289 Comments

Stacey Abrams and Fair Fight just donated $1.34 Million to erase medical debt for 108,000 people in 5 states that haven't done Medicare expansion. This is impressive and is both a superb political tactic and one of caring for the People. Every time I hear her talk she sounds more and more Presidential to me.

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Oddly, as Biden/Harris voters we may be footing the bill to keep Tucker Carlson’s employed, and the doors open at Fox ‘News’ as a whole. Here’s two important bits of info:

$2,889,500,000 ($3 billion) FoxN total revenue in 2020

$1,621,400,000 ($1.6 billion) FoxN cable/satellite fees revenue in 2020

and two more:

$1,189,900,000 ($1.2 billion) FoxN advertising revenue in 2020

$1,795,500,000 (1.8 billion) FoxN profit in 2020

Cable fees make up ~56% of FoxN revenue. Let’s assume that subscribers to cable and satellite services are proportionally divided across Americans w/o political bias. The math says B/H voting households probably paid more $811 billion (half of cable fees) to support FoxN last year as we engaged in the campaigns and 2020 election. That also represents at or near half of their $1.8 billion 2020 profit. I contend that viewers and viewer choices have some power given these numbers.

Now as Dr Richardson wrote tonight: “Fox News Channel personality Tucker Carlson is advertising an upcoming special that appears to suggest that the Democratic-controlled government is launching a war on right-wing Americans.”

UNBUNDLE your media package. ——— “Only You Can Prevent Fox Fires!”

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"Now is the time for leaders in all walks of life—for citizens of all political backgrounds and persuasions—to come to the aid of the Republic.”

I am quire happy to say that this historian joined my old comrade Todd Gitlin on this list.

We can all argue about the policy differences once we no longer have to worry if the system that allows the arguments will survive.

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There is so much more going on behind the school board issue than a lot of people realize. Apparently death threats and violence are the only forms of dissent that GQP can muster to voice their disagreements. Here locally some of the people showing up to disrupt school board meetings do not have any children in the school system that they are protesting and some do not even live in the school district in which they are disrupting meetings. That the FBI should "back up" local law enforcement may be more appropriate than people realize. (Lord, I hate sounding like a conspiracy nut).

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Herschel Walker is well known to suffer from bipolar disorder, probably made worse from years playing football. It is so wrong to convince him to run for political office when he is not qualified, not all well, and probably can’t totally compared how he is being used. Who knows what stresses could trigger something bad for him and his family. Those convincing him, conning him really, should be ashamed.

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Voltaire: "Those you can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities."

As always, thank you for your invaluable newsletter. I also thank you for sounding a clarion call against the profoundly radicalized and undemocratic Republican Party, as you mention others are now doing, both progressive and conservative.

I'm also glad the DOJ is seeking to protect schoolboard members from threats of violence against the increasing reign of terror being unleashed by the GOP and their well-financed network of domestic terrorists.

I use the term "terrorists" because how else do you describe book-banning, like the parent who recently requested Toni Morrison's book Beloved be banned because her child had a nightmare after reading it?

And you're right that the GOP is desperate. How else to explain the candidacy of (among others) unbalanced and violent Hershel Walker?

Thanks for keeping me well informed and stay well.

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Republicans should be Barred from attacking one-time Supreme Court candidate and now Attorney General Merrick Garland, who brings garlands to a Justice Department that had a Trumpian stench. I am thankful that we now have a man of integrity who seeks to provide justice to the American people after an interregnum of judicial debauchery.

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"If Trump has lost control of his team, it’s a whole new ball game. Anyone who can get out from under the wreckage will do so, and fast."

Talk about making my day. Thank you. The J6 committee and Garland, I'm convinced, are building a crushing case. But I hope the first criminal charges come from the NY tax investigation. It would prepare the country, especially those still supporting TFG, for more charges to follow.

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My first reaction on reading this is disbelief that this is America, and a continued sense of surrealism about what's happening in Washington as well as what's happening locally in our schools and to election officials. As a first generation American from a culture that prizes education above all, it is disheartening to see how teachers are treated, and to see in the news that 35% of Americans (and 60% of Repugs) think 45 is actually the POTUS just defies comprehension.

I'll continue to donate what I can in other states, and continue to write Postcards to Voters as time allows.

I keep meaning to reach out to "Heather's Herd" as well...

💜 Thanks to Dr. Heather for LFAA.

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Trump Republicans are waging a war on truth, justice and democracy. It will not be a surprise if the likes of Cotton, Cruz and many other Republican members of Congress are found to be implicated in the January 6 insurrection. Time will tell.

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In our area we have to keep our heads down. I was born a Jew. My husband is of African American and Indigenous Peoples decent. At this point we just need to survive. Old Activist here unable to Act

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I can't remember when a more toxic cabal of supposedly human beings has held sway in our government, even when 'out of power'. The nearest I get is the McCarthy era of my childhood. Ted Cruz, Barroso, Thune, etc. are all traitors, in fact, if not in name. And McConnell!! There simply are no words for the layers of evil that man inhabits.

Still, yesterday I was feeling pretty bummed, and I feel a bit less so now. Have they overplayed their hand? Something just feels to have shifted.

Don't touch that dial, folks!

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"The letter was a wake-up call. '[W]e urge all responsible citizens who care about democracy—public officials, journalists, educators, activists, ordinary citizens—to make the defense of democracy an urgent priority now.'

'Now is the time for leaders in all walks of life—for citizens of all political backgrounds and persuasions—to come to the aid of the Republic.'"

I wish we could all be allowed to sign said letter! I would do so in the blink of an eye!

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A WAKE-UP CALL

I am very disappointed that the evil bad guys of the Repugnant Party always win and the supposed good guys in the Democrat Party always lose.

When the Repugnants were in control of Congress & the White House, they did unprecedented obstruction by blocking Obama’s Supreme Court nomination for some specious lie about “wait til the next election,” then with the same circumstances dumped 3 of their own biased justices onto the court for life.

Now that the Repugnants are supposedly in the minority (except for the reality of 2 DINO Senators) the Dems still can’t get things done. Nor do they seem concerned at all that the Repugnants in many states have made it near impossible for Dems to win next year. When conservative & liberal academics and writers start putting out an urgent joint plea for the preservation of Democracy, I hope the Dems in their tenuous majority take note and push the Voting Rights legislation thru by whatever means they can.

PLAY DIRTY IF NEED BE. PUSH AS HARD FOR IT as evil Mitch McConnell and the Repugnant Party does to win.

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The Democrats need to a rhetorical counter offensive to these bizarre school board meetings, which are becoming increasingly violent. We Democrats often spend too much time being shell shocked, and then we are thrown off-kilter and unable to figure out a way to defuse the craziness coming from the other side. I'm thinking this needs national attention, even though these are local issues. Jamie Harrison and his crew ought to be devising a strategy that any local party can implement. This should include a social media strategy, a boots on the ground strategy, etc. We all know that the GOP coordinate this kind of think nationally. The Democrats need to be more aggressive. Organize, people!

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"opposition to teaching Critical Race Theory in K–12 schools (where it is not taught)".

Correct and thank you.

Critical Race Theory is a theory postulated by a few law schools in the late 70's around structural racism which postulates the existence of such a term as structural racism.

However, teaching history accurately is totally unrelated to the legal theories postulated in Critical Race Theory.

Fox News has done a great job of linking the two issues though. Fox, as far as I can tell, first began linking what is taught in schools (which is called "Teaching History") and what the legal Theories of the late 70's are.

In fact, "Critical Race Theory" and "Teaching History in School" are two entirely orthogonal topics bearing no relationship to each other whatsoever and it only takes about 3 seconds to sort that out after reading what "Critical Race Theory" is at wikipedia.

But, viewers of Fox News apparently are used to believing what the white man says at the front of the church, hence, they also believe the white folks on Fox and Friends when they spin out lies about Critical Race Theory being taught in schools.

Thank you for pointing out the obvious and the truth Dr. Richardson. Critical Race Theory never has been, and will not be, taught in schools.

Some version of history is, and will continue to be, taught.

Getting a version of history accurate enough to be called a history of all people in America is, of course, a challenge. Again, that challenge is unrelated to Critical Race Theory.

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