Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has canceled House business again next week, meaning that over the last 17 weeks, the House of Representatives will have worked on Capitol Hill for just 20 days.
Welp, I guess we don't have to wait for the midterms to know whether there will be free and fair elections going forward. The same federal government that is killing with impunity, kidnapping citizens with no due process, and demolishing the White House is going to "monitor" elections in Blue states this November. Now we know.
The Elias Law Group (ELG) aka "Democracy Docket" filed a lawsuit yesterday to stop the 4th bogus North Carolina gerrymandered map since 2020 the "2025 Plan".
The white Republican "pack & crack" move is attempting to dilute GROWING black voter strength in Mecklenburg & the 'Piedmont Triad'.
This move will be shut down. Black voters will not be 'packed' anywhere. The only thing that will be "cracked' is the white crackers' 2025 Plan.
Yes, but from interview I’ve seen, he has high confidence that his lawsuits are on the right side of the law but substantially less confidence that the courts will see it that way.
It's more than that. They've eliminated representation in The Black Belt. Wake and Mecklenburg Counties are split 3 ways. This is all illegal maneuvering. I'm sure there are more law suits. We sure need them. We're a 50-50 state, currently at 10-4 congressional districts, soon to be 11-3. The previous districting was was was 7-7, as it should be.
I was brought up in Lenoir, NC which is in Caldwell County. I learned that the MAGA jerk who was in charge of passing this change was from my old county!!!🤬🤬🤬
Thanks for this info. I was born in Lenoir, my maternal & paternal families’ roots go all over that region; lot of cousins still there. So — not surprised by your report but motivated to find out more, see where my dollars might go to help fight this, as you well put it, “MAGA jerk.”
Trumpepstein may be the vehicle to bring Congressional Republicans to their senses. Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-CA) tweeted about an "Epstein bomb" about to drop; over 100 Republican members might "jailbreak" from Trump.
1. The Top Marginal Tax Rate from 2018 to both this year and next year is 37%.
2. The Top Marginal Tax Rate from 2013 to 2017 was 39.6%.
3. The Top Mariginal Tax Rate from 2009 to 2012 was 35%.
Hence, the millionaires and billionaires are paying 2% higher taxes now than during President Barack Obama's first term.
Given the increases in the standard deduction and the State and Local Tax Exemption from $ 10,000 to $ 40,000; will someone please identify the tax break that millionaires and billionaires are getting from the Big, Beautiful Bill?
Epstein Bomb? Really? Stormy Daniels? Look people, if we are going to think that some relatively indistinct group of young women* who happen to be chaperoned by the likes of Margie Taylor Greene are going to bring our well-endowed supremo-leader and his grab-team to their knees.., I know a new bridge in China that's for sale.
*please understand my words. Like you I am so distraught that these "young women" were not given their proper day in court ten years ago. And, I must add I am also sick-to-death of the "royal high-nesses".., whomever they are. I'm considering a run for the Senate here in Maine on the Independent ticket, but I don't want to take away from Graham Platner.
Daniel, I agree. I've clicked on your links. I just fear it's a fart in a wind-storm. We have no morals left. Next thing we know, melonia will start selling her own version of a thongs she wears, only with pubic fuzz from kangaroos. Good luck watching those "100" republicans stand up.
Even Nixon seems stable by comparison! The ‘maggots’ are like rats eating the seed corn of democracy and the Steve’s are the really vile of the most vile!
Creepy at the worst! Where do these two come from?
Trouble is, these stereotypes refer to an era before all the M.B.A.s took over, before so many techie nerds became soulless billionaires, let's-surrender-in-advance university presidents, elite law CEOs, legacy media chief counsels.
This echoes my response to the Young Republicans Text Scandal - these are COLLEGE EDUCATED PROFESSIONALS! 😳😱 The rot is found at every level of the MAGA cult.
pilgrimRVW, your humor is tantamount to making jokes about the victim at a funeral and is therefore woefully inappropriate. We have not only become a failed state; we are the only nation in our species' entire history to have been deliberately reduced to failed-state status by an ecogenocidal tyrant hatefully elected for that specific purpose.
Lest we forget, the millions who will die as a result are in fact victims of first-degree murder. Which means every one of the 77 million MAGATs who voted for Donald the Destroyer is a premeditated murderer.
Note too the ultimate Hollywood portrayal of a failed state: Somalia in "Blackhawk Down"; given the Jung/McLuhan theory of art-as-prophecy, I now cannot but wonder if that is an accurate preview of our own future:
Funny, we’ve made many jokes about the dead loved one at their funeral. Nothing inappropriate about it. When I leaned over and told my sobbing sister that our dad was in heaven telling god everything he was doing wrong it stopped the sobbing and calmed her down. Would you have thrown me out of the church? Humor is the best medicine and pilgrim was just expressing their frustration with humor. Better than pointing guns and blowing up people.
Amen Sharon! If there is a fault with the Bible it is a profound lack of humor. Seems as though a bit of humor could have been wedged into Acts. A miracle that went awry and was later repaired, Lazarus falling down a well the next day, Jesus jumping out from behind the big rock with a cry of surprise! Something, anything.
Loren Bliss, Strongly recommend The Mary Tyler Moore Show episode, "Chuckles Bites the Dust." It won an Emmy for "dealing with grief and death in a deeply human way."
Yes, Portland has taught us one thing, be really fucking funny! …ridicule softly and loudly! Make fun of the golden toilets and showers, remind people that he is very old and frail, sad old man who buys friends.
We once had an octopus dog toy that lost its legs one by one, resulting in a similar renaming each time. My husband named the final, legless iteration "Zedipus".
I fully agree with you. I am beside myself after Trump destroyed the East Wing as vengeance for the huge No Kings rallies.
WE NEED NO KINGS RALLIES NOT MONTHLY BUT WEEKLY. WE DONT NEED POLITICIANS ADDRESSING THE CROWDS. WE NEED PEOPLE HOLDING SIGNS AND YELLING. WE NEED MUSIC. WE NEED THESE WEEKLY RALLIES IN FRONT OF Every federal COURT BUILDING IN THE NATION — from New York to California.
WE CAN’T SURVIVE THREE MORE YEARS OF THIS POX IN THE WHITE HOUSE.
Intellect of a thwarted three year old. First, he pours virtual excrement over America and Americans. (For the whole world to see). Then he rips the East Wing apart.
I am not at all worried about collective rage. I have enough holes in my soul put there by atrocities this missive cannot begin to fathom. What we’ve done to each other is unbelievable, unforgivable, undeniable, and unending. Give me a couple minutes and I can hand you a bucketful of what used to be a man. Give me Trump. Give me his cronies. Give me his sycophants. I will hand his world back to him in buckets. I am an American working man. A veteran. A toiler of labor. An angry angry angry man capable to whatever ends are required. I am not a prophet I am a promise. Lay this at his doorstep.
Thank you Sandra. Your Freudian slip is showing. But "invisible" is how most of us feel.
Many of us support our local food banks for many reasons. Hopefully, the Republicans will shed their Oligarchical and Fascist ways and actually work with the Democrats to restore SNAP and ACA benefits, but if they don't it's time the Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention help the underprivileged. We certainly can't count on the billionaires like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Donald Trump and most of Trump's cabinet to help out.
STOP USING STARVATION AS A WEAPON AGAINST AMERICANS REPUBLICANS!
An managable way to support your local food shelter is to do a neighborhood collection of food and bring to shelter. I ask the shelter what they need most and put a call out for these things.
GJ, I'm with you in spirit, but offer this advisory: Republicans have always maintained the theory that the disadvantaged are not the responsibility of government but of charitable agencies, such as churches and generous, wealthy individuals who choose to help.
The problem is, those charitable entities exist in such paltry numbers, they couldn't begin to meet the need.
Almost all churches are losing members and the attending revenues, so they are too busy enlarging and enhancing their campuses and spending on entertainment, thinking that will win back the members they've lost. (It won't.) They'll feed and house the needy AFTER they reclaim their former assets, which will happen ... never.
The wealthy individuals didn't get that way by giving their money away, so it's highly unlikely that they will suddenly become generous because of a growing need.
As a population, Americans are not as generous as we'd like to think. The involuntary process of taxation provides the funding a civilized society needs to care for its citizens in need. Without it, a population is barbarous. That is where Republicans, including Musk, Thiel and Trump, would take us.
My thoughts exactly. And when they brag about how wealthy the country is becoming and point to the stock market they ignore that the majority of people are not invested in the stock market because their minimum wage jobs won’t allow them even have healthcare and food.
Dale- Warren Buffett just donated $6 billion for hunger relief. This is a huge number for any one individual (except Musk perhaps). But when the budget for SNAP is something like $42 billion a year I think, that's a drop in the bucket.
Plus, even the Catholic Church which is extremely wealthy, can't muster up $42 billion every year. And although many of the billionaire oligarchs are generous, just as many aren't.
I brag up Mckenzie Scott, Susan Buffett and Melinda Gates lead the pack in helping the underprivileged. We should be praising their generosity every chance we can. But should we point out how Musk is perhaps the greediest person on the planet?
Thanks. I was just saying we should be out there every Saturday as long as the government is shut down. Maybe even start food giveaways. We live just south of Pendleton. The people in Oceanside never have enough food.
Thank you for posting this. I am so glad the surrounding areas of my small town are holding rallies every weekend. It’s a mentally healthy thing to do. It’s going to take cities and states coming together to help those who are and will continue to be hurt by this administration.
Indivisible is a great organization! And it’s good to connect with a local group because being part of a group is a way to stay sane. Also check out the “What’s the Plan?” meeting at Indivisible.org for some inspiration!
That collective rage is what got us out for the No Kings and I think we should be out there every Saturday that the government is closed. Maybe we should bring food to give away too.
@Sharon: If we want protests to do anything more than show ourselves that we have the numbers we need to be out by the millions 24 hours a day 7 days a week for months or years.
As for the food--42 Million people are on starvation track as of November 1st. If your state is one that will kill SNAP with no back-up, and IF you are not one of the ones who will go hungry, please consider doing more than bringing food to protests. There are ways to get involved with literally feeding people through this horror show.
Judy, your bringing up Snyder's personal decision for his family is an annoying, irrelevant gotcha/whataboutism based on ignorance. Educate yourself before engaging in this kind of activity.
Thank you for that link. Very powerful and inspirational!
I would like to comment on something he said near the end...
'if everyone in the comments section were out there doing something...'
My point is not about people in comment sections anywhere but more about the idea of engagement.
donald trump, et al, could not afford to terminate TikTok here in the US. Aside from China gathering info and his ability to make money off of it, TikTok is essential to the rightward shift in this country. Why? Because it is a giant vacuum cleaner of brains. For all of its worthwhile content it seems to be more of a drain. A rapt audience NOT paying attention to what is happening in their own communities.
Star Trek, TNG, Season 5, Episode 6, The Game
Today's Tik Tok... addictive, pleasant, and subliminally conditioning us to surrender our freedoms to the up and coming new hegemony...
I'm not a "Trekkie," but I think I've seen all the TV episodes and movies. I can't think of any episode or device in the Star Trek franchise that wasn't predictive. "The Game" is no exception.
Forgive me but my question is neither tedious nor ignorant. I am also a fan of Mr Snyder, as I assume you are. Perhaps I am envious of his ability to leave this country due to his financial condition. Since I do not have the resources necessary to leave, I will stay and fight for my country. I am 79 years old and attend protests in my frog suit and with my bubble blowing gun. I try to present a loving and light hearted face to the world as my country explodes in greed and selfishness.❤️🎈❤️
Why do you say he has given up? He’s still doing the same work he always did only now he’s safer. MAGA was coming for his job and safety. Not so different as the people seeking asylum in other countries.
No. He had legitimate family reasons for doing so. He continues to support the USA, was at the No Kings March, and remains on Substack and YouTube with his educational information.
Don't vote by mail. That's where most issues arise and the need for ballot curing. It's mostly college students and the elderly. It took 6 days last year for Justice Allison Riggs to win in NC. Next time the Legislature has reduced ballot curing to 3 days because they know they can only win by stealing votes.
I disagree. 80% of Arizonans vote by mail. The system has worked well so far. If vote-by-mail was discontinued in Arizona, far fewer people would vote at all.
We are overseas each fall in time for our grandchildren's fall vacations and that usually overlaps with the November elections. We have found voting by mail to be very convenient in the past. I don't know what the future will hold, however. It remains to be seen.
We have to be in Florida on the 4th so we voted early, in person, at our town hall. We have never had to vote by mail except while stationed in Hawaii in the late 70s, but want everyone to have the right to vote by mail for whatever reason they desire.
Many of us already have Steve -- because the Republicans haven't shut down early voting or absentee voting --- yet.
But the MAGA's have a proposition on the Maine ballot to totally change how voters can vote. (VOTE NO ON PROPOSITION 1). They have already tipped the voting scales by illegally purging active voters from the roles, gerrymandering and changing the voting laws.
YES! As a life long Mainer, and Dem, our elections already have checks & balances to maintain the integrity of the votes. This question on the ballot is another example of Republican’s attempt to make it more difficult to cast our votes! Vote No on #1!
Place pro-voting volunteers outside the 100’ boundary (or inside if allowed). On election day, those who have been protesting should offer to accompany voters past any monitors and into the polling place, at which point they go back to walk with another voter. (DOJ “Monitors” probably won’t be permitted inside a polling place. I suspect they plan to be very visible outside so voters won’t even try to vote.)
Of course there will be efforts to play with the elections. But elections will still take place. They can send all the “monitors” they like, but people will still vote. And the results will STILL not be what they want.
There are many ways you can slice this. You can choose to chime in with the Winifred Sanderson “we are DOOMED” crowd in honor of Halloween, or you can focus on the many battles they are already losing, on many different fronts.
Things are not going according to plan for them. The number of cracks in the dam are multiplying, the water pressure is rising. It makes sense to spend our passions thinking not about what they would like to do, but strategizing what we do when it all starts to go south for them. For go south for them it surely will. There are good reasons why they are so afraid right now.
“Trump talks about the administration’s strikes on boats in the region as an attempt to stop the importation of drugs into the U.S., but observers suggest the administration is really attempting to encourage Venezuelans to rise up against Venezuelan president Nicolás Madur”
We get to watch multiple mass murders almost every night on our news feeds. THAT's what this badministration is foisting on us. Applying routine governance to random people in boats.
Only if the majority in the country stand and defend every inch, punch for punch the effort by right-wingers to continue to corrupt voters rights and rig elections for continued minority rule.
Word of mouth, repeated often. Conformation with rallies again and again. It is already a growing tsunami. Trump can repeat his lie that the rallies are small all he wants. Sending the elected Republicans home to their States full of hungry and angry people will backfire bigly. They will be seeing their GOP die in front of their eyes. We need a Big Beautiful Amendment to inform all those angry voters. No more corporate personhood. No more campaign contributions crossing State and/or district lines. All Campaign contributions of currencies, or anything of value, may only be made by individual Citizens residing within the district which such contributions are made for political or judicial candidates or ballot measures which the Citizen making such contributions has a right to vote for. No more gerrymandering; all district boundaries within the States are to be drawn as close as practicable to being parallel to the lines of the Geographic coordinate system.
I also believe Trump is proving true that plenary power over all the executive departments in one invites plenary instability to all executive departments. Thus since the country has grown time has come for the executive Powers of the United States of America to be vested in independently elected Federal office holders in a Federal election conducted by we the Citizens of the United States; no more electors by the States. I am saying not only for a single President but for a number of Federal executives including the Treasurer, Attorney General, Labor General, Health and Human Services General, a Public Instruction General to head the U.S. Department of Education, Environmental Protection General, and finally a Public Services General who would oversee the United States Election, the United States Census Bureau and the United States Postal Service which would work in unison to conduct the election. I feel a Big Beautiful Amendment creating a Big Beautiful national election, as in a real democracy, would go a long way to finally unite we the people of America; "One nation, ... indivisible, ... with liberty and justice ..." I agree with Thomas Jefferson, “I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and Constitutions. But laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.”
So Trump might understand Jefferson's words, “Well, I don’t think we’re gonna necessarily ask for your opinion, I think we’re just gonna dice up the one bigly office you are screwing up. OK? We’re going to split it into a eight offices. You know? They’re going to be, like, needing lots of a new floor space at the White House to work in. OK? Hey, maybe that new East Wing Room will be a start. Yeah, that's the ticket."
Your grasp of what is, and your vision for change, is grounding. At the No Kings rally, I chatted with a man whose work at one time was to partner to create a new constitution in Brazil. He spoke about the ways our Constitution needs revision and suggested that I read those of Germany and Brazil. It makes sense for fresh thinking to percolate into society generally, wherever we happen to be. I hope your point of view is reaching people generally, in day-to-day ways.
Thanks for sharing this. Interesting idea to elect the cabinet members directly rather than allowing the president to put together their own team. It would require more effort on the part of voters, which is not a bad thing in my opinion. We do have an apathy problem which will need to be addressed regardless.
Yes, then the people might actually get out and vote. I think we should also get to vote for judges, including SCOTUS and the leaders of the House and Senate.
Another week where Moses Mike won’t swear in the new representative.
Albert, at first blush, I like your proposal. Here's what I worry about: We can't get our voters to properly educate themselves about candidates for president and vice-president. Could we ever expect them to get informed about all those additional federal executives?
What you're proposing seems similar to a board of directors, which seems to work fine for corporations. In a corporation, board candidates are proposed by a nominating committee. Choosing the nominating committee might be where things get dicey in federal government.
The committee might be political parties which might be good, could be bad. I am editing a memo to we the people. It will include the full language of the model amendment with three, maybe four sections. The eight Executives will each have specific job requirements. Education and actual work experience in the specific area of work is #1. To be President a person would need more than just having a 35 year old white penis. RFK, JR. would not get inside the door of Health and Human Services as he has no medical degree or work experience whatsoever in the medical field. The Department of Education would address the severe need to have a minimum level of education in America. Etc.
It seems to me that all Presidential candidates should have security clearances before being on a primary ballot among the other criteria you have suggested.
Democracy is a wildflower in wintertime. Buried deeply in meadows waiting now for tinkling sounds of melting snow as life filters back to a winter drabbed land. We should pause this spring when the first blossoms emerge, for many of us are in the long game and time has become our precious friend.
I enjoy your style of analogy. Actually it inspires thinking. It reminded me of a note I included in a paper I wrote on the Constitutional right to "life." My primary argument is the Framers intended the right to "life" to be understood as far more than only a right to be "alive;" the two words are not the same. The text of that foot note reads, "Perhaps a good research topic would be to identify those things that reasonable people would include in the term “life” which they would not include in the term “alive.” Could the physical processes of dying be considered to be a part of “life?” Is death a part of life? Does a right to life include a right to health, food, water and air? Is love, companionship, marriage, sex and privacy necessary to sustain a healthy life and as such are a part of the life right? Much has been written about what life involves. “Our final experience, like our first, is conjectural. We move between two darknesses.” E. M. Forster, “People,” Aspects of the Novel (1927). As quoted by Rhoda Thomas Tripp, The International Thesaurus of Quotations, 359. “Life is a child playing around your feet, a tool you hold firmly in your grip, a bench you sit down upon in the evening, in your garden” Jean Anouilh, Antigone (1942), tr. Lewis Galantiere."
By omitting the word life in a read what changes? Now add it back, what changes? Was there an enrichment or a poverty. Sometimes that exercise clarifies meaning.
All that I know of her is that she was a religious anchoress during Chaucer’s lifetime and when we studied old English literature she was mentioned in a class as the one with the Cheshire Cat smile, not the Chaucer cat smile as one of my fellow freshmen students blurted out when Chaucer’s name came to be written ( there but for the grace of God) on the blackboard. There was talk of her being the patron saint of cats. I did not take the opportunity to discover her contribution to literature or music. Much as an 18 year old finds an anathema to religion and politics one must come to understand and appreciate their effect on the literatury signature of all authors. Tell that to an 18 year old B student fresh off the ranch, who’s idea of literature was riders of the purple sage, a manuscript found sans cover in the bunkhouse.
I just recalled this from the "Being There", (1979) a satirical comedy-drama film starring Peter Sellers as Chance, a very simple minded gardener who happens to meet an elderly business mogul named Rand who is an advisor to the President. In this scene Rand, who has mistaken the older white well dressed Chance to be an upper-class, highly educated businessman who is having a hard time due to the economy, introduces him to the President. After hearing what Chance has to say here the President goes on TV quoting Chance for advice on the falling economy. This may sound crazy but Trump is Chance, Rand and the President all in one.
One of my favorite films and the reading the script is perhaps just as much fun.
LIBRARY - MORNING
The President paces, is worried about what Rand is telling
him. Chance smiles through it all.
RAND
...There is no longer any margin
for inflation, it has gone as
far as it can. You've reached
your limits on taxation, dependence
on foreign energy is at a point of
crisis, and, from where I see it,
Mr. President, the so-called Free
Enterprise System could be at
the breaking point.
PRESIDENT
You don't think I should take
that chance, huh?
RAND
Absolutely not.
Chance has reacted to his name, but doesn't know what
"sadly, they [Republicans] ARE the federal government now."
Seriously No. Republicans dominate the federal government for now. But by saying Republicans are the federal government, you leave out every Democratic elected official and every federal worker who is diligently resisting the Republican Regime. On the front lines. With great fortitude under appalling conditions and continual threat. Every day. They deserve our recognition and our support for trying to make the federal government function for all of us.
Hello lin.... One of the fixes that the DC Democrats can do if they ever get in Power again, and have Courage... Is preclude what Tinny, Tiny Mike Johnson has done... Prevent One Tiny Man From Shutting Congress Down For An Indefinite Period.... I Strongly Suspect that Tiny Mike Johnson is Shielding DJT from the Epstein Files... I Say, Release The Kraken....
Lin— it isn’t that the Democrats are shirking. They simply have no power. There is zero bipartisanship. They couldn’t even stop that abomination, the Big Ugly Bill.
The MAGA control all 3 branches and I doubt they have any intention of going along with a peaceful transfer of power. They don’t just dominate— they control.
I am not saying the Democrats are unworthy. Nor am I saying we shouldn’t fight or that we can’t win.
But none of the old ways of engaging in political action will work now. We need to fight ugly. This IS ugly and will get much worse before it gets better.
There is more to the dynamic than you assert. Every moment a Democratic official shows up and speaks out is an act of resistance and an assertion of power. Every time a federal employee does their job in a way that makes the government serve all of us, is an act of resistance and an assertion of power. Think of the federal employees who disobeyed the Republican diktat to not photograph the Republican destruction of the East Wing - their acts helped change the conversation. That matters.
Lin--YES IT MATTERS. But will not save us. This situation is tantamount to war. What you are referring to are resistance tactics. Not official federal power.
Elected Democrats should be able to use the power of their office to participate in the legislative process. That is not the same as resistance.
We must ALL be part of an ACTIVE resistance if we are to win back our freedom. They are brave to defy the regime, and perhaps more so because they must do it openly and the MAGA power knows where they live and where their children live. The malicious political prosecutions have already begun.
But that is not the same thing as being able to simply do the jobs they were elected to do.
In the end every one of us will be called to test our courage.
My dad, uncle, two aunts and several cousins all were career Federal employees. Some were Republicans and some Democrats, but they all knew who supported them and had their backs.
And now we have the chronically unemployed getting hired by Trump, Miller, Noem and Homan. I hate to say it, but most of the applicants are morons who can't pass a written test which I'm guessing is written at a 6th grade level.
Does anyone know when they get their $50K "signing" bonus? God help us if it's before they finish training. And what are they doing to get the $50K back when these fuckers quit?
These "applicants" who cannot meet such simple criteria are but one example of how the declining public schools system since the time of Reagan are impacting our society.
Yes, and unfortunately the speaker pro tem refused to recognize him so he could speak last week. How can that be allowed? They are silencing their opposition.
Annabel, I've mentioned this before here, but it bears repeating. My Republican parents utilized a defense mechanism to mask their poor choices. When things were going well for them under Republican majority, they boasted about the Republican accomplishments; when things weren't going well for them under Republican majority, they blamed "the government."
When things were going well for them under Democratic majority, they were silent; when things weren't going well for them under Democrats, they blamed the Democrats.
It's a subtle technique, but their point of view always gave Republicans a pass. We shouldn't do that. When a party is screwing up, we should name them and shame them, no matter which.
@Dale: That is an intellectual error to be sure. But this is different. The MAGA are not old school Republicans and I am not blaming "the government" in the way your are suggesting. They have seized total control over the entire federal government.
At this point the MAGA and the federal government are ONE REGIME consisting of an authoritarian executive branch, a fully corrupt SCOTUS, and a congress with no purpose except as a rubber stamp. The seating of the Democrats in that body is a pro forma exercise with no effect on the proceedings therein.
I generally refer to the whole thing as "the regime". And I don't blame the Democrats, at least not entirely. The blame I affix to them is for failing to get smarter at fighting the threat that began with Reagan. Instead of being proactive, they caved to the neoliberal Republicans over and over, until there was little ground left.
Joe Biden was actually getting somewhere on pushing back, which is why they crucified him.
I also blame the Democrats for just accepting the results last November and folding. There were other paths to take, but anyone who suggested such a think was told to STFU.
Annabel, you are a valuable contributor to these conversations. All I can recommend is to be careful with your wording.
Suggested edit: "the government, seized and controlled by Republicans ..."
Ambiguity eliminated.
Added note: As a professional writer, I often post a comment "in the moment" that could have been worded better in hindsight. In fact, most of my comments are tagged "edited."
Dale, at the risk of nit-picking with you, I want you to know that your "I'm a professional writer" comments often come off...to me at lest...as mansplaining. Maybe lighten up? Just sayin'...
No, lin -- he's the personification of dictators and mass murderers worldwide.
They love to steal, murder, rape, ally with others for arms, drugs, mansions, and the underage girls Donald's pals long trafficked.
Republicans? Just takers. Snouts out always for lobbyist "campaign contributors," corporate bribes, softball media suck-ups, and the techie billionaire providers of slogans, cant, and hate speech.
While the GOP mans its boat with oars that are abed, they would do well to watch the skies overhead. Many a round fired in haste did land among ourselves. I often asked when ordered to fire, “where are the friendlies Sir?” Unable to ascertain I held my fire. But that was the army. I can’t speak for the navy.
Hunger and the Politics of Death: Moral Breakdown in Real Time
The warning that a SNAP shutdown would bring “the most mass hunger suffering since the Great Depression” is not a prediction. It is a sentence passed on forty million Americans by a government that has stopped governing. To choose starvation over service is to weaponize neglect, to use hunger as leverage in a political game played by men insulated from its consequences.
Then comes the language of death. Trump’s casual vow to “just kill people that are bringing drugs into our country” completes the descent from apathy to authoritarianism. It is not policy; it is permission—permission for violence without trial, without law, without conscience. The state that withholds food from the poor now claims the right to execute at will.
These are not isolated outrages. They are signs of a moral breakdown in real time. A democracy that abandons the hungry and glorifies killing is already rotting from within. The urgency now is absolute: to call this what it is, to resist its normalization, and to rebuild the civic spine that once made decency a national standard. Hunger is the warning. Violence is the promise. Both demand an answer before the lights go out. https://essayx.substack.com/p/moral-breakdown-in-real-time
Also, most of those who receive SNAP benefits are people who have worked long at low-wage jobs with no benefits: their health is ruined and they have no savings. It is a direct product of their conditions of employment, as well as lack of opportunities for education and healthcare.
Beautifully said. Yes, SNAP isn’t about “handouts” but about survival for people who’ve spent their lives doing underpaid, essential work. It exposes how low wages, weak labor laws, and unaffordable healthcare push millions into poverty despite decades of effort. Thank you for naming that truth so clearly.
And women. Don't forget the republican congresswomen who vote for these monstrosities. When we take control of the house all of these people need to be investigated, tried and convicted for whatever laws apply. Corruption, RICO, violating civil rights, violating Constitutional rights, violating our laws. If the Dems won't step up when needed then they are as complicit as the rest. Go after all you can at the state level when at all possible so no pardons can be issued and the department of "injustice' can't interfere.
You’re absolutely right that accountability has to include everyone who enables cruelty or corruption, no matter their gender or title. Real justice means restoring integrity to every level of power, from Congress to the courts. State level action is key, too, because democracy survives when people refuse to look away and demand consequences for those who betray the public trust.
Michael, thank you for your excellent article, Moral Breakdown in Real Time. It's heartbreaking that people will be starved in the richest country. There is no reason or excuse for this but that it's what the felon wants. Sadly, it reminds me of the Holodomor in Ukraine in the early 1930's, when Stalin caused a devastating famine. I am in no way saying this could be on the same scale, that would be disrespectful to the memory of people who suffered and lost their lives, but it is the same kind of cruelty, and this is where it starts.
It's also illegal, for what it's worth. States control elections, not the federal government. If the governors of these states are tough enough they'll arrest all of them for intimidation. No supine court immunity for these lackeys.
There is no reason for the Federal government to interfere (oversee) with state elections which are controlled by the states. This is a precursor to the '26 Federal election when all representatives and many others will be on the ballot. Governors must insist on rejecting any military or National Guard members at or near the polls, which will reduce the number of voters, in addition to massive gerrymandering.
All elections are normally available to observers of any party that is concerning but not allowed inside the precinct itself. States have.election judges of each party inside the precinct. This is always the case in Maryland. No others are allowed inside if not there to vote. He's trying to intimidate people who think he's saying military are going to be there. Accompany anyone going to vote to assure them of their safety and call for law enforcement if you feel concerned. We have nothing to fear but fear itself. Menacing behavior by anyone is illegal. Even by the president
There could be specified, paid, observers at every single polling place in every state along with an appropriate video setup and access to emergency hotline to police or other authorities that could appropriately respond to inappropriate behavior at the polling place. (Like for example attempting to take people of the "wrong" skin color or name into custody as they have been doing on the streets and in businesses, homes, cars, and schools.)
There aren’t any Democrats running in this November’s elections in my NY area.
BTW, everyone should watch this Rachel Maddow MSNBC clip. She shares the -> ADDITIONAL <- cost for healthcare insurance premiums people are facing and the number are “PLEASE KILL ME NOW” staggering. https://youtube.com/shorts/X_qo4IP_L5k?si=YvwQh72BrpkKvrs1
I added a calendar on my spreadsheet so we can target our calls/letters/emails/faxes to flood offices in an organized manner.
Use/share this spreadsheet (bit.ly/Nokings) as a resource to call/email/write members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly. We deserve better ❤️🩹🤍💙
Reach out (beyond your own) to as many in the Senate and House as you can. All of this is bigger than “I only represent my constituents” issues.
They exist. Some are blinking four times in front of the cameras as we speak. Not all of them exhibit Stockholm Syndrome though clearly most still do.
It is vitally important that they be given space to blink, which is why Speaker Bobblehead refuses to the-convene the House — to prevent the blinking, the deal-making, the business of legislating.
It bears emphasizing — the Bobblehead is a legislator who refuses to legislate, who has no interest in deal-making. That’s about as absurd as a President who boasts about not needing a declaration of war to kill whoever he feels like, yet still demands a Nobel Peace Prize.
These people have shoved their own heads up their own asses. It’s our job to keep pointing that out.
It seems that you believe that these Congresspeople are being held against their will.
I don't believe that for a second, the right-wing is on the verge of accomplishing everything they have wanted since FDR implemented the New Deal, and every accomplishment that liberal government has achieved up until now. Do you believe that the right-wingers in Congress will come to any deal in the ACA funding and stand behind it? This is their chance to damage Obamacare to the point that it won't survive.
Even if there is a deal, trump will refuse to implement it as he done many times now, impounding funds that Congress has provided through out the federal government.
Not a matter of what I believe or not. Many are actually terrified of Trump, of being doxed, threatened, primaried. It's both worse than we think and better. Think about why Johnson doesn't want to bring his own people back.
Hoping! Also I think we can cause little ripples. I’m thinking staff members who hear the same thing over and over via voicemail, phone calls, letter after letter, email after email - maybe they’ll be a little more receptive each time they hear from us. Maybe they’ll talk more about our talking points to friends and family, maybeeee they’ll vote differently. I think we can cause ripples to push news organizations to be more honest and maybe even a bit accusatory about what’s happening. As a collective, our volume matters. And, at the end of the day, if we just annoy and overwhelm some staffers working for people hurting the average American, I’m ok with that too 🙃
Megan: Let me say at the outset that I applaud your consistent work providing solid, helpful information/sources – thank you.
Your comment this morning brought to mind a recent essay in the German Legal Newsletter, Verfassungsblog, which is directed at lawyers and scholars in Europe primarily, with a focus on the vital importance of the rule of law. Verfassung is the German word for Constitution.
It’s a bit of a read, but there is something there that speaks to our current condition. You might find it inspiring – it is certainly a thought-provoking piece.
I really recommend pressuring - I mean appealing to - Tillis. He's retiring and he sometimes does the right thing for whatever reason. https://thomtillis.com
Don't forget Independent Maine Sen. Angus King. Too old to run again. Caucuses with Democrats. But since March has been voting for GOP CR's. Absurdly saying his MAGA vote saves us from worse Trump abuses. Also Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins who will be in a tight 2026 race.
Has Angus gone senile. Did’t know you could get too old to run again. Thought he was a dependable “good guy,” unlike Collins. Thump will do worse, the more he gets away with. Lordy, Angus
The problem is, they are on the cusp of their dream come true. I t would take quite a spine to kneecap their ultimate goal. Read that chump plans to privatize the USPS. Rep goal since God was a baby.
💙 you’re welcome! I’ll keep an eye out for your email. Thank YOU for being aware and active right now, and for helping share the sheet - whatever we can do to be extra loud🤞
I don’t think we’ll see many big waves (like a major MAGA Congress member changing their opinions), however I think we can cause little ripples. I’m thinking staff members who hear the same thing over and over via voicemail, phone calls, letter after letter, email after email - maybe they’ll be a little more receptive each time they hear from us. Maybe they’ll talk more about our talking points to friends and family, maybeeee they’ll vote differently. I think we can cause ripples to push news organizations to be more honest and maybe even a bit accusatory about what’s happening. As a collective, our volume matters. And, at the end of the day, if we just annoy and overwhelm some staffers working for people hurting the average American, I’m ok with that too 🙃
Allow me to tell you what the effect of the Johnson closing the house next week will be. The Democrats will be flatly blamed wholeheartedly blamed for the SNAP RECIPIENTS that lose their benefits, and the most needy will not get paid and the Democrats are abandoning their people who used to support them and who they used to care about. As well, federal employees will not get paid and again squarely on the head of the people that say NO keep it closed. Very exciting. Every time liberals lower their approval rating I think it can't get any lower but sure enough they are certainly trying.
You might want to take a closer look at the latest polls that have been released. Here are some key points:
1. Trump's approval rating is currently at its lowest level, both compared to his first term and so far in his second term.
2. His approval rating among registered Hispanic voters has dropped by nearly 50%.
3. Congressional Democrats are finally seeing an increase in their approval ratings since the government shutdown.
4. Recent polls indicate that Americans do not hold the Democrats responsible for the shutdown; instead, they blame the Republicans by nearly a 10-point margin.
5. A significant 72% of Americans believe that ACA subsidies should be reinstated, including 70% of independents.
6. Even in traditionally Republican states, support for Trump and the Republicans in Congress is declining, according to almost every recent poll.
You might consider looking at the data from non-affiliated pollsters rather than those associated with or paid for by the political parties.
Rick gets his disinformation from Fox as he doesn't realise Murdoch has admitted his business model is providing hard right news-adjacent entertainment rather than facts and fact-based analyses and commentary. It's great that you post latest poll findings here but if they're not echoed by the Fox angertainment machine, he will imagine them fake news in line with Kim Jong Don's instructions.
When the mealy mouthed non-MAGA Republicans who currently are scared poopless about Trump excommunicating them even though they know he is evil, when they finally speak up then we will have seen that polls mean something. Until then, they are like lonely banners in the wind. Rep. Jayapal is having shadow government meetings on treatment of immigrants and is encouraging people to more actively protest. And BOYCOTTS may be useful for those wonderful companies who paid to have the East Wing torn down and who are the contractors taking the money to do it.
A full scale consumer boycott of businesses owned by Jeff Bezos would be a good place to start: avoid Amazon, Whole Foods and the Washington Post. Give his competitors some business. Save our fragile democracy.
Yeah I notice he puts holding inflation to 3% as if that is good?, that is only the start and you don't know the current figures as Republicans not releasing them, ( using shutdown as an excuse), as no doubt they are worse, as will be the unemployment figures. Oh dear, I guess no end to the blindness of a Maga supporter ( or is that brainwashed).
Your point #5. Maybe a high majority of Americans believe ACA subsidies should be reinstated?? Maybe Trump and the Republicans, by opposing the continuation of the subsidies, are trying to take America back to 2010, before the ACA was passed. Not to the 1930's, as the Letter states. The plan of the Democrats over the past century has been to steadily add more federal programs and benefits, that once in place, are seen as bedrock and protected from reduction. And the reaction from too many Americans is yes, we like "free" stuff. And can someone else please pay for it. Not you, not me, tax the guy behind the tree.
Like what? Making peace around the world, making the stock market break, record after record, holding down interest rates and inflation to 3% arresting, criminals, and illegals and getting them out of this country, stopping drug dealers and cartels. Lololol. Making phenomenal trade deals around the world, including adding $400 billion a year to our revenue stream. Supplying NATO with weapons to confront Russia. Lololol. And it gets worse for you.
Actually it’s not..shut down. Business as usual. But without govt intervention. Just like conservatives want. But wait till.SNAP stop its benefits and then you’ll hear all the government shut down nightmares and whining from you lefties. . And then the Democrats say. “Uncle”.
One thing you people have is broken, crystal balls, and Ouija boards that don't function. First generation American served in the military proud of America until you liberal shit all over it. Trump is doing nothing but cleaning up the sewage from Biden.
Denial is not a river in Egypt. And there’s probably 125 million people that think exactly like me now and growing. Thanks to Trump and Charlie Kirk. There will be a chapter of TP USA in every single college campus and high school in the country.
It’s an election map by county of the last election. You’ll need a magnifying glass to see any blue. I’m gonna send you one more link as well. Maybe it won’t be as complex as this one, but it’s pretty funny.
I’ll let you know once the election is over. In the meantime, relatively speaking that’s a pimple. The best one is going to be New York and I can’t wait for him to win. Then I’m going to watch New York become a second San Francisco and so many people will be fleeing to Florida and Texas and the Carolinas and there won’t be monies from millionaires and billionaires to fund the free stuff. He thinks he’s gonna get it’s gonna be hysterical not only that but once the Jews smarten up, they’re gonna flee as well.
By the way, you should take a look at a map of the past election by County 85% of every county in America became redder than the election previous. The map of the United States is red coast to coast with little tiny of blue on either east or West Coast, which is what you’re bragging about and then a blotch in the middle of California and a little tiny rash scattered around, but the country is red. I’ll see if I can find the map for you but make sure you don’t eat before you see it.
Yeah,, Lynell, Poor Rick will blame the “we have total control of the government” quote on someone talking nearby his phone on a Tokyo subway. Of course he MEANT that those slimy Liberals have caused the government shutdown. Poor Rick….so lonely and frustrated and confused. I feel very sorry for him.
It’s not all the Democrats fault but they’re the only ones saying no let’s not open the government and therefore yes, it’s all the Democrats fault. All they have to do is say yes, and everybody gets paid, including all the snap recipients. But not the illegal aliens sorry buck stops here.
You see how negative in advance you are you never patience and you always think the worst. That's not the way to live. This is just one particular link in the way he's helping the farmers. Oooops
You are nowhere near critical mass. Not even close . But I guess you’re just one of those newer panickens. , but I’ll tell you something. You probably don’t know if we keep overpopulated won’t have enough food to feed ourselves. Nothing is nothing now that hasn’t been happening since the tournament of the century and a bit before that.
Well, you're like many of the other ignorant people who don't understand the big picture here
Farmers have been hurting in this country for a long time and many years. The farmers are forced to throw out excess product which costs them million.
But what Trump is going to do is take some of the money from the tariffs and use it to support the farmers. But if you think that this is a new item under Trump, do me a favor don't be willfully, ignorant, like the rest of the folks do your homework
Wait, one more thing that I'm starting to laugh does critical mass mean the same thing as existential threat to democracy or the end Of America as we know it? Lmao
All will be good in the end as I tell most of you who are cheering the day, the market tumbled 1700 points and you were so excited because trumpet failed in his tariffs and I said be patient people were screaming and yelling and cheering and Tim Walz was clapping and applauding when he didn't even know that his state pension fund had lost a quarter of 1 billion and value that day. And now two weeks later it was back and now it's up 8000 points and hit record after record after record.
So just be patient little buckaroo all will be well
One of the key traits of people here to a great extent is the following and it's not good for your health
I call it negative in advance, which most of you tend to be, and I can't understand it because in the end, the existential threat never happens. The end of the democracy never happens and America is winning again and it's a beautiful thing.
F***k you. I live in a very red, very rural state. You can’t tell me anything I don’t already know about farmers and ranchers. I know that they (and apparently you) vote against your self interests and those of the country regularly but even they are waking up. Says more about you than me.
So did you see my post above you want to take your fuck you back?
You guys are so negative in advance. It's unbelievable. That's all you are is negative in advance. Everything is going to be miserable like I said existential threat to democracy, the end of America, blah blah blah blah blah.
Oh well well we have a feisty little Linda. Good stuff. The only people vote against the open for the people that are voting to support illegal immigrants in this country taking away money from American citizens. Why don’t you on that for a few minutes? You wanna support 8, million relatively indigent and vaccinated people where there’s 1 million people alone homeless in the state of California we have a budget deficit of $38 trillion which reminds me of the saying. Road to hell paved with good intention. I am also in a rule state other than the major cities of the state and what they’re doing now is their taking your half acre courses that were promised and building low income housing right next-door deprecating the value of what you bought the quality of life that you thought you were going to live
The only people calling against their self interest or liberals, and I’ll tell you the biggest one of all is going to be New York City full of Jewish people voting for an antisemite for Palestinian global antifa supporter. It is gonna be fun watching that city to come a shadow of San Francisco.
WOW, Bill, that was an amazing admission by Poor Rick! Every time I read his words, I have gotten the impression that he is a Proud American who LOVES Donald J. Trump. I guess I can now view P Rick in a very different light!
That’s not true so I’m not sure what you are trying to access. It is a free, anyone can view Google spreadsheet. Maybe you typed the url incorrectly, it’s case sensitive bit.ly/Nokings
How about Dr Timothy Snyder's idea of a shadow cabinet of Democrats, similar to that of the U.K.? That would reduce voters' speculation or fear of 'radical left' Democrats.🙏🏾
Additionally, I would recommend bringing in loyal Republicans to serve in that cabinet to set an example of civil discourse and compromise in proposing policies.⚖️
Doing all of that may elevate the profile of the Democratic Party as the Party of ideas and empower traditional Republicans to re-take control from the Trump-Vance aspiring dictatorship and its craven quislings in Congress.🗽
The fear of “radical left” Whozewhatsis is as phony an issue as Trump’s spray-orange tan. Made-up fears about non-existent bogeymen is all they have. They peddle it no matter what. Professor Snyder may be a gifted historian but playing like this is a real thing to be responded to isn’t going to win elections, inform any voters, counter any deep-set lies, reverse any trends.
Newsom is trolling Trump for everything he’s worth with dumb, but effective caricatures that clearly make the orange putzface fly into a rage. Pritzker humiliates him, laughs at him, and shames Republicans with gusto and joy. Buttigieg goes on ‘brocasts’ and makes a lot of young, dumb men think far more deeply about politics than they ever have. Other young men watch those things (I don’t).
Those are the kinds of battles we need. Those are the ideas that resonate, those are the tactics that gain traction. Another talking shop by pointy-headed policy wonks in Washington just isn’t going to cut it.
In this "attention economy", I think you are right. One of the biggest problems facing democracy right now is that misinformation reigns because humans have become unable to concentrate on something for more than ten minutes. Even the twenty minute video format of Youtube is now 'too long' and people have moved to minute (or less) videos on TikTok. There are many factors but misinformation (because of our inability to focus and pay attention) gave us Trump!
The shadow cabinet only works in the Westminster parliament system. The real cabinet is made up of (elected) MPs — unlike the US system where the President appoints them.
The shadow cabinet are those that would move into the cabinet if their party won (hence they’re all elected MPs also).
Well, the fusion versus separation of powers is a striking difference between the U.K. and the U.S. Yet, the idea of a shadow cabinet may work by analogy. One point you broach, however, is that a shadow cabinet creating a competing narrative may create expectations that people on that panel would ascend to the positions they are acting out while on that panel.
Perhaps. The "old fellows" say pride is the flaw that leads to others. Narcissism just might be. One can make a case that narcissism can lead to to pride can lead to selfishness can lead to entitlement can lead to envy can lead to to greed, etc. That ordering is simply past against the wall. Your ordering may stick better.
There are literally no 'loyal Republicans'. They are all in lock-step, which is the problem. They know they do not have a legit party any longer, it is just a dictator cult, so the only way they survive is if Trump wins.
The loyal Republicans are still there, but the great majority are not in Congress. Former Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger come immediately to mind. There are others like former Senators Flake, Portman, and Corker might rally, Former Governor Kasich. These 'outsiders; might empower Senator Murkowski and few others currently in Congress; or present governors like Cox and De Wine.
And Susan Collins is going to lose, so she might, in desperation, do something beyond being concerned...
One thing that cheered me up today is that Hakeem Jeffries finally came out and endorsed Zohran Mamdani. I'm still waiting for Chuck Schumer. If the Dems want to have a big tent, they need to include and invite everyone under the tent.
Schumer trying to suppress progressive Democrats Mamdani in NYC and Platner in Maine, will hurt conservative Democratic candidates in purple and red areas. Because independent and progressive potential Democratic voters will be angry at a party leadership which rejects reform.
Finally!! We voted for Mamdani by mail a few weeks ago. I initially had my doubts about him - but we need his youth, energy and ideas now more than ever. And I hope that Eric Adams endorsement of Cuomo turns out to be a negative thing for Cuomo.
I feel much the same about Rep. Ocasio Cortez. I may not agree with their politics, temperamentally conservative as I remain, but we need new ideas out there. Current thinking clearly does not work.
I suspect that Susan and her campaign are the ones that released the "dirt" on Graham Platner. He is Maine's answer to Mamdani. I'm glad it came out now, so that it isn't a November, 2026 surprise. Although it is better to not have skeletons in your closet, most of us do. But, if I were ever going to run for office, I would be more careful about what I post here and other places.
The problem is that many (most?) Americans do not pay attention to what the actual government is doing so I don't see how they would pay attention to a mock one talking about what it would do.
Again, *experimentation should be the impelling force. EDIT P.S., trying out new policy ideas independent of the narrow world of Capitol Hill as it now functions might engage people, since the public deliberations could avoid being the same old scheiße.
I replied to another shadow cabinet posting: This is how feckless and ineffectual Ken Martin is - over 6 months ago he announced the DNC was launching a "People's Cabinet", and hasn't delivered.
From MSNBC: April 8, 2025, 6:00 AM EDT
By Hayes Brown, MSNBC Opinion Writer/Editor
"Newly elected Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin announced Friday that the DNC will launch the “People’s Cabinet.” In spirt at least, it’s a kind of American version of Britain’s “Shadow Cabinet,” which gives a minority party a platform for its ideas. With Republicans holding Congress and the White House, Democrats find themselves completely blocked from Washington’s levers of power, but if executed correctly, the DNC’s “People’s Cabinet” could be a worthy response to frustrated Democrats demanding that their leaders do more to oppose President Donald Trump’s agenda.
In announcing the People’s Cabinet, the DNC contrasted Trump’s largely unqualified panel of advisers that’s chock-full of billionaires and the “experts on the economy, health care, working families and communities, public safety, national security, and foreign policy” it will put forth. Martin said he’s tapping people who “will equip communities with the reliable, accurate information they need to fight back against the worst of the Trump and Republican agenda.” They’ll be putting out social media content, holding media briefings and headlining town halls in GOP-held House districts that critique — and, ideally, offer alternatives to — Trump’s agenda."
The challenge may be to get people to stick their necks out. I suspect Mr Martin makes the same mistake that the Democratic Party continually makes: clogging a shadow cabinet with old leadership that should step aside.
Perhaps, a lot of younger Democrats would jump at the chance to serve on such a panel. It grooms them for future leadership. If nothing else, set up the shadow cabinet from ranking members of the standing committees.
There are distinct advantages to experience assuming one keeps learning along the way, AND there is a distinct advantage to a fresh outlook. Einstein was 26 when he published Special Relativity. Wisdom embraces both. It seems to me that "my" Democratic Party has been on the back foot ever since the Vietnam War and the by-fiat insertion of Hubert Humphrey in contrast to the primaries that favored candidates that favored ending the war. It is irrelevant whether it can be argued that Humphrey was the best all-around candidate of not. The will of young Democrats and and Democrats-to-be was arrogantly deflected. I am talking about the the quality of the process. It is clear that modern "Republicans" are actually inimical to an actual republic. We, as "Democrats" need to figure out how to be more Democratic (as well as "republican" as Lincoln described it. That's a very big tent and that takes a whole lot more effort to make it all function. But that's the authentic American Dream that we all claim to honor. That takes all of us, no one left out, and every age represented in our social calculations.
So I don't mind a few old goats like me representing "the people", but I also yearn to see more fresher faces, more representation for the young, and a lot more comparisons of notes.
I see the “old goats”, JL, as mentors for the next generation of leaders, especially if they remain available as wise counsel for those stepping up to fill their shoes.
I think that one of the reasons are genetically able to live long after their reproductive years (unlike a Pacific Salmon) is because before writing (let alone video recording) the elderly were the intergenrational repositories socially collected wisdom. Not everything can be written down or even put on YouTube, so I think there is a lot more the observant elderly have to share than is widely appreciated; our commercial world so obsessed with commodifying everything. But I think that everyone at every age has things to learn, and to teach.
PS - I was just reading a new book of poetry by Andrea Gibson "You Better Be Lightning" . So far it is testament to the power of words (I don't mean to slight them) to mean so much more than the sum of their parts. To resonate, like paired tuning forks, with the language of human experience.
JL, I recently watched a vid about how few female species on Earth go through menopause….the takeaway is that post-menopause is a time of passing wisdom to those who come after and as a stabilizing force within the group. Yeah, we need ALL the age groups working together and learning from each other—a fan of life long learning myself!—to make for a vibrant and evolving community/country/world. Edit: Oh, and thanks for the book rec!
I agree with that, *J. *L. I like to say that a big part of the problem is that too many *oldsters do not assume the status of elders and stay in office *too long -- except for Senators Sanders and McCain and other ones I like.
EDIT P.S., thank you for your thought on post-menopausal women being a fount of wisdom, Barbara. Such women have been valuable for me as I mature.
What a great exposé of your Party, J. L. I like to think that, in 2016, the wrong Party put the thumb on the scale, if Senator Sanders was denied a nomination. The Republican elders failed to intervene and deflect the nomination from Trump. My dream race, as a Republican back then (with one foot out the door *with *the *rise *of *Trump), was Senator Sanders versus Governor Kasich -- each one a politico with vision and the willingness to confront the big questions facing the country.
Absolutely! These older Dem operatives are so dependent on polls and “statistics” that they use to try not to offend any possible voter makes them the milquetoast dullards that have let the Rethugs grab our government. I would much rather see some idealistic young people with some imagination leading the way. Some of their ideas may not work, but some of them will! And we are going to need all the youthful energy and enthusiasm that we can get to begin to repair the damage that this out of control Republican rampage has wrought.
While the tone is off-putting, I agree with your implied point that we are all responsible for *the situation we face now. Additionally, we ALL must respond to it to extricate the Republic from the dash toward dictatorship.
Since the rising generation will have to live with the consequences of this one's policies, young people rising into power -- other than *those *like shady J.D. and the nasty Mr Miller -- will be most welcome on all sides.
EDIT P.S., when people doubt "youthful energy", I remind myself that Thomas Jefferson was thirty-three when he penned the Declaration of Independence with forty year old John Adams, with the help of three Elders (i.e., Roger Sherman, fifty-five; Philip Livingston, sixty; and, Benjamin Franklin, seventy).
Additionally, of the fifty-six original signers, seventy per cent were in their twenties (two), thirties (seventeen), or forties (twenty); the average and median ages were identical at forty-four years old and six months. Pretty young crew, albeit life-spans were shorter two hundred, forty-nine years ago.
Martin's update in August doesn't have any Democratic leaders of note attached to this effort (see link). It's a lot of experts going on news rounds and social media to counter administration lies — but no one that anyone could begin to rally around.
Newsom and Pritzker are the faces and engine of the resistance. Every single thing we can do to support their clear actions is vital.
That shadow cabinet should *primarily be young people. They do not need to be famous; they need to be visible. With young people leading the charge, the shadow cabinet can become a testing ground for future leaders. EDIT P.S., a wide open shadow cabinet, ideologically, may also set the tone for civility in future political discourse.
True, that. If the shadow cabinet worketh not, then try something else. If that something else worketh not, then try a third course. Keep iterating until an idea gains traction; then pursue it, full speed ahead.
Finding what politicians call "party discipline" to create an effective shadow cabinet would require cultural transformation. Are they up to achieving something so radical quickly enough? They'd need more party discipline than is currently demonstrated in the UK. They'd have to generate the level of party discipline demonstrated by the current Australian Labor Party (which is no longer the Opposition).
Self-disciple is needed in any undertaking, and often crucial, but I think of it more as developing a collaborative focus; recognizing and prioritizing what matters most; with eyes on the prize. Deliberate distractions and divide and conquer are the tools of despots, and, obviously, they still work. So does solidarity, but that's a product of much more challenging self-discipline and awareness. We saw it in the Declaration of Independence and American Revolution, in Abolition, and in numerous social movements that empowered more people rather than fewer, and raises the mode average of the "common weal".
After Nixon's disgrace, the former "Party of Lincoln" conspired to never acknowledge when someone else was right, and virtually never acknowledge when a member of the club was wrong, certainly not a president, so I guess you could call that a form of discipline, but also "corruption". It differs sharply in it's narcissistic, when not sociopathic service of self as opposed to an more expansive valuing and acknowledging "unalienable" rights of all. In terms of character, being "big" rather than "small" or infinitesimal.
In practical terms it would necessitate every single member of the party being disciplined.
The membership would have to develop a policy platform and keep their deliberations in-conference. The Reps and Senators would have to agree which parts of that platform to make actual party policy and keep those deliberations (no matter how passionately they disagreed with the decisions) in the party room. And, then everyone would have to continue that discipline as the opposition and citizenry responded to the set of policies. And, you can just imagine what the Republicans would be attempting to whip up.
Wouldn't that be incredibly challenging for a lot of members of the party on free speech grounds?
And, the public looking on would have to understand and believe that the free speech sacrifice was temporary and necessary to save democracy. They'd also have to trust the Democrats weren't trying to take them down a different road to dictatorship than the Republicans and could be trusted to reverse the party discipline approach once they were in power.
It seems a lot to bed down before the midterms in an increasingly febrile political atmosphere.
I do not believe that a shadow cabinet would have to be that formal. It would serve as a source of public accountability, so when an R.F.K., Jr shadow H.H.S.Sec. Joseph Kennedy III (for example) would rebut the vaccine argument and state that the measles outbreak was enabled by that ill-conceived proposal.
The point is an alternate narrative; an alternate response; and, above all, creation of a visible example of collaboration.
As Benjamin Franklin said, "A good example is the best sermon." The Democratic Party would create a separate platform. Some of the lesser Cabinet posts could b filled by Elders (e.g., Senator Sanders or Markey as well as retired Senator Romney).
That sounds more like a concept i heard of several years ago. Somewhere, I can't remember where, was playing with the idea of a Council of Elders - highly respected people with expertise in their fields who the broader community would see as credible and beyond partisan politics (though your idea wouldn't be elders as the gerontocracy is a part of the problem).
Maybe there was an international Council at one point and the country was wondering if the concept could be applied to it? Mary Robinson is coming to mind for some reason.
I know that there was an impromptu Council of Elders in 1968 for President Lyndon Johnson when the ghastly war in Viêt Nam was at its most hopeless, shattering the foreign policy consensus following World War II.
JD, I watched James Carville on Jen Psaki’s MSNBC program this evening and, to put it mildly, he was hair-on-fire fearful for our country…I thought he was going explode. It was like he was trying to reach through the TV screen and grab & shake every voter to wake up and be scared right now and to get & be engaged. Now is not the time to be apathetic or underestimate the threat to our democracy. He is very very passionate about this! [Oops, thought I found a vid of it, but turns out it was from last year…guess it’s too soon to be accessed online, so edited this post to remove it. Likely to be available online in the next day or so.]
The GOP "superpower" is conscienceless super-corruption. That is also their vulnerability. We have unleashed despotism in our own society and our democratic republic may not survive. Yet the enemy is mad with arrogance, and while that is a terrifying danger, it is also a weakness. I believe we need to continue to and find further lucid ways to illustrate what decency looks like and and how far they pulled away from it with the testimony of victims, the absurdity of the lies, and concerted, popular condemnation of their negligence and cruelty. Highly visible demonstrations of what Lincoln called "public sentiment" is a creative array of forms.
The Democrats helped get us in this predicament. They sat by playing business as usual for the past 10 years while he gained more and more backing and power. The Democrats have been bought by PACs just as much as the Republicans. Even now they are posting spoofs of them running around the Capitol looking for Republicans. One guy has some kind of train game. Sickening.
I am done with both Parties. We need to clean house. The Schiffs, Schumers, Pelosis and all the old guard need to go. Hakeem Jeffries is not suited for these times. This includes Kamala Harris. She walked off the field when she lost and abandoned the movement that had rose up to defeat him. Remember this. He never left and never shut up during the Biden Administration. The Biden Administration let him talk and talk and talk. They thought they were above directly confronting him. The Biden Administration didn't think it was necessary to explain to the American people what they were doing for them.
As for Tim Snyder. He lives in Canada. Many, many people are literally risking their lives to stay here and keep speaking out. This includes Dr. Richardson.
Dr. Richardson has said, and I agree, we most likely come out of this with a completely different configuration of the political Parties.
I would love to see a looser Party of Independents that include the "great silent majority" of non-ideological voters who straddle the continental divide between the Democratic and Republican Parties.
Many lean of their conservative foot; many on their liberal foot. Most lndies likely shift their weight from time to time, foot to foot, in a purer pragmatism. Ranked-choice voting would complement this re-configuration.
We could restore the mid-twentieth century ethos of experimental liberalism and cooperative conservatism. The Democrats would initiate a reform. If the reform went through as most independents backed it, the Republicans would make that reform fiscally sustainable.
If the policy or reform were to be a bust, the independents would align with the Republicans to abolish or radically to re-shape it.
Do not agree with all. But certainly overturn Citizens United and Trump vs the U.S. (the immunity decision).
Also establish term limits and age limits for elected officials. Then establish tenure limits for most Federal employees.
Lastly, restore the Voting Rights Act but extend the check-in with the Federal government not only to the Southern states, but also to the other thirty-five states to enforce the elimination of gerrymandering.
The pitfall here, of course, is that a future rogue Trumpanzee out-of-control would simply not enforce the expanded Voting Rights Act.
I read about that plan in the very beginning of Trump's second term and thought it was a perfect counterpoint to what the project 2025ers were planning. I waited for the idea people to get it started. Crickets. Still waiting. Should have been done at beginning of this shitstorm in shadow lockstep with all their moves. Seems a little late to start it now and try to build momentum and context after so much has already gone down.
I have advocated this idea for a while - it is a way for the Dems to control the bully pulpit and to demonstrate a coherent plan for all Americans. I loath the MAGA Party but I am not embracing the Dems right now - they demonstrate weakness. At the least they should have showed up at the demolition of the East Wing and put their bodies out there like the building was a tree (wink). A shadow government showing the Dems are demonstrating democracy in action is a powerful message - but they do nothing and the MAGA’s do harm.
A shadow cabinet OR a United Front. The “loyal opposition” needs to come together and present a real challenge to Trump and his minions. Without unity we’re done for.
Let me know what you all are doing to help your local communities. I created a Facebook page for my community (SETX food sharing). I’m a 36 year old mom of 6, and in my local “moms group”, so many undereducated teen and early-20s Texas moms are genuinely panicking about their benefits. Many of these likely voted for Trump because they were never educated to discern empty political rhetoric and make historical connections. They just heard “lower grocery prices”. This is an opportunity to show them who does and does not care about them.
You’re right…this is why they chipped away at the education system for years. Undereducation was always the strategic plan. Now we have to (somehow) reverse that.
There is a reason that so many great thinkers are products of an old fashioned classical education in their earlier years. Once a person is taught to analyze and interpret they can go on to science and other technologies and benefit from that early education.
It's ironic that the ACA was based on a paper written in 1989 by Stuart Butler of the conservative Heritage Foundation—the same group who developed Project 2025. This paper, Assuring Affordable Health Care for All Americans, became a cornerstone of Republican counter-proposals to President Bill Clinton’s health plan in the 1990s. This conservative, market-based approach was successfully adopted and implemented by Republican Governor Mitt Romney in Massachusetts in 2006, serving as the direct blueprint for President Obama’s federal ACA.
The paper advocates for the individual mandate (that all citizens need to purchase health insurance to maintain the risk pool necessary to short up the industry) as well as premium tax credits to make sure that "all" Americans can afford to buy in.
In short, the ACA was based in conservative/Republican perspectives and yet today, it is being attacked as being a "liberal/dem/socialist" (pick your title) healthcare plan. I wrote about this several days ago and hope others can gain some perspective on the ACA as well as a potential bi-partisan conversation regarding healthcare moving forward.
We’ve all lost count as to how many HUNDREDS of times Republicans voted against even the smallest common sense efforts to create a national healthcare system, then voted against Obamacare — even when offered the chance to add amendments to it — then tried to repeal it afterward, then voted to destroy it by undermining the entire system of shared risk and shared subsidies it was based on.
Their Big Ugly Bill didn’t just do that, it also went after Medicaid, SNAP and will trigger an automatic reduction of $500 billion in Medicare outlays over the next 10 years. And all so billionaires can get even more tax breaks. After all, If you’ve failed hundreds of times to do even ONE thing right, why not try to add to failure by doing 5 things wrong, all at the same time?
A reminder that the Big Ugly passed by just ONE vote in the House at about 3:45am, while JD Wanker broke the 50-50 tie in the Senate. They have no “mandate” whatever to do any of this. And they all know it. That’s why Speaker Bobblehead ordered his forces to de-convene. Once in session, deals will be made, compromises reached, the way it always works with legislation.
But that show of normalcy would cause Herr Metamucilini to fly into a rage. Him insists that there can be no compromises — those who do not submit must be punished. That’s what the Bobblehead fears. He might get primaried himself.
You don’t have to dig deep to feel their fear, their terror. Winter is coming. And they are not prepared.
You people are pretty horrible at predicting the future and already the future is changing all your Medicare and Medicaid. Bullshit is just that bullshit. You have no idea what's gonna happen. Other than nothing is gonna change other than what Bill Clinton himself did exactly the same as Trump, but it was Bill Clinton that did it so that was OK but if Trump does the exact same thing, he's a horror.
And let me repeat what I've said it dozen times Barack Hussein Obama wrote the ACA bill and in it, he wrote down that the subsidies would expire December of this year has nothing to do with Donald J Trump has to do with Barack Obama who lied to you who told you that everything would be cheaper that everything would be better And it's not the subsidies aren't enough and the premiums are skyrocketing and the coverage is being cut as well
And now you're angry at Trump because he won't extend the subsidies that Biden himself inscribed in the Bill yikes.
From Wikipedia: "The Massachusetts health care reform, commonly referred to as Romneycare,[1] was a healthcare reform law passed in 2006 and signed into law by Governor Mitt Romney with the aim of providing health insurance to nearly all of the residents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."
When Romney ran for president he wanted states to have the power vs. federal mandate for health care coverage. He wiggled/waggled all over the place and threw the Massachusetts health care reform as the potential for a national model under the bus. Did the same thing for same sex marriage. He seemed like a "nice guy" and "progressive" for a republican in Massachusetts but 1) he spent a great deal of time traveling out of state* (vacations and setting up presidential run) and 2) as we found out, he would say anything to secure/maintain political power. No different than any other republican except he spoke well as he conflated various positions.
Bottom Line: Never, never, never, ever vote for a republican!
* NYTimes article, Oct. 13, 2012. "As Massachusetts Governor, Romney Was Often Away"
It was when Mitt Romney was just starting his run for president in 2011 when he said,"corporations are people, my friend". He was speaking at the Iowa State Fair and was heckled by the crowd for saying such nonsense and proved what a corporate owned hack he was. Just another Republican telling Americans that 'the business of America is business' while running the Nation into the ground as the corporations and oligarchs siphon off evermore wealth from We the People paying the taxes.
Ask John Roberts, he was installed for exactly the reason that corporations have always wanted the rights of actual people, and he is paid to give them to them.
This crew of vipers sees chump as their last chance to trash the progress of 80 years. Reason likely won’t rear its head with this crowd. The Heritage Foundation became a hotbed of “low taxes and regulations” long ago.
Vote Trump. Obama let the subsidies lapse. Make sure you realize that he put that in his bill at the end of this year the subsidies were over and now things have changed as it seems because the premiums are skyrocketing and the subsidies are not enough to keep up, he lied to you face it. He absolutely lied to your face, and you brought it.
Let me give you the facts about the ACA that you were omitting here surprisingly enough lol in the bill itself, Barack Hussein Obama created the bill where the subsidies would end this December. He did that himself, but everybody knew it wouldn't stick
Consumers in the 30 states that use the federal exchange, healthcare.gov, can now get a preview of what they’ll pay for 2026 coverage. The site opened for so-called window shopping on Tuesday.
The monthly premium for the benchmark plan on healthcare.gov will soar 30%, on average, according to the KFF analysis, which is based on data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In states that run their own exchanges, the benchmark plan premium will rise by an average of 17%.
RELATED ARTICLE
But that’s not all the bad news: The actual amount enrollees pay in 2026 will be far, far higher because the enhanced premium subsidies will disappear. Their monthly payments are expected to more than double, according to a separate analysis from KFF, a health policy research group.
Those window shopping on healthcare.gov will get a full sense of the sticker shock, many for the first time. The premiums on the site reflect the lapse of the enhanced assistance.
Still, most enrollees will be able to find 2026 plans on the federal exchange with premiums at or below $50 a month, after factoring in the original Obamacare subsidies, which are part of the 2010 health reform law and not expiring, according to a CMS fact sheet.
But the impact of the expiring enhanced assistance is clear: Nearly 60% of enrollees signing up for 2026 coverage can find plans in that price range, compared to 83% of consumers in 2025 plans.
The Biden administration frequently touted that four out of five enrollees on the federal exchange could find plans for $10 or less in recent years.
Folks, I’ve reported Rick for a comment he made on my post. Will you please join me in my effort? This is a site for intelligent, thoughtful, informed people and we already see plenty of this on unpaid social media. Just click the three dots to the right of his name. Ty:)
As many have noticed by the way that the overwhelming majority of the protesters are elderly white people which I call stuck in the mud living in the past Democrats.
And what's amazing when Trump went into DC into the bad neighborhoods, the blacks and the people of color were thrilled that he was there stopping the violence that was killing their youth
Margaret what you've just posted is a perfect representation of your hatred and intolerance of free speech
I have been called every name in the book. I've been told to go fuck myself over and over again. I've been called names that would make a prostitute blush.
And the only reason you want me banned is not because of a comment I made, but because you don't wanna hear the truth, you don't want to hear the facts and what's worse many of you is you refuse to hear the facts and that in the end will be your undoing
As the GOP works to blame the Democrats for the shut down, I am reminded that Timothy Snyder recommended the Democrats create a “government in exile” that reports daily to the American people on what they would do if they were in power. I am mortified by the weak and irregular messaging coming from the leaders of the Democratic Party. We are in the fight of our lives and Schumer and Jefferies are in no way adequate IMHO to the crisis we face.
This is how feckless and ineffectual Ken Martin is - over 6 months ago he announced the DNC was launching a "People's Cabinet".
From MSNBC: April 8, 2025, 6:00 AM EDT
By Hayes Brown, MSNBC Opinion Writer/Editor
"Newly elected Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin announced Friday that the DNC will launch the “People’s Cabinet.” In spirt at least, it’s a kind of American version of Britain’s “Shadow Cabinet,” which gives a minority party a platform for its ideas. With Republicans holding Congress and the White House, Democrats find themselves completely blocked from Washington’s levers of power, but if executed correctly, the DNC’s “People’s Cabinet” could be a worthy response to frustrated Democrats demanding that their leaders do more to oppose President Donald Trump’s agenda.
In announcing the People’s Cabinet, the DNC contrasted Trump’s largely unqualified panel of advisers that’s chock-full of billionaires and the “experts on the economy, health care, working families and communities, public safety, national security, and foreign policy” it will put forth. Martin said he’s tapping people who “will equip communities with the reliable, accurate information they need to fight back against the worst of the Trump and Republican agenda.” They’ll be putting out social media content, holding media briefings and headlining town halls in GOP-held House districts that critique — and, ideally, offer alternatives to — Trump’s agenda."
I love how utterly unintelligent Trump's people are. The Dept of Justice will be sending people to California to monitor the polls in 6 jurisdictions for the election. Don't they know that all Californians can vote by mail? I mean, go ahead and monitor the polls on Election Day. We can all vote by today if we want, or even a week from tomorrow, whatever, by checking the box on our ballot, sealing and signing our envelope with the ballot inside, and dropping it in the nearest mail box anywhere in the state of California. Done! They can come and stand all day monitoring the polls, and even 2 or 3 days before Election Day if they feel the need to, because we California voters don't have to go anywhere near a polling place to cast our ballots. SO CALIFORNIA VOTERS, vote now and get everyone you know to vote now. And then we can bring our lawn chairs and box lunches and go sit near the polls and take photos and watch the Justice Dept monitoring nothing and no one! And I'm sure they will publish all sorts of news articles claiming there were riots and they had to arrest voters and whatever other B.S. they can come up with. They are really rather pathetic when you think about it.
Cathleen….I completed my CA ballot the day after receiving it and my ritual is now to drive it to the county Elections Office and drop it off there, even tho it’s a bit of a distance from where I live. Got an email notice several days later letting me know it had been received and processed—I signed up for something called BallotTrax several years back & it’s a way for me to confirm my ballot was signed, sealed & delivered.
It's the way most Coloradans vote, and it works well. My ballot is sitting on the front west, voting against the Koch-sponsored candidates for school board. Need to drop it off.
2,800 National Guardsmen are in Washington DC right now, doing absolutely nothing. They wander around in full kit, sometimes stand around in circle-jerk formation, either looking at their cell phones or playing with themselves, or both.
They do NOTHING, for there’s NOTHING for them to do. The same with those “election monitors.” Both an exercise in masturbatory performatism, meant to give the appearance of law and order. Privately, they must all be thinking: ‘WTF am I doing here?’
I heard there were 12 people shot in DC the other day I guess if it was your son or your wife or your family you wouldn’t give a shit either right what a moron
You do realize that California has lost its soul and is nothing but it's a cane car of America with a budget deficit and illegal immigrant overflow a quarter of 1 million homeless and a half 1 million fleeing every year I lived there for 30 years and I watched it die and then the incredible happened when Newsome allowed 12,000 homes to burn and Bass stood by and watched them did nothing from another country
By the way, did you not see all the people carrying baskets full of mail to the mailbox? I guess you didn’t see that on your news channels that’s right people getting out of their cars with baskets full of envelopes. Stuffing them into mailboxes in different neighborhoods around the city oops.
Did you many many individuals carrying buckets of votes to the mailbox? What’s the matter you afraid if they monitor it they might catch them doing something California is lost. It’s lost to the United States and it’s lost amongst themselves and they did it to themselves and they continue to do it to themselves and now finally, the homeowners in the Palisades were suing the State government for negligence for the fire damage $13-$15,000 structures while they watched it burned because there was no water
Yeah, we're pretty stupid. That's why we control everything right now huh? Is that what you think? And I'm not even a republican, but you guys have left the planet and you forget there were 38 trillion in the hole.
Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego, who won in 2024 against Kari Lake by 5.5% in conservative Arizona that Trump won by a wide margin over Harris, has been interviewed by David Leonhardt, NYT journalist and multiple journalism award winner. Senator Gallego has the best logical description that I have heard or read of what Democrats need to do to win elections. He is very rational, uses factual examples, is a good story teller, knows what to do to connect with American voters, etc.. If you want to know what he says Democrats should be doing, I recommend listening to the interview (it has audio) or reading the excerpts below:
Excerpts: “Gallego: We were very real about what was actually happening on the ground, and we didn’t lie to ourselves. I think a lot of Democrats running — and it wasn’t just Vice President Harris — they wanted to talk about the things they were comfortable talking about. They didn’t want to go to where the voter was.
Leonhardt: So they wanted to talk about abortion and democracy.Gallego: Basically, yes. Sometimes there’s some voters that want to talk about that. But what we were seeing on the ground in Arizona was that people were worried about being able to make the rent; they were worried about border security; and they were worried about what is truly happening to the American dream. For a place like Arizona that was known to be affordable and had always been affordable, for the first time in anybody’s memory, it became a very unaffordable place very quickly. And Democrats sounded extremely out of touch that we weren’t talking about that. Now, my campaign, we did talk about it. That’s all we talked about. We talked about the cost of everything, and we did it in a way that wasn’t an economic message. It was an emotional message.
I talked about how I grew up poor and that I understand how frustrating it is. I remember those days — to work and work and work and then look up and you’re still underwater. And that is what was dragging down a lot of people in Arizona, especially working-class Latino men who have a mentality that I can work and get myself out of this situation. But for the first time, I heard a desperation that I had never heard in my 45 years of being a Latino man — that they just felt they weren’t going to make it. And we talked to them because I understood what they were going through. A lot of Democrats did not do that. Certainly not in Arizona, but I think also across the country.
And you got a whole bunch of attention a few years ago for banning your staff in Congress from using the term Latinx, which you said is mostly a term that white liberals use and Latinas and Latinos think is silly. I’m interested in your critique of how Democrats talk about the economy because I think often the economy is an issue in which Democrats feel like, “Hey, we’re comfortable on that issue. It’s not like immigration. It’s not like gender. We’re comfortable in the economy.” But you’ve said actually, the Democratic Party still talks too much like Harvard professors and not enough like Marine Corps members — to use your life experience. So, specifically, you’ve said this idea, that Democrats should talk about the American dream in terms of prosperity, rather than, “a nebulous message about justice.” Can you be more specific about that?
Gallego: So, I mean, a lot of times, especially in the last couple of years, what I’ve heard coming from the Democratic side, my friends, is that they talk about economic equity. They talk about these ideas of essentially trying to equalize capitalism, to lift people out of poverty. And that’s just not how people think. It’s also this assumption that the Democrats themselves, the actual base voters, don’t want to be prosperous, they don’t want to be rich, or they don’t want to be successful. And so we have this situation within Democratic talk where we kind of shy away from that because we feel like that’s somehow icky.
I’m surrounded by working-class Democrats, and the reason I speak the way I speak is because no one in my family’s involved in politics. Half of my family members are in unions; the other half are very working class. I have one sister who’s a doctor. I live in a working-class neighborhood in Phoenix. No one there talks about economic equity. What they talk about is: I want to be able to buy a home. I am starting a business; I want to make money. I want my kids to do well. I want to be happy. And when we have these nebulous positions that people just can’t put their finger on, then Democrats are kind of losing an opportunity.
If we’re the party of opportunity, if we’re the party that’s going to give you a real chance at the American dream, then buying a home, starting a business, being able to go on vacation, for God’s sake — the things that people used to be able to do — then people say: That’s the party that I want in there to fight for me. But when we’re just this nebulous blah group of people that is going to protect this idea but we don’t actually ever really do anything about it, voters are going to go off to something else shinier. And the shinier has come with Donald Trump.
Gallego: Yeah. I mean, I said that mostly just to kind of break through this, because I’ve heard it so much — like, “Why do Latino men go this way?” And I’m like, well, Latino men want things. There are a lot of Democrats and people on the more liberal side who hope that Latino men are more reflective — that they look and vote like white liberal men. But they don’t. They’re different. They have entirely different experiences. And they’re not like Black men, either — they have their own, very different experience. So, to kind of break through, you have to keep it simple: They want security — economic security and physical security for their families. And their wants are legitimate. We shouldn’t shy away from or ignore that just because it puts us in an uncomfortable spot.
So the troquita, the truck — it’s symbolic because it really is a status symbol that you have succeeded in this country. It means that you can afford a brand-new, nice truck. That you take that truck to work and that work brings dignity to your family. It helps you pay the bills. You get to load your kids in there. You get to go on vacation. It involves this whole symbolic gesture to your community that you are leading your family and that you are bringing them into the American dream. That’s what it really represents, and I think a lot of people feel uncomfortable about that. But that really is as simple as ——
Gallego: Look, I think there was a lot of thought post-Obama, that if we focus on equity and justice, then that somehow would be the unifier of the Democratic coalition. It ends up, the biggest unifier of the Democratic coalition — Black, white, Latino immigrants, Asians, everybody else — is the personal checking account. It’s people being able to buy a home, be able to pay bills, be able to get groceries without stressing out. That actually is what unifies our coalition. And when we walked away from that because of just pure political convenience, our coalition started eroding more and more and more. And we’re seeing it all the time.
Gallego: I think what happened with us in Arizona was that we used some smart ways to get into people’s feeds. We did boxing matches, we did car shows, truck shows — a lot of that stuff. But I reached out to white suburban people with pickleball tournaments, too. We did everything we could. But the reason it resonated is because, while I was using them to get their attention, I was talking to them about what they were really worried about right now. And the ability for any candidate or elected official to talk in an authentic way will carry through. It will.
The problem we have on the Democratic side is we have less and less of us that actually can speak about the personal checkbook and economics of a family in an authentic way. That’s why you could get on TV as much as you want, you could go on podcasts, do your Instagram Lives, and it’s not going to catch on.
He didn’t say that women’s healthcare and access to abortion isn’t an important position to take. What he said was that it is important to focus on and emphasize issues that are felt by and felt to be important by the majority of voters such as economic issues: the price of food and other commodities, the affordability of housing, the cost of health insurance, etc.; the availability of a job with a salary that allows a modest life and the expenses of having a family; etc..
Abortion IS very much a majority issue and it has proven time and time again to win elections for Democrats. Why would you or he would be suggesting it's not?
I didn’t say abortion wasn’t a majority issue. I’m not against abortions. I clerked on an abortion service in medical school where I assisted in many abortions. Have you done anything like that? I voted for and campaigned for Kamala Harris. Did you? In that election (as Senator Gallego says in the interview - did you read it?) the Democrats had the attitude that the economic statistics are good so we don’t have to talk about the economy (although the voters didn’t feel that way). We can just run on abortion and the threat to democracy (when >50% of the voters can’t name the three branches of the Federal government). And we know how that played out. If people like you don’t stop fighting over making your special interests the premier topic, our democracy is doomed. “We the People” means all the people - E Pluribus Unum”. The more divisive you are, the more difficult it is to mount an effective and successful response to authoritarianism. You play into Trump’s - the master showman for creating emotion driven divisiveness and “us vs them” psychology - hands.
Well, I'm glad to hear you think it is. As for the rest of your rant - take a breath. "People like me?" Please. I'm not going to spew my activist credentials for you because there a whole hell of a lot of REAL work to do.
I’m sorry Alexandra I don’t post rants - just facts and information. The Democrat’s candidate for governor in NJ, Mikie Sherrill, was interviewed by Katie Couric today and said the same things as Senator Gallego said in his NYT interview that you say you are wrong. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnAPdptR3kE)
I’m sorry that I can’t agree with you that abortion is the premier, election winning issue, although it is important. A one trick pony isn’t going to win elections. Listening to what the voters feel is currently most important to them in their lives has a better chance. I hope your “REAL” work turns out well for you. Have you thought of volunteering at a Planned Parenthood clinic? I’m sure they could use your help. It would help you understand the real economic pain that the voters are feeling.
Senator Gallego is talking about what the Brits call class issues. That is really what pocketbook issues are. For some reason, both political parties have characterized it as a Left/Right divide, probably due to the influence of billionaire donors steering the conversation. Republicans are now openly exploiting the poor/middle class of their base. Democrats seem to have forgotten where their real support comes from. They are remembering now (I hope). The truth is, to win this fight, we must use all our resources, the old guard, fresh faces, and address people where they are, not where the latest focus group says they should be.
Hey Abbott, you’ve been this you’ve been exploiting blacks Hispanics and all minorities for hundreds of years Pro promising them prosperity and they’re still languishing in poverty in crime and you’ve done nothing to fix it and you continue to do nothing to fix it and that’s why Trump’s in office right now wake up
Maybe what Gallego says doesn’t stop “chump”, but it speaks to getting Democrats/Independents/ and others to stop fighting among themselves for dominance for their special interests and join together to be attractive to the majority of voters such- “We the People”. E Pluribus Unum!
Are health insurance companies already jacking up their 2026 premiums on "regular" policies in advance of losing ACA subscribers in order to support their profit margins?
We just received notice of a 22% increase for a COBRA policy and 12% for Medicare Supplemental Policy. Even a $2,500 increase is a big hit to the family budget.
Man, you guys are clueless. The ACA is out of control. Obama is the one that put in the subsidy restrictions as of December 2025. That's what he did now you wanna change it. And I'm laughing my ass off like this was not predicted in 2013 exact prediction was exactly what's happening today and I have the text and the links and the emails and all the history to back that up 2013 everybody came out and said this is what's gonna happen. The subsidies are going to expire. The premiums will be too high and the coverage will be less and here we are.
Democrats need to be aggressively hitting the republicans every day. Replace the current mamby pamby Senior Democratic Leadership and DNC (need Hogg back.). Follow up the Reagan ad (can’t believe I like something Reagan said) with an ongoing media campaign. Where are the photos of trump and Epstein, interviews in soy fields and cattle ranches, in grocery stores and car dealers, Mike Johnson doing nothing, and so on. At least Jeffries finally endorsed Mamdani, just hope it was not too late. An ad campaign is not rocket science. Run through ChatGPT:
“Give a proposal for a nationwide advertising campaign for democrats. The ad campaign. Should target all voters, be bold, and have a large budget.”
It just illustrates clearly how far into the weeds this MAGA movement has gone. They have latched onto a flawed ideology, and as the inevitable negative consequences begin to become apparent, they double down on stupid. That has been the typical rightwing MO.
When Their antics make Ronald Reagan sound like a liberal it might be time for some serious self reflection in the Republican Party.
Well, right now here's what you have. You have no leader you have no agenda other than hate Trump and that's why you're losing not to mention that you're upside down and all your policies as well. One of your policies is counterproductive to intelligent and American history.
Well, there are the 8020 policies and then those 9010 policies and the liberals or upside down on them both
Men in Women's sports
And Trump's effort in eliminating the legal criminals. Those are just two, but I could name a few more.
Here's a good one relating to ice
Dear Mr. Trump, if you trying to enforce the law, we will stop protesting lmao.
If Joe Biden has not opened the gates of the southern border to 8 to 11,000,000 illegals unvaccinated illegals by the way Trump would not be doing what he has to do in order to provide benefit benefits for American citizens before illegal. California, for example has spent almost $30 billion on healthcare medical treatment, food and shelter for illegal aliens while a quarter for million sit homeless on the streets of California.
It's so sad when the Democrats continually back the wrong pony.
They are actually fighting against the crime fighters
Wow Heather. I am so excited to make an early comment. I saw your podcast today. Thank you. I live in Campbell, CA - home of many of those radical left antifa crazy folks… 🙈
"The latest Gallup poll shows that Americans now think Democrats, rather than Republicans, are the better party to keep the country prosperous, by a margin of 47% to 43%. This is a shift of 18 points in just over two years."
Encouraging, but still a whole lot of people have not, and are not, paying nearly enough attention to our circumstances. Verging of on a half a century of nominal Republicans stealing from the poor to enrich the rich and telling lies so big they are like T. rex hiding in plain sight, I keep waiting for a whole lot more people to "get it" that they're being had.
I just watched the excellent new Netflix movie "A House of Dynamite", about a fictional nuclear attack by an unknown foe. I kept imagining trump, hegseth and the rest of the buffoons entrusted to keep us safe, calculating a measured, careful retaliation response to a similar crisis, one that minimizes the loss of life. I concluded that we'd be screwed as a species.
Did Trump realize that the safe bunker was under the East Wing? Where is the sinner man going to hide now? In the ballroom? Why am I channeling CLUE: Mr. Orange did it in the ballroom with the ketchup bottle...
Apparently it will still be there….just ”new and improved” with the gilded Donny Disco atop it. While they have been obfuscating & lying about everything having to do with the ballroom, I can see being mum on any specifics about the bunker for security reasons.
I read a post yesterday by an architect who questions the entire project. The numbers simply don’t add up for the square footage. I question whether the petulant destruction will be much more than that as building plans don’t seem to exist and no permits have been applied for.
Gail, I'd bet the safest place for an undocumented laborer is working on Trump's Temu Versailles (as someone else brilliantly calls it.) Think ICE will raid that building site?
I predicted the "ballroom project" is a smoke and mirror distraction from the fact he is building a fortress from which to hold the seat of federal government and all of us hostage after the 2026 loss of MAGA control. Then someone reminded me the bunker is/was under the east wing. Now I am convinced this regime will use every tactic imaginable to hold their power -- in place. Let's not forget Jan6 and the 🧊 army he is amassing today. He and his tyrants will be hiding in that new fortress after the midterms and beyond to keep operating. We should all be aiming to boycott the list of businesses funding this regime. Apple is my Achilles heel there. Thoughts?
I just watched it. Good flick. Suspenseful. Realistic. But all things considered I'd rather watch Doctor Strangelove. At least we had a good morbid sense of humor back then.
Unfortunately, I believe that they are doubling down on their mad dash to total control! They realize that, if they don’t gain control quickly, they may be relegated to a footnote in real history!
This impasse on the shutdown is not just an inconvenience, it’s real damage to America, and Trump doesn’t care….
Yeah, JL, but some of them don’t seem to have ANY qualms about lies, exaggerations and illegal acts right out loud! ‘Rump really IS doing the equivalent of “shooting someone on 5th Ave” and…see?…nobody in the ruling party cares a whit, so he was right about that. However, since SCOTUS basically gave ‘Rump a get out of jail forever card, they didn’t extend it to those enablers around him that are enacting “his will & edicts”, so uh-oh, guess they might be on the hook and held accountable.
If Netanyahu has committed a war crime by denying food and water and medical supplies to the people of Gaza, can we conclude that Trump is committing a war crime by denying food and healthcare to millions of his own citizens?
Hmmmm, Betsy, maybe they can both be convicted and be prison cell mates…nice little daydream! Oh, I saw a No Kings protest sign photo that said something to the effect: “I hope Big Beautiful Bill turns out to be Trump’s cell mate”. Now THAT made me laugh!
Deepak Puri, thanks again for your informative research, and concise DemLabs links here. After not being successful with trying to post a few lines of vetted info from Heather’s OCT 24 article on Bluesky - the alpha numeric character count was too long and in the ‘red’. I just read your substack links tonight and both your 10/24/25 comments were able to be posted to Bluesky (within the allowed character count). Lookin’ good Deepak ✅
We’ve all seen the list of the top U.S. billionaires paying for Donald’s gilded ballroom.
So what makes them all suck up to his ever-increasing rounds of extortion, criminality, contempt for due process -- not only for stupid ballroom, but for tariffs, ICE terror raids, arbitrary killings on the high seas, and the voter suppressions Heather also mentions here today?
What makes so many of our corporate elites normalize his fascism, his police state, his assaults on our formerly most vital institutions?
U.S. universities.
They no longer teach, exhibit, or embody any values other than the technical and commercial. Instead, only the most low-down transactional corruption that now bequeaths us Donald’s and their ruling fascism.
None of these elite, well-fed, well-groomed savages has ever read a novel in one’s life (except maybe Ayn Rand). No history. Never any memoir, or book of essays, or any travel across American land or communities.
One thing in place of the human we can bet: these bastards have always done most well through all their pre-university years of deadening testing.
The etiology giving us fascism, criminality, vulgarity, and corruption all has many sources -- especially the far right campaigns set in motion from the Powell memo of 1971.
Mainly, they wanted the commercial and corporate classes to rule -- to take center stage in U.S. and world life, and to take larger and larger shares of U.S. wealth.
But the first steps in doing this involved ridding schools of humanities (K-12 and "higher"). For those of us who know this legacy, this machinery, it's all the sadder how many Dems and progressives just will not hear of it. Sufficient for them, for so many, for most, just to bad-mouth the most obvious fascists and cowards, and to pretend none of this sorry history had any origins we ought be addressing, correcting.
Let alone in the schools, K-12 and "higher," that by deliberate schemes got so denatured, corporatized.
Don't be jealous Soros is giving plenty of money to the opposition
Keep in mindful there are billionaires on both sides of the aisle. Ooooops
But the most exciting thing is that Trump and musk are getting together again which means it's time for you and your nonviolent folks to start burning down Tesla dealerships and Tesla cars all over again
Well, it would figure that the Gullible lemmings here would believe that. I bought my first Tesla in 2014 and haven't been to a gas station in 11 years except when I rent a car
Free charging for the life of the car no gas for 11 years no fuel for 11 years no blowups other than the ones that your people lived on fire and try to destroy even though the majority of Teslas owned by liberals, especially in California and as soon as musk liked Trump, that's when the burning began just such nonviolent human beings you are. I've owned six Tesla since and the only ones that have burnt by themselves are the ones you guys lived on fire except for a scattered few and Tesla was the number one vehicle in the world before China got involved. So go, pound sand with your rhetoric and your misinformation which runs from your mouth like Niagara Falls.
Oh, and I also meant to tell you zero maintenance and I mean zero the only liquid in the car is windshield washer fluid
And that's why it's so popular and becoming more popular every day. If you actually try driving one, you'll never go back unless you live in an Arctic.
Cool I love it. Thank you. You join the ranks of the millions and millions of willfully ignorant liberals.i saw about 7-8 million of them on tv recently.
Welp, I guess we don't have to wait for the midterms to know whether there will be free and fair elections going forward. The same federal government that is killing with impunity, kidnapping citizens with no due process, and demolishing the White House is going to "monitor" elections in Blue states this November. Now we know.
Do not give up in advance - Timothy Snyder
The Elias Law Group (ELG) aka "Democracy Docket" filed a lawsuit yesterday to stop the 4th bogus North Carolina gerrymandered map since 2020 the "2025 Plan".
The white Republican "pack & crack" move is attempting to dilute GROWING black voter strength in Mecklenburg & the 'Piedmont Triad'.
This move will be shut down. Black voters will not be 'packed' anywhere. The only thing that will be "cracked' is the white crackers' 2025 Plan.
Support Democracy Docket!
I do. Marc Elias is a hero.
Agreed!!!! He is a brilliant hero!!!!
And now children will go hungry on account of Donald J. Trump.
Ditto! I support Democracy Docket and Marc Elias is steadfast in his work.
Yes, but from interview I’ve seen, he has high confidence that his lawsuits are on the right side of the law but substantially less confidence that the courts will see it that way.
Ditto. He is worth supporting.
It's more than that. They've eliminated representation in The Black Belt. Wake and Mecklenburg Counties are split 3 ways. This is all illegal maneuvering. I'm sure there are more law suits. We sure need them. We're a 50-50 state, currently at 10-4 congressional districts, soon to be 11-3. The previous districting was was was 7-7, as it should be.
I was brought up in Lenoir, NC which is in Caldwell County. I learned that the MAGA jerk who was in charge of passing this change was from my old county!!!🤬🤬🤬
Thanks for this info. I was born in Lenoir, my maternal & paternal families’ roots go all over that region; lot of cousins still there. So — not surprised by your report but motivated to find out more, see where my dollars might go to help fight this, as you well put it, “MAGA jerk.”
My parents had a clothing store there for 25 years called “Lerner’s Department Store”. Nice to meet ya’!
I am compelled to repost'
It only takes a few Congressional Republicans to stop Trump. See Jerry Weiss https://jerryweiss.substack.com/
Trumpepstein may be the vehicle to bring Congressional Republicans to their senses. Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-CA) tweeted about an "Epstein bomb" about to drop; over 100 Republican members might "jailbreak" from Trump.
Massive Congressional visits November 18.
https://www.instagram.com/flare.usa/p/DP_mdOyjdiG/ Visit Congressional Republicans.
https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/851451/
Great news from Eric Swalwell.
Well I feel the need to post that
1. The Top Marginal Tax Rate from 2018 to both this year and next year is 37%.
2. The Top Marginal Tax Rate from 2013 to 2017 was 39.6%.
3. The Top Mariginal Tax Rate from 2009 to 2012 was 35%.
Hence, the millionaires and billionaires are paying 2% higher taxes now than during President Barack Obama's first term.
Given the increases in the standard deduction and the State and Local Tax Exemption from $ 10,000 to $ 40,000; will someone please identify the tax break that millionaires and billionaires are getting from the Big, Beautiful Bill?
Epstein Bomb? Really? Stormy Daniels? Look people, if we are going to think that some relatively indistinct group of young women* who happen to be chaperoned by the likes of Margie Taylor Greene are going to bring our well-endowed supremo-leader and his grab-team to their knees.., I know a new bridge in China that's for sale.
*please understand my words. Like you I am so distraught that these "young women" were not given their proper day in court ten years ago. And, I must add I am also sick-to-death of the "royal high-nesses".., whomever they are. I'm considering a run for the Senate here in Maine on the Independent ticket, but I don't want to take away from Graham Platner.
I think you miss the forest for the trees. I've responded to this elsewhere.
You have to work with what you actually have. Swalwell isn't the only one saying this.
The Congressional petition will force Republicans to state under oath whether (or not) they support preverts!
Daniel, I agree. I've clicked on your links. I just fear it's a fart in a wind-storm. We have no morals left. Next thing we know, melonia will start selling her own version of a thongs she wears, only with pubic fuzz from kangaroos. Good luck watching those "100" republicans stand up.
They will lift his kilt and wonder where it went…. The Trump Endowment.
It is the same old tired plan used by Republicans since they became avid segregationists under Nixon. Just remember:
GOP = Greedy Old Parasites‼️
Even Nixon seems stable by comparison! The ‘maggots’ are like rats eating the seed corn of democracy and the Steve’s are the really vile of the most vile!
Creepy at the worst! Where do these two come from?
I think Nixon looks stable by comparison only because there was a congress anad a Supreme court i.e. guard rails
These are no longer existing
True although I will note the Nixon’s and Clinton’s policies were quite similar…making Bill the best Republican president since Eisenhower.
But yes the guardrails are gone…and we have a ‘Supreme’ court that is literally just inventing shit! No justice! So much really bad Clarence!
Also:
Government?
Oh,
Puleeze.
" . . . white crackers," love it, Bryan.
Ridge runners. Stump savages. Yahoos. Deplorables.
Trouble is, these stereotypes refer to an era before all the M.B.A.s took over, before so many techie nerds became soulless billionaires, let's-surrender-in-advance university presidents, elite law CEOs, legacy media chief counsels.
This echoes my response to the Young Republicans Text Scandal - these are COLLEGE EDUCATED PROFESSIONALS! 😳😱 The rot is found at every level of the MAGA cult.
Hey Saltines are my go-to snack! Peanut butter and jam…
I do too! Marc Elias is fearless and I support democracy docket monthly.
Thank you, and just put in a subscription request to "Democracy Docket"!
We do support them!
Amen!
I hope you are correct
Fore warned is forearmed.
…and forearmed is half an octopus. (Sorry, desperately need a smile, thought maybe others too.)
🤣 thanks, pilgrim, I indeed needed that!!!
pilgrimRVW, your humor is tantamount to making jokes about the victim at a funeral and is therefore woefully inappropriate. We have not only become a failed state; we are the only nation in our species' entire history to have been deliberately reduced to failed-state status by an ecogenocidal tyrant hatefully elected for that specific purpose.
Lest we forget, the millions who will die as a result are in fact victims of first-degree murder. Which means every one of the 77 million MAGATs who voted for Donald the Destroyer is a premeditated murderer.
Note too the ultimate Hollywood portrayal of a failed state: Somalia in "Blackhawk Down"; given the Jung/McLuhan theory of art-as-prophecy, I now cannot but wonder if that is an accurate preview of our own future:
Oh, do lighten up. We could all use some goofiness in our lives.
Both/And
Funny, we’ve made many jokes about the dead loved one at their funeral. Nothing inappropriate about it. When I leaned over and told my sobbing sister that our dad was in heaven telling god everything he was doing wrong it stopped the sobbing and calmed her down. Would you have thrown me out of the church? Humor is the best medicine and pilgrim was just expressing their frustration with humor. Better than pointing guns and blowing up people.
Amen Sharon! If there is a fault with the Bible it is a profound lack of humor. Seems as though a bit of humor could have been wedged into Acts. A miracle that went awry and was later repaired, Lazarus falling down a well the next day, Jesus jumping out from behind the big rock with a cry of surprise! Something, anything.
Jokes/comedy are badly needed right now - did you notice who really doesnt find humor anywhere? It's not these folks commenting!
Say what you will; in the present context, jokes and comedy are mostly an expression of denial and powerlessness.
Loren Bliss, Strongly recommend The Mary Tyler Moore Show episode, "Chuckles Bites the Dust." It won an Emmy for "dealing with grief and death in a deeply human way."
Please note I apologized within the comment.
Yes, Portland has taught us one thing, be really fucking funny! …ridicule softly and loudly! Make fun of the golden toilets and showers, remind people that he is very old and frail, sad old man who buys friends.
And yes, he is a neo-fascist dinosaur!
Quadrapus.
We once had an octopus dog toy that lost its legs one by one, resulting in a similar renaming each time. My husband named the final, legless iteration "Zedipus".
pilgrim, LOL.
Very clever!
You got more than a smile. I laughed.
Rim shot, please! https://share.google/images/KbBfA5GlzJkdBqoNM
@ Michele2 I am describing a condition. Not giving up.
My post on my stack today was on Collective Rage and why we need it right now.
I say what I see and every single time someone thinks I am being prescriptive rather than descriptive.
I have written this so many times I have clips to copy and paste.
I fully agree with you. I am beside myself after Trump destroyed the East Wing as vengeance for the huge No Kings rallies.
WE NEED NO KINGS RALLIES NOT MONTHLY BUT WEEKLY. WE DONT NEED POLITICIANS ADDRESSING THE CROWDS. WE NEED PEOPLE HOLDING SIGNS AND YELLING. WE NEED MUSIC. WE NEED THESE WEEKLY RALLIES IN FRONT OF Every federal COURT BUILDING IN THE NATION — from New York to California.
WE CAN’T SURVIVE THREE MORE YEARS OF THIS POX IN THE WHITE HOUSE.
Intellect of a thwarted three year old. First, he pours virtual excrement over America and Americans. (For the whole world to see). Then he rips the East Wing apart.
Top Dung 2!
This Time He's CHUNKY!!!
I could not agree more. Strength in numbers. And repetition. Three more years of JD? Two more years of Mike? There will be nothing left.
Bill:
Bring on the music!
https://youtu.be/y6Wz3i_BYUc
\Vince S
Thank you for posting. Very motivating and reassuring!
But we can survive it, Bill.
As serfs to the corporate and tech masters, as fodder for the testers.
I'm in!
I am not at all worried about collective rage. I have enough holes in my soul put there by atrocities this missive cannot begin to fathom. What we’ve done to each other is unbelievable, unforgivable, undeniable, and unending. Give me a couple minutes and I can hand you a bucketful of what used to be a man. Give me Trump. Give me his cronies. Give me his sycophants. I will hand his world back to him in buckets. I am an American working man. A veteran. A toiler of labor. An angry angry angry man capable to whatever ends are required. I am not a prophet I am a promise. Lay this at his doorstep.
For people who haven't seen Invisible's events for this weekend- https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/
Thank you Sandra. Your Freudian slip is showing. But "invisible" is how most of us feel.
Many of us support our local food banks for many reasons. Hopefully, the Republicans will shed their Oligarchical and Fascist ways and actually work with the Democrats to restore SNAP and ACA benefits, but if they don't it's time the Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention help the underprivileged. We certainly can't count on the billionaires like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Donald Trump and most of Trump's cabinet to help out.
STOP USING STARVATION AS A WEAPON AGAINST AMERICANS REPUBLICANS!
Alas, not clever enough for Freudian slips. Just incompetent user of ruddy autocorrect - sighhhh.
Maybe your machine is doing it for you.
Since 'invisible' is a word, autocorrect cannot detect that it is not the word that your brain was thinking of. :-)
I didn't notice the "Invisible" since a quick scan focused on the last word in the link, my unconscious auto correct working.
An managable way to support your local food shelter is to do a neighborhood collection of food and bring to shelter. I ask the shelter what they need most and put a call out for these things.
That’s a great idea.
We collect at our weekly protests if people are doing that in their communities...
GJ, I'm with you in spirit, but offer this advisory: Republicans have always maintained the theory that the disadvantaged are not the responsibility of government but of charitable agencies, such as churches and generous, wealthy individuals who choose to help.
The problem is, those charitable entities exist in such paltry numbers, they couldn't begin to meet the need.
Almost all churches are losing members and the attending revenues, so they are too busy enlarging and enhancing their campuses and spending on entertainment, thinking that will win back the members they've lost. (It won't.) They'll feed and house the needy AFTER they reclaim their former assets, which will happen ... never.
The wealthy individuals didn't get that way by giving their money away, so it's highly unlikely that they will suddenly become generous because of a growing need.
As a population, Americans are not as generous as we'd like to think. The involuntary process of taxation provides the funding a civilized society needs to care for its citizens in need. Without it, a population is barbarous. That is where Republicans, including Musk, Thiel and Trump, would take us.
My thoughts exactly. And when they brag about how wealthy the country is becoming and point to the stock market they ignore that the majority of people are not invested in the stock market because their minimum wage jobs won’t allow them even have healthcare and food.
Dale- Warren Buffett just donated $6 billion for hunger relief. This is a huge number for any one individual (except Musk perhaps). But when the budget for SNAP is something like $42 billion a year I think, that's a drop in the bucket.
Plus, even the Catholic Church which is extremely wealthy, can't muster up $42 billion every year. And although many of the billionaire oligarchs are generous, just as many aren't.
I brag up Mckenzie Scott, Susan Buffett and Melinda Gates lead the pack in helping the underprivileged. We should be praising their generosity every chance we can. But should we point out how Musk is perhaps the greediest person on the planet?
The wealthy Republicans use their charitable giving in their communities to bolster their stature, consolidate power, and maintain the status quo.
"Are there no prisons? And the workhouses? Are they still in operation?" Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
It's working for his great friend Bibi.
Thanks. I was just saying we should be out there every Saturday as long as the government is shut down. Maybe even start food giveaways. We live just south of Pendleton. The people in Oceanside never have enough food.
Thank you for posting this. I am so glad the surrounding areas of my small town are holding rallies every weekend. It’s a mentally healthy thing to do. It’s going to take cities and states coming together to help those who are and will continue to be hurt by this administration.
Indivisible is a great organization! And it’s good to connect with a local group because being part of a group is a way to stay sane. Also check out the “What’s the Plan?” meeting at Indivisible.org for some inspiration!
That collective rage is what got us out for the No Kings and I think we should be out there every Saturday that the government is closed. Maybe we should bring food to give away too.
@Sharon: If we want protests to do anything more than show ourselves that we have the numbers we need to be out by the millions 24 hours a day 7 days a week for months or years.
As for the food--42 Million people are on starvation track as of November 1st. If your state is one that will kill SNAP with no back-up, and IF you are not one of the ones who will go hungry, please consider doing more than bringing food to protests. There are ways to get involved with literally feeding people through this horror show.
Everything we do matters!!!
Didn’t Timothy Snyder give up in advance when he moved to Canada?
He has a biracial family to protect & so he can continue his work in Canada.
Judy, your bringing up Snyder's personal decision for his family is an annoying, irrelevant gotcha/whataboutism based on ignorance. Educate yourself before engaging in this kind of activity.
https://substack.com/@snyder/p-164527749
Thank you for that link. Very powerful and inspirational!
I would like to comment on something he said near the end...
'if everyone in the comments section were out there doing something...'
My point is not about people in comment sections anywhere but more about the idea of engagement.
donald trump, et al, could not afford to terminate TikTok here in the US. Aside from China gathering info and his ability to make money off of it, TikTok is essential to the rightward shift in this country. Why? Because it is a giant vacuum cleaner of brains. For all of its worthwhile content it seems to be more of a drain. A rapt audience NOT paying attention to what is happening in their own communities.
Star Trek, TNG, Season 5, Episode 6, The Game
Today's Tik Tok... addictive, pleasant, and subliminally conditioning us to surrender our freedoms to the up and coming new hegemony...
Corny but oh so prescient.
I'm not a "Trekkie," but I think I've seen all the TV episodes and movies. I can't think of any episode or device in the Star Trek franchise that wasn't predictive. "The Game" is no exception.
Season 3, Episode 15, Jan 1969
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
Oh, the absurdity of it all. A Black/White man hates another man because he is a White/Black man.
I was just shy of 19 yrs old and I think I was really hit just by the absurdity of it all.
Forgive me but my question is neither tedious nor ignorant. I am also a fan of Mr Snyder, as I assume you are. Perhaps I am envious of his ability to leave this country due to his financial condition. Since I do not have the resources necessary to leave, I will stay and fight for my country. I am 79 years old and attend protests in my frog suit and with my bubble blowing gun. I try to present a loving and light hearted face to the world as my country explodes in greed and selfishness.❤️🎈❤️
No more than when DeGaulle left occupied France, or Churchill left Dunkirk.
Why do you say he has given up? He’s still doing the same work he always did only now he’s safer. MAGA was coming for his job and safety. Not so different as the people seeking asylum in other countries.
No. He had legitimate family reasons for doing so. He continues to support the USA, was at the No Kings March, and remains on Substack and YouTube with his educational information.
no
No, he has a video where he answered that question.
https://snyder.substack.com/p/last-years-move-to-toronto
He planned the move before Trump was elected. Please. This is just tedious.
What’s the difference Judy? Isn’t it just an “artificial boundary?”
With an entirely different government, rules and laws. Massive difference for everyday life.
51st State of Mind...
No.
Never going to give up! Trump is living in a fantasy world and the powers that be is allowing it.
Release the epstein files and get that pedophile out of the white house!
Thank you..look at all the people that agreed with Annabel's fear mongering above.
Vote anyway.
Vote with gusto.
Vote with your neighbors.
Vote like their life depends on it.
Vote early.
Vote by mail if your state allows it.
Vote even when the line is out the door and down the street.
Vote even if the regime intimidates, tries to scuttle elections or makes it ridiculously difficult.
Always Vote!
I vote in person early voting.
Is someone going to monitor felon 45-47’s voting monitors?
Don't vote by mail. That's where most issues arise and the need for ballot curing. It's mostly college students and the elderly. It took 6 days last year for Justice Allison Riggs to win in NC. Next time the Legislature has reduced ballot curing to 3 days because they know they can only win by stealing votes.
I disagree. 80% of Arizonans vote by mail. The system has worked well so far. If vote-by-mail was discontinued in Arizona, far fewer people would vote at all.
Certainly, in Utah it raised the number of ballots cast, especially on the Navajo reservation.
The vote by mail places also have secure drop locations. We use our local library.
In Oregon, vote by mail works great for young and old alike...
We are overseas each fall in time for our grandchildren's fall vacations and that usually overlaps with the November elections. We have found voting by mail to be very convenient in the past. I don't know what the future will hold, however. It remains to be seen.
We have to be in Florida on the 4th so we voted early, in person, at our town hall. We have never had to vote by mail except while stationed in Hawaii in the late 70s, but want everyone to have the right to vote by mail for whatever reason they desire.
I have voted by mail and have received confirmation that my ballot was received, verified and counted. Yay!
Many of us already have Steve -- because the Republicans haven't shut down early voting or absentee voting --- yet.
But the MAGA's have a proposition on the Maine ballot to totally change how voters can vote. (VOTE NO ON PROPOSITION 1). They have already tipped the voting scales by illegally purging active voters from the roles, gerrymandering and changing the voting laws.
YES! As a life long Mainer, and Dem, our elections already have checks & balances to maintain the integrity of the votes. This question on the ballot is another example of Republican’s attempt to make it more difficult to cast our votes! Vote No on #1!
Everyone check your voter registration status.
Trump & co are playing dirty.
Place pro-voting volunteers outside the 100’ boundary (or inside if allowed). On election day, those who have been protesting should offer to accompany voters past any monitors and into the polling place, at which point they go back to walk with another voter. (DOJ “Monitors” probably won’t be permitted inside a polling place. I suspect they plan to be very visible outside so voters won’t even try to vote.)
Yes...because it does.
Of course there will be efforts to play with the elections. But elections will still take place. They can send all the “monitors” they like, but people will still vote. And the results will STILL not be what they want.
There are many ways you can slice this. You can choose to chime in with the Winifred Sanderson “we are DOOMED” crowd in honor of Halloween, or you can focus on the many battles they are already losing, on many different fronts.
Things are not going according to plan for them. The number of cracks in the dam are multiplying, the water pressure is rising. It makes sense to spend our passions thinking not about what they would like to do, but strategizing what we do when it all starts to go south for them. For go south for them it surely will. There are good reasons why they are so afraid right now.
“Trump talks about the administration’s strikes on boats in the region as an attempt to stop the importation of drugs into the U.S., but observers suggest the administration is really attempting to encourage Venezuelans to rise up against Venezuelan president Nicolás Madur”
Hmmm. Maybe that idea of citizens rising up against their government could transfer?
I think he doesn't give a rat's ass about drugs. This is all theatrics and scare tactics. And people are being murdered.
We get to watch multiple mass murders almost every night on our news feeds. THAT's what this badministration is foisting on us. Applying routine governance to random people in boats.
Hegseth acts like a child playing video games. 😒
Trump doesn’t give a hoot about drugs. He pardoned Ross Ulbricht of Silk Road, where illegal drugs were sold.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz7e0jve875o.amp
Either way it’s murder.
Only if the majority in the country stand and defend every inch, punch for punch the effort by right-wingers to continue to corrupt voters rights and rig elections for continued minority rule.
Tax the rich!
Been the plan for awhile, Texas leads the way.
We need a strategy that does not depend on normalcy or guardrails that are gone.
This is going to be costly, prolonged, and unimaginably difficult. But if we don’t fight we will never be free.
It turns out that democracy is fragile.
Word of mouth, repeated often. Conformation with rallies again and again. It is already a growing tsunami. Trump can repeat his lie that the rallies are small all he wants. Sending the elected Republicans home to their States full of hungry and angry people will backfire bigly. They will be seeing their GOP die in front of their eyes. We need a Big Beautiful Amendment to inform all those angry voters. No more corporate personhood. No more campaign contributions crossing State and/or district lines. All Campaign contributions of currencies, or anything of value, may only be made by individual Citizens residing within the district which such contributions are made for political or judicial candidates or ballot measures which the Citizen making such contributions has a right to vote for. No more gerrymandering; all district boundaries within the States are to be drawn as close as practicable to being parallel to the lines of the Geographic coordinate system.
I also believe Trump is proving true that plenary power over all the executive departments in one invites plenary instability to all executive departments. Thus since the country has grown time has come for the executive Powers of the United States of America to be vested in independently elected Federal office holders in a Federal election conducted by we the Citizens of the United States; no more electors by the States. I am saying not only for a single President but for a number of Federal executives including the Treasurer, Attorney General, Labor General, Health and Human Services General, a Public Instruction General to head the U.S. Department of Education, Environmental Protection General, and finally a Public Services General who would oversee the United States Election, the United States Census Bureau and the United States Postal Service which would work in unison to conduct the election. I feel a Big Beautiful Amendment creating a Big Beautiful national election, as in a real democracy, would go a long way to finally unite we the people of America; "One nation, ... indivisible, ... with liberty and justice ..." I agree with Thomas Jefferson, “I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and Constitutions. But laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.”
So Trump might understand Jefferson's words, “Well, I don’t think we’re gonna necessarily ask for your opinion, I think we’re just gonna dice up the one bigly office you are screwing up. OK? We’re going to split it into a eight offices. You know? They’re going to be, like, needing lots of a new floor space at the White House to work in. OK? Hey, maybe that new East Wing Room will be a start. Yeah, that's the ticket."
Your grasp of what is, and your vision for change, is grounding. At the No Kings rally, I chatted with a man whose work at one time was to partner to create a new constitution in Brazil. He spoke about the ways our Constitution needs revision and suggested that I read those of Germany and Brazil. It makes sense for fresh thinking to percolate into society generally, wherever we happen to be. I hope your point of view is reaching people generally, in day-to-day ways.
Germany and Brazil, countries that have survived a fascist takeover, must have worked hard on their constitutions.
Thanks for sharing this. Interesting idea to elect the cabinet members directly rather than allowing the president to put together their own team. It would require more effort on the part of voters, which is not a bad thing in my opinion. We do have an apathy problem which will need to be addressed regardless.
Yes, then the people might actually get out and vote. I think we should also get to vote for judges, including SCOTUS and the leaders of the House and Senate.
Another week where Moses Mike won’t swear in the new representative.
I think the extra effort upon voters might help. I wonder if an income deduction for voting might help get people to vote.
Albert, at first blush, I like your proposal. Here's what I worry about: We can't get our voters to properly educate themselves about candidates for president and vice-president. Could we ever expect them to get informed about all those additional federal executives?
What you're proposing seems similar to a board of directors, which seems to work fine for corporations. In a corporation, board candidates are proposed by a nominating committee. Choosing the nominating committee might be where things get dicey in federal government.
The committee might be political parties which might be good, could be bad. I am editing a memo to we the people. It will include the full language of the model amendment with three, maybe four sections. The eight Executives will each have specific job requirements. Education and actual work experience in the specific area of work is #1. To be President a person would need more than just having a 35 year old white penis. RFK, JR. would not get inside the door of Health and Human Services as he has no medical degree or work experience whatsoever in the medical field. The Department of Education would address the severe need to have a minimum level of education in America. Etc.
It seems to me that all Presidential candidates should have security clearances before being on a primary ballot among the other criteria you have suggested.
Albert, your project is definitely worth the work. Keep on!
Look forward to reading the finished product.
Democracy is a wildflower in wintertime. Buried deeply in meadows waiting now for tinkling sounds of melting snow as life filters back to a winter drabbed land. We should pause this spring when the first blossoms emerge, for many of us are in the long game and time has become our precious friend.
I enjoy your style of analogy. Actually it inspires thinking. It reminded me of a note I included in a paper I wrote on the Constitutional right to "life." My primary argument is the Framers intended the right to "life" to be understood as far more than only a right to be "alive;" the two words are not the same. The text of that foot note reads, "Perhaps a good research topic would be to identify those things that reasonable people would include in the term “life” which they would not include in the term “alive.” Could the physical processes of dying be considered to be a part of “life?” Is death a part of life? Does a right to life include a right to health, food, water and air? Is love, companionship, marriage, sex and privacy necessary to sustain a healthy life and as such are a part of the life right? Much has been written about what life involves. “Our final experience, like our first, is conjectural. We move between two darknesses.” E. M. Forster, “People,” Aspects of the Novel (1927). As quoted by Rhoda Thomas Tripp, The International Thesaurus of Quotations, 359. “Life is a child playing around your feet, a tool you hold firmly in your grip, a bench you sit down upon in the evening, in your garden” Jean Anouilh, Antigone (1942), tr. Lewis Galantiere."
By omitting the word life in a read what changes? Now add it back, what changes? Was there an enrichment or a poverty. Sometimes that exercise clarifies meaning.
Pat:
Are you familiar with the lovely song using words attributed to Julian of Norwich?
". . . and all will be well again, I know!"
\Vince S
All that I know of her is that she was a religious anchoress during Chaucer’s lifetime and when we studied old English literature she was mentioned in a class as the one with the Cheshire Cat smile, not the Chaucer cat smile as one of my fellow freshmen students blurted out when Chaucer’s name came to be written ( there but for the grace of God) on the blackboard. There was talk of her being the patron saint of cats. I did not take the opportunity to discover her contribution to literature or music. Much as an 18 year old finds an anathema to religion and politics one must come to understand and appreciate their effect on the literatury signature of all authors. Tell that to an 18 year old B student fresh off the ranch, who’s idea of literature was riders of the purple sage, a manuscript found sans cover in the bunkhouse.
Beautiful...
I just recalled this from the "Being There", (1979) a satirical comedy-drama film starring Peter Sellers as Chance, a very simple minded gardener who happens to meet an elderly business mogul named Rand who is an advisor to the President. In this scene Rand, who has mistaken the older white well dressed Chance to be an upper-class, highly educated businessman who is having a hard time due to the economy, introduces him to the President. After hearing what Chance has to say here the President goes on TV quoting Chance for advice on the falling economy. This may sound crazy but Trump is Chance, Rand and the President all in one.
One of my favorite films and the reading the script is perhaps just as much fun.
LIBRARY - MORNING
The President paces, is worried about what Rand is telling
him. Chance smiles through it all.
RAND
...There is no longer any margin
for inflation, it has gone as
far as it can. You've reached
your limits on taxation, dependence
on foreign energy is at a point of
crisis, and, from where I see it,
Mr. President, the so-called Free
Enterprise System could be at
the breaking point.
PRESIDENT
You don't think I should take
that chance, huh?
RAND
Absolutely not.
Chance has reacted to his name, but doesn't know what
to say. The President sits, turns, to Chance.
PRESIDENT
Do you agree with Ben, Mr.
Gardiner? Or do you think we
can stimulate growth through
temporary incentives?
CHANCE
(a beat)
As long as the roots are not
severed, all is well and all
will be well in the garden.
PRESIDENT
(a pause)
...In the garden?
CHANCE
That is correct. In a garden,
growth has its season. There
is spring and summer, but there
is also fall and winter. And
then spring and summer again...
PRESIDENT
(staring at Chance)
...Spring and summer...
(confused)
Yes, I see...Fall and winter.
(smiles at Chance)
Yes, indeed.
RAND
(interrupts)
I think what my most insightfult
friend is building up to, Mr.
President, is that we welcome the
inevitable seasons of nature, yet
we are upset by the seasons of
our economy.
CHANCE
Yes. That is correct. There will
be growth in the spring.
PRESIDENT
(pleased)
...Well, Mr. Gardiner, I must
admit, that is one of the most
refreshing and optimistic state-
ments I've heard in a very, very
long time.
(he rises)
...I envy your good, solid sense,
Mr. Gardiner - that is precisely
what we lack on Capitol Hill.
(glances at watch)
I must be going.
(holds out hand
to Chance)
... This visit has been most
enlightening...
Chance rises and shakes the President's hand.
Scene.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgGvd1UPZ88
Script
https://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/being_there_1_10_79.html
Like many very precious things, Annabel.
It seems to me that part of the plan should be not sending any more taxes to this vile “administration.”
"The same federal government that is killing with impunity, kidnapping citizens with no due process, and demolishing the White House ..."
The same Republican Party Reign of Terror ...
There fixed it.
I suggest we ought always spotlight the GOP. Trump is the personification of the Republican Party.
@lin: sadly, they ARE the federal government now.
This is not the GOP I grew up with. I am nearly 70 and lived through 1968 and Tricky Dick.
But there is a straight line from Reagan to Trump.
Whatever rises from the ashes will not be the two parties that existed before.
"sadly, they [Republicans] ARE the federal government now."
Seriously No. Republicans dominate the federal government for now. But by saying Republicans are the federal government, you leave out every Democratic elected official and every federal worker who is diligently resisting the Republican Regime. On the front lines. With great fortitude under appalling conditions and continual threat. Every day. They deserve our recognition and our support for trying to make the federal government function for all of us.
Hello lin.... One of the fixes that the DC Democrats can do if they ever get in Power again, and have Courage... Is preclude what Tinny, Tiny Mike Johnson has done... Prevent One Tiny Man From Shutting Congress Down For An Indefinite Period.... I Strongly Suspect that Tiny Mike Johnson is Shielding DJT from the Epstein Files... I Say, Release The Kraken....
Lin— it isn’t that the Democrats are shirking. They simply have no power. There is zero bipartisanship. They couldn’t even stop that abomination, the Big Ugly Bill.
The MAGA control all 3 branches and I doubt they have any intention of going along with a peaceful transfer of power. They don’t just dominate— they control.
I am not saying the Democrats are unworthy. Nor am I saying we shouldn’t fight or that we can’t win.
But none of the old ways of engaging in political action will work now. We need to fight ugly. This IS ugly and will get much worse before it gets better.
Still. Seriously. No.
There is more to the dynamic than you assert. Every moment a Democratic official shows up and speaks out is an act of resistance and an assertion of power. Every time a federal employee does their job in a way that makes the government serve all of us, is an act of resistance and an assertion of power. Think of the federal employees who disobeyed the Republican diktat to not photograph the Republican destruction of the East Wing - their acts helped change the conversation. That matters.
Lin--YES IT MATTERS. But will not save us. This situation is tantamount to war. What you are referring to are resistance tactics. Not official federal power.
Elected Democrats should be able to use the power of their office to participate in the legislative process. That is not the same as resistance.
We must ALL be part of an ACTIVE resistance if we are to win back our freedom. They are brave to defy the regime, and perhaps more so because they must do it openly and the MAGA power knows where they live and where their children live. The malicious political prosecutions have already begun.
But that is not the same thing as being able to simply do the jobs they were elected to do.
In the end every one of us will be called to test our courage.
AGREE!!!
My dad, uncle, two aunts and several cousins all were career Federal employees. Some were Republicans and some Democrats, but they all knew who supported them and had their backs.
And now we have the chronically unemployed getting hired by Trump, Miller, Noem and Homan. I hate to say it, but most of the applicants are morons who can't pass a written test which I'm guessing is written at a 6th grade level.
Does anyone know when they get their $50K "signing" bonus? God help us if it's before they finish training. And what are they doing to get the $50K back when these fuckers quit?
They failed an OPEN BOOK test!!! Makes one wonder if they can read at all.
These "applicants" who cannot meet such simple criteria are but one example of how the declining public schools system since the time of Reagan are impacting our society.
LIN:
Readers here would do well to use their web browsers to look up and listen to any videos, You Tube or other, featuring Rep Jamie Raskin of Maryland.
He is brilliant, well informed, and indefatigable!
\Vince S
Yes, and unfortunately the speaker pro tem refused to recognize him so he could speak last week. How can that be allowed? They are silencing their opposition.
No, but the Oligarchs will still spend what they need to to influence elections just like they have been doing for the past 30-50 years.
It's just that they are doing it out in the open now, knowing that there is no one to stop them.
Annabel, I've mentioned this before here, but it bears repeating. My Republican parents utilized a defense mechanism to mask their poor choices. When things were going well for them under Republican majority, they boasted about the Republican accomplishments; when things weren't going well for them under Republican majority, they blamed "the government."
When things were going well for them under Democratic majority, they were silent; when things weren't going well for them under Democrats, they blamed the Democrats.
It's a subtle technique, but their point of view always gave Republicans a pass. We shouldn't do that. When a party is screwing up, we should name them and shame them, no matter which.
@Dale: That is an intellectual error to be sure. But this is different. The MAGA are not old school Republicans and I am not blaming "the government" in the way your are suggesting. They have seized total control over the entire federal government.
At this point the MAGA and the federal government are ONE REGIME consisting of an authoritarian executive branch, a fully corrupt SCOTUS, and a congress with no purpose except as a rubber stamp. The seating of the Democrats in that body is a pro forma exercise with no effect on the proceedings therein.
I generally refer to the whole thing as "the regime". And I don't blame the Democrats, at least not entirely. The blame I affix to them is for failing to get smarter at fighting the threat that began with Reagan. Instead of being proactive, they caved to the neoliberal Republicans over and over, until there was little ground left.
Joe Biden was actually getting somewhere on pushing back, which is why they crucified him.
I also blame the Democrats for just accepting the results last November and folding. There were other paths to take, but anyone who suggested such a think was told to STFU.
We were played.
Agree. We currently do not have a government. We are living under an evil, corrupt regime
Annabel, you are a valuable contributor to these conversations. All I can recommend is to be careful with your wording.
Suggested edit: "the government, seized and controlled by Republicans ..."
Ambiguity eliminated.
Added note: As a professional writer, I often post a comment "in the moment" that could have been worded better in hindsight. In fact, most of my comments are tagged "edited."
@Dale: thanks. And yes, I am writing free-form here.
I eke out a small living writing my own stacks, but when I comment here it is spontaneous.
Also, HCR drops at around 1 or 2 AM here on the east coast. I don’t know how she does it.
But I have had trouble sleeping since last November so I am often awake if not quite ready for extemporaneous writing.
Probably worth doing an edit.
Do you write on here too?
Dale, at the risk of nit-picking with you, I want you to know that your "I'm a professional writer" comments often come off...to me at lest...as mansplaining. Maybe lighten up? Just sayin'...
No, not today's GOP. I grew up in the era of Eisenhower...the difference is night and day.
No, lin -- he's the personification of dictators and mass murderers worldwide.
They love to steal, murder, rape, ally with others for arms, drugs, mansions, and the underage girls Donald's pals long trafficked.
Republicans? Just takers. Snouts out always for lobbyist "campaign contributors," corporate bribes, softball media suck-ups, and the techie billionaire providers of slogans, cant, and hate speech.
While the GOP mans its boat with oars that are abed, they would do well to watch the skies overhead. Many a round fired in haste did land among ourselves. I often asked when ordered to fire, “where are the friendlies Sir?” Unable to ascertain I held my fire. But that was the army. I can’t speak for the navy.
Pat, your comment almost scans like poetry. With a few minor adjustments, it could be a poem. Love it.
States have control over in-state elections.
Hunger and the Politics of Death: Moral Breakdown in Real Time
The warning that a SNAP shutdown would bring “the most mass hunger suffering since the Great Depression” is not a prediction. It is a sentence passed on forty million Americans by a government that has stopped governing. To choose starvation over service is to weaponize neglect, to use hunger as leverage in a political game played by men insulated from its consequences.
Then comes the language of death. Trump’s casual vow to “just kill people that are bringing drugs into our country” completes the descent from apathy to authoritarianism. It is not policy; it is permission—permission for violence without trial, without law, without conscience. The state that withholds food from the poor now claims the right to execute at will.
These are not isolated outrages. They are signs of a moral breakdown in real time. A democracy that abandons the hungry and glorifies killing is already rotting from within. The urgency now is absolute: to call this what it is, to resist its normalization, and to rebuild the civic spine that once made decency a national standard. Hunger is the warning. Violence is the promise. Both demand an answer before the lights go out. https://essayx.substack.com/p/moral-breakdown-in-real-time
Also, most of those who receive SNAP benefits are people who have worked long at low-wage jobs with no benefits: their health is ruined and they have no savings. It is a direct product of their conditions of employment, as well as lack of opportunities for education and healthcare.
Beautifully said. Yes, SNAP isn’t about “handouts” but about survival for people who’ve spent their lives doing underpaid, essential work. It exposes how low wages, weak labor laws, and unaffordable healthcare push millions into poverty despite decades of effort. Thank you for naming that truth so clearly.
“ More than 20,000 military families, 213,000 National Guard and Reserve members, and 1.1 million Veterans rely on SNAP benefits.”
https://veteran.com/snap-benefits/
But the billionaires need those tax breaks! You’re heartless. /s
And women. Don't forget the republican congresswomen who vote for these monstrosities. When we take control of the house all of these people need to be investigated, tried and convicted for whatever laws apply. Corruption, RICO, violating civil rights, violating Constitutional rights, violating our laws. If the Dems won't step up when needed then they are as complicit as the rest. Go after all you can at the state level when at all possible so no pardons can be issued and the department of "injustice' can't interfere.
You’re absolutely right that accountability has to include everyone who enables cruelty or corruption, no matter their gender or title. Real justice means restoring integrity to every level of power, from Congress to the courts. State level action is key, too, because democracy survives when people refuse to look away and demand consequences for those who betray the public trust.
Kristi Noem is just as brutal as any man.
Michael, thank you for your excellent article, Moral Breakdown in Real Time. It's heartbreaking that people will be starved in the richest country. There is no reason or excuse for this but that it's what the felon wants. Sadly, it reminds me of the Holodomor in Ukraine in the early 1930's, when Stalin caused a devastating famine. I am in no way saying this could be on the same scale, that would be disrespectful to the memory of people who suffered and lost their lives, but it is the same kind of cruelty, and this is where it starts.
Nothing consolidates power more efficiently than suffering. A population preoccupied with sickness and hunger has no strength left for resistance.
It's also illegal, for what it's worth. States control elections, not the federal government. If the governors of these states are tough enough they'll arrest all of them for intimidation. No supine court immunity for these lackeys.
There is no reason for the Federal government to interfere (oversee) with state elections which are controlled by the states. This is a precursor to the '26 Federal election when all representatives and many others will be on the ballot. Governors must insist on rejecting any military or National Guard members at or near the polls, which will reduce the number of voters, in addition to massive gerrymandering.
All elections are normally available to observers of any party that is concerning but not allowed inside the precinct itself. States have.election judges of each party inside the precinct. This is always the case in Maryland. No others are allowed inside if not there to vote. He's trying to intimidate people who think he's saying military are going to be there. Accompany anyone going to vote to assure them of their safety and call for law enforcement if you feel concerned. We have nothing to fear but fear itself. Menacing behavior by anyone is illegal. Even by the president
There could be specified, paid, observers at every single polling place in every state along with an appropriate video setup and access to emergency hotline to police or other authorities that could appropriately respond to inappropriate behavior at the polling place. (Like for example attempting to take people of the "wrong" skin color or name into custody as they have been doing on the streets and in businesses, homes, cars, and schools.)
He has a biracial family to protect & he can
continue his work in Canada.
Project 2025 was the clarion call that fell on deaf ears! Now we will see if the deaf will EVER hear again!!
It has been my greatest fear. They know they can't win honest elections and they must do everything possible to make sure Dems don't vote.
There aren’t any Democrats running in this November’s elections in my NY area.
BTW, everyone should watch this Rachel Maddow MSNBC clip. She shares the -> ADDITIONAL <- cost for healthcare insurance premiums people are facing and the number are “PLEASE KILL ME NOW” staggering. https://youtube.com/shorts/X_qo4IP_L5k?si=YvwQh72BrpkKvrs1
Do we need to put our own stealth observers of the 'monitors' in place, maybe working in shifts so not obvious?
So...what does this "monitoring" look like?
I added a calendar on my spreadsheet so we can target our calls/letters/emails/faxes to flood offices in an organized manner.
Use/share this spreadsheet (bit.ly/Nokings) as a resource to call/email/write members of Congress, the Cabinet and news organizations. Call. Write. Email. Protest. Unrelentingly. We deserve better ❤️🩹🤍💙
Reach out (beyond your own) to as many in the Senate and House as you can. All of this is bigger than “I only represent my constituents” issues.
Maybe we can find five repubs who are human if the pressure is on. Liz48
They exist. Some are blinking four times in front of the cameras as we speak. Not all of them exhibit Stockholm Syndrome though clearly most still do.
It is vitally important that they be given space to blink, which is why Speaker Bobblehead refuses to the-convene the House — to prevent the blinking, the deal-making, the business of legislating.
It bears emphasizing — the Bobblehead is a legislator who refuses to legislate, who has no interest in deal-making. That’s about as absurd as a President who boasts about not needing a declaration of war to kill whoever he feels like, yet still demands a Nobel Peace Prize.
These people have shoved their own heads up their own asses. It’s our job to keep pointing that out.
It seems that you believe that these Congresspeople are being held against their will.
I don't believe that for a second, the right-wing is on the verge of accomplishing everything they have wanted since FDR implemented the New Deal, and every accomplishment that liberal government has achieved up until now. Do you believe that the right-wingers in Congress will come to any deal in the ACA funding and stand behind it? This is their chance to damage Obamacare to the point that it won't survive.
Even if there is a deal, trump will refuse to implement it as he done many times now, impounding funds that Congress has provided through out the federal government.
Not a matter of what I believe or not. Many are actually terrified of Trump, of being doxed, threatened, primaried. It's both worse than we think and better. Think about why Johnson doesn't want to bring his own people back.
Yep.
That is why it is so critical that the extension of the ACA and the anti-impoundment language be included in the Continuing Resolution.
If it is in ‘separate’ legislation like the R’s are offering…it will just die on the floor.
No he's not going to get a Nobel Peace Prize. Perhaps he will get a Darwin Award.
Hoping! Also I think we can cause little ripples. I’m thinking staff members who hear the same thing over and over via voicemail, phone calls, letter after letter, email after email - maybe they’ll be a little more receptive each time they hear from us. Maybe they’ll talk more about our talking points to friends and family, maybeeee they’ll vote differently. I think we can cause ripples to push news organizations to be more honest and maybe even a bit accusatory about what’s happening. As a collective, our volume matters. And, at the end of the day, if we just annoy and overwhelm some staffers working for people hurting the average American, I’m ok with that too 🙃
Megan: Let me say at the outset that I applaud your consistent work providing solid, helpful information/sources – thank you.
Your comment this morning brought to mind a recent essay in the German Legal Newsletter, Verfassungsblog, which is directed at lawyers and scholars in Europe primarily, with a focus on the vital importance of the rule of law. Verfassung is the German word for Constitution.
The lead essay this week is:
International Law in the Face of Absurdity
Learning from Camus’ Sisyphus
https://ettlo.r.sp1-brevo.net/mk/mr/sh/SMJz09SDriOHVCvBWhhb4Q0FOk7U/H61yUMFDWMJU
It’s a bit of a read, but there is something there that speaks to our current condition. You might find it inspiring – it is certainly a thought-provoking piece.
I will read it, thank you for sharing!
No ripple is ever wasted…. Says Ripple,” by the Grateful Dead. Might be a good mantra
I really recommend pressuring - I mean appealing to - Tillis. He's retiring and he sometimes does the right thing for whatever reason. https://thomtillis.com
Thank you for the link. There is a mailing address. Wouldn't it be interesting if he was flooded with thousands of postcards?!#
It would be awesome! I hammer him regularly and he often (well, sometimes!) surprises me.
Yes, he’s let a pin prick of light in. Amazing
Don't forget Independent Maine Sen. Angus King. Too old to run again. Caucuses with Democrats. But since March has been voting for GOP CR's. Absurdly saying his MAGA vote saves us from worse Trump abuses. Also Maine GOP Sen. Susan Collins who will be in a tight 2026 race.
Maine Senators
Angus King
(202) 224-5344
Susan Collins
(202) 224-2523
Has Angus gone senile. Did’t know you could get too old to run again. Thought he was a dependable “good guy,” unlike Collins. Thump will do worse, the more he gets away with. Lordy, Angus
Definitely need to get rid of Fetterman.
that is what i keep hoping too -- it would only take a few who can find their spines and integrity to stop this runaway train of destruction.
The problem is, they are on the cusp of their dream come true. I t would take quite a spine to kneecap their ultimate goal. Read that chump plans to privatize the USPS. Rep goal since God was a baby.
How many bucketfuls?
omg this is amazing.. thank you!!
I will email you for a pdf and will share.. I have called/written to legislators wh are not from my district.. numbers do work!
💙 you’re welcome! I’ll keep an eye out for your email. Thank YOU for being aware and active right now, and for helping share the sheet - whatever we can do to be extra loud🤞
Thank you! I have this added to my “link in the bio” linktree.
You’re welcome! Thank you for helping share it! If you’d prefer the direct Google link it’s:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13lYafj0P-6owAJcH-5_xcpcRvMUZI7rkBPW-Ma9e7hw/edit?usp=drivesdk
Thank you for this amazing resource.
Continuing appreciation of you!
Thank you for the sweet comment 💜
Yes we do deserve better. Nice work. I admit that I was skeptical at first.
I hope it can be useful to you!
Yes, bc in a blue state like mine, most of my reps are already on board!
Exactly! Same here!
My congressweasel has his email set to deliver the same form letter “reply” no matter what I write. He’s a waste of time and space.
I don’t think we’ll see many big waves (like a major MAGA Congress member changing their opinions), however I think we can cause little ripples. I’m thinking staff members who hear the same thing over and over via voicemail, phone calls, letter after letter, email after email - maybe they’ll be a little more receptive each time they hear from us. Maybe they’ll talk more about our talking points to friends and family, maybeeee they’ll vote differently. I think we can cause ripples to push news organizations to be more honest and maybe even a bit accusatory about what’s happening. As a collective, our volume matters. And, at the end of the day, if we just annoy and overwhelm some staffers working for people hurting the average American, I’m ok with that too 🙃
Megan, your group is now known as the whiners people don’t like whiners
Oh Rick 😅
Allow me to tell you what the effect of the Johnson closing the house next week will be. The Democrats will be flatly blamed wholeheartedly blamed for the SNAP RECIPIENTS that lose their benefits, and the most needy will not get paid and the Democrats are abandoning their people who used to support them and who they used to care about. As well, federal employees will not get paid and again squarely on the head of the people that say NO keep it closed. Very exciting. Every time liberals lower their approval rating I think it can't get any lower but sure enough they are certainly trying.
You might want to take a closer look at the latest polls that have been released. Here are some key points:
1. Trump's approval rating is currently at its lowest level, both compared to his first term and so far in his second term.
2. His approval rating among registered Hispanic voters has dropped by nearly 50%.
3. Congressional Democrats are finally seeing an increase in their approval ratings since the government shutdown.
4. Recent polls indicate that Americans do not hold the Democrats responsible for the shutdown; instead, they blame the Republicans by nearly a 10-point margin.
5. A significant 72% of Americans believe that ACA subsidies should be reinstated, including 70% of independents.
6. Even in traditionally Republican states, support for Trump and the Republicans in Congress is declining, according to almost every recent poll.
You might consider looking at the data from non-affiliated pollsters rather than those associated with or paid for by the political parties.
Rick gets his disinformation from Fox as he doesn't realise Murdoch has admitted his business model is providing hard right news-adjacent entertainment rather than facts and fact-based analyses and commentary. It's great that you post latest poll findings here but if they're not echoed by the Fox angertainment machine, he will imagine them fake news in line with Kim Jong Don's instructions.
To the apt term "angertainment" I would humbly add "flake news". Thanks, Sandra. Keep posting.
When the mealy mouthed non-MAGA Republicans who currently are scared poopless about Trump excommunicating them even though they know he is evil, when they finally speak up then we will have seen that polls mean something. Until then, they are like lonely banners in the wind. Rep. Jayapal is having shadow government meetings on treatment of immigrants and is encouraging people to more actively protest. And BOYCOTTS may be useful for those wonderful companies who paid to have the East Wing torn down and who are the contractors taking the money to do it.
Shop local for Christmas. Despite the convenience, Amazon and it's ilk is not helping our country.
A full scale consumer boycott of businesses owned by Jeff Bezos would be a good place to start: avoid Amazon, Whole Foods and the Washington Post. Give his competitors some business. Save our fragile democracy.
And at local artisans fairs 😉 Also, "upscale" thrift stores
It's plainly "Don't make me shoot the hostage" from Trump.
Yeah I notice he puts holding inflation to 3% as if that is good?, that is only the start and you don't know the current figures as Republicans not releasing them, ( using shutdown as an excuse), as no doubt they are worse, as will be the unemployment figures. Oh dear, I guess no end to the blindness of a Maga supporter ( or is that brainwashed).
Your point #5. Maybe a high majority of Americans believe ACA subsidies should be reinstated?? Maybe Trump and the Republicans, by opposing the continuation of the subsidies, are trying to take America back to 2010, before the ACA was passed. Not to the 1930's, as the Letter states. The plan of the Democrats over the past century has been to steadily add more federal programs and benefits, that once in place, are seen as bedrock and protected from reduction. And the reaction from too many Americans is yes, we like "free" stuff. And can someone else please pay for it. Not you, not me, tax the guy behind the tree.
Well, I have a lot to tell you later today I can't talk right now on a public bus in Osaka, Japan
But like most other, you will not like my fact-filled response.
We haven't even left downtown yet. Literally we probably have an hour away.
Sorry somebody talking on the phone in the background
Because of liars like you who refuse to take responsibilty for what YOUR PARTY IS DOING.
By the by the way, I’ve been a political registered independent for over 40 years. I just choose right from wrong using my brain.
Like what? Making peace around the world, making the stock market break, record after record, holding down interest rates and inflation to 3% arresting, criminals, and illegals and getting them out of this country, stopping drug dealers and cartels. Lololol. Making phenomenal trade deals around the world, including adding $400 billion a year to our revenue stream. Supplying NATO with weapons to confront Russia. Lololol. And it gets worse for you.
Nope, MAGAs definitely are this stupid, he's a good old Yank.
And yet we have total control of the government. How's that there Sabine? Uh oh.
WOW - “we have total control of the government,” huh? Cool, Poor Rick, but how come “we” have a government shutdown?
Oh - hi afterbirth - how’s it going? 😊
How very unsurprising. Thank you. How do you discover these things?
Actually it’s not..shut down. Business as usual. But without govt intervention. Just like conservatives want. But wait till.SNAP stop its benefits and then you’ll hear all the government shut down nightmares and whining from you lefties. . And then the Democrats say. “Uncle”.
One thing you people have is broken, crystal balls, and Ouija boards that don't function. First generation American served in the military proud of America until you liberal shit all over it. Trump is doing nothing but cleaning up the sewage from Biden.
Denial is not a river in Egypt. And there’s probably 125 million people that think exactly like me now and growing. Thanks to Trump and Charlie Kirk. There will be a chapter of TP USA in every single college campus and high school in the country.
Take a take a look at this pal, then you’ll understand.
https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChsSEwj18bj118OQAxWvIEQIHQ53ExgYACICCAEQBxoCZHo&co=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwjffHBhBuEiwAKMb8pHhsk3gV9LRGsoeNoVPICwyAc-Zbx7_oALoS6j3KHz1yHeQhpNy7qRoC27QQAvD_BwE&cid=CAAS3QHkaJdUvzDXR1NXcDgnfJ3gFZDpKxXhozR7-usPTTyHqjNY5qe2p5YuoEhT10YP7T176DvFNAaf3-BrdDtV6kzq5rtm-2ouPRWPu2gO5kPc8DiSdhMCxijdv6FsJjWvUSxEKB6tFcA73KdtPvrhfzkGBTE1c5SIX5xlbGkOIvImB_vHNXH1feLSc-07oRYhkYXQuuHd6tP1RUWUXgURVBJpyH0lH5Erg2XhW2y8dA0t_pJUCCXJp6iyT09em93sQteissWOtdewzVKInCch-ZUHI1X8-yfjVJsOAKeK3A&cce=1&sig=AOD64_2rRMK4vV9_6qisCgcaY562nL_KVQ&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwjtubP118OQAxWhJkQIHdG7GSgQ5bgDKAB6BAgFEAs&adurl=
It’s an election map by county of the last election. You’ll need a magnifying glass to see any blue. I’m gonna send you one more link as well. Maybe it won’t be as complex as this one, but it’s pretty funny.
https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChsSEwj18bj118OQAxWvIEQIHQ53ExgYACICCAEQBhoCZHo&co=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwjffHBhBuEiwAKMb8pICUIqOeocQ-a_DxJiOEA6dQ1nxPXqNHKRapFPVHt6tS01p9zJVuLRoCi3sQAvD_BwE&cid=CAAS3QHkaJdUv8BhyP7tOwbGLrcXE2hIfzRY2RRrVNLbN9z_e6i0VlNEp5YuoEhT10YP7T176DvFNAaf3-BrdDtV6kzq5rtm-2ouPRWPu2gO5kPc8DiSdhMCxijdv6FsJjWvUSxEKB6tFcA73KdtPvrhfzkGBTE1c5SIX5xlbGkOIvImB_vHNXH1feLSc-07oRYhkYXQuuHd6tP1RUWUXgURVBJpyH0lH5Erg2XhW2y8dA0t_pJUCCXJp6iyT09em93sQteissWOtdewzVKInCch-ZUHI1X8-yfjVJsOAKeK3A&cce=1&sig=AOD64_3lK6Nf7TewDFuP28zxgEVtIikEyg&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwjtubP118OQAxWhJkQIHdG7GSgQ5bgDKAB6BAgFEBY&adurl=
Gotta love it, baby. Gotta love it.
I’ll let you know once the election is over. In the meantime, relatively speaking that’s a pimple. The best one is going to be New York and I can’t wait for him to win. Then I’m going to watch New York become a second San Francisco and so many people will be fleeing to Florida and Texas and the Carolinas and there won’t be monies from millionaires and billionaires to fund the free stuff. He thinks he’s gonna get it’s gonna be hysterical not only that but once the Jews smarten up, they’re gonna flee as well.
By the way, you should take a look at a map of the past election by County 85% of every county in America became redder than the election previous. The map of the United States is red coast to coast with little tiny of blue on either east or West Coast, which is what you’re bragging about and then a blotch in the middle of California and a little tiny rash scattered around, but the country is red. I’ll see if I can find the map for you but make sure you don’t eat before you see it.
This is on the Republicans.....not the Democrats. Get your head out of your...you know where!
Do you know what the word no means. Let's vote to open the government. Democrats said no.
WTFU. LOL. PERFECT.
And here all along the so called ejikated here understood English
Ricky, go back to bed.
Do you think so Rick? Do you think the democrats will be blamed?
Rick's statement that "we have total control of the government" belies the assertion that it's all the Democrats' fault.
Democrats (Charlie Brown) remember what Lucy (Republicans) did with the "football" last March.
They also remember what happened when Indiana Jones trusted Satipo to throw him the whip..."Throw me the idol; I'll throw you the whip."
https://youtu.be/dJ920fat50M
Yeah,, Lynell, Poor Rick will blame the “we have total control of the government” quote on someone talking nearby his phone on a Tokyo subway. Of course he MEANT that those slimy Liberals have caused the government shutdown. Poor Rick….so lonely and frustrated and confused. I feel very sorry for him.
LOL; thanks for your thoughts (and prayers), Papa!
Morning, Lynell.
Same, Ally.
I'll try a safer spoiler alert: EMMA STONE movie "Begonia" opens 10/31.
Emma plays a bald headed CEO with 3 long time actor buddies. Emma the Producer.
Morning Ally. Have you seen what happened to my post on the Democracy Docket lawsuit on North Carolina gerrymandering.
Had 178 "hits"as if 6:30 am PDT.
Danka.
I hadn't! (Scurries off to look)
It’s not all the Democrats fault but they’re the only ones saying no let’s not open the government and therefore yes, it’s all the Democrats fault. All they have to do is say yes, and everybody gets paid, including all the snap recipients. But not the illegal aliens sorry buck stops here.
Do you know the difference between yes and no? The Republicans say open the government the Democrats say no so who’s the blame ?
When the farmers and ranchers are hurting and sounding off about it, we have hit critical mass. That’s happening now.
What's the matter Linda cat got your tongue
https://wgme.com/news/nation-world/trump-administration-releases-3-billion-in-aid-to-support-farmers-amid-ongoing-trade-war
You see how negative in advance you are you never patience and you always think the worst. That's not the way to live. This is just one particular link in the way he's helping the farmers. Oooops
Stop hating especially in advance
You are nowhere near critical mass. Not even close . But I guess you’re just one of those newer panickens. , but I’ll tell you something. You probably don’t know if we keep overpopulated won’t have enough food to feed ourselves. Nothing is nothing now that hasn’t been happening since the tournament of the century and a bit before that.
Well, you're like many of the other ignorant people who don't understand the big picture here
Farmers have been hurting in this country for a long time and many years. The farmers are forced to throw out excess product which costs them million.
But what Trump is going to do is take some of the money from the tariffs and use it to support the farmers. But if you think that this is a new item under Trump, do me a favor don't be willfully, ignorant, like the rest of the folks do your homework
Wait, one more thing that I'm starting to laugh does critical mass mean the same thing as existential threat to democracy or the end Of America as we know it? Lmao
All will be good in the end as I tell most of you who are cheering the day, the market tumbled 1700 points and you were so excited because trumpet failed in his tariffs and I said be patient people were screaming and yelling and cheering and Tim Walz was clapping and applauding when he didn't even know that his state pension fund had lost a quarter of 1 billion and value that day. And now two weeks later it was back and now it's up 8000 points and hit record after record after record.
So just be patient little buckaroo all will be well
One of the key traits of people here to a great extent is the following and it's not good for your health
I call it negative in advance, which most of you tend to be, and I can't understand it because in the end, the existential threat never happens. The end of the democracy never happens and America is winning again and it's a beautiful thing.
F***k you. I live in a very red, very rural state. You can’t tell me anything I don’t already know about farmers and ranchers. I know that they (and apparently you) vote against your self interests and those of the country regularly but even they are waking up. Says more about you than me.
So did you see my post above you want to take your fuck you back?
You guys are so negative in advance. It's unbelievable. That's all you are is negative in advance. Everything is going to be miserable like I said existential threat to democracy, the end of America, blah blah blah blah blah.
Oh well well we have a feisty little Linda. Good stuff. The only people vote against the open for the people that are voting to support illegal immigrants in this country taking away money from American citizens. Why don’t you on that for a few minutes? You wanna support 8, million relatively indigent and vaccinated people where there’s 1 million people alone homeless in the state of California we have a budget deficit of $38 trillion which reminds me of the saying. Road to hell paved with good intention. I am also in a rule state other than the major cities of the state and what they’re doing now is their taking your half acre courses that were promised and building low income housing right next-door deprecating the value of what you bought the quality of life that you thought you were going to live
The only people calling against their self interest or liberals, and I’ll tell you the biggest one of all is going to be New York City full of Jewish people voting for an antisemite for Palestinian global antifa supporter. It is gonna be fun watching that city to come a shadow of San Francisco.
if I were Russian, you could cheer alas I'm not proud of American unlike you haters.
You are not proud of being American, Rick? Real,y? Did you just reveal your true self?
WOW, Bill, that was an amazing admission by Poor Rick! Every time I read his words, I have gotten the impression that he is a Proud American who LOVES Donald J. Trump. I guess I can now view P Rick in a very different light!
Trying to access this spreadsheet requires me to create an account and provide credit card information. Not happening.
That’s not true so I’m not sure what you are trying to access. It is a free, anyone can view Google spreadsheet. Maybe you typed the url incorrectly, it’s case sensitive bit.ly/Nokings
Or the direct Google link is:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13lYafj0P-6owAJcH-5_xcpcRvMUZI7rkBPW-Ma9e7hw/edit?usp=drivesdk
I don’t get any money from clicks or views. Nothing should ask for money.
How about Dr Timothy Snyder's idea of a shadow cabinet of Democrats, similar to that of the U.K.? That would reduce voters' speculation or fear of 'radical left' Democrats.🙏🏾
Additionally, I would recommend bringing in loyal Republicans to serve in that cabinet to set an example of civil discourse and compromise in proposing policies.⚖️
Doing all of that may elevate the profile of the Democratic Party as the Party of ideas and empower traditional Republicans to re-take control from the Trump-Vance aspiring dictatorship and its craven quislings in Congress.🗽
The fear of “radical left” Whozewhatsis is as phony an issue as Trump’s spray-orange tan. Made-up fears about non-existent bogeymen is all they have. They peddle it no matter what. Professor Snyder may be a gifted historian but playing like this is a real thing to be responded to isn’t going to win elections, inform any voters, counter any deep-set lies, reverse any trends.
Newsom is trolling Trump for everything he’s worth with dumb, but effective caricatures that clearly make the orange putzface fly into a rage. Pritzker humiliates him, laughs at him, and shames Republicans with gusto and joy. Buttigieg goes on ‘brocasts’ and makes a lot of young, dumb men think far more deeply about politics than they ever have. Other young men watch those things (I don’t).
Those are the kinds of battles we need. Those are the ideas that resonate, those are the tactics that gain traction. Another talking shop by pointy-headed policy wonks in Washington just isn’t going to cut it.
In this "attention economy", I think you are right. One of the biggest problems facing democracy right now is that misinformation reigns because humans have become unable to concentrate on something for more than ten minutes. Even the twenty minute video format of Youtube is now 'too long' and people have moved to minute (or less) videos on TikTok. There are many factors but misinformation (because of our inability to focus and pay attention) gave us Trump!
One of my challenges is incredulity that anyone *buys into Trump's bool-sheet. That can stun me into passivilty.
The shadow cabinet only works in the Westminster parliament system. The real cabinet is made up of (elected) MPs — unlike the US system where the President appoints them.
The shadow cabinet are those that would move into the cabinet if their party won (hence they’re all elected MPs also).
Well, the fusion versus separation of powers is a striking difference between the U.K. and the U.S. Yet, the idea of a shadow cabinet may work by analogy. One point you broach, however, is that a shadow cabinet creating a competing narrative may create expectations that people on that panel would ascend to the positions they are acting out while on that panel.
I heard the idea failed because they couldn’t decide who would take the places. Which is just as stupid as possible.
I had not heard that. The time is now to check the ego at the door. But, as Dr Bandy Lee notes, narcissism pervades culture and politics. https://bandyxlee.substack.com/p/narcissism-in-us-politics
Narcissism is humanity's tragic and fatal, perhaps species-terminating flaw
I think greed comes right near the top of the flaw list..
Perhaps. The "old fellows" say pride is the flaw that leads to others. Narcissism just might be. One can make a case that narcissism can lead to to pride can lead to selfishness can lead to entitlement can lead to envy can lead to to greed, etc. That ordering is simply past against the wall. Your ordering may stick better.
If "pride comes before a fall" , I will be ecstatic!
Tragic flaw of humanity. One to chew the cud on, J. L.; Thank you.
There are literally no 'loyal Republicans'. They are all in lock-step, which is the problem. They know they do not have a legit party any longer, it is just a dictator cult, so the only way they survive is if Trump wins.
The loyal Republicans are still there, but the great majority are not in Congress. Former Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger come immediately to mind. There are others like former Senators Flake, Portman, and Corker might rally, Former Governor Kasich. These 'outsiders; might empower Senator Murkowski and few others currently in Congress; or present governors like Cox and De Wine.
And Susan Collins is going to lose, so she might, in desperation, do something beyond being concerned...
One thing that cheered me up today is that Hakeem Jeffries finally came out and endorsed Zohran Mamdani. I'm still waiting for Chuck Schumer. If the Dems want to have a big tent, they need to include and invite everyone under the tent.
Yes.
Schumer trying to suppress progressive Democrats Mamdani in NYC and Platner in Maine, will hurt conservative Democratic candidates in purple and red areas. Because independent and progressive potential Democratic voters will be angry at a party leadership which rejects reform.
It is way past time for Schumer to go. He's one of my senators and has become totally ineffective.
Senator Schumer has forgotten that elective office is supposed to be public service -- a sacrifice, not a career.
Finally!! We voted for Mamdani by mail a few weeks ago. I initially had my doubts about him - but we need his youth, energy and ideas now more than ever. And I hope that Eric Adams endorsement of Cuomo turns out to be a negative thing for Cuomo.
I feel much the same about Rep. Ocasio Cortez. I may not agree with their politics, temperamentally conservative as I remain, but we need new ideas out there. Current thinking clearly does not work.
I suspect that Susan and her campaign are the ones that released the "dirt" on Graham Platner. He is Maine's answer to Mamdani. I'm glad it came out now, so that it isn't a November, 2026 surprise. Although it is better to not have skeletons in your closet, most of us do. But, if I were ever going to run for office, I would be more careful about what I post here and other places.
If I were to run for office, I would have *to believe in, *and *perform, a massive version of the sacrament of confession or assume a new identity. 😉
Mayor Adams endorsed Mr Cuomo; N.Y.Rep. *Mamdani may now be a shoe-in.
All even more powerless and ignored than the Democrats. I don't see how this helps at all.
Well, a shadow government -- were it ideologically inclusive -- would create an alternate narrative on how government should run.
The problem is that many (most?) Americans do not pay attention to what the actual government is doing so I don't see how they would pay attention to a mock one talking about what it would do.
Again, *experimentation should be the impelling force. EDIT P.S., trying out new policy ideas independent of the narrow world of Capitol Hill as it now functions might engage people, since the public deliberations could avoid being the same old scheiße.
By lockstep you mean goosestep. They might as well have marched in Trumps birthday parade and seig heiled their Dear Leader.
I replied to another shadow cabinet posting: This is how feckless and ineffectual Ken Martin is - over 6 months ago he announced the DNC was launching a "People's Cabinet", and hasn't delivered.
From MSNBC: April 8, 2025, 6:00 AM EDT
By Hayes Brown, MSNBC Opinion Writer/Editor
"Newly elected Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin announced Friday that the DNC will launch the “People’s Cabinet.” In spirt at least, it’s a kind of American version of Britain’s “Shadow Cabinet,” which gives a minority party a platform for its ideas. With Republicans holding Congress and the White House, Democrats find themselves completely blocked from Washington’s levers of power, but if executed correctly, the DNC’s “People’s Cabinet” could be a worthy response to frustrated Democrats demanding that their leaders do more to oppose President Donald Trump’s agenda.
In announcing the People’s Cabinet, the DNC contrasted Trump’s largely unqualified panel of advisers that’s chock-full of billionaires and the “experts on the economy, health care, working families and communities, public safety, national security, and foreign policy” it will put forth. Martin said he’s tapping people who “will equip communities with the reliable, accurate information they need to fight back against the worst of the Trump and Republican agenda.” They’ll be putting out social media content, holding media briefings and headlining town halls in GOP-held House districts that critique — and, ideally, offer alternatives to — Trump’s agenda."
The challenge may be to get people to stick their necks out. I suspect Mr Martin makes the same mistake that the Democratic Party continually makes: clogging a shadow cabinet with old leadership that should step aside.
Perhaps, a lot of younger Democrats would jump at the chance to serve on such a panel. It grooms them for future leadership. If nothing else, set up the shadow cabinet from ranking members of the standing committees.
There are distinct advantages to experience assuming one keeps learning along the way, AND there is a distinct advantage to a fresh outlook. Einstein was 26 when he published Special Relativity. Wisdom embraces both. It seems to me that "my" Democratic Party has been on the back foot ever since the Vietnam War and the by-fiat insertion of Hubert Humphrey in contrast to the primaries that favored candidates that favored ending the war. It is irrelevant whether it can be argued that Humphrey was the best all-around candidate of not. The will of young Democrats and and Democrats-to-be was arrogantly deflected. I am talking about the the quality of the process. It is clear that modern "Republicans" are actually inimical to an actual republic. We, as "Democrats" need to figure out how to be more Democratic (as well as "republican" as Lincoln described it. That's a very big tent and that takes a whole lot more effort to make it all function. But that's the authentic American Dream that we all claim to honor. That takes all of us, no one left out, and every age represented in our social calculations.
So I don't mind a few old goats like me representing "the people", but I also yearn to see more fresher faces, more representation for the young, and a lot more comparisons of notes.
I see the “old goats”, JL, as mentors for the next generation of leaders, especially if they remain available as wise counsel for those stepping up to fill their shoes.
I think that one of the reasons are genetically able to live long after their reproductive years (unlike a Pacific Salmon) is because before writing (let alone video recording) the elderly were the intergenrational repositories socially collected wisdom. Not everything can be written down or even put on YouTube, so I think there is a lot more the observant elderly have to share than is widely appreciated; our commercial world so obsessed with commodifying everything. But I think that everyone at every age has things to learn, and to teach.
PS - I was just reading a new book of poetry by Andrea Gibson "You Better Be Lightning" . So far it is testament to the power of words (I don't mean to slight them) to mean so much more than the sum of their parts. To resonate, like paired tuning forks, with the language of human experience.
JL, I recently watched a vid about how few female species on Earth go through menopause….the takeaway is that post-menopause is a time of passing wisdom to those who come after and as a stabilizing force within the group. Yeah, we need ALL the age groups working together and learning from each other—a fan of life long learning myself!—to make for a vibrant and evolving community/country/world. Edit: Oh, and thanks for the book rec!
I agree with that, *J. *L. I like to say that a big part of the problem is that too many *oldsters do not assume the status of elders and stay in office *too long -- except for Senators Sanders and McCain and other ones I like.
EDIT P.S., thank you for your thought on post-menopausal women being a fount of wisdom, Barbara. Such women have been valuable for me as I mature.
What a great exposé of your Party, J. L. I like to think that, in 2016, the wrong Party put the thumb on the scale, if Senator Sanders was denied a nomination. The Republican elders failed to intervene and deflect the nomination from Trump. My dream race, as a Republican back then (with one foot out the door *with *the *rise *of *Trump), was Senator Sanders versus Governor Kasich -- each one a politico with vision and the willingness to confront the big questions facing the country.
Absolutely! These older Dem operatives are so dependent on polls and “statistics” that they use to try not to offend any possible voter makes them the milquetoast dullards that have let the Rethugs grab our government. I would much rather see some idealistic young people with some imagination leading the way. Some of their ideas may not work, but some of them will! And we are going to need all the youthful energy and enthusiasm that we can get to begin to repair the damage that this out of control Republican rampage has wrought.
While the tone is off-putting, I agree with your implied point that we are all responsible for *the situation we face now. Additionally, we ALL must respond to it to extricate the Republic from the dash toward dictatorship.
Since the rising generation will have to live with the consequences of this one's policies, young people rising into power -- other than *those *like shady J.D. and the nasty Mr Miller -- will be most welcome on all sides.
EDIT P.S., when people doubt "youthful energy", I remind myself that Thomas Jefferson was thirty-three when he penned the Declaration of Independence with forty year old John Adams, with the help of three Elders (i.e., Roger Sherman, fifty-five; Philip Livingston, sixty; and, Benjamin Franklin, seventy).
Additionally, of the fifty-six original signers, seventy per cent were in their twenties (two), thirties (seventeen), or forties (twenty); the average and median ages were identical at forty-four years old and six months. Pretty young crew, albeit life-spans were shorter two hundred, forty-nine years ago.
Martin's update in August doesn't have any Democratic leaders of note attached to this effort (see link). It's a lot of experts going on news rounds and social media to counter administration lies — but no one that anyone could begin to rally around.
Newsom and Pritzker are the faces and engine of the resistance. Every single thing we can do to support their clear actions is vital.
https://democrats.org/news/icymi-dnc-peoples-cabinet-press-call-on-gops-billionaire-first-budget-bill/
That shadow cabinet should *primarily be young people. They do not need to be famous; they need to be visible. With young people leading the charge, the shadow cabinet can become a testing ground for future leaders. EDIT P.S., a wide open shadow cabinet, ideologically, may also set the tone for civility in future political discourse.
Whatever will help make sanity visible again.
True, that. If the shadow cabinet worketh not, then try something else. If that something else worketh not, then try a third course. Keep iterating until an idea gains traction; then pursue it, full speed ahead.
Let’s try a United Front. Leaders from all sorts of organizations putting aside the egos and minor differences to come together in opposition.
Hooray, Deborah!
Finding what politicians call "party discipline" to create an effective shadow cabinet would require cultural transformation. Are they up to achieving something so radical quickly enough? They'd need more party discipline than is currently demonstrated in the UK. They'd have to generate the level of party discipline demonstrated by the current Australian Labor Party (which is no longer the Opposition).
Self-disciple is needed in any undertaking, and often crucial, but I think of it more as developing a collaborative focus; recognizing and prioritizing what matters most; with eyes on the prize. Deliberate distractions and divide and conquer are the tools of despots, and, obviously, they still work. So does solidarity, but that's a product of much more challenging self-discipline and awareness. We saw it in the Declaration of Independence and American Revolution, in Abolition, and in numerous social movements that empowered more people rather than fewer, and raises the mode average of the "common weal".
After Nixon's disgrace, the former "Party of Lincoln" conspired to never acknowledge when someone else was right, and virtually never acknowledge when a member of the club was wrong, certainly not a president, so I guess you could call that a form of discipline, but also "corruption". It differs sharply in it's narcissistic, when not sociopathic service of self as opposed to an more expansive valuing and acknowledging "unalienable" rights of all. In terms of character, being "big" rather than "small" or infinitesimal.
In practical terms it would necessitate every single member of the party being disciplined.
The membership would have to develop a policy platform and keep their deliberations in-conference. The Reps and Senators would have to agree which parts of that platform to make actual party policy and keep those deliberations (no matter how passionately they disagreed with the decisions) in the party room. And, then everyone would have to continue that discipline as the opposition and citizenry responded to the set of policies. And, you can just imagine what the Republicans would be attempting to whip up.
Wouldn't that be incredibly challenging for a lot of members of the party on free speech grounds?
And, the public looking on would have to understand and believe that the free speech sacrifice was temporary and necessary to save democracy. They'd also have to trust the Democrats weren't trying to take them down a different road to dictatorship than the Republicans and could be trusted to reverse the party discipline approach once they were in power.
It seems a lot to bed down before the midterms in an increasingly febrile political atmosphere.
I do not believe that a shadow cabinet would have to be that formal. It would serve as a source of public accountability, so when an R.F.K., Jr shadow H.H.S.Sec. Joseph Kennedy III (for example) would rebut the vaccine argument and state that the measles outbreak was enabled by that ill-conceived proposal.
The point is an alternate narrative; an alternate response; and, above all, creation of a visible example of collaboration.
As Benjamin Franklin said, "A good example is the best sermon." The Democratic Party would create a separate platform. Some of the lesser Cabinet posts could b filled by Elders (e.g., Senator Sanders or Markey as well as retired Senator Romney).
That sounds more like a concept i heard of several years ago. Somewhere, I can't remember where, was playing with the idea of a Council of Elders - highly respected people with expertise in their fields who the broader community would see as credible and beyond partisan politics (though your idea wouldn't be elders as the gerontocracy is a part of the problem).
Maybe there was an international Council at one point and the country was wondering if the concept could be applied to it? Mary Robinson is coming to mind for some reason.
I know that there was an impromptu Council of Elders in 1968 for President Lyndon Johnson when the ghastly war in Viêt Nam was at its most hopeless, shattering the foreign policy consensus following World War II.
https://www.politico.com/story/2010/03/johnson-meets-with-the-wise-men-march-25-1968-034945
Great ideas are there Dem ears that are not deaf.
I suspect fear is the bigger problem.
We’re all fearful if we’ve been paying attention. Being brain dead is worse
JD, I watched James Carville on Jen Psaki’s MSNBC program this evening and, to put it mildly, he was hair-on-fire fearful for our country…I thought he was going explode. It was like he was trying to reach through the TV screen and grab & shake every voter to wake up and be scared right now and to get & be engaged. Now is not the time to be apathetic or underestimate the threat to our democracy. He is very very passionate about this! [Oops, thought I found a vid of it, but turns out it was from last year…guess it’s too soon to be accessed online, so edited this post to remove it. Likely to be available online in the next day or so.]
The GOP "superpower" is conscienceless super-corruption. That is also their vulnerability. We have unleashed despotism in our own society and our democratic republic may not survive. Yet the enemy is mad with arrogance, and while that is a terrifying danger, it is also a weakness. I believe we need to continue to and find further lucid ways to illustrate what decency looks like and and how far they pulled away from it with the testimony of victims, the absurdity of the lies, and concerted, popular condemnation of their negligence and cruelty. Highly visible demonstrations of what Lincoln called "public sentiment" is a creative array of forms.
Still not there.
The Democrats helped get us in this predicament. They sat by playing business as usual for the past 10 years while he gained more and more backing and power. The Democrats have been bought by PACs just as much as the Republicans. Even now they are posting spoofs of them running around the Capitol looking for Republicans. One guy has some kind of train game. Sickening.
I am done with both Parties. We need to clean house. The Schiffs, Schumers, Pelosis and all the old guard need to go. Hakeem Jeffries is not suited for these times. This includes Kamala Harris. She walked off the field when she lost and abandoned the movement that had rose up to defeat him. Remember this. He never left and never shut up during the Biden Administration. The Biden Administration let him talk and talk and talk. They thought they were above directly confronting him. The Biden Administration didn't think it was necessary to explain to the American people what they were doing for them.
As for Tim Snyder. He lives in Canada. Many, many people are literally risking their lives to stay here and keep speaking out. This includes Dr. Richardson.
Dr. Richardson has said, and I agree, we most likely come out of this with a completely different configuration of the political Parties.
Both Parties let us down.
I would love to see a looser Party of Independents that include the "great silent majority" of non-ideological voters who straddle the continental divide between the Democratic and Republican Parties.
Many lean of their conservative foot; many on their liberal foot. Most lndies likely shift their weight from time to time, foot to foot, in a purer pragmatism. Ranked-choice voting would complement this re-configuration.
We could restore the mid-twentieth century ethos of experimental liberalism and cooperative conservatism. The Democrats would initiate a reform. If the reform went through as most independents backed it, the Republicans would make that reform fiscally sustainable.
If the policy or reform were to be a bust, the independents would align with the Republicans to abolish or radically to re-shape it.
Repeal Citizens United.
Eliminate gerrymandering
Create term limits
Eliminate the Electoral College
Massive funding for non-corporate media
Do not agree with all. But certainly overturn Citizens United and Trump vs the U.S. (the immunity decision).
Also establish term limits and age limits for elected officials. Then establish tenure limits for most Federal employees.
Lastly, restore the Voting Rights Act but extend the check-in with the Federal government not only to the Southern states, but also to the other thirty-five states to enforce the elimination of gerrymandering.
The pitfall here, of course, is that a future rogue Trumpanzee out-of-control would simply not enforce the expanded Voting Rights Act.
Good additions.
I read about that plan in the very beginning of Trump's second term and thought it was a perfect counterpoint to what the project 2025ers were planning. I waited for the idea people to get it started. Crickets. Still waiting. Should have been done at beginning of this shitstorm in shadow lockstep with all their moves. Seems a little late to start it now and try to build momentum and context after so much has already gone down.
It may well be too late; only one way to find out.
I have advocated this idea for a while - it is a way for the Dems to control the bully pulpit and to demonstrate a coherent plan for all Americans. I loath the MAGA Party but I am not embracing the Dems right now - they demonstrate weakness. At the least they should have showed up at the demolition of the East Wing and put their bodies out there like the building was a tree (wink). A shadow government showing the Dems are demonstrating democracy in action is a powerful message - but they do nothing and the MAGA’s do harm.
The demolition happened too fast for protesters. Trump didn’t announce it, he knew better than that.
Even on day one - when it started you go in day 2
This was proposed long ago, yet still has not happened. Why so little Democratic pushback!?
A shadow cabinet OR a United Front. The “loyal opposition” needs to come together and present a real challenge to Trump and his minions. Without unity we’re done for.
Let me know what you all are doing to help your local communities. I created a Facebook page for my community (SETX food sharing). I’m a 36 year old mom of 6, and in my local “moms group”, so many undereducated teen and early-20s Texas moms are genuinely panicking about their benefits. Many of these likely voted for Trump because they were never educated to discern empty political rhetoric and make historical connections. They just heard “lower grocery prices”. This is an opportunity to show them who does and does not care about them.
Sadly, it’s not just teens, And the young who don’t know how to “discern empty political rhetoric.” Fox made bullschittery so much more entertaining.
You’re right…this is why they chipped away at the education system for years. Undereducation was always the strategic plan. Now we have to (somehow) reverse that.
There is a reason that so many great thinkers are products of an old fashioned classical education in their earlier years. Once a person is taught to analyze and interpret they can go on to science and other technologies and benefit from that early education.
It's ironic that the ACA was based on a paper written in 1989 by Stuart Butler of the conservative Heritage Foundation—the same group who developed Project 2025. This paper, Assuring Affordable Health Care for All Americans, became a cornerstone of Republican counter-proposals to President Bill Clinton’s health plan in the 1990s. This conservative, market-based approach was successfully adopted and implemented by Republican Governor Mitt Romney in Massachusetts in 2006, serving as the direct blueprint for President Obama’s federal ACA.
The paper advocates for the individual mandate (that all citizens need to purchase health insurance to maintain the risk pool necessary to short up the industry) as well as premium tax credits to make sure that "all" Americans can afford to buy in.
In short, the ACA was based in conservative/Republican perspectives and yet today, it is being attacked as being a "liberal/dem/socialist" (pick your title) healthcare plan. I wrote about this several days ago and hope others can gain some perspective on the ACA as well as a potential bi-partisan conversation regarding healthcare moving forward.
https://danismart.substack.com/p/americas-healthcare-crisis-unraveling
We’ve all lost count as to how many HUNDREDS of times Republicans voted against even the smallest common sense efforts to create a national healthcare system, then voted against Obamacare — even when offered the chance to add amendments to it — then tried to repeal it afterward, then voted to destroy it by undermining the entire system of shared risk and shared subsidies it was based on.
Their Big Ugly Bill didn’t just do that, it also went after Medicaid, SNAP and will trigger an automatic reduction of $500 billion in Medicare outlays over the next 10 years. And all so billionaires can get even more tax breaks. After all, If you’ve failed hundreds of times to do even ONE thing right, why not try to add to failure by doing 5 things wrong, all at the same time?
A reminder that the Big Ugly passed by just ONE vote in the House at about 3:45am, while JD Wanker broke the 50-50 tie in the Senate. They have no “mandate” whatever to do any of this. And they all know it. That’s why Speaker Bobblehead ordered his forces to de-convene. Once in session, deals will be made, compromises reached, the way it always works with legislation.
But that show of normalcy would cause Herr Metamucilini to fly into a rage. Him insists that there can be no compromises — those who do not submit must be punished. That’s what the Bobblehead fears. He might get primaried himself.
You don’t have to dig deep to feel their fear, their terror. Winter is coming. And they are not prepared.
Yeah this is the "Art of the Deal" guy who didn't actually write anything.
But it's his browbeating idea.
I made deals for a living. The only ones worth doing were win/ win. Any other kind would eventually doom your business.
And the jury isnt in yet ( literally ) on this thug.
It may be you’ve noticed Republicans don’t vote against common sense they vote against socialism.
You people are pretty horrible at predicting the future and already the future is changing all your Medicare and Medicaid. Bullshit is just that bullshit. You have no idea what's gonna happen. Other than nothing is gonna change other than what Bill Clinton himself did exactly the same as Trump, but it was Bill Clinton that did it so that was OK but if Trump does the exact same thing, he's a horror.
And let me repeat what I've said it dozen times Barack Hussein Obama wrote the ACA bill and in it, he wrote down that the subsidies would expire December of this year has nothing to do with Donald J Trump has to do with Barack Obama who lied to you who told you that everything would be cheaper that everything would be better And it's not the subsidies aren't enough and the premiums are skyrocketing and the coverage is being cut as well
And now you're angry at Trump because he won't extend the subsidies that Biden himself inscribed in the Bill yikes.
From Wikipedia: "The Massachusetts health care reform, commonly referred to as Romneycare,[1] was a healthcare reform law passed in 2006 and signed into law by Governor Mitt Romney with the aim of providing health insurance to nearly all of the residents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts."
When Romney ran for president he wanted states to have the power vs. federal mandate for health care coverage. He wiggled/waggled all over the place and threw the Massachusetts health care reform as the potential for a national model under the bus. Did the same thing for same sex marriage. He seemed like a "nice guy" and "progressive" for a republican in Massachusetts but 1) he spent a great deal of time traveling out of state* (vacations and setting up presidential run) and 2) as we found out, he would say anything to secure/maintain political power. No different than any other republican except he spoke well as he conflated various positions.
Bottom Line: Never, never, never, ever vote for a republican!
* NYTimes article, Oct. 13, 2012. "As Massachusetts Governor, Romney Was Often Away"
It was when Mitt Romney was just starting his run for president in 2011 when he said,"corporations are people, my friend". He was speaking at the Iowa State Fair and was heckled by the crowd for saying such nonsense and proved what a corporate owned hack he was. Just another Republican telling Americans that 'the business of America is business' while running the Nation into the ground as the corporations and oligarchs siphon off evermore wealth from We the People paying the taxes.
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-14511692
Ask John Roberts, he was installed for exactly the reason that corporations have always wanted the rights of actual people, and he is paid to give them to them.
This crew of vipers sees chump as their last chance to trash the progress of 80 years. Reason likely won’t rear its head with this crowd. The Heritage Foundation became a hotbed of “low taxes and regulations” long ago.
Vote Trump. Obama let the subsidies lapse. Make sure you realize that he put that in his bill at the end of this year the subsidies were over and now things have changed as it seems because the premiums are skyrocketing and the subsidies are not enough to keep up, he lied to you face it. He absolutely lied to your face, and you brought it.
Let me give you the facts about the ACA that you were omitting here surprisingly enough lol in the bill itself, Barack Hussein Obama created the bill where the subsidies would end this December. He did that himself, but everybody knew it wouldn't stick
Alternative facts? You are dreaming. Go back to sleep, Ricky.
This is your golden G-d did for you
Consumers in the 30 states that use the federal exchange, healthcare.gov, can now get a preview of what they’ll pay for 2026 coverage. The site opened for so-called window shopping on Tuesday.
The monthly premium for the benchmark plan on healthcare.gov will soar 30%, on average, according to the KFF analysis, which is based on data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. In states that run their own exchanges, the benchmark plan premium will rise by an average of 17%.
RELATED ARTICLE
But that’s not all the bad news: The actual amount enrollees pay in 2026 will be far, far higher because the enhanced premium subsidies will disappear. Their monthly payments are expected to more than double, according to a separate analysis from KFF, a health policy research group.
Those window shopping on healthcare.gov will get a full sense of the sticker shock, many for the first time. The premiums on the site reflect the lapse of the enhanced assistance.
Still, most enrollees will be able to find 2026 plans on the federal exchange with premiums at or below $50 a month, after factoring in the original Obamacare subsidies, which are part of the 2010 health reform law and not expiring, according to a CMS fact sheet.
But the impact of the expiring enhanced assistance is clear: Nearly 60% of enrollees signing up for 2026 coverage can find plans in that price range, compared to 83% of consumers in 2025 plans.
The Biden administration frequently touted that four out of five enrollees on the federal exchange could find plans for $10 or less in recent years.
The onlyfact is this one.
President Donald j Trump.
America won. You lost.
Folks, I’ve reported Rick for a comment he made on my post. Will you please join me in my effort? This is a site for intelligent, thoughtful, informed people and we already see plenty of this on unpaid social media. Just click the three dots to the right of his name. Ty:)
https://click.mg.rightnewswire.com/Pages/Click.aspx?ghff34ghj=8537%7c012649%7c259230%7c7%7contryornpu6%40tznvy.pbz&wdmdk=bMoTD33ZxFuCaZYUwA%2bEwA&sysid=1
As many have noticed by the way that the overwhelming majority of the protesters are elderly white people which I call stuck in the mud living in the past Democrats.
And what's amazing when Trump went into DC into the bad neighborhoods, the blacks and the people of color were thrilled that he was there stopping the violence that was killing their youth
Margaret what you've just posted is a perfect representation of your hatred and intolerance of free speech
I have been called every name in the book. I've been told to go fuck myself over and over again. I've been called names that would make a prostitute blush.
And the only reason you want me banned is not because of a comment I made, but because you don't wanna hear the truth, you don't want to hear the facts and what's worse many of you is you refuse to hear the facts and that in the end will be your undoing
As the GOP works to blame the Democrats for the shut down, I am reminded that Timothy Snyder recommended the Democrats create a “government in exile” that reports daily to the American people on what they would do if they were in power. I am mortified by the weak and irregular messaging coming from the leaders of the Democratic Party. We are in the fight of our lives and Schumer and Jefferies are in no way adequate IMHO to the crisis we face.
This is how feckless and ineffectual Ken Martin is - over 6 months ago he announced the DNC was launching a "People's Cabinet".
From MSNBC: April 8, 2025, 6:00 AM EDT
By Hayes Brown, MSNBC Opinion Writer/Editor
"Newly elected Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin announced Friday that the DNC will launch the “People’s Cabinet.” In spirt at least, it’s a kind of American version of Britain’s “Shadow Cabinet,” which gives a minority party a platform for its ideas. With Republicans holding Congress and the White House, Democrats find themselves completely blocked from Washington’s levers of power, but if executed correctly, the DNC’s “People’s Cabinet” could be a worthy response to frustrated Democrats demanding that their leaders do more to oppose President Donald Trump’s agenda.
In announcing the People’s Cabinet, the DNC contrasted Trump’s largely unqualified panel of advisers that’s chock-full of billionaires and the “experts on the economy, health care, working families and communities, public safety, national security, and foreign policy” it will put forth. Martin said he’s tapping people who “will equip communities with the reliable, accurate information they need to fight back against the worst of the Trump and Republican agenda.” They’ll be putting out social media content, holding media briefings and headlining town halls in GOP-held House districts that critique — and, ideally, offer alternatives to — Trump’s agenda."
I love how utterly unintelligent Trump's people are. The Dept of Justice will be sending people to California to monitor the polls in 6 jurisdictions for the election. Don't they know that all Californians can vote by mail? I mean, go ahead and monitor the polls on Election Day. We can all vote by today if we want, or even a week from tomorrow, whatever, by checking the box on our ballot, sealing and signing our envelope with the ballot inside, and dropping it in the nearest mail box anywhere in the state of California. Done! They can come and stand all day monitoring the polls, and even 2 or 3 days before Election Day if they feel the need to, because we California voters don't have to go anywhere near a polling place to cast our ballots. SO CALIFORNIA VOTERS, vote now and get everyone you know to vote now. And then we can bring our lawn chairs and box lunches and go sit near the polls and take photos and watch the Justice Dept monitoring nothing and no one! And I'm sure they will publish all sorts of news articles claiming there were riots and they had to arrest voters and whatever other B.S. they can come up with. They are really rather pathetic when you think about it.
Cathleen….I completed my CA ballot the day after receiving it and my ritual is now to drive it to the county Elections Office and drop it off there, even tho it’s a bit of a distance from where I live. Got an email notice several days later letting me know it had been received and processed—I signed up for something called BallotTrax several years back & it’s a way for me to confirm my ballot was signed, sealed & delivered.
It's the way most Coloradans vote, and it works well. My ballot is sitting on the front west, voting against the Koch-sponsored candidates for school board. Need to drop it off.
Done!
I do the same thing in Oregon, Barbara.
Same here in Colorado.
Thank you, Cathleen, exactly. VOTE BY MAIL, CALIFORNIA.
Yes. The stoopidity is overwhelming, isn’t it?
2,800 National Guardsmen are in Washington DC right now, doing absolutely nothing. They wander around in full kit, sometimes stand around in circle-jerk formation, either looking at their cell phones or playing with themselves, or both.
They do NOTHING, for there’s NOTHING for them to do. The same with those “election monitors.” Both an exercise in masturbatory performatism, meant to give the appearance of law and order. Privately, they must all be thinking: ‘WTF am I doing here?’
They are.
I heard there were 12 people shot in DC the other day I guess if it was your son or your wife or your family you wouldn’t give a shit either right what a moron
Yeah I guess that’s why Trump is president all the stupidity by the left voting for Trump. Lol
You do realize that California has lost its soul and is nothing but it's a cane car of America with a budget deficit and illegal immigrant overflow a quarter of 1 million homeless and a half 1 million fleeing every year I lived there for 30 years and I watched it die and then the incredible happened when Newsome allowed 12,000 homes to burn and Bass stood by and watched them did nothing from another country
By the way, did you not see all the people carrying baskets full of mail to the mailbox? I guess you didn’t see that on your news channels that’s right people getting out of their cars with baskets full of envelopes. Stuffing them into mailboxes in different neighborhoods around the city oops.
Did you many many individuals carrying buckets of votes to the mailbox? What’s the matter you afraid if they monitor it they might catch them doing something California is lost. It’s lost to the United States and it’s lost amongst themselves and they did it to themselves and they continue to do it to themselves and now finally, the homeowners in the Palisades were suing the State government for negligence for the fire damage $13-$15,000 structures while they watched it burned because there was no water
Yeah, we're pretty stupid. That's why we control everything right now huh? Is that what you think? And I'm not even a republican, but you guys have left the planet and you forget there were 38 trillion in the hole.
Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego, who won in 2024 against Kari Lake by 5.5% in conservative Arizona that Trump won by a wide margin over Harris, has been interviewed by David Leonhardt, NYT journalist and multiple journalism award winner. Senator Gallego has the best logical description that I have heard or read of what Democrats need to do to win elections. He is very rational, uses factual examples, is a good story teller, knows what to do to connect with American voters, etc.. If you want to know what he says Democrats should be doing, I recommend listening to the interview (it has audio) or reading the excerpts below:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/opinion/ruben-gallego-interview-democrats-border-security-affordability.html?unlocked_article_code=1.vE8.X0eM.ofJhtOyk6hUa&smid=url-share
Excerpts: “Gallego: We were very real about what was actually happening on the ground, and we didn’t lie to ourselves. I think a lot of Democrats running — and it wasn’t just Vice President Harris — they wanted to talk about the things they were comfortable talking about. They didn’t want to go to where the voter was.
Leonhardt: So they wanted to talk about abortion and democracy.Gallego: Basically, yes. Sometimes there’s some voters that want to talk about that. But what we were seeing on the ground in Arizona was that people were worried about being able to make the rent; they were worried about border security; and they were worried about what is truly happening to the American dream. For a place like Arizona that was known to be affordable and had always been affordable, for the first time in anybody’s memory, it became a very unaffordable place very quickly. And Democrats sounded extremely out of touch that we weren’t talking about that. Now, my campaign, we did talk about it. That’s all we talked about. We talked about the cost of everything, and we did it in a way that wasn’t an economic message. It was an emotional message.
I talked about how I grew up poor and that I understand how frustrating it is. I remember those days — to work and work and work and then look up and you’re still underwater. And that is what was dragging down a lot of people in Arizona, especially working-class Latino men who have a mentality that I can work and get myself out of this situation. But for the first time, I heard a desperation that I had never heard in my 45 years of being a Latino man — that they just felt they weren’t going to make it. And we talked to them because I understood what they were going through. A lot of Democrats did not do that. Certainly not in Arizona, but I think also across the country.
And you got a whole bunch of attention a few years ago for banning your staff in Congress from using the term Latinx, which you said is mostly a term that white liberals use and Latinas and Latinos think is silly. I’m interested in your critique of how Democrats talk about the economy because I think often the economy is an issue in which Democrats feel like, “Hey, we’re comfortable on that issue. It’s not like immigration. It’s not like gender. We’re comfortable in the economy.” But you’ve said actually, the Democratic Party still talks too much like Harvard professors and not enough like Marine Corps members — to use your life experience. So, specifically, you’ve said this idea, that Democrats should talk about the American dream in terms of prosperity, rather than, “a nebulous message about justice.” Can you be more specific about that?
Gallego: So, I mean, a lot of times, especially in the last couple of years, what I’ve heard coming from the Democratic side, my friends, is that they talk about economic equity. They talk about these ideas of essentially trying to equalize capitalism, to lift people out of poverty. And that’s just not how people think. It’s also this assumption that the Democrats themselves, the actual base voters, don’t want to be prosperous, they don’t want to be rich, or they don’t want to be successful. And so we have this situation within Democratic talk where we kind of shy away from that because we feel like that’s somehow icky.
I’m surrounded by working-class Democrats, and the reason I speak the way I speak is because no one in my family’s involved in politics. Half of my family members are in unions; the other half are very working class. I have one sister who’s a doctor. I live in a working-class neighborhood in Phoenix. No one there talks about economic equity. What they talk about is: I want to be able to buy a home. I am starting a business; I want to make money. I want my kids to do well. I want to be happy. And when we have these nebulous positions that people just can’t put their finger on, then Democrats are kind of losing an opportunity.
If we’re the party of opportunity, if we’re the party that’s going to give you a real chance at the American dream, then buying a home, starting a business, being able to go on vacation, for God’s sake — the things that people used to be able to do — then people say: That’s the party that I want in there to fight for me. But when we’re just this nebulous blah group of people that is going to protect this idea but we don’t actually ever really do anything about it, voters are going to go off to something else shinier. And the shinier has come with Donald Trump.
Gallego: Yeah. I mean, I said that mostly just to kind of break through this, because I’ve heard it so much — like, “Why do Latino men go this way?” And I’m like, well, Latino men want things. There are a lot of Democrats and people on the more liberal side who hope that Latino men are more reflective — that they look and vote like white liberal men. But they don’t. They’re different. They have entirely different experiences. And they’re not like Black men, either — they have their own, very different experience. So, to kind of break through, you have to keep it simple: They want security — economic security and physical security for their families. And their wants are legitimate. We shouldn’t shy away from or ignore that just because it puts us in an uncomfortable spot.
So the troquita, the truck — it’s symbolic because it really is a status symbol that you have succeeded in this country. It means that you can afford a brand-new, nice truck. That you take that truck to work and that work brings dignity to your family. It helps you pay the bills. You get to load your kids in there. You get to go on vacation. It involves this whole symbolic gesture to your community that you are leading your family and that you are bringing them into the American dream. That’s what it really represents, and I think a lot of people feel uncomfortable about that. But that really is as simple as ——
Gallego: Look, I think there was a lot of thought post-Obama, that if we focus on equity and justice, then that somehow would be the unifier of the Democratic coalition. It ends up, the biggest unifier of the Democratic coalition — Black, white, Latino immigrants, Asians, everybody else — is the personal checking account. It’s people being able to buy a home, be able to pay bills, be able to get groceries without stressing out. That actually is what unifies our coalition. And when we walked away from that because of just pure political convenience, our coalition started eroding more and more and more. And we’re seeing it all the time.
Gallego: I think what happened with us in Arizona was that we used some smart ways to get into people’s feeds. We did boxing matches, we did car shows, truck shows — a lot of that stuff. But I reached out to white suburban people with pickleball tournaments, too. We did everything we could. But the reason it resonated is because, while I was using them to get their attention, I was talking to them about what they were really worried about right now. And the ability for any candidate or elected official to talk in an authentic way will carry through. It will.
The problem we have on the Democratic side is we have less and less of us that actually can speak about the personal checkbook and economics of a family in an authentic way. That’s why you could get on TV as much as you want, you could go on podcasts, do your Instagram Lives, and it’s not going to catch on.
Gallego is the one out of touch if he thinks "voters" didn't want to talk about abortion. Discounting half of Democratic voters is NOT helpful.
Next, any woman who speaks against the Regime will be tried as a witch... We better look for our broomsticks!
Take brooms to the protests, let's sweep out the trash!
Yeah, cleanup on aisle 47 is going to be a Herculean task— we will need all the brooms, vacuums & Swiffers out there!
He didn’t say that women’s healthcare and access to abortion isn’t an important position to take. What he said was that it is important to focus on and emphasize issues that are felt by and felt to be important by the majority of voters such as economic issues: the price of food and other commodities, the affordability of housing, the cost of health insurance, etc.; the availability of a job with a salary that allows a modest life and the expenses of having a family; etc..
Abortion IS very much a majority issue and it has proven time and time again to win elections for Democrats. Why would you or he would be suggesting it's not?
I didn’t say abortion wasn’t a majority issue. I’m not against abortions. I clerked on an abortion service in medical school where I assisted in many abortions. Have you done anything like that? I voted for and campaigned for Kamala Harris. Did you? In that election (as Senator Gallego says in the interview - did you read it?) the Democrats had the attitude that the economic statistics are good so we don’t have to talk about the economy (although the voters didn’t feel that way). We can just run on abortion and the threat to democracy (when >50% of the voters can’t name the three branches of the Federal government). And we know how that played out. If people like you don’t stop fighting over making your special interests the premier topic, our democracy is doomed. “We the People” means all the people - E Pluribus Unum”. The more divisive you are, the more difficult it is to mount an effective and successful response to authoritarianism. You play into Trump’s - the master showman for creating emotion driven divisiveness and “us vs them” psychology - hands.
Well, I'm glad to hear you think it is. As for the rest of your rant - take a breath. "People like me?" Please. I'm not going to spew my activist credentials for you because there a whole hell of a lot of REAL work to do.
I’m sorry Alexandra I don’t post rants - just facts and information. The Democrat’s candidate for governor in NJ, Mikie Sherrill, was interviewed by Katie Couric today and said the same things as Senator Gallego said in his NYT interview that you say you are wrong. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnAPdptR3kE)
I’m sorry that I can’t agree with you that abortion is the premier, election winning issue, although it is important. A one trick pony isn’t going to win elections. Listening to what the voters feel is currently most important to them in their lives has a better chance. I hope your “REAL” work turns out well for you. Have you thought of volunteering at a Planned Parenthood clinic? I’m sure they could use your help. It would help you understand the real economic pain that the voters are feeling.
Senator Gallego is talking about what the Brits call class issues. That is really what pocketbook issues are. For some reason, both political parties have characterized it as a Left/Right divide, probably due to the influence of billionaire donors steering the conversation. Republicans are now openly exploiting the poor/middle class of their base. Democrats seem to have forgotten where their real support comes from. They are remembering now (I hope). The truth is, to win this fight, we must use all our resources, the old guard, fresh faces, and address people where they are, not where the latest focus group says they should be.
Kudos!
Hey Abbott, you’ve been this you’ve been exploiting blacks Hispanics and all minorities for hundreds of years Pro promising them prosperity and they’re still languishing in poverty in crime and you’ve done nothing to fix it and you continue to do nothing to fix it and that’s why Trump’s in office right now wake up
Covers the spectrum, but doesn’t stop chump. Liz48
Maybe what Gallego says doesn’t stop “chump”, but it speaks to getting Democrats/Independents/ and others to stop fighting among themselves for dominance for their special interests and join together to be attractive to the majority of voters such- “We the People”. E Pluribus Unum!
Are health insurance companies already jacking up their 2026 premiums on "regular" policies in advance of losing ACA subscribers in order to support their profit margins?
We just received notice of a 22% increase for a COBRA policy and 12% for Medicare Supplemental Policy. Even a $2,500 increase is a big hit to the family budget.
It wouldn’t surprise me.
Man, you guys are clueless. The ACA is out of control. Obama is the one that put in the subsidy restrictions as of December 2025. That's what he did now you wanna change it. And I'm laughing my ass off like this was not predicted in 2013 exact prediction was exactly what's happening today and I have the text and the links and the emails and all the history to back that up 2013 everybody came out and said this is what's gonna happen. The subsidies are going to expire. The premiums will be too high and the coverage will be less and here we are.
Democrats need to be aggressively hitting the republicans every day. Replace the current mamby pamby Senior Democratic Leadership and DNC (need Hogg back.). Follow up the Reagan ad (can’t believe I like something Reagan said) with an ongoing media campaign. Where are the photos of trump and Epstein, interviews in soy fields and cattle ranches, in grocery stores and car dealers, Mike Johnson doing nothing, and so on. At least Jeffries finally endorsed Mamdani, just hope it was not too late. An ad campaign is not rocket science. Run through ChatGPT:
“Give a proposal for a nationwide advertising campaign for democrats. The ad campaign. Should target all voters, be bold, and have a large budget.”
As to Reagan, like the broken watch, he was right twice a day.
I've been sharing this AI video about the ballroom - it is VERY hard hitting. https://www.facebook.com/alexandra.sokoloff/
Oh, snap, that was spot on! Thanks for sharing Alexandra.
Right, Barbara? Pitch perfect. And it's only going to get more horrifically relevant in the next couple of months.
Not on Facebook but I found it on YouTube. Wowza!
Holy shit! This is amazing! Although I understand the windows are bullet/blast proof. Saved.
Maybe not mob proof. Thank you A.S. - this is amazing and it is hard hitting.
As demonstrated by the vids from the 1/6 insurrection mob assaulting the Capitol and making the huge effort to smash through some of the glass….🤬
It just illustrates clearly how far into the weeds this MAGA movement has gone. They have latched onto a flawed ideology, and as the inevitable negative consequences begin to become apparent, they double down on stupid. That has been the typical rightwing MO.
When Their antics make Ronald Reagan sound like a liberal it might be time for some serious self reflection in the Republican Party.
Well, right now here's what you have. You have no leader you have no agenda other than hate Trump and that's why you're losing not to mention that you're upside down and all your policies as well. One of your policies is counterproductive to intelligent and American history.
I do not disagree about the lack of leadership. That was sort of my point. I am curious what policy you are talking about in the last sentence.
Well, there are the 8020 policies and then those 9010 policies and the liberals or upside down on them both
Men in Women's sports
And Trump's effort in eliminating the legal criminals. Those are just two, but I could name a few more.
Here's a good one relating to ice
Dear Mr. Trump, if you trying to enforce the law, we will stop protesting lmao.
If Joe Biden has not opened the gates of the southern border to 8 to 11,000,000 illegals unvaccinated illegals by the way Trump would not be doing what he has to do in order to provide benefit benefits for American citizens before illegal. California, for example has spent almost $30 billion on healthcare medical treatment, food and shelter for illegal aliens while a quarter for million sit homeless on the streets of California.
It's so sad when the Democrats continually back the wrong pony.
They are actually fighting against the crime fighters
There's just a few
Wow Heather. I am so excited to make an early comment. I saw your podcast today. Thank you. I live in Campbell, CA - home of many of those radical left antifa crazy folks… 🙈
Still trying to join
"The latest Gallup poll shows that Americans now think Democrats, rather than Republicans, are the better party to keep the country prosperous, by a margin of 47% to 43%. This is a shift of 18 points in just over two years."
Encouraging, but still a whole lot of people have not, and are not, paying nearly enough attention to our circumstances. Verging of on a half a century of nominal Republicans stealing from the poor to enrich the rich and telling lies so big they are like T. rex hiding in plain sight, I keep waiting for a whole lot more people to "get it" that they're being had.
Well, you keep counting the polls for the next 3 1/2 years. OK have a nice time.
Lololol. You live on Pollls ] the rest of us will live on reality
I just watched the excellent new Netflix movie "A House of Dynamite", about a fictional nuclear attack by an unknown foe. I kept imagining trump, hegseth and the rest of the buffoons entrusted to keep us safe, calculating a measured, careful retaliation response to a similar crisis, one that minimizes the loss of life. I concluded that we'd be screwed as a species.
Did Trump realize that the safe bunker was under the East Wing? Where is the sinner man going to hide now? In the ballroom? Why am I channeling CLUE: Mr. Orange did it in the ballroom with the ketchup bottle...
Apparently it will still be there….just ”new and improved” with the gilded Donny Disco atop it. While they have been obfuscating & lying about everything having to do with the ballroom, I can see being mum on any specifics about the bunker for security reasons.
I read a post yesterday by an architect who questions the entire project. The numbers simply don’t add up for the square footage. I question whether the petulant destruction will be much more than that as building plans don’t seem to exist and no permits have been applied for.
Can he go ahead with the building without permits and approval of the plans? Surely there is some way to stop it ...or is there?
If I were a contractor I’d have a hard time not following rules and regs to the letter, especially with TACO’s penchant for stiffing workers.
Gail, I'd bet the safest place for an undocumented laborer is working on Trump's Temu Versailles (as someone else brilliantly calls it.) Think ICE will raid that building site?
Hahahaha, Gail “don’t add up” basically describes 47’s entire admin!!!!
Absolutely Barbara!
I predicted the "ballroom project" is a smoke and mirror distraction from the fact he is building a fortress from which to hold the seat of federal government and all of us hostage after the 2026 loss of MAGA control. Then someone reminded me the bunker is/was under the east wing. Now I am convinced this regime will use every tactic imaginable to hold their power -- in place. Let's not forget Jan6 and the 🧊 army he is amassing today. He and his tyrants will be hiding in that new fortress after the midterms and beyond to keep operating. We should all be aiming to boycott the list of businesses funding this regime. Apple is my Achilles heel there. Thoughts?
I don't know about all that, but he probably does have some sort of Hitler fantasy. Didn't Hitler die in his bunker?
Exactly.
Ah, good point…does he know?!
I don't think that matters. But what he should know is that there's no bunker big enough or deep enough to save anybody.
Betsy...I read a tidbit of info the other day about Hitler and the New Reich Chancellery (1938).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reich_Chancellery
Perhaps something similar will occur 😉.
Screwed is right…
I just watched it. Good flick. Suspenseful. Realistic. But all things considered I'd rather watch Doctor Strangelove. At least we had a good morbid sense of humor back then.
True enough, Justin. The movie was quite alarming and as you say, realistic, in a Tom Clancy-esque sort of way.
They're scared. Scared of the people. In frog costumes. Too many of us. Not enough of them.
Unfortunately, I believe that they are doubling down on their mad dash to total control! They realize that, if they don’t gain control quickly, they may be relegated to a footnote in real history!
This impasse on the shutdown is not just an inconvenience, it’s real damage to America, and Trump doesn’t care….
Scared of anything that boldly exposes their web of lies.
Yeah, JL, but some of them don’t seem to have ANY qualms about lies, exaggerations and illegal acts right out loud! ‘Rump really IS doing the equivalent of “shooting someone on 5th Ave” and…see?…nobody in the ruling party cares a whit, so he was right about that. However, since SCOTUS basically gave ‘Rump a get out of jail forever card, they didn’t extend it to those enablers around him that are enacting “his will & edicts”, so uh-oh, guess they might be on the hook and held accountable.
You mean like the border is secure. Omggggggg
Mark, I saw a photo of a protest sign with a frog on it and the wording was “Give Me Ribberty Or Give Me Death!”. **giggles**
As you said Mark, too many of us. The protests are only going to get larger. Power to the people.
Hungry in America: Mapping where Republican cuts to food stamps and SNAP will hurt the most
https://thedemlabs.org/2025/10/23/republican-shutdown-to-defund-food-stamps-snap-hunger-map/
Military members forced to food banks in Republican shutdown: Mapping the hunger
https://thedemlabs.org/2025/10/11/military-members-forced-to-food-banks-in-republican-shutdown-hunger-map/
If Netanyahu has committed a war crime by denying food and water and medical supplies to the people of Gaza, can we conclude that Trump is committing a war crime by denying food and healthcare to millions of his own citizens?
Hmmmm, Betsy, maybe they can both be convicted and be prison cell mates…nice little daydream! Oh, I saw a No Kings protest sign photo that said something to the effect: “I hope Big Beautiful Bill turns out to be Trump’s cell mate”. Now THAT made me laugh!
At the Houston No Kings rally, one of the loudest chants was "Lock him up!"
Hahahaha….now that’s rich!!!!! And waaaay more appropriate!
Deepak Puri, thanks again for your informative research, and concise DemLabs links here. After not being successful with trying to post a few lines of vetted info from Heather’s OCT 24 article on Bluesky - the alpha numeric character count was too long and in the ‘red’. I just read your substack links tonight and both your 10/24/25 comments were able to be posted to Bluesky (within the allowed character count). Lookin’ good Deepak ✅
Agree, appreciate Deepak’s comments/work on issues!
We’ve all seen the list of the top U.S. billionaires paying for Donald’s gilded ballroom.
So what makes them all suck up to his ever-increasing rounds of extortion, criminality, contempt for due process -- not only for stupid ballroom, but for tariffs, ICE terror raids, arbitrary killings on the high seas, and the voter suppressions Heather also mentions here today?
What makes so many of our corporate elites normalize his fascism, his police state, his assaults on our formerly most vital institutions?
U.S. universities.
They no longer teach, exhibit, or embody any values other than the technical and commercial. Instead, only the most low-down transactional corruption that now bequeaths us Donald’s and their ruling fascism.
None of these elite, well-fed, well-groomed savages has ever read a novel in one’s life (except maybe Ayn Rand). No history. Never any memoir, or book of essays, or any travel across American land or communities.
One thing in place of the human we can bet: these bastards have always done most well through all their pre-university years of deadening testing.
The machine brain don’t need no novels, history or essays. AI knows history, dates, results and can tell us what to think.
So sad, JD.
The etiology giving us fascism, criminality, vulgarity, and corruption all has many sources -- especially the far right campaigns set in motion from the Powell memo of 1971.
Mainly, they wanted the commercial and corporate classes to rule -- to take center stage in U.S. and world life, and to take larger and larger shares of U.S. wealth.
But the first steps in doing this involved ridding schools of humanities (K-12 and "higher"). For those of us who know this legacy, this machinery, it's all the sadder how many Dems and progressives just will not hear of it. Sufficient for them, for so many, for most, just to bad-mouth the most obvious fascists and cowards, and to pretend none of this sorry history had any origins we ought be addressing, correcting.
Let alone in the schools, K-12 and "higher," that by deliberate schemes got so denatured, corporatized.
Don't be jealous Soros is giving plenty of money to the opposition
Keep in mindful there are billionaires on both sides of the aisle. Ooooops
But the most exciting thing is that Trump and musk are getting together again which means it's time for you and your nonviolent folks to start burning down Tesla dealerships and Tesla cars all over again
Don't Tesla cars and trucks blow up by themselves, I thought they did?
Well, it would figure that the Gullible lemmings here would believe that. I bought my first Tesla in 2014 and haven't been to a gas station in 11 years except when I rent a car
Free charging for the life of the car no gas for 11 years no fuel for 11 years no blowups other than the ones that your people lived on fire and try to destroy even though the majority of Teslas owned by liberals, especially in California and as soon as musk liked Trump, that's when the burning began just such nonviolent human beings you are. I've owned six Tesla since and the only ones that have burnt by themselves are the ones you guys lived on fire except for a scattered few and Tesla was the number one vehicle in the world before China got involved. So go, pound sand with your rhetoric and your misinformation which runs from your mouth like Niagara Falls.
Oh, and I also meant to tell you zero maintenance and I mean zero the only liquid in the car is windshield washer fluid
And that's why it's so popular and becoming more popular every day. If you actually try driving one, you'll never go back unless you live in an Arctic.
Zzzzzzzz...
Cool I love it. Thank you. You join the ranks of the millions and millions of willfully ignorant liberals.i saw about 7-8 million of them on tv recently.