in the Movement -- if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem!
the choir needs some preaching to, too (and some very sensible fact-based discussion when MSM have mainly abandoned any effort to bring us the facts that Dr R does) in such satanic times.
I don't think anyone here is saying 'let's read Heather Richardson and we'll have done our duty to defend democracy'.
Jim, HCR isn’t trying to affect our vote, she is arming us with facts and context so we can intelligently act, as you have done all your life! Thankyou for that!
Also, don’t underestimate the influence of this group on children, grandchildren, family, friends-- many in swing states.
Thousands of people read this Substack. If each reader has even 10-20 people of voting age in their immediate circle we have reached a sizeable group of voters.
This is political action and in my opinion as far from a “ waste of time” as something can be!
People have the power!
HCR has armed me to the teeth with facts! With YEARS of reading every LFAA. I’ve become more confident and surely more willing to open my mouth to A: Have a conversation about how the US Constitution is a living document. That Fascism will never be tolerated by the Constitution and the history of fascism in our government has been put down over and over. These are very, very scary times for America at this moment
B: I flat refuse to accept any of MAGA, Evangelical doctrine as having any place in our society and I’m backed by facts while I sneak around at night and throw Trump/Vance signs in the back of my truck. When I decide to face to face confront MAGA, and believe I do, I have courage, not fear. My most recent was in Mechanicsburg, PA Cracker Barrel last Wednesday night. So yes, she is writing to her fans with every expectation they will spread the word about Trump and fascism. We must!
Jim, you’re a warrior! Thank you for all your hard work and dedication.
Right On.
Also a veteran of the Civil Rights movement, at 80 the knocking on doors part isn't possible for me right now. Postcards and donations are my thing. Live in a blue, blue state (Ct.) Where my senators and reps are on the front lines and have been for over 15 years. So I focus on critical races down ballot and also donate to David Hogg. (Survivor of Parkland.)
Trump is now literally dancing around questions. 39 minutes of music instead of answering questions.
But thats not the point. It never loses him any votes, so keep going strong.
Agree Jim. Thank you!
Regarding Trump's acuity... it is pretty much non existent.
Are you sure? Look how far this act has got him?
Isn't Vance the real threat now if tffg steals the election?
Won't Heritage being pull the strings using Project 2025 as the guide?
That’s the plan, yes. Diabolical
Giving Thanks for “Dr Richardson’s clear voice…”….👏🫶✔️
Agree. I feel the same. VA Gov Glen Youngkin denial of Trumps quote, denying Trump’s actual quote, denying the truth, reality really, just shows the danger of 9 years of lying. The effect of lying at scale has consequences. There is an effect on all of us. For some it is an unease as we witness an epidemic of ignorance, paranoid persecution, and mass delusion. I’ve found Dr Bandy Lee, forensic psychiatrist substack and various speakers critical of the former guy both educational and enlightening. The case of Donald is frightening, the followers more so, the consequences are so unsettling. These are experts in mental health, the cream of the crop at the end of their careers, the esteemed practitioners of mental health and disorders. The mental health experts are saying Donnie is displaying many key signs of dementia. Historians and the military generals who served him are calling him a fascist dictator. A collection of Nobel Laureates have called his economic plan a disaster, certain to cause a recession. His racism and elevation of conspiracy inspires his white nationalism militia followers to armed intimidation with lethal violence.
How is this both sides-ism even possible? How could the poles even claim to be close? How can media treat both sides as moral equivalents? Bill Clinton might say, “It’s Populism stupid.”
“Tapper pressed Republican Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin to comment on Trump’s statement that as commander-in-chief, he would use the military against political opposition. When Youngkin denied that Trump had said any such thing, Tapper replied: “I’m literally reading his quotes to you.” Youngkin’s willingness to deny what was right in front of him did not exactly quell talk of fascism, since in his dystopian novel 1984 about authoritarianism, George Orwell famously wrote: “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes Tapper pressed Republican Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin to comment on Trump’s statement that as commander-in-chief, he would use the military against political opposition. When Youngkin denied that Trump had said any such thing, Tapper replied: “I’m literally reading his quotes to you.” Youngkin’s willingness to deny what was right in front of him did not exactly quell talk of fascism, since in his dystopian novel 1984 about authoritarianism, George Orwell famously wrote: ‘The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command’…”
The Party—NSDAP, Communist Party, MAGA, or whatever—performs a pseudo-religious function, acting as a substitute, a fake Almighty God, and commanding blind submission. A simulacrum of the ultimate authority. Hence, the attempt, both in Russia and America, to hijack the Christian religion and use it for other purposes… Could anything be more diabolical?
*
‘9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate…’
Isaiah 6:9-11
*
As a young man, Stalin attended a seminary, where he plainly learned plenty…
*
“Our old Nobodaddy Joe
watches us from down below.
At the seminary, he
grew jealous of the Deity;
plotted there to take His place,
liquidate the human race,
leaving only Party cadres,
indispensable cadavers
and of course His Privates, We.”
*
And now, Stalin’s current disciple in the Kremlin has a faithful follower in Mar-a-Lago… who can't wait to get his little clutches onto the vast material and military power of America.
Gov. Youngkin is weak and a puppet. What is with these scared men.
“For now, understand that the GOP is manipulating the data, which is manipulating the media, which in turn is driving many people into bouts of anxiety. The race has not fundamentally changed in anyway. They’re trying to vibe shift it, and we should understand that. The antidote to this cynical ploy is action. Donate. Organize. Vote.”
https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/its-manipulation-plain-and-simple
The statuskuo message could not be clearer.
Here, I'm going to repeat something I wrote yesterday:
*
The primary factor is a racketeering shakedown, one with which media owners are often complicit.
The business decision when faced with very credible threats of extreme violence if the MAGA Führer and Deputy Führer, would-be Gauleiters and would-be Reichsführer-SS Miller have their way… has been clever-cleverly to cut risks and losses by opting for the most lucrative win-win version of the traditional “horse race”, the photo finish.
By thus hedging their bets, editors can always claim that they were obeying orders while upholding their own very special version of “objectivity”—such a smart way of selling one’s country while appearing to do nothing worse than gambling on its survival…
Viewed from outside, the weirdest thing of all is not the wildly erratic doings of Orangepeel Führer or his poor wretched followers so shocked out of their wits by natural reality that they repel assistance by FEMA (because of its initial F for Fed) and turn out truckfulls of heavily armed stormtroopers to hunt down FEMA teams—among the latest aberrations—but the fact that around half the American population should even think of voting for a dimestore crime boss whose entire reputation rests on sado-masochistic TV shows which, in earlier times, could never have gotten further than a Coney Island sideshow.
How could so much cretinism even be possible?
How can America’s reputation survive this?
Even if voters do succeed in barring the way to raving madness on a scale the world has not seen since Mao’s Cultural Revolution, the aftermath will almost certainly be violent and it will take a long, long time even to begin clearing the wreckage it leaves behind.
It’s difficult to find another ‘pedestrian’ commenter amongst the others who have substack articles to sell! Thanks for the terse comment and the link! Kuo is fact based and a lucid writer!
Call me a cynic, but if MSM reports polls are close but election isn’t, it gives Trump team more ammo to cry foul/fraud etc.
My thoughts exactly.
The GOP leaning polls are the R's efforts to "flood the zone with shit" in the memorable words of Slob Bannon. All part and parcel of a effort to make it APPEAR that Trump is a strong candidate, gaining strength instead of the weak, tired and increasingly unhinged hot mess that he truly is.
The ‘Looking Good ‘ crowd T.L. , thanks , excellent synapse. I think the numbers aforementioned 70-80 million ‘followers’ has depleted by a significant margin. I’m hope banking on this while voting Blue💙
You might be missing the fact that 70-80 million of our "fellow citizens" actually are true supporters of Trump's fascism, racism and misogyny. And most of those live in the key states that are primarily GOP. So they get the benefit of the electoral college. And it looks like the GOP will hold the Senate (I can't see any chance of any other outcome, we are absolutely going to lose West Virginia and Montana, and very very little chance of picking up a current GOP seat, so at BEST it will be 49-51 against us in the Senate. We may take back the House which would be good (anythiing to get Mike Johnson out of the speaker's seat) but it still won't be enough to actually have a working coalition government even if we win the White House.
Not really confounding, unfortunately. I think it is quite accurate.
SFHaine: if those "pundits" are looking for vibe, and glow, I hope they too watched that spectacle - half an hour of bad jokes and sashaying up and down in front of a cyc with "TOWN HALL" written on it.
Stay tuned for the framing of the week.
Because polling companies got largely bought out by Republicans and are trying to BS the American people. And legacy media is not calling that out. Remember the driveway about the red wave? Same crap, on steroids.
One of the rumbles that is starting is that some polls are manipulated to appear to favor trump, by bad designs or faulty analysis. The rationale is it creates more fodder for the plan to assault the election results because they don't match the "polls"
It may be a very good year to watch the actual polls themselves. I did in 2008, and the crap I saw was stunning. Voting machines that were down, ran out of paper ballots, the hard drive on the central polling site computer crashed AS DID THE BACKUP DRIVE.
All very strange.
This was in a red suburb of Denver, where this year Boebert thinks she can stay in congress.
We pretty much all get a ballot in the mail--I got notice mine was sent Friday, but as of yesterday's mail it isn't here. But there will still be some who go to the polls.
Trump spoke at an Economics forum today in Chicago. As usual the moderator could hardly get a word in edgewise, but he acted like the debate “Trump”. He was it lost, so perhaps was on meds. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-trump-joins-interview-forum-at-the-economic-club-of-chicago
Trump and his allies aren’t even trying to win the election—they’re focused on seizing power by any means necessary. From stoking chaos to undermining democracy, their strategy is clear: if they can’t win fairly, they’ll break the system to stay in control.
They have already left a wake of destruction. We can't let it go terminal.
Exactly
As Trump leans into chaos and authoritarianism, Harris presents a starkly different vision—one rooted in stability, policy, and outreach. The election is shaping up to be not just a contest of ideas, but a fight for the future of American democracy itself.
I just read a piece in The Bullwork that points out how many voters are relatively clueless about the composition of the Senate and the House and that it is essential to try to raise this awareness if the turnaround is going to have any chance vis a vis the Supreme Court as well as policies.
Agreed
How did half the country miss the lessons of history? There were 3 WWII vets in my family, 2 brothers & a sister & we knew at an early age why they fought & what one brother gave his life protecting.
Kathleen, same here - my dad and 2 uncles saw combat in WWII.
Trump went to Arlington National Cemetery and desecrated the graves of all who have served in the military with a photo-op thumbs up. I can not and will not ever forgive him for this heinous act of disrespect for every one who gave up part of their lives so that we would live in a free country.
Gary, this was not something NEW! He has been offending veterans for almost a decade, possibly longer. He didn't like John McCain because he was "shot down" and Trump likes "winners", not "losers" who get shot down. He slandered Afghan vets who were wounded. The guy has been a disrespectful idiot for years.
But he has conned so many and they have all bought into it. I am very scared for the country right now. I do not see this ending well at all.
We can take no comfort in JD being convicted felon Donald Trump's VP pick either. Like someone said on Sunday, "There is no lie too big for Trump and Vance."
Who else could lie 602 times in a debate and be declared the winner or 161 times in a press conference and not be called out for it except by one news service on both occasions?
My dad AND mom served in WWII. Donald Hitler must be stopped.
Unfortunately "fascist" doesn't sound like such a bad word to many people these days.
JakeTapper's definition (quoted in tje letter) sounds just fine to most of the people in some states
The fascists were the bad guys. Much thanks to your family.
Propaganda and hate skip along nicely for awhile.
My WWII army veteran father never talked about it. I was born in 1954. He was in Normandy and battle of the bulge.
I am happy to say I voted for Kamala from France over two weeks ago and received a notice from my electoral board in Oregon that my vote was registered. Same for my wife. We live in France - and will do so as long as we can. It is interesting that it has just been in the past few weeks that the French press has gotten its hair on fire over a looming Trump presidency - they are rightly horrified and at the same time, at least to judge from television, bemused at how foolish the American electorate can be to even consider Trump.
As someone over 60 who, like Professor Richardson, taught and published in history and classics for many years, I'm philosophical about it. Failure IS an option, and sometimes societies choose to do so willfully. We are selfish, and selfish societies eventually cease to thrive. If the US chooses Trump this go, it will be a signal that the US has chosen to fail, but it has been a series of choices over decades. I could cite so many authors concerning our current moment: from Tacitus to Thucydides, from Shirer to Kershaw, from Orwell to Neil Postman, but the one I keep coming back to is Hannah Arendt.
In her Origins of Totalitarianism - more relevant than ever - she stated succinctly and chillingly, "The only thing that stands between humanity and nuclear annihilation is the stability of the American republic."
Whether Harris wins or loses, I'm afeared that is gone.
Thank you for all you have done to teach history to your students for including a history lesson here. I also worry about nuclear war (starting either in Ukraine or the Middle East). And I also worry about a climate crisis tipping point being reached and exceeded if Trump is president.
If Trump is elected, the classic statement by Pogo will be proven true. “We have met the enemy and they is us.“
Another fav quote. Has been true since W/Dickie
Hannah knew of what she spoke. Putting the chump cretin, or his handlers (including Putin), in charge of the nukes is suicide.
Indeed. A terrible and stupid risk - sheer madness for which I shall never forgive the mob (I can scarcely consider people who put the country in such danger fellow citizens or countrymen).
My sentiments exactly
Steve, HCR’s history lessons have taught me that our experiment with a ‘democratic Republic’ has been tested and attacked since its inception! HOPE! Hope is my source of strength!
Please develop a sense of ‘informed hope’!
Thanks for encouraging me not to lose hope, Louis. I remain “cautiously hopeful”. But I’m also aware that Gore should have won Florida… and that John Kerry should have won Ohio. Democrats play by the rules. Republicans do not.
I am suddenly quite terrified of the idea the JD Vance could end up President of America this to the United States in a short while. Vote Harris-Walz. The country you save may be your own...
JD Hitler: worse than trump.
So... the military is just going to roll over for Trump?! I don't think so. Trump, the Republican Party, MAGA, the six corrupt conservative SCOTUS justices and his white-trash billionaire enablers are "the enemy within." The conservatives are the Nazis. In America in 2024, we don't do Nazi.
"We don't do Nazi".
Except we do. Did you notice how many people on Jan 6 wore swastikas? Have you seen the skinhead patrols in some of our bigger cities? It reminds me of Clockwork Orange. Apparently (according to Woodward's book) Trump even kept a copy of Mein Kampf on his dresser to read. Apparently he liked Hitler. Not totally surprising either.
Some relish the cruelty. As we are likely to see
I wish you were right. I see far too many of my former friends who, while they support Israel 100%, also adopt all the philosophy of the Nazi's minus the swastikas. There is a small subset of these who do support, with all the trimmings, the Nazi philosophy. To be succinct: They love them some White Power.
Or at least Write House power.
And he was on stage with the South Dakota governor, who unlike Haitian immigrants in Ohio, actually does kill dogs. I guess that’s ok if you’re white.
Touché! Brilliant comparison! Brilliant!
I just added this comment to HCR’s OCT 13th substack, I’ll copy it forward.
I cannot believe that the Republican National Committee is not ashamed of the Presidential candidate they spit on the sidewalk for the United States to waste time on, and why Fox News is not embarrassed to run so many hours of litter from their studio. This election is costing us so many millions of dollars to keep a mentally unstable man out of being our American President for four years. Meanwhile climate change destroyed millions of lives, we need men and women to rebuild homes and infrastructure to repair communities from the hurricanes. And as Dr. Julio Friedman, chief scientist at Carbon Direct is trying to solve the technical challenges around carbon management and CO2 removal—there are hundreds of manufacturing and technological jobs coming that needs human capital to meet the Climate Mitigation targets so our younger generation has a future on this planet. The Republicans are wasting our precious time.
They are not ashamed because Vance is the true candidate. That was telegraphed when Musk joined a rally. The senile one is a useful distraction and the media may be the most snookered of all.
I agree with you Rhea. It’s quite scary to me!
I see the media as complicit
Exactly. Trump will deliver the former under rock dwellers, Vance the wealthy.
They are not only wasting our precious time, they plan to undo every advance made for decades. They are Hitler on steroids
- Pulled Quotes -
“I was at Trump's golden escalator launch, flew out of Washington with him in 2020 and have probably been'' to 100 rallies, give or take. Have never seen anything like tonight.” The headline over Marianne LeVine’s Washington Post story about the event read: “Trump sways and bops to music for 39 minutes in bizarre town-hall episode.''
''George Orwell famously wrote: “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”''
Rod Serling never produced anything more eerie and mind-bending.
Vote to remove this nightmare.
Heather - This facinating analysis was just forwarded to me. I hope you will have a chance to read it.
about the role of Trump as Satan and how that plays into the strange following. I don't know if you apreciate articles that seem relevant but I am going to try to paste the link. Worked. Thanks.
Subject: Trump and Trumpism: An outstanding psychological profile
https://newlinesmag.com/argument/the-mass-psychology-of-trumpism
Thanks, Joanna Reuter--it IS fascinating!
There is some reason to consider Trump in religious terms, even if this article points out it is more a mass psychology case. If we try to consider Trump as Satan or probably more like Antichrist, what should be done to fight him or the perception of him? Deep self-scrutiny and ascesis like Christ fought temptation in the desert? Or should it rather be, good news, a joyful, sound message that blows away all the dark clouds? Personally, as a secular person, I could not honestly promote such a campaign, but what about clergy and the many preachers in the States?
Interesting read
It’s increasingly hard not to believe we are all living in some bizarre dystopian novel created by a science fiction writer with a flair for Orwellian imagination mixed with dark humor and a touch of madness. Up ahead of us waits a misty voting booth ever receding into a future we can’t quite reach while a Greek chorus sings a play by Aristophanes. Can this be the country in which I’ve lived and worked for nearly 80 years?
Each day, it becomes clearer that Trump’s mental decline is accelerating. So his campaign has decided to allow Trump to self-destruct before our eyes. The media is fixated upon his antics. He is their shiny object. Meanwhile, where’s JD?
Trump refuses to address the issues with policies because he can’t. He’s too far gone. So they let him run around, going to places they know he has no chance of winning. Why? To feed his massive ego. The rally at Madison Square Garden is a perfect example.
The media needs to stop covering these events, but not because they shouldn’t do so in a normal world. They need to call this fight as the TFG is incapable of continuing. Of course, they won’t.
Roberto Duran knew enough to say, “No mas.” That’s something Trump will never say. The only way to proceed is to starve his ego. So, walk away from this sad, sad spectacle. Just walk away.
JD is being prepped.
By whom?
I would guess Peter Thiel and the Heritage crowd of vipers. There is organization behind chump and JD. And the money
Is anyone trying to keep Musk in order? It suddenly struck me, as I wrote that, that it might just be possible for them to offend him if they aren't wary.
Elon has made his bed and is quite comfortable in it. He needs to be taken down a peg or two - or a mil or two
So that little exhibition was bouncing on the mattress? Did you see this:
https://steady.substack.com/p/whos-minding-musk
Ack, ack...
JDHitler.
Oh LORDY
Maybe ireJ???
I’ve been called a lot of things
He may do some more YMCA at Madison Square Garden. JD Vance had better remind him it's not actually a fascist anthem.
I hope more than a few “undecideds” realize what a message that venue sends since it was the sight of the NAZI hooray in 1939. Something that should shame us all.
We all see the venue for what it is. Question: how far will they go? (I see you've added a H).
Yep, that JD was offensive to me.
Sad when someone steals your name...
Yep, thought JD identified but didn’t offend. Then the cretin reared his ugly head.
Weren't all the members of the Village People gay? I guess someone hasn't informed Trump about that.
Still can’t wrap my head around the fact that it’s entirely possible that the US will turn into a fascist dictatorship in a few weeks. And how it is possible that still millions of Americans cheer for Rump. And the more deranged he becomes, the louder they cheer… Starting at the schools was a very good idea in the long run, thanks, Mr. Powell.
It happened in Germany. Not at all surprising that it could happen here as well. Many people have warned about this for years. It is not new. Its just that staring down the barrel of the gun at 21 days, it is finally starting to reach people that it actually could happen.
Been screaming your message for years, listen up, the time is now
It's especially painful to watch this all unfolding from Germany, where I currently live. Although the Nazis are (re)gaining ground here as well. But I shudder to think what enormous momentum a Trump victory in the US would give them here...
And the far right in Sweden.
And in the Netherlands.
And, I have to add Mike, the recent results in Austria. Our son, partner and 2 grandkids live there and are having THAT experience of knowing that the people in your community (rural) have embraced the hate.
I'm sad to hear that your own family has to experience that... It seems to be a world wide trend, embracing the hate...
Mike, I don’t believe it is the recent schooling system that tells this story…his staunchest supporters are in the latter generations. Yes he is appealing to some younger ‘bros’ but the 18 to 29 year olds are not as a whole buying in judging by the polls I have seen. My impression is that these young people are a lot more savvy culling through social media posts, aware that there is a lot of distortion. I haven’t seen stats on Fox viewership but judging by the interviews of people at his rallies it seems that it is the older generation who are not able to see beyond their chosen stream of media outlets and influencers.
Of the younger people I know of there is a lot of concern about climate abuse. They get stuck with the consequences of our folly.
As for schools, my personal impression is that there has been a lot of political pressure to lean toward viewing them as trade schools over generalized preparation for life, including providing some kind of beginner's guide to being a well informed and BS-detecting citizen and voter. Democracy is not about picking from somebody else's prepared menu so much as collectively formulating the questions and agendas our representatives are charged with facilitating. It's not government of the people, by the people, for the people with the preponderance of citizens tuned out or on the sidelines.
I have no doubt that public schools are a crucial piece of society. As parents we really struggled with trying to find the best educational environment for our three kids in the ‘90s and early ‘00. I had a mixed education of public and alternative schools. We believed in an environment that allowed for the humanities as well as science and math, ideally allowing for interdisciplinary exploration. Public schools do have a mission of molding the young into productive (I would add obedient) citizens able to contribute to the economy and most have to approach this en mass through rigid course requirements and standardized progress measurements. Many kids can get lost in the cracks. Add to that, teachers are wildly underpaid and overloaded. Unlike some the religious schools in our area, there was no outright indoctrination but there was a crimping of exploration and innovation. Two of our kids did Lincoln Douglas Debate and that was probably the most meaningful and empowering aspect of their public high school experience. And the sports are an additional bonus. The school choice/parental control movement and subsidization are dangerous in that they are a deliberate attempt to undermine the collective project, writ large. I would love to see more meaningful exploration in the public discourse that looks at the public school system based on the experiences of the generation actually in or emerging from it with an emphasis on what they are/did not learning/learn as it relates to the functioning of the democracy and their rights and responsibility there to. This would also lead to a better understanding of how they are sourcing and connecting to information. This seems crucial as we blindly deepen our involvement with AI.
But we need to make sure the younger generations actually vote. If their turnout is low, we are in big trouble. They've done a good job of turning out to vote since 2018. Hopefully, they will keep the trend going.
Then maybe, just maybe, the younger people found their own education online whilst the Republicans tried to eliminate the humanities and critical thinking from the American school system...
I think so. My 2 youngest kids are in that age range and are not getting their news from MSM. While my older kids born in the 1990s are more likely to.
Good point. I remember when the younger kids told each other on Tic Tok to buy up all those Trump rally tickets and then didn't show and how Trump ended up cancelling that rally. I thought it was ingenious of the kids to network that way and have an immediate real world affect.