Republican presidential nominee former president Donald Trump offered Americans his closing argument in the 2024 presidential race on Sunday, October 27, at Madison Square Garden.
This election cycle is perplexing to a degree. The forces from the dark side have been gathering momentum for decades. What could push them into victory? I always admonish to look in the mirror for those answers. If the answers aren’t forthcoming. Then go off and get a pizza and beer and fill the belly instead of the mind.
If Harris is t victorious on Tuesday then nothing can save this nation. It’s that simple. But never cease questioning ourselves in search for the answers.
I’m tired of apple keyboards skipping “n” and “m.” They produce defective products and genius support tried making me thinki was imagining this skipping but it’s only been recurring for 7 years. Anyone else have this issue?
Dude - I've got a Dell... The keyboard is narrow and the "A" always skips.
If I change position so I can smash the a-key, then something else drops off. One thing at least, it's forced me to proofread just so I don't look worse than I already am.
My Asus laptop had on many occasions, as I was typing, automatically deleted what I was writing. Absolutely infuriating. After taking it in for a new hard drive, the problem disappeared. No explanation by any of the technicians as to what it could have been. BTW, the new hard drive only cost me $64.00.
I have an Asus where I had a lot of trouble typing and editing comments, and the problem was that if I touched or came near the touchpad, something unpredictable happened, like deletions. The problem went away after I disabled the touchpad, which I wasn't going to use anyway.
Even if she IS victorious, we STILL have a fresh generation of people who know how to use fear, divisness and are starved for power and chaos to deal with.
The question is, will our government have the spine to actually deal with them as needed for the sake of justice?
I think we might also have long family traditions of "My father was GOP, so I'm GOP" broken for the first time and not going back. If Trump loses, the GOP is going to have to admit it's been sundered into at least two factions.
A Trump (non) government would use them against each other to keep them from attacking the Trump non-government. That would also make the USA vulnerable to attack from Russia.
I believe the DOJ will do what it needs to do according to law. With AI now very much in play, some programs may be able to help law enforcement. Additionally, because AI will replace people in certain professions, law enforcement careers may aggressively open for those who wish to join. This may be the answer to add to the investigative pool in law enforcement which will help in curbing the hooligans that corrupt this nation.
I drove to Danbury prison holding to disrupt a press conference but the rat have been released at 3 AM which is unusual but understandable. So I drove up the road toward the prison and was met by a guard. I got out of my car and began walking toward him in the distance. He yelled at me to not go further. As I was asking a question about a press conference, he rudely told me to get off the property and it was private and federal land. I yelled back at him that I owned that land and I was a citizen. That’s when it went from bad to worse. I had to tell him to GFHimself and as he stood like a soldier at the ready, I asked him if he was about to shoot me. I didn’t wait for him to respond as I issued forth more expletives and turned back toward my car. And it was at that moment I realized I was privileged. Had I been Black, I would have become a bleeding lump of red mess on the ground. The nerve of that Ahole.
Oh please I’m not going down that rabbit hole again. I only suggest questioning ourselves for the answers. It’s a darn good and positive thing to do instead of telling others what to do.
?And those who came before us—the patriots at Normandy and Selma, Seneca Falls and Stonewall, on farmlands and factory floors—they did not struggle, sacrifice, and lay down their lives only to see us cede our fundamental freedoms…only to see us submit to the will of another petty tyrant."
"Petty tyrant" It's the "petty" that gets my goat. The corporate media will have 5-10 stories outlining CFDT's pettiness of the day. They waste 350-500 words on each of us only to sell products that make them richer. And each story normalizes the MAGA movement until we're so desensitized when we read each story it no longer evokes any emotion.
It's bizarre that Trump can say or do anything that doesn't move the needle, but if Harris makes a single mistake, it is front page news for several days.
There shouldn't be a single veteran that votes for the draft dodger and cemetery desecrater Trump.
There shouldn't be a single woman that votes for the rapist and misogynist Trump.
There shouldn't be a single person of color that votes for the racist and xenophobic Trump.
If the corporate media were doing their jobs, Trump would have been history after January 6th. But because, they don't, it is incumbent on us to get the word out.
Agreed, Gary. "petty tyrant" is like saying lava is "a little hot". I do not understand how any woman, or any veteran, or any person of color, regardless of political bent, can vote for that POS.
Ally, I don't understand why anyone could possibly vote for this "island of trash"- ever. I knew in 2016 what a grifter Trump was, just from reading about his mob-like behavior while ruining his father's real estate business and discriminating racially and against the elderly poor. We won't even discuss his multiple bankruptcies before he ever sought political office. That this race appears to be close is mind-boggling to me.
I will be canvassing this weekend with a friend from my working days. She is a brilliant attorney, and I hope that we can encourage some disheartened or undecided citizens to boost Kamala over the top on Tuesday. Anything less would be the final nail in the coffin for this flawed, but potentially magnificent melting pot.
Trump is known to have dealt directly with with the Mob for favors, and a son spoke of "money pouring in from Russia". Without money and Big Lies behind him, his scandalous transactions would have squelched his reputation long ago. Now some see his de facto impunity as admirable. He is perceived as powerful, and the "system" a failure. It's a self-fulfilling prophesy so long as you don't take a hard, adult look at where it is leading. What feels like liberation for his followers is the abandonment of conscience and responsibility; but the consequences pile up until they become crushing to most of a society. Illustrations from history and even present days, are legion. Like a two year old playing tag with moving cars on a busy street, fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
JL, for those who believe the myth of his power, their foolishness can be attributed to the fact that they are easily led, compounded by their ignorance, and they will be among the first to suffer the consequences. From what I've read in the past, Trump's idolization of Roy Cohn had much to do with Cohn's mob connections, and Kellyanne Conway's grandfather was mob associate Jimmy "the Brute" DiNatale, so Trump clearly wants to curry favor with that ilk. There is probably more dirt if we'd bother to investigate. Because of his unrelenting threats of retaliation, he has managed to evade the consequences. Among other things, like this country becoming authoritarian and our democracy falling, the stakes for his not facing prosecution are much more consequential than his followers comprehend. I just hope I live long enough to see him held to account and this country's escape from his grip and that of his handlers.
Ally, most people know what you mean when you call him a POS. I come from a retail background, where it stands for Point Of Sale. Of course, it still fits because Donald will sell anything or anyone for a buck.
I wonder if he's developed a price list for those classified documents.
Just to be fair, I believe the FBI finally seized all of the classified documents over a year ago in their last Mar Lago raid. So I doubt he has too much to sell these days.
To be even more fair, photocopying machines exist. As do self-storage facilities that can be rented under pseudonyms like "John Barron." If I were a criminal in possession of classified documents and was contacted by the government about returning them, I would stall with deceptions and diversions, whilst my loyal staff was feverishly making copies and storing them in a remote location. I doubt foreign adversaries care whether the secrets they buy or barter are originals or facsimiles.
I've always said, Ally, that it's always about the money when it comes to republican beliefs. They're all looking for a positive break in their income intake. With these folks, it's *always, always* been about the money. Price of gas, eggs, processed foods, or whatever; it's all about how much they can keep in their purse or wallet. Poor saps: "the fools! they don't know what they're doing" (I don't know who said that, but I felt it needed to be put in quotes.)
I think Bezos is a bit concerned about trump hence no endorsement. Everyone in the world is holding their breath. Everyone is being nice to him because they might have to deal with him in the future. if I were Zelenski I would not have changed my departure plans just because trump wanted to speak to me (in private).
We all know what trump is capable of: with holding aid from American citizens just because their state is the wrong color. If he does that to his own people what will he do tom them if they need assistance? Increase tariffs? Withdraw from NATO? With draw from any environmental programs?
Oh, yeah, Bezos is definitely kow-towing to Trump and Musk beforehand. I'm glad to hear 200.000 subscribers left the Washington Post because of his cowardly chickening out of endorsing Kamala Harris.
And the only thing Trump can promise Zelensky, is that he will sell Ukraine to Putin faster than he can blink.
Dutch Mike, we cancelled our subscription. I doubt Bezos really cares about the lost subscribers as all he can hear is the ka-ching of the money pouring in from his other ventures.
"But the main culprit, the cancer on the body politic, is money: Money, money, money. When I ran 6 years ago, in 1998, I raised $8.5 million. That $8.5 million is $30,000 a week, every week, for 6 years. If you miss Christmas week, you miss New Years week, you are $100,000 in the hole and don't you think we don't know it and we start to work harder at raising money.
As a result, the Senate doesn't work on Mondays and Fridays. We have longer holidays. The policy committee is adjourned and we go over to the campaign building because you can't call for money in the office. So we go over to the building and call for money and obviously we only can give attention to that. We don't have time for each other. We don't have time for constituents, except for the givers. Somebody ought to tell the truth about that. Unless and until we excise this cancer, the Congress and Government is going to languish alone because it has to be done."
-- Senator Fritz Hollings, November 16, 2004
And it STILL needs to be done. It has only become much worse. How many serious, "insoluble" problems boil down to the thumb (or posterior) of excess money on the scales of democracy and justice???
And the most Honorable Senator Hollings correctly observed that 6 years before the cluster 'eff - 'Citizens United' decision ! Every year and more so in election years, over the past 20 years or so, I ask myself what priorities are most important for the greatest number of Americans, and campaign finance reform comes out in at least the top 5; Since 2010, the top 3. I'm of the mind that it won't get done until citizens at large impose it on the political class. Some years ago I began a loose affiliation with a group that espoused campaign finance reform as their sole issue. Over time, their list of issues grew. Opposed to growth beyond the singular issue, I stepped away.
Focus, persistence, and integrity seems necessary for major public movements that are both honorable and effective. That said, it is hard to stay with one issue when so many scream for attention, with real victims in need of assistance. I don't think there is any easy answer for that, but I think the power of peaceful protest in particular depends on maintaining a concentrated focus with everyone pulling more or less the same way. Normalized injustice and perfidy can lose it's veneer of inevitability when a spotlight is held on it long enough for enough people to notice. The perception of "resistance is futile" can fade when enough people gain the sympathies of others.
As has been the case in medicine, cures for maladies and methods for improving the human condition have been proposed for eons, some of them even highly effective; but the effectiveness of some approach has only been highly specific, useful in very circumstances, but not in others. Some avenues, such as "germ theory" of the cause of infectious diseases affect a huge array of treatments. Those game changers won't always replace the need for highly specific approaches, but they can improve and extend a great number of them. The potential for misuses of money is not a novel idea, but I think we fail to appreciate the breadth of it's impact and how may doors to improvements might be opened if we treated it as a "must do" political priority.
I used to be a delivery driver and one of the grocery stores i visited had a sign in the produce section out back, "I must be a mushroom, people keep me in the dark and feed me horseshit!" so I stole it! But thanks!
Agreed, Gary. Anyone who wasn't previously paying much attention should have been convinced after the MSG event. But what about all those who voted early, just buying the refrains that Trump would be better for the economy or for immigration? We urge people to vote early, and I agree that that's a good, recent development, but at what point is it too late to get the word out? Do we need a way for people to change their minds if they've already voted before they see the extent of the ugliness that was apparent on Sunday?
I saw an interview with a Puerto Rican man who had voted early for Trump and was now sorry he had. So he pledged to get his family and friends to the polls and vote for Harris. I thought this was a great idea. Hope more people in the same situation do the same. 👍
Yes James, I was thinking this same thing last night -- it's the one thing about early voting that is bothersome, not being able to change your mind. (This really only applies to red voters, of course.)
No such possibility here in NH, where we only allow early voting if you ask for an absentee ballot, and there are only a couple reasons that are allowed. (And interestingly, there's a glitch in our law: absentee voters don't have to show proof of citizenship, while all other voters must. That is likely to be corrected during the next legislative session.)
I heard a Puerto Rican radio personality who had already voted for Trump say that he would be hard at work talking other Puerto Ricans not to do the same!
Too bad that people are so selfish when they vote. That radio personality wasn't anti-Trump until he was the one Trumpism was denigrating. Where was he when Trump was insulting Haitians? First they came for the LGBTQ, then they came for the Haitians, then they came for the Puerto Ricans, then.....
There was another man interviewed who said the same thing, and he was going to try to convince his friends and families. I think we are seeing the downside of voting early. To give such a rally showing his true colors (it was so bad even the republicans are doing their song and dance and trump denying it) AFTER early voting has started is not beneficial.
The only problem is that most Republicans only watch Fox News so they’re not gonna show anything negative about Trump and all the hate speeches that were at Madison Square Garden’s. That’s my concern. I have family members that won’t talk politics at all with me. They are the Trump supporters.
We have TN relatives -no politics BUT in the last phone conversation, he said he wished this circus was over. It depends on what circus he is talking about though. We are hopeful.
The "corporate media"...perfect. They have abdicated their critically important role as the Fourth Estate and sold America out. A spectacular and infuriating failure on their part to keep the lights on and save democracy. And the Black and Latino not to mention white men who purportedly support tRump? Voting with their dicks and betraying every woman in their lives as well as the country. So damn pitiful.
Gary, I always post Heather's letter on Facebook and hope even the wing nuts who are my friends (probably one at this point) see it. I hope others pass it on and I know some that do. I agree with you that those groups you mentioned should not be voting for death star.
I saw that too. WaPo is hemorrhaging now that they have lost over 250,000 subscribers. People are paying attention and that’s a good thing. I believe these media owners are afraid of Trump and Company but to the extent that he will sic Putin on them if they don’t comply. Same goes for the Repubs in Congress. Besos is a sick prick, a dick!
Gary you have said it so perfectly and exactly how I feel. I am so tired and so done with all the “garbage” that comes out of not just DJT’s mouth but of those around him and yet any words from the VP or those around her are scrutinized to death of being so horrific or worse a killer for her campaign. What is wrong with people? But then I remember for those who have drunk the juice have become blinded and deaf to reality and individual critical thinking, for others, perhaps truly afraid of retaliation at some level. And most important, we have made apologies or changing an opinion when you learn something different and the truth a sign of weakness, or that other horrible phrase, “flip flop”. After working with people my whole life and career I am sure there are many who just simply want to avoid attention and when they go to the polls will vote Blue, because even if registered Red, their vote is a secret and no one will know except them. And that is what is helping me to get sleep at night.
Between Heather’s letter and Kamala’s moving speech, we will win and we will begin healing from the wrath of the criminal who once occupied the highest office in our nation. He will go down as the most corrupt ex-president we have ever witnessed. His followers who create havoc, like burning ballots or cutting electrical lines, or murder, will be prosecuted and imprisoned. The man who thought he should be king didn’t realize that we have laws in place that prevent him from doing so. Marc Elias of the Elias Law Group and Democracy Docket said the Dems have prepared for what could happen when the torch passes to Kamala and if violence ensues. All of the scenarios have been worked out to protect us all. “When we fight, WE WIN”!
Too many things are perfectly aligned to allow a fascist takeover. There is a lot of money and organized effort behind it, much more than is readily visible. We are being played.
Corporate media needs to be responsible what they do and DON'T do...
And as Bishop Fulton Sheen said: "The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is in itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction."
I love that quotation Terrie. Thank you. I have to add my thoughts to the petty excuses used by today's MSM, that you just know they are going to use. They are going to say, "Hey, we can't take sides. We have and want to keep our gop customers too." (as an aside, faux news doesn't seem to care about losing dem customers... obviously). Anyway, my retort is that reporting 'facts in evidence' is impartial and can be presented impartially. There is just too much in their defenses that won't hold water - damn them !
Furthermore, it's been my opinion and stated herein many times that this is some of the heavy lifting we citizen are going to need to address because, just like campaign reform, the political class is Not going to get it done, and that is an overhaul of who and what can claim the constitutional protections of freedom of the press; Shall that include liars, cons, spurious advertisers, etc. ? Freedoms we have carry responsibilities, and so should all freedoms, rights, and especially constitutional protections. We have to have laws when your exercise of some freedoms collide with mine; Why not the press, MSM, etc. ? jmho friends ~
I wish we could get someone like FDR in for 4 straight terms. Because 2 just ain't gonna cut, will it?
Our Constitution is in dire need of modernizing (long over due in MHO) and there are other modern governing reforms that need to be made...specifically, a way to run social media as broadcasting stations were when radio & TV was the source of mass communication.
So many things, my friend; but you ARE correct about the political class not getting it done. This is why I say, sadly, that we may just have to go through a terror-ridden couple of decades (in other words, "slapped upside the head") so we understand the importance of progressive governing.
I'm not EVEN going to touch on our place in the world neighborhood...for that is indeed what our world is...it's a neighborhood and right now, we're the run-down part of the neighborhood that's on the verge of collapse and the gangs are going to run it over.
Bravo! ME and NE represented here, too, as well as MN, IA,ID, CO, MO, SD and WA. All these states have wonderful people but ME is "home". When you've moved around a lot, lived in a variety of states rather than just visiting, you see how diverse we are as a people and how that diversity enriches us. That's the upside of immigration we seldom hear about.
Lest we forget the Republican Party's official response to the documented riotous Jan. 6th attempted coup; corrupt to the core. The whole frickin' party (what is left of it) out-Orwells Orwell:
"Whereas, Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger are participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse, and they are both utilizing their past professed political affiliation to mask Democrat abuse of prosecutorial power for partisan purposes, therefore, be it resolved, That the Republican National Committee hereby formally censures Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and shall immediately cease any and all support of them as members of the Republican Party for their behavior which has been destructive to the institution of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Republican Party and our republic, and is inconsistent with the position of the Conference,"
Don't forget the back of the coat Melania wore when they visited the border to see the child separation problem. Wasn't it something like ..I don't really care, do you? The whole family is like....I'm going to do this awful thing or that awful thing to see if, you as a nation, will just accept it.
And yet, in a calm but adversarial conversation between a democratic activist and a Puerto Rican plumber who is a Trump supporter -- he defended Trump with his agreement that his homeland of "Puerto Rico IS an island of garbage". I'm increasingly faced with people who disagree in fundamental ways that seem unchangeable.
Yet so many who oppose her dig in their heels and refuse to listen. Those who support Trump despise her.
The reason is Fox News. Nothing we read here is ever reported there. These truths don’t exist for Fox Fans.
Decoding Fox News gives a snapshot of a week of Fox News in 45 min. Hearing what they hear (and don’t hear) is the best way for us to understand the opposite POV. On Fox, “Trump Gave a Rousing Speech at Madison Square Garden.” If that’s all you hear… you’ll never understand why liberals are so offended.
After Heather cox Richardson, Decoding Fox News is the most valuable Substack in my feed.
I wonder if he's ever looked into why his home country became an "island of garbage". Even I just scraped the surface of the history of US intervention in Puerto Rico and I can confidently tell you: the US fast-tracked Puerto Rico to economic collapse and then left them high and dry.
If Trump gets in office again, he will do the same to every other American state and territory - if his "efficiency cabinet member" doesn't just cut the territories out as "unnecessary spending".
Trumpian economics seeks to gut the government and prop it up on the backs of million-, billion-, and (soon to be) trillionaires. He's a businessman (allegedly), his first language is acquisitions. The government is just another business to aquire, monopolize, and profit off of.
Since trump came down that escalator in 2015, said the things he said, I had thought that he wouldn't go anywhere with that absurd narrative, but then he just kept dominating the other candidates in those repug primary debates, he held those vitriolic rallies and an entire alternative culture was born out of something that the old school repugs had created. A bitter, resentful, angry crowd of "Deplorables". One that I thought was a small, rural, marginalized portion of the American population. It's nine years now and the people who had brought this group of people together are mostly gone now, labeled as RINOs. Insanity reigns and Puerto Ricans have joined the mob. The mob is huge and it is not trump so much as it is this thing we humans do. We have a reliable culture, but some don't want to belong or don't value so there is a splintering. There are lots of examples of how this happens in history based in religion, politics, economics, justice, ideology. We splinter and then there is no turning back it seems.
Yup. It always reminds me of how, when I announced my daughter's engagement and her fiances' (Hispanic) surname, I had several people's first question be "is he LEGAL?" And these same people would swear they aren't racist.
This is what we keep pointing out to people day after day and still they, believe his lies, enough to create these real poll discrepancies. I'm anxious about asking WHY do they believe him?
I was making calls for Kamala yesterday and one of the people in the Zoom room noted that Trump’s supporters pick out what they like about him, and ignore (or repress) the rest.
Christopher Browning wrote this in his recent NYR article, “Hitler’s Enablers” which reviewed several books on how Hitler came to power. It describes for me what has happened in this country as well:
“The lost war, [WWI] revolution, unjust peace settlement, economic chaos, and ‘huge social and technological change’ were so intolerable that they led to a rejection of reality by many Germans. And they supported Hitler because he gave ‘voice to this flight from reality as could no other German politician of his time.’ This ‘hostility to reality translated into contempt for politics’ that in turn destroyed the ‘minimal common ground’ that democracy needs to function.”
Deception hides the truth and the illusion is mesmerizing to those that want affirmation of their base instincts.
Love is the only force strong enough to defeat hate. If Christians followed the gospel teachings of Jesus Christ they would reject the false prophets, love thy neighbor and let the truth set us free.
This is a converse example of Margaret Thatcher's famous, if archaic, quote: “Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't.”
Thank you. That is so spot on reminder!!! That is a close to an apology as the petty wannabe tyrant has ever made. Roy Cohn his mentor who told him never to apology might be turning in his grave.
Harvey, you might be right about Roy Cohn turning in his grave but the whole time since Trump came down that golden escalator and began his campaign for the presidency and began his effort to befoul the public discourse in our country, I have felt that he has been “out-Roy Cohning Roy Cohn,” executing his master’s plan more effectively than Cohn ever did.
Amazingly, it has worked. Of course, he has been living a charmed life because MAGA have stubbornly refused to think for themselves and instead believed every ridiculous, illogical, contradictory thing he has said. So, he has been free to lie, gaslight, be indecent, never apologize, and say whatever happens to come into his mind, no matter how ridiculous. But now, that might be coming to an end and MAGA could be starting to wake up. If that’s true, it might be because he has met VP Harris who is far more than his equal intellectually, tactically, intuitively and as a speaker. I think at last someone, Kamala Harris, owns him instead of being owned by him and he’s beginning to look ridiculous.
I agree. I have been a political wonk for nearly 70 years and have heard some terrific political speeches, Harris's speech was as good as it gets. If one had been sleeping through this year's presidential campaign and listened to this speech, they would be sold.
a very important reason to vote for anyone - Harris this time - is the people they will surround themselves with. Compare Trump's Cabinet to Biden's. Judging from her campaign strategies and her speeches, Harris has some first-rate people on her team. A reason in itself to vote for her.
Yes, remembering the revolving door of tfg's Cabinet appointees during his administration...and how many of them have (finally) revealed their negative opinions of him and stated that they will not vote for him. Does anyone want Stephen Miller back in the White House, or Steve Bannon hanging around there? Or the nepotism of tfg's children "working there" without proper security clearances?
Incidentally, it's evidently true that people are unsubscribing from WaPo in their thousands. I check the comments section, and the numbers have dropped from five-digit to average 300.
Agreed. A perfect blend of a warning and a promise. A super strong speech of defiance and of unity. She called out the opposition for what it is and somehow offered to work with those with differing ideas.
VP Kamala Harris displayed maturity, wisdom and compassion. I can't think of any way she could have improved on it. And I can't wait to sleep better after her acceptance speech and especially after her inauguration.
I completely agree! In 2020, I had nightmares about trump for at least a month prior to the election, and it’s happened again with the election closing in. Once Biden’s win and inauguration took place, I slept without a care until recently.
My husband and I don't watch TV. He solely reads newspapers--WaPo and WSJ.
Which makes him an interesting person to talk to, as he is in a very pure and firm 'legacy media' bubble, while I get all my news online on a variety of sites, including magazines like The Atlantic, Mother Jones, along with online NY Time, WaPo, and WSJ, Bluesky, and occasional Tik Tok posts, plus a bunch of Substack authors.
We stream major debates. I don't believe he has seen a single campaign commercial. He doesn't like carrying his cell phone, so doesn't get the barrage of text messages I do from the campaigns.
It was particularly interesting having discussions with my 'control group' husband when WaPo and WSJ were downplaying Trump's dementia and up-playing Biden's age. The print versions couldn't dynamically change those NY Pitchbot style headlines that enraged people on the fly, after all.
So, while my husband is an intelligent, very well-read and thoughtful man, he got a very specific view of Trump that skewed his perceptions of just how over the cliff Trump had gone, and how Trump compared to Biden. It took him a very long while to understand just how dangerous Trump is to America, how unhinged and fascist the speeches are, largely because media was covering up and sane washing Trump's transgressions.
On the flip side, he also wasn't getting the full impact of what Biden had done with the economy; in those newspapers (especially WSJ), Biden's successes were consistently ignored or downgraded. I told him WSJ and WaPo were treating Biden like a woman when it came to giving him credit for good work done.
My husband never liked Trump, but because he leans Libertarian (a small government Libertarian) and thinks of himself as a moderate (Eisenhower style) Republican, he often scoffed at and ignored my news sources as too hysterical. He sees the Internet as unserious, suspect. An attitude which, since I hang out on the Internet a lot and see such bloody nonsense all the time, I can agree is a perfectly reasonable conclusion. But not in the way he sees it.
In short, ringing alarm bells with someone like my husband just doesn't work. Even when I know the house is on fire.
The changes only came as the papers started slowly shifting their coverage. When his news sources published some stories about what is actually in Project 2025, he got more concerned. He was never going to vote for Trump, but he might have voted for a Republican Senator or Congressman to try and 'balance out' the parties. Far less likely to do that now.
I've also been sharing with him more horror stories of the consequences of eliminating Roe v. Wade and turning it over to state legislatures. Because he is small government focused, he thought state control of abortion was a good idea. That Roe v. Wade was an overreach by the Federal government.
He seems to be re-thinking that now, especially when I reminded him my own pregnancy with our son was fraught with problems (much as my mother struggled with her first pregnancy, losing twins early on) and we barely made it through, spent 7 weeks in the NICU. I explained to him I would be dead along with our son, if that had happened in a red state today. Too many men think pregnancy is 'natural' and women rarely encounter such challenges; women need to start sharing all the gory details with them.
And too many Libertarians have rosy views of what local state legislatures would enact--which is one of the reasons why when you meet them, they are usually white men, or gay Libertarian types like Peter Thiel among the IT folk. I told my husband local politicians were even worse than the federal politicians for ignorance and potential for corruption, and rank misogyny is not uncommon among these state legislators. Kentucky and Mississippi gave me plenty of chances to show egregious examples.
So last night was literally the first time my husband saw Harris deliver a speech other than the debates. I suggested we watch the rally, and he agreed.
I was surprised he watched through the whole thing; he is normally impatient with any political speech, won't stay for it or watch through more than a minute of a clip, very impatient with rah rah stuff.
He was impressed. I thought it was a little low energy for Kamala and the crowd as compared to other fired up rallies had done, so I told him this was nothing compared to other speeches she had made.
But thinking about it this morning, the speeches she made that really got to me were around reproductive freedom. I'm not sure he would have responded to them the way I do, despite being supportive of women.
I think she is very good at code switching for each audience, and that is an awesome political skill, and particularly good for someone like him.
And better ethics. Hillary is nowhere near as bad with ethics as her husband but not much better either in my opinion. I am still not sold 100% on Harris' positions but I do not question at all that she is the candidate with the best ethics. Trump is so far from that goal I can't even quantify it.
Here is President Harris's speech on the Ellipse that drew two-to-three times as many people as candidate Trump's "love fest" in Madison Square Garden (i.e., the 85th reunion of the 1939 fascist rally in the old Madison Square Garden).
Thanks as always Professor Richardson! We can do worse than have her as president - glad to have cast my vote for her from the Old Country!
As a failsafe, here is the broadcast I would like to see Monday night November 4, 2024:
“Good evening, welcome to All In, I’m Chris Hayes. Well, just when a campaign season full of surprises that you thought couldn’t get any more weird tonight – the Joe Biden June debate debacle, a first assassination attempt against Trump just days before the GOP convention, Biden’s subsequent resignation from the candidacy for president which effectively took the wind out of the sails of said GOP convention, the enthusiastic upswell of support for a new and dynamic Democratic presidential ticket led by VP Kamala Harris and Minnesota Everyman’s Governor Tim Walz, a second plot to kill the former president, and the atrocious rally at MSG that deliberately allied itself to Nazism . . . yes, the whole campaign got even weirder – to borrow a Tim Walzism – tonight”.
“At approximately 11:59 between on November 2, just as the clock struck 12 for November 3, Donald Trump, his family, and effectively four fifths of the entire GOP leadership, including Don Jr., Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort, Matt Gaetz, Steves Bannon and Miller, and all manner of names familiar to you from this program over the past very long eight years, spontaneously combusted and went up in a puff of smoke. Now, their Evangelical supporters initially reported that, of course being God’s instrument to restore the USA to greatness, that they had been Raptured.”
“Numerous and well-known televangelists went on Fox News to explain that Trump had, of course, been taken up and received into God’s bosom, where he would sit on God’s right hand and continue to control America’s pre-ordained destiny. That is, until at 2:31 PM this afternoon a mysterious document was found in Trump Tower in Manhattan, in Trump’s own office, written in Latin on a 16th century parchment from Wittenberg, Germany in human blood with signatories to it also in what DNA testing has now confirmed was also their own blood.”
"Signatories among the disappeared include the afore mentioned vanished plus Mitch McConnell, Mike Johnson, Sean Hannity, Kelly Ann Conway, Jim Jordan, Marjorie Taylor Green, Lauren Boebert, and six of the nine Supreme Court Justices, with the strange exception of Eric Trump. In the midst of all of this a bizarre figure, named Mephistopheles, claims to have knowledge of the details which are still forthcoming . . . . "
No, I am not voting for her by default either. It was meant to be understated intentionally to emphasize that I think she is an excellent choice. But I agree with Biden - there are literally dozens of very well qualified Dems for the presidency. On the other side at this point, few to none.
..."dozens of very well qualified Dems for the presidency..."
You just reinforced your original sentence.
Harris is one of those people caught up in a significant turning point in history who happens to be uniquely qualified to tackle what we are facing.
I can't think of any candidate who could capture the cross cultural support, cross the political divide, create a movement in such a short period of time and in short capture the imagination and support of the voters as VP Harris has done.
Can we add Nigel Farage to the list? He may not have been invited, but that didn't stop him from ignoring his new constituents in England and flying to Milwaukee to "support" his "friend Donald". He didn't even get in the door. But Nigel never gives up.
Fartage has never had a real job in his life, so he's not gonna start now. Clacton will be without a functioning member of parliament til at least 2029.
He is vile beyond words. Since Bannon wasn’t “free” to be there (I think), Nigel should have been welcomed to be a placeholder for his brand of demonic possession.
Doesn't, Steve, the Rapture require some massive mass murder in the lands of the Bible?
So won't Netanyahu and all his far-right settlers oblige by extending their mass murder against women and children of Gaza now to include more mass murder of Palestinians in the West Bank, plus sorted sordid additional murder and mass destruction in Lebanon and countries nearby where U.S. evangelicals may also rapturously partake of their own Biblical frenzies all the more, too?
Has anyone mentioned that Puerto Ricans are Americans? They don’t need permission to “come inside” anymore than Donald Trump needs a passport to travel from Florida to New York to appear for his sentencing before Judge Juan Marchan in four weeks. The United States is their country. When they change residence from Puerto Rico to Pennsylvania, they become Pennsylvanians, just as Elon Musk became a Texan by moving from San Francisco to Austin. They don’t have to sneak in as fake students to get an illegal work permit as Musk did when he moved from Canada to California.
The right will never allow that to happen because it gives a Rep each and two Senators each to people of color… but as you heard no one loves PR more than the king of the right. 🤪
More than one rep... probably 4 at least, maybe 5. Puerto Rico has 3.2 million people so using 700,000 population per Rep (current average) 4-5 new congressional seats. And yes, 2 senators. As an almost certain Democratic state of will never be in the union for a long time. GOP led states still outnumber Dem led states even if the democratic population is larger. So virtually no likelihood of statehood ratification anytime soon.
I have TRIED to explain this to my family and TRIED to explain why "territories" are basically New World colonies but my family just doesn't get it. They think anyone who speaks Spanish, isn't white (by their terms), and came from "somewhere else" is an illegal immigrant and should be "sent back immediately".
They think Puerto Rico should be GRATEFUL for the limbo they've found themselves in, that the US took interest in their tiny island at all and tried to "civilize" them, tried to help them.
Before this next part, I want to say that I understand my next opinion is controversial even in Dem circles and Puerto Rico itself. My opinion was formed as a mainland American who serves many Puerto Rican Americans at my jobs and has built rapport enough to ask questions. I understand not everyone shares my view.
I believe that if we're going to keep Puerto Rico stringing along as a "US Territory", we really ought to have the decency to just make them a state or at very least an incorporated territory. I personally would resent the "country" I'm paying taxes to saying "only selected parts of the Constitution apply to you". I'd resent paying for Medicare only to have certain portions of it apply to me and not others. I'd resent having no economy to speak of - because the US ruined it, declared bankruptcy, removed Puerto Ricans' oversight - and being forced to pay federal income tax on the work I get outside of Puerto Rico (no taxes for income made IN Puerto Rico) in the US mainland, where I am ridiculed and belittled as an "illegal criminal alien".
If we aren't willing to treat them like mainland Americans, we should at least have the decency to give them back oversight of their economy and try to help FIX what we broke after the Cold War era so that they can support themselves and still find a measure of independence, even as a territory.
The fact the the USA, a paragon of democracy and the supposed face of anti-imperialism, still maintains colonies under the guise of "territories" is appalling and thematic of the nationalistic rhetoric so prevalent in our "patriotism" today. Because of course we didn't ruin those places, of course we didn't take away their sovereignty, we simply helped them, civilized them, so they'd have a chance in this world. We SAVED them.
Also, 45's idea to end or change citizenship by birth could radically impact Puerto Rico's US citizenship as well - currently Puerto Ricans are given US citizenship at birth through a law OUTSIDE of the Constitution. So if GOP manages to change CONSTITUTIONALLY HELD citizenship status, then what happens to those with extra-constitutional citizenship status?
District of Columbia residents are also shortchanged, ironic since that is the seat of government. GOP is the party that has stubbornly blocked doing the right thing by DC or Puerto Rico.
Also absolutely problematic. I understand why DC was created (having the federal seat of power in any one state could be seen as giving that state unfair advantages or preferential treatment) but still feel that those who live there should be given correct and fair representation.
Unlike Puerto Rico, however, they are delegated three Electoral College votes in presidential elections, given to them by the 23rd Ammendment.
The issue with DC is that they can't have representation without being a state (Article 1, Section 2; 14th Ammendent, Section 2) and they can't become a state because of conflicts of interest - the federal seat of power, given its own land and rights, would always put itself first and show favoritism over the rest of the Union. Or at least, that's what detractors say.
Proponents state that because DC is under the direct purview and governance of Congress, that Congress could pass an extra-constitutional law to allow DC representation in its own body, at which point they would not need to become a state and could stay an impartial federal seat while having representation. This seems the neater of the two options, until you remember it would need to pass both the House and Senate and someone will INVARIABLY bring up "unconstitutionality" to get it thrown out.
The taxation problems are much more nefarious in DC, at least in my opinion. We ARE taxing DC without proper representation, entirely, without territory provisions.
DC runs into the same problems as Puerto Rico, though, in the fact that if they want something to change, they have to convince someone in Congress to champion it for them. Or have a case large enough to push them to SCOTUS and have standing for their grievance. Historically, SCOTUS has refused to hear DC residents on "taxation without representation" suits because they consent to be governed directly by Congress, which is constitutional, and Congress has not ruled for any changes, which is also constitutional. It's a helluva catch-22.
I feel like giving the residents of DC residency in another state would be a simpler solution yet - find where the state lines would be without DC and delegate people based on where they live. Use those additional census numbers to change representatives if needed, and allow people to vote in the states they would belong to without DC there.
Basically, we need to stop treating DC like half a state - it either is or it isn't, and if it isn't, then something should be done to reflect that the people living and in DC are represented elsewhere.
Well the one thing about DC which is different from Puerto Rico is that anyone who lives in DC can move to one of several VERY local residencies that are within a few miles of DC and are located in one of two adjoining states (Maryland and Virginia). That would provide instant representation. That option is not available to people who live in Puerto Rico so the situations although somewhat similar are not exactly the same.
100% agree, and I apologize if my reply seemed to conflate the two. I tried to keep my reply all about DC considering the comment I was replying to.
Puerto Rico is in limbo through no fault of their own, really. DC is in limbo because it was designed that way - the intentionality is they key difference.
Another viable option would be to radically reduce the size of DC to just the Capitol Mall, including the White House and Supreme Court and any adjacent federal buildings and cede the rest of DC to the two adjoining states. There would still be some federal buildings then in those states but that already exists for other federal buildings so not a serious problem as long as the primary three seats of government for the the branches are in the "independent" jurisdiction. I doubt very many people (except the residents of the White House) would then actually live in the reduced DC as most live in the adjoining neighborhoods that would now be in either Virginia or Maryland. It's not a particularly difficult problem to solve if the Congress and President want to solve it. Puerto Rico is a much more complex problem as the GOP will almost certainly never agree to making Puerto Rico a state as long as they can block it. It might not totally shift the balance of political power but it would be a significant step in that direction with no balancing option that would favor the GOP.
Didn’t every other territory that became a state rely on its voters to decide when or if to start the statehood process? In my childhood, the flag had 48 stars. Then Alaska and Hawaii made the transition. They weren’t given statehood, they sought it.
So, yes and no. In 1901 the Supreme Court ruled in a case that no territory could be incorporated into "the American Family" until Congress "provides for" that incorporation. Basically, it means that Congress needs to rule to bring in a state, and they need to give reason and desire to bring that territory into the union on a more inclusive basis. This means it would need to pass first in the House, and then be brought before the Senate and pass there, too.
Considering Puerto Rico isn't allowed representatives, the provision would need to come from other members of Congress. Puerto Rico could have a popular vote and petition Congress to take up their case, but someone within Congress would need to champion it. It would then need to be passed, which would be the harder part, considering this has been a mostly Democrat idea.
That said, the latest poll results I could find said 52% of people in PR wanted to be a state, and the other 50-ish percent were split between an independence faction and a commonwealth faction (maintain status quo). That election/poll was done in 2020.
I just feel that the US has done its territories dirty for quite a long time, and that if we're encouraging dependency on the US like we did in Puerto Rico, we should also take responsibility. It's hypocritical of the USA to tax a territory without allowing them representation, and the only way we manage to get around it is because we only tax "some income" and we still "provide benefits" (reduced) for our territories.
Amílcar Antonio Barreto has some great insight on a lot of the political minefield that is territory politics, especially as they pertain to Puerto Rico. He's a Puerto Rican native, so I trust his voice and characterization of Puerto Rico a LOT more than any government or outside-in economist.
There is a major difference between Puerto Rico and other territories. There are four other territories besides Puerto Rico but not one of them had a population greater than 200,000 whereas Wyoming, the 50th state by population has almost 600,000. Puerto Rico on the other hand has 3.2 million people which would make it the 31 or 32nd largest state, outranking many other states. It is the largest example of an unrepresented population in the US.
Ah yes, the reason why the GOP will never go in with converting Puerto Rico to a state: it's too darn big and will vote too darn blue.
Even if the red presence in Puerto Rico was high enough, they wouldn't be able to gerrymander the districts quietly like everywhere else because there'd be too many eyes on the process of creating a NEW state rather than editing an existing one.
Thank you for that population information! I hadn't realized PR would be that impactful population-wise nor that it would place so highly in state size.
I was a young kid about 9 when both Alaska and Hawaii became states. I even remember the 49 star flag we had for about a minute (actually one year 😅) until the 50th state was brought in. I also remember there were huge debate because Alaska was going to be the first "discontiguous" state and Hawaii the second. There was a fair amount of sympathy for Hawaii because of the impact of Pearl Harbor at the start of WWII and as noted Alaska had lots of oil.
Not so much sympathy for Puerto Rico of course. They speak a lot of Spanish down there and we know Trump hates them. So that one will be difficult.
Thank you, Albert. May I send your comment to my daughter-in-law who loves her PR just as much as my children love their VT, but now live and work in other states?
Sorry i disagree. I wish we could keep religion out of politics. It is one of the major issues I had with Biden and now Harris too. You are entitled to feel that way personally but I am offended by the sentiment when it is expressed openly in a heterogenous forum. I do not believe in "God" and as I would never rub your nose in my personal beliefs, I wish you could return that same respect I give to you.
Sorry, I don't like being argumentative and I expect we both feel similarly about Harris as president but let's leave the "blessings" out of it.
Thank you for the transcript. I will post again Part of Lincoln’s speech to Congress:
“We say we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We, even we here, hold the power, and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free — honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just — a way which if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless.”
Filed under the obituary for the Fourth Estate. The CNN Headline is "Harris tries to paint contrast with Trump".
I often write any form of a meaningful democracy requires an educated, informed, and engaged society. This is yet another example on the assault on the flow of information in the United States.
CNN reports that she "tries?" It's actually easy. She's not the one who has had a career devoted to committing fraud, leaving behind a graveyard of bankrupt businesses, unpaid workers, adding $7 trillion in U.S. debt (and shifting the liability to workers and families, abandoning allies, coddling mass murdering dictators, attempting to extort money from allies, rape, racism, and xenophobia.
Per CNN's Antoinette & 6 other Authors, 50.5 Million have already voted. 60 Million voters are likely before 11/5/24!
Today, Kamala will campaign in Raleigh, NC then to Harrisburg (good name) PENN then off to Madison WS. The Coach will be interviewed on CBS & ABC this morning then off to Charlotte, Greensboro & Asheville, North Carolina.
For Other News: 30-OCT-2024: Elon Musk admitted that implementing DJT's Plan 2025, and Economic Policies, would cause the Financial Markets & Broad Economy to Crash with a Recovery POSSIBLY happening later... On CNN Senator Elizabeth Warren reinterated this... This will be living thru a Real Life Zombie Apocalypse...
They also consider themselves SuperHuman, and Citizens of the World... Peter Thiel's Plan to establish Billionaire Fiefdoms would make Us that Survive, Serfs.... DJT Sees Everybody Else Useful Fools...
Hopefully this Crash Never Happens... If does, that it is Fixable... Bear in Mind that when Ancient Rome fell, it wasn't until the early 20th Century that the Average Briton Lifespan exceeded that of a Briton under Roman Rule...
Thank you Professor. Had vice president,. For me it’s case closed and I don’t know but this popped in my head. My neighborhood I have a Walmart grocery store. It’s very diverse. I’ve got to know a lot of the people that live and work there that I would ask everyone to sit down at my dinner table Discussions, we would learn about that and they would learn about me if we would learn about what support to the world for each of us and we would understand that we could all get along and share. That’s what Harris will do for America. I truly truly believe that, I don’t want to put any information out about TG but he has no agenda other than to drill baby drill. I hope he meets when he goes to the dentist. I love you all. I love this country. I can’t wait for it to have a new chance to be even greater. With all of us involved, whether we sweep the street, change a light switch, clean a sewer line, cell, Art, our lawyer, doctors, nurses, professional people that do good for less fortunate. That we all understand our place in the world is to work together to make it better. It’s hard work but it’s fine and the results will make us smile. To each other. Let’s do this. Let’s get back on track. And again thank you Professor for keeping us sane. We all love you and wish you the best and don’t ever stop. Never ever stop. ☯️☮️❤️🌻🫶
Wish I could have a dinner with all the wonderful Allies I have met on Substack on Nov 6!!!!! Now that would be some dinner! Maybe we can do something virtual? Thoughts?
"I see the promise of America in all of you…. I see it in the young people who are voting for the first time who are determined to live free from gun violence and to protect our planet, and to shape the world they inherit."
I live in Washington DC. I also attended the 2017 Women's March.
I attended this rally. Mamala really takes care of her guests. Those of us in attendance thought the crowd was more like 100,000. Even 75,000 is bigger than any Trump rally. Kamala, Mamala, served water and snacks. I'm an old lady with bone cancer. There was a section with chairs for those with disabilities.
It wasn't just Washingtonians in attendance. I met a woman who'd flown in from Boston. I sat next to the delightful Alison, who like Kamala, graduated from Howard University. Alison's degree is in physical therapy. There was fabulous spirit.
When leaving the rally, I was with the young man who's the Shriners' spokesperson. He's very nice. He's the fellow (think his name is Alex) who holds up that blanket and talks about his brittle bone condition.
Wonderful that you shared your experience. And good luck with your bone cancer. I, myself, have CLL, chronicle lymphocytic leukemia & pretty old myself so it was gratifying to hear about how Harris/Walz doesn't just talk the talk but walks the walk of kindness & decency & took care of folks rather than leaving them to suffer in heat or cold because they don't pay for "round trips"!
I KNOW - it's a heck of an argument! Thanks, Constance - after a largely sleepless night, and reading HCR's letter and the great comments, yours cheered me up enough to produce an actual chuckle! I'm certainly convinced that the MelonFelon isn't a Nazi - after all, he said so himself, and he NEVER strays from the truth!
Did Fox carry her speech. I guess no. It was a barn burner. I hope it gets more press than the defamation wagon train that defines republican oratory. Sadly, the cult is devoted. May they wither and be gone, sucked into their black hole of hate.
We flipped to FNC during her speech to see how they were covering it. They broadcast it live, but with a banner below “summarizing” her words as the exact opposite of what she actually said. I imagine brainwashed FNC viewers only reading the banner text and not listening to a word of her actual speech. Such a shame because it was a great speech; one to be remembered.
It’s what chump screams constantly. He thinks describing his hate fests as “beautiful” fools his brain washed idiots. Hopefully some can count the bodies…. My bros were not haters, but some confuse religion with hating the right people. Boy, is that convenient…
Me too, but I have screamed enough about Fox that one friend said I sounded like his Fox friends. Worst insult ever hurled at me. But that’s what they do. Accuse others of what they do.
Walter Cronkite they ain’t. And therein lies the crux of our problem. Wish that fact would make some headlines. Fox always aired the opposite of what was true while screaming how factual it was. They are known to lie (court case, etc) but still people shrug. Lawsuit ACLU?
Today, I am proud as a Democrat to stand with Kamala Harris as she leads our country back to the beam of patriotic pride we can be again with her as our leader.
I agree. Her speech also took an important tone in that she reintroduced herself to people who are just tuning in for the first time. These people will decide this election.
I am reaching this group by allowing free printing of my joyous “VOTE-you make the difference” stickers in all 7 swing states. Because they don’t mention a candidate, Harris workers can comfortably wear them as they escort voters to the polls today in Nevada.
Follow my journey on Substack or get free downloads of the sticker at 2millionStickers.com
"I'm not a Nazi."
more laughable defense than
"I am not a crook."
Immediately came to mind, and no more believable 50 years later.
This election cycle is perplexing to a degree. The forces from the dark side have been gathering momentum for decades. What could push them into victory? I always admonish to look in the mirror for those answers. If the answers aren’t forthcoming. Then go off and get a pizza and beer and fill the belly instead of the mind.
If Harris is t victorious on Tuesday then nothing can save this nation. It’s that simple. But never cease questioning ourselves in search for the answers.
Did you mean if Harris ISN’T victorious?
I’m tired of apple keyboards skipping “n” and “m.” They produce defective products and genius support tried making me thinki was imagining this skipping but it’s only been recurring for 7 years. Anyone else have this issue?
yes,my keyboard has a hard time with n, too, so I got it that you mea t is t
Same here, but on my Android yelemovrl screen. I thought I was the only one.
As my wife always tells me proofread before sending
Totally agree. Sometimes what appears has random letters and spaces that I absolutely didn’t type.
My Mac goes somewhere else in the message when I type the letter"y". Very annoying!
Isn't your comment editable?
Sometimes my comments are forcibly edible. I've had to eat my words before. 😂😂😂 Sorry, sometimes I can't help myself. 😅
No. If I see a mistake when I post, I copy, delete, and paste as a new comment. This post has too many responses to delete now.
Dude - I've got a Dell... The keyboard is narrow and the "A" always skips.
If I change position so I can smash the a-key, then something else drops off. One thing at least, it's forced me to proofread just so I don't look worse than I already am.
lol....
Yes!
I think it’s actually getting worse. Trying to get the cursor into place to edit has become ridiculous.
I have a problem with M (Just had to hit that twice) but not N. I thought it was a problem just with my Mac ( had to hit that twice).
Yes
My Asus laptop had on many occasions, as I was typing, automatically deleted what I was writing. Absolutely infuriating. After taking it in for a new hard drive, the problem disappeared. No explanation by any of the technicians as to what it could have been. BTW, the new hard drive only cost me $64.00.
I have an Asus where I had a lot of trouble typing and editing comments, and the problem was that if I touched or came near the touchpad, something unpredictable happened, like deletions. The problem went away after I disabled the touchpad, which I wasn't going to use anyway.
Even if she IS victorious, we STILL have a fresh generation of people who know how to use fear, divisness and are starved for power and chaos to deal with.
The question is, will our government have the spine to actually deal with them as needed for the sake of justice?
I think we might also have long family traditions of "My father was GOP, so I'm GOP" broken for the first time and not going back. If Trump loses, the GOP is going to have to admit it's been sundered into at least two factions.
From your mouth to dog's ear.
A Trump (non) government would use them against each other to keep them from attacking the Trump non-government. That would also make the USA vulnerable to attack from Russia.
Yeah. At that point they won't have to be subtle any more.
I believe the DOJ will do what it needs to do according to law. With AI now very much in play, some programs may be able to help law enforcement. Additionally, because AI will replace people in certain professions, law enforcement careers may aggressively open for those who wish to join. This may be the answer to add to the investigative pool in law enforcement which will help in curbing the hooligans that corrupt this nation.
I like your imagination!!! In that regard, AI would certainly be helpful!
I drove to Danbury prison holding to disrupt a press conference but the rat have been released at 3 AM which is unusual but understandable. So I drove up the road toward the prison and was met by a guard. I got out of my car and began walking toward him in the distance. He yelled at me to not go further. As I was asking a question about a press conference, he rudely told me to get off the property and it was private and federal land. I yelled back at him that I owned that land and I was a citizen. That’s when it went from bad to worse. I had to tell him to GFHimself and as he stood like a soldier at the ready, I asked him if he was about to shoot me. I didn’t wait for him to respond as I issued forth more expletives and turned back toward my car. And it was at that moment I realized I was privileged. Had I been Black, I would have become a bleeding lump of red mess on the ground. The nerve of that Ahole.
"...private and federal land." What the hell does that even mean?
Ask him. I cussed his ass out that rude POS.
You sound like you have a good solution. I'll give that a try.
Oh please I’m not going down that rabbit hole again. I only suggest questioning ourselves for the answers. It’s a darn good and positive thing to do instead of telling others what to do.
If you have to say you’re not one, you probably are one. In either case the denial itself is a confession.
?And those who came before us—the patriots at Normandy and Selma, Seneca Falls and Stonewall, on farmlands and factory floors—they did not struggle, sacrifice, and lay down their lives only to see us cede our fundamental freedoms…only to see us submit to the will of another petty tyrant."
"Petty tyrant" It's the "petty" that gets my goat. The corporate media will have 5-10 stories outlining CFDT's pettiness of the day. They waste 350-500 words on each of us only to sell products that make them richer. And each story normalizes the MAGA movement until we're so desensitized when we read each story it no longer evokes any emotion.
It's bizarre that Trump can say or do anything that doesn't move the needle, but if Harris makes a single mistake, it is front page news for several days.
There shouldn't be a single veteran that votes for the draft dodger and cemetery desecrater Trump.
There shouldn't be a single woman that votes for the rapist and misogynist Trump.
There shouldn't be a single person of color that votes for the racist and xenophobic Trump.
If the corporate media were doing their jobs, Trump would have been history after January 6th. But because, they don't, it is incumbent on us to get the word out.
Agreed, Gary. "petty tyrant" is like saying lava is "a little hot". I do not understand how any woman, or any veteran, or any person of color, regardless of political bent, can vote for that POS.
Ally, I don't understand why anyone could possibly vote for this "island of trash"- ever. I knew in 2016 what a grifter Trump was, just from reading about his mob-like behavior while ruining his father's real estate business and discriminating racially and against the elderly poor. We won't even discuss his multiple bankruptcies before he ever sought political office. That this race appears to be close is mind-boggling to me.
I will be canvassing this weekend with a friend from my working days. She is a brilliant attorney, and I hope that we can encourage some disheartened or undecided citizens to boost Kamala over the top on Tuesday. Anything less would be the final nail in the coffin for this flawed, but potentially magnificent melting pot.
Trump is known to have dealt directly with with the Mob for favors, and a son spoke of "money pouring in from Russia". Without money and Big Lies behind him, his scandalous transactions would have squelched his reputation long ago. Now some see his de facto impunity as admirable. He is perceived as powerful, and the "system" a failure. It's a self-fulfilling prophesy so long as you don't take a hard, adult look at where it is leading. What feels like liberation for his followers is the abandonment of conscience and responsibility; but the consequences pile up until they become crushing to most of a society. Illustrations from history and even present days, are legion. Like a two year old playing tag with moving cars on a busy street, fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
JL, for those who believe the myth of his power, their foolishness can be attributed to the fact that they are easily led, compounded by their ignorance, and they will be among the first to suffer the consequences. From what I've read in the past, Trump's idolization of Roy Cohn had much to do with Cohn's mob connections, and Kellyanne Conway's grandfather was mob associate Jimmy "the Brute" DiNatale, so Trump clearly wants to curry favor with that ilk. There is probably more dirt if we'd bother to investigate. Because of his unrelenting threats of retaliation, he has managed to evade the consequences. Among other things, like this country becoming authoritarian and our democracy falling, the stakes for his not facing prosecution are much more consequential than his followers comprehend. I just hope I live long enough to see him held to account and this country's escape from his grip and that of his handlers.
Nice metaphor, Ally. I don't understand this either.
I loved the phrase “petty tyrant.” It will really annoy him. and anyway, I’m not sure there really could be a ‘petty’ tyrant!
Ally, most people know what you mean when you call him a POS. I come from a retail background, where it stands for Point Of Sale. Of course, it still fits because Donald will sell anything or anyone for a buck.
I wonder if he's developed a price list for those classified documents.
He sold his soul for money and power. It's classic.
He had a soul ?
Just to be fair, I believe the FBI finally seized all of the classified documents over a year ago in their last Mar Lago raid. So I doubt he has too much to sell these days.
To be even more fair, photocopying machines exist. As do self-storage facilities that can be rented under pseudonyms like "John Barron." If I were a criminal in possession of classified documents and was contacted by the government about returning them, I would stall with deceptions and diversions, whilst my loyal staff was feverishly making copies and storing them in a remote location. I doubt foreign adversaries care whether the secrets they buy or barter are originals or facsimiles.
I think there are some documents that are still missing.
Ally, or anybody at all, unless the thought of chaotic tyranny appeals to them.
"Selma" works both ways.
I've always said, Ally, that it's always about the money when it comes to republican beliefs. They're all looking for a positive break in their income intake. With these folks, it's *always, always* been about the money. Price of gas, eggs, processed foods, or whatever; it's all about how much they can keep in their purse or wallet. Poor saps: "the fools! they don't know what they're doing" (I don't know who said that, but I felt it needed to be put in quotes.)
I think Trump said that LOL... or at least a close facsimile!
😂😂😂😂
Money, money, money, money. That's all what counts for the media.
I think Bezos is a bit concerned about trump hence no endorsement. Everyone in the world is holding their breath. Everyone is being nice to him because they might have to deal with him in the future. if I were Zelenski I would not have changed my departure plans just because trump wanted to speak to me (in private).
We all know what trump is capable of: with holding aid from American citizens just because their state is the wrong color. If he does that to his own people what will he do tom them if they need assistance? Increase tariffs? Withdraw from NATO? With draw from any environmental programs?
Oh, yeah, Bezos is definitely kow-towing to Trump and Musk beforehand. I'm glad to hear 200.000 subscribers left the Washington Post because of his cowardly chickening out of endorsing Kamala Harris.
And the only thing Trump can promise Zelensky, is that he will sell Ukraine to Putin faster than he can blink.
The LA Times lost a chunk of their subscriptions, too.
Dutch Mike, we cancelled our subscription. I doubt Bezos really cares about the lost subscribers as all he can hear is the ka-ching of the money pouring in from his other ventures.
Just saw a picture of Bezos siting at a table with (what I assume are other big business owners). and inn the middle is trump.
"Democracy Dies in Cowardice"
I like that better than darkness.
"But the main culprit, the cancer on the body politic, is money: Money, money, money. When I ran 6 years ago, in 1998, I raised $8.5 million. That $8.5 million is $30,000 a week, every week, for 6 years. If you miss Christmas week, you miss New Years week, you are $100,000 in the hole and don't you think we don't know it and we start to work harder at raising money.
As a result, the Senate doesn't work on Mondays and Fridays. We have longer holidays. The policy committee is adjourned and we go over to the campaign building because you can't call for money in the office. So we go over to the building and call for money and obviously we only can give attention to that. We don't have time for each other. We don't have time for constituents, except for the givers. Somebody ought to tell the truth about that. Unless and until we excise this cancer, the Congress and Government is going to languish alone because it has to be done."
-- Senator Fritz Hollings, November 16, 2004
And it STILL needs to be done. It has only become much worse. How many serious, "insoluble" problems boil down to the thumb (or posterior) of excess money on the scales of democracy and justice???
And the most Honorable Senator Hollings correctly observed that 6 years before the cluster 'eff - 'Citizens United' decision ! Every year and more so in election years, over the past 20 years or so, I ask myself what priorities are most important for the greatest number of Americans, and campaign finance reform comes out in at least the top 5; Since 2010, the top 3. I'm of the mind that it won't get done until citizens at large impose it on the political class. Some years ago I began a loose affiliation with a group that espoused campaign finance reform as their sole issue. Over time, their list of issues grew. Opposed to growth beyond the singular issue, I stepped away.
Focus, persistence, and integrity seems necessary for major public movements that are both honorable and effective. That said, it is hard to stay with one issue when so many scream for attention, with real victims in need of assistance. I don't think there is any easy answer for that, but I think the power of peaceful protest in particular depends on maintaining a concentrated focus with everyone pulling more or less the same way. Normalized injustice and perfidy can lose it's veneer of inevitability when a spotlight is held on it long enough for enough people to notice. The perception of "resistance is futile" can fade when enough people gain the sympathies of others.
As has been the case in medicine, cures for maladies and methods for improving the human condition have been proposed for eons, some of them even highly effective; but the effectiveness of some approach has only been highly specific, useful in very circumstances, but not in others. Some avenues, such as "germ theory" of the cause of infectious diseases affect a huge array of treatments. Those game changers won't always replace the need for highly specific approaches, but they can improve and extend a great number of them. The potential for misuses of money is not a novel idea, but I think we fail to appreciate the breadth of it's impact and how may doors to improvements might be opened if we treated it as a "must do" political priority.
And eye-balls is the metric…timed by content so they learn what keeps you engaged…make us all mushrooms, “Keep in the dark and feed horseshit!”
We are not fungus!
Yet maybe we can learn about interconnections and support, the care and feeding of each other in community!
"Make us all mushrooms", brilliant, I'm stealing that one!
I used to be a delivery driver and one of the grocery stores i visited had a sign in the produce section out back, "I must be a mushroom, people keep me in the dark and feed me horseshit!" so I stole it! But thanks!
I agree🤪
Agreed, Gary. Anyone who wasn't previously paying much attention should have been convinced after the MSG event. But what about all those who voted early, just buying the refrains that Trump would be better for the economy or for immigration? We urge people to vote early, and I agree that that's a good, recent development, but at what point is it too late to get the word out? Do we need a way for people to change their minds if they've already voted before they see the extent of the ugliness that was apparent on Sunday?
I saw an interview with a Puerto Rican man who had voted early for Trump and was now sorry he had. So he pledged to get his family and friends to the polls and vote for Harris. I thought this was a great idea. Hope more people in the same situation do the same. 👍
Unfortunately, I think a whole lot of people already voted who have been swayed by this development. And cannot take it back.
Yes James, I was thinking this same thing last night -- it's the one thing about early voting that is bothersome, not being able to change your mind. (This really only applies to red voters, of course.)
No such possibility here in NH, where we only allow early voting if you ask for an absentee ballot, and there are only a couple reasons that are allowed. (And interestingly, there's a glitch in our law: absentee voters don't have to show proof of citizenship, while all other voters must. That is likely to be corrected during the next legislative session.)
I heard a Puerto Rican radio personality who had already voted for Trump say that he would be hard at work talking other Puerto Ricans not to do the same!
Too bad that people are so selfish when they vote. That radio personality wasn't anti-Trump until he was the one Trumpism was denigrating. Where was he when Trump was insulting Haitians? First they came for the LGBTQ, then they came for the Haitians, then they came for the Puerto Ricans, then.....
"That" is exactly the point Dave ! Bravo !
There was another man interviewed who said the same thing, and he was going to try to convince his friends and families. I think we are seeing the downside of voting early. To give such a rally showing his true colors (it was so bad even the republicans are doing their song and dance and trump denying it) AFTER early voting has started is not beneficial.
The only problem is that most Republicans only watch Fox News so they’re not gonna show anything negative about Trump and all the hate speeches that were at Madison Square Garden’s. That’s my concern. I have family members that won’t talk politics at all with me. They are the Trump supporters.
We have TN relatives -no politics BUT in the last phone conversation, he said he wished this circus was over. It depends on what circus he is talking about though. We are hopeful.
The "corporate media"...perfect. They have abdicated their critically important role as the Fourth Estate and sold America out. A spectacular and infuriating failure on their part to keep the lights on and save democracy. And the Black and Latino not to mention white men who purportedly support tRump? Voting with their dicks and betraying every woman in their lives as well as the country. So damn pitiful.
Gary, I always post Heather's letter on Facebook and hope even the wing nuts who are my friends (probably one at this point) see it. I hope others pass it on and I know some that do. I agree with you that those groups you mentioned should not be voting for death star.
I do the same, and title it "Today's truth".
"Democracy dies in darkness" so says the Washington Post.
As their political cartoon from either that or the next day indicated that the darkness has come.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/25/ann-telnaes-cartoon-donald-trump-kamala-harris-washington-post/
I saw that too. WaPo is hemorrhaging now that they have lost over 250,000 subscribers. People are paying attention and that’s a good thing. I believe these media owners are afraid of Trump and Company but to the extent that he will sic Putin on them if they don’t comply. Same goes for the Repubs in Congress. Besos is a sick prick, a dick!
My husband and I no longer subscribe to WaPo.
perfect.
See my comment of the new WAPO buy line inspired by the new owner's actions; I really hope it goes viral... "Democracy Dies in Cowardice"
Gary you have said it so perfectly and exactly how I feel. I am so tired and so done with all the “garbage” that comes out of not just DJT’s mouth but of those around him and yet any words from the VP or those around her are scrutinized to death of being so horrific or worse a killer for her campaign. What is wrong with people? But then I remember for those who have drunk the juice have become blinded and deaf to reality and individual critical thinking, for others, perhaps truly afraid of retaliation at some level. And most important, we have made apologies or changing an opinion when you learn something different and the truth a sign of weakness, or that other horrible phrase, “flip flop”. After working with people my whole life and career I am sure there are many who just simply want to avoid attention and when they go to the polls will vote Blue, because even if registered Red, their vote is a secret and no one will know except them. And that is what is helping me to get sleep at night.
Well done
Between Heather’s letter and Kamala’s moving speech, we will win and we will begin healing from the wrath of the criminal who once occupied the highest office in our nation. He will go down as the most corrupt ex-president we have ever witnessed. His followers who create havoc, like burning ballots or cutting electrical lines, or murder, will be prosecuted and imprisoned. The man who thought he should be king didn’t realize that we have laws in place that prevent him from doing so. Marc Elias of the Elias Law Group and Democracy Docket said the Dems have prepared for what could happen when the torch passes to Kamala and if violence ensues. All of the scenarios have been worked out to protect us all. “When we fight, WE WIN”!
Too many things are perfectly aligned to allow a fascist takeover. There is a lot of money and organized effort behind it, much more than is readily visible. We are being played.
Corporate media needs to be responsible what they do and DON'T do...
And as Bishop Fulton Sheen said: "The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is in itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction."
I love that quotation Terrie. Thank you. I have to add my thoughts to the petty excuses used by today's MSM, that you just know they are going to use. They are going to say, "Hey, we can't take sides. We have and want to keep our gop customers too." (as an aside, faux news doesn't seem to care about losing dem customers... obviously). Anyway, my retort is that reporting 'facts in evidence' is impartial and can be presented impartially. There is just too much in their defenses that won't hold water - damn them !
Furthermore, it's been my opinion and stated herein many times that this is some of the heavy lifting we citizen are going to need to address because, just like campaign reform, the political class is Not going to get it done, and that is an overhaul of who and what can claim the constitutional protections of freedom of the press; Shall that include liars, cons, spurious advertisers, etc. ? Freedoms we have carry responsibilities, and so should all freedoms, rights, and especially constitutional protections. We have to have laws when your exercise of some freedoms collide with mine; Why not the press, MSM, etc. ? jmho friends ~
I wish we could get someone like FDR in for 4 straight terms. Because 2 just ain't gonna cut, will it?
Our Constitution is in dire need of modernizing (long over due in MHO) and there are other modern governing reforms that need to be made...specifically, a way to run social media as broadcasting stations were when radio & TV was the source of mass communication.
So many things, my friend; but you ARE correct about the political class not getting it done. This is why I say, sadly, that we may just have to go through a terror-ridden couple of decades (in other words, "slapped upside the head") so we understand the importance of progressive governing.
I'm not EVEN going to touch on our place in the world neighborhood...for that is indeed what our world is...it's a neighborhood and right now, we're the run-down part of the neighborhood that's on the verge of collapse and the gangs are going to run it over.
Bravo! ME and NE represented here, too, as well as MN, IA,ID, CO, MO, SD and WA. All these states have wonderful people but ME is "home". When you've moved around a lot, lived in a variety of states rather than just visiting, you see how diverse we are as a people and how that diversity enriches us. That's the upside of immigration we seldom hear about.
Gary, I feel your pain.
I thought this was a good explanation:
https://www.threads.net/@tyalexander/post/DBtldwFJb0O?xmt=AQGzi6O7aLwjrg7NJP0NeW8pr4q8rQdTlwEk7XgYrUfeYw.
Sadly, Exactly.
Lest we forget the Republican Party's official response to the documented riotous Jan. 6th attempted coup; corrupt to the core. The whole frickin' party (what is left of it) out-Orwells Orwell:
"Whereas, Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger are participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse, and they are both utilizing their past professed political affiliation to mask Democrat abuse of prosecutorial power for partisan purposes, therefore, be it resolved, That the Republican National Committee hereby formally censures Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and shall immediately cease any and all support of them as members of the Republican Party for their behavior which has been destructive to the institution of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Republican Party and our republic, and is inconsistent with the position of the Conference,"
People have to hunger for it and fight with their vote.
"If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck."
Need we say more?
Are you implying that Trump is a ducking Nazi? Sounds right to me...
or a Nucking Fazi
More F than D a Ducking Fazi. They are Dutch these Dtrumps so who knows what side they were on before Red and the clan left Sweden…
Not as dignified, worth listening to, or quotable as duck, Donald Duck, in fact, shameful.
No! LOL
Definitely. To adapt a line from Hamlet, "The wanna-be king doth protest too much, methinks."
My thought exactly. Thank you for stating it, Blucheck Mark.
"I'm not a Nazi."
more laughable defense than
"I am not a crook."
But much more dangerous.
And more untrue.
Agreed!
"Nobody loves Puerto Ricans like I do," says the Flim Flam Man.
The way he shows love, let's hope nobody "loves" the same as he does!
Don't forget the back of the coat Melania wore when they visited the border to see the child separation problem. Wasn't it something like ..I don't really care, do you? The whole family is like....I'm going to do this awful thing or that awful thing to see if, you as a nation, will just accept it.
He tossed paper towels to them after a hurricane. What a guy, eh?
Everywhere he appears, they should toss GARBAGE at him.
Now that's a GOOD idea! Tomatoes, eggs, etc. Is it illegal?
Can't take credit for the idea, I saw it elsewhere. And no idea of legality.
Terrifying for this grandma of Puerto Rican grandkids.
💕💕💕 Be well. We are trying to keep him from ever having that power over you and all of us ever again.
Mmm. Be well.
Thank You, Pat.
And "No one has done more for Puerto Ricans than I have!" Said the fraudster.
I THINK he meant, “No one has done more TO Puerto Ricans…” than he has.
And yet, in a calm but adversarial conversation between a democratic activist and a Puerto Rican plumber who is a Trump supporter -- he defended Trump with his agreement that his homeland of "Puerto Rico IS an island of garbage". I'm increasingly faced with people who disagree in fundamental ways that seem unchangeable.
The words of Harris’ speech are unassailable.
Yet so many who oppose her dig in their heels and refuse to listen. Those who support Trump despise her.
The reason is Fox News. Nothing we read here is ever reported there. These truths don’t exist for Fox Fans.
Decoding Fox News gives a snapshot of a week of Fox News in 45 min. Hearing what they hear (and don’t hear) is the best way for us to understand the opposite POV. On Fox, “Trump Gave a Rousing Speech at Madison Square Garden.” If that’s all you hear… you’ll never understand why liberals are so offended.
After Heather cox Richardson, Decoding Fox News is the most valuable Substack in my feed.
Https://decodingfoxnews.substack.com?r=4j5a4
I guess he doesn't realize that Trump would send his ass detras.
Clearly, a descendant (in both senses) of the plumbers who worked for Nixon.
It creates the sense of an inevitable tide…this concerns me greatly.
I wonder if he's ever looked into why his home country became an "island of garbage". Even I just scraped the surface of the history of US intervention in Puerto Rico and I can confidently tell you: the US fast-tracked Puerto Rico to economic collapse and then left them high and dry.
If Trump gets in office again, he will do the same to every other American state and territory - if his "efficiency cabinet member" doesn't just cut the territories out as "unnecessary spending".
Trumpian economics seeks to gut the government and prop it up on the backs of million-, billion-, and (soon to be) trillionaires. He's a businessman (allegedly), his first language is acquisitions. The government is just another business to aquire, monopolize, and profit off of.
Since trump came down that escalator in 2015, said the things he said, I had thought that he wouldn't go anywhere with that absurd narrative, but then he just kept dominating the other candidates in those repug primary debates, he held those vitriolic rallies and an entire alternative culture was born out of something that the old school repugs had created. A bitter, resentful, angry crowd of "Deplorables". One that I thought was a small, rural, marginalized portion of the American population. It's nine years now and the people who had brought this group of people together are mostly gone now, labeled as RINOs. Insanity reigns and Puerto Ricans have joined the mob. The mob is huge and it is not trump so much as it is this thing we humans do. We have a reliable culture, but some don't want to belong or don't value so there is a splintering. There are lots of examples of how this happens in history based in religion, politics, economics, justice, ideology. We splinter and then there is no turning back it seems.
Yeh, we noticed.
Live your life in such a way that you never feel the need to say, “I am not a Nazi.”
Should be a pretty easy thing to do, but apparently, I am wrong.
Yup. It always reminds me of how, when I announced my daughter's engagement and her fiances' (Hispanic) surname, I had several people's first question be "is he LEGAL?" And these same people would swear they aren't racist.
It's possible if your daddy was a ducking fazi.
It is laughable, but what he would do the nation is horrible. He would destroy us as effectively as he did his failed businesses.
This is what we keep pointing out to people day after day and still they, believe his lies, enough to create these real poll discrepancies. I'm anxious about asking WHY do they believe him?
They WANT to believe him. They want a "strong man" to fix everything for them.
Right. Life is too hard and confusing, and I’m too tired to think—if I ever knew how to begin with.
You nailed it.
I was making calls for Kamala yesterday and one of the people in the Zoom room noted that Trump’s supporters pick out what they like about him, and ignore (or repress) the rest.
What’s to like about him? The person has not one redeeming quailty.
😞
Christopher Browning wrote this in his recent NYR article, “Hitler’s Enablers” which reviewed several books on how Hitler came to power. It describes for me what has happened in this country as well:
“The lost war, [WWI] revolution, unjust peace settlement, economic chaos, and ‘huge social and technological change’ were so intolerable that they led to a rejection of reality by many Germans. And they supported Hitler because he gave ‘voice to this flight from reality as could no other German politician of his time.’ This ‘hostility to reality translated into contempt for politics’ that in turn destroyed the ‘minimal common ground’ that democracy needs to function.”
At 93 I can remember all you
have pointed out even though I was a child and my
Birthday is “D Day”!!!!!
Maybe loudspeakers in every corner of our confused land would help to
remind citizens hat happened then and could
happen now?!
DT and Hitler have similar
Childhood/Father backgrounds——need I say more🥴. Mabel G
Ouch. That is so very spot on...
“He’s better on policy” or some such empty parroting.
But they can never tell you what the policy is.
Same when you ask what the good is that they think he has done! I never have gotten an answer to that!
A little over 50 years ago, Nixon said: “I’m not a crook.”
As usual, the evidence proves otherwise.🇺🇸🌊
Evidence =Truth
Deception hides the truth and the illusion is mesmerizing to those that want affirmation of their base instincts.
Love is the only force strong enough to defeat hate. If Christians followed the gospel teachings of Jesus Christ they would reject the false prophets, love thy neighbor and let the truth set us free.
VOTE PRO-DEMOCRACY 🇺🇸 🗳 🗽 💜
Sign: "
"Who Would Jesus Vote For?
Kamala Harris!"
Give these Christians "a sign": "TRUMP IS A FALSE PROPHET", on their lawns.
This is a converse example of Margaret Thatcher's famous, if archaic, quote: “Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't.”
Thank you. That is so spot on reminder!!! That is a close to an apology as the petty wannabe tyrant has ever made. Roy Cohn his mentor who told him never to apology might be turning in his grave.
Harvey, you might be right about Roy Cohn turning in his grave but the whole time since Trump came down that golden escalator and began his campaign for the presidency and began his effort to befoul the public discourse in our country, I have felt that he has been “out-Roy Cohning Roy Cohn,” executing his master’s plan more effectively than Cohn ever did.
Amazingly, it has worked. Of course, he has been living a charmed life because MAGA have stubbornly refused to think for themselves and instead believed every ridiculous, illogical, contradictory thing he has said. So, he has been free to lie, gaslight, be indecent, never apologize, and say whatever happens to come into his mind, no matter how ridiculous. But now, that might be coming to an end and MAGA could be starting to wake up. If that’s true, it might be because he has met VP Harris who is far more than his equal intellectually, tactically, intuitively and as a speaker. I think at last someone, Kamala Harris, owns him instead of being owned by him and he’s beginning to look ridiculous.
He doesn't really apologize he just twists the words to create doubt and dismay. The Big Lie syndrome. He is innately evil in his lies.
Remember the SNL skit in which he AJOLOPIZED!
Whoops Baldwin said apple-ogized. Could not find it on you-tube but I remember it like it was yesterday.
Not to mention his “love” for women like E Jean Caroll that he expresses in the form of sexual assault.
“ Stacey Williams is 27th woman to accuse Trump of sexual misconduct”
https://www.axios.com/2024/10/28/trump-sexual-misconduct-allegations-women
“I am not a human.”
That will be on his epitaph.
Do you know something about his demise that we don’t (she asked hopefully)????
not soon enough
My thought too:
Nixon: “I am not a crook.” He was.
Tfg: “I am not a Nazi.” Maybe not in fact, but certainly at heart.
Oh, in fact, in fact indeed.
So, I suppose that every morning his valet asks Trump, “Black shirt or brown?”
That is EXACTLY what I thought upon reading it.
Harris is a great narrator. That was some speech
I agree. I have been a political wonk for nearly 70 years and have heard some terrific political speeches, Harris's speech was as good as it gets. If one had been sleeping through this year's presidential campaign and listened to this speech, they would be sold.
She never neglects the subtext. She stands where he stood inciting the mob to violent insurrection.
a very important reason to vote for anyone - Harris this time - is the people they will surround themselves with. Compare Trump's Cabinet to Biden's. Judging from her campaign strategies and her speeches, Harris has some first-rate people on her team. A reason in itself to vote for her.
Well, four years on Biden's brilliant team has been a good apprenticeship.
Mentored by one of the best presidents of my lifetime...maybe THE best.
THE best for me, no doubts. But I expect she may be better.
Yes, remembering the revolving door of tfg's Cabinet appointees during his administration...and how many of them have (finally) revealed their negative opinions of him and stated that they will not vote for him. Does anyone want Stephen Miller back in the White House, or Steve Bannon hanging around there? Or the nepotism of tfg's children "working there" without proper security clearances?
Incidentally, it's evidently true that people are unsubscribing from WaPo in their thousands. I check the comments section, and the numbers have dropped from five-digit to average 300.
Agreed. A perfect blend of a warning and a promise. A super strong speech of defiance and of unity. She called out the opposition for what it is and somehow offered to work with those with differing ideas.
VP Kamala Harris displayed maturity, wisdom and compassion. I can't think of any way she could have improved on it. And I can't wait to sleep better after her acceptance speech and especially after her inauguration.
I completely agree! In 2020, I had nightmares about trump for at least a month prior to the election, and it’s happened again with the election closing in. Once Biden’s win and inauguration took place, I slept without a care until recently.
My husband and I don't watch TV. He solely reads newspapers--WaPo and WSJ.
Which makes him an interesting person to talk to, as he is in a very pure and firm 'legacy media' bubble, while I get all my news online on a variety of sites, including magazines like The Atlantic, Mother Jones, along with online NY Time, WaPo, and WSJ, Bluesky, and occasional Tik Tok posts, plus a bunch of Substack authors.
We stream major debates. I don't believe he has seen a single campaign commercial. He doesn't like carrying his cell phone, so doesn't get the barrage of text messages I do from the campaigns.
It was particularly interesting having discussions with my 'control group' husband when WaPo and WSJ were downplaying Trump's dementia and up-playing Biden's age. The print versions couldn't dynamically change those NY Pitchbot style headlines that enraged people on the fly, after all.
So, while my husband is an intelligent, very well-read and thoughtful man, he got a very specific view of Trump that skewed his perceptions of just how over the cliff Trump had gone, and how Trump compared to Biden. It took him a very long while to understand just how dangerous Trump is to America, how unhinged and fascist the speeches are, largely because media was covering up and sane washing Trump's transgressions.
On the flip side, he also wasn't getting the full impact of what Biden had done with the economy; in those newspapers (especially WSJ), Biden's successes were consistently ignored or downgraded. I told him WSJ and WaPo were treating Biden like a woman when it came to giving him credit for good work done.
My husband never liked Trump, but because he leans Libertarian (a small government Libertarian) and thinks of himself as a moderate (Eisenhower style) Republican, he often scoffed at and ignored my news sources as too hysterical. He sees the Internet as unserious, suspect. An attitude which, since I hang out on the Internet a lot and see such bloody nonsense all the time, I can agree is a perfectly reasonable conclusion. But not in the way he sees it.
In short, ringing alarm bells with someone like my husband just doesn't work. Even when I know the house is on fire.
The changes only came as the papers started slowly shifting their coverage. When his news sources published some stories about what is actually in Project 2025, he got more concerned. He was never going to vote for Trump, but he might have voted for a Republican Senator or Congressman to try and 'balance out' the parties. Far less likely to do that now.
I've also been sharing with him more horror stories of the consequences of eliminating Roe v. Wade and turning it over to state legislatures. Because he is small government focused, he thought state control of abortion was a good idea. That Roe v. Wade was an overreach by the Federal government.
He seems to be re-thinking that now, especially when I reminded him my own pregnancy with our son was fraught with problems (much as my mother struggled with her first pregnancy, losing twins early on) and we barely made it through, spent 7 weeks in the NICU. I explained to him I would be dead along with our son, if that had happened in a red state today. Too many men think pregnancy is 'natural' and women rarely encounter such challenges; women need to start sharing all the gory details with them.
And too many Libertarians have rosy views of what local state legislatures would enact--which is one of the reasons why when you meet them, they are usually white men, or gay Libertarian types like Peter Thiel among the IT folk. I told my husband local politicians were even worse than the federal politicians for ignorance and potential for corruption, and rank misogyny is not uncommon among these state legislators. Kentucky and Mississippi gave me plenty of chances to show egregious examples.
So last night was literally the first time my husband saw Harris deliver a speech other than the debates. I suggested we watch the rally, and he agreed.
I was surprised he watched through the whole thing; he is normally impatient with any political speech, won't stay for it or watch through more than a minute of a clip, very impatient with rah rah stuff.
He was impressed. I thought it was a little low energy for Kamala and the crowd as compared to other fired up rallies had done, so I told him this was nothing compared to other speeches she had made.
But thinking about it this morning, the speeches she made that really got to me were around reproductive freedom. I'm not sure he would have responded to them the way I do, despite being supportive of women.
I think she is very good at code switching for each audience, and that is an awesome political skill, and particularly good for someone like him.
Thank you for sharing this experience with us.
I “feel” she means what she says!
Harris is a good person. And competent. She is Hilary Clinton with some charm.
And better ethics. Hillary is nowhere near as bad with ethics as her husband but not much better either in my opinion. I am still not sold 100% on Harris' positions but I do not question at all that she is the candidate with the best ethics. Trump is so far from that goal I can't even quantify it.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5139382
Here is President Harris's speech on the Ellipse that drew two-to-three times as many people as candidate Trump's "love fest" in Madison Square Garden (i.e., the 85th reunion of the 1939 fascist rally in the old Madison Square Garden).
Thank you for the link sir, that was quite the inspiring speech, and I believe Ms Harris will hono(u)r the pledges made.
You are welcome, Ma'am. 🤝
From one of the few wonks whom I trust. 😊 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyCEcfviIS4
Thanks as always Professor Richardson! We can do worse than have her as president - glad to have cast my vote for her from the Old Country!
As a failsafe, here is the broadcast I would like to see Monday night November 4, 2024:
“Good evening, welcome to All In, I’m Chris Hayes. Well, just when a campaign season full of surprises that you thought couldn’t get any more weird tonight – the Joe Biden June debate debacle, a first assassination attempt against Trump just days before the GOP convention, Biden’s subsequent resignation from the candidacy for president which effectively took the wind out of the sails of said GOP convention, the enthusiastic upswell of support for a new and dynamic Democratic presidential ticket led by VP Kamala Harris and Minnesota Everyman’s Governor Tim Walz, a second plot to kill the former president, and the atrocious rally at MSG that deliberately allied itself to Nazism . . . yes, the whole campaign got even weirder – to borrow a Tim Walzism – tonight”.
“At approximately 11:59 between on November 2, just as the clock struck 12 for November 3, Donald Trump, his family, and effectively four fifths of the entire GOP leadership, including Don Jr., Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort, Matt Gaetz, Steves Bannon and Miller, and all manner of names familiar to you from this program over the past very long eight years, spontaneously combusted and went up in a puff of smoke. Now, their Evangelical supporters initially reported that, of course being God’s instrument to restore the USA to greatness, that they had been Raptured.”
“Numerous and well-known televangelists went on Fox News to explain that Trump had, of course, been taken up and received into God’s bosom, where he would sit on God’s right hand and continue to control America’s pre-ordained destiny. That is, until at 2:31 PM this afternoon a mysterious document was found in Trump Tower in Manhattan, in Trump’s own office, written in Latin on a 16th century parchment from Wittenberg, Germany in human blood with signatories to it also in what DNA testing has now confirmed was also their own blood.”
"Signatories among the disappeared include the afore mentioned vanished plus Mitch McConnell, Mike Johnson, Sean Hannity, Kelly Ann Conway, Jim Jordan, Marjorie Taylor Green, Lauren Boebert, and six of the nine Supreme Court Justices, with the strange exception of Eric Trump. In the midst of all of this a bizarre figure, named Mephistopheles, claims to have knowledge of the details which are still forthcoming . . . . "
"We can do worse than have her as president"
Hmmm. I am not voting for VP Harris by default. I am actively voting for her because of her qualifications, drive and patriotism.
No, I am not voting for her by default either. It was meant to be understated intentionally to emphasize that I think she is an excellent choice. But I agree with Biden - there are literally dozens of very well qualified Dems for the presidency. On the other side at this point, few to none.
..."dozens of very well qualified Dems for the presidency..."
You just reinforced your original sentence.
Harris is one of those people caught up in a significant turning point in history who happens to be uniquely qualified to tackle what we are facing.
I can't think of any candidate who could capture the cross cultural support, cross the political divide, create a movement in such a short period of time and in short capture the imagination and support of the voters as VP Harris has done.
I sincerely doubt some white guy could have.
Love it
So do I!
Hysterical! And may that whole thing actually happen
Can we add Nigel Farage to the list? He may not have been invited, but that didn't stop him from ignoring his new constituents in England and flying to Milwaukee to "support" his "friend Donald". He didn't even get in the door. But Nigel never gives up.
Fartage has never had a real job in his life, so he's not gonna start now. Clacton will be without a functioning member of parliament til at least 2029.
He is vile beyond words. Since Bannon wasn’t “free” to be there (I think), Nigel should have been welcomed to be a placeholder for his brand of demonic possession.
Bannon's out. No restrictions either.
So where was he?
He was in prison for four months for contempt of court (or maybe congress) for lying or refusing to testify in the Jan 6 cases.
Or we can all send Donald Trump coupons for free McDonalds foods like Big Macs and Fries.
Fries only. We didn't see him serving any hamberders. Lots and lots of half-cooked fries.
I meant Quarter Pounders.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-mcdonalds-e-coli-outbreak-75-people-sickened-one-death/
Enjoyed your fable. It reminded me of Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita.
Absolutely! Melania flying over the city on a broomstick?
Oh yes please - let it be so!!!
Doesn't, Steve, the Rapture require some massive mass murder in the lands of the Bible?
So won't Netanyahu and all his far-right settlers oblige by extending their mass murder against women and children of Gaza now to include more mass murder of Palestinians in the West Bank, plus sorted sordid additional murder and mass destruction in Lebanon and countries nearby where U.S. evangelicals may also rapturously partake of their own Biblical frenzies all the more, too?
Awesome writing, Steve. I can just hear that in Chris Hayes's voice.
Excellent.
I guess they just had too much MSG in their political diets...
Hahahaha!
I should add: Very Terry Prachett-like.
Has anyone mentioned that Puerto Ricans are Americans? They don’t need permission to “come inside” anymore than Donald Trump needs a passport to travel from Florida to New York to appear for his sentencing before Judge Juan Marchan in four weeks. The United States is their country. When they change residence from Puerto Rico to Pennsylvania, they become Pennsylvanians, just as Elon Musk became a Texan by moving from San Francisco to Austin. They don’t have to sneak in as fake students to get an illegal work permit as Musk did when he moved from Canada to California.
Isn't statehood long overdue for Puerto Rico...and Washington, DC?
LONG overdue.
The right will never allow that to happen because it gives a Rep each and two Senators each to people of color… but as you heard no one loves PR more than the king of the right. 🤪
More than one rep... probably 4 at least, maybe 5. Puerto Rico has 3.2 million people so using 700,000 population per Rep (current average) 4-5 new congressional seats. And yes, 2 senators. As an almost certain Democratic state of will never be in the union for a long time. GOP led states still outnumber Dem led states even if the democratic population is larger. So virtually no likelihood of statehood ratification anytime soon.
I have TRIED to explain this to my family and TRIED to explain why "territories" are basically New World colonies but my family just doesn't get it. They think anyone who speaks Spanish, isn't white (by their terms), and came from "somewhere else" is an illegal immigrant and should be "sent back immediately".
They think Puerto Rico should be GRATEFUL for the limbo they've found themselves in, that the US took interest in their tiny island at all and tried to "civilize" them, tried to help them.
Before this next part, I want to say that I understand my next opinion is controversial even in Dem circles and Puerto Rico itself. My opinion was formed as a mainland American who serves many Puerto Rican Americans at my jobs and has built rapport enough to ask questions. I understand not everyone shares my view.
I believe that if we're going to keep Puerto Rico stringing along as a "US Territory", we really ought to have the decency to just make them a state or at very least an incorporated territory. I personally would resent the "country" I'm paying taxes to saying "only selected parts of the Constitution apply to you". I'd resent paying for Medicare only to have certain portions of it apply to me and not others. I'd resent having no economy to speak of - because the US ruined it, declared bankruptcy, removed Puerto Ricans' oversight - and being forced to pay federal income tax on the work I get outside of Puerto Rico (no taxes for income made IN Puerto Rico) in the US mainland, where I am ridiculed and belittled as an "illegal criminal alien".
If we aren't willing to treat them like mainland Americans, we should at least have the decency to give them back oversight of their economy and try to help FIX what we broke after the Cold War era so that they can support themselves and still find a measure of independence, even as a territory.
The fact the the USA, a paragon of democracy and the supposed face of anti-imperialism, still maintains colonies under the guise of "territories" is appalling and thematic of the nationalistic rhetoric so prevalent in our "patriotism" today. Because of course we didn't ruin those places, of course we didn't take away their sovereignty, we simply helped them, civilized them, so they'd have a chance in this world. We SAVED them.
Also, 45's idea to end or change citizenship by birth could radically impact Puerto Rico's US citizenship as well - currently Puerto Ricans are given US citizenship at birth through a law OUTSIDE of the Constitution. So if GOP manages to change CONSTITUTIONALLY HELD citizenship status, then what happens to those with extra-constitutional citizenship status?
District of Columbia residents are also shortchanged, ironic since that is the seat of government. GOP is the party that has stubbornly blocked doing the right thing by DC or Puerto Rico.
Also absolutely problematic. I understand why DC was created (having the federal seat of power in any one state could be seen as giving that state unfair advantages or preferential treatment) but still feel that those who live there should be given correct and fair representation.
Unlike Puerto Rico, however, they are delegated three Electoral College votes in presidential elections, given to them by the 23rd Ammendment.
The issue with DC is that they can't have representation without being a state (Article 1, Section 2; 14th Ammendent, Section 2) and they can't become a state because of conflicts of interest - the federal seat of power, given its own land and rights, would always put itself first and show favoritism over the rest of the Union. Or at least, that's what detractors say.
Proponents state that because DC is under the direct purview and governance of Congress, that Congress could pass an extra-constitutional law to allow DC representation in its own body, at which point they would not need to become a state and could stay an impartial federal seat while having representation. This seems the neater of the two options, until you remember it would need to pass both the House and Senate and someone will INVARIABLY bring up "unconstitutionality" to get it thrown out.
The taxation problems are much more nefarious in DC, at least in my opinion. We ARE taxing DC without proper representation, entirely, without territory provisions.
DC runs into the same problems as Puerto Rico, though, in the fact that if they want something to change, they have to convince someone in Congress to champion it for them. Or have a case large enough to push them to SCOTUS and have standing for their grievance. Historically, SCOTUS has refused to hear DC residents on "taxation without representation" suits because they consent to be governed directly by Congress, which is constitutional, and Congress has not ruled for any changes, which is also constitutional. It's a helluva catch-22.
I feel like giving the residents of DC residency in another state would be a simpler solution yet - find where the state lines would be without DC and delegate people based on where they live. Use those additional census numbers to change representatives if needed, and allow people to vote in the states they would belong to without DC there.
Basically, we need to stop treating DC like half a state - it either is or it isn't, and if it isn't, then something should be done to reflect that the people living and in DC are represented elsewhere.
Well the one thing about DC which is different from Puerto Rico is that anyone who lives in DC can move to one of several VERY local residencies that are within a few miles of DC and are located in one of two adjoining states (Maryland and Virginia). That would provide instant representation. That option is not available to people who live in Puerto Rico so the situations although somewhat similar are not exactly the same.
100% agree, and I apologize if my reply seemed to conflate the two. I tried to keep my reply all about DC considering the comment I was replying to.
Puerto Rico is in limbo through no fault of their own, really. DC is in limbo because it was designed that way - the intentionality is they key difference.
Another viable option would be to radically reduce the size of DC to just the Capitol Mall, including the White House and Supreme Court and any adjacent federal buildings and cede the rest of DC to the two adjoining states. There would still be some federal buildings then in those states but that already exists for other federal buildings so not a serious problem as long as the primary three seats of government for the the branches are in the "independent" jurisdiction. I doubt very many people (except the residents of the White House) would then actually live in the reduced DC as most live in the adjoining neighborhoods that would now be in either Virginia or Maryland. It's not a particularly difficult problem to solve if the Congress and President want to solve it. Puerto Rico is a much more complex problem as the GOP will almost certainly never agree to making Puerto Rico a state as long as they can block it. It might not totally shift the balance of political power but it would be a significant step in that direction with no balancing option that would favor the GOP.
Didn’t every other territory that became a state rely on its voters to decide when or if to start the statehood process? In my childhood, the flag had 48 stars. Then Alaska and Hawaii made the transition. They weren’t given statehood, they sought it.
So, yes and no. In 1901 the Supreme Court ruled in a case that no territory could be incorporated into "the American Family" until Congress "provides for" that incorporation. Basically, it means that Congress needs to rule to bring in a state, and they need to give reason and desire to bring that territory into the union on a more inclusive basis. This means it would need to pass first in the House, and then be brought before the Senate and pass there, too.
Considering Puerto Rico isn't allowed representatives, the provision would need to come from other members of Congress. Puerto Rico could have a popular vote and petition Congress to take up their case, but someone within Congress would need to champion it. It would then need to be passed, which would be the harder part, considering this has been a mostly Democrat idea.
That said, the latest poll results I could find said 52% of people in PR wanted to be a state, and the other 50-ish percent were split between an independence faction and a commonwealth faction (maintain status quo). That election/poll was done in 2020.
I just feel that the US has done its territories dirty for quite a long time, and that if we're encouraging dependency on the US like we did in Puerto Rico, we should also take responsibility. It's hypocritical of the USA to tax a territory without allowing them representation, and the only way we manage to get around it is because we only tax "some income" and we still "provide benefits" (reduced) for our territories.
Amílcar Antonio Barreto has some great insight on a lot of the political minefield that is territory politics, especially as they pertain to Puerto Rico. He's a Puerto Rican native, so I trust his voice and characterization of Puerto Rico a LOT more than any government or outside-in economist.
There is a major difference between Puerto Rico and other territories. There are four other territories besides Puerto Rico but not one of them had a population greater than 200,000 whereas Wyoming, the 50th state by population has almost 600,000. Puerto Rico on the other hand has 3.2 million people which would make it the 31 or 32nd largest state, outranking many other states. It is the largest example of an unrepresented population in the US.
Ah yes, the reason why the GOP will never go in with converting Puerto Rico to a state: it's too darn big and will vote too darn blue.
Even if the red presence in Puerto Rico was high enough, they wouldn't be able to gerrymander the districts quietly like everywhere else because there'd be too many eyes on the process of creating a NEW state rather than editing an existing one.
Thank you for that population information! I hadn't realized PR would be that impactful population-wise nor that it would place so highly in state size.
This opinion piece in the Anchorage, Alaska, paper today:
https://us5-bcdn-ama.newsmemory.com/eebrowser/ipad/html5.check.24030714/ajax-request.php?action=loadImage&type=htmltext&pSetup=anchoragedailynews&issue=20241030&crc=WEpoTW42RUU2WUNjdk5OWlRvODQ4WmlSS1BUUDhHclhQaDIzNnh3N2pnYVNuTFFkaVZhM0crSzlTemEwR1dPOQ==&edition=Anchorage%20Daily%20News&verCdn=0&mtime=595E35D9
Wow, Alaska is typically considered a "RED" state. Very unusual.
Well, there was much political negotiations necessary for statehood....and the fact that oil was "discovered" in Alaska helped.
Were they given a choice?
Absolutely. The states' population must vote on statehood first. Puerto Rico did so in 2020, but the margin was thin, just 52% supported statehood.
I was a young kid about 9 when both Alaska and Hawaii became states. I even remember the 49 star flag we had for about a minute (actually one year 😅) until the 50th state was brought in. I also remember there were huge debate because Alaska was going to be the first "discontiguous" state and Hawaii the second. There was a fair amount of sympathy for Hawaii because of the impact of Pearl Harbor at the start of WWII and as noted Alaska had lots of oil.
Not so much sympathy for Puerto Rico of course. They speak a lot of Spanish down there and we know Trump hates them. So that one will be difficult.
Thank you, Albert. May I send your comment to my daughter-in-law who loves her PR just as much as my children love their VT, but now live and work in other states?
Albert, thanks for pointing out a forgotten truth. Mar a Lago is a sinking garbage pit.
And gosh, didn’t Stephen Miller say “America is for Americans?”!!!!
Thank you, Heather. The contrast was never more clear. Blessings to you and thank you for your work from downstream in Scarborough.💖
God bless America, God bless Harris and Waltz and God bless Heather!
Sorry i disagree. I wish we could keep religion out of politics. It is one of the major issues I had with Biden and now Harris too. You are entitled to feel that way personally but I am offended by the sentiment when it is expressed openly in a heterogenous forum. I do not believe in "God" and as I would never rub your nose in my personal beliefs, I wish you could return that same respect I give to you.
Sorry, I don't like being argumentative and I expect we both feel similarly about Harris as president but let's leave the "blessings" out of it.
Thank you for your courtesy.
Thank you for the transcript. I will post again Part of Lincoln’s speech to Congress:
“We say we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We, even we here, hold the power, and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free — honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just — a way which if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless.”
A. Lincoln
1862 Address to Congress
VOTE BLUE!!!
Something else that needs to be quoted everywhere. Lincoln!
The more I learn about Lincoln the more I admire him.
Same here.
Well timed - and there it is, for all to see! Thanks for posting.
Thank you Professor Richardson. And yet...
Filed under the obituary for the Fourth Estate. The CNN Headline is "Harris tries to paint contrast with Trump".
I often write any form of a meaningful democracy requires an educated, informed, and engaged society. This is yet another example on the assault on the flow of information in the United States.
CNN reports that she "tries?" It's actually easy. She's not the one who has had a career devoted to committing fraud, leaving behind a graveyard of bankrupt businesses, unpaid workers, adding $7 trillion in U.S. debt (and shifting the liability to workers and families, abandoning allies, coddling mass murdering dictators, attempting to extort money from allies, rape, racism, and xenophobia.
She doesn't "try". She IS DOING that. She is showing what a deep contrast there is between the two of them.
CNN, you need to do better.
Crazy. “…Paints…” would have done it.
That's either malice or poor writing skills.
BOTH.
Yes George, these subtle forms of bias add up.
Despicable
I saw that too and reacted just as you did!!
“Tries” indeed.
"I love our country with all my heart."
Kamala Harris
Vote!
Per CNN's Antoinette & 6 other Authors, 50.5 Million have already voted. 60 Million voters are likely before 11/5/24!
Today, Kamala will campaign in Raleigh, NC then to Harrisburg (good name) PENN then off to Madison WS. The Coach will be interviewed on CBS & ABC this morning then off to Charlotte, Greensboro & Asheville, North Carolina.
Nearing the Mountain Top. 🇺🇸
And let us hope she gets to enter the Promised Land.
💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙
For Other News: 30-OCT-2024: Elon Musk admitted that implementing DJT's Plan 2025, and Economic Policies, would cause the Financial Markets & Broad Economy to Crash with a Recovery POSSIBLY happening later... On CNN Senator Elizabeth Warren reinterated this... This will be living thru a Real Life Zombie Apocalypse...
Just the way the billionaires like it! They have their fortresses and their private armies ready.
They also consider themselves SuperHuman, and Citizens of the World... Peter Thiel's Plan to establish Billionaire Fiefdoms would make Us that Survive, Serfs.... DJT Sees Everybody Else Useful Fools...
As usual, republicans wreck it and democrats come in and fix it and republicans take credit for it and get re-elected.
Hopefully this Crash Never Happens... If does, that it is Fixable... Bear in Mind that when Ancient Rome fell, it wasn't until the early 20th Century that the Average Briton Lifespan exceeded that of a Briton under Roman Rule...
Thank you Professor. Had vice president,. For me it’s case closed and I don’t know but this popped in my head. My neighborhood I have a Walmart grocery store. It’s very diverse. I’ve got to know a lot of the people that live and work there that I would ask everyone to sit down at my dinner table Discussions, we would learn about that and they would learn about me if we would learn about what support to the world for each of us and we would understand that we could all get along and share. That’s what Harris will do for America. I truly truly believe that, I don’t want to put any information out about TG but he has no agenda other than to drill baby drill. I hope he meets when he goes to the dentist. I love you all. I love this country. I can’t wait for it to have a new chance to be even greater. With all of us involved, whether we sweep the street, change a light switch, clean a sewer line, cell, Art, our lawyer, doctors, nurses, professional people that do good for less fortunate. That we all understand our place in the world is to work together to make it better. It’s hard work but it’s fine and the results will make us smile. To each other. Let’s do this. Let’s get back on track. And again thank you Professor for keeping us sane. We all love you and wish you the best and don’t ever stop. Never ever stop. ☯️☮️❤️🌻🫶
Love this! I have planned events with the folks in my community- great way to get to know folks and important.
Wish I could have a dinner with all the wonderful Allies I have met on Substack on Nov 6!!!!! Now that would be some dinner! Maybe we can do something virtual? Thoughts?
"I see the promise of America in all of you…. I see it in the young people who are voting for the first time who are determined to live free from gun violence and to protect our planet, and to shape the world they inherit."
Hoping the young people and women carry us across the finish line, Sally!
I live in Washington DC. I also attended the 2017 Women's March.
I attended this rally. Mamala really takes care of her guests. Those of us in attendance thought the crowd was more like 100,000. Even 75,000 is bigger than any Trump rally. Kamala, Mamala, served water and snacks. I'm an old lady with bone cancer. There was a section with chairs for those with disabilities.
It wasn't just Washingtonians in attendance. I met a woman who'd flown in from Boston. I sat next to the delightful Alison, who like Kamala, graduated from Howard University. Alison's degree is in physical therapy. There was fabulous spirit.
When leaving the rally, I was with the young man who's the Shriners' spokesperson. He's very nice. He's the fellow (think his name is Alex) who holds up that blanket and talks about his brittle bone condition.
Wonderful that you shared your experience. And good luck with your bone cancer. I, myself, have CLL, chronicle lymphocytic leukemia & pretty old myself so it was gratifying to hear about how Harris/Walz doesn't just talk the talk but walks the walk of kindness & decency & took care of folks rather than leaving them to suffer in heat or cold because they don't pay for "round trips"!
Wow!!
Richardson writes: "On Monday, Trump felt obliged to tell an audience in Georgia, 'I’m not a Nazi.' "
Gee, thanks, Donald. That's certainly convincing.
"Nothing up my sleeve...."
and nothing above the collar ...
I KNOW - it's a heck of an argument! Thanks, Constance - after a largely sleepless night, and reading HCR's letter and the great comments, yours cheered me up enough to produce an actual chuckle! I'm certainly convinced that the MelonFelon isn't a Nazi - after all, he said so himself, and he NEVER strays from the truth!
Recall everything he says is a lie
The animus Trump expresses against Democrats and transgender people and so many others, however, is sincere. That part of his message we can believe.
I stand corrected
Did Fox carry her speech. I guess no. It was a barn burner. I hope it gets more press than the defamation wagon train that defines republican oratory. Sadly, the cult is devoted. May they wither and be gone, sucked into their black hole of hate.
We flipped to FNC during her speech to see how they were covering it. They broadcast it live, but with a banner below “summarizing” her words as the exact opposite of what she actually said. I imagine brainwashed FNC viewers only reading the banner text and not listening to a word of her actual speech. Such a shame because it was a great speech; one to be remembered.
They did that? Words fail me. It's also a very clear picture of their audience.
I see angry people who are encouraged to hate - rather than being open to solutions.
Black hole of hate must feel like home
"Black hole of hate" BINGO!!
I think that is the key to all of MAGA. They hate.
It’s what chump screams constantly. He thinks describing his hate fests as “beautiful” fools his brain washed idiots. Hopefully some can count the bodies…. My bros were not haters, but some confuse religion with hating the right people. Boy, is that convenient…
Me too, but I have screamed enough about Fox that one friend said I sounded like his Fox friends. Worst insult ever hurled at me. But that’s what they do. Accuse others of what they do.
Walter Cronkite they ain’t. And therein lies the crux of our problem. Wish that fact would make some headlines. Fox always aired the opposite of what was true while screaming how factual it was. They are known to lie (court case, etc) but still people shrug. Lawsuit ACLU?
Post on Fox sites. Joe Rogan. Please add not suckers or losers.
Been banned from both for alluding to his Nazi verbiage four years ago. Daughter and grands hate him as much as I do. Bros hopeless
Send to your Republican friends and relatives,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy0zq8YzY9w
Today, I am proud as a Democrat to stand with Kamala Harris as she leads our country back to the beam of patriotic pride we can be again with her as our leader.
I agree. Her speech also took an important tone in that she reintroduced herself to people who are just tuning in for the first time. These people will decide this election.
I am reaching this group by allowing free printing of my joyous “VOTE-you make the difference” stickers in all 7 swing states. Because they don’t mention a candidate, Harris workers can comfortably wear them as they escort voters to the polls today in Nevada.
Follow my journey on Substack or get free downloads of the sticker at 2millionStickers.com