The major, obvious, in-your-face story of the day is that the president is melting down. He has spent much of the last two days calling in to the Fox News Channel and Rush Limbaugh’s radio show and ranting in a manic way that suggests he is having trouble with the steroids he is taking for his illness.
Love the historical precedent of a supermajority in response to that other bad boy president Andrew Johnson’s insane inflammatory proclamations.
As for COVID tests, in the world of court ordered drug/alcohol testing, a missed test counts as a dirty test. If only it were so for Graham, trump, and so many others gaming the system—at our expense.
It's 4 a.m. and I can not sleep. Just wrote to Senator Cornyn, "my" Senator, to get out the straight jacket, change the nuclear codes without telling DT, whatever it takes to stop America from being endangered by this sociopath on steroids! Literally!. "There comes a time when silence is betrayal." And that time has come!
I am sure that you have some pretty incredible psychic power. I automatically awaken when your letter hits my inbox, and even though we are living through some really crazy time we have you to guide us through and help us keep our facts straight and our feelings under control. You stop short of telling us ‘don’t worry, everything is going to be ok’, but as long as you show up every night and hundreds (thousands) of bright and thoughtful people join together in our virtual bomb shelter I do get that sense.
Thank you, Heather. Will any cult members see the Creature is imploding and won’t vote for him? Or is that a moot point since Biden is comfortably ahead in the polls? But so was Hillary. I’m want to be hopeful that the 50,000 “poll watchers” won’t be allowed entry and that Biden voters won’t be intimidated if they show up outside. I want to be hopeful that the FBI and local law enforcement has enough manpower to thwart other right-wing goon squads around the country from causing violent disruptions. I want to be hopeful that somehow the courts will uphold Biden’s election, assuming his voters can overcome the obstacles being thrown at them. I want to hope that somehow the Senate can be prevented from hypocritically ramming through Barrett’s confirmation while we are in the middle of mail-in and early voting, when most people don’t want her confirmed. I want to hope that everything will be fine, that reason and compassion will return to the White House and the Senate.
Another dreadful day in America. That is why I re-watched “White House Down” last nite to relax from all the dreadful election/corruption stuff. Then I realized how naive we were in 2013, to think that this is how our presidency & government would be made a shambles. Who knew then that it could be the ignorant masses electing an unqualified, insane, hateful bigot to the presidency.
If sane ppl ever wrest back the government we really do need to make some changes to prevent another takeover by lawless factions who have ignored much of our once accepted protocols (Hatch Act; Emoluments Clause; 18 U.S. Code 1703 – Delay of mail; 52 U.S.Code 30121 – Contributions by foreign nationals; 5 CFR 2635.702 – Selling Beans from the Oval Office).
Oh, and the biggie, getting rid of the Electoral College which failed in one of its missions to keep the ignorant masses from electing an idiot to the presidency. Perhaps that can be replaced by an administrative office to have outside shrinks determine if a candidate is mentally stable (Narcissistic Personality Disorder being a disqualifying factor).
A friend told me tonight that Trump could potentially pardon himself of any federal crimes before leaving office. But he cannot pardon himself from NY crimes. He is so desperate to hold onto power and I think it’s because he will go to prison. I hope someone or some few are keeping close tabs on Roger Stone, too, so they can catch him in his next crime as soon as Trump is out.
Thank you as always Heather for this recap of insanity. I feel as though this Country is walking a dangerous plank that it can't retreat from. I am baffled by Republicans that continue to endorse him knowing all he can offer is disaster. I am seeing in Upstate New York a pattern of people removing Trump flags. New York is a Blue State, but there are pockets of 2nd Ammendment, gun toting generational voters that still love their racist roots. No amount of insanity from the White House will change that. Be safe, be well and for the love of God, VOTE!
Thank you HCR. I’m grateful to learn about the past. But, the bully pulpit is now a social media bullhorn. Who or what agency are we counting on to stop a deranged desperate delusional Trump? The FBI under Barr? The Senate under McConnell? When only 3% of Americans own the millions of weapons, and many of them appear to be Trump supporters, are we relying on governors and national guardsmen or mayors and local police to maintain order? Is it up to Jack Dorsey to shut down Trump’s Twitter account? We’re told to be prepared to be brave and vote. That, I have confidence we citizens will do. But, what about protecting the vote count? But, what about the violent aftermath, when a drowning Trump tries to save himself? I took lifesaving. A drowning person pushes you under in an attempt to get above water to air. What do we prepare to do? Is this when we take to the streets? I ask your intelligent readers to give me their thoughts. Concerned Citizen Campaign Volunteer ❤️🤍💙
HCR, a request: could you please put together a series of articles or a book about what led to the Republican Party becoming the petri dish for this toxic stew of Trumpism? Because the Republican Party is ultimately the real enabler of all this. We need a historian to carefully trace all the threads going back decades on this story. I ask because it struck me yesterday how George W Bush has never come out against Trump's crazed, anti-democratic behavior. Nor has the Cheney family. That characters like Kemp, Rove, Norquist, and Oliver North were early indicators something was going deeply cynical and wrong with the party. I so clearly remember, although I was a teenager at the time and didn't understand what it was all about, North's testimony in front of Congress about Iran-Contra, how openly contemptuous he was of our democratically elected representatives, the sneer on his face. Which is the exact same sneer we see on the faces of Barr and Pompeo today. I don't think the Republican Party's disdain for Democracy is a recent development. I'd like to understand better where this got started, and why it continued to fester for decades and brought us to this precipice. Did it start with Nixon, perhaps? I think Reagan and HW Bush (W's father) believed in Democracy, and acted as a bit of a brake upon the worst elements in their party. I know HW didn't like Rove, actually kicked him out of his campaign early on, for shenanigans HW regarded as unethical. Young W, though, was weak and allowed VP Cheney to run the country and Rove to run free. Cheney is a singularly creepy character, who was disillusioned with Congress, I hear, when he was a staffer--so put off, in fact, I read he lost all belief in Democracy, decided Executive power was the only solution. As did many others in the Party, it seems. This is an epic story to tell, I think, which has not gotten proper attention because we all shy away at the thought that one of our Parties could be so far gone. We just didn't want to look this in the face, and now it is staring back at us.
The usual distraction tactics that served him well in the past are now beginning to wash away many voters who are traditionally conservative (as many polls seem to show.) History does indeed repeat itself, and I am hoping the same pattern cited in Johnson’s case repeats itself here. Hoping.
If Graham is refusing testing, he probably has it. It is pretty ironic that the republican party may be blocked in appointing a judge because of the pandemic their administration totally mishandled.
Maybe someone from Amy Coney Barrett’s children’s school will sue her for attending a super spreader event maskless along with her children. If that went all the way to SCOTUS, and she is on it by then, she would have to recuse herself.
Love the historical precedent of a supermajority in response to that other bad boy president Andrew Johnson’s insane inflammatory proclamations.
As for COVID tests, in the world of court ordered drug/alcohol testing, a missed test counts as a dirty test. If only it were so for Graham, trump, and so many others gaming the system—at our expense.
It's 4 a.m. and I can not sleep. Just wrote to Senator Cornyn, "my" Senator, to get out the straight jacket, change the nuclear codes without telling DT, whatever it takes to stop America from being endangered by this sociopath on steroids! Literally!. "There comes a time when silence is betrayal." And that time has come!
I am sure that you have some pretty incredible psychic power. I automatically awaken when your letter hits my inbox, and even though we are living through some really crazy time we have you to guide us through and help us keep our facts straight and our feelings under control. You stop short of telling us ‘don’t worry, everything is going to be ok’, but as long as you show up every night and hundreds (thousands) of bright and thoughtful people join together in our virtual bomb shelter I do get that sense.
Thanks and sweet dreams!
Thank you, Heather. Will any cult members see the Creature is imploding and won’t vote for him? Or is that a moot point since Biden is comfortably ahead in the polls? But so was Hillary. I’m want to be hopeful that the 50,000 “poll watchers” won’t be allowed entry and that Biden voters won’t be intimidated if they show up outside. I want to be hopeful that the FBI and local law enforcement has enough manpower to thwart other right-wing goon squads around the country from causing violent disruptions. I want to be hopeful that somehow the courts will uphold Biden’s election, assuming his voters can overcome the obstacles being thrown at them. I want to hope that somehow the Senate can be prevented from hypocritically ramming through Barrett’s confirmation while we are in the middle of mail-in and early voting, when most people don’t want her confirmed. I want to hope that everything will be fine, that reason and compassion will return to the White House and the Senate.
Another dreadful day in America. That is why I re-watched “White House Down” last nite to relax from all the dreadful election/corruption stuff. Then I realized how naive we were in 2013, to think that this is how our presidency & government would be made a shambles. Who knew then that it could be the ignorant masses electing an unqualified, insane, hateful bigot to the presidency.
If sane ppl ever wrest back the government we really do need to make some changes to prevent another takeover by lawless factions who have ignored much of our once accepted protocols (Hatch Act; Emoluments Clause; 18 U.S. Code 1703 – Delay of mail; 52 U.S.Code 30121 – Contributions by foreign nationals; 5 CFR 2635.702 – Selling Beans from the Oval Office).
Oh, and the biggie, getting rid of the Electoral College which failed in one of its missions to keep the ignorant masses from electing an idiot to the presidency. Perhaps that can be replaced by an administrative office to have outside shrinks determine if a candidate is mentally stable (Narcissistic Personality Disorder being a disqualifying factor).
A friend told me tonight that Trump could potentially pardon himself of any federal crimes before leaving office. But he cannot pardon himself from NY crimes. He is so desperate to hold onto power and I think it’s because he will go to prison. I hope someone or some few are keeping close tabs on Roger Stone, too, so they can catch him in his next crime as soon as Trump is out.
Thank you as always Heather for this recap of insanity. I feel as though this Country is walking a dangerous plank that it can't retreat from. I am baffled by Republicans that continue to endorse him knowing all he can offer is disaster. I am seeing in Upstate New York a pattern of people removing Trump flags. New York is a Blue State, but there are pockets of 2nd Ammendment, gun toting generational voters that still love their racist roots. No amount of insanity from the White House will change that. Be safe, be well and for the love of God, VOTE!
Thank you HCR. I’m grateful to learn about the past. But, the bully pulpit is now a social media bullhorn. Who or what agency are we counting on to stop a deranged desperate delusional Trump? The FBI under Barr? The Senate under McConnell? When only 3% of Americans own the millions of weapons, and many of them appear to be Trump supporters, are we relying on governors and national guardsmen or mayors and local police to maintain order? Is it up to Jack Dorsey to shut down Trump’s Twitter account? We’re told to be prepared to be brave and vote. That, I have confidence we citizens will do. But, what about protecting the vote count? But, what about the violent aftermath, when a drowning Trump tries to save himself? I took lifesaving. A drowning person pushes you under in an attempt to get above water to air. What do we prepare to do? Is this when we take to the streets? I ask your intelligent readers to give me their thoughts. Concerned Citizen Campaign Volunteer ❤️🤍💙
HCR, a request: could you please put together a series of articles or a book about what led to the Republican Party becoming the petri dish for this toxic stew of Trumpism? Because the Republican Party is ultimately the real enabler of all this. We need a historian to carefully trace all the threads going back decades on this story. I ask because it struck me yesterday how George W Bush has never come out against Trump's crazed, anti-democratic behavior. Nor has the Cheney family. That characters like Kemp, Rove, Norquist, and Oliver North were early indicators something was going deeply cynical and wrong with the party. I so clearly remember, although I was a teenager at the time and didn't understand what it was all about, North's testimony in front of Congress about Iran-Contra, how openly contemptuous he was of our democratically elected representatives, the sneer on his face. Which is the exact same sneer we see on the faces of Barr and Pompeo today. I don't think the Republican Party's disdain for Democracy is a recent development. I'd like to understand better where this got started, and why it continued to fester for decades and brought us to this precipice. Did it start with Nixon, perhaps? I think Reagan and HW Bush (W's father) believed in Democracy, and acted as a bit of a brake upon the worst elements in their party. I know HW didn't like Rove, actually kicked him out of his campaign early on, for shenanigans HW regarded as unethical. Young W, though, was weak and allowed VP Cheney to run the country and Rove to run free. Cheney is a singularly creepy character, who was disillusioned with Congress, I hear, when he was a staffer--so put off, in fact, I read he lost all belief in Democracy, decided Executive power was the only solution. As did many others in the Party, it seems. This is an epic story to tell, I think, which has not gotten proper attention because we all shy away at the thought that one of our Parties could be so far gone. We just didn't want to look this in the face, and now it is staring back at us.
"Wildly Silent" would be an excellent title for the book about the GOP in this era. Thank you for your daily letters!
The usual distraction tactics that served him well in the past are now beginning to wash away many voters who are traditionally conservative (as many polls seem to show.) History does indeed repeat itself, and I am hoping the same pattern cited in Johnson’s case repeats itself here. Hoping.
If Graham is refusing testing, he probably has it. It is pretty ironic that the republican party may be blocked in appointing a judge because of the pandemic their administration totally mishandled.
Thank you so much for such a great summation of another maddening day. Like so many, I'm so grateful for your clarity.
So much gratitude to you, I just don’t have the words right now; just my usual thank you, from Texas.
Maybe someone from Amy Coney Barrett’s children’s school will sue her for attending a super spreader event maskless along with her children. If that went all the way to SCOTUS, and she is on it by then, she would have to recuse herself.
So if this rally violates the Hatch Act, who would enforce that? And in doing so, could people be prevented from even getting on to the South Lawn?
Other than Barr, who else is mia after the rose garden event? And thanks for the link to the six refusals video.