Yes, thank you yet again Heather. I particularly appreciate your summary of Secretary Blinken's speech which I would not otherwise know about. It tells me there is a vision and a plan that makes sense and can move us forward. Compare it to those horrible Trump years when he governed by temper tantrum and wanted to dismantle all of the alliances that have kept us all safe for so long. The people working so hard at the State Department and we know it isn't easy to carry out this vision but there are people in place who know what they are doing and believe their job is to serve the public, not themselves. May they be able to continue to do that after 2024.
The perfect backup to the speech: HRC on MSNBC this morning. New Department of International Affairs at Columbia where she will teach. Early guest: Pope Francis. If you don’t know what he’s up to (climate change, overpopulation) this may be our chance to find out!
I sincerely second this thought - if not for Professor Richardson’s letters would we ever even hear the comments and support of Secretary Blinkin. Thank you a million times Heather for your time at informing us of sanity in the world that we’d surely believe no longer existed.
Fear. As long as the Putin wing of the GOP can appeal to human insecurities they will sell their souls. Those Republicans are anti democracy, which puts them against all that has made this country great.
As I have often committed here, the Rs are the party of death to everything that decent people hold dear. If they are allowed to pursue their devastating path not only will we not have democracy, but we will see more evidence of climate change and it will be much more difficult to sustain life on the planet. They are motivated by power and greed just like the Putins, Kims, Xis, and other autocrats of the world.
In Wisconsin, the backlash against the corrupt republicans is growing. If they try to remove (impeach) the Judge we voted for in huge numbers they will feel our wrath at the ballot box and the State Capitol.
I feel your pain here in Ohio. I wrote letters for Vote Forward sent to Wisconsin voters urging them to show up for the SC election and was thrilled to see the outcome. I am tempted to pull up that list and send additional letters encouraging voters to take all peaceful legal steps to retain the Judge they voted in but of course I have not been authorized by VF to do so. Are there advocacy groups in place to keep people engaged in this threat to their voting power?
Yes, insecurity, as I posted yesterday. That is the common thread running through the autocrat's songbook everywhere on earth. Exploit people via something as simple, as common, as much a fact of life as life itself! Human insecurity is directly chained to the "fight or flight" atavistic patterns encoded in our ancient DNA. The human brain is a magnificent organ. We have only just begun to grasp the depth and scope of its potential. Russian thug Putin is far, far ahead of the American people. My short chance encounter with KGB men years ago in the US Navy solidified my awareness for that. Nature does abhor a vacuum, and in our recent vacuous past we allowed has lap dog trump into our lives 24/7. And, so it goes. Check out Astra Taylor, Canadian activist/film maker.
Linda, we are living in a nation perceived differently by today’s RepubliQans. I had a former work colleague post a photo of tfg with the caption “I trust this man more than anyone else in Washington.” There were at least a half dozen likes/comments on it.
That's why the dissemination of disinformation is so dangerous. It is far too easy to drown people in a sea if lies.
Online algorithms are programmed to lead people to ever more radicalism, and ownership of media platforms by unstable and erratic people like Elon Musk only increases the danger.
People don't trust the government, but they trust Trump and Musk?
When private individuals have more power than the government, we are in greater danger than when government regulates.
Cheryl, I’m less worried about individuals having power than a government owned by monied interests. The rot in our system is extensive. Trump didn’t come from a vacuum; DeSantis would be worse, even if less vulgar. Once one grasps the concept of inverted totalitarianism, this Team Red vs. Team Blue illusion of democracy becomes much clearer, even if more unsettling.
If the founders, whom the right wing considers so sacred, wanted a king, they would have written it into the Constitution. Our parents and grandparents who fought in world wars to defend democracy would be astounded at the republicants rejection of democracy.
If you live in a world where all you hear is "the sky is orange and the grass is purple", then that is what you will believe. We are all influenced by repetition. Makes me wonder if we aren't some extraterrestrial experiment...
Sorry, this thought just burst into my mind-nothing erudite and scholarly. BUT I wonder if their heads are where the sun don't shine, will they need toilet paper? Is trump handing that out or was it paper towels?
Ally, having encountered a couple of your ex-colleagues on Facebook, I am not surprised. Somehow their manhood is threaten by anything definded as woke. And they wonder why people do not trust the police. Just last night there was a news story of a Seattle cop laughing and making crass remarks including something like her life was not worth anything anyway after the woman had been run over by a police vehicle and killed.
Our local paper, the weekly Ellsworth American has an opinion page. Their editorials are as close to apolitical as possible because they fear losing even one subscriber.
With that being said, the letters to the editor are definitely political and mostly about national politics. A few MAGAs attempt to contribute letters now and then. They mostly parrot Tucker, Hannity, Laura and the other Fox talking heads. And since Fox peddles mostly lies, hate and gossip against the Biden administer that's what they try peddling. Once in a while they plagiarize what Fox says, but mostly they attempt to rephrase it and most often miss the mark badly.
The next week someone rebuts their letters. The paper will not post anything that hints at incivility, so there are very creative ways that liberals call the MAGAs morons without calling them morons.
This week a MAGAt tried to call out a former Maine State Senator and also a former editor to the Ellsworth American saying that Biden was amoral because he hadn't recognized Hunter's daughter until recently. Compared to our rapist misogynistic homophobic white supremacist former President, Biden's lack of contact with his granddaughter is a nothing burger. He also attempted to refute a few other points made by the former Senator, but they either incoherent or Fox msiinformation.
After reading the MAGAt's letters, I usually end up shaking my head or laughing or both.
So yes, the sky is a different color to the RepubliQans, but they have to watch Fox News to see what color it is this week.
I don't see how Biden's relationship with a grand daughter has anything to do with any thing. Wasn't it his son and ex? wife's problem? We should talk about the forgotten daughter Tiffany.
I know people who feel the same. Trump is absolutely the most dishonest and corrupt person ever to take office anywhere in our country. It boggles my mind how brainwashed and disconnected from reality they are. Everyone I know who believes this are avid watchers of FOX News. How do we enlighten theses masses?
Trump's image for most of his followers probably began with NBC's The Apprentice .We know that image was manufactured for "reality" TV by producer Mark Burnett. FOX built that myth into a candidate.
Ally House, yes indeed republicans see a different world than Democrats. It feels like a hall of funhouse mirrors. Their beliefs mirror ours. Democrats are terrible, radical, unthinking, out of touch with reality and determined to ruin this country, and end democracy. Democrats are upending long standing norms that we built this country on. They have to be voted out and anything Democrats stand for has to be opposed. I vehemently disagree with republicans world view and sadly concede that facts have no impact in this debate. Because everything I say to a Republican will be dismissed because I am, “ terrible, radical, unthinking, out of touch with reality and determined to ruin this country, and end democracy.” VOTE Democratic!
Yet he stands on camera and tells provable lie after lie, sometimes within the same speech! 🤦🏻♀️ I have to think that these believers felt most secure in their earliest years in an environment where they were constantly lied to, cementing that type of lying authority relationship so into their deepest wiring that is all that their adult selves can truly trust 🤦🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
I’m not leaving the silo of truth, and though I frequently fall when it comes to criminals and violent, malicious people I try not to leave the silo of love.
Thanks to Blinken (and Heather), I now see the proverbial big picture amid all that’s swirling around us. We already knew the 2024 election was critical, but clearly it’s more than that. Life would become a hellscape if Trump or other wannabe dictators in his mold take power.
The Gop is, obsessed with power and control to rule this country for themselves. They have been mimniputed by Trumps ideology of thinking, and have no remorse for humanity or the planet. A dictatorship and autocratic rule is what they want, nothing else.
Why is it that when commentators mention the 14th section 3, they don't emphasize the "aid and comfort" phrase? We don't have to have a conviction in any court we have the timeline of the 6th. His speech sends the protestors to the Capital. We have testimony stating Trump didn't want to do anything about protestors while they trashed the Capitol and fought the police. Then when he does decide he's accomplished his goal, he sends them home and they go without protest. Add the sedition convictions of the Proud Boys and you're done.
Does this apply to the president? Article II Section 2 "The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States.."
Section 3
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or HOLD ANY OFFICE, civil OR MILITARY, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, OR GIVEN AID OR COMFORT TO THE ENEMIES THEREOF. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
With that, we can perhaps take down the Senators and Representatives who stood to try and enact the false elector scheme. (Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Josh Hawley, Representative Paul Gosar, Representative Jody Hice, Representative Majorie Taylor Green, Representative Mo Brooks Jr., Representative Scott Perry, and Representative Louie Gohmert - there were others but they didn't continue their support after the Congress returned to session). I think this is the right link. But it's all in the Congressional Record to include the specific objections to swing states and the rejection of objections that didn't have a Senator to support the objection.
This morning/early afternoon, at 12:30 am Eastern/9:30 Pacific, CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) will be providing an update on the lawsuit they filed in the state Colorado to prevent Trump from being placed on the ballot under Art.14, Sec. 3. I highly recommend making a donation to CREW to support their effort and, if you have the time, attending the 30 min Zoom update. Here is the link to CREW: https://www.citizensforethics.org
No, he doesn't appear in the Congressional Record stating any objections. One Senator evidently had a Come to Jesus moment. Senator Kelly Loeffler of Georgia who lost the GA runoff election, had intended to stand in support of the Georgia challenge and instead used a floor speech to call out the violence and withdraw her objection.
Quite frankly he is a sycophant. I just didn't recognize the behavior when he stood in John McCain's shadow. His policies have never agreed with mine. But I didn't think he was a waste of human DNA until Trump.
Isee don't think we even need the "aid and co fort" phrase. It is pretty clear from public evidence that Trump actively engaged in insurrection. His orchestration of the fake electors scheme as well as incitement of his mob on Jan. 6 go well beyond "aid and comfort"!
I hope we can get Section 3 enforced! Clearly, some citizens and groups are brining suit to do so.
Without enforcement of its provisions, the Constitution is, as GWB once infamously stated, is "just a piece of paper."
When you write about using Sec. 3 of the 14th Amendment to 'take down' those who supported the false elector scheme, you use the adverb 'perhaps,' recognizing that some things are easier said than done. For democracy to work effectively, it requires smart, knowledgeable, people. When there are not enough of them, it does not. That is not 'perhaps' the problem. That IS the problem. And they vote for the people you mention.
Paula, do you think there is the remotest chance Congress can garner supermajorities from both chambers let alone even one? I don't see i blue wave coming, do you? On the aiding and abetting you also need to realize the GOP is whole handedly participating in that effort. Can you see that voting base suddenly cracking up? I read an interesting poll that put unregistered likely non-voters with significant majorities thinking 2020 was a stolen election, far more than registered voters, who are also significantly fractured. The big lie has worked?
No one knows. Which is why I’m writing GOTV postcards. Anyone who cares can link up with the Turnabout Project, Indivisible, or organizations either can lead you too so that you can write postcards to states having primaries in November 2023 (VA, OH). You get cards and voters lists. This Virginian has just written 100 to VA and is waiting for the next batch to either state.
Key words: unregistered and nonvoters. Some states have made it so difficult to register and vote, these people may not be able to afford to register to vote because they don't have the money to pay for an id. Voting places may not be accessible. We might be assuming that these people will get off their butts and vote. Last election was important and nothing was done. Ironically all these obstacles put in the way of poor and black people may bite Republicans in the butt when rural and the poorer trumpers don't vote.
Just have to be lucky and not get a trump judge like Cannon. There are a lot of republican appointed judges who go by the facts with their eyes wide opened. Look at how many have dismissed appeals and request for delays.
and after 2-1/2 years we cannot set a trial date which should of been done immediately after Trump was out of office and it was clearer in the public's mind. WTF seems pretty lawless.
Thank you Heather and all your readers are so smart.
This is an extraordinarily concise and shaking summation of the US and world situation. I have to marvel at the ability of qualified politicians to convey complex ideas to citizens (if they're paying the slightest bit of attention). Scarily like the leadup to WW II.
--- Democracies are under threat, Blinken said. “Challenged from the inside by elected leaders who exploit resentments and stoke fears; erode independent judiciaries and the media; enrich cronies; crack down on civil society and political opposition. And challenged from the outside, by autocrats who spread disinformation, who weaponize corruption, who meddle in elections.”
America is also on the list of actively overthrowing elected Democratic leaders in other countries and converting those countries into brutal, violent dictatorships.
The Shah of Iran being the most well known and famous bloodthirsty dictator we put in place by overthrowing a decent man ELECTED by the Iranian people.
We got rid of that guy in 1953 and, with "Great" Britain, put in place the Shah, who, then proceeded to torture and kill Iranians at will, for (ever). Or until he left to go to a US hospital because even the evil get old and die.
And? We wonder why Iranians hate America? Like we have done nothing wrong and they are just nuts.
Don't forget what Nixon and Kissinger and the CIA did fifty years ago orchestrating the coup in Chile overthrowing and killing democratically elected Salvatore Aliende on September 11, 1973.
Mike S, thanks! The whole truth is essential to those of us who thirst for a fairer, more just nation. Those who don't, love stuffing things under rugs.
Tom High, you are so correct that Blinken is a cheerleader for American hegemony. So much of what he said don't really cover reality. His mention of the United Nations was fanciful at best. The U.S. rarely, if ever, works with the UN. And the major threat to humanity is what is happening to where we all live as the earth is boiling, and things grow far worse and faster than most people imagine. Then there are the sanctions our president and Congress are using. Sanctions are weapons of war. They starve and kill just as much, or even more, than bombs, bullets, drones, and the other weapons. As for corporations, Boeing and the rest of those that make weapons of war are making incredible amounts of money. Meanwhile, in our country, the poor continue to stay where they are with far too little help from those rich cats.
Well, sometimes we, the USA, ARE willing to lie to the UN to at least inform them about what we are going to do whether the UN votes to support our (usually) military aggression or not.
For example, Colin Powell, lap dog of Cheney and Bush II, got up and, like the lap dog he was, lied about "Weapons of Mass Destruction" in Iraq, to the UN, EVEN though the weapons inspectors placed on the ground, long before, by none other than Reagan were saying there were NONE to the press world wide.
Sadly, not many news organizations here were running interviews with the weapons inspectors denials. I think I saw those interviews on Al Jazeera.
So, yes, we DO work with the UN once in a while. We, the USA, LIE to get the UN to not oppose our war machine that has been active since WW II.
"And the major threat to humanity is what is happening to where we all live as the earth is boiling . . . " If all these issues are addressed without prioritizing care for our one and only dying planet, all the diplomacy and politics and saber-rattling become pointless.
But, I will say, I personally am not sure what I would be doing.
Blinken's statement about being in a fog? I understand what he means. It is really difficult to sort the "right thing" in this situation. At least in my own mind.
I don't want WW III but I also don't want Putin in charge here or in Ukraine.
Although, we might get "Putin in Charge right here" just by re-electing Trump, who, without a doubt, is a Putin Puppet.
Secretaries of State are appointed by presidents. They may be anyone the president chooses. Haven’t checked Blinken’s biography, just watched him grow in the job.
And what turns leaders into autocrats who will attempt to crush anyone who threatens their rule? The drug of choice: power. At the beginning of their political careers, Putin, Jinping, and Erdogan earnestly worked to improve their citizens' lives and all three economies grew and prospered. Once all three fell into the addiction of power, their efforts began to unravel. Notice that all three of these countries' economies are in decline. trump was worse than all of them because he could not care less about anything but fame and fortune from the get-go. What he did in initiating America's decline was evident--thank God the damage he did was nipped at four years. It's unimaginable that he could be president while in a jail cell but I am not privy to the deal he made with the devil. Every judicial tool possible should be implemented to imprison him. Fearing for his safety and the millions that would be spent to ensure it? I've got the solution to both: solitary confinement....
Anthony Blinken does not stand alone. He is backed by the hard work and professionalism of the civil and foreign service workers who staff the Department of State.
Quoted below is the text from the Project 2025 section on the reorganization of the Department of State. It is crystal clear on the stated intentions of the Republicans to purge the the Department and gut it of any professionals who are not willing to obey orders and fall in line behind whatever whims the President has. Acting UNCONFIRMED political appointees will be in place on Day 1, no person in leadership at the beginning of Day one should be there by the close, the Department will be gutted of professional staff with any differing or dissenting views, another layer of political appointees will be inserted to ensure that there is no dissent.
US foreign policy evolves and is refined and implemented by the career professionals at State. I find this sentence particularly chilling. "The secretary must find a way to make clear
to career officials that despite prior history and modes of operation, they need
not be adversaries of a conservative President, Secretary of State, or the team of
political appointees." That they "need not" says it all: fall in line or else.
This plan will ensure that if the Republicans win and thereafter Democrats retake the presidency the Department of State will have been hollowed out with much of its professional staff replaced by Republican loyalists so it will impede any reversals of policy.
"LEADERSHIP AND SUPPORT
Focusing the State Department on the needs and goals of the next President
will require the President’s handpicked political leadership—as well as foreign
service and civil service personnel who share the President’s vision and policy
agendas—to run the department. This can be done by taking these steps at the
outset of the next Administration.
Exert Leverage During the Confirmation Process. Notwithstanding the
challenges and slowness of the modern U.S. Senate confirmation process, the next
President can exert leverage on the Senate if he or she is willing to place State
Department appointees directly into those roles, pending confirmation. Doing so
would both ensure that the department has immediate senior political leadership
and would force the Senate to act on nominees’ appointments instead of being
allowed to engage in dilatory tactics that cripple the State Department’s functionality for weeks, months, or even years.
Assert Leadership in the Appointment Process. The next Administration
should assert leadership over, and guidance to, the State Department by placing
political appointees in positions that do not require Senate confirmation, including
senior advisors, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretaries, and Deputy Assistant Secretaries. Given the department’s size, the next Administration should also increase
the number of political appointees to manage it.
To the extent possible, all non-confirmed senior appointees should be selected
by the President-elect’s transition team or the new President’s Office of Presidential Personnel (depending on the timing of selection) and be in place the first day
of the Administration. No one in a leadership position on the morning of January
20 should hold that position at the end of the day. These recommendations do not
imply that foreign service and civil service officials should be excluded from key
roles: It is hard to imagine a scenario in which they are not immediately relevant to
the transition of power. The main suggestion here is that as many political appointees as possible should be in place at the start of a new Administration.
Support and Train Political Appointees. The Secretary of State should use
his or her office and its resources to ensure regular coordination among all political
appointees, which should take the form of strategy meetings, trainings, and other
events. The secretary should also take reasonable steps to ensure that the State
Department’s political appointees are connected to other departments’ political
appointees, which is critical for cross-agency effectiveness and morale. The secretary should capitalize on the more experienced political appointees by using
them as the foundation for a mentorship program for less experienced political
appointees. The interaction of political appointees must be routine and operational
rather than incidental or occasional, and it must be treated as a crucial dimension
for the next Administration’s success.
Maximize the Value of Career Officials. Career foreign service and civil
service personnel can and must be leveraged for their expertise and commitment to the President’s mission. Indeed, the State Department has thousands of
employees with unparalleled linguistic, cultural, policy, and administrative skills,
and large numbers of them have been an enormous resource to the Secretaries of
State under which they have served. The secretary must find a way to make clear
to career officials that despite prior history and modes of operation, they need
not be adversaries of a conservative President, Secretary of State, or the team of
political appointees.
Reboot Ambassadors Worldwide. All ambassadors are required to submit
letters of resignation at the start of a new Administration. Previous Republican
Administrations have accepted the resignations of only the political ambassadors
and allowed the foreign service ambassadors to retain their posts, sometimes for
months or years into a new Administration.
The next Administration must go further: It should both accept the resignations of all political ambassadors and quickly review and reassess all career ambassadors. This review should commence
well before the new Administration’s first day.
Ambassadors in countries where U.S. policy or posture would substantially
change under the new Administration, as well as any who have evinced hostility
toward the incoming Administration or its agenda, should be recalled immediately.
The priority should be to put in place new ambassadors who support the President’s agenda among political appointees, foreign service officers, and civil service
personnel, with no predetermined percentage among these categories. Political
ambassadors with strong personal relationships with the President should be prioritized for key strategic posts such as Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, the
United Nations, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)."
you've added motivation to defeat Project 2025 as well as a very bad taste in my mouth for the continuing chaos and undermining of government "for the people" this outlines.
For the life of me, I don't understand why people "prefer" assassinations and executions over the peaceful transfer of power, because that is the obvious path they are taking.
Yes, Beverly, but they think and know it's quicker to kill them. Let's ask Hilary Clinton about that after what just happened in Libya. I'm talking about the big storm and deaths and destruction there. Since the U.S. killing of Kadafi, Libya has gone to hell.
At some points this excerpt from the 2025 Project reads like any other poorly written training manual. Hannah Arendt's "The Banality of Evil" comes to mind. Then the talk of purging the Department of State on day 1 begins. Building the effective, dynamic, Department of State we have now took years, decades, even. Apparently, the 2025 Project plans to destroy it in a day.
Thank you Heather.
Secretary Blinken has certainly paved a path of enlightenment.
Why does it seem we are living in a different nation as the GOP ? If only they would listen to reality and not their own censored echo chamber.
Together we could achieve so much more.
Be safe. Be well.
Yes, thank you yet again Heather. I particularly appreciate your summary of Secretary Blinken's speech which I would not otherwise know about. It tells me there is a vision and a plan that makes sense and can move us forward. Compare it to those horrible Trump years when he governed by temper tantrum and wanted to dismantle all of the alliances that have kept us all safe for so long. The people working so hard at the State Department and we know it isn't easy to carry out this vision but there are people in place who know what they are doing and believe their job is to serve the public, not themselves. May they be able to continue to do that after 2024.
The perfect backup to the speech: HRC on MSNBC this morning. New Department of International Affairs at Columbia where she will teach. Early guest: Pope Francis. If you don’t know what he’s up to (climate change, overpopulation) this may be our chance to find out!
Thanks, Virginia, for the heads-up.
I sincerely second this thought - if not for Professor Richardson’s letters would we ever even hear the comments and support of Secretary Blinkin. Thank you a million times Heather for your time at informing us of sanity in the world that we’d surely believe no longer existed.
Fear. As long as the Putin wing of the GOP can appeal to human insecurities they will sell their souls. Those Republicans are anti democracy, which puts them against all that has made this country great.
As I have often committed here, the Rs are the party of death to everything that decent people hold dear. If they are allowed to pursue their devastating path not only will we not have democracy, but we will see more evidence of climate change and it will be much more difficult to sustain life on the planet. They are motivated by power and greed just like the Putins, Kims, Xis, and other autocrats of the world.
That is certainly the case here in Wisconsin where right wing extremists have a stranglehold and are continuing to move against the people.
In Wisconsin, the backlash against the corrupt republicans is growing. If they try to remove (impeach) the Judge we voted for in huge numbers they will feel our wrath at the ballot box and the State Capitol.
I feel your pain here in Ohio. I wrote letters for Vote Forward sent to Wisconsin voters urging them to show up for the SC election and was thrilled to see the outcome. I am tempted to pull up that list and send additional letters encouraging voters to take all peaceful legal steps to retain the Judge they voted in but of course I have not been authorized by VF to do so. Are there advocacy groups in place to keep people engaged in this threat to their voting power?
Exactly!!!!
Yes, insecurity, as I posted yesterday. That is the common thread running through the autocrat's songbook everywhere on earth. Exploit people via something as simple, as common, as much a fact of life as life itself! Human insecurity is directly chained to the "fight or flight" atavistic patterns encoded in our ancient DNA. The human brain is a magnificent organ. We have only just begun to grasp the depth and scope of its potential. Russian thug Putin is far, far ahead of the American people. My short chance encounter with KGB men years ago in the US Navy solidified my awareness for that. Nature does abhor a vacuum, and in our recent vacuous past we allowed has lap dog trump into our lives 24/7. And, so it goes. Check out Astra Taylor, Canadian activist/film maker.
Linda, we are living in a nation perceived differently by today’s RepubliQans. I had a former work colleague post a photo of tfg with the caption “I trust this man more than anyone else in Washington.” There were at least a half dozen likes/comments on it.
That was from a retired cop.
Their sky is a different color.
That's why the dissemination of disinformation is so dangerous. It is far too easy to drown people in a sea if lies.
Online algorithms are programmed to lead people to ever more radicalism, and ownership of media platforms by unstable and erratic people like Elon Musk only increases the danger.
People don't trust the government, but they trust Trump and Musk?
When private individuals have more power than the government, we are in greater danger than when government regulates.
Cheryl, I’m less worried about individuals having power than a government owned by monied interests. The rot in our system is extensive. Trump didn’t come from a vacuum; DeSantis would be worse, even if less vulgar. Once one grasps the concept of inverted totalitarianism, this Team Red vs. Team Blue illusion of democracy becomes much clearer, even if more unsettling.
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/sheldon-wolin-and-inverted-totalitarianism/
Agreed 👍
If the founders, whom the right wing considers so sacred, wanted a king, they would have written it into the Constitution. Our parents and grandparents who fought in world wars to defend democracy would be astounded at the republicants rejection of democracy.
Ally it amazes me the level of polarity of the interpretation between Democrats and Republicans/MAGA.
You are right, their sky is a different color.
They can't see the sky as their heads are where the sun never shines.
If you live in a world where all you hear is "the sky is orange and the grass is purple", then that is what you will believe. We are all influenced by repetition. Makes me wonder if we aren't some extraterrestrial experiment...
Well, we have free will and a large brain, so that must be part of the experiment.
That is the simplest, best fitting summary. Their egos are so fragile that they can’t handle the truth so they hide from it.
I agree!
Sorry, this thought just burst into my mind-nothing erudite and scholarly. BUT I wonder if their heads are where the sun don't shine, will they need toilet paper? Is trump handing that out or was it paper towels?
It was paper towels. He is ensconced on his golden throne and the peons can use banana leaves.
🤣🤣🤣
Ally, having encountered a couple of your ex-colleagues on Facebook, I am not surprised. Somehow their manhood is threaten by anything definded as woke. And they wonder why people do not trust the police. Just last night there was a news story of a Seattle cop laughing and making crass remarks including something like her life was not worth anything anyway after the woman had been run over by a police vehicle and killed.
Our local paper, the weekly Ellsworth American has an opinion page. Their editorials are as close to apolitical as possible because they fear losing even one subscriber.
With that being said, the letters to the editor are definitely political and mostly about national politics. A few MAGAs attempt to contribute letters now and then. They mostly parrot Tucker, Hannity, Laura and the other Fox talking heads. And since Fox peddles mostly lies, hate and gossip against the Biden administer that's what they try peddling. Once in a while they plagiarize what Fox says, but mostly they attempt to rephrase it and most often miss the mark badly.
The next week someone rebuts their letters. The paper will not post anything that hints at incivility, so there are very creative ways that liberals call the MAGAs morons without calling them morons.
This week a MAGAt tried to call out a former Maine State Senator and also a former editor to the Ellsworth American saying that Biden was amoral because he hadn't recognized Hunter's daughter until recently. Compared to our rapist misogynistic homophobic white supremacist former President, Biden's lack of contact with his granddaughter is a nothing burger. He also attempted to refute a few other points made by the former Senator, but they either incoherent or Fox msiinformation.
After reading the MAGAt's letters, I usually end up shaking my head or laughing or both.
So yes, the sky is a different color to the RepubliQans, but they have to watch Fox News to see what color it is this week.
I don't see how Biden's relationship with a grand daughter has anything to do with any thing. Wasn't it his son and ex? wife's problem? We should talk about the forgotten daughter Tiffany.
I know people who feel the same. Trump is absolutely the most dishonest and corrupt person ever to take office anywhere in our country. It boggles my mind how brainwashed and disconnected from reality they are. Everyone I know who believes this are avid watchers of FOX News. How do we enlighten theses masses?
Trump's image for most of his followers probably began with NBC's The Apprentice .We know that image was manufactured for "reality" TV by producer Mark Burnett. FOX built that myth into a candidate.
“The Apprentice “?
Thank you. My spell checker needs a spell checker.
How do we take down FOX? Sue them for Treason???
Ally House, yes indeed republicans see a different world than Democrats. It feels like a hall of funhouse mirrors. Their beliefs mirror ours. Democrats are terrible, radical, unthinking, out of touch with reality and determined to ruin this country, and end democracy. Democrats are upending long standing norms that we built this country on. They have to be voted out and anything Democrats stand for has to be opposed. I vehemently disagree with republicans world view and sadly concede that facts have no impact in this debate. Because everything I say to a Republican will be dismissed because I am, “ terrible, radical, unthinking, out of touch with reality and determined to ruin this country, and end democracy.” VOTE Democratic!
I guess "In God we trust" would not be an appropriate belief for him.
Yet he stands on camera and tells provable lie after lie, sometimes within the same speech! 🤦🏻♀️ I have to think that these believers felt most secure in their earliest years in an environment where they were constantly lied to, cementing that type of lying authority relationship so into their deepest wiring that is all that their adult selves can truly trust 🤦🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
They think it's our sky that's a different color.
We're going to have to find a way to get out of our silos.
I’m not leaving the silo of truth, and though I frequently fall when it comes to criminals and violent, malicious people I try not to leave the silo of love.
And the cyberbots are helping....
Thanks to Blinken (and Heather), I now see the proverbial big picture amid all that’s swirling around us. We already knew the 2024 election was critical, but clearly it’s more than that. Life would become a hellscape if Trump or other wannabe dictators in his mold take power.
The Gop is, obsessed with power and control to rule this country for themselves. They have been mimniputed by Trumps ideology of thinking, and have no remorse for humanity or the planet. A dictatorship and autocratic rule is what they want, nothing else.
Why is it that when commentators mention the 14th section 3, they don't emphasize the "aid and comfort" phrase? We don't have to have a conviction in any court we have the timeline of the 6th. His speech sends the protestors to the Capital. We have testimony stating Trump didn't want to do anything about protestors while they trashed the Capitol and fought the police. Then when he does decide he's accomplished his goal, he sends them home and they go without protest. Add the sedition convictions of the Proud Boys and you're done.
Does this apply to the president? Article II Section 2 "The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States.."
Section 3
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or HOLD ANY OFFICE, civil OR MILITARY, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, OR GIVEN AID OR COMFORT TO THE ENEMIES THEREOF. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
With that, we can perhaps take down the Senators and Representatives who stood to try and enact the false elector scheme. (Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Josh Hawley, Representative Paul Gosar, Representative Jody Hice, Representative Majorie Taylor Green, Representative Mo Brooks Jr., Representative Scott Perry, and Representative Louie Gohmert - there were others but they didn't continue their support after the Congress returned to session). I think this is the right link. But it's all in the Congressional Record to include the specific objections to swing states and the rejection of objections that didn't have a Senator to support the objection.
https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/volume-167/issue-4/house-section/article/H76-4?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22certification+of+electoral+college+vote%22%5D%7D&s=1&r=2
This morning/early afternoon, at 12:30 am Eastern/9:30 Pacific, CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) will be providing an update on the lawsuit they filed in the state Colorado to prevent Trump from being placed on the ballot under Art.14, Sec. 3. I highly recommend making a donation to CREW to support their effort and, if you have the time, attending the 30 min Zoom update. Here is the link to CREW: https://www.citizensforethics.org
Did you forget Lindsay Grahm?
No, he doesn't appear in the Congressional Record stating any objections. One Senator evidently had a Come to Jesus moment. Senator Kelly Loeffler of Georgia who lost the GA runoff election, had intended to stand in support of the Georgia challenge and instead used a floor speech to call out the violence and withdraw her objection.
What is the difference between a brown nose and an ass kisser?...............Depth perception!!
Oh dear, LOL. The first smile of my am.
😂😂
🤣🤣🤣
Well, I forget all of the occasions he has supported Trump against democracy and what his "friend" John McCain would have stood for ...
Just read this in his own words.
https://www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=A2F3DAA2-84A6-4C9B-BCC9-96DD96529456
Quite frankly he is a sycophant. I just didn't recognize the behavior when he stood in John McCain's shadow. His policies have never agreed with mine. But I didn't think he was a waste of human DNA until Trump.
I looked up sycophant to see synonyms. Here they toady, creep, crawler, fawner, flatterer, flunkey, truckler, groveler, doormat, lickspittle, kowtower, obsequious person, minion, hanger-on, leech, puppet, spaniel, Uriah Heep, bootlicker, yes-man, brown-nose, suck-up, arse-licker, arse-kisser, suckhole, ass-licker, ass-kisser
They all describe Lindsey Graham and all the other idiotic MAGAs. I just love words!!
😂😂😂
My favorite for Lindsay Graham?
Ass Kisser. That is the most appropriate visualization of the most common behavior associated with Graham. No doubt.
BC, now that's a list of great words. Thanks!
Well said and good night! (for me)
I can't wait till Lindsay Graham falls flat when he's voted out of office by Gen Z and people like us!
Isee don't think we even need the "aid and co fort" phrase. It is pretty clear from public evidence that Trump actively engaged in insurrection. His orchestration of the fake electors scheme as well as incitement of his mob on Jan. 6 go well beyond "aid and comfort"!
I hope we can get Section 3 enforced! Clearly, some citizens and groups are brining suit to do so.
Without enforcement of its provisions, the Constitution is, as GWB once infamously stated, is "just a piece of paper."
When you write about using Sec. 3 of the 14th Amendment to 'take down' those who supported the false elector scheme, you use the adverb 'perhaps,' recognizing that some things are easier said than done. For democracy to work effectively, it requires smart, knowledgeable, people. When there are not enough of them, it does not. That is not 'perhaps' the problem. That IS the problem. And they vote for the people you mention.
Paula, do you think there is the remotest chance Congress can garner supermajorities from both chambers let alone even one? I don't see i blue wave coming, do you? On the aiding and abetting you also need to realize the GOP is whole handedly participating in that effort. Can you see that voting base suddenly cracking up? I read an interesting poll that put unregistered likely non-voters with significant majorities thinking 2020 was a stolen election, far more than registered voters, who are also significantly fractured. The big lie has worked?
No one knows. Which is why I’m writing GOTV postcards. Anyone who cares can link up with the Turnabout Project, Indivisible, or organizations either can lead you too so that you can write postcards to states having primaries in November 2023 (VA, OH). You get cards and voters lists. This Virginian has just written 100 to VA and is waiting for the next batch to either state.
Key words: unregistered and nonvoters. Some states have made it so difficult to register and vote, these people may not be able to afford to register to vote because they don't have the money to pay for an id. Voting places may not be accessible. We might be assuming that these people will get off their butts and vote. Last election was important and nothing was done. Ironically all these obstacles put in the way of poor and black people may bite Republicans in the butt when rural and the poorer trumpers don't vote.
Just have to be lucky and not get a trump judge like Cannon. There are a lot of republican appointed judges who go by the facts with their eyes wide opened. Look at how many have dismissed appeals and request for delays.
and after 2-1/2 years we cannot set a trial date which should of been done immediately after Trump was out of office and it was clearer in the public's mind. WTF seems pretty lawless.
Thank you Heather and all your readers are so smart.
This is an extraordinarily concise and shaking summation of the US and world situation. I have to marvel at the ability of qualified politicians to convey complex ideas to citizens (if they're paying the slightest bit of attention). Scarily like the leadup to WW II.
--- Democracies are under threat, Blinken said. “Challenged from the inside by elected leaders who exploit resentments and stoke fears; erode independent judiciaries and the media; enrich cronies; crack down on civil society and political opposition. And challenged from the outside, by autocrats who spread disinformation, who weaponize corruption, who meddle in elections.”
Isn’t Blinken a diplomat and not a politician?
Aren't there other democracies like Israel where his comments might apply? America is on quite a long list of "flawed democracies."
America is also on the list of actively overthrowing elected Democratic leaders in other countries and converting those countries into brutal, violent dictatorships.
The Shah of Iran being the most well known and famous bloodthirsty dictator we put in place by overthrowing a decent man ELECTED by the Iranian people.
We got rid of that guy in 1953 and, with "Great" Britain, put in place the Shah, who, then proceeded to torture and kill Iranians at will, for (ever). Or until he left to go to a US hospital because even the evil get old and die.
And? We wonder why Iranians hate America? Like we have done nothing wrong and they are just nuts.
WE are just ignorant of history.
Don't forget what Nixon and Kissinger and the CIA did fifty years ago orchestrating the coup in Chile overthrowing and killing democratically elected Salvatore Aliende on September 11, 1973.
It would seem that the US is a busy body interfering with other countries' affairs. We should be rightly chastised.
Mike S, thanks! The whole truth is essential to those of us who thirst for a fairer, more just nation. Those who don't, love stuffing things under rugs.
Sad but true and I do not trust the World Bank and IMF
Actually, neither. He’s a cheerleader for American hegemony.
Tom High, you are so correct that Blinken is a cheerleader for American hegemony. So much of what he said don't really cover reality. His mention of the United Nations was fanciful at best. The U.S. rarely, if ever, works with the UN. And the major threat to humanity is what is happening to where we all live as the earth is boiling, and things grow far worse and faster than most people imagine. Then there are the sanctions our president and Congress are using. Sanctions are weapons of war. They starve and kill just as much, or even more, than bombs, bullets, drones, and the other weapons. As for corporations, Boeing and the rest of those that make weapons of war are making incredible amounts of money. Meanwhile, in our country, the poor continue to stay where they are with far too little help from those rich cats.
"The U.S. rarely, if ever, works with the UN."
Well, sometimes we, the USA, ARE willing to lie to the UN to at least inform them about what we are going to do whether the UN votes to support our (usually) military aggression or not.
For example, Colin Powell, lap dog of Cheney and Bush II, got up and, like the lap dog he was, lied about "Weapons of Mass Destruction" in Iraq, to the UN, EVEN though the weapons inspectors placed on the ground, long before, by none other than Reagan were saying there were NONE to the press world wide.
Sadly, not many news organizations here were running interviews with the weapons inspectors denials. I think I saw those interviews on Al Jazeera.
So, yes, we DO work with the UN once in a while. We, the USA, LIE to get the UN to not oppose our war machine that has been active since WW II.
"And the major threat to humanity is what is happening to where we all live as the earth is boiling . . . " If all these issues are addressed without prioritizing care for our one and only dying planet, all the diplomacy and politics and saber-rattling become pointless.
Biden/Blinken crossed to red lines in allowing: cluster bombs and now bombers.
Steady creep to World War.
But, I will say, I personally am not sure what I would be doing.
Blinken's statement about being in a fog? I understand what he means. It is really difficult to sort the "right thing" in this situation. At least in my own mind.
I don't want WW III but I also don't want Putin in charge here or in Ukraine.
Although, we might get "Putin in Charge right here" just by re-electing Trump, who, without a doubt, is a Putin Puppet.
Instead of the MAGA GOP it's now the Putin GOP.
Tom Is correct, missed that???
Secretaries of State are appointed by presidents. They may be anyone the president chooses. Haven’t checked Blinken’s biography, just watched him grow in the job.
Lisa, don't both have to be both?
No, I don’t think so.
And what turns leaders into autocrats who will attempt to crush anyone who threatens their rule? The drug of choice: power. At the beginning of their political careers, Putin, Jinping, and Erdogan earnestly worked to improve their citizens' lives and all three economies grew and prospered. Once all three fell into the addiction of power, their efforts began to unravel. Notice that all three of these countries' economies are in decline. trump was worse than all of them because he could not care less about anything but fame and fortune from the get-go. What he did in initiating America's decline was evident--thank God the damage he did was nipped at four years. It's unimaginable that he could be president while in a jail cell but I am not privy to the deal he made with the devil. Every judicial tool possible should be implemented to imprison him. Fearing for his safety and the millions that would be spent to ensure it? I've got the solution to both: solitary confinement....
Anthony Blinken does not stand alone. He is backed by the hard work and professionalism of the civil and foreign service workers who staff the Department of State.
Quoted below is the text from the Project 2025 section on the reorganization of the Department of State. It is crystal clear on the stated intentions of the Republicans to purge the the Department and gut it of any professionals who are not willing to obey orders and fall in line behind whatever whims the President has. Acting UNCONFIRMED political appointees will be in place on Day 1, no person in leadership at the beginning of Day one should be there by the close, the Department will be gutted of professional staff with any differing or dissenting views, another layer of political appointees will be inserted to ensure that there is no dissent.
US foreign policy evolves and is refined and implemented by the career professionals at State. I find this sentence particularly chilling. "The secretary must find a way to make clear
to career officials that despite prior history and modes of operation, they need
not be adversaries of a conservative President, Secretary of State, or the team of
political appointees." That they "need not" says it all: fall in line or else.
This plan will ensure that if the Republicans win and thereafter Democrats retake the presidency the Department of State will have been hollowed out with much of its professional staff replaced by Republican loyalists so it will impede any reversals of policy.
"LEADERSHIP AND SUPPORT
Focusing the State Department on the needs and goals of the next President
will require the President’s handpicked political leadership—as well as foreign
service and civil service personnel who share the President’s vision and policy
agendas—to run the department. This can be done by taking these steps at the
outset of the next Administration.
Exert Leverage During the Confirmation Process. Notwithstanding the
challenges and slowness of the modern U.S. Senate confirmation process, the next
President can exert leverage on the Senate if he or she is willing to place State
Department appointees directly into those roles, pending confirmation. Doing so
would both ensure that the department has immediate senior political leadership
and would force the Senate to act on nominees’ appointments instead of being
allowed to engage in dilatory tactics that cripple the State Department’s functionality for weeks, months, or even years.
Assert Leadership in the Appointment Process. The next Administration
should assert leadership over, and guidance to, the State Department by placing
political appointees in positions that do not require Senate confirmation, including
senior advisors, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretaries, and Deputy Assistant Secretaries. Given the department’s size, the next Administration should also increase
the number of political appointees to manage it.
To the extent possible, all non-confirmed senior appointees should be selected
by the President-elect’s transition team or the new President’s Office of Presidential Personnel (depending on the timing of selection) and be in place the first day
of the Administration. No one in a leadership position on the morning of January
20 should hold that position at the end of the day. These recommendations do not
imply that foreign service and civil service officials should be excluded from key
roles: It is hard to imagine a scenario in which they are not immediately relevant to
the transition of power. The main suggestion here is that as many political appointees as possible should be in place at the start of a new Administration.
Support and Train Political Appointees. The Secretary of State should use
his or her office and its resources to ensure regular coordination among all political
appointees, which should take the form of strategy meetings, trainings, and other
events. The secretary should also take reasonable steps to ensure that the State
Department’s political appointees are connected to other departments’ political
appointees, which is critical for cross-agency effectiveness and morale. The secretary should capitalize on the more experienced political appointees by using
them as the foundation for a mentorship program for less experienced political
appointees. The interaction of political appointees must be routine and operational
rather than incidental or occasional, and it must be treated as a crucial dimension
for the next Administration’s success.
Maximize the Value of Career Officials. Career foreign service and civil
service personnel can and must be leveraged for their expertise and commitment to the President’s mission. Indeed, the State Department has thousands of
employees with unparalleled linguistic, cultural, policy, and administrative skills,
and large numbers of them have been an enormous resource to the Secretaries of
State under which they have served. The secretary must find a way to make clear
to career officials that despite prior history and modes of operation, they need
not be adversaries of a conservative President, Secretary of State, or the team of
political appointees.
Reboot Ambassadors Worldwide. All ambassadors are required to submit
letters of resignation at the start of a new Administration. Previous Republican
Administrations have accepted the resignations of only the political ambassadors
and allowed the foreign service ambassadors to retain their posts, sometimes for
months or years into a new Administration.
The next Administration must go further: It should both accept the resignations of all political ambassadors and quickly review and reassess all career ambassadors. This review should commence
well before the new Administration’s first day.
Ambassadors in countries where U.S. policy or posture would substantially
change under the new Administration, as well as any who have evinced hostility
toward the incoming Administration or its agenda, should be recalled immediately.
The priority should be to put in place new ambassadors who support the President’s agenda among political appointees, foreign service officers, and civil service
personnel, with no predetermined percentage among these categories. Political
ambassadors with strong personal relationships with the President should be prioritized for key strategic posts such as Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, the
United Nations, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)."
https://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/project2025/2025_MandateForLeadership_CHAPTER-06.pdf
Reeks of premeditated conspiracy for outright Treason. Perpetraitors telling citizens of their criminal intentions. This is grotesque!
How to Coup, 101.
Chilling to the bone
you've added motivation to defeat Project 2025 as well as a very bad taste in my mouth for the continuing chaos and undermining of government "for the people" this outlines.
For the life of me, I don't understand why people "prefer" assassinations and executions over the peaceful transfer of power, because that is the obvious path they are taking.
Yes, Beverly, but they think and know it's quicker to kill them. Let's ask Hilary Clinton about that after what just happened in Libya. I'm talking about the big storm and deaths and destruction there. Since the U.S. killing of Kadafi, Libya has gone to hell.
This is a frightening plan. The Road to unfreedom as Timothy Snyder would say.
And few, except those who have lived it, know more of what he speaks and writes
At some points this excerpt from the 2025 Project reads like any other poorly written training manual. Hannah Arendt's "The Banality of Evil" comes to mind. Then the talk of purging the Department of State on day 1 begins. Building the effective, dynamic, Department of State we have now took years, decades, even. Apparently, the 2025 Project plans to destroy it in a day.
This reads like 1984. Talk about weaponization, filling the weapons with duds.
And that covers just about everything. Just lie back and enjoy it.
Thank you. Anyone who reads that and isn’t terrified should be ready for mayhem.
Thank you for sharing….
We can not let this happen, period!!!