House Republicans appear to be barreling toward a government shutdown, unable to agree even to debate a bill to fund the military. That rejection made Republican leadership pull from the floor a continuing resolution to fund the government into October. Extremist members simply refuse to agree to any bill that doesn’t cave to their demands. And, as NBC News reporters note, “The House [Republican] chaos is worse than it may appear.” The bills over which they are currently fighting cannot possibly pass the Senate. Government funding ends on September 30.
Many of groups of youngers publicly announced a few months ago their intentions to vote. And the majority won't be voting for the GOP. They're well aware that they're the ones who will have to live with the craziness.
Sort of on point: I mentioned a few months ago I would let everyone know if Gloria Johnson announced she was running for Marsha Blackburn’s seat SHE IS. Remember the Tennessee Three? She is one of them. She’s a former special ed teacher present at Central HS when a student was shot by another. Marsha calls her a “radical, woke socialist”—all the usual hyperbole. Marsha is in tfg’s pocket. Votegloriajohnson.com.
Also there is a group raising $$ to launch BlueTennessee (Linktr.ee/BlueTennessee) to run Dems in every state office. Republicans have made a sh!tshow of the legislature.
I would love to see a list of worthy recipients of political donations that is moderated by members of this group. Since the 2020 elections, I've kept my donations to a minimum and don't know to whose campaigns i shoukd donate. By giving to numerous candidates via ActBlue in 2020, I'm on everyone's begging list, and since I'm too busy to do research, I treat most of them as spam.
The groups endorsed within some of these comments are interesting, but I want a clearer view of the bigger picture.
In addition to identifying the most successful organizations getting out the youth vote in the USA, the following is equally important!
'Broadening Youth Voting'
'Voting is a fundamental act of civic participation through which young people contribute to democracy. While it’s just one of many ways to engage in civic life, it is a powerful way for young people to make their voices heard and to have an impact on issues that affect them.'
'Historically, young people have voted at lower rates than older adults. That's starting to change: recent elections have seen historically high youth voter turnout. But major inequities in voting rates by race/ethnicity, educational attainment, region, and age group remain—often the product of highly unequal access to information and opportunities to participate.'
'Our work is aimed at broadening youth voting for a more equitable electorate and a more robust and representative democracy.'
'50% vs. 20%'
'The education gap is one of the major inequities in youth voting, according to Census data, half of youth with a Bachelor's degree voted in 2022, compared to just 20% of youth whose highest educational attainment is a high school diploma.'
'76% vs. 40% vs. 23%'
'According to our 2022 survey, 3 in 4 youth say they have the power to change the country, but just 2 in 5 say they feel well-qualified to participate in politics. Just under 1 in 4 cast a ballot. Youth aren't apathetic; we're failing to prepare and engage them. '
'About CIRCLE'
'CIRCLE, the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, is a non-partisan, independent research organization focused on youth civic engagement in the United States. We conduct extensive research on youth participation, and we leverage that research to improve opportunities for all young people to acquire and use the skills and knowledge they need to meaningfully participate in civic life. In all of our work, we are especially concerned with understanding, addressing, and ultimately eliminating the systemic barriers that keep some young people marginalized from and underrepresented in civic life.'
'We are especially interested in the academic, social, professional, and economic benefits to young people and to their communities when they engage in civic life. We seek to understand and improve the contexts and conditions that shape youth engagement, which are too often inequitable, with special emphasis on K-12 civic education's role in preparing youth to participate in democracy. Our research informs policy and practice in order to drive substantive change–whether in the classroom, the county clerk's office, or the community organization–that promotes stronger youth development and a more inclusive society.'
CIRCLE was founded in 2001 at the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy. Since 2008, we have been based at Tufts University's Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life. In 2021, we celebrated CIRCLE's 20th anniversary and produced CIRCLE at 20, a major report on our work and impact over the past two decades. (CIRCLE) See link below.
"Just under 1 in 4 cast a ballot. Youth aren't apathetic; we're failing to prepare and engage them."
Fern, the quote you draw on says so much. We--at least the system--are failing to prepare and engage youth. We're also failing to set standards of personal character and conduct which I believe are especially important to them. I would like to see politicians and other "influencers" walk the talk. In addressing college students and other youth groups, the speakers could add a personal pledge similar to the conduct declaration: "I will not lie, cheat, or steal." Further, the speakers should emphasize that they're ready to resign and face suitable punishment if they don't honor their own stated commitments. Politicians lack credibility with students. They need to convince youth that they are devoted to the welfare of the nation and not devoted to personal financial enrichment through their position. Otherwise, students will just write off the speakers as political blowhards and hypocrites. We have to set a good example and live it.
Heydon, I think we all need to know Civics and share it with our children, while they are growing up and take a course or more about it as students in school. This quote echoes your thoughts:
“Our children should learn the general framework of their government, and then they should know where they come in contact with the government, where it touches their daily lives and where their influence is exerted on the government. It must not be a distant thing, someone else's business, but they must see how every cog in the wheel of a democracy is important and bears its share of responsibility for the smooth running of the entire machine.”
Ellie’s right. TheStates Project IDs likely winners in several states and pours resources into those. I don’t think TN is one of their target states yet.
Think climate change: Senator Jon Tester, as far as I know, the only farmer in Congress, Democrat in a Trump Republican state, needs out-of-state support. And we need farmers in Congress. Food is important to everyone and a new farm bill should have lots of individual farmer input. Price of eggs: think chicken food, which has to be nutritious if we want nutritious eggs.
I would call her worthy, and she is taking on one of the worst do-nothing senators ever. Marsha aligned herself with tfg from the beginning. She holds no constituent meetings. She was deliberately rude to Ketanji Brown Jackson. She has to go.
Also check out Force Multiplier. https://www.forcemultiplierus.org/ They do research focusing on how likely a candidate’s chances are of winning. To qualify for a recommendation, a candidate’s odds must be not too good and not too small, as well as not extremely well financed and not hopelessly broke. In other words, they look for viable candidates who would most benefit from a shot in the arm from donors.
So much of the fund-raising mail (of one sort or another) feels fundamentally gimmicky and not informative. So much as pure sales pitch that seems to treat me as an abstract, algorithmic target rather than a person. Not enough reason to not support a good cause, but I wonder if it is not self-defeating in the end? It seems to me to be a useful courtesy to speak from the heart. I speculate that this abstract algorithmization is part of why people become so alienated they start to believe utter crap.
I couldn't agree more! I appreciate your post and the responses. I think even small dollar donations are helpful. (Which is all I am able to afford at the moment.)
Glad to know that someone is taking bad hair Marsha on. I suspect that her hair gives us a clue as to what the inside of her head looks like, flying in all directions, looking for her single brain cell. We donate to people out of state and we will put Gloria Johnson on our list.
If Tennessee is part of the Turnabout Project and there are postcards, I will write them. Sorry not to have funds to send. Saw her on TV and was delighted that she’s running.
I sure am aware of it, being an ashamed Tennessean myself. I don't think I have ever donated so early (and so much), and it is for Gloria Johnson's campaign. Such is my distaste for Blackburn. Distaste being a kind word. What I would like to know, outside of donations, is how can be part of that team. I'd support it for free.
Will add this organization to our list of great voting rights organizations on defendyourvotingrights.org.
In stark contrast to Dems’ constant support of the right to vote and be counted, Trump’s GOP, via enablers like Heritage Foundation/Heritage Action and RNC “election integrity” committees actively work to suppress the voting rights of college students.
Most notably, “Fringe of the Fringe” election denier Cleta Mitchell has raised millions to enable 17+ states to deploy this year a so-called “AI” program (developed by a conservative doctor! for God’s sake) to remove qualified voters from the rolls. It targets those legitimately having more than one mailing address, including especially college students, who rightfully vote in their university towns and cities but are also rightfully on record as members of “out-of-state” family households.
Cleta narrowly escaped being indicted in Georgia along with co-conspirators Trump, Meadows and her fellow anti-voting rights lawyer Sydney Powell. Support voter registration and voting rights organizations.
Voting is the bedrock process on which democracy rests: one person, one vote, majority rule. The first peaceful transfer of political power in world history took place right here in the United States on March 4, 1801, John Adams (Federalist Party) relinquished the presidency to Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican Party.) They were bitter enemies. Today, MAGA Republicans know that they are not the majority, that they cannot win a fair and open election in many if not the great majority of cases. Therefore, they rig the system against the one-person, one-vote, majority-rule process. Why? How is it, for example, that tens of millions of Americans support a man who is a known liar, cheat, convicted rapist with 91 felony charges against him? It's because he represents their desire to establish a white Protestant supremacy political system here, and it is so important to them that they are willing to quash democracy.
Richard, speaking of voting, it would seem Kevin McCarthy could outflank his extremist contingent (just 20 or 22 of his Republican'ts?) in the House by reaching across the aisle to work with Democrats and Independents who recognize the folly of defaulting on the national debt, the folly of caving into extremists who would take our country's finances hostage. I recognize that it has become an almost forgotten skill in recent congresses, yet "working across the aisle" to preserve our country and to produce workable legislation which the majority in the House could support to keep the government functioning was once considered an honorable and desirable shared by our greatest leaders...from both sides!
Yes, but spineless Keystone Kev will face losing his speakership if he does this. He could put a stop to this nonsense in a nanosecond if he would reach across the aisle. Instead the House is really run by a small loud minority of people who do nothing but rant and don't get on with the business of governing. Quite the group: Herr Gaetz, Gangrene, Gym and the Groping Gunslinger Barbie. etc. Aside from not being able to do what they need to do to keep the government running and more, they are griping about what Fetterman wears in the Senate. This after the theater fiasco by Groper Gunslinger and her date.
Spineless Qevin will continue to face losing his Speakership as long as he keeps caring to HIS MAGA masters. No concession will ever be enough. And, they have no scruples about keeping any agreements they make anyway.
"House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) believes that his position is dependent on the Freedom Caucus not throwing him out of office like they did the last two Republican leaders. So the first thing he did when the House returned from summer break—only three weeks from the deadline—was to unilaterally initiate an impeachment investigation against Joe Biden. This was done entirely to cozy up to the obstinate hard right. But even before McCarthy made the announcement, they all said this would not mollify them at all. So predictably, when asked how an impeachment inquiry would affect their demands on spending, Freedom Caucus member Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) said, “Zero. Zero. They’re totally unrelated.”
Only in Washington would you respond to a set of demands with an unrelated demand and expect that to work: It’s like a manager responding to workers wanting to see the air-conditioning fixed at the office by bringing in a pinball machine."
Trump's friends showed us how easy it is to meddle with the electoral college. Still, nobody talks about abolishing it, at least not seriously, even though it's the most logical way to protect "one person, one vote." In 2016, I was living in Egypt (where there are no electors for expats and our votes are set aside to be used as tie-breakers should they be necessary, where we saw the worst president in US history get elected by a small group of people who thought they knew better than the voters. Instead of the electoral college protecting us from bad choices, they cursed us with a deranged clown in orange makeup and a floppy suit.
One possible solution is to eliminate the "winner take all" systems and make it proportional to the votes received. the Founding Fathers never could have conceived that one state (California) could have a population equal to sixteen other states. This holds true for the Senate as well. It may be that there is no other solution than dissolution of the government. This would send shock waves around the world since a powerful U.S. government is the principal guarantee for democracies in many of the world's countries.
The government as it was set up in the late 1700s just cannot work efficiently anymore. There are too many people, too many states, and we've just begun to exploit the many weak spots the Founding Fathers never thought of. In our history 5 times a president won the electoral vote while losing the popular vote. This should be unacceptable, but of course it wasn't. Basically they invented this method because they couldn't think of anything else.
And representation in a democracy should be population-based, but states each have 2 senators regardless of how many people live there. Nobody else on earth has such a "democracy."
I agree 100%, representation should be one person, one vote, majority rule. And, given that the country is as much divided now between the forces of democracy, on the one hand, and authoritarian despotic rule, on the other hand, just not purely geographically, makes the prospect for holding it together going forward look bleak. The modern Confederacy (MAGA/KKK Republicans) will ultimately destroy the Union so that they can have their white Protestant autocracy.
Right on, Richard. The party of death has nothing to offer ordinary people, even the ones that support death star. They get support for their hatred and bigotry and that's all.
The young of America are where our hope lies. I live in Tennessee and worked for decades at a major university. It is heartening to watch students and recent grads here be inspired and organize.
I agree. In addition, we need all Democrats to vote. Those over 60 who are not college educated and independents all voting for Democrats would ensure a real deal.
It's a good thing but Biden/Harris ticket needs to find a way to speak to the multitudes of young voters who can't afford or didn't want to go to college. That's where the real votes are.
Relying on college kids and suburban mom's will get only part of the votes needed to lock down the WH and Congress in 2024. The country is a lot bigger than the affluent voters they are catering to. I know they are trying but they tend to look for the easy fruit to pick. They need to work to create a margin that can't be stolen or lied about being fraudulent. #toughlove
The "real votes"?! I disagree with your characterization of college kids as affluent voters. Millions of students attend public universities and community colleges like the one that Kamala Harris visited, and many of them had to take out student loans to do so. And there are all those organizations that are engaging with young voters, whether or not they attend college.
As a former educator, I know lots of kids who went on to some kind of post high school education often working their butts off in the summer, holding a job down while going to school, and taking out student loans. We helped one student who got zero help from her parents.
I speaking in terms of numbers. I don't know the exact number but it should be easily extracted from census data and college attendance data. To think college kids and the affluent are enough belies the reality of a 50/50 between Biden and Trump at this point.
I've heard/read plenty of stories about college kids either not voting or not able to thanks to draconian state laws.
I'd also posit more or as many kids have student loans who didn't or weren't able to graduate than did.
Organizations are different from candidates directly engaging young voters. It's the same with the rural voters Democrats have ignored for decades in favor of the metro/suburban voters.
Blue Roots, a bit of student loan trivia: Of students who default on their Fed student loans, a large % are “low amount” borrowers. This is because the students borrow early on (eg; freshman/sophomore year) and then, for whatever reason, are unable to continue their attendance, thus leaving school in debt, but without the benefit of a degree (and all that it implies). At least this was the case, before retirement a decade ago, having worked in student aid at a Univ for 40 yrs & doing a lot of loan counseling (and following the demographics & stats at the time).
VG57, I had no clue when I took a job at age 18 @ a UC campus fin aid office & then a year later to attend college & w/ the nice recommendation letter given me, got a position @ the farthest northern Cal State & that I’d end up working there for 40 yrs—-a true public service job that I took to like a duck to water, a real right livelihood. Our crew was passionate about access to higher ed & the best service we could deliver (almost all of us had been on fin aid as students ourselves)…made lifelong friends among my coworkers & we still gather together a couple of times a month. And, oh my, do I have a lot of opinions regarding student aid, especially student loans!
Yes, thank you! Sharing actual personal experience draws me in far more than posts sharing outrage at the latest outrage. Sharing outrage feels good, too, but usually provides less food for thought than someone’s experience.
'Biden faces little risk of losing young Americans to Trump, who is far less popular among Gen Z and millennial voters. But can the president harness their anger to turn out and push him over the top? Or will their lack of perceived progress cause them to stay home, making way for a Trump victory next year?'
“The answer to this question will decide the election,” said John Della Volpe, polling director at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, who specializes in young voter attitudes.'
'In a recent blog post, Della Volpe wrote that voters under 30, who have been key to modern Democratic victories, now appear less likely to identify as Democrats, instead aligning as independents. Worse for the party, fewer young voters see politics as a “meaningful way to create change,” which he said has been a key indicator of youth turnout.'
“Nearly every sign that made me confident in historic levels of youth participation in 2018, 2020, and 2022 — is now flashing red,” he wrote. (NBCnews) See link below.
'Just because many young people don’t feel passionate about Biden doesn’t mean they are tapping out of the political process altogether. In fact, given the actions that Republicans have taken in recent years — from stripping the right to abortion to banning books in certain states to making it harder for young people to vote — the political energy among young people has only grown. Look at the massive demonstrations in states like Tennessee, where Republicans refuse to take action on gun violence, or the historic turnout in the 2022 midterm elections after Roe v. Wade was overturned. Young people are making their voices heard across the nation.'
'Older white male politicians have tapped into the youth vote before. Of course, there was Bernie Sanders, but don’t forget about then-74-year-old Ed Markey, who all of a sudden became a Gen Z icon in his 2020 Senate race.'
'In both cases, Gen Z supported them not only because of their commitment to fight for and defend the priorities that young people care about — which Biden has done — but also because they met and collaborated with young people at every turn possible. Sanders and Markey also showed young people exactly who they were: While they may have been old, they refused to back down on their ideals and came to resemble loving, but tough, grandparents. Biden can be a Gen Z icon, too, if he takes the same path.'
'We're not just voting. We're also running.' David Hogg launches young candidate PAC'
"For every year of Trump's presidency, I think there was a new chapter of a social movement that was born," the 23-year-old gun control activist told NPR, "whether it was the Women's March, March for Our Lives, the environmental movement, or the movement for Black Lives."
'Now, as the organizers that cut their teeth on those movements become eligible to run for office, Hogg wants to support their campaigns. He is launching Leaders We Deserve, a hybrid political action committee backing candidates under 35 years old running for federal office and under 30 years old running for state office.'
'The group — which plans to primarily focus on state-level races and a smaller number of congressional matchups — will target open, Democratic-held seats in the upcoming 2024 primary season.'
"[We're] trying to pick them and say, you know, we would like to help you run for office, we'll supply you with all of the resources that you need and help basically coach you and hold your hand to get there, which is kind of the gap that's in the space right now, for at least young people at the state legislative level," the March For Our Lives co-founder said.' (NPR) See link below.
Yours is a hypothetical question lacking 'another candidate', a timeframe, circumstances soon before and during voting period... and not having the means of knowing the answer with certainty.
"As we go into the 2024 election season, we'd best keep this larger picture in mind. The wall of hostility toward Biden and the will to drive him from office through impeachment or any means necessary is proportionate to his strength. Biden is a leader with his eyes on the prize: proving that democracy works in America, convincing people it is worth saving where it is under siege, such as in Ukraine, and encouraging it to return in places it has been vanquished." Ruth Ben-Ghiat
I hope young voters also see Biden as more important to our democracy than Sanders.
Simple searches will bear out what I've generalized here. I'm not the enemy but often get brunt from liberals for pointing out inconvenient truths. I know it because I've done it and like to think after 50 years of voting I've learned a few things and have changed my thinking.
Why do you presume I presume? Non-college voters have a lower percentage probably because they are either less engaged, uninformed or working multiple jobs and don't see what voting will do for them. That why I say you have to make contact with them but there's no convenient venue like a college campus to bring them together. They are prime meat for fascism just look at all the young faces at Trump rallies.
Politicians go for the low hanging fruit where people have disposable income, that's no secret. It was a big factor in Clinton's loss in 2016. For me affluent is a low bar meaning anyone with disposable income at the end of the month and not buried in debt. I know what it is because I've lived on both sides of that divide.
“Tommy (his son) told me that “Too many radicals love humanity in the abstract but don’t like people concretely, while too many conservatives like the people in their group, but don’t care about anybody else and can’t stand humanity generally. We could take the best from both the radicals and conservatives and show love for everybody, or we could take the worst from both and just hate everyone, and that’s Donald Trump for you.”
― Jamie Raskin, Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy
That Vladimir Putin is now perpetrating probably the greatest 5th collumn victory in history, your optimism, though admirable, might be I touch bitter sweet.
Despite the admonition to "praise God and keep your powder dry" Dem publicists should now be watching Putin's pronouncements for whenever he gloats overmuch over America's troubles, whenever he praises and urges on his glove puppet overmuch. He could provide Dems with unbeatable copy... direct insights into who is REALLY to be "Made Great Again"...
Copy to be include variations on "VOTE FOR RUSSIA! VOTE GOP, VOTE PUTIN" and other gross blandishments to "GO SHOOT YOURSELF IN YOUR LEFT FOOT... THEN YOUR RIGHT ONE"...
Sewell noted, “Generations of Americans—many in my hometown of Selma, Alabama—marched, fought, and even died for the equal right of all Americans to vote. But today, their legacy and our very democracy are under attack as MAGA extremists target voters with new laws to restrict voting access. Ten years after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the fight for voting rights has never been more urgent.”
Only one quibble here--Democrats MUST start replacing the phrase "MAGA extremists" with the real attackers "billionaire Republican wanna be oligarchs". The only hope Democrats have of ousting the right wing extremists in Congress and state governments is to call out the puppet masters and let their gullible followers know how they are being manipulated and why. The manifesto is out there in Project 2025. It is time Harris and Biden and Schumer and Jeffries start pointing to it and naming names.
I believe that the extremists forcing a shut-down of the government are doing it to please their donors as a broken economy will favor Trump. The billionaires will survive another recession, and the impact of Project 2025 if enacted will only increase their wealth. The rest of us will take the hit.
The billionaires will survive another recession, and the impact of Project 2025 if enacted will only increase their wealth. The rest of us will take the hit.
If the "Great Recession" was any guide, most wealthy perpetrators made out like bandits, while the public was offered "austerity".
It will be a Depression, not a recession. In the Depression, rich white men profited enormously off everyone's misery and hard times. My greatest generation parents told me stories of local me in their community stealing the land of folks who fell on hard tomes. All perfectly legal.
Spot on Georgia... The bankroll supporting the TFG, maggots, self righteous bible thumpers, criminal fanatics, and frightened lambs did not get their bankroll from church collection plates. Let's just spill myth that far and wide. The very same bankroll source with different actors are the same who killed Abraham, Martin, John, Bobby, and more - all for power, money, and property. Some day, that all will come out. *edit in > How did this poison spread throughout the land ? What exists in every city, town, and hamlet across the U.S. ? Churches, bars, and Chambers of Commerce. Likely, those exist in most western democracies as well. Food for thought...
DAN, It Is True, This TRIPE !,,seems to have NO END ! BUT ! ,,,,, WITH FAITH! FORTITUDE, ! and Triple Down GRIT ! The MAGGOT MAMMONITE MINORITY ! Will,,,, FOLD ! ( A HOUSE , Divided ! CANNOT ! [ & WILL NOT !] STAND !! )
Totally agree. But I suggest removing "wanna be". They are. And they pull the strings of the MAGA puppets with ease. Using culture war strings. And the strings go to SCOTUS. And infiltrate the military services and police forces.
But there are many more of us than them. It's all about turnout. I think the MAGA movement and this House of Reps is committing political suicide. A government shutdown will hurt many millions and anger the millions who care about them.
Hopefully, the needless pain induced by a Looney Tunes House and the damage done by "Coach Tuberville" will convince enough voters that the GQP is under the control of those oligarchs. That the Republican party is now the MAGA tool of the uber rich.
Military families, friends of those serving, all those who post signs on their lawns saying "Support our Troops" must be having some questions...
Fern posted that only 25% of young people vote. Our focus has to be getting out the youth vote. Whether volunteering for a phone tree, door-to-door, or writing postcards, we have to do our part. (For lusts of voters who haven voted recently, check out Activate America.) My latest batch of postcards are in the mail.
The next decades, good or bad, will impact THEIR lives the most powerfully.
We who stand on the shoulders of "the greatest generation" owe it to the next generation to make sure democracy survives and they can reach their fullest potential. They must understand voting is their super power.
I hate auto everything. The internet is a spy. Word keeps reconfiguring my laptop because I'm refusing to move to Word 11 - yesterday morning it took me half an hour to be able to use my e-mail.
Cheryl, I agree 100% that our focus needs to be on the youth vote and am focusing my donations on that and abortion rights, but let's also celebrate the many signs that Gen Z is far more activated that millennials ever were. Another positive article in The NY Times today:
Not only is the extremists' agenda of shutting down the govt an ongoing strategy, so is their ongoing lying about the economy. Since before Reagan the cycle of the GOP putting us into debt and the Dems building it back every admin change has been a plan. They "burn down the house" knowing we will always build it back. But, this time it seems even worse when after the depths Chump took us down (minus $8t) and that Biden has been successfully rebuilding, including jobs at a historic rate, current polling shows that most believe the GOP would do better at it. That's IMPOSSIBLE but look at data shown below by the trustworthy Simon Rosenberg. The two most important factors heading into 2024,...Inflation and Jobs / Economy are seen to be done better by the GOP despite all truth and reality. As Rosenberg now points out, "we have work to do".
Georgia Fisanick, I strongly agree with truth telling about the puppeteers but I find 2 difficulties with it. One, the D Party would be biting some of the hands that feed them. Two, I worry about the masses being vocally against the wealthiest because whatever you fight becomes stronger. That would not bode well for the people. For the truth telling not to have disastrous, unintended consequences, ---- a well thought out, strategic plan and implementation rooted in for, not against, would be essential.
There are already articles in the NY Times talking about Democratic donors not funding at their usual levels--But they still are each only one vote each and energizing the Democratic base is what has to be done. If there is a government shut down I want to see an enormous March on Washington that the media has to cover with rousing speeches by Biden and Harris and Jeffries and all the best of the orators telling the truth about who is pulling the strings and what Project 2025 says about how the government will be changed. It needs to cover what the Democratic party stands for as well as the danger the Republican oligarchs pose.
Georgia Fisanick, yes, I agree they should be shouting out the perils of the oligarchs and Project 2025. But, what we think must be done is in conflict with factions in the D Party. Some are more aligned with oligarchs than the people. (There's a good article today from "The Lever", an online news organization , titled 'The Missing Inflation Data" .
It points to what we are talking about. ) The party has shifted toward the people and I am grateful but there is still a lot of inner work to be done before the majority or all of their actions and policies align with all the people. For decades, the party lost its way, so it will take time for their transformation, if they so wish. So, I'm not counting on them. I'm counting on you and me and many others to take wise action.
The rules of the game require huge sums of money to engage. No money for your campaign? Don’t campaign, cuz you’ll lose. Remove money from elections. Level the playing field. Until then, don’t blame Democrats for using campaign funding to participate in elections
I agree. There are probably many people in the country who would make good leaders, but unless they're wealthy, they won't go far. There are exceptions to this, of course. I don't think there are many, though. I do not want to live in a country where my government is telling me what I have to believe. I don't want any kids growing up not knowing anything but what they are told to believe. I cannot fathom there are people who support fascists. What a horrible time in our history.
Democrats are the only ones USING money in order to GET RID OF MONEY (aka "dark" money) in politics. We're also touting scrapping Citizens United. We're using the resources it takes in order to finally be on the path to drastically limit $$ in political parties and candidates, on BOTH sides. I don't see one shred of evidence Republicans are fighting for that. In fact, they're doing the opposite.
“Back off a bit”? Right now? Democrats can see the writing on the wall: that if a Republican wins the next presidential election, our democracy is likely to falter, if not fail. Likewise for every race down the ticket. This is hardly the time to “back off”.
If you mean commenters here, rather than Democrats in general, well, we are rather good at identifying and calling out double-speak, and commenters who are here to try to poke an ants’ nest, and trolls. Furthermore, we are not all Democrats; lots of independents and former Republicans are here. Who isn’t here is Maga. We have all put considerable time and effort into creating a community of ideas and ideals here under Dr. Richardson’s guidance, and we’re protective of it.
No. 3 Of course I do. The country is not as divided as the shit stirrers want us to think it is.
No. 4 sometimes, yes. There’s a difference between civil disagreement and trolling. For example, I heartily disagree with you, but am happy to engage politely with you, without calling you a troll.
No. 5 I’d be very happy with four more years of this, especially if we can have it without Republican congressional stupid games. I think we’d make a lot of progress that even you might like. (Try not to let the perfect become the enemy of the good.)
No. 6 (unnumbered). We will never know if Sanders could have won or not; you think he could have, and I am equally sure he’d have been annihilated. It’s unknowable which of us is right. I do not understand the surprise of Bernie supporters that the DNC would support a Democrat; after all, that’s their main function. Bernie competed well in the primaries, but he. did. not. beat. Clinton. I think it’s wonderful that he has pulled the Democratic party left and made some important issues more mainstream, and I’m glad he sparked interest from young voters. But this is a guy with very little legislative success despite many years in the Senate, not a team player, and with little foreign policy chops. He’s not what we needed then, or now. And that’s my opinion, and it’s totally fine if you don’t share it. I promise I won’t call you a troll, so long as you don’t call me one.
Dems need to compete with the hand Citizen’s United dealt them. Big money is a necessary evil until Dems can pass laws that eliminate Citizens United that the Gang of Six can’t over rule
What choice does a politician have? You can't bring a knife to a war where the enemy has howitzers. But I agree that the whole system is wrong.
I'd go with public funding of all elections. No stupid debates. Just collect signatures to qualify for a basic amount of money. Make your public statements. State your positions. Knock on doors. Get interviewed. Block PACS which are just arms of the oligarchs who fund their puppets.
You are on to something, for sure. But we have to win before we can fix it.
Dems have passed legislation to get dark money out of politics. Republicans have blocked it. “Both sides” cynicism is inappropriate here. Right now the system itself is as it is. This will only change if Dems have the votes to enact the change.
“…..start replacing the phrase "MAGA extremists" with the real attackers "billionaire Republican wanna be oligarchs"
I beg to differ ever so slightly. “MAGA extremists” are in fact “Christian Extremists” and the “billionaire Republican wanna be oligarchs" are “Christian billionaire Republican wanna be oligarchs". The maga extremists in the house are all Christians. It’s the same for those in the Senate eg: Tuberville.
We keep glossing over the fact it’s Christian Extremists who are behind each and every thing the MAGAs are doing. MAGA is a convenient label/ moniker for these extremists to hide behind, a way to deflect from who and what they really are. If they were to be called/ we were to call them what they are re: Christian Extremists, they couldn’t hide behind the “MAGA” label anymore.
Please don’t let the distractions they create muddy the waters for what is the truth about them. They are Christian Extremists, Christian Fascists, and Christian Nationalists.
The plan to undermine democracy, along with the names of people and organizations promoting it, are laid out in a number of books. Among them are Democracy in Chains (Nancy MacLean), Dark Money (Jane Mayer), Shadow Network (Anne Nelson) & The Scheme (Sheldon Whitehouse). These authors also address the topic in YouTube talks. I suspect there is relevant information in HCR’s upcoming book, Democracy Awakening, that we are eagerly awaiting.
You wrote: "I believe that the extremists forcing a shut-down of the government are doing it to please their donors as a broken economy will favor Trump. The billionaires will survive another recession, and the impact of Project 2025 if enacted will only increase their wealth. The rest of us will take the hit." I agree.
Will the shutdown also affect funding of the DOJ and efforts to hold tfg accountable for his crimes? I wonder.
While I generally agree, don't discount the MAGA extremists who have their own goals, i.e., Twitter stardom and chaos in service to their own personal aggrandizement.
Thank you Heather. There should be no doubt that the GOP has become a criminal organization seeking to destroy America from the inside and replace it with their extremist fringe doctrine. They seek to impeach President Biden with no evidence of wrongdoing, severely damage the economy, weaken the military, sever our commitment to Ukraine, and blame all of the resulting damage on ‘wokeness’.
This is not based upon policy differences in economics, foreign, or domestic policy that could be negotiated and addressed by committee compromise. Today’s GOP is looking for disrupting Federal Government, and destroying protections such as voting rights, vital to any form of democracy.
The subversion of justice and democracy are readily apparent. Look to Ken Paxton’s impeachment acquittal in Texas. The attempts to remove duly elected Janet Protasiewicz from the State Supreme Court in Wisconsin before she has even ruled on her first case. The corruption of Thomas, the incomplete investigation into Kavanaugh, and McConnell blocking Garland’s appointment to the Supreme Court.
The GOP is all about the concentration of wealth and the perpetuation of control of the U.S. government and they simply do not care if justice, democracy, and any attempt at equity are destroyed along the way.
Indeed "justice, democracy, and any attempt at equity" stand squarely in the way of attainment of the absolute power that bullies yearn for, and are therefore attacked with relish.
Thank you for thinking clearly and wisely about the forces threatening the US and the world. Ten days to go before the extreme minority pushes the country over the cliff.
They are kidnappers who will take the government hostage, knowing their outlandish demands will never be met. It’s a cynical ploy that will cripple essential functions, cause suffering, and hurt Democrats’ chances. But it looks line they’re stepping into to a painful trap of their own making and will be severely punished in 2024.
I guess we can say “thank heaven for small miracles” ... Democrats have an uphill fight trying to take back control of states’ legislative bodies - and hence, in some states, control of their individual Supreme Court. It’s pretty ridiculous of what’s occurring and likely to occur regarding the impeachment of the recently elected Supreme Court Justice in Wisconsin!!!
It's equally important for blue states to remain diligent and stop the Cons from taking control of state and local governments. Give them an inch and you end up with George Santos or the Wisconsin gerrymandered legislature.
Definitely. I live in Red California, and the only thing that keeps the loonies of my county from taking over is that with only 0.1% of the state's population they are outvoted. But the resentment against the other 39 million Californians is real, and F**K BIDEN flags come out for the 4th of July. Never mind that most jobs are government positions, County, school districts, Forest Service, BLM, Park Service , LA Department of Water, CalTrans...the attitude is "taxes are theft!" People here see themselves as patriots and "True Americans" but theirs is a fantasy Amerikka...
"as soon as the decision was handed down, Republican-dominated state legislatures passed voter suppression laws, gerrymandered their states, and closed polling sites, measures that made it more difficult for Black Americans, many of whom backed Democrats, to vote. In the decade since the decision, Sewell noted, at least 29 states have passed a total of almost 100 laws restricting voting"
Republicans often hark to the famous colonial slogan "No taxation without representation", seemingly oblivious to the last two words in the phrase, Yet, if you think about it, "representation" is the key word to what the "American Experiment" was all about; and arguably should be at present.
J L, that same Republican obliviousness to some phrases in our founding documents appears repeatedly, especially evident in their repeated neglect of the opening phrase "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State," of the 2nd Amendment.
I think that's what one might describe as running on "half-truths."
Thank you once again HCR for highlighting the importance of voting. It's time to rise up and VOTE BLUE all the way through and eject ALL MAGGOT extremists from positions of "leadership".
THATS RIGHT !! Colette ! * HO HUM, Democrats,*, BETTER Hum,,,,,,down to the VOTING BOOTHS, This ELECTION ! , OR !, they WILL BE, ! HO HUMMING ! in a land, LIKE FASCIST KIM JUNG UN 'S COUNTRY !! ( LORD ! , Give US , ,,,,,,,MERCY ! )
“This is one of the few times in history that a democratic society has essentially been taken hostage by an oppressive few who wish to completely reverse the social and political norms of the time. Yet the outcome is a tribute to the resiliency of the system of democracy both ancient and modern. Even after oligarchy was firmly in power, and the chief leaders of the popular party were dead or imprisoned, the people of Athens were able to take back their city and restore the earlier form of government.”
“This topic is especially relevant to the world in which many of us live today; that is, a world we consider to be equal and democratic. There are, of course, many similarities between Athens in the fifth century B.C. and modern political systems. For example, politicians arranged along factional lines debate each other over many of the same issues as did Athenians in the fifth century. In both ages, they argue over what is ‘constitutional’ and the ongoing anxieties of being locked in incessant warfare. Other dilemmas like “whether to go to war in some far-off land; how to lessen the inequalities between, or reconcile, the rich and poor; how to decide on who could be a citizen and what that status entailed; how far democratic practices such as rotation in office and selection by lot should extend, and how to administer an empire” are significant parallels.“
I would only add the contrapuntal point that while today's Party of Sparta, the GOP, claims to be against war (especially supporting allied Republics like Ukraine), it is in reality the Paety of Perpetual War within, against our fellow citizens they disdain, and our collective participatory institutions they hate.
Their war is a culture war, pure and simple. It is a war against over half of its citizens in the hopes of creating a white Christian nationalist government.
Could well be, Ally. Yet I think it important to note that the "Christian" part is notable for its lack of Christianity.
To be Christian is, at its most basic, to follow the tenets and example of Christ. The Jesus most sentient people were taught of fed the hungry, clothed the naked, embraced the outcasts and the put upon of his society and palled around with a woman as his closest and most reliable follower. He taught not with fire and brimstone thundering against various segments of his population, but with parables gentle in tone while firm in principle, his most famous one extolling the loving virtue of a foreigner, who rendered the human touch of hospitality that the native citizens refused to do.
So whatever it is the right wingers and the Trumpistas are pushing, it sure ain't Christian.
“This is one of the few times in history that a democratic society has essentially been taken hostage by an oppressive few who wish to completely reverse the social and political norms of the time."
" I am concerned that the size of some of these institutions becomes so large that it does become difficult for us to prosecute them when we are hit with indications that if you do prosecute, if you do bring a criminal charge, it will have a negative impact on the national economy, perhaps even the world economy. " - Former Attorney General Eric Holder
The influence of injected money affects both parties in corrupting ways, but only one of them is wholly owned by plutocrats, and only one is massively acting to restrict voting access or tying to invalidate the evidence-based outcome of an election. "They had things, levels of voting that if you’d ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again,” said one DJT. I know of no large-scale perfect democracy anywhere on the planet, but some are a lot closer to the goal and some a lot further, that that's true of political parties as well. If you are in a hole, it is better to be chose help from someone offering a rope than one impeding your travel, or even digging it deeper. There is winning the battle AND winning the war. The latter would involve a concerted effort to get excess money out of politics. The "GOP" SCOTUS legalized de facto bribery, but we cant let it end there. A massive citizens movement to do just that would make a difference.
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both” -— Louis Brandeis
Mark, I like the "Trouble" caused by former White House & later M-a-L tfg Aide, MOLLY MICHAEL. After the FBI "raid" at Mar-a-Lago, MOLLY found "sensitive" documents with"classification markings" underneath a "drawer organizer" inside her M-a-Lago desk. Molly promptly turned over the "sensitive" documents to the FBI.
I have not yet confirmed Molly's role as the photographer the "boxes" on center Stage at Mar-a-Lago & the "boxes" stored in the ornate bathroom but, I love her artistic photographic framing & the depth of field in her photos. Apparently, MOLLY was exchanging photos with WALT NAUTA.
I see that Jack Smith thought those photos made excellent evidentiary exhibits.
So, 45 members of the Freedom Caucus are set to accomplish what 2,000 rioters attempted to do on Jan 6, 2021? What is wrong with our definition of "insurrection" that this threat to continuing our government occurs repeatedly without punishment of jail time or fines?
Right now, only voters exercising the power of "BY the people." The often overlooked phrase is "FOR the people." I would love to see how some of these egoists would explain their actions as being "FOR the people."
I’m still wondering: can the House Republicans impeach Biden without evidence by simply voting “all in favour”? Combined with the government shutdown, it would basically be handing the USA to Putin on a silver platter.
Some people wonder if the people who vote GOP know that they are helping them end democracy and all its advantages. I think the answer is “yes” and “no”. “Yes”, they want to ditch democracy: they want to go back to the age of the “strong man”, they want a great chieftain to adore and worship, one who takes all simply because he can, one who will lead them into war to vanquish their weak and inferior neighbours. “No”, because they probably don’t fully realize what the consequences are: if _their neighbors_ happen to be superior and are led by an even stronger “strong man”, there are no laws and rules left that prevent these stronger neighbours from killing _them_.
Democracy is attacked as an obstacle to authoritarianism. You can dress up authoritarianism with pageantry and fancy dress, but under the hood, its always a form of brutal organized crime.
Dutch, are they really strong.....or is it the position we, as American citizens have allowed them to hold....sacred positions: our citizens...our military ...have allowed them to hold by vote.... as they destroy the country we...... many..... have given their lives for.... those who stand in the military to protect our country and other countries who long for freedom.... as well as in government service.
As said, a part of the American people believes in the "strong man" myth as well - some because they like the idea of being in a tribe, worshipping a war chieftain, and marching to war with their brothers, fighting against weaklings and infidels, and some because they are _led_ to believe (by the media, bought by the GOP) that democracy is futile and they had better let a strong dictator take charge lest their "freedoms" are taken away by coloured people and the LGBTQ-community.
Emily, There IS ! ,,,,, During the Civil War, ,, TRAITORS, Were Taken OUT ! and SHOT ! SEEMS !, that the MAGGOTS, Want, a CIVIL WAR ! * set UP ! The FIRING squads !* ,,,,,,, Lets KNOCK OFF !, some TRAITORS !
Dutch Mike, the House RepubliQans are being led around by the Klown Kar Kawkus and are scared onto death to stand up to their utter garbage. I had thought that the "fight" over the selection of the Speaker of the House would lead some within the party having an (R) after their names would come to their senses, team up with the Democratic Party and find a suitable candidate. No such luck. The "reasonable Republican" does not exist any longer. To answer your question regarding impeachment without evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors and whether they would impeach without evidence, the answer is "but of course".
I agree. And some people here in Germany are still wondering how Hitler and the NSDAP could have happened. Well, like this: just watch fascism unfold in real time in the GOP...
Exactly so. I visited Germany for the first time in 2012 and my in-laws took us to a museum (my sister-in-law is a FedEx pilot who was stationed in Germany for 4 years). I was stunned at the similarities reported in the mid 1930's Germany and 2012 America.
Yeah... The similarities are really scary, and Americans should have seen this coming from miles away. It seems that humans never learn from history... :(
Then again, if that history isn't taught, they _cannot_ learn.
"The reason for voter suppression was made clear again today..."
Members of the NANP, (New American Nazi Party, formerly the GOP,) know very well if we have fair, free, open elections, with broad citizen participation, they are doomed to political irrelevancy. They will go the way of the Whigs.
One hopes we are seeing their death throes now as they resist adapting to an evolving, progressive social and cultural landscape. They are trying mightily, and, in the end, fruitlessly, to unbend MLK's arc of history.
Ralph !, GREAT ACRONYM ! ( IT !, Fits !, ,,, LIKE a GLOVE !! ) [ Would like to Replace AMERICAN, with a better *fitting* Word ! , Cause, there ISN'T, ANYTHING ' american' , in The FRACTURED " GOP ! "
So, why not say it! Why not! It’s all about Republicans restricting Black voters, about “Jim Crow-like” Racist Republicans, the KKK of today, GOP Color haters, Republican fascists, Jews will not replace us, eternally antisemitic Trump supporters, Putin and Trump loving fascist Republicans, born-again white supremacy so-called Christain activist nationalists, Alabama Republican white supremacists, Elon Musk fascist Republicans, it’s the economy, stupid, it’s the Democrats fighting for the four freedoms, it’s about nuclear war, Russian Ukraine war leadership, not a Brave New World seminar, standing room only, featuring The Stranger, The Plague, Albert Camus Jean-Paul Sartre... and President Abraham Lincoln... Sally Hemings, her lover Founder Thomas Jefferson, Rosa Parks... straight talk on campuses everywhere, I have a dream,...we’re in Heaven, and God’s number two is Sammy Davis Jr., dancing and singing.. midnight in America... never again in Jerusalem, it’s about our children and they are color-blind and free.
I have a dream, Heather Cox Richardson teaches a semester at Howard University... Boston College takes her back and the two schools merge.
Will we even have a government by Nov 2024. How many of us can survive with no pay checks, no way to get critical services, and no protection from the evil that is destroying our “administrative state” from the inside. I have resources to survive for several months, many don’t. The young can’t solve our current mess . When will we have enough. And when we do have enough, what will we do….
Our MSM just blathers on about bull Schitt. No wonder people don’t seem attentive. Pearl Harbor focused attention, will the chaos of the shutdown wake people to our enemy within… or just blame Joe
One wonders why word salad has become so popular. Sort of like repub propaganda has eaten the brains, not only the citizens, but of the media as well. A brain is a terrible thing to waste.
After 3-1/2 weeks fighting the flu, I am heartened to come back and read about my neighbors to the north with their wins in Pennsylvania! Picked up on my postcarding yesterday as well...yay!
Lynell, I sold Hudson last January. After my cancer treatment, he was just too much horse for me and I was nervous every single time I got on. I just bought a new one, and he’s a unicorn! Spanish horse, lovely, gives such a safe feeling and he’s so comfy it’s like riding a couch. I’m falling in love. His name is Leon.
Morning, Ally! I missed you, too! You were close, though. My husband, Hicks, ended up "somewhere in nature" while spending six weeks in his home island country of Antigua, after which he came back and gifted me the flu, LOL!
We all must save us all, but younger votes have a critical role to play that will grow in the future, and they have the most to lose when puerile powers game replace civic responsibility when those well ahead of them in years act with extreme immaturity.
Truth. All of it JL. I do love your knack with words ! We and they 'can' save us all. A large part of their 'future burden' will be to widely and repeatedly share their and our lived experience that otherwise will get lost from memory as time passes and the entitled await their 'next moment' again, comfortable to sit back and plot.
Four days ago, Vice President Kamala Harris kicked off a month-long tour of college campuses to mobilize younger voters to “fight for our freedoms.”
Yes!
A cheering, overflow audience! They get it.
Many of groups of youngers publicly announced a few months ago their intentions to vote. And the majority won't be voting for the GOP. They're well aware that they're the ones who will have to live with the craziness.
Sort of on point: I mentioned a few months ago I would let everyone know if Gloria Johnson announced she was running for Marsha Blackburn’s seat SHE IS. Remember the Tennessee Three? She is one of them. She’s a former special ed teacher present at Central HS when a student was shot by another. Marsha calls her a “radical, woke socialist”—all the usual hyperbole. Marsha is in tfg’s pocket. Votegloriajohnson.com.
Also there is a group raising $$ to launch BlueTennessee (Linktr.ee/BlueTennessee) to run Dems in every state office. Republicans have made a sh!tshow of the legislature.
There is momentum! Let’s capture it.
I would love to see a list of worthy recipients of political donations that is moderated by members of this group. Since the 2020 elections, I've kept my donations to a minimum and don't know to whose campaigns i shoukd donate. By giving to numerous candidates via ActBlue in 2020, I'm on everyone's begging list, and since I'm too busy to do research, I treat most of them as spam.
The groups endorsed within some of these comments are interesting, but I want a clearer view of the bigger picture.
Len does the research for us:
https://lenspoliticalnotes.com
The States Project researches state legislature candidates where our donor dollars will be most effective to flip or keep Dem majority.
Tending to Democracy is an HCR inspired States Project Giving Circle.
In addition to identifying the most successful organizations getting out the youth vote in the USA, the following is equally important!
'Broadening Youth Voting'
'Voting is a fundamental act of civic participation through which young people contribute to democracy. While it’s just one of many ways to engage in civic life, it is a powerful way for young people to make their voices heard and to have an impact on issues that affect them.'
'Historically, young people have voted at lower rates than older adults. That's starting to change: recent elections have seen historically high youth voter turnout. But major inequities in voting rates by race/ethnicity, educational attainment, region, and age group remain—often the product of highly unequal access to information and opportunities to participate.'
'Our work is aimed at broadening youth voting for a more equitable electorate and a more robust and representative democracy.'
'50% vs. 20%'
'The education gap is one of the major inequities in youth voting, according to Census data, half of youth with a Bachelor's degree voted in 2022, compared to just 20% of youth whose highest educational attainment is a high school diploma.'
'76% vs. 40% vs. 23%'
'According to our 2022 survey, 3 in 4 youth say they have the power to change the country, but just 2 in 5 say they feel well-qualified to participate in politics. Just under 1 in 4 cast a ballot. Youth aren't apathetic; we're failing to prepare and engage them. '
'About CIRCLE'
'CIRCLE, the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, is a non-partisan, independent research organization focused on youth civic engagement in the United States. We conduct extensive research on youth participation, and we leverage that research to improve opportunities for all young people to acquire and use the skills and knowledge they need to meaningfully participate in civic life. In all of our work, we are especially concerned with understanding, addressing, and ultimately eliminating the systemic barriers that keep some young people marginalized from and underrepresented in civic life.'
'We are especially interested in the academic, social, professional, and economic benefits to young people and to their communities when they engage in civic life. We seek to understand and improve the contexts and conditions that shape youth engagement, which are too often inequitable, with special emphasis on K-12 civic education's role in preparing youth to participate in democracy. Our research informs policy and practice in order to drive substantive change–whether in the classroom, the county clerk's office, or the community organization–that promotes stronger youth development and a more inclusive society.'
CIRCLE was founded in 2001 at the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy. Since 2008, we have been based at Tufts University's Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life. In 2021, we celebrated CIRCLE's 20th anniversary and produced CIRCLE at 20, a major report on our work and impact over the past two decades. (CIRCLE) See link below.
https://circle.tufts.edu/our-research/broadening-youth-voting
"Just under 1 in 4 cast a ballot. Youth aren't apathetic; we're failing to prepare and engage them."
Fern, the quote you draw on says so much. We--at least the system--are failing to prepare and engage youth. We're also failing to set standards of personal character and conduct which I believe are especially important to them. I would like to see politicians and other "influencers" walk the talk. In addressing college students and other youth groups, the speakers could add a personal pledge similar to the conduct declaration: "I will not lie, cheat, or steal." Further, the speakers should emphasize that they're ready to resign and face suitable punishment if they don't honor their own stated commitments. Politicians lack credibility with students. They need to convince youth that they are devoted to the welfare of the nation and not devoted to personal financial enrichment through their position. Otherwise, students will just write off the speakers as political blowhards and hypocrites. We have to set a good example and live it.
Heydon, I think we all need to know Civics and share it with our children, while they are growing up and take a course or more about it as students in school. This quote echoes your thoughts:
“Our children should learn the general framework of their government, and then they should know where they come in contact with the government, where it touches their daily lives and where their influence is exerted on the government. It must not be a distant thing, someone else's business, but they must see how every cog in the wheel of a democracy is important and bears its share of responsibility for the smooth running of the entire machine.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt
Great idea, but good luck with finding many politicians willing to take that oath, at least without crossing their fingers.
Thank you!
Ellie’s right. TheStates Project IDs likely winners in several states and pours resources into those. I don’t think TN is one of their target states yet.
Think climate change: Senator Jon Tester, as far as I know, the only farmer in Congress, Democrat in a Trump Republican state, needs out-of-state support. And we need farmers in Congress. Food is important to everyone and a new farm bill should have lots of individual farmer input. Price of eggs: think chicken food, which has to be nutritious if we want nutritious eggs.
I would call her worthy, and she is taking on one of the worst do-nothing senators ever. Marsha aligned herself with tfg from the beginning. She holds no constituent meetings. She was deliberately rude to Ketanji Brown Jackson. She has to go.
Also check out Force Multiplier. https://www.forcemultiplierus.org/ They do research focusing on how likely a candidate’s chances are of winning. To qualify for a recommendation, a candidate’s odds must be not too good and not too small, as well as not extremely well financed and not hopelessly broke. In other words, they look for viable candidates who would most benefit from a shot in the arm from donors.
"I'm on everyone's begging list"
So much of the fund-raising mail (of one sort or another) feels fundamentally gimmicky and not informative. So much as pure sales pitch that seems to treat me as an abstract, algorithmic target rather than a person. Not enough reason to not support a good cause, but I wonder if it is not self-defeating in the end? It seems to me to be a useful courtesy to speak from the heart. I speculate that this abstract algorithmization is part of why people become so alienated they start to believe utter crap.
🙌 Jerry ....ME TOO!
I couldn't agree more! I appreciate your post and the responses. I think even small dollar donations are helpful. (Which is all I am able to afford at the moment.)
Glad to know that someone is taking bad hair Marsha on. I suspect that her hair gives us a clue as to what the inside of her head looks like, flying in all directions, looking for her single brain cell. We donate to people out of state and we will put Gloria Johnson on our list.
If she has one …
LOL. I was being generous.
Yes you were.
If Tennessee is part of the Turnabout Project and there are postcards, I will write them. Sorry not to have funds to send. Saw her on TV and was delighted that she’s running.
TN is part of Field Team 6’s postcard writing projects. They became so after the TN Three became nationally known.
Thank you. Will get in touch and see if I can get funding. Vanderbilt U should be funding.
I already gave to her the minute her campaign ad went out. Every Dem could learn from her ad because it was terrific!
I can't imagine making your constituents sit out in the hallway like naughty 4th graders. I was so glad they were re elected.
I sure am aware of it, being an ashamed Tennessean myself. I don't think I have ever donated so early (and so much), and it is for Gloria Johnson's campaign. Such is my distaste for Blackburn. Distaste being a kind word. What I would like to know, outside of donations, is how can be part of that team. I'd support it for free.
I don’t know if that is yet known. I will post here when I can find out. Right now I think it’s just money.
Support Gen Z voter mobilizer organizations such as Voters of Tomorrow:
https://votersoftomorrow.org/about-us/
Will add this organization to our list of great voting rights organizations on defendyourvotingrights.org.
In stark contrast to Dems’ constant support of the right to vote and be counted, Trump’s GOP, via enablers like Heritage Foundation/Heritage Action and RNC “election integrity” committees actively work to suppress the voting rights of college students.
Most notably, “Fringe of the Fringe” election denier Cleta Mitchell has raised millions to enable 17+ states to deploy this year a so-called “AI” program (developed by a conservative doctor! for God’s sake) to remove qualified voters from the rolls. It targets those legitimately having more than one mailing address, including especially college students, who rightfully vote in their university towns and cities but are also rightfully on record as members of “out-of-state” family households.
Cleta narrowly escaped being indicted in Georgia along with co-conspirators Trump, Meadows and her fellow anti-voting rights lawyer Sydney Powell. Support voter registration and voting rights organizations.
Tom Dabney - thank you so much for this important information on voter suppression tactics.
The MAGA GOP plans to throw out the US Constitution (Project 2025), then
RULE instead of Represent people.
Thank you Tom!!!!
Ellie, You are the greatest!
Also https://www.turnup.us/
Voting is the bedrock process on which democracy rests: one person, one vote, majority rule. The first peaceful transfer of political power in world history took place right here in the United States on March 4, 1801, John Adams (Federalist Party) relinquished the presidency to Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican Party.) They were bitter enemies. Today, MAGA Republicans know that they are not the majority, that they cannot win a fair and open election in many if not the great majority of cases. Therefore, they rig the system against the one-person, one-vote, majority-rule process. Why? How is it, for example, that tens of millions of Americans support a man who is a known liar, cheat, convicted rapist with 91 felony charges against him? It's because he represents their desire to establish a white Protestant supremacy political system here, and it is so important to them that they are willing to quash democracy.
Richard, speaking of voting, it would seem Kevin McCarthy could outflank his extremist contingent (just 20 or 22 of his Republican'ts?) in the House by reaching across the aisle to work with Democrats and Independents who recognize the folly of defaulting on the national debt, the folly of caving into extremists who would take our country's finances hostage. I recognize that it has become an almost forgotten skill in recent congresses, yet "working across the aisle" to preserve our country and to produce workable legislation which the majority in the House could support to keep the government functioning was once considered an honorable and desirable shared by our greatest leaders...from both sides!
Yes, but spineless Keystone Kev will face losing his speakership if he does this. He could put a stop to this nonsense in a nanosecond if he would reach across the aisle. Instead the House is really run by a small loud minority of people who do nothing but rant and don't get on with the business of governing. Quite the group: Herr Gaetz, Gangrene, Gym and the Groping Gunslinger Barbie. etc. Aside from not being able to do what they need to do to keep the government running and more, they are griping about what Fetterman wears in the Senate. This after the theater fiasco by Groper Gunslinger and her date.
Spineless Qevin will continue to face losing his Speakership as long as he keeps caring to HIS MAGA masters. No concession will ever be enough. And, they have no scruples about keeping any agreements they make anyway.
They have no scruples, period. What a collection of people who should not even be elected to any office. Scraped from the bottom of the barrel.
The irony is My Kevin’s” district will return him to Congress no matter what. He just wouldn’t be Speaker, and he can’t abide that thought.
Here's why he keeps getting elected, in part: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0896920517740615
Hopefully this takes you to the article, "The Anger Games: Who Voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 Election, and Why?"
from David Dayen of American Prospect:
"House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) believes that his position is dependent on the Freedom Caucus not throwing him out of office like they did the last two Republican leaders. So the first thing he did when the House returned from summer break—only three weeks from the deadline—was to unilaterally initiate an impeachment investigation against Joe Biden. This was done entirely to cozy up to the obstinate hard right. But even before McCarthy made the announcement, they all said this would not mollify them at all. So predictably, when asked how an impeachment inquiry would affect their demands on spending, Freedom Caucus member Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) said, “Zero. Zero. They’re totally unrelated.”
Only in Washington would you respond to a set of demands with an unrelated demand and expect that to work: It’s like a manager responding to workers wanting to see the air-conditioning fixed at the office by bringing in a pinball machine."
LOL they'd tear him to pieces. This is why he's in a genuine conundrum, like the guy who paints himself into a corner and has no way out.
True.
As a white, Protestant voter, I can assure you that I will be voting Blue.
Trump's friends showed us how easy it is to meddle with the electoral college. Still, nobody talks about abolishing it, at least not seriously, even though it's the most logical way to protect "one person, one vote." In 2016, I was living in Egypt (where there are no electors for expats and our votes are set aside to be used as tie-breakers should they be necessary, where we saw the worst president in US history get elected by a small group of people who thought they knew better than the voters. Instead of the electoral college protecting us from bad choices, they cursed us with a deranged clown in orange makeup and a floppy suit.
One possible solution is to eliminate the "winner take all" systems and make it proportional to the votes received. the Founding Fathers never could have conceived that one state (California) could have a population equal to sixteen other states. This holds true for the Senate as well. It may be that there is no other solution than dissolution of the government. This would send shock waves around the world since a powerful U.S. government is the principal guarantee for democracies in many of the world's countries.
The government as it was set up in the late 1700s just cannot work efficiently anymore. There are too many people, too many states, and we've just begun to exploit the many weak spots the Founding Fathers never thought of. In our history 5 times a president won the electoral vote while losing the popular vote. This should be unacceptable, but of course it wasn't. Basically they invented this method because they couldn't think of anything else.
And representation in a democracy should be population-based, but states each have 2 senators regardless of how many people live there. Nobody else on earth has such a "democracy."
I agree 100%, representation should be one person, one vote, majority rule. And, given that the country is as much divided now between the forces of democracy, on the one hand, and authoritarian despotic rule, on the other hand, just not purely geographically, makes the prospect for holding it together going forward look bleak. The modern Confederacy (MAGA/KKK Republicans) will ultimately destroy the Union so that they can have their white Protestant autocracy.
Right on, Richard. The party of death has nothing to offer ordinary people, even the ones that support death star. They get support for their hatred and bigotry and that's all.
Double YES, JL! Her remarks as quoted here by Heather are giving me goosebumps of happiness ❤️!
The young of America are where our hope lies. I live in Tennessee and worked for decades at a major university. It is heartening to watch students and recent grads here be inspired and organize.
I agree. In addition, we need all Democrats to vote. Those over 60 who are not college educated and independents all voting for Democrats would ensure a real deal.
I’d like to see the local, non-subscription media covering this.
It's a good thing but Biden/Harris ticket needs to find a way to speak to the multitudes of young voters who can't afford or didn't want to go to college. That's where the real votes are.
Relying on college kids and suburban mom's will get only part of the votes needed to lock down the WH and Congress in 2024. The country is a lot bigger than the affluent voters they are catering to. I know they are trying but they tend to look for the easy fruit to pick. They need to work to create a margin that can't be stolen or lied about being fraudulent. #toughlove
The "real votes"?! I disagree with your characterization of college kids as affluent voters. Millions of students attend public universities and community colleges like the one that Kamala Harris visited, and many of them had to take out student loans to do so. And there are all those organizations that are engaging with young voters, whether or not they attend college.
As a former educator, I know lots of kids who went on to some kind of post high school education often working their butts off in the summer, holding a job down while going to school, and taking out student loans. We helped one student who got zero help from her parents.
I speaking in terms of numbers. I don't know the exact number but it should be easily extracted from census data and college attendance data. To think college kids and the affluent are enough belies the reality of a 50/50 between Biden and Trump at this point.
I've heard/read plenty of stories about college kids either not voting or not able to thanks to draconian state laws.
I'd also posit more or as many kids have student loans who didn't or weren't able to graduate than did.
Organizations are different from candidates directly engaging young voters. It's the same with the rural voters Democrats have ignored for decades in favor of the metro/suburban voters.
I disagree with you.
Blue Roots, a bit of student loan trivia: Of students who default on their Fed student loans, a large % are “low amount” borrowers. This is because the students borrow early on (eg; freshman/sophomore year) and then, for whatever reason, are unable to continue their attendance, thus leaving school in debt, but without the benefit of a degree (and all that it implies). At least this was the case, before retirement a decade ago, having worked in student aid at a Univ for 40 yrs & doing a lot of loan counseling (and following the demographics & stats at the time).
Thank you for sharing your actual EXPERIENCE on the student loan situation.
VG57, I had no clue when I took a job at age 18 @ a UC campus fin aid office & then a year later to attend college & w/ the nice recommendation letter given me, got a position @ the farthest northern Cal State & that I’d end up working there for 40 yrs—-a true public service job that I took to like a duck to water, a real right livelihood. Our crew was passionate about access to higher ed & the best service we could deliver (almost all of us had been on fin aid as students ourselves)…made lifelong friends among my coworkers & we still gather together a couple of times a month. And, oh my, do I have a lot of opinions regarding student aid, especially student loans!
Yes, thank you! Sharing actual personal experience draws me in far more than posts sharing outrage at the latest outrage. Sharing outrage feels good, too, but usually provides less food for thought than someone’s experience.
It's good Biden is doing good things like this but without connecting in person like campus visits, most will never hear about it.
https://www.npr.org/2023/09/20/1200483937/biden-climate-corps-job-training
'Biden faces little risk of losing young Americans to Trump, who is far less popular among Gen Z and millennial voters. But can the president harness their anger to turn out and push him over the top? Or will their lack of perceived progress cause them to stay home, making way for a Trump victory next year?'
“The answer to this question will decide the election,” said John Della Volpe, polling director at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, who specializes in young voter attitudes.'
'In a recent blog post, Della Volpe wrote that voters under 30, who have been key to modern Democratic victories, now appear less likely to identify as Democrats, instead aligning as independents. Worse for the party, fewer young voters see politics as a “meaningful way to create change,” which he said has been a key indicator of youth turnout.'
“Nearly every sign that made me confident in historic levels of youth participation in 2018, 2020, and 2022 — is now flashing red,” he wrote. (NBCnews) See link below.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/biden-confronts-pissed-generation-young-voters-may-decisive-2024-rcna93110
'Just because many young people don’t feel passionate about Biden doesn’t mean they are tapping out of the political process altogether. In fact, given the actions that Republicans have taken in recent years — from stripping the right to abortion to banning books in certain states to making it harder for young people to vote — the political energy among young people has only grown. Look at the massive demonstrations in states like Tennessee, where Republicans refuse to take action on gun violence, or the historic turnout in the 2022 midterm elections after Roe v. Wade was overturned. Young people are making their voices heard across the nation.'
'Older white male politicians have tapped into the youth vote before. Of course, there was Bernie Sanders, but don’t forget about then-74-year-old Ed Markey, who all of a sudden became a Gen Z icon in his 2020 Senate race.'
'In both cases, Gen Z supported them not only because of their commitment to fight for and defend the priorities that young people care about — which Biden has done — but also because they met and collaborated with young people at every turn possible. Sanders and Markey also showed young people exactly who they were: While they may have been old, they refused to back down on their ideals and came to resemble loving, but tough, grandparents. Biden can be a Gen Z icon, too, if he takes the same path.'
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/09/14/joe-biden-gen-z-icon-00115699
'We're not just voting. We're also running.' David Hogg launches young candidate PAC'
"For every year of Trump's presidency, I think there was a new chapter of a social movement that was born," the 23-year-old gun control activist told NPR, "whether it was the Women's March, March for Our Lives, the environmental movement, or the movement for Black Lives."
'Now, as the organizers that cut their teeth on those movements become eligible to run for office, Hogg wants to support their campaigns. He is launching Leaders We Deserve, a hybrid political action committee backing candidates under 35 years old running for federal office and under 30 years old running for state office.'
'The group — which plans to primarily focus on state-level races and a smaller number of congressional matchups — will target open, Democratic-held seats in the upcoming 2024 primary season.'
"[We're] trying to pick them and say, you know, we would like to help you run for office, we'll supply you with all of the resources that you need and help basically coach you and hold your hand to get there, which is kind of the gap that's in the space right now, for at least young people at the state legislative level," the March For Our Lives co-founder said.' (NPR) See link below.
https://www.npr.org/2023/08/09/1191455776/young-voters-david-hogg-pac-campaign-elections-genz-millennial
The country is looking for change. Would those young voters, Democrat or Independent, vote for sure if there was another candidate other than Biden?
Yours is a hypothetical question lacking 'another candidate', a timeframe, circumstances soon before and during voting period... and not having the means of knowing the answer with certainty.
"As we go into the 2024 election season, we'd best keep this larger picture in mind. The wall of hostility toward Biden and the will to drive him from office through impeachment or any means necessary is proportionate to his strength. Biden is a leader with his eyes on the prize: proving that democracy works in America, convincing people it is worth saving where it is under siege, such as in Ukraine, and encouraging it to return in places it has been vanquished." Ruth Ben-Ghiat
I hope young voters also see Biden as more important to our democracy than Sanders.
Why do you presume that people who don't go to college don't vote? And which affluent voters are being "catered to" by that nebulous "they"?
I don't presume anything I go by the data. Younger voters have a lower percentage of voting vs older voters. https://www.statista.com/statistics/999919/share-people-registered-vote-age/
Simple searches will bear out what I've generalized here. I'm not the enemy but often get brunt from liberals for pointing out inconvenient truths. I know it because I've done it and like to think after 50 years of voting I've learned a few things and have changed my thinking.
Why do you presume I presume? Non-college voters have a lower percentage probably because they are either less engaged, uninformed or working multiple jobs and don't see what voting will do for them. That why I say you have to make contact with them but there's no convenient venue like a college campus to bring them together. They are prime meat for fascism just look at all the young faces at Trump rallies.
Politicians go for the low hanging fruit where people have disposable income, that's no secret. It was a big factor in Clinton's loss in 2016. For me affluent is a low bar meaning anyone with disposable income at the end of the month and not buried in debt. I know what it is because I've lived on both sides of that divide.
“Tommy (his son) told me that “Too many radicals love humanity in the abstract but don’t like people concretely, while too many conservatives like the people in their group, but don’t care about anybody else and can’t stand humanity generally. We could take the best from both the radicals and conservatives and show love for everybody, or we could take the worst from both and just hate everyone, and that’s Donald Trump for you.”
― Jamie Raskin, Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy
In view of the current reality facing us.
That Vladimir Putin is now perpetrating probably the greatest 5th collumn victory in history, your optimism, though admirable, might be I touch bitter sweet.
Yes, but this war is not over.
Are there copyrighters among us?
Despite the admonition to "praise God and keep your powder dry" Dem publicists should now be watching Putin's pronouncements for whenever he gloats overmuch over America's troubles, whenever he praises and urges on his glove puppet overmuch. He could provide Dems with unbeatable copy... direct insights into who is REALLY to be "Made Great Again"...
Copy to be include variations on "VOTE FOR RUSSIA! VOTE GOP, VOTE PUTIN" and other gross blandishments to "GO SHOOT YOURSELF IN YOUR LEFT FOOT... THEN YOUR RIGHT ONE"...
Sewell noted, “Generations of Americans—many in my hometown of Selma, Alabama—marched, fought, and even died for the equal right of all Americans to vote. But today, their legacy and our very democracy are under attack as MAGA extremists target voters with new laws to restrict voting access. Ten years after the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the fight for voting rights has never been more urgent.”
Only one quibble here--Democrats MUST start replacing the phrase "MAGA extremists" with the real attackers "billionaire Republican wanna be oligarchs". The only hope Democrats have of ousting the right wing extremists in Congress and state governments is to call out the puppet masters and let their gullible followers know how they are being manipulated and why. The manifesto is out there in Project 2025. It is time Harris and Biden and Schumer and Jeffries start pointing to it and naming names.
I believe that the extremists forcing a shut-down of the government are doing it to please their donors as a broken economy will favor Trump. The billionaires will survive another recession, and the impact of Project 2025 if enacted will only increase their wealth. The rest of us will take the hit.
The billionaires will survive another recession, and the impact of Project 2025 if enacted will only increase their wealth. The rest of us will take the hit.
If the "Great Recession" was any guide, most wealthy perpetrators made out like bandits, while the public was offered "austerity".
In the words of George Bailey, "Potters not selling, Potters buying."
It will be a Depression, not a recession. In the Depression, rich white men profited enormously off everyone's misery and hard times. My greatest generation parents told me stories of local me in their community stealing the land of folks who fell on hard tomes. All perfectly legal.
Spot on Georgia... The bankroll supporting the TFG, maggots, self righteous bible thumpers, criminal fanatics, and frightened lambs did not get their bankroll from church collection plates. Let's just spill myth that far and wide. The very same bankroll source with different actors are the same who killed Abraham, Martin, John, Bobby, and more - all for power, money, and property. Some day, that all will come out. *edit in > How did this poison spread throughout the land ? What exists in every city, town, and hamlet across the U.S. ? Churches, bars, and Chambers of Commerce. Likely, those exist in most western democracies as well. Food for thought...
And social media also is ubiquitous. Small social media cliques are free to circulate their lies amongst each other and no-one can intercede.
DAN, It Is True, This TRIPE !,,seems to have NO END ! BUT ! ,,,,, WITH FAITH! FORTITUDE, ! and Triple Down GRIT ! The MAGGOT MAMMONITE MINORITY ! Will,,,, FOLD ! ( A HOUSE , Divided ! CANNOT ! [ & WILL NOT !] STAND !! )
Please, refrain from using upper case unless required for grammar. It dilutes your message. Thank you
[Too much upper case here, GMB. But I often feel compelled to use it, as there's no access to italics here. Also for certain billboard effects.]
Totally agree. But I suggest removing "wanna be". They are. And they pull the strings of the MAGA puppets with ease. Using culture war strings. And the strings go to SCOTUS. And infiltrate the military services and police forces.
But there are many more of us than them. It's all about turnout. I think the MAGA movement and this House of Reps is committing political suicide. A government shutdown will hurt many millions and anger the millions who care about them.
Hopefully, the needless pain induced by a Looney Tunes House and the damage done by "Coach Tuberville" will convince enough voters that the GQP is under the control of those oligarchs. That the Republican party is now the MAGA tool of the uber rich.
Military families, friends of those serving, all those who post signs on their lawns saying "Support our Troops" must be having some questions...
"there are many more of us than them"
Fern posted that only 25% of young people vote. Our focus has to be getting out the youth vote. Whether volunteering for a phone tree, door-to-door, or writing postcards, we have to do our part. (For lusts of voters who haven voted recently, check out Activate America.) My latest batch of postcards are in the mail.
The next decades, good or bad, will impact THEIR lives the most powerfully.
We who stand on the shoulders of "the greatest generation" owe it to the next generation to make sure democracy survives and they can reach their fullest potential. They must understand voting is their super power.
*lists of voters (hate autofill)
I hate auto everything. The internet is a spy. Word keeps reconfiguring my laptop because I'm refusing to move to Word 11 - yesterday morning it took me half an hour to be able to use my e-mail.
Cheryl, I agree 100% that our focus needs to be on the youth vote and am focusing my donations on that and abortion rights, but let's also celebrate the many signs that Gen Z is far more activated that millennials ever were. Another positive article in The NY Times today:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/20/opinion/young-voters-2024.html
I need the optimistic news, too! :)
Georgia, this is a spot on assessment. The "MAGAt Extremists" are the window dressing, the multibillionaire RepubliQan oligarchs are the true enemy.
Not only is the extremists' agenda of shutting down the govt an ongoing strategy, so is their ongoing lying about the economy. Since before Reagan the cycle of the GOP putting us into debt and the Dems building it back every admin change has been a plan. They "burn down the house" knowing we will always build it back. But, this time it seems even worse when after the depths Chump took us down (minus $8t) and that Biden has been successfully rebuilding, including jobs at a historic rate, current polling shows that most believe the GOP would do better at it. That's IMPOSSIBLE but look at data shown below by the trustworthy Simon Rosenberg. The two most important factors heading into 2024,...Inflation and Jobs / Economy are seen to be done better by the GOP despite all truth and reality. As Rosenberg now points out, "we have work to do".
https://simonwdc.substack.com/p/we-have-work-to-do-on-the-economy
Georgia Fisanick, I strongly agree with truth telling about the puppeteers but I find 2 difficulties with it. One, the D Party would be biting some of the hands that feed them. Two, I worry about the masses being vocally against the wealthiest because whatever you fight becomes stronger. That would not bode well for the people. For the truth telling not to have disastrous, unintended consequences, ---- a well thought out, strategic plan and implementation rooted in for, not against, would be essential.
There are already articles in the NY Times talking about Democratic donors not funding at their usual levels--But they still are each only one vote each and energizing the Democratic base is what has to be done. If there is a government shut down I want to see an enormous March on Washington that the media has to cover with rousing speeches by Biden and Harris and Jeffries and all the best of the orators telling the truth about who is pulling the strings and what Project 2025 says about how the government will be changed. It needs to cover what the Democratic party stands for as well as the danger the Republican oligarchs pose.
Georgia Fisanick, yes, I agree they should be shouting out the perils of the oligarchs and Project 2025. But, what we think must be done is in conflict with factions in the D Party. Some are more aligned with oligarchs than the people. (There's a good article today from "The Lever", an online news organization , titled 'The Missing Inflation Data" .
It points to what we are talking about. ) The party has shifted toward the people and I am grateful but there is still a lot of inner work to be done before the majority or all of their actions and policies align with all the people. For decades, the party lost its way, so it will take time for their transformation, if they so wish. So, I'm not counting on them. I'm counting on you and me and many others to take wise action.
How can the Dems. point out names when they too are beholden to big money?
Repubs can do that too.
The rules of the game require huge sums of money to engage. No money for your campaign? Don’t campaign, cuz you’ll lose. Remove money from elections. Level the playing field. Until then, don’t blame Democrats for using campaign funding to participate in elections
I agree. There are probably many people in the country who would make good leaders, but unless they're wealthy, they won't go far. There are exceptions to this, of course. I don't think there are many, though. I do not want to live in a country where my government is telling me what I have to believe. I don't want any kids growing up not knowing anything but what they are told to believe. I cannot fathom there are people who support fascists. What a horrible time in our history.
Democrats are the only ones USING money in order to GET RID OF MONEY (aka "dark" money) in politics. We're also touting scrapping Citizens United. We're using the resources it takes in order to finally be on the path to drastically limit $$ in political parties and candidates, on BOTH sides. I don't see one shred of evidence Republicans are fighting for that. In fact, they're doing the opposite.
Well yeah because without billionaire funded propaganda, Republicans lose on the battlefield of ideas and freedoms
I was not complaining I was stating a point by another commentator.
I do wish you Dems. would back off a bit.
“Back off a bit”? Right now? Democrats can see the writing on the wall: that if a Republican wins the next presidential election, our democracy is likely to falter, if not fail. Likewise for every race down the ticket. This is hardly the time to “back off”.
If you mean commenters here, rather than Democrats in general, well, we are rather good at identifying and calling out double-speak, and commenters who are here to try to poke an ants’ nest, and trolls. Furthermore, we are not all Democrats; lots of independents and former Republicans are here. Who isn’t here is Maga. We have all put considerable time and effort into creating a community of ideas and ideals here under Dr. Richardson’s guidance, and we’re protective of it.
NO1. Dems are owned by big money?
NO.2 I am anti-Trump but I do recognize that Dems are also corrupted by big money.
No.3 Do you really think that the US now can avoid a Civil War?
No.4 Do you think that anyone commenting on here, regarding the Dems., is correct. eg Calling one a troll if they don't agree with you.
No5. Do you really think that by voting for Biden you will not get the same in 4yrs time?
Change needs to happen now.
Bernie Sanders could have made it to the Presidency but on behalf of the DNC he was annihilated and you did nothing.
Nos. 1-2 repeal Citizens United
No. 3 Of course I do. The country is not as divided as the shit stirrers want us to think it is.
No. 4 sometimes, yes. There’s a difference between civil disagreement and trolling. For example, I heartily disagree with you, but am happy to engage politely with you, without calling you a troll.
No. 5 I’d be very happy with four more years of this, especially if we can have it without Republican congressional stupid games. I think we’d make a lot of progress that even you might like. (Try not to let the perfect become the enemy of the good.)
No. 6 (unnumbered). We will never know if Sanders could have won or not; you think he could have, and I am equally sure he’d have been annihilated. It’s unknowable which of us is right. I do not understand the surprise of Bernie supporters that the DNC would support a Democrat; after all, that’s their main function. Bernie competed well in the primaries, but he. did. not. beat. Clinton. I think it’s wonderful that he has pulled the Democratic party left and made some important issues more mainstream, and I’m glad he sparked interest from young voters. But this is a guy with very little legislative success despite many years in the Senate, not a team player, and with little foreign policy chops. He’s not what we needed then, or now. And that’s my opinion, and it’s totally fine if you don’t share it. I promise I won’t call you a troll, so long as you don’t call me one.
Back off what? Rejecting GOP attempts at destroying our democracy and economy?
Dems. are a BIG money party too.
I am sick of being called a Troll when any comment I make is different from most viewpoints.
Did I call you names? Nope
Dems need to compete with the hand Citizen’s United dealt them. Big money is a necessary evil until Dems can pass laws that eliminate Citizens United that the Gang of Six can’t over rule
Jenny, literally no one has called you a troll.
What choice does a politician have? You can't bring a knife to a war where the enemy has howitzers. But I agree that the whole system is wrong.
I'd go with public funding of all elections. No stupid debates. Just collect signatures to qualify for a basic amount of money. Make your public statements. State your positions. Knock on doors. Get interviewed. Block PACS which are just arms of the oligarchs who fund their puppets.
You are on to something, for sure. But we have to win before we can fix it.
All of this was in the voting rights bill that would have turned back Citizen's United.
How about large gift$ to PACs?
Ban PACs - tools of the devil.
Dems have passed legislation to get dark money out of politics. Republicans have blocked it. “Both sides” cynicism is inappropriate here. Right now the system itself is as it is. This will only change if Dems have the votes to enact the change.
Rubbish.
What makes you say that? Have you been following the Disclose Act or the For the People Act?
That too
“…..start replacing the phrase "MAGA extremists" with the real attackers "billionaire Republican wanna be oligarchs"
I beg to differ ever so slightly. “MAGA extremists” are in fact “Christian Extremists” and the “billionaire Republican wanna be oligarchs" are “Christian billionaire Republican wanna be oligarchs". The maga extremists in the house are all Christians. It’s the same for those in the Senate eg: Tuberville.
We keep glossing over the fact it’s Christian Extremists who are behind each and every thing the MAGAs are doing. MAGA is a convenient label/ moniker for these extremists to hide behind, a way to deflect from who and what they really are. If they were to be called/ we were to call them what they are re: Christian Extremists, they couldn’t hide behind the “MAGA” label anymore.
Please don’t let the distractions they create muddy the waters for what is the truth about them. They are Christian Extremists, Christian Fascists, and Christian Nationalists.
The plan to undermine democracy, along with the names of people and organizations promoting it, are laid out in a number of books. Among them are Democracy in Chains (Nancy MacLean), Dark Money (Jane Mayer), Shadow Network (Anne Nelson) & The Scheme (Sheldon Whitehouse). These authors also address the topic in YouTube talks. I suspect there is relevant information in HCR’s upcoming book, Democracy Awakening, that we are eagerly awaiting.
Actually, ‘MAGA Extremists’ must be changed to ‘PUTIN via TRUMP Extremists’.
You wrote: "I believe that the extremists forcing a shut-down of the government are doing it to please their donors as a broken economy will favor Trump. The billionaires will survive another recession, and the impact of Project 2025 if enacted will only increase their wealth. The rest of us will take the hit." I agree.
Will the shutdown also affect funding of the DOJ and efforts to hold tfg accountable for his crimes? I wonder.
While I generally agree, don't discount the MAGA extremists who have their own goals, i.e., Twitter stardom and chaos in service to their own personal aggrandizement.
Thank you Heather. There should be no doubt that the GOP has become a criminal organization seeking to destroy America from the inside and replace it with their extremist fringe doctrine. They seek to impeach President Biden with no evidence of wrongdoing, severely damage the economy, weaken the military, sever our commitment to Ukraine, and blame all of the resulting damage on ‘wokeness’.
This is not based upon policy differences in economics, foreign, or domestic policy that could be negotiated and addressed by committee compromise. Today’s GOP is looking for disrupting Federal Government, and destroying protections such as voting rights, vital to any form of democracy.
The subversion of justice and democracy are readily apparent. Look to Ken Paxton’s impeachment acquittal in Texas. The attempts to remove duly elected Janet Protasiewicz from the State Supreme Court in Wisconsin before she has even ruled on her first case. The corruption of Thomas, the incomplete investigation into Kavanaugh, and McConnell blocking Garland’s appointment to the Supreme Court.
The GOP is all about the concentration of wealth and the perpetuation of control of the U.S. government and they simply do not care if justice, democracy, and any attempt at equity are destroyed along the way.
Indeed "justice, democracy, and any attempt at equity" stand squarely in the way of attainment of the absolute power that bullies yearn for, and are therefore attacked with relish.
Thank you for thinking clearly and wisely about the forces threatening the US and the world. Ten days to go before the extreme minority pushes the country over the cliff.
They are kidnappers who will take the government hostage, knowing their outlandish demands will never be met. It’s a cynical ploy that will cripple essential functions, cause suffering, and hurt Democrats’ chances. But it looks line they’re stepping into to a painful trap of their own making and will be severely punished in 2024.
Good news from New Hampshire and Pennsylvania! Must check voter registration on line this day! ❤️🇺🇸🌎🕊️
I guess we can say “thank heaven for small miracles” ... Democrats have an uphill fight trying to take back control of states’ legislative bodies - and hence, in some states, control of their individual Supreme Court. It’s pretty ridiculous of what’s occurring and likely to occur regarding the impeachment of the recently elected Supreme Court Justice in Wisconsin!!!
It's equally important for blue states to remain diligent and stop the Cons from taking control of state and local governments. Give them an inch and you end up with George Santos or the Wisconsin gerrymandered legislature.
Definitely. I live in Red California, and the only thing that keeps the loonies of my county from taking over is that with only 0.1% of the state's population they are outvoted. But the resentment against the other 39 million Californians is real, and F**K BIDEN flags come out for the 4th of July. Never mind that most jobs are government positions, County, school districts, Forest Service, BLM, Park Service , LA Department of Water, CalTrans...the attitude is "taxes are theft!" People here see themselves as patriots and "True Americans" but theirs is a fantasy Amerikka...
Votegloriajohnson.com (Tennessee)
"as soon as the decision was handed down, Republican-dominated state legislatures passed voter suppression laws, gerrymandered their states, and closed polling sites, measures that made it more difficult for Black Americans, many of whom backed Democrats, to vote. In the decade since the decision, Sewell noted, at least 29 states have passed a total of almost 100 laws restricting voting"
Republicans often hark to the famous colonial slogan "No taxation without representation", seemingly oblivious to the last two words in the phrase, Yet, if you think about it, "representation" is the key word to what the "American Experiment" was all about; and arguably should be at present.
Voter integrity means the same as voter suppression to repubs
War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery.
Don't forget the middle bit, "Ignorance is strength".
Mercy no. That's key.
Indeed it does, Jeri.
J L, that same Republican obliviousness to some phrases in our founding documents appears repeatedly, especially evident in their repeated neglect of the opening phrase "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State," of the 2nd Amendment.
I think that's what one might describe as running on "half-truths."
Thank you once again HCR for highlighting the importance of voting. It's time to rise up and VOTE BLUE all the way through and eject ALL MAGGOT extremists from positions of "leadership".
THATS RIGHT !! Colette ! * HO HUM, Democrats,*, BETTER Hum,,,,,,down to the VOTING BOOTHS, This ELECTION ! , OR !, they WILL BE, ! HO HUMMING ! in a land, LIKE FASCIST KIM JUNG UN 'S COUNTRY !! ( LORD ! , Give US , ,,,,,,,MERCY ! )
I'm wondering WTF you are trying to say.
Will history repeat itself?
Athens vs Sparta - https://dc.ewu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1178&context=theses
“This is one of the few times in history that a democratic society has essentially been taken hostage by an oppressive few who wish to completely reverse the social and political norms of the time. Yet the outcome is a tribute to the resiliency of the system of democracy both ancient and modern. Even after oligarchy was firmly in power, and the chief leaders of the popular party were dead or imprisoned, the people of Athens were able to take back their city and restore the earlier form of government.”
“This topic is especially relevant to the world in which many of us live today; that is, a world we consider to be equal and democratic. There are, of course, many similarities between Athens in the fifth century B.C. and modern political systems. For example, politicians arranged along factional lines debate each other over many of the same issues as did Athenians in the fifth century. In both ages, they argue over what is ‘constitutional’ and the ongoing anxieties of being locked in incessant warfare. Other dilemmas like “whether to go to war in some far-off land; how to lessen the inequalities between, or reconcile, the rich and poor; how to decide on who could be a citizen and what that status entailed; how far democratic practices such as rotation in office and selection by lot should extend, and how to administer an empire” are significant parallels.“
Excellent, Kristin.
I would only add the contrapuntal point that while today's Party of Sparta, the GOP, claims to be against war (especially supporting allied Republics like Ukraine), it is in reality the Paety of Perpetual War within, against our fellow citizens they disdain, and our collective participatory institutions they hate.
Absolutely.
Their war is a culture war, pure and simple. It is a war against over half of its citizens in the hopes of creating a white Christian nationalist government.
Could well be, Ally. Yet I think it important to note that the "Christian" part is notable for its lack of Christianity.
To be Christian is, at its most basic, to follow the tenets and example of Christ. The Jesus most sentient people were taught of fed the hungry, clothed the naked, embraced the outcasts and the put upon of his society and palled around with a woman as his closest and most reliable follower. He taught not with fire and brimstone thundering against various segments of his population, but with parables gentle in tone while firm in principle, his most famous one extolling the loving virtue of a foreigner, who rendered the human touch of hospitality that the native citizens refused to do.
So whatever it is the right wingers and the Trumpistas are pushing, it sure ain't Christian.
You got that right!
“This is one of the few times in history that a democratic society has essentially been taken hostage by an oppressive few who wish to completely reverse the social and political norms of the time."
" I am concerned that the size of some of these institutions becomes so large that it does become difficult for us to prosecute them when we are hit with indications that if you do prosecute, if you do bring a criminal charge, it will have a negative impact on the national economy, perhaps even the world economy. " - Former Attorney General Eric Holder
A 'tail wagging a dog.'
Like the Dustin Hoffman movie - "Wag the Dog"?
How can you be a Democracy when both party's are owned by big corporations?
The influence of injected money affects both parties in corrupting ways, but only one of them is wholly owned by plutocrats, and only one is massively acting to restrict voting access or tying to invalidate the evidence-based outcome of an election. "They had things, levels of voting that if you’d ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again,” said one DJT. I know of no large-scale perfect democracy anywhere on the planet, but some are a lot closer to the goal and some a lot further, that that's true of political parties as well. If you are in a hole, it is better to be chose help from someone offering a rope than one impeding your travel, or even digging it deeper. There is winning the battle AND winning the war. The latter would involve a concerted effort to get excess money out of politics. The "GOP" SCOTUS legalized de facto bribery, but we cant let it end there. A massive citizens movement to do just that would make a difference.
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both” -— Louis Brandeis
after “…the chief leaders of the popular party were dead or imprisoned…” Well, gives me something to mull, while awaiting the shutdown
Do we want to empower or overpower others? Obviously the struggle goes way back.
Dominion JL.
That last paragraph! We have had it. This s*%t’s gotta stop. Vote. Stand up. Call out the lies. Get in the way. Promote democratic principles.
I will gladly run into a conflict to protect our democratic republic so my children (and their future children) don’t have to. Idiocracy is real.
Hoping for the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to be fully restored🙏
As Jessica Craven says, “Hope is an action verb.” Check out her “Chop Wood, Carry Water“ Substack for links and messages on a variety of issues.
AMEN !! ,,,,, " GOOD TROUBLE !!" Right ? Lynne !
Mark, I like the "Trouble" caused by former White House & later M-a-L tfg Aide, MOLLY MICHAEL. After the FBI "raid" at Mar-a-Lago, MOLLY found "sensitive" documents with"classification markings" underneath a "drawer organizer" inside her M-a-Lago desk. Molly promptly turned over the "sensitive" documents to the FBI.
I have not yet confirmed Molly's role as the photographer the "boxes" on center Stage at Mar-a-Lago & the "boxes" stored in the ornate bathroom but, I love her artistic photographic framing & the depth of field in her photos. Apparently, MOLLY was exchanging photos with WALT NAUTA.
I see that Jack Smith thought those photos made excellent evidentiary exhibits.
So, 45 members of the Freedom Caucus are set to accomplish what 2,000 rioters attempted to do on Jan 6, 2021? What is wrong with our definition of "insurrection" that this threat to continuing our government occurs repeatedly without punishment of jail time or fines?
Who can punish them?
Right now, only voters exercising the power of "BY the people." The often overlooked phrase is "FOR the people." I would love to see how some of these egoists would explain their actions as being "FOR the people."
I’m still wondering: can the House Republicans impeach Biden without evidence by simply voting “all in favour”? Combined with the government shutdown, it would basically be handing the USA to Putin on a silver platter.
Some people wonder if the people who vote GOP know that they are helping them end democracy and all its advantages. I think the answer is “yes” and “no”. “Yes”, they want to ditch democracy: they want to go back to the age of the “strong man”, they want a great chieftain to adore and worship, one who takes all simply because he can, one who will lead them into war to vanquish their weak and inferior neighbours. “No”, because they probably don’t fully realize what the consequences are: if _their neighbors_ happen to be superior and are led by an even stronger “strong man”, there are no laws and rules left that prevent these stronger neighbours from killing _them_.
Democracy is attacked as an obstacle to authoritarianism. You can dress up authoritarianism with pageantry and fancy dress, but under the hood, its always a form of brutal organized crime.
You can put lipstick all over a pig, but it's still a pig.
Except in Alaska
Yessiree it is, and it's a return to the "strong man" cult.
Dutch, are they really strong.....or is it the position we, as American citizens have allowed them to hold....sacred positions: our citizens...our military ...have allowed them to hold by vote.... as they destroy the country we...... many..... have given their lives for.... those who stand in the military to protect our country and other countries who long for freedom.... as well as in government service.
Are their no legal actions for traitors!!!!!
As said, a part of the American people believes in the "strong man" myth as well - some because they like the idea of being in a tribe, worshipping a war chieftain, and marching to war with their brothers, fighting against weaklings and infidels, and some because they are _led_ to believe (by the media, bought by the GOP) that democracy is futile and they had better let a strong dictator take charge lest their "freedoms" are taken away by coloured people and the LGBTQ-community.
Emily, There IS ! ,,,,, During the Civil War, ,, TRAITORS, Were Taken OUT ! and SHOT ! SEEMS !, that the MAGGOTS, Want, a CIVIL WAR ! * set UP ! The FIRING squads !* ,,,,,,, Lets KNOCK OFF !, some TRAITORS !
Dutch Mike, the House RepubliQans are being led around by the Klown Kar Kawkus and are scared onto death to stand up to their utter garbage. I had thought that the "fight" over the selection of the Speaker of the House would lead some within the party having an (R) after their names would come to their senses, team up with the Democratic Party and find a suitable candidate. No such luck. The "reasonable Republican" does not exist any longer. To answer your question regarding impeachment without evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors and whether they would impeach without evidence, the answer is "but of course".
I agree. And some people here in Germany are still wondering how Hitler and the NSDAP could have happened. Well, like this: just watch fascism unfold in real time in the GOP...
Exactly so. I visited Germany for the first time in 2012 and my in-laws took us to a museum (my sister-in-law is a FedEx pilot who was stationed in Germany for 4 years). I was stunned at the similarities reported in the mid 1930's Germany and 2012 America.
Yeah... The similarities are really scary, and Americans should have seen this coming from miles away. It seems that humans never learn from history... :(
Then again, if that history isn't taught, they _cannot_ learn.
That is the truth!!!
"The reason for voter suppression was made clear again today..."
Members of the NANP, (New American Nazi Party, formerly the GOP,) know very well if we have fair, free, open elections, with broad citizen participation, they are doomed to political irrelevancy. They will go the way of the Whigs.
One hopes we are seeing their death throes now as they resist adapting to an evolving, progressive social and cultural landscape. They are trying mightily, and, in the end, fruitlessly, to unbend MLK's arc of history.
Ralph !, GREAT ACRONYM ! ( IT !, Fits !, ,,, LIKE a GLOVE !! ) [ Would like to Replace AMERICAN, with a better *fitting* Word ! , Cause, there ISN'T, ANYTHING ' american' , in The FRACTURED " GOP ! "
So, why not say it! Why not! It’s all about Republicans restricting Black voters, about “Jim Crow-like” Racist Republicans, the KKK of today, GOP Color haters, Republican fascists, Jews will not replace us, eternally antisemitic Trump supporters, Putin and Trump loving fascist Republicans, born-again white supremacy so-called Christain activist nationalists, Alabama Republican white supremacists, Elon Musk fascist Republicans, it’s the economy, stupid, it’s the Democrats fighting for the four freedoms, it’s about nuclear war, Russian Ukraine war leadership, not a Brave New World seminar, standing room only, featuring The Stranger, The Plague, Albert Camus Jean-Paul Sartre... and President Abraham Lincoln... Sally Hemings, her lover Founder Thomas Jefferson, Rosa Parks... straight talk on campuses everywhere, I have a dream,...we’re in Heaven, and God’s number two is Sammy Davis Jr., dancing and singing.. midnight in America... never again in Jerusalem, it’s about our children and they are color-blind and free.
I have a dream, Heather Cox Richardson teaches a semester at Howard University... Boston College takes her back and the two schools merge.
I have a dream..
Will we even have a government by Nov 2024. How many of us can survive with no pay checks, no way to get critical services, and no protection from the evil that is destroying our “administrative state” from the inside. I have resources to survive for several months, many don’t. The young can’t solve our current mess . When will we have enough. And when we do have enough, what will we do….
Our MSM just blathers on about bull Schitt. No wonder people don’t seem attentive. Pearl Harbor focused attention, will the chaos of the shutdown wake people to our enemy within… or just blame Joe
Just as I read this, NPR is playing that voice yelling word salad, but not covering VP Harris talking about voting. Chaos
One wonders why word salad has become so popular. Sort of like repub propaganda has eaten the brains, not only the citizens, but of the media as well. A brain is a terrible thing to waste.
the brain-eating picture does fit!
After 3-1/2 weeks fighting the flu, I am heartened to come back and read about my neighbors to the north with their wins in Pennsylvania! Picked up on my postcarding yesterday as well...yay!
Lynell, glad you have recovered....always good to see your comments. You are a great encourager in our battle for freedom!
Oh, wow, thank you so much, Emily!
I’m glad you’re feeling better! (This is Kathy in Ohio, the one with the horses)
From my horses to yours, thank you, KR!
Lynell, I sold Hudson last January. After my cancer treatment, he was just too much horse for me and I was nervous every single time I got on. I just bought a new one, and he’s a unicorn! Spanish horse, lovely, gives such a safe feeling and he’s so comfy it’s like riding a couch. I’m falling in love. His name is Leon.
Good for you, K! And Leon is such a beautiful name (IMO!) Hope it goes well for you both for a long, long time.
So sorry to hear about that long bout with the flu😮💨. So glad you are feeling better 👍🙏
Thanks, SL! Glad to be on the other side of it, for sure.
Dang, I have missed you. I was hoping you'd have been on a lovely break somewhere in nature without electronic access. It is good to have you back!
Oh....
Morning, Lynell!
Morning, Ally! I missed you, too! You were close, though. My husband, Hicks, ended up "somewhere in nature" while spending six weeks in his home island country of Antigua, after which he came back and gifted me the flu, LOL!
So generous…. Glad he got to go home for a bit!
Marc Elias is doing God’s work! And I believe young voters are going to save us all.
We all must save us all, but younger votes have a critical role to play that will grow in the future, and they have the most to lose when puerile powers game replace civic responsibility when those well ahead of them in years act with extreme immaturity.
Truth. All of it JL. I do love your knack with words ! We and they 'can' save us all. A large part of their 'future burden' will be to widely and repeatedly share their and our lived experience that otherwise will get lost from memory as time passes and the entitled await their 'next moment' again, comfortable to sit back and plot.