Wow. This was a tweet from Rob Reiner. It will never end. We must all keep energy up.
_¨On Dec.7, the Supreme Court will hear a case that will determine if State Legislatures have the sole power to elect our next President. The only way to prevent that is to hold onto Congress and pass Voting Rights. If you’re not scared of creeping Fascism, you’re not alive. VOTE!¨
The creeping putsch is over, the creepie-crawlie fascists have come out from the woodwork they were eating. Now they're into eating one another -- Nights of Long Knives scheduled...
Next on their menu, We...
*
Look at the news from Iran now, where the people are ALIVE and daring to die for their freedom!
Then, at America's million upon million sleeping couch potatoes... ready-for-the-cooking-pot potatoes.
And set those last alarms screaming their final WAKE-UP call!
I don't think they've been creeping for quite a while. We aren't creeping toward an authoritarian rule by the minority. We have arrived. We have this election coming up, and it is unbelievably and urgently important. We're fighting for our lives and the lives of our children and grandchildren on this one. The Supreme Court is gone unless the Dems can get over our qualms about this or that and pack the court. We have this election, the one that historically goes to the party not in the White House. And that cannot happen.
Jeri, I don't know about you, but this old woman has become so agitated that, even when I'm not thinking about the election, I find myself so fidgety I can't stay in my chair for long. I'm up, wandering around, snapping my fingers.
And everyone who's awake to the incalculable danger...
Spread the message, spread that useful fear!
If you can, scare people into voting, cajole them, drive them, help them -- especially the young who don't take this seriously, don't realize that inaction can ruin their lives and everyone else's, including the evil idiots who are sawing off the branch we're all sitting on.
"In a recent campaign video, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican from Georgia, likened Democrats to destructive feral hogs allowed to range free and destroy the American countryside.
"But Marjorie had a solution:
"As the camera followed her, she grabbed a rifle and climbed aboard a waiting helicopter, where she tracked down and shot a fleeing hog. In the next scene, quite pleased with herself, Greene posed next to her dead prey and invited supporters to enter a free drawing, with the winner accompanying her on her next hog-killing expedition.
"In a healthy political climate, members of both parties would unite to condemn such a message. But that is not the climate in which we live. To the contrary, lest anyone have moral qualms about the message of such a video, Greene offered an answer for that too. At a Trump rally in Michigan this month, she told the crowd that “we are all targets now though, for daring to push back against the regime…. I am not going to mince words with you all. Democrats want Republicans dead and they have already started the killings.”
"So … kill or be killed.
"It would be nice to be able to dismiss that talk as the rantings of a loon, which on one level it is. But the rantings are being delivered by a loon invited to speak at a series of rallies by the former president of the United States, a man who remains the favorite for becoming the GOP presidential nominee in 2024, which implies a high level of support for such sentiments.
"And instead of shunning Greene and condemning her remarks, other top Republicans are embracing her, happy to bask in her malevolent glow. JD Vance, the GOP’s Senate candidate in Ohio, has appeared alongside Greene at campaign events, as have Doug Mastriano, the extremist GOP candidate for governor in Pennsylvania, and many others. Far from a pariah, she’s the GOP’s new “it girl,” the one everybody wants to be seen with.
"In fact, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has made it clear that if Republicans gain control of the House and make him speaker, he would reward Greene with a much more prominent role in party leadership
"“I think that to be the best speaker of the House and to please the base, (McCarthy) is going to give me a lot of power and a lot of leeway,” Greene predicted in an interview with a writer for the New York Times. “And if he doesn’t, they’re going to be very unhappy about it. I think that’s the best way to read that. And that’s not in any way a threat at all. I just think that’s reality.”
"Greene is not particularly bright – anyone who believes that forest fires are caused by space lasers controlled by the Rothschilds falls a few pennies short of a nickel. But what she knows she knows. She knows her party’s base and its obsessions, because they are her obsessions; she knows her party’s leadership. She knows that leadership is terrified of its base, and she knows that because she is the embodiment of that base, the leaders are by extension terrified of her. These days, nobody in the Republican tribe is voted off the island because you’re a racist or insurrectionist or because you espouse violence. But you dare to publicly condemn those things, you’ll be sent to sit with Liz Cheney.
"Greene also knows, probably through instinct, that if you say crazy things with certainty and conviction, it is the certainty and conviction that people will find impressive, that will mark you as a leader to be followed. For example, in recent months Greene and others in her party have taken to calling the Biden administration “the regime,” as she does in the comments quoted above. Why? Because a regime is illegitimate; a regime is imposed on a people through force, rather than emanating from that people. You don’t remove a regime through elections, because elections are not how the regime gained power in the first place. Calling it a regime is a subtle justification for using violence in its overthrow.
"It’s important to acknowledge that no political party or movement is immune to the lure of violence. It is not an inherently Republican thing or a Democratic thing; it is a human thing. Part of the responsibility of leadership is to recognize that frailty in ourselves and others and try to tamp it down rather than provoke it. But at this moment in American history, members of only one party are featuring assault weapons prominently in their campaign ads and even family Christmas cards. Only one party is tolerating and even promoting the likes of Greene, with none daring to condemn her message.
"It should not be difficult to state that the outcome of elections should be honored, and that violence is never the solution. If those things can no longer be said, if we no longer have broad acceptance of those two bottom-line propositions, if stating and defending them makes you anathema to a large chunk of America, then we no longer have a democracy or even a country.
"What you first act out through make-believe you can later make reality. That final step, that step from play-acting to acting, is much less daunting once you’ve had sufficient rehearsal, which is what we’re witnessing.
"In his 1951 book “The True Believer,” American philosopher Eric Hoffer explores the phenomenon of mass movements and extremists. To the fanatic, Hoffer writes, “chaos is his element. When the old order begins to crack, he wades in with all his might and recklessness to blow the whole hated present to high heaven. He glories in the sight of a world coming to a sudden end.”
"Greene is such a fanatic, as are many others in the rising New Right who are riding racism and hatred and fear, who hint openly at the necessity for violence if the change they seek cannot be produced through the ballot box. Speaking personally, I am not ready to see this world with all its shortcomings come to a sudden end. But such fires, once ignited, can be difficult to suppress."
We have voted, mailed ours at a post office. We will know when it has arrived and acceptable to be counted. The Oregon way...no postage required either. I did read someone who reported that they had voted in another state and there was a security guard by the drop box in case some wing nut arrived with a gun. One of my theories is this is part of the reason that Rs have refused to do anything about guns....it helps them when they want to intimidate. So tired of hearing what can we do about all the shootings. There is a proposition 114 on the Oregon ballot which is a start on the gun problem. I think it will pass because people are fed up with the nonsense especially young people, some of whom are old enough to vote.
Last night's PBS newshour interviewed Cynthia Miller-Idriss, a professor from American University. She said the United States is on a list of failing democracies and this means, historically, it will take nine years to either save democracy or go fascist. Our work is ongoing.
Saw “Michael Flynn s holy wars “ onPBS . The worst is brewing. So many still in the dark about what the mid term is about.the ones that. Know are the ones trying to stop people from voting.
I watched that, too, and was literally terror-stricken. Watching the crowds of people who follow Flynn and practically drooling in ecstasy left me heartsick.
What often works for me is to try"liking" it an odd number of times; three usually works for me. then scroll down to other comments. Go back and check in a minute or less and the heart icon is most likely red. An even number of pushes seems to cancel your "like." This method just worked for me on Jeri's comment.
I have found that after clicking once on the heart, it may not go red, then after refreshing the page, going back to the comment I liked, the heart has turned red. It is just a minor display 'feature' on substack! 😉
I might suggest listening to the latest Amicus podcast with Dahlia Lithwick:
Description: Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Judge Michael Luttig for the definitive conversation on a giant elections case now on the calendar at the Supreme Court. Moore v Harper is a North Carolina redistricting case that is also a vehicle for the Independent State Legislature Theory - a so-called doctrine that could radically re-order democracy in America. Judge Luttig - a stalwart of conservative legal circles for decades - will argue the case as co-counsel alongside former Acting Solicitor General under Obama, Neal Katyal.
It's serious but not as dire as many are saying Forewarned is forearmed.
No two people are better suited to discuss this but especially Judge Luttig. He speaks directly to the case not supposing this or that about it. May be too academic or factual for some but so worth the time.
So a woman who believes that she is her husband's servant and belongs to a religious cult will determine whether America will continue as a democracy where individual votes matter? She can establish that a "legislature" made up flaming bigots out of The Handmaid's Tale can cancel the value of majority vote - cancel the value of your vote?
Yes. But, not at the Supremes are Conservative wing nuts. As the wonderful HCR wrote, “ Kelli Ward has asked the Supreme Court to block a subpoena from the January 6 committee for her phone records during the time she served as a fake elector to override the Arizona voters and over the period of January 6, 2021. Justice Elena Kagan has temporarily blocked enforcement of the subpoena so the full court can determine how to proceed.” Now, if only she should be cloned and replace Coney Barrett…
Bill, Justice Barrett is in a community, not a cult, within the very established Roman Catholic Church. And many an American male, Democrat, Republican or Independent, wishes his wife considered herself his servant. Them days are gone forever !
Absolutely YES!! Vote like your life depended on it because, as far as I can tell, it does. If Republicans do even half the damage they have promised, we won't recognize this world at all. Echoing Galilee Walker Wells and many others here: Please vote. Please
And December 7 was already a day that will live in infamy. Off to send out postcards. Have to do something, right? But I'm optimistic that Dems will prevail 11/8.
Nancy Pelosi's home was invaded last night around 2 am Lightning fast SF Police work captured the Perp who attacked Pelosi's husband with a hammer but, will be arraigned soon in State Court for attempted Murder.
Thanks, Bryan. Curious that my inbox has no news about this, despite my many subscriptions. Joyce Vance is the only one I have received information from. Her take is due to Speaker Pelosi's being third in line to the presidency, there could be federal charges filed as well.
It was Breaking news on WaPo around 9 a.m. EDT. Only an active news source will give us breaking news as it happens. Of course the cable news networks had it as it became known but I pretty much avoid them in the a.m. that's for reading papers, blogs and substacks.
Twitter, because it's where journalists hang out, will announce stuff pretty early but it either has to be trending or your following enough reports to hope to catch their Tweets. I dropped Twitter last week (after 12.5 years) in anticipation of Musk turning it into a melange of Gab, Parler and Truth Social.
Probably the least invasive way to catch breaking news is to ask your smart speaker to "Play NPR news" to get the latest 5 minute news update they run a the top and bottom of the hour.
HCR knows, you can't wait for news to come to you, you have to go seek it. ;-). Looking forward to her treatment of this in the morning.
Thanks so much, Christopher. This is very helpful to me. I will check my WaPo settings accordingly. Also, NPR. I'm a sometime Twitter follower, but now that Musk is in charge, will probably be less than "sometime" in the future.
NPR reported today that gas prices are falling again but emphasized that President Biden deserves no credit. The decline is seasonal and happens in the latter part of every year when vehicle travel declines.
Yet when prices are high the media blames Biden but not the oil companies, the world's most infamous price gougers, or inflation.
With the election looming, it was a sucker-punch way to approach a story. Why even mention Biden? Wait, we know why.
I'm so glad to hear that. This one really got to me. If I weren't spending my time writing post cards, I would be trying to figure out the best way to protest. Sigh....
My pleasure! I wasn't going to but as we got closer to Nov 8 (a few weeks ago) I realized that I had to do something tangible and traveling to canvas (nothing in DC!!) just wouldn't work right now. I'm grateful to the groups that have work organized so I can just show up and do!!!
So, TC, where do you get your news then? I am no fan of how most media operates, the tendency seems to be to cover both substantive issues and inane antics with equal weight. NPR seems to have pissed off both the left and right, so there must be some measure of independence there.
As for being financially gutted, NPR and my local affiliate NHPR, receive less than 5% (I think it's actually more like 2%) of their budget from government sources. The cuts of the 80s and 90s have more than made up by pledge drives, which, if anything, makes them more answerable to their listeners.
Steve I agree. NPR has its own series of problems, including a desire to really adhere to a "both sides-ist" view of political stuff that sends them to some really remarkably awful people for interviews. But this is--as much as I hate the presentation of people like Ralph Reed as supposedly "conservative" (instead of what the reality is, which is that he's a former KKK Grand Master and a shill for the fascists)--also because NPR really does desire to be a truth reporter that tries to present arguments with as much fairness as possible. However--and this is a big however--they are also completely swept up in the bizarre media frenzies that currently make up the structures of our national conversation. I respect many of the choices NPR reporters make--and also many of the feature programs, like One-A, which comes out of one of the Washington DC stations (formerly the Diane Reem Show until she retired) and is heard nationally--but I also realize that they are being steered, for editorial as well as strategic reasons, to soft-pedal some of their investigations and not to ask too challenging questions. But the hilarious "interview" of TFG by Steve Inskeep is a real demonstration of the ways in which NPR continues to prod the rabid dogs of the Right. I recommend comparing NPR coverage to BBC Radio 4--which I also listen to a lot (not the World Service, which is excellent but specifically for an international audience), or to Ireland's RTE. NPR might not be able to eviscerate people in the ways in which BBC Radio 4 comedy programs (such as The News Quiz or The Now Show) do, but they are definitely more thorough in their coverage and try to avoid the inevitable gotcha nonsense that the Beeb newscasters (their morning program Today is especially guilty of this) enjoy.
Republicans always hated NPR, PBS, CPB and have gutted them at every opportunity. I remember when they offered quality television with NO commercials or begging bull Schitt. Then the rats started gnawing.
NPR has gone down hill, no doubt. But your assessment is too harsh. There's still quality reporting, just not enough of it. And there are too many examples of shoddy work, like the gas price story. I also think you give Gingrich too much credit.
The flaws often reflect the growing ills of journalism. They include a near-obsession to politicize everything — and with an intense zeal for undermining Biden, not matter the topic. If Biden was 60 years old and hadn't been a political fixture for many decades, he would be viewed through a far less critical lens.
Without invoking emergency powers, presidents have little control over gas prices. Yet they get blamed when the prices are high and no credit when they're low. It's lazy reporting. Yesterday's story is based on hype: "we're holding Biden to account!" No, NPR, you're choosing not to report the complexities and instead deciding to make sure Biden gets no credit for seasonal falling gas prices when he's taken no credit for them.
Which is the reason for their treason. Goebbels on steroids. And MSM loves the money Fox rakes in so wants their cut. Plus, Dems are schitty at messaging.
"Yet when prices are high the media blames Biden but not the oil companies, the world's most infamous price gougers, or inflation."
Not just the media but most Americans blame Biden for high gas prices and othe high prices as well.
Which, is a complete puzzle to me because corporate earnings are public knowledge and Exxon Mobil profits and earnings have been at an all time high for more than a year.
Now, mind you, I actually own quite a bit of Exxon Mobil stock, which, any American can also own, so, I cannot say I am entirely unhappy with the current state of affairs, however, IF I were still poor, and still being crushed under the actuality of price gauging, I would be enraged.
At one point I did find an estimate of how much of the gas price is Exxon Mobil profit but I cannot find it now.
At any rate, I do think that Exxon Mobil gauging Americans on price is NOT something I would be doing if I were CEO.
However, since I am just a stockholder? Well, color me ambivalent.
One option to consider is to divest of fossil fuels altogether as we in our family and others have done and many funds are now doing. Given the UN's announcement yesterday that contributions to global warming are still increasing instead of decreasing it is a reminder that moving away from fossil fuels needs to speed up, not slow down. Big oil and their lobbyists are all too happy to keep us on the slow path and prices at the pump are as much political as they are anything else with the Saudi's decision to openly hurt Biden and help the GOP by cutting production. We need everything possible to move away from our dependency on fossil fuels to more sustainable forms of energy. Without tackling this, every one of our other issues is moot IMO.
Here is just one example of how institutions are divesting from fossil fuels. I am not from WA but this one in Seattle is a good example of where positive change is being made.
My post did lead with that divestment is "one option to consider". You are obviously planning to keep your stock as is your right but, you are also doing it with full knowledge of how Big Oil lied to you, me and everyone on the planet to create their "ramp".
Maybe you kept your stock in Philip Morris, too but the Big Oil ramp is also one that Big Science predicts in some of the worst case scenarios to go from 8b world pop (in Nov) to,...well,...zero should we continue on the same path.
Our own country is the biggest culprit that at 338m pop and 4% +/- of the world pop consumes just over 20% of the world's oil. We shouldn't have to disagree this is a standard we should be setting a better example for.
Good work is being done on long-haul transport as Tesla Semi, Scania and even Freightliner are coming out with fleets of a new generation of large electric transport vehicles. And even Big AG is preparing for the same future which while slightly behind the timing of transport is coming soon to replace the inefficient diesel tractor of the past.
I post only when I can, Mike. I read them a lot more and I have seen your enthusiasm as some I can mostly agree with. I hope that we can find a lot more common ground because it is truly needed in this place and time. I did not make my original post as a challenge or an affront to yours. I have been a conservationist for over fifty years when what we called (then) "energy-conscious design" in college showed us the future that is now here. We've known this day was coming so, to many of us it's not a surprise. What we are tasked with Now is, what are we going to do about it?
Thank you for a very respectful, thoughtful, post. I did not take your original post as a challenge but as it was: An option.
What I responded with was poorly written.
Oil, in my mind, is complex. At the moment, it is simply not possible to replace it.
Note: I am spending $44,000 to plant trees on 50 acres of my property instead of farming it. This will never pay out because I am 62.
I drive a Ford Focus that gets 38 mpg. NOT a giant truck and I am actually farming, not just driving back and forth the car wash with my truck.
I am trying to do what I can BK. Seriously. But, in my own mind, transitioning away from oil is still mostly talk. And, it is still mostly not being done by anyone.
And, the reason is: It is not possible to do so yet.
Until we sort out a real pathway to human existence without oil, I am not going to be an early adopter to a golden brick road that vanishes half way up it.
We have to have some kind of real road we can walk on, and, I just don't see it yet.
I apologize for, perhaps, not having enough vision to see it.
Yes, one could say current human population is UNSUSTAINABLY supported by fossil fuel. And it's not just agricultural mechanization. We actually pour fossil fuels onto crops via agrichemcials (fertilizer, pest/herbi-cides, etc)
And like microbes in a petri dish, when the food/energy supply is gone, there will be a human population crash.
That crash will be traumatic and lead to huge societal dysfunction, perhaps even human extinction.
The solution is to not only wean ourselves of unsustainable energy sources, but, importantly, to reduce our population, humanely, because it is artificially inflated via the easy energy from fossil fuel.
However, human success hinges upon a habitable planet with ample resources and viable ecosystem services, which may indeed be adversely impacted by climate changes caused directly by our fossil fuel consumption
"one could say current human population is UNSUSTAINABLY supported by fossil fuel. And it's not just agricultural mechanization. We actually pour fossil fuels onto crops via agrichemcials (fertilizer, pest/herbi-cides, etc)"
Exactly correct. However, what is the alternative path?
There are 7.8 billion people to feed right now, almost all of them being fed by fossil fuel farming.
IF we stop that out of concern for the environment, which, would be OK with me, what will happen?
Practically speaking, we HAVE to have a practical way to at least try to support the existing population as we form a vision of a no oil future.
We cannot just say: Stop pumping the wells and let us see what happens.
A ramp that enabled our population to go from less than a billion in 1880 to now 7.8 billion? You make that sound as if its a good thing - not something that is overwhelming this entire planet! Yes we need alternative food platforms - but quite honestly, NOT an increase in our (human) population. There are too many of us now.
It is scary tho - & I live "out" - not way out, but in the country & wouldnt live anywhere else - less people the better. Sound like a hermit dont I? And I agree - not possible to just turn oil wells off - snap!
But we sure do have some fixing to do - before theres nothing left to fix. There are so many many things - its hard to concentrate on just one.
Dear Mike...you frequently cause me to drop everything else and do more homework. While this doesn’t specifically answer what oil profits are now, this article smacked me upside the head as a reminder of how our whole system works. (If you don’t have the time to read...profit margins.)https://www.steverrobbins.com/articles/oilprofitsexplained/
Honestly, thank you, but, I am just a regular guy who likes Dr. Richardson's writing style and mostly agree with her perspective, and, then, all of the people commenting seem well written and thoughtful so here I am.
Exxon is hardly alone in pricing for profit under the cover of the inflation story. We are being gouged and it is only being hollered about by Robert Reich.
Michael, and why are people complaining about gas prices in the summer? ...... because it is travel time in their big trucks and big cars and travel homes that drink fuel ....and you are correct also about the oil companies and greedy price gougers. Inflation is also being experienced world wide. President Biden and the Democratic party are working hard everyday to relieve many burdens for those who struggle in multible areas of life. Look at what he and the Democratics have done! We need to keep that long list available and outfront. President Biden knows how to lead, he knows how to work with people for the United States of America....and for freedom throughout the world. VOTE!
And more could have been done with help from fellow republicans who loved America more than self-serving power.
"Yet when prices are high the media blames Biden but not the oil companies."
It's simply not allowed to question the oil companies. Like the WS bankers, they get whatever they want; and are always making record profits. The oil companies and WS bankers (e.g., Goldman Sachs among others) always follow the advice of Nixon's hatchetman, Chuck Colson, who advised, "When you've got 'em by the b---s, squeeze!" And that is the position we Americans find ourselves in--we've been squeezed for far too long.
Every year the government pays the oil companies billions in subsidies, and the companies also receive billions in tax incentives. But despite all this there is little if any affect on oil prices. In other words, it's all gravy while consumers bear the brunt of higher prices.
And from The Guardian today: "The cumulative profits for the seven biggest private sector oil drillers [globally] during the first nine months of 2022 could hit $173 billion, according to analyst forecasts collated by S&P Global Market Intelligence and reported earnings."
Presidents have just about zero control over inflation. Especially this version which was created by a pandemic and a foolish reliance on a supply chain from China.
Our local NPR stations GBH and BUR are exceptional. They are 70% funded by listeners. Excellent mix of local, national and international news.
And while sometimes I want Judy Woodruff to scream at Senator John Thune as he dances around the obscenity of his party - that's not her job.
There may be flaws in PBS and NPR's reporting (name something perfect) but it is the most reliable news sources we have - light years ahead of the rest.
Yes, the Rethuglicans have been trying to gut public broadcasting. But they have failed - so far.
"In related news, a panel of three judges, all appointed by Trump, recently declared unconstitutional the system that funds the CFPB." The CFPB plays an excellent role for the ordinary citizen as a check on financial institutions taking advantage of consumers especially around mortgages, credit cards, and student loans. I studied its charter back in 2010 when it was formed and was very impressed with how it was set up and operates. This ruling sure looks like a partisan action by the three MAGA judges yet again siding with big money Republican donors to the detriment of the People. With the Extreme Court likely to uphold this ruling will be yet another blow to especially the middle class and more erosion of the Rule of Law. Party and Patrons should not override Country and Constituents!!
I’ve been looking for more info on why this ruling happened. Most people do not even know what CFPB is.
Consumer Financial Protection Board. The fact that poser opposers announced their bs right after President Biden clarified going after the countless hidden fees, many of which really gets my dander riled up, I thought to myself you liars call yourselves servants of the people. Go f*ck yourselves.
Most hidden fees override any savings to the consumer that the company or service touts to get customers. Corpo passive aggression as far as I’m concerned. Rope-a-dope nonsense.
I too suspect this will become the really big story for SCOTUS watchers next term. Marvelous way to defund big gov and deregulate banking, usury, et al.
I am so afraid that we are all speaking to the choir. How do we get the message out to those who don’t follow you, and many of the more typical news outlets?
A very good friend told me Beto can’t win. And being that we’re very close, I said then shut up and get out of my way! And I meant it! I said I’m sick of the naysayers! He said well I’m going to vote for him. So I said then sound like it! Stop sabotaging the election! He back pedaled. I said people like you are making it a bigger hill to climb. Stop being negative and join the fight! He needed a ride home so he quit talking. It’s not always the other side that are in the way. We’re not trying to convince the stout Republicans to vote for Beto and blue. We’re trying to get the ones who don’t vote to vote blue. My group of like minded friends have been writing postcards, doing block walks, making phone calls, encouraging people to go to hear Beto.
Maybe we can’t change everyone’s mind. But that’s okay if we can convince the people who don’t always vote or who are undecided. But Tarrant Co has the worst voting record in the U.S.! So we’re working hard for those votes!
BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO That's what more need to be doing. I have a WhatsApp video chat with a friend in Texas and I'm going to grill him on what he is personally doing to support Beto and Dems.
Voted for him yesterday In Tarrant, still don’t know why Dems don’t tell about Repubs plans to gut SS and Medicare. It would be a barn burner, even among MAGAts.
Abbutt’s goal for his NRA constituents is to be the leading state in gun sales. He was at an NRA gun convention just days after Uvalde and contradicted everything he said to the parents of the Robb school massacre. He always says it could’ve been worse. Not for those parents it couldn’t be!
So, I read about this incident. Seems weird to me that when you are carrying a firearm, it is one thing to have a justification for use of the weapon; with that also should come the responsibility for each round that comes out of that weapon as it is fired.
Just because you cal legally carry and justifiably use a firearm, you should also be accountable for the results. I know that a cop in similar circumstances would be liable for that death. Why not a civilian?
Gov. NRA is vermin, Patrick is a louse, Paxton is pond scum, but their ads tweak the fear of brown/black people. And too many of those think they are not talking about them. You are 109% right Lisa. The ghouls rule for now. Go Beto
Texas leads the nation in deadly mass shootiings, and under Abbott’s leadership he has made it easier to buy and carry weapons of war, refused to meet with Uvalde parents who travelled to the state capitol, and would not call a special session to address escalating gun violence. His proclamations of being pro life are a joke.
He is Mr. Death. But he is giving parents DNA kits to identify their children who are not identifiable after a mass shooting with assault weapons. How very compassionate.
Many HCR readers share her Letters from an American on their Twitter and/or Facebook pages. In her Facebook video chats, Heather periodically mentions the powerful means of influencing others: talking with our friends, family, neighbors, acquaintances. Word spreads around, plants seeds.
We are learning why there was once something called the Fairness Doctrine which was enforced by the FCC in radio and television up to about 1986 are we not?
Because, the main reason we cannot "get the message" out; a message that Biden is actually running a capable and effective Presidency is because:
Fox News and AM radio are pounding on the evil Dems and especially the evil Bidens as if they are Satan themselves. The wording used sounds ever so much like a Sunday preacher spitting on everybody as he condemns sinners (whomever that preacher does not like that Sunday).
AND? Since many Americans sit in church and listen to this kind of demonization and bombast coming from the preacher around "sinners" and whomever else the preacher does not like that week?
Well, Fox News and AM radio listeners are normed to that kind of talk and "BELIEVE" the propaganda.
So, without the Fairness Doctrine, killed by Reagan in the 1980's as part of his pay for play Presidency........anyone that Rupert Murdoch does not like is doomed.
I follow Chris Tackett here in Ft Worth. He posted a video of a local minister pushing republican candidates in his Sunday service this last Sunday! The minister said we’re not endorsing these candidates, just saying they are a part of our church family. Several people I work with go to that church! It’s hard to know what’s going on and keep silent about it!
"He said we’re not endorsing these candidates, just saying they are a part of our church family"
Denise. In this one sentence you find all of the reasons I left the Baptist church in 1982 once I arrived in college.
Because: ONE MAN, a preacher at the front of the church, has too much influence and is so often way out in the weeds wrong that it is a crime against humanity. I clearly remember the day I last walked out of a Baptist church and decided, that's it. Never again.
Absolutely nothing could be farther from Jesus teaching of acceptance, love, tolerance, and valuing diversity than recommending political candidates from the pulpit OR ranting about who is going to hell and who is not.
Because, those preachers have no more idea about heaven or hell and whether such places even exist than the chipmunk in my back yard. Or me. Or anyone.
I've heard of this kind of subtle politicking in just about every denomination. And it has brought me to ponder the tax status of all of these churches. I know it may seem like 'pay to play' but I sometimes feel that the exemptions granted are not warranted, whether state, local, or federal. I am not a member of any organized religion, and regard them the same way Groucho Marx would.
It’s very complicated. I just erased my text telling you why. I don’t feel safe even speaking the truth. I have to stay silent on this during contract hours! Or with some colleagues! But outside school, I’m marching and ranting!
But Denise, you don’t share your last name, so with a little obfuscation such as “my workplace” instead of “ABC company” or “specifically named federal or state agency”, how would anyone be able to identify you? I am troubled on your behalf, that some power makes you afraid to speak even anonymously here.
I specifically have been told I’m being watched on social media. A fellow teacher turned me in to admin for something on Facebook. So just playing by their rules for the time being. Sort of.
I would spit in his putrid face. You called out my obsession for 30 years. Gave up on church when I heard Fox BS spouted from the pulpit. I thought “we aren’t that stupid” but we were.
Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. That is where to speak out. Also on your FB pages. Letters to the editor of your local paper. Local groups. Speak up and speak out.
The Republican would-be chairmen on the Senate finance committee and House Banking Committee today took the opportunity right after Biden's event to announce that they plan to "enforce our Article I powers to regulate" the CFPB. In other words, it will be war.
Why oh why oh why aren't the Dims trumpeting the fact that the Republicans have already introduced legislation to kill the Medicare power to negotiate drug prices and the insulin price cap? Why aren't they trumpeting what people have gotten from CFPB that Republicans plan to take away immediately?
They're FINALLY starting to get it on Social Security threats from Skeletor (or is he more Red Skull?) and RonJon.
Every single thing people like, the Republicans want to kill. Why oh why aren't they campaigning on these things? They have PROOF FROM POLLING that the stuff they are campaigning on is actively depressing support and turnout!
Repuiblicans have spent $80 million on 123 ads about economic issues. Democrats have spent $10 million on 32 ads on economic issues.
And they sit there looking around going "what happened?" and wondering why they're down.
These people can't find their ass with both hands on a clear day with a two hour advance notice.
Everyone should send this letter to the DNC and the goober who ¨runs¨ it. When he and the committee ask for $$$ I tell them no. I give to those they ignore and support those like Politics Girl who actually has strong messages.
Well TC. It’s in character for the the Repugnant ones to squall up misleading economic issues that even the weatherman can’t find. It’s in character for them to spend 3 times more money than your Dims. And lastly since they have corks up their asses instead of any coherent policies, they have to buffoon their way to the polls lying and misrepresenting the truth about economic issues. They have nothing to offer voters except an innate ability to keep their mouths in motion. I really don’t have any idea which American voters are stupid enough to elect men to congress who have declared openly that they refuse to do their damn jobs but still want their payday. I don’t retain people who lie to me and refuse to perform their function no matter how many of my ugly babies they offer to kiss.
"Every single thing people like, the Republicans want to kill. "
TC, hear your angst: Why are the Democrats unable to get their message out?
I really do think it is entirely due to the blanket of propaganda currently being laid down by Fox and AM radio.
Perhaps the best way for Republicans/Americans to become truly informed is to: Get what they want: Republicans in power in both houses and killing all the programs they rely on.
Let's see how that works out for them TC.
Let Social Security vanish.
Let the CFPB vanish.
Let the EPA vanish,
and let the only thing that matters be big corporations, which, is not far from what America is now anyway, and let us see how Americans like the fact that ONLY an (of course white) American CEO has rights and privileges in America.
Something I just did recently was use the Repug's play book by headlining a shared Atlantic article with ¨Putin Is Slaughtering Innocent Women and Children in Ukraine. Kevin McCarthy Supports Putin¨ McCarthy and many others now are supporting Putin's war and want to either end aid or drastically cut it. This is what needs to happen on Social Media to grab attention.
So very tempting, isn't it. Fighting with the "other side" is exhausting, especially when I get the sense that we're just two dogs being sicc'ed on each other so we won't notice that our food dishes and doggy beds are being stolen, since the willingness to fight each other comprises much of the problem. It's so tempting to just relax and watch it all fall, then laugh as our one-time opponents pick through the rubble they voted for.
But by then, we'll all be "pickled." It's really hard to unpickle a pickle.
In the case where an ignorant population, with both houses of Congress as Republican, blaming the Dems for losing Social Security, Consumer protections and environmental protections and even the right to vote?
"No nation is permitted to live in ignorance with impunity." --Thomas Jefferson: Virginia Board of Visitors Minutes, 1821. ME 19:408
As soon as we decry the population ignorant we have lost the battle. If I declare all engineers ignorant to preface my conversation I have lost even my own son. They are angry, Mike.
But the planet won’t survive for our grands with more years of the insanity. I’m old, but I fear for not just America, but the world. Even with all hands on deck it will be a struggle. With ignorance in charge, well, I cannot speak from the grave. But I’m not dead yet. I can still roar. Why can’t Dems??!
Except such an action will hurt millions of people who do vote D and do NOT deserve the crushing blow that elimination of their ONLY source of money (Social Security) would bring.
You must have seen "Rollerball" - the James Caan, Walter Houseman movie based on the Esquire short story "Roller Ball Murder"; the corporations rule the world.
Thank you, Professor. What an art to be able to weave together critical news of the day, without editorializing. You leave that to the readers. And isn’t it amazing that despite all the TFG background noise, the Biden Administration continues to work for all the people. Bet that irks TFG. I’m wondering if that guy will really parachute in to his waiting fans. Wouldn’t that earn him some kudos! And some attention.
I voted on Monday by taking my ballot in to the Election office, in my Northern California town, so I could get “I Voted” stickers for my grandkids and thank the Election Workers. I could have mailed it in, dropped it at the Dropbox or Voted in person. Today I received a message online that my vote was received and counted. Democracy is working here in our town.
Marlene, yes, thank goodness! Voting in person feels like a celebration. And it is . I spent several days researching and learning more about down ballot and local choices, plus judges. And propositions. Every issue and candidate choice feels even more critical this year.
"a nice surprise when I finally noticed it as I was reading about the not-necessarily-wildly-exciting world of junk fees"
Not wildly exciting, but perhaps an indicator of a dramatic change of direction from monopolistic impunity of American companies for whom innovation most often means finding additional ways to gouge the consumer, with concocted add on "fees" as a rationale for price increases. Just as Reagan Republicans intended, gigantic quasi-monopolies now make the rules that the public must follow to participate in commerce, instead of vice versa. This is an introductory claw-back.
Heather, thanks for pointing out the feud bubbling up between DeSatan and 45. Couldn’t make me happier than to see them rain on each other’s parade....VOTE BLUE!
As usual, Joe and staff work while the Pro-Rape Party members gripe and threaten the public. I wanted to watch the debate between McCarthy and his opponent, Marissa Wood, but I do not get the channel here. I am certain Qevin will be a shoo-in in his gross little town of Bakersfield. The thought of him being the House leader just turns my stomach.
Anyway, we are getting down to the wire now. No more farting around. Do what all of you can to spread HRC’s or Robert Hubbell’s words. Our lives depend on a free and a democratic country!
Thanks for the bat mention. So fun! So nice to have a human being in the White House again. Authoritarians are no fun! With the recent news that the guy who plowed his truck into a bunch of people is serving multiple life sentences, the guys who plotted to kidnap Whitmer were found guilty, and the Parkland shooter was also found guilty, I want to say again, we need better mental health services. When the press and our society says they don't yet know the motive or the motive was "XYZ," they are missing it. All of these now criminals are troubled. Many years ago, they needed someone to ask them, "Are you OK?" What's wrong?" "How can I help?" If someone turns down help, OK. At least we tried. But if no one offers the help, we may end up with innocent people at the other end of an AK 15. I think this could also relate to many Trump voters who are angry, full of hate, racist, although most of them will not end up shooting anyone. Some people live very difficult lives when they're young, with parents who are cruel, abusive, neglectful, with not enough to eat or other aspects of poverty, bullying in school to the point of physical injury not to mention psychological injury, with nowhere to turn. No one to help. No one who cares. We cannot simply punish to fix the problem. Punishment is not a fix. We need to start earlier, with intervention and prevention. The motive was not that they hate. The motive was that they were unloved, neglected, harmed by those who should have cared for them, harmed at what should be a safe space—school, and they are depressed, angry, hateful, hopeless as a result. https://www.npr.org/2022/06/14/1105082501/can-the-next-school-shooting-be-prevented-with-compassion
Professor, I'm not sure the best descriptor for Ye's line of shoes for racists is "sneaker."
From the Online Etymology Dictionary, "sneaker," from 1590s, "one who sneaks," agent noun from sneak (v.). Meaning "rubber-soled shoe" is attested from 1895, American English; earlier sneak (1862), so called because the shoe was noiseless. See also plimsoll; another early name for them was tackies (1902), from tacky.
He sure didn't sneak into, or out of, Skechers! I've always thought everything he did was tacky (i.e. "poor taste and quality") and this was no different. For the record, I'm not expecting him to change.
Plimsolls! I'd forgotten it. That's what tennis shoes were when I was a very small child in England. And when I got to Australia they were "sandshoes", then "runners". They've been through quite a few changes since then, largely dependent on American television.
Wow. This was a tweet from Rob Reiner. It will never end. We must all keep energy up.
_¨On Dec.7, the Supreme Court will hear a case that will determine if State Legislatures have the sole power to elect our next President. The only way to prevent that is to hold onto Congress and pass Voting Rights. If you’re not scared of creeping Fascism, you’re not alive. VOTE!¨
Creeping?
The creeping putsch is over, the creepie-crawlie fascists have come out from the woodwork they were eating. Now they're into eating one another -- Nights of Long Knives scheduled...
Next on their menu, We...
*
Look at the news from Iran now, where the people are ALIVE and daring to die for their freedom!
Then, at America's million upon million sleeping couch potatoes... ready-for-the-cooking-pot potatoes.
And set those last alarms screaming their final WAKE-UP call!
I don't think they've been creeping for quite a while. We aren't creeping toward an authoritarian rule by the minority. We have arrived. We have this election coming up, and it is unbelievably and urgently important. We're fighting for our lives and the lives of our children and grandchildren on this one. The Supreme Court is gone unless the Dems can get over our qualms about this or that and pack the court. We have this election, the one that historically goes to the party not in the White House. And that cannot happen.
Jeri, I don't know about you, but this old woman has become so agitated that, even when I'm not thinking about the election, I find myself so fidgety I can't stay in my chair for long. I'm up, wandering around, snapping my fingers.
Folks, let's vote.
Yes!
And everyone who's awake to the incalculable danger...
Spread the message, spread that useful fear!
If you can, scare people into voting, cajole them, drive them, help them -- especially the young who don't take this seriously, don't realize that inaction can ruin their lives and everyone else's, including the evil idiots who are sawing off the branch we're all sitting on.
Show them this ... and ask, "WHO ARE WE, AND WHAT IS US ...? Deciding times ...:
https://georgiarecorder.com/2022/10/20/bookman-top-republicans-embrace-marjorie-taylor-greenes-violent-rhetoric/
It says "This site is not available in your country".
Could you summarize, Kathleen, or do the last 7 words of the link say it all?
LAST SEVEN WORDS:
GOD SAVE AMERICA - HEAVEN HELP US ALL!!!
Here's the article and videos below:
Bookman: Top Republicans embrace Marjorie Taylor Greene’s violent rhetoric - Jay Bookman 10/20/2022
(Georgia Recorder - georgiarecorder.com)
"In a recent campaign video, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican from Georgia, likened Democrats to destructive feral hogs allowed to range free and destroy the American countryside.
"But Marjorie had a solution:
"As the camera followed her, she grabbed a rifle and climbed aboard a waiting helicopter, where she tracked down and shot a fleeing hog. In the next scene, quite pleased with herself, Greene posed next to her dead prey and invited supporters to enter a free drawing, with the winner accompanying her on her next hog-killing expedition.
"In a healthy political climate, members of both parties would unite to condemn such a message. But that is not the climate in which we live. To the contrary, lest anyone have moral qualms about the message of such a video, Greene offered an answer for that too. At a Trump rally in Michigan this month, she told the crowd that “we are all targets now though, for daring to push back against the regime…. I am not going to mince words with you all. Democrats want Republicans dead and they have already started the killings.”
"So … kill or be killed.
"It would be nice to be able to dismiss that talk as the rantings of a loon, which on one level it is. But the rantings are being delivered by a loon invited to speak at a series of rallies by the former president of the United States, a man who remains the favorite for becoming the GOP presidential nominee in 2024, which implies a high level of support for such sentiments.
"And instead of shunning Greene and condemning her remarks, other top Republicans are embracing her, happy to bask in her malevolent glow. JD Vance, the GOP’s Senate candidate in Ohio, has appeared alongside Greene at campaign events, as have Doug Mastriano, the extremist GOP candidate for governor in Pennsylvania, and many others. Far from a pariah, she’s the GOP’s new “it girl,” the one everybody wants to be seen with.
"In fact, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has made it clear that if Republicans gain control of the House and make him speaker, he would reward Greene with a much more prominent role in party leadership
"“I think that to be the best speaker of the House and to please the base, (McCarthy) is going to give me a lot of power and a lot of leeway,” Greene predicted in an interview with a writer for the New York Times. “And if he doesn’t, they’re going to be very unhappy about it. I think that’s the best way to read that. And that’s not in any way a threat at all. I just think that’s reality.”
"Greene is not particularly bright – anyone who believes that forest fires are caused by space lasers controlled by the Rothschilds falls a few pennies short of a nickel. But what she knows she knows. She knows her party’s base and its obsessions, because they are her obsessions; she knows her party’s leadership. She knows that leadership is terrified of its base, and she knows that because she is the embodiment of that base, the leaders are by extension terrified of her. These days, nobody in the Republican tribe is voted off the island because you’re a racist or insurrectionist or because you espouse violence. But you dare to publicly condemn those things, you’ll be sent to sit with Liz Cheney.
"Greene also knows, probably through instinct, that if you say crazy things with certainty and conviction, it is the certainty and conviction that people will find impressive, that will mark you as a leader to be followed. For example, in recent months Greene and others in her party have taken to calling the Biden administration “the regime,” as she does in the comments quoted above. Why? Because a regime is illegitimate; a regime is imposed on a people through force, rather than emanating from that people. You don’t remove a regime through elections, because elections are not how the regime gained power in the first place. Calling it a regime is a subtle justification for using violence in its overthrow.
"It’s important to acknowledge that no political party or movement is immune to the lure of violence. It is not an inherently Republican thing or a Democratic thing; it is a human thing. Part of the responsibility of leadership is to recognize that frailty in ourselves and others and try to tamp it down rather than provoke it. But at this moment in American history, members of only one party are featuring assault weapons prominently in their campaign ads and even family Christmas cards. Only one party is tolerating and even promoting the likes of Greene, with none daring to condemn her message.
"It should not be difficult to state that the outcome of elections should be honored, and that violence is never the solution. If those things can no longer be said, if we no longer have broad acceptance of those two bottom-line propositions, if stating and defending them makes you anathema to a large chunk of America, then we no longer have a democracy or even a country.
"What you first act out through make-believe you can later make reality. That final step, that step from play-acting to acting, is much less daunting once you’ve had sufficient rehearsal, which is what we’re witnessing.
"In his 1951 book “The True Believer,” American philosopher Eric Hoffer explores the phenomenon of mass movements and extremists. To the fanatic, Hoffer writes, “chaos is his element. When the old order begins to crack, he wades in with all his might and recklessness to blow the whole hated present to high heaven. He glories in the sight of a world coming to a sudden end.”
"Greene is such a fanatic, as are many others in the rising New Right who are riding racism and hatred and fear, who hint openly at the necessity for violence if the change they seek cannot be produced through the ballot box. Speaking personally, I am not ready to see this world with all its shortcomings come to a sudden end. But such fires, once ignited, can be difficult to suppress."
https://georgiarecorder.com/2022/10/20/bookman-top-republicans-embrace-marjorie-taylor-greenes-violent-rhetoric/
*****
Here's the video & website invite to join the hunt:
Hog Hunting With MTG
https://action.mtgpeopleoverpoliticians.com/mtg-hoghunt/
... in case you can't see it, here is the script to the video:
"WE'VE GOT SKYROCKETING INFLATION
HIGH DIESEL FUEL AND DEMOCRATS'
AMERICA LAST POLICIES
DEMOCRATS AREN'T THE ONLY ONES
DESTROYING FARMERS' ABILITY
TO PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE
WE'VE GOT WILD HOGS
DESTROYING FARMERS' FIELDS
SO WE DECIDED TO GO HOG HUNTING
LET'S HELP AMERICAN FARMERS OUT
{{ VERY MACHO VIDEO CLIPS OF THE HUNT }}
SIGN UP BELOW
AND LET'S GO IN
THAT HELICOPTER
AND GO HOG HUNTING
ENTER TO WIN NOW
WWW.MTGHOGHUNT.COM
SAVE AMERICA
STOP COMMUNISM
[[PAID FOR BY MARJORIE TAYLOR GREEN'S
PEOPLE OVER POLITICIANS COMMITTEE AND
PAID FOR BY GREENE FOR CONGRESS]]
***
HOG HUNT WITH MTG
SIGN UP BELOW
ENTER TO WIN
HOG HUNT WITH MTG
***
This is Marjorie Taylor Greene. I want you to come HOG HUNTING on a helicopter with me in Texas!
{{ MORE MACHO PIX }}
Would you like to join me? SIGN UP USING THE FORM ABOVE!
By signing up you’ll get a chance to win:
A hog Hunting trip for 2 with MTG.
Round trip airfare, ground transportation, and lodging!
Someone has to win...might as well be you!
-Marjorie Taylor Greene
https://action.mtgpeopleoverpoliticians.com/mtg-hoghunt/
*****
... on YouTube:
Helicopter Hog Hunt in Texas - Book Yours Today!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERJWEDVoNQM
We have voted, mailed ours at a post office. We will know when it has arrived and acceptable to be counted. The Oregon way...no postage required either. I did read someone who reported that they had voted in another state and there was a security guard by the drop box in case some wing nut arrived with a gun. One of my theories is this is part of the reason that Rs have refused to do anything about guns....it helps them when they want to intimidate. So tired of hearing what can we do about all the shootings. There is a proposition 114 on the Oregon ballot which is a start on the gun problem. I think it will pass because people are fed up with the nonsense especially young people, some of whom are old enough to vote.
Just received a text from the CA Secretary of State that my ballot - mailed 3 days ago! - has been received and counted.
Got a notification this am that my ballot have been accepted for counting. This could be so easy.
Creeping no more, full-on frontal assault.
Last night's PBS newshour interviewed Cynthia Miller-Idriss, a professor from American University. She said the United States is on a list of failing democracies and this means, historically, it will take nine years to either save democracy or go fascist. Our work is ongoing.
Anyone who hasn't seen this coming has been sleeping!
Thanks, Valerie!
Saw “Michael Flynn s holy wars “ onPBS . The worst is brewing. So many still in the dark about what the mid term is about.the ones that. Know are the ones trying to stop people from voting.
I watched that, too, and was literally terror-stricken. Watching the crowds of people who follow Flynn and practically drooling in ecstasy left me heartsick.
Hitler has risen. Squash him NOW.
Heart, Jeri, it the system won’t show it.
What often works for me is to try"liking" it an odd number of times; three usually works for me. then scroll down to other comments. Go back and check in a minute or less and the heart icon is most likely red. An even number of pushes seems to cancel your "like." This method just worked for me on Jeri's comment.
I dont know what this means.
Just that I tried to put a like on Jeri's post, but the system wouldn't let me. It does that sometimes.
I have found that after clicking once on the heart, it may not go red, then after refreshing the page, going back to the comment I liked, the heart has turned red. It is just a minor display 'feature' on substack! 😉
Click on the refresh button
I agree, the Fascists are no longer "creeping", they are running full tilt.
I might suggest listening to the latest Amicus podcast with Dahlia Lithwick:
Description: Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Judge Michael Luttig for the definitive conversation on a giant elections case now on the calendar at the Supreme Court. Moore v Harper is a North Carolina redistricting case that is also a vehicle for the Independent State Legislature Theory - a so-called doctrine that could radically re-order democracy in America. Judge Luttig - a stalwart of conservative legal circles for decades - will argue the case as co-counsel alongside former Acting Solicitor General under Obama, Neal Katyal.
It's serious but not as dire as many are saying Forewarned is forearmed.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/amicus-with-dahlia-lithwick-law-justice-and-the-courts/id928790786
That’s a powerful combination!
No two people are better suited to discuss this but especially Judge Luttig. He speaks directly to the case not supposing this or that about it. May be too academic or factual for some but so worth the time.
Truer words were never spoken!
Authored by Judge Luttig. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/10/moore-v-harper-independent-legislature-theory-supreme-court/671625/
I thought he articulated it perfectly in the podcast. He’s so measured in the words and phrasing and he is the definition of being neutral.
New York Times summary for everyone. Thanks Gailee. I had, of course, no idea.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/06/us/politics/supreme-court-state-legislatures-elections.html?unlocked_article_code=xqYZx4RgH5jJCP9cwZGlnYulXK4eKyNRrJumQ3zFtm5pGk0Ww7hL2pp-Cu-aokVBELLwf1FXKQ402v5ME1iacscQjpwcanx3xv0WJfyQeZaUe2hZcX8rW2_3Xav48NAFrpAp9SM4xVMD1S44p0DAAeekktn9wncoEQR37UtKpzeTy9t8_YevkLkKG-7o5EeV5auYw6HFxfwG8er44gqM8C77cAY_HjWXgPFYTEOYCQ4_vmy5dFOzZIA8rVVeNCF7zuJOyyB4jca20TU_RjarI9l69uQjso8GjpHsyM0NPCPwp6lKPTwSY0CmiBUClqndnccKAW4EjFzv_T7U1svS84ehQ8ajRiEAgTjb8I7mlGtc1N_2uU8OtQ&smid=share-url
The horrible Moore v Harper lawsuit is in support of NC's egregiously gerrymandered districts. It is a power grab, pure and simple.
The NC billionaires never gave up. Just bided their time, knowing that the SC was theirs
So a woman who believes that she is her husband's servant and belongs to a religious cult will determine whether America will continue as a democracy where individual votes matter? She can establish that a "legislature" made up flaming bigots out of The Handmaid's Tale can cancel the value of majority vote - cancel the value of your vote?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/amy-coney-barrett-people-of-praise/2020/10/06/5f497d8c-0781-11eb-859b-f9c27abe638d_story.html
https://www.newsweek.com/what-people-praise-cult-tied-amy-coney-barrett-1713161
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/06/people-of-praise-accused-child-abuse-amy-coney-barrett
Yes. But, not at the Supremes are Conservative wing nuts. As the wonderful HCR wrote, “ Kelli Ward has asked the Supreme Court to block a subpoena from the January 6 committee for her phone records during the time she served as a fake elector to override the Arizona voters and over the period of January 6, 2021. Justice Elena Kagan has temporarily blocked enforcement of the subpoena so the full court can determine how to proceed.” Now, if only she should be cloned and replace Coney Barrett…
Bill, Justice Barrett is in a community, not a cult, within the very established Roman Catholic Church. And many an American male, Democrat, Republican or Independent, wishes his wife considered herself his servant. Them days are gone forever !
Bill,
I just want Barret to give my wife some lessons!
:-)
Absolutely YES!! Vote like your life depended on it because, as far as I can tell, it does. If Republicans do even half the damage they have promised, we won't recognize this world at all. Echoing Galilee Walker Wells and many others here: Please vote. Please
As recommended below (link is there), I suggest listening to the Amicus podcast episode about this case.
I suggest listening to Amicus weekly.
It's the Moore v Harper case from North Carolina, I think?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore_v._Harper
https://www.carolinajournal.com/u-s-supreme-court-to-hear-n-c-redistricting-dispute-on-dec-7/
Brewing and bubbling...
And December 7 was already a day that will live in infamy. Off to send out postcards. Have to do something, right? But I'm optimistic that Dems will prevail 11/8.
Nancy Pelosi's home was invaded last night around 2 am Lightning fast SF Police work captured the Perp who attacked Pelosi's husband with a hammer but, will be arraigned soon in State Court for attempted Murder.
Not one word of concern from any Republican that I've heard as of 7 p.m. Friday eventing EDT.
Thanks, Bryan. Curious that my inbox has no news about this, despite my many subscriptions. Joyce Vance is the only one I have received information from. Her take is due to Speaker Pelosi's being third in line to the presidency, there could be federal charges filed as well.
It was Breaking news on WaPo around 9 a.m. EDT. Only an active news source will give us breaking news as it happens. Of course the cable news networks had it as it became known but I pretty much avoid them in the a.m. that's for reading papers, blogs and substacks.
Twitter, because it's where journalists hang out, will announce stuff pretty early but it either has to be trending or your following enough reports to hope to catch their Tweets. I dropped Twitter last week (after 12.5 years) in anticipation of Musk turning it into a melange of Gab, Parler and Truth Social.
Probably the least invasive way to catch breaking news is to ask your smart speaker to "Play NPR news" to get the latest 5 minute news update they run a the top and bottom of the hour.
HCR knows, you can't wait for news to come to you, you have to go seek it. ;-). Looking forward to her treatment of this in the morning.
Thanks so much, Christopher. This is very helpful to me. I will check my WaPo settings accordingly. Also, NPR. I'm a sometime Twitter follower, but now that Musk is in charge, will probably be less than "sometime" in the future.
When it comes to news these days I'm a Joe Friday, "Just the facts ma'am". Boy did I just date myself or what?!!?!?
LOL, Christopher! On the same old timeline as you.
Much credit goes to 911 Dispatcher, HEATHER GRIMES (per Yahoo News) & her Trigger of an "A Response".
PS: Professor, Joyce Vance, is brilliant as well & court Court savy. You know how I love Professors.
You're pretty good, too, Bryan.
Thank you for this Gailee. Keep Eyes Open. Stay Alive. VOTE. Help any small way you can, many small ways add up.
❗️
NPR reported today that gas prices are falling again but emphasized that President Biden deserves no credit. The decline is seasonal and happens in the latter part of every year when vehicle travel declines.
Yet when prices are high the media blames Biden but not the oil companies, the world's most infamous price gougers, or inflation.
With the election looming, it was a sucker-punch way to approach a story. Why even mention Biden? Wait, we know why.
https://www.npr.org/2022/10/26/1131670048/gas-prices-are-falling-but-does-the-white-house-deserve-credit
We know why because Gingrich gutted NPR and turned it into a press release announcement service 25 years ago, but somehow the Left never got the memo.
I can't speak for NPR, but MPR (Minnesota Public Radio) is great.
Yes
I'm so glad to hear that. This one really got to me. If I weren't spending my time writing post cards, I would be trying to figure out the best way to protest. Sigh....
Thank You for Writing Post Cards Chaplain Terry!!
My pleasure! I wasn't going to but as we got closer to Nov 8 (a few weeks ago) I realized that I had to do something tangible and traveling to canvas (nothing in DC!!) just wouldn't work right now. I'm grateful to the groups that have work organized so I can just show up and do!!!
💙💙💙
So, TC, where do you get your news then? I am no fan of how most media operates, the tendency seems to be to cover both substantive issues and inane antics with equal weight. NPR seems to have pissed off both the left and right, so there must be some measure of independence there.
As for being financially gutted, NPR and my local affiliate NHPR, receive less than 5% (I think it's actually more like 2%) of their budget from government sources. The cuts of the 80s and 90s have more than made up by pledge drives, which, if anything, makes them more answerable to their listeners.
Steve I agree. NPR has its own series of problems, including a desire to really adhere to a "both sides-ist" view of political stuff that sends them to some really remarkably awful people for interviews. But this is--as much as I hate the presentation of people like Ralph Reed as supposedly "conservative" (instead of what the reality is, which is that he's a former KKK Grand Master and a shill for the fascists)--also because NPR really does desire to be a truth reporter that tries to present arguments with as much fairness as possible. However--and this is a big however--they are also completely swept up in the bizarre media frenzies that currently make up the structures of our national conversation. I respect many of the choices NPR reporters make--and also many of the feature programs, like One-A, which comes out of one of the Washington DC stations (formerly the Diane Reem Show until she retired) and is heard nationally--but I also realize that they are being steered, for editorial as well as strategic reasons, to soft-pedal some of their investigations and not to ask too challenging questions. But the hilarious "interview" of TFG by Steve Inskeep is a real demonstration of the ways in which NPR continues to prod the rabid dogs of the Right. I recommend comparing NPR coverage to BBC Radio 4--which I also listen to a lot (not the World Service, which is excellent but specifically for an international audience), or to Ireland's RTE. NPR might not be able to eviscerate people in the ways in which BBC Radio 4 comedy programs (such as The News Quiz or The Now Show) do, but they are definitely more thorough in their coverage and try to avoid the inevitable gotcha nonsense that the Beeb newscasters (their morning program Today is especially guilty of this) enjoy.
Thanks Linda...great comments regarding NPR and BBC. I try to listen to a varietyof news outlets.
Repubs have been effective in their efforts to kill real news. Hallelujah????
And more difficult to watch, the R’s idea of killing them off. Seems to be working. More answerable??? Total crap.
Their listeners with money...
Republicans always hated NPR, PBS, CPB and have gutted them at every opportunity. I remember when they offered quality television with NO commercials or begging bull Schitt. Then the rats started gnawing.
NPR has gone down hill, no doubt. But your assessment is too harsh. There's still quality reporting, just not enough of it. And there are too many examples of shoddy work, like the gas price story. I also think you give Gingrich too much credit.
The flaws often reflect the growing ills of journalism. They include a near-obsession to politicize everything — and with an intense zeal for undermining Biden, not matter the topic. If Biden was 60 years old and hadn't been a political fixture for many decades, he would be viewed through a far less critical lens.
Without invoking emergency powers, presidents have little control over gas prices. Yet they get blamed when the prices are high and no credit when they're low. It's lazy reporting. Yesterday's story is based on hype: "we're holding Biden to account!" No, NPR, you're choosing not to report the complexities and instead deciding to make sure Biden gets no credit for seasonal falling gas prices when he's taken no credit for them.
Democrats do speak out but do not have their own cable news outlet like the far right extremists do: FOX.
Which is the reason for their treason. Goebbels on steroids. And MSM loves the money Fox rakes in so wants their cut. Plus, Dems are schitty at messaging.
"Yet when prices are high the media blames Biden but not the oil companies, the world's most infamous price gougers, or inflation."
Not just the media but most Americans blame Biden for high gas prices and othe high prices as well.
Which, is a complete puzzle to me because corporate earnings are public knowledge and Exxon Mobil profits and earnings have been at an all time high for more than a year.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/29/energy/exxonmobil-chevron-earnings/index.html
Now, mind you, I actually own quite a bit of Exxon Mobil stock, which, any American can also own, so, I cannot say I am entirely unhappy with the current state of affairs, however, IF I were still poor, and still being crushed under the actuality of price gauging, I would be enraged.
At one point I did find an estimate of how much of the gas price is Exxon Mobil profit but I cannot find it now.
At any rate, I do think that Exxon Mobil gauging Americans on price is NOT something I would be doing if I were CEO.
However, since I am just a stockholder? Well, color me ambivalent.
One option to consider is to divest of fossil fuels altogether as we in our family and others have done and many funds are now doing. Given the UN's announcement yesterday that contributions to global warming are still increasing instead of decreasing it is a reminder that moving away from fossil fuels needs to speed up, not slow down. Big oil and their lobbyists are all too happy to keep us on the slow path and prices at the pump are as much political as they are anything else with the Saudi's decision to openly hurt Biden and help the GOP by cutting production. We need everything possible to move away from our dependency on fossil fuels to more sustainable forms of energy. Without tackling this, every one of our other issues is moot IMO.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/10/1129892
Here is just one example of how institutions are divesting from fossil fuels. I am not from WA but this one in Seattle is a good example of where positive change is being made.
https://www.seattleu.edu/finance-and-business-affairs/treasury-and-risk-management/sri/divestment/
And also through groups like 350.org
https://world.350.org/chicago/divestment-for-individuals/
BK.
Oil currently is the ramp that enabled the human population to go from less than a billion in 1880 or so to 7.8 billion today.
Without diesel tractors plowing fields worldwide the human population would quickly relax back to, likely, way below one billion.
So. Now. We have a product upon which all current human life depends on period.
Until I see an alternative food platform for humans other than oil?
Not divesting.
Mike S, There's not a whole lot to say, really.
My post did lead with that divestment is "one option to consider". You are obviously planning to keep your stock as is your right but, you are also doing it with full knowledge of how Big Oil lied to you, me and everyone on the planet to create their "ramp".
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/apr/20/what-we-now-know-they-lied-how-big-oil-companies-betrayed-us-all
Maybe you kept your stock in Philip Morris, too but the Big Oil ramp is also one that Big Science predicts in some of the worst case scenarios to go from 8b world pop (in Nov) to,...well,...zero should we continue on the same path.
Our own country is the biggest culprit that at 338m pop and 4% +/- of the world pop consumes just over 20% of the world's oil. We shouldn't have to disagree this is a standard we should be setting a better example for.
Good work is being done on long-haul transport as Tesla Semi, Scania and even Freightliner are coming out with fleets of a new generation of large electric transport vehicles. And even Big AG is preparing for the same future which while slightly behind the timing of transport is coming soon to replace the inefficient diesel tractor of the past.
I post only when I can, Mike. I read them a lot more and I have seen your enthusiasm as some I can mostly agree with. I hope that we can find a lot more common ground because it is truly needed in this place and time. I did not make my original post as a challenge or an affront to yours. I have been a conservationist for over fifty years when what we called (then) "energy-conscious design" in college showed us the future that is now here. We've known this day was coming so, to many of us it's not a surprise. What we are tasked with Now is, what are we going to do about it?
BK,
Thank you for a very respectful, thoughtful, post. I did not take your original post as a challenge but as it was: An option.
What I responded with was poorly written.
Oil, in my mind, is complex. At the moment, it is simply not possible to replace it.
Note: I am spending $44,000 to plant trees on 50 acres of my property instead of farming it. This will never pay out because I am 62.
I drive a Ford Focus that gets 38 mpg. NOT a giant truck and I am actually farming, not just driving back and forth the car wash with my truck.
I am trying to do what I can BK. Seriously. But, in my own mind, transitioning away from oil is still mostly talk. And, it is still mostly not being done by anyone.
And, the reason is: It is not possible to do so yet.
Until we sort out a real pathway to human existence without oil, I am not going to be an early adopter to a golden brick road that vanishes half way up it.
We have to have some kind of real road we can walk on, and, I just don't see it yet.
I apologize for, perhaps, not having enough vision to see it.
Yes, one could say current human population is UNSUSTAINABLY supported by fossil fuel. And it's not just agricultural mechanization. We actually pour fossil fuels onto crops via agrichemcials (fertilizer, pest/herbi-cides, etc)
And like microbes in a petri dish, when the food/energy supply is gone, there will be a human population crash.
That crash will be traumatic and lead to huge societal dysfunction, perhaps even human extinction.
The solution is to not only wean ourselves of unsustainable energy sources, but, importantly, to reduce our population, humanely, because it is artificially inflated via the easy energy from fossil fuel.
However, human success hinges upon a habitable planet with ample resources and viable ecosystem services, which may indeed be adversely impacted by climate changes caused directly by our fossil fuel consumption
"one could say current human population is UNSUSTAINABLY supported by fossil fuel. And it's not just agricultural mechanization. We actually pour fossil fuels onto crops via agrichemcials (fertilizer, pest/herbi-cides, etc)"
Exactly correct. However, what is the alternative path?
There are 7.8 billion people to feed right now, almost all of them being fed by fossil fuel farming.
IF we stop that out of concern for the environment, which, would be OK with me, what will happen?
Practically speaking, we HAVE to have a practical way to at least try to support the existing population as we form a vision of a no oil future.
We cannot just say: Stop pumping the wells and let us see what happens.
that is not even responsible.
A ramp that enabled our population to go from less than a billion in 1880 to now 7.8 billion? You make that sound as if its a good thing - not something that is overwhelming this entire planet! Yes we need alternative food platforms - but quite honestly, NOT an increase in our (human) population. There are too many of us now.
No Maggie,
I made it sound like a fact, because, that is what it is.
Me? C'mon, I grew up way out in nowhere East Texas and elect to live on a way out farm now.
Do I sound like someone who thinks 7.8 Billion people is a good idea?
hardly.
BUT, now that they are here, we have to be responsible to all people.
Even if they are extincting every other species on earth, we cannot just say, OK, turn off the oil wells, let them starve.
It is scary tho - & I live "out" - not way out, but in the country & wouldnt live anywhere else - less people the better. Sound like a hermit dont I? And I agree - not possible to just turn oil wells off - snap!
But we sure do have some fixing to do - before theres nothing left to fix. There are so many many things - its hard to concentrate on just one.
👋 👋 👋 👋 👋 👋 👋
Dear Mike...you frequently cause me to drop everything else and do more homework. While this doesn’t specifically answer what oil profits are now, this article smacked me upside the head as a reminder of how our whole system works. (If you don’t have the time to read...profit margins.)https://www.steverrobbins.com/articles/oilprofitsexplained/
My new bumper sticker
“I scroll for Mike!”
Dave.
Probably not a good idea.
😊😊
David Lindley once personally said basically the same thing to me
When you find people who’s intellect inspires, pay attention
Dave,
Honestly, thank you, but, I am just a regular guy who likes Dr. Richardson's writing style and mostly agree with her perspective, and, then, all of the people commenting seem well written and thoughtful so here I am.
Accidental.
Thank you and I am off to read your link!!
Ok. Read it and understand.
Oil is a complicated topic. Need a whole forum just for that.
Exxon is hardly alone in pricing for profit under the cover of the inflation story. We are being gouged and it is only being hollered about by Robert Reich.
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/why-arent-democrats-talking-about
Really! Shocked, I say, shocked. I really am Mike…
Jeri. I bought all that stock in 1988 before I ever heard of global warming.
Heck Jeri. My first job was at Mobil. I thought I was helping the world out.
Michael, and why are people complaining about gas prices in the summer? ...... because it is travel time in their big trucks and big cars and travel homes that drink fuel ....and you are correct also about the oil companies and greedy price gougers. Inflation is also being experienced world wide. President Biden and the Democratic party are working hard everyday to relieve many burdens for those who struggle in multible areas of life. Look at what he and the Democratics have done! We need to keep that long list available and outfront. President Biden knows how to lead, he knows how to work with people for the United States of America....and for freedom throughout the world. VOTE!
And more could have been done with help from fellow republicans who loved America more than self-serving power.
"Yet when prices are high the media blames Biden but not the oil companies."
It's simply not allowed to question the oil companies. Like the WS bankers, they get whatever they want; and are always making record profits. The oil companies and WS bankers (e.g., Goldman Sachs among others) always follow the advice of Nixon's hatchetman, Chuck Colson, who advised, "When you've got 'em by the b---s, squeeze!" And that is the position we Americans find ourselves in--we've been squeezed for far too long.
Every year the government pays the oil companies billions in subsidies, and the companies also receive billions in tax incentives. But despite all this there is little if any affect on oil prices. In other words, it's all gravy while consumers bear the brunt of higher prices.
And from The Guardian today: "The cumulative profits for the seven biggest private sector oil drillers [globally] during the first nine months of 2022 could hit $173 billion, according to analyst forecasts collated by S&P Global Market Intelligence and reported earnings."
So today NPR has posted a reasonably balanced piece on the same subject that corrects the journalistic sins of the one I criticized:
https://www.npr.org/2022/10/27/1131675651/gas-prices-oil-fuel-rising-president
Releasing oil from the strategic reserve to lower prices for Americans driving back and forth the the car wash in a Ford F350?
Biden is making a huge mistake there.
We are NOT in some kind of strategic emergency but we might be someday.
And then? All our strategic reserve went out the tailpipe of a bunch of Americans with more money than brains.
Presidents have just about zero control over inflation. Especially this version which was created by a pandemic and a foolish reliance on a supply chain from China.
Our local NPR stations GBH and BUR are exceptional. They are 70% funded by listeners. Excellent mix of local, national and international news.
And while sometimes I want Judy Woodruff to scream at Senator John Thune as he dances around the obscenity of his party - that's not her job.
There may be flaws in PBS and NPR's reporting (name something perfect) but it is the most reliable news sources we have - light years ahead of the rest.
Yes, the Rethuglicans have been trying to gut public broadcasting. But they have failed - so far.
Nice Polite Republicans doing what they always do...
The news that NPR is swinging into this lane is disturbing
Gaslighting! Charles Boyer would be proud of how others are using what he applied to Ingrid Bergman.
Totes agree.
NPR following the crowd, WTH
"In related news, a panel of three judges, all appointed by Trump, recently declared unconstitutional the system that funds the CFPB." The CFPB plays an excellent role for the ordinary citizen as a check on financial institutions taking advantage of consumers especially around mortgages, credit cards, and student loans. I studied its charter back in 2010 when it was formed and was very impressed with how it was set up and operates. This ruling sure looks like a partisan action by the three MAGA judges yet again siding with big money Republican donors to the detriment of the People. With the Extreme Court likely to uphold this ruling will be yet another blow to especially the middle class and more erosion of the Rule of Law. Party and Patrons should not override Country and Constituents!!
I’ve been looking for more info on why this ruling happened. Most people do not even know what CFPB is.
Consumer Financial Protection Board. The fact that poser opposers announced their bs right after President Biden clarified going after the countless hidden fees, many of which really gets my dander riled up, I thought to myself you liars call yourselves servants of the people. Go f*ck yourselves.
Most hidden fees override any savings to the consumer that the company or service touts to get customers. Corpo passive aggression as far as I’m concerned. Rope-a-dope nonsense.
Salud, Cathy. 🗽
It was planned by Moscow Mitch and the money tribe from the git go. They didn’t stack the court for nothing.
I too suspect this will become the really big story for SCOTUS watchers next term. Marvelous way to defund big gov and deregulate banking, usury, et al.
I am so afraid that we are all speaking to the choir. How do we get the message out to those who don’t follow you, and many of the more typical news outlets?
A very good friend told me Beto can’t win. And being that we’re very close, I said then shut up and get out of my way! And I meant it! I said I’m sick of the naysayers! He said well I’m going to vote for him. So I said then sound like it! Stop sabotaging the election! He back pedaled. I said people like you are making it a bigger hill to climb. Stop being negative and join the fight! He needed a ride home so he quit talking. It’s not always the other side that are in the way. We’re not trying to convince the stout Republicans to vote for Beto and blue. We’re trying to get the ones who don’t vote to vote blue. My group of like minded friends have been writing postcards, doing block walks, making phone calls, encouraging people to go to hear Beto.
Maybe we can’t change everyone’s mind. But that’s okay if we can convince the people who don’t always vote or who are undecided. But Tarrant Co has the worst voting record in the U.S.! So we’re working hard for those votes!
Abbutt has to go!
Beto for Texas governor is the only real choice!
BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO That's what more need to be doing. I have a WhatsApp video chat with a friend in Texas and I'm going to grill him on what he is personally doing to support Beto and Dems.
Voted for him yesterday In Tarrant, still don’t know why Dems don’t tell about Repubs plans to gut SS and Medicare. It would be a barn burner, even among MAGAts.
The MAGATS will just say, "Oh, they won't really do that."
Thank you for helping.
Hug, hug, hug.
Abbutt’s goal for his NRA constituents is to be the leading state in gun sales. He was at an NRA gun convention just days after Uvalde and contradicted everything he said to the parents of the Robb school massacre. He always says it could’ve been worse. Not for those parents it couldn’t be!
He is the worst Texas has to offer, Beto is the best. But guess who is ahead. The NRA
What an ass! I don't know how these people sleep at night.
So, I read about this incident. Seems weird to me that when you are carrying a firearm, it is one thing to have a justification for use of the weapon; with that also should come the responsibility for each round that comes out of that weapon as it is fired.
Just because you cal legally carry and justifiably use a firearm, you should also be accountable for the results. I know that a cop in similar circumstances would be liable for that death. Why not a civilian?
Gov. NRA is vermin, Patrick is a louse, Paxton is pond scum, but their ads tweak the fear of brown/black people. And too many of those think they are not talking about them. You are 109% right Lisa. The ghouls rule for now. Go Beto
Texas leads the nation in deadly mass shootiings, and under Abbott’s leadership he has made it easier to buy and carry weapons of war, refused to meet with Uvalde parents who travelled to the state capitol, and would not call a special session to address escalating gun violence. His proclamations of being pro life are a joke.
Texas Mass Shootings Under Abbott
- Dallas, July 2016 - 5
- Sutherland Springs, Nov 2017 - 26
- Santa Fe, May 2018 - 10
- El Paso, Aug 2019 - 23
- Uvalde, May 2022 - 21
https://www.cbsnews.com/dfw/news/deadly-mass-shootings-in-texas/
He is 2nd on my list of governors that must go. Right under DeSantis.
He is Mr. Death. But he is giving parents DNA kits to identify their children who are not identifiable after a mass shooting with assault weapons. How very compassionate.
Many HCR readers share her Letters from an American on their Twitter and/or Facebook pages. In her Facebook video chats, Heather periodically mentions the powerful means of influencing others: talking with our friends, family, neighbors, acquaintances. Word spreads around, plants seeds.
I always seem to miss HCR's video chats. When do they happen?
Jeanne Stevens - "I always seem to miss HCR's video chats. When do they happen?"
They take place weekly. Go to https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnbKOlm6H9njgmN-Yil90Rg and "Subscribe."
You can watch anytime on YouTube, which is what I mostly do these days. You can also check her Facebook page.
On Facebook, then YouTube:
Tuesday modern politics
Thursday history
Wednesday “Now and Then” podcast with Joanne Freeman
Facebook
Tuesday 4 pm EST Politics Chat
Thursday 1 pm EST History Chat (the latter canceled today)
Sometimes, but Fox gives simple answers. I beat my head against a wall, constantly.
We are learning why there was once something called the Fairness Doctrine which was enforced by the FCC in radio and television up to about 1986 are we not?
Because, the main reason we cannot "get the message" out; a message that Biden is actually running a capable and effective Presidency is because:
All....day.....long......every.....single......day.......and.......night....
Fox News and AM radio are pounding on the evil Dems and especially the evil Bidens as if they are Satan themselves. The wording used sounds ever so much like a Sunday preacher spitting on everybody as he condemns sinners (whomever that preacher does not like that Sunday).
AND? Since many Americans sit in church and listen to this kind of demonization and bombast coming from the preacher around "sinners" and whomever else the preacher does not like that week?
Well, Fox News and AM radio listeners are normed to that kind of talk and "BELIEVE" the propaganda.
So, without the Fairness Doctrine, killed by Reagan in the 1980's as part of his pay for play Presidency........anyone that Rupert Murdoch does not like is doomed.
So, if you see Rupert on the street, be nice.
We must demand something like the Fairness Doctrine that also applies to those who spew disinformation. There must be penalties.
Been waiting for, how many years,
I follow Chris Tackett here in Ft Worth. He posted a video of a local minister pushing republican candidates in his Sunday service this last Sunday! The minister said we’re not endorsing these candidates, just saying they are a part of our church family. Several people I work with go to that church! It’s hard to know what’s going on and keep silent about it!
"He said we’re not endorsing these candidates, just saying they are a part of our church family"
Denise. In this one sentence you find all of the reasons I left the Baptist church in 1982 once I arrived in college.
Because: ONE MAN, a preacher at the front of the church, has too much influence and is so often way out in the weeds wrong that it is a crime against humanity. I clearly remember the day I last walked out of a Baptist church and decided, that's it. Never again.
Absolutely nothing could be farther from Jesus teaching of acceptance, love, tolerance, and valuing diversity than recommending political candidates from the pulpit OR ranting about who is going to hell and who is not.
Because, those preachers have no more idea about heaven or hell and whether such places even exist than the chipmunk in my back yard. Or me. Or anyone.
His dissembling by saying “I’m not endorsing …” is to keep away the IRS from his doorstep.
I've heard of this kind of subtle politicking in just about every denomination. And it has brought me to ponder the tax status of all of these churches. I know it may seem like 'pay to play' but I sometimes feel that the exemptions granted are not warranted, whether state, local, or federal. I am not a member of any organized religion, and regard them the same way Groucho Marx would.
Thanks to Karl Rove in 2006, made churches arms of the Republican Party. Bye bye for me.
Don't keep silent! That is how they will win.
It’s very complicated. I just erased my text telling you why. I don’t feel safe even speaking the truth. I have to stay silent on this during contract hours! Or with some colleagues! But outside school, I’m marching and ranting!
But Denise, you don’t share your last name, so with a little obfuscation such as “my workplace” instead of “ABC company” or “specifically named federal or state agency”, how would anyone be able to identify you? I am troubled on your behalf, that some power makes you afraid to speak even anonymously here.
I specifically have been told I’m being watched on social media. A fellow teacher turned me in to admin for something on Facebook. So just playing by their rules for the time being. Sort of.
Glad I’m retired.
We know, we scream. Simple
I’ve been saying the same for years
Return media to the days when the outlets were owned locally and kept separate as to radio, tv, and press
Corporations have billions to spend on “consolidation” of thought and they spend it for a reason; not to our benefit
Bill Moyers fought this battle for years, Rupert ran over him like a steam roller
I would spit in his putrid face. You called out my obsession for 30 years. Gave up on church when I heard Fox BS spouted from the pulpit. I thought “we aren’t that stupid” but we were.
Like you, I was never a fan of Fox News.
But the reason will surprise you.
In college I acquired a healthy fear of fake blondes.
If you wanted to cause yourself angst, confusion and pain just get involved with a fake blonde Jeri.
So. When Fox came along selling fake blondes?
I stayed far away. And? It turned out like I thought.
My wife Jeri? A natural brunette from day1 to now.
Her graying hair makes her even prettier. And it makes her authentic.
I hope you are able to spot natural blondes
MaryB,
At age 62 I might be able to spot Starbucks Blonde Roast.
:-)
Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. That is where to speak out. Also on your FB pages. Letters to the editor of your local paper. Local groups. Speak up and speak out.
Draw their attention to the bat. After that it's "Hey, look - did you realise they'd done that? and that?"
Had a look - wish the "medallion" and the bat, were bigger - as a batto - it's kinda disappointing!
Disappointing? Surely you jest.
Boo! 🗽
No fruit bats in DC in October.
Also on phone. I find phonebanking personal and efficient. There are thousands of people that prefer it to social media.
🗽
Letters to the editor about R plans to gut SS and Medicare a sure winner, if they get printed…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/10/27/tiktok-democrats-influencers-biden/
I post HCR on Facebook. Am always surprised by the often conservative and or Republicans who respond thanks. Also have 9 friends I share to.
Look for Chop Wood Carry Water on Substack
https://chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com/
I just signed up!
I just signed up
I create or cut and paste Truth statements and post all over fox. Just to change the drip, drip, drip of their brainwashing...
We don’t. We are speaking to the choir, and Dems are speaking to, well, no one that I know. Sad to say
The Republican would-be chairmen on the Senate finance committee and House Banking Committee today took the opportunity right after Biden's event to announce that they plan to "enforce our Article I powers to regulate" the CFPB. In other words, it will be war.
Why oh why oh why aren't the Dims trumpeting the fact that the Republicans have already introduced legislation to kill the Medicare power to negotiate drug prices and the insulin price cap? Why aren't they trumpeting what people have gotten from CFPB that Republicans plan to take away immediately?
They're FINALLY starting to get it on Social Security threats from Skeletor (or is he more Red Skull?) and RonJon.
Every single thing people like, the Republicans want to kill. Why oh why aren't they campaigning on these things? They have PROOF FROM POLLING that the stuff they are campaigning on is actively depressing support and turnout!
Repuiblicans have spent $80 million on 123 ads about economic issues. Democrats have spent $10 million on 32 ads on economic issues.
And they sit there looking around going "what happened?" and wondering why they're down.
These people can't find their ass with both hands on a clear day with a two hour advance notice.
Everyone should send this letter to the DNC and the goober who ¨runs¨ it. When he and the committee ask for $$$ I tell them no. I give to those they ignore and support those like Politics Girl who actually has strong messages.
Politics Girl rocks!
So does Beau of the Fifth column, and he talks much more slowly!
Love them both, but sometimes I need to stop and replay Leigh.
Totally!
Well TC. It’s in character for the the Repugnant ones to squall up misleading economic issues that even the weatherman can’t find. It’s in character for them to spend 3 times more money than your Dims. And lastly since they have corks up their asses instead of any coherent policies, they have to buffoon their way to the polls lying and misrepresenting the truth about economic issues. They have nothing to offer voters except an innate ability to keep their mouths in motion. I really don’t have any idea which American voters are stupid enough to elect men to congress who have declared openly that they refuse to do their damn jobs but still want their payday. I don’t retain people who lie to me and refuse to perform their function no matter how many of my ugly babies they offer to kiss.
Except they do. :-(
Dems need to be the “woke” ones that repubs claim they are. Now or never. Ostriches
TC I just sent your letter to the DNC.
The DNC is asleep
Thanks Gailee.
You know, Michael Steele was on MSNBC tonight with Stephanie Ruehl and he said exactly the same thing! Dems messaging sucks BIG TIME!
I'm coming to like Michael more and more.
He really did an about-turn re: the R party. He really can’t stand them. Same with Nicolle Wallace. They are the sane ones.
yes, she's high on my list too.
Did they become “woke.” God, I hope so
"Every single thing people like, the Republicans want to kill. "
TC, hear your angst: Why are the Democrats unable to get their message out?
I really do think it is entirely due to the blanket of propaganda currently being laid down by Fox and AM radio.
Perhaps the best way for Republicans/Americans to become truly informed is to: Get what they want: Republicans in power in both houses and killing all the programs they rely on.
Let's see how that works out for them TC.
Let Social Security vanish.
Let the CFPB vanish.
Let the EPA vanish,
and let the only thing that matters be big corporations, which, is not far from what America is now anyway, and let us see how Americans like the fact that ONLY an (of course white) American CEO has rights and privileges in America.
Let 'em eat their cake.
Something I just did recently was use the Repug's play book by headlining a shared Atlantic article with ¨Putin Is Slaughtering Innocent Women and Children in Ukraine. Kevin McCarthy Supports Putin¨ McCarthy and many others now are supporting Putin's war and want to either end aid or drastically cut it. This is what needs to happen on Social Media to grab attention.
I told my grand to wait for it - when reoubs threw Ukraine under the bus. Well, it’s upon us…
So very tempting, isn't it. Fighting with the "other side" is exhausting, especially when I get the sense that we're just two dogs being sicc'ed on each other so we won't notice that our food dishes and doggy beds are being stolen, since the willingness to fight each other comprises much of the problem. It's so tempting to just relax and watch it all fall, then laugh as our one-time opponents pick through the rubble they voted for.
But by then, we'll all be "pickled." It's really hard to unpickle a pickle.
Sadly Mike, they would just blame the Democrats. I sometimes feel what you suggest but then their are just so many good people that work so hard.
Pat,
In the case where an ignorant population, with both houses of Congress as Republican, blaming the Dems for losing Social Security, Consumer protections and environmental protections and even the right to vote?
"No nation is permitted to live in ignorance with impunity." --Thomas Jefferson: Virginia Board of Visitors Minutes, 1821. ME 19:408
As soon as we decry the population ignorant we have lost the battle. If I declare all engineers ignorant to preface my conversation I have lost even my own son. They are angry, Mike.
Pat. I hear you.
But.
As a PhD ChE student I voted for Reagan twice.
I voted for W once.
Then, I never voted Pub again.
Yup. Good judgement comes from experience and a lot of that comes from bad judgement. Will Rogers.
Wow. This sound defeatest.
Republicans have gained ground my whole adult life based on lies Gailee.
I do feel that giving folks what they want would be fair.
True for me too. And the lies are in your face. Yes, a temptation to be sure. But ignorance can be educated, well, some. Cults, not so much.
But the planet won’t survive for our grands with more years of the insanity. I’m old, but I fear for not just America, but the world. Even with all hands on deck it will be a struggle. With ignorance in charge, well, I cannot speak from the grave. But I’m not dead yet. I can still roar. Why can’t Dems??!
Don’t ever forget what that feller from Oklahoma, near Texas! Said. “ I am not a member of a political party. I am a Democrat.”
Except such an action will hurt millions of people who do vote D and do NOT deserve the crushing blow that elimination of their ONLY source of money (Social Security) would bring.
Yes TL, that is the key to this election. We pound that issue up past the cork.
Wish they knew that
Maybe you should read this
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/10/26/right-wing-radio-station
and they are everywhere - any Democrat owned AM stations?
Here's one news article. There are many. Google
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/18/left-wing-midwest-media-outlet-launch-522919
They have planned this for decades
Nah
I am sadly aware of the AM donkey show Hugh.
You must have seen "Rollerball" - the James Caan, Walter Houseman movie based on the Esquire short story "Roller Ball Murder"; the corporations rule the world.
Naw. Never heard of it. I just looked around a bit.
Actually, the Biden and White House Facebook and Twitter feeds are doing just that.
They have a great person at the helm for social media. Much better than the DNC.
The DNC seems to be on Repub payroll, poor Joe.
👏 👏 👏 so on target TC. Especially last sentence.
Thank you, Professor. What an art to be able to weave together critical news of the day, without editorializing. You leave that to the readers. And isn’t it amazing that despite all the TFG background noise, the Biden Administration continues to work for all the people. Bet that irks TFG. I’m wondering if that guy will really parachute in to his waiting fans. Wouldn’t that earn him some kudos! And some attention.
I voted on Monday by taking my ballot in to the Election office, in my Northern California town, so I could get “I Voted” stickers for my grandkids and thank the Election Workers. I could have mailed it in, dropped it at the Dropbox or Voted in person. Today I received a message online that my vote was received and counted. Democracy is working here in our town.
I voted in person also, Irenie, last Monday. Easy as pie...no lines. I thanked the workers also. Thank goodness for California!
Marlene, yes, thank goodness! Voting in person feels like a celebration. And it is . I spent several days researching and learning more about down ballot and local choices, plus judges. And propositions. Every issue and candidate choice feels even more critical this year.
Gee whiz, looking for a bat on whitehouse.gov is one way for me to make a discovery about a credible source of information. Who knew?
Love it! Some whimsy.
I wouldn’t have discovered this bat on my own! Love the whimsy and the sharing. Easy to enlarge and watch it fly away, to Vote and then protect us.
"a nice surprise when I finally noticed it as I was reading about the not-necessarily-wildly-exciting world of junk fees"
Not wildly exciting, but perhaps an indicator of a dramatic change of direction from monopolistic impunity of American companies for whom innovation most often means finding additional ways to gouge the consumer, with concocted add on "fees" as a rationale for price increases. Just as Reagan Republicans intended, gigantic quasi-monopolies now make the rules that the public must follow to participate in commerce, instead of vice versa. This is an introductory claw-back.
Heather, thanks for pointing out the feud bubbling up between DeSatan and 45. Couldn’t make me happier than to see them rain on each other’s parade....VOTE BLUE!
DeSatan.
I love it!!
I saw it somewhere….not original. But isn't that a great name?
"No Republican could go to a DeSantis event that day. None. And DeSantis won’t be here? This is big.”"
Good to see the Republicans begin the process of cannibalizing their own.
The last stage of civilized human society has come home to: The Republican Party.
As usual, Joe and staff work while the Pro-Rape Party members gripe and threaten the public. I wanted to watch the debate between McCarthy and his opponent, Marissa Wood, but I do not get the channel here. I am certain Qevin will be a shoo-in in his gross little town of Bakersfield. The thought of him being the House leader just turns my stomach.
Anyway, we are getting down to the wire now. No more farting around. Do what all of you can to spread HRC’s or Robert Hubbell’s words. Our lives depend on a free and a democratic country!
I live in Bakersfield and am an avid reader and supporter of HCR. Hmmm,,,,,
(Whoops) :)
Glad to meet you!
btw, “my Kevin” sucks!!!!
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼😃
Oops! My apologies! Sincerely…
Heather is hosting a Voter Protection Volunteer Appreciation Event on October 31, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. ET. Here is the link to register.
https://democrats.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMqc-2sqDMtE91RrLtHH75byfBctGq8FVK9#/registration
Trump and DeSantis- reminds me of the gingham dog and the calico cat. I can’t wait to see this.
Oh poor DeDantis!! Where’s my violin?!!!
Thanks for the bat mention. So fun! So nice to have a human being in the White House again. Authoritarians are no fun! With the recent news that the guy who plowed his truck into a bunch of people is serving multiple life sentences, the guys who plotted to kidnap Whitmer were found guilty, and the Parkland shooter was also found guilty, I want to say again, we need better mental health services. When the press and our society says they don't yet know the motive or the motive was "XYZ," they are missing it. All of these now criminals are troubled. Many years ago, they needed someone to ask them, "Are you OK?" What's wrong?" "How can I help?" If someone turns down help, OK. At least we tried. But if no one offers the help, we may end up with innocent people at the other end of an AK 15. I think this could also relate to many Trump voters who are angry, full of hate, racist, although most of them will not end up shooting anyone. Some people live very difficult lives when they're young, with parents who are cruel, abusive, neglectful, with not enough to eat or other aspects of poverty, bullying in school to the point of physical injury not to mention psychological injury, with nowhere to turn. No one to help. No one who cares. We cannot simply punish to fix the problem. Punishment is not a fix. We need to start earlier, with intervention and prevention. The motive was not that they hate. The motive was that they were unloved, neglected, harmed by those who should have cared for them, harmed at what should be a safe space—school, and they are depressed, angry, hateful, hopeless as a result. https://www.npr.org/2022/06/14/1105082501/can-the-next-school-shooting-be-prevented-with-compassion
Professor, I'm not sure the best descriptor for Ye's line of shoes for racists is "sneaker."
From the Online Etymology Dictionary, "sneaker," from 1590s, "one who sneaks," agent noun from sneak (v.). Meaning "rubber-soled shoe" is attested from 1895, American English; earlier sneak (1862), so called because the shoe was noiseless. See also plimsoll; another early name for them was tackies (1902), from tacky.
He sure didn't sneak into, or out of, Skechers! I've always thought everything he did was tacky (i.e. "poor taste and quality") and this was no different. For the record, I'm not expecting him to change.
Plimsolls! I'd forgotten it. That's what tennis shoes were when I was a very small child in England. And when I got to Australia they were "sandshoes", then "runners". They've been through quite a few changes since then, largely dependent on American television.
He lost his mind when his mother died, never found it…
Good on trump if he can take DeSantis down along with a few others. Mario must really be worried if trump is coming to town to back "Little Mario."
Hmmm...a "Sign"! Time to send Val Demings yet another donation.
I would but Crist is next