The comparison between the parties and their candidates would be laughable if it wasn’t deadly. For healthy minds there is no contest. You simply vote for the people who have a history of success, integrity and the good of the people in their hearts. The others are just swill that get hosed down the sewer
This quote from HCR’s letter, is a fundamental reality within our system: “ Democracy depends on at least two healthy political parties that can compete for voters on a level playing field.” IMO, we have had only one functioning party for years. The only realistic way to return to a sense of normal political stability is if the party off the rails can be defeated so definitively that it can be reformulated and made functional once again.
There has been solid Republican leadership but currently it is all in the rear view mirror.
Interesting critique on extremism in politics, which compares to the history of the French Revolution and the Stalin Terrors, the extremes continue in time until moderates revolt. Either the Moderates defuse and expel the Extremes or, as in Hitler's Germany and maybe Israel, the Extremes marginalize the Moderates with extreme prejudice and it is up to time and external forces to destroy the Extremes. Maybe I'm just too pessimistic.
I think you are right, Dave. History tells us that this is how it works. It is really time for US moderates to stand up tall and get it together. Failure to do so, puts the nation on a road to disaster.
Yessir. And, the bottom is just about ready to fall out as we continue to be distracted by all the deniers drinking out of that turd-filled punchbowl at mar-ah-lah-go. Time has come to kick the legs out from under that table.
Dave Gibson, it sounds like you are a realist. If you haven't already read or listened to Rachael Maddow's book, Prequel, it is well worth reading. It is fact-based and jaw dropping. I listened to it rather than reading it because Rachael narrates it herself and does a spectacular job.
Before the Mueller Report, and before most of us were aware, Rachael Maddow alerted us to the intention of Putin's Russia to kneecap the USA and influence our elections. I will always respect her for that.
And that is my prayer. The Republican Party is defeated up and down from coast to coast in all races. It is time for “We the People” have a government which works for all. For me, it is so obvious how inept the Republican Party is. As my one of my HR friends says, “They would all be on a PIP (performance improvement plan)” and out the day before the 30th day.
Yeah..Elizabeth, "driving while blind" is more like it. But, at least we seem to have become awakened, having had what we can clearly see with our 20/20 hindsight, having had it 'streamed' to us over these past 8 years wasted years of our lives. I guess it will only be really "wasted" if the (R)ss-holes prevail (win??) in November. VOTE. Driving out from under this mess is going to be even harder.
Let's face it. We bought into it.., little by little by little. I don't think there was any 'plan' as some would put it. Human behavior though, is quite predictable. Kinda like "global warming", huh. And, here we are. Well, I'll be doggoned!
Reagan started the war on the Middle Class, invented the fictionalized "Welfare Queen," began tax on Social Security payments, turned the mentally and emotionally ill out onto the streets, fired the Air Traffic Controllers and gave a massive tax cut to the wealthy and big corporations, tripling the national debt during his term in office. Reagan demonized the federal government that he headed: "Government is not the solution; government is the problem," [speech at CPAC.] Also, "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'" The problem is endemic in the system: accumulated capital is never satisfied and strives to pay no taxes while impoverishing the great majority of the people, without whom massive amounts of capital could not be produced. [Abraham Lincoln.]
I agree that Reagan was a major milestone, but is that when it started? What about Milton Friedman's book, Capitalism and Freedom (1961)? The founding principle of capitalism is in Adam Smith's book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759). An appropriate name for Freidman's book is "The Theory of Immoral Sentiments."
The irony is that the Democratic party's success is due to applying the founding principle of capitalism while being referred to as "commies" by a party that does not have an elementary school level understanding of the concept.
James, nor do they understand Marxism or socialism, two other words that they like to throw around. No pol here in Oregon can get elected if they identify as socialist. Right now we are being treated to many political ads for the House. I am amazed at the lies put out by DeRemer, the current rep for district five. She is a R and would have you think that she has been bipartisan. Our rep is the D, Salinas. She is running ads, but we haven't seen one from her R opponent. Then there is the mad man, Joe Kent, running as the R in Washington's 3rd. No policies of course. His opponent is the current D Perez, whose ads are much more effective and show a number of Rs supporting her.
Friedman laid the groundwork for the fall of the Republic with his foundational work on the "trickle down" myth,
but it was Lewis Powell's memorandum of 1971 that was the seminal battle plan and call to action that destroyed the middle class in the US.
Powell also inspired the founders of Heritage Foundation and ALEC, among other right-wing anti-democratic fifth column actors.
If Nixon had been less the Ted Cruz of Barry Goldwaters, he - rather than Reagan - would be remembered as the one who openly launched and popularized the fascist revolution in this country.
HCR is nothing short of amazing. Her book, "How the South Won the Civil War," caused me to realize that we're really at war with oligarchs, and always will be. They're the ones who owned the slaves back in the days before the Civil War. What we're dealing with now are their progeny, euphemistically speaking. It's in the DNA. The one thing that one can never have enough of is money. Why, for example, would Musk and Bezos object to their employees receiving living wages? It takes government to "fix" the matter. FDR did it.
Richard, agreed that we can trace some of our current problems to that clown. And he became for some, a kind of saint. I still remember the cartoon that showed what was happening in his brain. One would think that having one president with dementia would be enough.
I have always felt that Nancy Reagan was this nation's first de facto female President. At the end Reagan was non compos mentis. But, he wasn't thrown out onto the streets to sleep in cardboard boxes.
Wilson also had problems at the end of his presidency and his wife also ran things. No, St Ray gun didn't end up on the street, but everyone that his policies undermined did. Every time I see a homeless camp, I think about what he did. People now complain long and loud about this and continue to vote R and do not want any solution to the homeless crisis anywhere near them. Recently a guy walked down the street next to our property shouting obscenities and was obviously in need of mental help. Also my husband, when we were waiting for our lunch at the Saturday Market, saw a woman in the creek nearby, shouting. He called the police and waited until someone came. We often see people who are obviously mentally ill while we are out and we just hope they do not decide to step into traffic.
Richard, thank you for your excellent analysis. As frustrated as I've been during this period, and not understanding why there can possibly be any ambivalence in this election cycle, I've been equally frustrated at the kid glove treatment of Reagan during and after his reign. His acting capabilities enabled him to dismantle social services and close mental hospitals with a big, disarming smile on his face, and few understood his evil intent.
Well stated, Richard. But, we must add IMO perhaps the most important of that Reagan-led list,......his veto of the Fairness Doctrine which paved the way for the unending lies of Rush Limbaugh and the eventual Murdoch empire, all of which became the fuel for open lies w/ No Consequences.
"No solid gop leadership since Reagan was elected!"
Trump is merely Reagan writ large and writ vulgar. Different style, same Federalist, Heritage, agenda. No more dog whistles. Proud and out loud right wing racist religious extremism in service of unmitigated greed.
The Roberts Court via Leonard Leo is the spawn of Reagan in bed with Ralph Reed. Movement Conservatives in bed with the Religious Right.Project 2025 = Reagan's Southern Strategy come to fruition.
We need to remember that the Council for National Policy was created in 1981 to make sure Reagan's campaign promises and policies were implemented. Also he was the first GOP president to be presented with the Heritage Foundation's "Mandate for Leadership." Project 2025 is just another generation of policies to be implemented by the next GOP president. The policy mandates have become more and more radical since Reagan and there are literally no old guard GOP operatives in place to stop the extreme policies from being implemented, especially if the GOP has the Presidency, the Congress, and as we know, the Supreme Court.
Both parties suck- the Democrats used frivolous lawsuits to keep RFKJR off the ballot (so undemocratic) and made Harris the nominee without due process, not to mention the censorship that Biden used on Kennedy.
Actually the false equivalencies of Putin allies such as Stein and LaRouche helped Trump win via duopolist vote splitting stooges. And they're still at it.
Couldn't agree more, especially on LaRouche (knowing he was being used). Had some long discussions with a political veteran LaRouche supporter/operative(?) at a protest in D.C. who kept trying to sell us on stuff we saw through in Hawaii. His former hippie looking supporters changed to very conservative dress and tried everything to sell the ideas without saying who was behind them. A lot of gullible people donated without knowing the money was going to LaRouch.
Jill Stein supporters were more like Ralph Nader supporters (to us), rational enough in policy desires but naive in the impact of what splitting votes would do vs trying to get one or both parties to get recognition of their concerns and at least some actual results in a coalition type balance.
Rankedchoice and an amendment to insist on electoral votes partitioned by the whole vote. Or the National Popular Vote compact, which eliminates the need for an amendment.
Having lived in Canada for 50 years, I can say that based on my experience here, 3 parties are no better than two, and in some ways worse. My best guess is that a 2-party (one R, one L) is the best solution for the Executive, if one could eliminate the ridiculous EC, but that some systems of proportional representation in the HR could improve things. Also, either making the Senate a democratic institution or reducing its power and influence considerably by passing most of the authority to the HR might improve things. If one is stuck with the present toad, because that was the will of the 'founders' who lived under vastly different circumstances 2 and a half centuries ago, one must accept the warts and make the best of it. Sticking to the concept of one person: one vote by getting big money out of politics entirely, would be an excellent start.
John Daigle - "I think a third party is needed now."
I hear this a lot. Wishing seems (so far) to be ineffective. So, what's stopping YOU from starting one?
All you need is a charismatic leader or a small group of influential individuals to take the initiative to form the party. This person (group) would draft the party’s platform (goals, policies, and beliefs) and establish a leadership hierarchy.
The Party must, then, organize itself with structures like a central committee, local branches, and a defined membership process. This allows it to function in a systematic way and coordinate political activities.
Finally, you would need a sufficient number of supporters (followers) to provide funding for things like a Convention... and Primaries.
I, also, hear of the silly "ranked voting" scheme which certainly would not produce a third Party (or any, for that matter).
I agree that a third party is a long shot, but I suggest you take a more serious look at ranked choice voting. The first episode of this podcast has a good discussion of the topic.
Final Five voting (doesn’t Alaska have Final Four?) is also another option—would open things up to more choices—would help in the state and local races. Then we need to abolish the Electoral College.
RFK, Jr. - Almost as whacked as Vance and his cat eating. Anti-vaxxer, bear and whale disrespecter...maybe he was right about those cell phones causing "leaky brain". Or maybe it was the worm in his head. John, you really can't be taken seriously if you tout this guy.
And Harris brilliantly used the "due process" to gather enormous support. She didn't have to fight for the nomination. We all jumped on board because she may be the most qualified candidate for the presidency in our history.
Also, if you pay attention, Harris speaks extremely well. Complete sentences filled with good stuff. She is the very definition of a good leader.
But hey, you could go fishing this weekend and maybe find a whale head to throw on top of your car.
I will never vote for Trump no matter what Kennedy ‘s involvement with him is because half the country like you have been so insulted by him.And for many other reasons.Harris did very well in the debate but I could not vote for her either.I am very disappointed with our election process of only 2 parties.And I think Kennedy abandoned his followers who declared their independence. It is so sad.
Totally false equivalence. As if those two things are the only difference between the parties, even if either one was remotely true? Are you kidding me?
I don’t see how you can embrace the Democratic Party because it is just as corrupt as the Republican Party.Maybe you think Gabbard and Kennedy make points that are invalid, and the rally on September 29 is foolish. Please explain why .Aren’t they the party of war and censorship now?
I do not agrée the Democratic Party is just as corrupt as the Republican Party. The Democratic Party is still operating as a political party. Actually I think the Republican Party no longer exists. It is like a fake movie set now. The designers of Project 2025 are waiting in the wings literally waiting for their cue. DJT is their stooge. He is good at taking directions as long as they are prefaced with flattery. As Harris said, “…not a serious man.” RFK was also not a serious candidate. He was a spoiler—a plot twist. Forget him now. He is done with politics (unless DJT is elected and gives him a cushy job). Democrats have offered a traditional choice. Kamala Harris has the credentials and skill set to be Commander in Chief. To choose DJT is to install Project 2025 and complete the dismantling of our democracy. Kamala Harris can do the job. She is the only choice this time around. I urge you to vote for her.
So how do you explain the frivolous lawsuits brought by the DNC to keep RFKJR off the ballots?Nothing more undemocratic than that in my opinion. And don’t you think Harris knew president Biden was mentally impaired? I can’t vote for her either.
The Republicans in Congress, the majority of them, backed Trump's lie that he won the 2020 election. Without peaceful transfer of power, there is no democracy. The one most willing to use violence wins. That fact about democracy is the most important fact for this election.
Ok but there are other very important considerations, for example the capture of our government agencies by the corporations, the health problems maybe caused by toxins that are in our foods and the censorship by the government on people who disagree with their policies
John, I get your frustration, but I think you’ve failed to accept RFK Jr. was never a real candidate, and simply failed to catch on with voters. And no, supporting Ukraine and rejecting monkey urine as a cure for Covid don’t make Dems the party of war and censorship. These talking points are straight outa Moscow.
John, the Covid vaccine was developed urgently under a new regimen with new techniques to answer an emergent public health need and it demonstrated significant reduction of morbidity and mortality amongst those who received it, albeit with some few who did suffer adverse effects. This is NOT the definition of a scam although it may not be something you chose to utilize.
There were alternatives that worked to the vaccine but Fauci pushed the vaccine because it made lots of money for the big Pharmaceutical companies.I believe this.
I agree, John, that neither side is free of fault. However, I maintain that elections are like a trip to your optometrist: better than, worse than -- they choice is up to you as are the results. One must correct the prescription periodically if one wants it to work. I am still naive enough to believe that democratic principles allow people the best chance to get what they WANT. The trick has two parts: 1) knowing what you want, and 2) understanding clearly what you have now.
Substack Inc has contractual duties to all of us as defined "Readers" along with some "Authors". Under Substack Inc's own choice of California law, the heavy burden of good faith & fair dealing is squarely on this Platform.
I offered total Substack Inc to mediation at their chose venue, JAMS SF, which is only a few blocks from Substack Inc'c SF office & my old law firm on Montgomery Street, San Francisco.
Kamala's is no longer the SF District Attorney, dern it.
You could start your own Substack instead of riding on the back of Heather Cox Richardson’s incredible work. You’d no doubt have a huge following. I feel guilty writing two comments.
I have no followers but my opinion matters just as does yours. Don’t understand why the right pillars of the resistance rally can’t be taken seriously .
Is Republican leadership in the rear view mirror? I would say it is in exile, which is to say that the Republican party has made it impossible for a leader to be in a position of power. They got rid of "whites only" and replaced it with a "sycophants only" sign.
Gary Anderson, I agree whole-heartedly. If you haven't already read or listened to Rachael Maddow's book, Prequel, it is well worth reading. It is fact-based and jaw dropping. I listened to it rather than reading it because Rachel narrates it herself and does a spectacular job.
Yes, I have also listened to Prequel as well as both seasons of Ultra. Rachel did a great job on all of those. I admire her verbal delivery as well as admiring the quality of her research and her writing.
That was the advice from defeat in 2012. And the tea party faction turned to chump…. That group of power-hungry idiots may have painted themselves into a corner, but it will take a shellacking to convince those who had a taste of unrestrained power.
See the comparison demonstrated in real time on CSpan. Chair R James Comer. Ranking member D Jamie Raskin.
To repair Trump's debate debacle, this week House Republicans, instead of getting a clean CR to fund the gov't, are using House committees to explicitly campaign against Harris (explicitly in violation of House rules Republicans voted for.) Here Comer has assembled a panel of Trump officials and associates who helped author chapters of Project 2025. Although Fox et al will have their Jonathan Turley type 'expert' soundbites, wily Democrats used the panelists to demonstrate Trump's ties to Project 2025. Although also damning of the GOP, is Comer's continued trashing of rules of order. He refuses to let Democrats make points of order. 'Because I can' is his stated MO. Going so far as to tell one Dem to 'sit down and take your meds.' But he screwed up, letting a Democrat have the entire Project 2025 entered into the record. Something other GOP chairs refused to allow.
Lin, If you haven't already read or listened to Rachael Maddow's book, Prequel, it is well worth reading. It is fact-based and jaw dropping. I listened to it rather than reading it because Rachel narrates it herself and does a spectacular job.
Diana King, I hesitate to agree with your full comment because of the last sentence: “The others are just swill….” In frustration, I often feel that same way. Yet I keep meeting acquaintances, or hear of family members of friends who have trump-die-hards in their “loved-one” circle, or are one themselves. It never stops me from being humbled. This is a monumentally hard task ahead of us. Changing hearts and minds, because no matter what happens in November, we are all on the Big-Blue-Marble-Mothership together. Our tendency to frustratedly hate each other because we do not “see reality” the same is a manufactured divisiveness. I believe Dems will win in November. Then the work of learning how to live and function together continues, but hopefully with continued wise governing from the Dems.
Wise words. Just had a pleasant short conversation with a neighbor while walking my dog. Though we can’t talk politics - he’s a Libertarian who will again vote for Trump- we chat. Just a how ya doin’ kind of thing. Civility matters.
And he keeps dog treats in his garage so Kiri likes him. Has to start somewhere….. (my dog is from Alabama, Mountain Cur/Pit bull/German Shepard mix. She is not particularly friendly. If Kiri will approach this guy, I can too, lol)
Civility and non violence should be what we promote, however, the saying that the republicans comes with guns while dems carry a knife is so true and we need to find a healthy balance when talking with idiots without calling them idiots.
Sheila B (MN), If you haven't already read or listened to Rachael Maddow's book, Prequel, it is well worth reading. It is fact-based and jaw dropping. I listened to it rather than reading it because Rachel narrates it herself and does a spectacular job.
MLRGRMI, if you haven't already read or listened to Rachael Maddow's book, Prequel, it is well worth reading. It is fact-based and jaw dropping. I listened to it rather than reading it because Rachel narrates it herself and does a spectacular job.
A former Republican POTUS, Theodore Roosevelt, once said, “Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” Another way to say it is, nobody cares what you know until they know what you care about. The only thing the 2024 version of the Republican party cares about is having enough power to destroy America. But thank you, Heather, for our daily dose of the dawn’s early light.
EDIT: fine and important analysis, Ma'am. Thank you. 🤝
"Mark Robinson has said he will not step aside." G-D, I hope not. What my first mentor in making my way out of alcohol and drug abuse said to me forty years ago. ✌🏽
"Ned, some are sicker than others." So very proud of what Vice President Harris ACCOMPLIHED as the border czar -- targeting those 'aliens' alien to our welfare. 💔
We need these right-wingnuts in our faces to refortify what we are voting for. Senator Vance frightens me the most as an Aaron Burr or an Alcibiades -- brilliant and confident. 😱
He is flexible with his principles as they service his ambition. Some say that Senator Goldwater and President Reagan would not do these things. I agree. But that no longer matters. 😥
Even as a Republican, I knew the Tea Party was racist and the commie-canard was udder bool-sheet being milked. These people are tapped out morally and exhausted intellectually. 🤢
Diana King, If you haven't already read or listened to Rachael Maddow's book, Prequel, it is well worth reading. It provides a fact-based and jaw-dropping. I listened to it rather than reading it because Rachel narrates it herself and does a spectacular job.
“””Trump told a Jewish group that if he loses, it will be the fault of Jewish Americans. "I will put it to you very simply and gently: I really haven't been treated right, but you haven't been treated right because you're putting yourself in great danger."””
Or in other words, “ I’m sorry I keep hitting you, but you keep causing my anger. “
Trump sounds like a classic domestic abuser. He is the face (and fists) of the Republican Party, the party of Abusers of all stripes:
-Liars, cheaters, con artists, &
White-collar criminals
Abusive law enforcement
Bullies
Abusive patriarchists
Toxic masculinists
Public Abusers (internet trolls and toxic media personalities such as Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones, & Tucker Carlson)
-Domestic Abusers
-Rapists & other sex-related non-consensual behaviors
-Sexual harassers & stalkers
-Pedophiles
-Self-appointed morals police and Bible thumpers (who attack abortion clinics and LGBTQIA+ members - particularly Transgender people)
-Misogynists & sexists
-White Nationalists
-Racists/racism, anti-[brown] immigrant groups
-Anti-government groups
-Well-armed fringe militant & outlaw groups
-Cultists
Most of all, I see such amoral, selfish, dangerous greed from wealthy & corporate donors who want to cut taxes for the wealthy and dump them on the rest of the country who can barely afford make ends meet. They also want to deregulate so they can be free to take advantage of workers and consumers, and not be held accountable for harms they cause.
Lase away, Daniel. This upstick on attacks on Jews suggests a direct feed to the neo-Nazis et al who embalm their minds in this garbage. Trump just the same would happily feed Palestinians to the Israelis. On that issue, the Dems seem to have fallen into utter impotence.
I now have a new "colorful adjective" to use! I have been (at least whilst driving and observing a ton of unsatisfactory display of driving skills, knowledge of rules of the road, and blatant display of asshattery) utilizing either the word that bothers Richards everywhere, ore mispronouncing the portion of male anatomy as PEN-us. Schmuck it is!
Step 1 of the 12 step program is to acknowledge that "I am not in control." The Republican party is weak because it is not there yet. Dems are potent in lieu of impotent, but only to the extent that Dems continue to recite the serenity prayer.
It matches well to Heather's exquisite nailing of how corrupt, and extremist gerrymandering and suppression of voters' rights let the Republican party sink to being.
This corruption of theirs, wed to the corruption of big money sickening things more, leaves America as Heather exactly says: with no place for the two-sided, level playing field any democracy needs.
So we've the spectacle we have: the rancid, hate-bottom-line, insult-spewing, and totally lying indulgences of assholes like Robinson, Trump, Vance, Thiel, McConnell, Clarence on that sick court of his, and many, many more playing only to make this spectacle more vulgar, more violent, more spiraling into the deeper cesspool which our incompetents and craven so crave.
Lisa, is "Bible thumpers" a term whose time has come and gone. Billy Graham, Robert Schuler seem to fit into this category as opposed to most of the evalngelist preachers that treat Trump as their demagogue. This link is to a story that says that an evangelist in TX (of course) says that Harris used witchcraft to win the debate.
There are perhaps 100 references to sorcery or necromancing in the Bible, but to call Harris a witch because of Trump's catastrophic debate performance is way beyond the pale.
I guess it's for each of us to decide if these so-called evangelists are Bible thumpers, but they seem to be haters who are out for revenge after what they believe to be a stolen election in 2020.
Texas has so much potential, but it's filled with self serving yahoos and greedy sh*ts that is frustrating. Maybe we can replace Cruz w Allred. Maybe we can shift the balance of power in the TX state legislature. I have hope that the average common sense Texan will finally perceive the b.s. and get pissed enough to vote. I have hope, but not much patience left.
From what I read by a facebook friend from TX they make it very hard for democrats to vote. She said she was intimidated whenever she went outside. She may have been having emotional/mental issues but I am sure living in TX did not help at all. TX has also changed some regulations that will seriously impact the blue major cities as far as properly counting votes goes. Of course.
a person who expounds or follows the teachings of the Bible in an aggressively evangelical way.
"he wasn't a Bible-thumper and never talked about his religion"
As someone who has been "Bible thumped" by many people who told me they could "hate the sin (homosexuality) but love the sinner (me)" I was glad to see that definition. I would usually tell these folks "you hate who and what I am, therefore you hate me."
That interview Jon Stewart did with Steve Ballmer is EXCELLENT! It is a truly insightful and honest and good-natured serious discussion of the relationship between capitalism and freedom. Twenty-three minutes worth your time.
Thank you for those links. That interview with zjon Stewart is great. It didn't delve enough, in my opinion, into the complaints about capitalism that Stewart was repeating, about why Balmer opined that clear regulations are a businessman friends, and about unmonitored other capitalists that are truly selve - serving (There are ample examples of both kinds of capitalists in all industries). That complaint expressed, I am glad that the purpose of advertising the USAFacts website was achieved. Now, how do we get MAGAmaniacs to pay attention?
Thanks, I just watched a bunch the USA Facts videos and they are concise, clear, and easy to understand. I took a lot of screenshots of the various charts.
Putting the blame on Jews if he loses and saying "they are putting themselves in grave danger" are scary words to me, as a Jewish person. If he does not get the Jewish vote but manages to win anyway, Jews better watch out. How do these right-wing Jews continue to vote for this Nazi.
Your list from Blazing Saddles reminded me of home. I grew up in NJ & looking back I can honestly say there were no decent business people that my parents' business dealt with. I met primarily con artists & grifters after I graduated. Oh and some vile republicans. And my aunt, who was a humdinger, was a Methodist.
I confess, Trump's statement about Jewish people didn't make sense to me. It seems like he wanted to complain about his own treatment and then realized whom he was talking to, so his fevered mind tried to draw in the horrible treatment of Jewish people into some sort of (false) equivalence. Then he remembered his Nazi roots (via his father Fred) and finished the run-on sentence with a blame put on Jewish voters for both causing his impending electoral loss as well as for any stochastic terrorism they experience.
Your last paragraph puts it in a nutshell: the pursuit of the wealthiest of our country to make the USA a fiefdom in order to keep all but their wealthy “comrades” mere serfs to their kingly riches.
It's a result of many dedicated GenX men and women who have worked they're asses off with administering Narcan, feeding homeless addicts, and moving folks to shelters. Very grateful for the work they do.
I wonder how much of a difference it makes just to know that the current POTUS cares about all Americans as opposed to having a POTUS who cares more about his gold toilets. That knowledge by itself is no where near enough, but it's where it starts, and I think it makes a big difference.
Nice observation. But the fact is that the people in the frontline, with families in thier face traumatized by the hundreds of deaths due to overdose (another misnomer-most were poisoned) cannot begin to cope with the grief while real people are moving in and out of these hellscapes multiple times daily.
The victims are from both parties. Death don't have no mercy in this time.
So while fingerpointing feels justified, this needs all hands on deck to suceed. Perhaps the "Golden Toilet" reference could also include "Defunding Addiction Intervention in favor of Private Prisons" and "Extolling Destabilizing Autocratic Leadership" who, in many cases, cynically supply the drugs to sow chaos.
Again, these people I refer to are missionaries of our time being tested and (as Professor Richardson illustrates) succeeding.
Somebody once compared helping Addicts and Alcohol Dependent Users getting clean and sober to catching hummingbirds by thier breast feathers.
The projection of the Republican Party is so obvious. Accuse opponents of your own misdeeds.
Jewish Americans are not the Israeli government and overwhelminly support Harris, who tries not to play the same identity politics of the Trump forces.
I don't know how much clearer the choice can be yet polling shows a close race. There are not enough informed voters.
I don't believe the polls - who picks up the phone anymore if they don't recognize the number? No one has ever polled me, have you been polled? Same old same old. We're gonna see a landslide come November. Women will show these mofo's how we think
I believe that, too, but taking no chances. This weekend, I begin knocking on doors in a predominantly republican area to try to convince voters to elect Democrats to office. Not a perfect party for sure, but if the Constitution is turned into kindling, there is no further course correction. The current R party must be defeated.
Has anyone thoroughly investigated the polling industry itself? It seems like there is one and it seems that there might be a lot of slanted players so to speak.
And there are too many foreign mercenaries answering polls. Most polls are phone calls and online questionnaires that about 500 people in each party supposedly answered. Do you answer an unfamiliar phone call? How does 500 answers correlate statistically with millions of voters? More worrisome is what MAGats have done in the 2000 Census and with fake electors. The fat thumb is on the scales of justice and needs to be smacked off even if it looks “political.” MAGats will boohoo their crocodile tears anyway.
As Kamala Harris said in her virtual rally with Oprah tonight… this election is about values… kindness, respect for each other and for different opinions and lifting each other up. They are not “achieved” as Republicans and their marketers would suggest, through manipulation and coercion or draconian policies. They are taught and modeled at home by those of us who believe in them. When the power of love is stronger than the love of power (and money) the world will know peace. May we vote blue up and down the ballot and continue to stem the flow of illicit drugs and hate which can only be explained by greed and mental illness.
"When the power of love is stronger than the love of power, the world will know peace." A great quote I believe has been attributed to Jimi Hendrix. I think we might be getting closer to that noble goal.
"Love insists that we are precious beings who deserve leaders who respect us and promote our well-being, not tyrants who deceive, rob, jail and kill us. Love supports resistance in places where freedom has been lost, and it can also help endangered democracies like our own to reverse course."
Thank you for documenting the epic sh*tshow that the GQP has become. Truly sad and scary that there are millions of willfully ignorant sheep that plan to vote for these scumwads.
George, I am pondering "willfully ignorant". I have a set of people in my world that are good, solid, caring people who still vote for the scoundrel; they might fall into the "willfully ignorant" category. I have others whose hatred (and fear) of the "other" overrides their knowledge. There are some who base their opinions on the questionable news sources on down to bald faced lies. Those are the willfully ignorant. I once thought that the goodness (I thought) of their character would create cognitive dissonance in them. No longer.
in as much as I'd like to put a bumper sticker or sign supporting Kamala and Tim on my car or lawn, my fear of weird republican retribution keeps me from doing so.
I still speak boldly for their support, but largely to an audience of like minded supporters, who cannot fathom why anyone would be a retrumpican.
Trump has ruined the 2 party system of checks and balances.
Every morning I wake up to new chaos caused by one criminal trying to stay out of jail ..disgusting.
thank you Heather for your daily antidote of sanity
Put the sign up. I live in suburban Pittsburgh, and right now, there are more Trump signs than in 2020. But here’s the thing: fewer homes have Trump signs, but the ones that do look they are campaign headquarters, with so many signs posted. People who put Harris signs in their yards tell the people who see them that it’s ok to support HARRIS/WALZ, because their neighbor does. It’s a sign of safe harbor for their beliefs.
It's still early but here in rural ME way fewer than half the homes that had Trump signs up in 2020 have them up now. And I have yet to see a Trump flag, hat or bumper sticker her. And I live in a district where our electoral vote went for Trump in 2016 and 2020.
And there are way more Harris/Walz signs than there were Biden/Harris signs in 2020.
Many people downplay the impact of the signs because there doesn't seem to be a pattern of more signs = winner of the race.
It is not Trump alone. Watch "Bad Faith" about how organized and well financed Christian Nationalism is. They have been organizing this religious war for many decades. Trump has just brought it out in the open and is possibly their "savior" who will realize a Christian Nationalist government. They are not going away even if Trump goes away.
OMG, we did watch it. It doesn't seem to be getting the mention that it deserves.
It seemed that every service in the churches were filled with "hate" and never "love."
The only surprise to me in today's newsletter is the Catholic dioceses condemning the mistreatment and lies by Trump, JD and many MAGAs over Springfield, OH.
I was shocked because the Catholic Church is clearly a patriarchy and a white supremacist cult and for them to criticize Trump and JD is shocking.
I was traveling in Butler PA, the town where Trump was shot, and there’s a giant billboard that has a silhouette of Trump w his fist in the air and the passage, “Michael the Archangel, defend us.” The Catholic Church does not run this page, but there are images of priests in mass, and ROGER F-ING STONE TAKING COMMUNION! (I hoped it burned in his throat.)
And, sigh, he's from Ohio, just down the road from me. He is getting a lot of push-back, but the Secretary of State Frank LaRose says he's just exercising his "free speech rights." Yeah.
I've seen a few "Veterans Against Trump" signs in my rural community. I told my husband (a veteran) that we should get one, but he's concerned about repercussions. On the other hand, if Kamala wins -- WHEN she wins, I should say -- he wants to put up a huge American flag. :)
Two things: Put the flag up now! It is our flag. Second: A "Veterans Against Trump" or "Veterans for Harris" will positively influence people you don't even know about. I have had two people contact me, and ask if I would put one up in my yard; I tell them that would be "stolen valor" because I am not a Veteran.
We’ve been dealing with these GQP nutcases for way too long. Every election cycle I think they’ve finally gone too far and sanity will be restored. Today’s HCR column has me feeling hopeful about this again. But truly the only way out is big pluralities in the House and Senate as well as President, so Citizens United can be overturned. The big money interests don’t really care how low their puppets go as long as they win.
Don’t need to overturn Citizens United. Just pass campaign finance vouchers and let the public become the “big donors”.
Compared to the damage caused by the current system of donor control, especially the trillions lost to Great Recession, matching the $20 billion being spent this year would be a bargain.
So much of the damage we see is a loss of wisdom as Congress became totally dependent on the donor class (left and right).
In particular because we stopped effectively regulating financial institutions and stopped using taxes to pay for what we spend.
It seems like there is a crescendo of Republican corruption and scandal with each new revelation worse than the last, each “diverting attention” from last week’s scandal. And yet the polls, of which I’m more and more skeptical, in spite of all the economic and other good news, continue to indicate a neck-and-neck race.
Kudos to the Teamsters local unions who are bucking the national committee in coming out in support of Harris/Walz. If more locals follow suit, the national office may be compelled to fall in line, walk back their election neutrality, and release resources for a national teamster ground game in support of Democrats. If that should happen I would expect to see multiple resignations from Teamsters national leadership.
How do the pollsters get any accurate polling anymore? What with cell phones replacing most land lines and texting replacing phone calls for many (most?) of the Gen-Z, Gen-X and even millennials, hats off to those who have figured this out.
Let's just get the damn election over with and fight off Trump's BS about him winning in spite of a crushing defeat.
“Ah the leaders of the Teamsters, since when did they ever act in favor of the rank and file!?”
Indeed! Up until now anyway. The local unions are flexing muscles they didn’t know they had. May the trend continue after the election, with a new national leadership team who are better listeners than talkers.
Living in North Carolina, I am delighted, giddy, that the GOP is all linked together with their MAGA extremism and hypocrisy. Volunteering to do all I can to create a massive BLUE WAVE and return to sanity; break the GOP Supermajority and give 16 Electoral College votes to the first woman President of the United States of America.
President Joe Biden has masterfully address REAL and VITAL issues that affect people's lives.
I am amazed and applaud his management of such monumental crises -to list a few:
the global pandemic,
the economy and a soft landing with job creation outperforming all other major nations,
expanding access to health care,
supply chain planning,
rejecting failed "trickle-down economics" for much more important remedies like
stopping price gouging,
stopping junk fees,
capping prescription medicine costs
and allowing health insurance plans to negotiate prescription prices,
tackling infrastructure needs
including assisting with disasters like fallen interstates (PA)
and collapsed bridges (MD)
***repaired in record time***
strengthening alliances on both sides of the continent (Atlantic/NATO and Pacific),
supporting democracy throughout the world,
celebrating American achievements (not disparaging states, communities and groups of people),
upholding the rule of law,
and now passing the baton for the best interests of the country over party or personal interests.
Absolutely among the BEST Presidents EVER!
*****
As Vice President Harris and Governor Tim Walz encourage during their campaigning,
Let's turn the page,
Let's move FORWARD,
We LOVE our country,
and FREEDOM includes making your own decisions about your body,
NOT the government in your bedroom, bathroom, or doctor's office making decisions for you.
Vacationing now in NC has been extra wonderful as we see an astonishing amount of Harris/Walz signs, and many less Trump signs. We were very surprised by this and are now hopeful. Mark Robinson running for governor is DONE. Stick a fork in him.
It will be MORE interesting how MSM handles it. Trump commands the news fulfilling his goal using the PT Barnum school of advertising.
Biden Harris success should make headlines. Stock market breaks records. Deaths from street drugs are down should make headlines in flyover America.
When they cover Trump, they fail to discuss his degeneration. His appearance. His demeanor. His lies. His scams. Who are the schmucks who bought his stock at its high?
I can’t vouch for the accuracy Daniel, but I’ve read that of the investors in DJT, approximately 600,000 are small investors. The balance are an admixture of foreign and domestic Trump sympathizers, day traders and short sellers who are supporting or undermining Trump through this back door. All I think I know for sure is that any investor who bought in between about $75 at its opening six months ago are now staring $14 in the face and that $14 will drop to pennystock status (around $2 a share) by November 5 if current trends are maintained. And there’s no evidence in the fundamentals to expect anything other than the investors will have lost everything. Billions of dollars in paper value immolated in a sacrifice to their cult leader in less than a year. Just another monumental Trump grift. Where is the SEC when we need them?
Buying DJT stock is no different than buying the Trump Bible or his shoes or wine or "trading cards." He sells them as an investment that will gain value while support their "chosen one."
When the stock first went public the MSM interviewed several small time private investors. Some of them cashed in their 401-Ks to buy DJT stock.
"A fool and his money are soon parted." Thomas Tusser 1573
What an energizing interview that was last night! Yeah, it felt more like a rally, but the courage and honestly of some of those people who spoke about the issues that had directly impacted THEM--OMG my heart!
I feel like the Trump circus is dominating headlines. That is what worries me. Even this thread is tantalized by the scandals. Maybe one of the movements needs to be a push on social media and old fashioned letters to the editor to emphasize the positive news. I am looking at my sad newspaper right now and there is not one article on the economy despite the stock market rally yesterday.
I'm SO curious about how this Robinson crap will affect the NC presidential vote! Drama galore...we'll see what happens tomorrow at Trump's NC rally....
On morning Joe this morning, Willie said that many Democrats were deeply concerned about the down ballot races because they were afraid Robinson would bow out of the race. Even Harris/Walz could be recipients of the electoral college votes in NC assuming Robinson stays in the race.
I credit "Beau of the Fifth Column" a few months ago for this "just a thought" as it struck me, and I urge those of us writing letters and postcards, making calls and knocking on doors to make this point:
EVEN IF YOU ARE SURE YOUR STATE WILL GO BLUE, we need every vote.
EVEN IF YOU ARE SURE YOUR STATE WILL GO RED, we need every vote.
The point is, we need to MAKE A POINT. Heaven forbid, if Trump/Vance was to win, we need all those blue votes--EVERY ONE OF THEM--to point out that there are views that are opposite. Even if that state will absolutely be red, we CANNOT STAY HOME, we need to show that EVEN IN THE RED STATES, not everyone agrees!
Even if that state will absolutely be blue, we CANNOT STAY HOME, we need to show the strength of the number of voters, that THIS is the candidate/party/platform we want.
Beau had mentioned that in any election, whatever side "wins" the sheer number of opposing votes show that the "other side" needs to be heard.
Heaven knows, we'd hope that voters would understand this, but the sorry state of people not only believing the ridiculous pet eating stories--MANY are not even paying attention and are making upset calls to ANY city named "Springfield" regardless of which state it is in! We need to break it down in ways all can understand. (Jesus spoke in parables!)
So, explain the need to vote in this way: your book club of 10 members is planning a get together. They've never done this, but decide that from now at the club will offer dessert (ONE dessert) served to all. A vote is put out: shall we have chocolate pudding or pumpkin spice cake? Ah, it's fall! Who doesn't LOVE pumpkin spice cake? And so 9 of the members vote pumpkin spice, and the single chocolate pudding member is unhappy. The 9 are so thrilled with the pumpkin spice cake, they decide from now on EVERY MONTH is pumpkin spice cake, and the chocolate pudding person has to put up or shut up.
Now consider this: the vote went 6 for the cake, 4 for the pudding. Those 4 are going to be vocal--they aren't going to agree to cake forever. Their voice will (should!) be heard and recognized. Maybe the members will even discuss this and have a "bipartisan" compromise! What is the defining factor--does the chocolate pudding person love all things chocolate? Or not like cake? Do the pumpkin spice people love cake, love the seasonal flavor? MAYBE after discussion, it could be decided that "chocolate" is fine with any chocolate, and "cake" is fine with cake, thus, going forward CHOCOLATE CAKE for everyone. We don't all get exactly what we want, but we COMPROMISE.
Would that compromise have been made if it was 8 for cake, 2 for pudding? Perhaps that minority opinion would not be as compelling.
We need to voice our opinions in numbers too large to deny, regardless of the outcome we think will happen. ( regardless of poll numbers!).
It is poetic justice if Mark Robinson, who made his political career in NC as an Internet troll telling white supremacist Republicans what they wanted to hear, takes down Donald Trump, who did the same nationally. It is delicious to watch. My home state of NC is making me proud. https://jimbuie.substack.com/p/harris-surges-ahead-in-nc
I hope that in addition to Harris winning that the Dems will be able to control the House and the Senate. The fact that over the past two years the Republicans were basically unable to enact any laws that supported ordinary Americans should help. That would cause the Republican Party to become sane again.
Just as importantly, we need to flip these corrupt state governments, as well. Ohio, Texas, Florida, Idaho, Arkansas.....it's a long list, and it needs to be addressed - NOW!!
"Before political thinkers legitimized the idea of political opposition to the king, disagreeing with the person in charge usually led to execution or banishment for treason. Parties allowed for the idea of loyal and legitimate opposition..." What a consciousness change, right???
We need to blow apart this notion that the Rebublicans are good for the Jews. I think a good point of entry would be the start of Mike Johnson's speakership, because nothing could be more emblematic of Republicans' relationship to Israel than those early actions.
The first was a non-binding resolution in support of Israel and its right to defend itself in the war that Hamas started on October 7th 2023. His goal was to get every representative on record one way or another so that Republicans could bash various Democrats and Rand Paul as anti Israel. The resolution passed overwhelmingly, there were no surprises in the voting and huzzah! Republicans - except Rand Paul - cast more yea votes than Democrats. But, this was a non-binding resolution, demanding nothing of its adherents or opponents. It was words without action.
Johnson's next move was telling. President Biden had a funding request before congress to provide aid (read real support, not just the non-binding kind) to Israel's response to Hamas' initial attack and aid to Ukraine. House Republicans did not let the funding request reach the floor of the house, instead tabling it for a full six full months. While he was quite happy to provide Israel with happy sounding performative palaver, he made sure the the actual help that the Democrat in the White House was attempting to offer would not, in any timely manner. Israel appears to have muddled through on its reserves, but Ukraine suffered major setbacks from which it may not recover while Johnson fiddled around.
I want to note here that these two nations have something in common that we must consider when we ask if Republicans are good for the Jews. That common element is that both Israel and Ukraine have a Jewish leader, and it is to these two nations that Speaker Johnson denied timely aid. In light of this, the non-binding resolution reads a bit more like the obsequious palaver with which an enemy draws you near so that he may place a dagger in your back than a true attestation of friendship.
The comparison between the parties and their candidates would be laughable if it wasn’t deadly. For healthy minds there is no contest. You simply vote for the people who have a history of success, integrity and the good of the people in their hearts. The others are just swill that get hosed down the sewer
This quote from HCR’s letter, is a fundamental reality within our system: “ Democracy depends on at least two healthy political parties that can compete for voters on a level playing field.” IMO, we have had only one functioning party for years. The only realistic way to return to a sense of normal political stability is if the party off the rails can be defeated so definitively that it can be reformulated and made functional once again.
There has been solid Republican leadership but currently it is all in the rear view mirror.
Interesting critique on extremism in politics, which compares to the history of the French Revolution and the Stalin Terrors, the extremes continue in time until moderates revolt. Either the Moderates defuse and expel the Extremes or, as in Hitler's Germany and maybe Israel, the Extremes marginalize the Moderates with extreme prejudice and it is up to time and external forces to destroy the Extremes. Maybe I'm just too pessimistic.
Very articulate parallel.
I think you are right, Dave. History tells us that this is how it works. It is really time for US moderates to stand up tall and get it together. Failure to do so, puts the nation on a road to disaster.
Yessir. And, the bottom is just about ready to fall out as we continue to be distracted by all the deniers drinking out of that turd-filled punchbowl at mar-ah-lah-go. Time has come to kick the legs out from under that table.
Dave Gibson, it sounds like you are a realist. If you haven't already read or listened to Rachael Maddow's book, Prequel, it is well worth reading. It is fact-based and jaw dropping. I listened to it rather than reading it because Rachael narrates it herself and does a spectacular job.
Before the Mueller Report, and before most of us were aware, Rachael Maddow alerted us to the intention of Putin's Russia to kneecap the USA and influence our elections. I will always respect her for that.
Or maybe what you referred to here as your pessimism is optimism in disguise.
“Moderates revolt” is the oxymoron of all time.
Sadly your “ pessimistic “ thoughts are not unrealistic
And that is my prayer. The Republican Party is defeated up and down from coast to coast in all races. It is time for “We the People” have a government which works for all. For me, it is so obvious how inept the Republican Party is. As my one of my HR friends says, “They would all be on a PIP (performance improvement plan)” and out the day before the 30th day.
Here, here! I’m with you on that thought.
That they created the chronic plan to take over state legislation is so evil and creepy!
And that we were asleep at the wheel😞
Yeah..Elizabeth, "driving while blind" is more like it. But, at least we seem to have become awakened, having had what we can clearly see with our 20/20 hindsight, having had it 'streamed' to us over these past 8 years wasted years of our lives. I guess it will only be really "wasted" if the (R)ss-holes prevail (win??) in November. VOTE. Driving out from under this mess is going to be even harder.
Thats a long game strategy. If anything it reflects the Democrats lack of vision and lack of planning to inspire constant civic interest in democray
Let's face it. We bought into it.., little by little by little. I don't think there was any 'plan' as some would put it. Human behavior though, is quite predictable. Kinda like "global warming", huh. And, here we are. Well, I'll be doggoned!
And successful. In plain sight, but ignored
No solid gop leadership since Reagan was elected!
Reagan started the war on the Middle Class, invented the fictionalized "Welfare Queen," began tax on Social Security payments, turned the mentally and emotionally ill out onto the streets, fired the Air Traffic Controllers and gave a massive tax cut to the wealthy and big corporations, tripling the national debt during his term in office. Reagan demonized the federal government that he headed: "Government is not the solution; government is the problem," [speech at CPAC.] Also, "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'" The problem is endemic in the system: accumulated capital is never satisfied and strives to pay no taxes while impoverishing the great majority of the people, without whom massive amounts of capital could not be produced. [Abraham Lincoln.]
I agree that Reagan was a major milestone, but is that when it started? What about Milton Friedman's book, Capitalism and Freedom (1961)? The founding principle of capitalism is in Adam Smith's book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759). An appropriate name for Freidman's book is "The Theory of Immoral Sentiments."
The irony is that the Democratic party's success is due to applying the founding principle of capitalism while being referred to as "commies" by a party that does not have an elementary school level understanding of the concept.
James, nor do they understand Marxism or socialism, two other words that they like to throw around. No pol here in Oregon can get elected if they identify as socialist. Right now we are being treated to many political ads for the House. I am amazed at the lies put out by DeRemer, the current rep for district five. She is a R and would have you think that she has been bipartisan. Our rep is the D, Salinas. She is running ads, but we haven't seen one from her R opponent. Then there is the mad man, Joe Kent, running as the R in Washington's 3rd. No policies of course. His opponent is the current D Perez, whose ads are much more effective and show a number of Rs supporting her.
Friedman laid the groundwork for the fall of the Republic with his foundational work on the "trickle down" myth,
but it was Lewis Powell's memorandum of 1971 that was the seminal battle plan and call to action that destroyed the middle class in the US.
Powell also inspired the founders of Heritage Foundation and ALEC, among other right-wing anti-democratic fifth column actors.
If Nixon had been less the Ted Cruz of Barry Goldwaters, he - rather than Reagan - would be remembered as the one who openly launched and popularized the fascist revolution in this country.
There you go Richard. Excellent as always in response to HCR, who’s a national hero.
HCR is nothing short of amazing. Her book, "How the South Won the Civil War," caused me to realize that we're really at war with oligarchs, and always will be. They're the ones who owned the slaves back in the days before the Civil War. What we're dealing with now are their progeny, euphemistically speaking. It's in the DNA. The one thing that one can never have enough of is money. Why, for example, would Musk and Bezos object to their employees receiving living wages? It takes government to "fix" the matter. FDR did it.
Richard, agreed that we can trace some of our current problems to that clown. And he became for some, a kind of saint. I still remember the cartoon that showed what was happening in his brain. One would think that having one president with dementia would be enough.
My husband had dementia and he was still a kind man who thought of others as he died. They were cretins to start with.
Yes, only made worse by their mental problems.
I have always felt that Nancy Reagan was this nation's first de facto female President. At the end Reagan was non compos mentis. But, he wasn't thrown out onto the streets to sleep in cardboard boxes.
Wilson also had problems at the end of his presidency and his wife also ran things. No, St Ray gun didn't end up on the street, but everyone that his policies undermined did. Every time I see a homeless camp, I think about what he did. People now complain long and loud about this and continue to vote R and do not want any solution to the homeless crisis anywhere near them. Recently a guy walked down the street next to our property shouting obscenities and was obviously in need of mental help. Also my husband, when we were waiting for our lunch at the Saturday Market, saw a woman in the creek nearby, shouting. He called the police and waited until someone came. We often see people who are obviously mentally ill while we are out and we just hope they do not decide to step into traffic.
I think she ruled the fool.
Richard, thank you for your excellent analysis. As frustrated as I've been during this period, and not understanding why there can possibly be any ambivalence in this election cycle, I've been equally frustrated at the kid glove treatment of Reagan during and after his reign. His acting capabilities enabled him to dismantle social services and close mental hospitals with a big, disarming smile on his face, and few understood his evil intent.
Well stated, Richard. But, we must add IMO perhaps the most important of that Reagan-led list,......his veto of the Fairness Doctrine which paved the way for the unending lies of Rush Limbaugh and the eventual Murdoch empire, all of which became the fuel for open lies w/ No Consequences.
https://publicseminar.org/essays/ronald-reagans-worst-decision-created-rush-limbaugh/
Richard, you are so intelligent! I love reading your posts. You are always spot on! Hugs from this old woman!
"No solid gop leadership since Reagan was elected!"
Trump is merely Reagan writ large and writ vulgar. Different style, same Federalist, Heritage, agenda. No more dog whistles. Proud and out loud right wing racist religious extremism in service of unmitigated greed.
The Roberts Court via Leonard Leo is the spawn of Reagan in bed with Ralph Reed. Movement Conservatives in bed with the Religious Right.Project 2025 = Reagan's Southern Strategy come to fruition.
Isn't it strange that Reagan was the head of the actor's union and Dumpty was a NY democrat before they tasted the Federalist Kool Aid.
Totally agree--this started with Reagan
And Reagan was corrupt!
You mean Eisenhower.
Reagan was a simpleton dupe.
We need to remember that the Council for National Policy was created in 1981 to make sure Reagan's campaign promises and policies were implemented. Also he was the first GOP president to be presented with the Heritage Foundation's "Mandate for Leadership." Project 2025 is just another generation of policies to be implemented by the next GOP president. The policy mandates have become more and more radical since Reagan and there are literally no old guard GOP operatives in place to stop the extreme policies from being implemented, especially if the GOP has the Presidency, the Congress, and as we know, the Supreme Court.
Both parties suck- the Democrats used frivolous lawsuits to keep RFKJR off the ballot (so undemocratic) and made Harris the nominee without due process, not to mention the censorship that Biden used on Kennedy.
Ah John…both sides do it is a losing proposition!
Actually the false equivalencies of Putin allies such as Stein and LaRouche helped Trump win via duopolist vote splitting stooges. And they're still at it.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/12/lyndon-larouche-roger-stone-russia-robert-mueller/
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/russians-launched-pro-jill-stein-social-media-blitz-help-trump-n951166
Couldn't agree more, especially on LaRouche (knowing he was being used). Had some long discussions with a political veteran LaRouche supporter/operative(?) at a protest in D.C. who kept trying to sell us on stuff we saw through in Hawaii. His former hippie looking supporters changed to very conservative dress and tried everything to sell the ideas without saying who was behind them. A lot of gullible people donated without knowing the money was going to LaRouch.
Jill Stein supporters were more like Ralph Nader supporters (to us), rational enough in policy desires but naive in the impact of what splitting votes would do vs trying to get one or both parties to get recognition of their concerns and at least some actual results in a coalition type balance.
Oh yes, Putin's friend, Jill, not green, Stein. I had to explain to one of my LMTs who had voted for her why he had been conned.
So true!
Do you really think the DNC isn’t corrupt?I can see that the 2 party system isn’t working and I think a third party is needed now.
Here I agree. Several parties would be good. New ideas floated. But ONLY if we have "Ranked Choice Voting" so they don't wreck the nation as spoilers.
Rankedchoice and an amendment to insist on electoral votes partitioned by the whole vote. Or the National Popular Vote compact, which eliminates the need for an amendment.
Yes! RCV is the solution. We came so close the last time we tried to pass RCV.
Some sort of ranked choice might well help, Bill, I agree.
Having lived in Canada for 50 years, I can say that based on my experience here, 3 parties are no better than two, and in some ways worse. My best guess is that a 2-party (one R, one L) is the best solution for the Executive, if one could eliminate the ridiculous EC, but that some systems of proportional representation in the HR could improve things. Also, either making the Senate a democratic institution or reducing its power and influence considerably by passing most of the authority to the HR might improve things. If one is stuck with the present toad, because that was the will of the 'founders' who lived under vastly different circumstances 2 and a half centuries ago, one must accept the warts and make the best of it. Sticking to the concept of one person: one vote by getting big money out of politics entirely, would be an excellent start.
John Daigle, is Putin paying you for overtime work in St Petersburg?
John Daigle - "I think a third party is needed now."
I hear this a lot. Wishing seems (so far) to be ineffective. So, what's stopping YOU from starting one?
All you need is a charismatic leader or a small group of influential individuals to take the initiative to form the party. This person (group) would draft the party’s platform (goals, policies, and beliefs) and establish a leadership hierarchy.
The Party must, then, organize itself with structures like a central committee, local branches, and a defined membership process. This allows it to function in a systematic way and coordinate political activities.
Finally, you would need a sufficient number of supporters (followers) to provide funding for things like a Convention... and Primaries.
I, also, hear of the silly "ranked voting" scheme which certainly would not produce a third Party (or any, for that matter).
I agree that a third party is a long shot, but I suggest you take a more serious look at ranked choice voting. The first episode of this podcast has a good discussion of the topic.
https://crooked.com/podcast-series/assemblyrequired/
What about the rally?these people say we are headed towards totalitarianism,
Who are "these people"? Check your sources more carefully.
John, you have to get the meds refilled BEFORE you run out!
Can you explain where I am wrong,I take no meds?
Caution, Russian influence peddler.
Yup. TROLL ALERT
Reported under Substack Inc's Terms of Use ( TOU) & U.S. Dept of Treasury guidelines for "influencers" influenced by other actors.
I have nothing to do with Russia, just an independent opinion, the September 29 rally is making a valid point ,what is wrong with that?
Third parties work in a parliamentary system. They do not work in an Electoral College system.
Final Five voting (doesn’t Alaska have Final Four?) is also another option—would open things up to more choices—would help in the state and local races. Then we need to abolish the Electoral College.
Exactly, Monroe, and we do not have a parliamentary system where several parties can form a coalition.
RFK, Jr. - Almost as whacked as Vance and his cat eating. Anti-vaxxer, bear and whale disrespecter...maybe he was right about those cell phones causing "leaky brain". Or maybe it was the worm in his head. John, you really can't be taken seriously if you tout this guy.
And Harris brilliantly used the "due process" to gather enormous support. She didn't have to fight for the nomination. We all jumped on board because she may be the most qualified candidate for the presidency in our history.
Also, if you pay attention, Harris speaks extremely well. Complete sentences filled with good stuff. She is the very definition of a good leader.
But hey, you could go fishing this weekend and maybe find a whale head to throw on top of your car.
I will never vote for Trump no matter what Kennedy ‘s involvement with him is because half the country like you have been so insulted by him.And for many other reasons.Harris did very well in the debate but I could not vote for her either.I am very disappointed with our election process of only 2 parties.And I think Kennedy abandoned his followers who declared their independence. It is so sad.
Why do you feel you can’t vote for her?
Opinions are not facts. The republican? Party has pushed lies and lines to confuse and convince ……….
Totally false equivalence. As if those two things are the only difference between the parties, even if either one was remotely true? Are you kidding me?
I don’t see how you can embrace the Democratic Party because it is just as corrupt as the Republican Party.Maybe you think Gabbard and Kennedy make points that are invalid, and the rally on September 29 is foolish. Please explain why .Aren’t they the party of war and censorship now?
I do not agrée the Democratic Party is just as corrupt as the Republican Party. The Democratic Party is still operating as a political party. Actually I think the Republican Party no longer exists. It is like a fake movie set now. The designers of Project 2025 are waiting in the wings literally waiting for their cue. DJT is their stooge. He is good at taking directions as long as they are prefaced with flattery. As Harris said, “…not a serious man.” RFK was also not a serious candidate. He was a spoiler—a plot twist. Forget him now. He is done with politics (unless DJT is elected and gives him a cushy job). Democrats have offered a traditional choice. Kamala Harris has the credentials and skill set to be Commander in Chief. To choose DJT is to install Project 2025 and complete the dismantling of our democracy. Kamala Harris can do the job. She is the only choice this time around. I urge you to vote for her.
So how do you explain the frivolous lawsuits brought by the DNC to keep RFKJR off the ballots?Nothing more undemocratic than that in my opinion. And don’t you think Harris knew president Biden was mentally impaired? I can’t vote for her either.
The Republicans in Congress, the majority of them, backed Trump's lie that he won the 2020 election. Without peaceful transfer of power, there is no democracy. The one most willing to use violence wins. That fact about democracy is the most important fact for this election.
Ok but there are other very important considerations, for example the capture of our government agencies by the corporations, the health problems maybe caused by toxins that are in our foods and the censorship by the government on people who disagree with their policies
John, I get your frustration, but I think you’ve failed to accept RFK Jr. was never a real candidate, and simply failed to catch on with voters. And no, supporting Ukraine and rejecting monkey urine as a cure for Covid don’t make Dems the party of war and censorship. These talking points are straight outa Moscow.
Do you think the September 29 rally has any merit or significance?What about the 8 pillars the resistance talk’s about?
Only 1 party rioted at the Capital 6 Jan killing and injuring many. Just one party- Repub
Wah wah wah.
Such a lazy mind.
At least I know the Covid vaccine was a scam!
John, the Covid vaccine was developed urgently under a new regimen with new techniques to answer an emergent public health need and it demonstrated significant reduction of morbidity and mortality amongst those who received it, albeit with some few who did suffer adverse effects. This is NOT the definition of a scam although it may not be something you chose to utilize.
There were alternatives that worked to the vaccine but Fauci pushed the vaccine because it made lots of money for the big Pharmaceutical companies.I believe this.
You have just outed yourself as an ignoramus.
I agree, John, that neither side is free of fault. However, I maintain that elections are like a trip to your optometrist: better than, worse than -- they choice is up to you as are the results. One must correct the prescription periodically if one wants it to work. I am still naive enough to believe that democratic principles allow people the best chance to get what they WANT. The trick has two parts: 1) knowing what you want, and 2) understanding clearly what you have now.
Who is John Dingle?
Troll.
Substack Inc has contractual duties to all of us as defined "Readers" along with some "Authors". Under Substack Inc's own choice of California law, the heavy burden of good faith & fair dealing is squarely on this Platform.
I offered total Substack Inc to mediation at their chose venue, JAMS SF, which is only a few blocks from Substack Inc'c SF office & my old law firm on Montgomery Street, San Francisco.
Kamala's is no longer the SF District Attorney, dern it.
Craig, someone who just woke up from his nap
Someone who has mass and takes up space
Why do you insult me, that’s what Trump does
You could start your own Substack instead of riding on the back of Heather Cox Richardson’s incredible work. You’d no doubt have a huge following. I feel guilty writing two comments.
I have no followers but my opinion matters just as does yours. Don’t understand why the right pillars of the resistance rally can’t be taken seriously .
Is Republican leadership in the rear view mirror? I would say it is in exile, which is to say that the Republican party has made it impossible for a leader to be in a position of power. They got rid of "whites only" and replaced it with a "sycophants only" sign.
The MAGA lap dogs in Congress need to learn a lesson that their subservience to Trump will cost them their seats.
Agreed. It is the accountability mechanism for the voting public.
Gary Anderson, I agree whole-heartedly. If you haven't already read or listened to Rachael Maddow's book, Prequel, it is well worth reading. It is fact-based and jaw dropping. I listened to it rather than reading it because Rachel narrates it herself and does a spectacular job.
Yes, I have also listened to Prequel as well as both seasons of Ultra. Rachel did a great job on all of those. I admire her verbal delivery as well as admiring the quality of her research and her writing.
That was the advice from defeat in 2012. And the tea party faction turned to chump…. That group of power-hungry idiots may have painted themselves into a corner, but it will take a shellacking to convince those who had a taste of unrestrained power.
🙏
See the comparison demonstrated in real time on CSpan. Chair R James Comer. Ranking member D Jamie Raskin.
To repair Trump's debate debacle, this week House Republicans, instead of getting a clean CR to fund the gov't, are using House committees to explicitly campaign against Harris (explicitly in violation of House rules Republicans voted for.) Here Comer has assembled a panel of Trump officials and associates who helped author chapters of Project 2025. Although Fox et al will have their Jonathan Turley type 'expert' soundbites, wily Democrats used the panelists to demonstrate Trump's ties to Project 2025. Although also damning of the GOP, is Comer's continued trashing of rules of order. He refuses to let Democrats make points of order. 'Because I can' is his stated MO. Going so far as to tell one Dem to 'sit down and take your meds.' But he screwed up, letting a Democrat have the entire Project 2025 entered into the record. Something other GOP chairs refused to allow.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?538532-1/fcc-commissioner-testify-biden-administration-policies
Comer’s behavior right outta the authoritarian playbook
Jeezus!
Lin, If you haven't already read or listened to Rachael Maddow's book, Prequel, it is well worth reading. It is fact-based and jaw dropping. I listened to it rather than reading it because Rachel narrates it herself and does a spectacular job.
Diana King, I hesitate to agree with your full comment because of the last sentence: “The others are just swill….” In frustration, I often feel that same way. Yet I keep meeting acquaintances, or hear of family members of friends who have trump-die-hards in their “loved-one” circle, or are one themselves. It never stops me from being humbled. This is a monumentally hard task ahead of us. Changing hearts and minds, because no matter what happens in November, we are all on the Big-Blue-Marble-Mothership together. Our tendency to frustratedly hate each other because we do not “see reality” the same is a manufactured divisiveness. I believe Dems will win in November. Then the work of learning how to live and function together continues, but hopefully with continued wise governing from the Dems.
Wise words. Just had a pleasant short conversation with a neighbor while walking my dog. Though we can’t talk politics - he’s a Libertarian who will again vote for Trump- we chat. Just a how ya doin’ kind of thing. Civility matters.
And he keeps dog treats in his garage so Kiri likes him. Has to start somewhere….. (my dog is from Alabama, Mountain Cur/Pit bull/German Shepard mix. She is not particularly friendly. If Kiri will approach this guy, I can too, lol)
Perfect. Let the dogs lead the way. My cat, on the other hand, chose to hiss at one moment when fpotus was on the TV. I trust her, too.
I saw that cat hissing video-smart kitty!
Civility and non violence should be what we promote, however, the saying that the republicans comes with guns while dems carry a knife is so true and we need to find a healthy balance when talking with idiots without calling them idiots.
🤣🤣🤣🐈⬛🐾🐈 my cat Griffin approves!
Artemis 🐈⬛ thanks you. Apollo 🐈 is sleeping.
Sheila B (MN), If you haven't already read or listened to Rachael Maddow's book, Prequel, it is well worth reading. It is fact-based and jaw dropping. I listened to it rather than reading it because Rachel narrates it herself and does a spectacular job.
MLRGRMI, if you haven't already read or listened to Rachael Maddow's book, Prequel, it is well worth reading. It is fact-based and jaw dropping. I listened to it rather than reading it because Rachel narrates it herself and does a spectacular job.
A former Republican POTUS, Theodore Roosevelt, once said, “Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” Another way to say it is, nobody cares what you know until they know what you care about. The only thing the 2024 version of the Republican party cares about is having enough power to destroy America. But thank you, Heather, for our daily dose of the dawn’s early light.
EDIT: fine and important analysis, Ma'am. Thank you. 🤝
"Mark Robinson has said he will not step aside." G-D, I hope not. What my first mentor in making my way out of alcohol and drug abuse said to me forty years ago. ✌🏽
"Ned, some are sicker than others." So very proud of what Vice President Harris ACCOMPLIHED as the border czar -- targeting those 'aliens' alien to our welfare. 💔
We need these right-wingnuts in our faces to refortify what we are voting for. Senator Vance frightens me the most as an Aaron Burr or an Alcibiades -- brilliant and confident. 😱
He is flexible with his principles as they service his ambition. Some say that Senator Goldwater and President Reagan would not do these things. I agree. But that no longer matters. 😥
Even as a Republican, I knew the Tea Party was racist and the commie-canard was udder bool-sheet being milked. These people are tapped out morally and exhausted intellectually. 🤢
Great turn of phrase.
Diana King, If you haven't already read or listened to Rachael Maddow's book, Prequel, it is well worth reading. It provides a fact-based and jaw-dropping. I listened to it rather than reading it because Rachel narrates it herself and does a spectacular job.
“””Trump told a Jewish group that if he loses, it will be the fault of Jewish Americans. "I will put it to you very simply and gently: I really haven't been treated right, but you haven't been treated right because you're putting yourself in great danger."””
Or in other words, “ I’m sorry I keep hitting you, but you keep causing my anger. “
Trump sounds like a classic domestic abuser. He is the face (and fists) of the Republican Party, the party of Abusers of all stripes:
-Liars, cheaters, con artists, &
White-collar criminals
Abusive law enforcement
Bullies
Abusive patriarchists
Toxic masculinists
Public Abusers (internet trolls and toxic media personalities such as Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones, & Tucker Carlson)
-Domestic Abusers
-Rapists & other sex-related non-consensual behaviors
-Sexual harassers & stalkers
-Pedophiles
-Self-appointed morals police and Bible thumpers (who attack abortion clinics and LGBTQIA+ members - particularly Transgender people)
-Misogynists & sexists
-White Nationalists
-Racists/racism, anti-[brown] immigrant groups
-Anti-government groups
-Well-armed fringe militant & outlaw groups
-Cultists
Most of all, I see such amoral, selfish, dangerous greed from wealthy & corporate donors who want to cut taxes for the wealthy and dump them on the rest of the country who can barely afford make ends meet. They also want to deregulate so they can be free to take advantage of workers and consumers, and not be held accountable for harms they cause.
Software wouldn't let me hit "like."
As a card carrying Semite, I'm gonna aim my Jewish laser at him.
Lase away, Daniel. This upstick on attacks on Jews suggests a direct feed to the neo-Nazis et al who embalm their minds in this garbage. Trump just the same would happily feed Palestinians to the Israelis. On that issue, the Dems seem to have fallen into utter impotence.
Not really. 7 Americans still hostages.
Moral for Jewish Americans: DON"T BE A SCHMUCK FOR TRUMP!
E.G. What is the moral of Trump University when Trump had to fork over $25 mil to compensate for consequential damages for being a schmuck for Trump?
ANS: Don't be a schmuck for Trump!
Same for any ordinary person who worked for him. A litany of plumbers, electricians, plasterers, etc were debtors in his six (6) bankruptcies.
Who but a schmuck would buy gold Trump tennis shoes or his playing cards, or the rest of his merch.
Who but a schmuck would donate to a billionaire's campaign or defense fund.
I like your choice of the word "schmuck" whose origin is from the Yiddish word for "penis" as you are obviously aware.
I now have a new "colorful adjective" to use! I have been (at least whilst driving and observing a ton of unsatisfactory display of driving skills, knowledge of rules of the road, and blatant display of asshattery) utilizing either the word that bothers Richards everywhere, ore mispronouncing the portion of male anatomy as PEN-us. Schmuck it is!
The real dilemma is those schmucks vote.
Step 1 of the 12 step program is to acknowledge that "I am not in control." The Republican party is weak because it is not there yet. Dems are potent in lieu of impotent, but only to the extent that Dems continue to recite the serenity prayer.
I'm talking about the Biden administration's ability to influence Israel's military policy, folks.
Yeah sometimes the site takes a coffee break. I had a hard time with liking posts earlier this week.
Same for me. I am blocked! Why? But I was able to like your comment!
Anyway, I like Lisa Whitfield’s comment!
Ditto. As for the blocking, good to see it's not just me. Must be a software glitch. I hope!
It seems due to so many trying to do it at the same time, when I try a bit later, it has always worked eventually.
The Red Dr Li h
You've got a super apt list here, Lisa.
It matches well to Heather's exquisite nailing of how corrupt, and extremist gerrymandering and suppression of voters' rights let the Republican party sink to being.
This corruption of theirs, wed to the corruption of big money sickening things more, leaves America as Heather exactly says: with no place for the two-sided, level playing field any democracy needs.
So we've the spectacle we have: the rancid, hate-bottom-line, insult-spewing, and totally lying indulgences of assholes like Robinson, Trump, Vance, Thiel, McConnell, Clarence on that sick court of his, and many, many more playing only to make this spectacle more vulgar, more violent, more spiraling into the deeper cesspool which our incompetents and craven so crave.
Lisa, is "Bible thumpers" a term whose time has come and gone. Billy Graham, Robert Schuler seem to fit into this category as opposed to most of the evalngelist preachers that treat Trump as their demagogue. This link is to a story that says that an evangelist in TX (of course) says that Harris used witchcraft to win the debate.
https://www.sacurrent.com/news/texas-pro-trump-evangelist-says-harris-used-witchcraft-to-win-debate-35563225
There are perhaps 100 references to sorcery or necromancing in the Bible, but to call Harris a witch because of Trump's catastrophic debate performance is way beyond the pale.
http://www.openbible.info/topics/witchcraft (warning: not a secure website)
I guess it's for each of us to decide if these so-called evangelists are Bible thumpers, but they seem to be haters who are out for revenge after what they believe to be a stolen election in 2020.
Texas has so much potential, but it's filled with self serving yahoos and greedy sh*ts that is frustrating. Maybe we can replace Cruz w Allred. Maybe we can shift the balance of power in the TX state legislature. I have hope that the average common sense Texan will finally perceive the b.s. and get pissed enough to vote. I have hope, but not much patience left.
From what I read by a facebook friend from TX they make it very hard for democrats to vote. She said she was intimidated whenever she went outside. She may have been having emotional/mental issues but I am sure living in TX did not help at all. TX has also changed some regulations that will seriously impact the blue major cities as far as properly counting votes goes. Of course.
Gary, the Oxford dictionary says "yes":
"nouninformal•North American
a person who expounds or follows the teachings of the Bible in an aggressively evangelical way.
"he wasn't a Bible-thumper and never talked about his religion"
As someone who has been "Bible thumped" by many people who told me they could "hate the sin (homosexuality) but love the sinner (me)" I was glad to see that definition. I would usually tell these folks "you hate who and what I am, therefore you hate me."
Your list makes it read like poetry and tears welled up. The counterbalance to this nightmare for my outlook today is having learned about USA Facts (https://usafacts.org/?msclkid=ff7b6882de7e102c77990e6f90cd3ec4) after watching an interview with Steve Ballmer by Jon Stewart https://www.youtube.com/live/PdX3nOo7BCQ.
That interview Jon Stewart did with Steve Ballmer is EXCELLENT! It is a truly insightful and honest and good-natured serious discussion of the relationship between capitalism and freedom. Twenty-three minutes worth your time.
Good interview. Thanks for the heads up.
Thank you for those links. That interview with zjon Stewart is great. It didn't delve enough, in my opinion, into the complaints about capitalism that Stewart was repeating, about why Balmer opined that clear regulations are a businessman friends, and about unmonitored other capitalists that are truly selve - serving (There are ample examples of both kinds of capitalists in all industries). That complaint expressed, I am glad that the purpose of advertising the USAFacts website was achieved. Now, how do we get MAGAmaniacs to pay attention?
Thanks. Will have to check out links.
Thanks, I just watched a bunch the USA Facts videos and they are concise, clear, and easy to understand. I took a lot of screenshots of the various charts.
Putting the blame on Jews if he loses and saying "they are putting themselves in grave danger" are scary words to me, as a Jewish person. If he does not get the Jewish vote but manages to win anyway, Jews better watch out. How do these right-wing Jews continue to vote for this Nazi.
And if that doesn't jolt people out of complacency, nothing will.
Trump rallies and the Republican party look like the line for the tollbooth in Blazing Saddles.
Medley Lamar: I want rustlers, cut throats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, con men, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswogglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass-kickers, shit-kickers and Methodists.
(LOL- it's Headley not Medely)
Your list from Blazing Saddles reminded me of home. I grew up in NJ & looking back I can honestly say there were no decent business people that my parents' business dealt with. I met primarily con artists & grifters after I graduated. Oh and some vile republicans. And my aunt, who was a humdinger, was a Methodist.
I confess, Trump's statement about Jewish people didn't make sense to me. It seems like he wanted to complain about his own treatment and then realized whom he was talking to, so his fevered mind tried to draw in the horrible treatment of Jewish people into some sort of (false) equivalence. Then he remembered his Nazi roots (via his father Fred) and finished the run-on sentence with a blame put on Jewish voters for both causing his impending electoral loss as well as for any stochastic terrorism they experience.
Your last paragraph puts it in a nutshell: the pursuit of the wealthiest of our country to make the USA a fiefdom in order to keep all but their wealthy “comrades” mere serfs to their kingly riches.
The GOP is the political embodiment of porn.
It's a result of many dedicated GenX men and women who have worked they're asses off with administering Narcan, feeding homeless addicts, and moving folks to shelters. Very grateful for the work they do.
I wonder how much of a difference it makes just to know that the current POTUS cares about all Americans as opposed to having a POTUS who cares more about his gold toilets. That knowledge by itself is no where near enough, but it's where it starts, and I think it makes a big difference.
Nice observation. But the fact is that the people in the frontline, with families in thier face traumatized by the hundreds of deaths due to overdose (another misnomer-most were poisoned) cannot begin to cope with the grief while real people are moving in and out of these hellscapes multiple times daily.
The victims are from both parties. Death don't have no mercy in this time.
So while fingerpointing feels justified, this needs all hands on deck to suceed. Perhaps the "Golden Toilet" reference could also include "Defunding Addiction Intervention in favor of Private Prisons" and "Extolling Destabilizing Autocratic Leadership" who, in many cases, cynically supply the drugs to sow chaos.
Again, these people I refer to are missionaries of our time being tested and (as Professor Richardson illustrates) succeeding.
Somebody once compared helping Addicts and Alcohol Dependent Users getting clean and sober to catching hummingbirds by thier breast feathers.
The projection of the Republican Party is so obvious. Accuse opponents of your own misdeeds.
Jewish Americans are not the Israeli government and overwhelminly support Harris, who tries not to play the same identity politics of the Trump forces.
I don't know how much clearer the choice can be yet polling shows a close race. There are not enough informed voters.
I don't believe the polls - who picks up the phone anymore if they don't recognize the number? No one has ever polled me, have you been polled? Same old same old. We're gonna see a landslide come November. Women will show these mofo's how we think
I believe that, too, but taking no chances. This weekend, I begin knocking on doors in a predominantly republican area to try to convince voters to elect Democrats to office. Not a perfect party for sure, but if the Constitution is turned into kindling, there is no further course correction. The current R party must be defeated.
Agree! We can not get complacent. Thank you for getting out there and educating folks!
❤️💙😍Good Luck. Don’t go alone.
Thank you. We'll be working in pairs.
Has anyone thoroughly investigated the polling industry itself? It seems like there is one and it seems that there might be a lot of slanted players so to speak.
Maybe they are informed but have closed minds.
Bingo!
About it! A lot of Americans are mired in their basest prejudices, with outright lies fed to them by Maga and Foxy propaganda.
And there are too many foreign mercenaries answering polls. Most polls are phone calls and online questionnaires that about 500 people in each party supposedly answered. Do you answer an unfamiliar phone call? How does 500 answers correlate statistically with millions of voters? More worrisome is what MAGats have done in the 2000 Census and with fake electors. The fat thumb is on the scales of justice and needs to be smacked off even if it looks “political.” MAGats will boohoo their crocodile tears anyway.
As Kamala Harris said in her virtual rally with Oprah tonight… this election is about values… kindness, respect for each other and for different opinions and lifting each other up. They are not “achieved” as Republicans and their marketers would suggest, through manipulation and coercion or draconian policies. They are taught and modeled at home by those of us who believe in them. When the power of love is stronger than the love of power (and money) the world will know peace. May we vote blue up and down the ballot and continue to stem the flow of illicit drugs and hate which can only be explained by greed and mental illness.
Or, to summarize: November 5 will be a national referendum on good versus evil.
"When the power of love is stronger than the love of power, the world will know peace." A great quote I believe has been attributed to Jimi Hendrix. I think we might be getting closer to that noble goal.
Daniel, Ruth Ben-Ghiat agrees…
"Love insists that we are precious beings who deserve leaders who respect us and promote our well-being, not tyrants who deceive, rob, jail and kill us. Love supports resistance in places where freedom has been lost, and it can also help endangered democracies like our own to reverse course."
https://open.substack.com/pub/lucid/p/we-know-what-hate-can-do-its-time?r=fqsxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Thanks for sharing, Kathy. I love that Love is beginning to supplant the hate that has been unleashed by tfg.
Yes!
Thank you for documenting the epic sh*tshow that the GQP has become. Truly sad and scary that there are millions of willfully ignorant sheep that plan to vote for these scumwads.
Sad thing is, these foolish 'sheep' will be on the 'slaughter list' too. No one is safe in an autocracy, whether shot or starved to death.
George, I am pondering "willfully ignorant". I have a set of people in my world that are good, solid, caring people who still vote for the scoundrel; they might fall into the "willfully ignorant" category. I have others whose hatred (and fear) of the "other" overrides their knowledge. There are some who base their opinions on the questionable news sources on down to bald faced lies. Those are the willfully ignorant. I once thought that the goodness (I thought) of their character would create cognitive dissonance in them. No longer.
Honestly, this is the most important column anyone will read this year.
And we say that almost every night!
Or morning depending on when the letter drops for us. 😃
in as much as I'd like to put a bumper sticker or sign supporting Kamala and Tim on my car or lawn, my fear of weird republican retribution keeps me from doing so.
I still speak boldly for their support, but largely to an audience of like minded supporters, who cannot fathom why anyone would be a retrumpican.
Trump has ruined the 2 party system of checks and balances.
Every morning I wake up to new chaos caused by one criminal trying to stay out of jail ..disgusting.
thank you Heather for your daily antidote of sanity
Put the sign up. I live in suburban Pittsburgh, and right now, there are more Trump signs than in 2020. But here’s the thing: fewer homes have Trump signs, but the ones that do look they are campaign headquarters, with so many signs posted. People who put Harris signs in their yards tell the people who see them that it’s ok to support HARRIS/WALZ, because their neighbor does. It’s a sign of safe harbor for their beliefs.
It's still early but here in rural ME way fewer than half the homes that had Trump signs up in 2020 have them up now. And I have yet to see a Trump flag, hat or bumper sticker her. And I live in a district where our electoral vote went for Trump in 2016 and 2020.
And there are way more Harris/Walz signs than there were Biden/Harris signs in 2020.
Many people downplay the impact of the signs because there doesn't seem to be a pattern of more signs = winner of the race.
It is not Trump alone. Watch "Bad Faith" about how organized and well financed Christian Nationalism is. They have been organizing this religious war for many decades. Trump has just brought it out in the open and is possibly their "savior" who will realize a Christian Nationalist government. They are not going away even if Trump goes away.
OMG, we did watch it. It doesn't seem to be getting the mention that it deserves.
It seemed that every service in the churches were filled with "hate" and never "love."
The only surprise to me in today's newsletter is the Catholic dioceses condemning the mistreatment and lies by Trump, JD and many MAGAs over Springfield, OH.
I was shocked because the Catholic Church is clearly a patriarchy and a white supremacist cult and for them to criticize Trump and JD is shocking.
Look up the web page “Catholics for Catholics”.
I was traveling in Butler PA, the town where Trump was shot, and there’s a giant billboard that has a silhouette of Trump w his fist in the air and the passage, “Michael the Archangel, defend us.” The Catholic Church does not run this page, but there are images of priests in mass, and ROGER F-ING STONE TAKING COMMUNION! (I hoped it burned in his throat.)
Good grief*
*paraphrase of at least a dozen profane, vulgar, and blasphemous words. I'm with you. I hope the host leaves pain, inbound and outbound.
My sister in a small PA town has two Harris/Walz signs in her yard as well as a Bob Casey sign.
She has never had any issues.
https://theportager.com/residents-express-fear-after-sheriff-says-write-down-all-the-addresses-of-harris-supporters/
So that he can send immigrants to their homes.
That Sheriff is simply disgusting.
And, sigh, he's from Ohio, just down the road from me. He is getting a lot of push-back, but the Secretary of State Frank LaRose says he's just exercising his "free speech rights." Yeah.
I've seen a few "Veterans Against Trump" signs in my rural community. I told my husband (a veteran) that we should get one, but he's concerned about repercussions. On the other hand, if Kamala wins -- WHEN she wins, I should say -- he wants to put up a huge American flag. :)
Two things: Put the flag up now! It is our flag. Second: A "Veterans Against Trump" or "Veterans for Harris" will positively influence people you don't even know about. I have had two people contact me, and ask if I would put one up in my yard; I tell them that would be "stolen valor" because I am not a Veteran.
We’ve been dealing with these GQP nutcases for way too long. Every election cycle I think they’ve finally gone too far and sanity will be restored. Today’s HCR column has me feeling hopeful about this again. But truly the only way out is big pluralities in the House and Senate as well as President, so Citizens United can be overturned. The big money interests don’t really care how low their puppets go as long as they win.
Don’t need to overturn Citizens United. Just pass campaign finance vouchers and let the public become the “big donors”.
Compared to the damage caused by the current system of donor control, especially the trillions lost to Great Recession, matching the $20 billion being spent this year would be a bargain.
So much of the damage we see is a loss of wisdom as Congress became totally dependent on the donor class (left and right).
In particular because we stopped effectively regulating financial institutions and stopped using taxes to pay for what we spend.
All good except your claim we don't use taxes to pay for what we spend. We never have. Like corporations, we borrow to create the future.
It seems like there is a crescendo of Republican corruption and scandal with each new revelation worse than the last, each “diverting attention” from last week’s scandal. And yet the polls, of which I’m more and more skeptical, in spite of all the economic and other good news, continue to indicate a neck-and-neck race.
Kudos to the Teamsters local unions who are bucking the national committee in coming out in support of Harris/Walz. If more locals follow suit, the national office may be compelled to fall in line, walk back their election neutrality, and release resources for a national teamster ground game in support of Democrats. If that should happen I would expect to see multiple resignations from Teamsters national leadership.
Great day in the morning! Power to the people!
How do the pollsters get any accurate polling anymore? What with cell phones replacing most land lines and texting replacing phone calls for many (most?) of the Gen-Z, Gen-X and even millennials, hats off to those who have figured this out.
Let's just get the damn election over with and fight off Trump's BS about him winning in spite of a crushing defeat.
Count this "GenJones" in with that batch!
Ah the leaders of the Teamsters, since when did they ever act in favor of the rank and file!?
“Ah the leaders of the Teamsters, since when did they ever act in favor of the rank and file!?”
Indeed! Up until now anyway. The local unions are flexing muscles they didn’t know they had. May the trend continue after the election, with a new national leadership team who are better listeners than talkers.
Thank you, Professor!
Living in North Carolina, I am delighted, giddy, that the GOP is all linked together with their MAGA extremism and hypocrisy. Volunteering to do all I can to create a massive BLUE WAVE and return to sanity; break the GOP Supermajority and give 16 Electoral College votes to the first woman President of the United States of America.
President Joe Biden has masterfully address REAL and VITAL issues that affect people's lives.
I am amazed and applaud his management of such monumental crises -to list a few:
the global pandemic,
the economy and a soft landing with job creation outperforming all other major nations,
expanding access to health care,
supply chain planning,
rejecting failed "trickle-down economics" for much more important remedies like
stopping price gouging,
stopping junk fees,
capping prescription medicine costs
and allowing health insurance plans to negotiate prescription prices,
tackling infrastructure needs
including assisting with disasters like fallen interstates (PA)
and collapsed bridges (MD)
***repaired in record time***
strengthening alliances on both sides of the continent (Atlantic/NATO and Pacific),
supporting democracy throughout the world,
celebrating American achievements (not disparaging states, communities and groups of people),
upholding the rule of law,
and now passing the baton for the best interests of the country over party or personal interests.
Absolutely among the BEST Presidents EVER!
*****
As Vice President Harris and Governor Tim Walz encourage during their campaigning,
Let's turn the page,
Let's move FORWARD,
We LOVE our country,
and FREEDOM includes making your own decisions about your body,
NOT the government in your bedroom, bathroom, or doctor's office making decisions for you.
Vacationing now in NC has been extra wonderful as we see an astonishing amount of Harris/Walz signs, and many less Trump signs. We were very surprised by this and are now hopeful. Mark Robinson running for governor is DONE. Stick a fork in him.
Seems when one illicit drug is thwarted, another one appears! $$$$ is the basis and forgetting about the victims is obvious!
As for Robinson, he fits the Trump mold! It’ll be interesting how maga handles this fiasco!
It will be MORE interesting how MSM handles it. Trump commands the news fulfilling his goal using the PT Barnum school of advertising.
Biden Harris success should make headlines. Stock market breaks records. Deaths from street drugs are down should make headlines in flyover America.
When they cover Trump, they fail to discuss his degeneration. His appearance. His demeanor. His lies. His scams. Who are the schmucks who bought his stock at its high?
I can’t vouch for the accuracy Daniel, but I’ve read that of the investors in DJT, approximately 600,000 are small investors. The balance are an admixture of foreign and domestic Trump sympathizers, day traders and short sellers who are supporting or undermining Trump through this back door. All I think I know for sure is that any investor who bought in between about $75 at its opening six months ago are now staring $14 in the face and that $14 will drop to pennystock status (around $2 a share) by November 5 if current trends are maintained. And there’s no evidence in the fundamentals to expect anything other than the investors will have lost everything. Billions of dollars in paper value immolated in a sacrifice to their cult leader in less than a year. Just another monumental Trump grift. Where is the SEC when we need them?
I can imagine margin calls, bankruptcy filings, etc. That would be news.
He has generated a lot of litigation and a SEC fine so far. Seed money came from a Russian oligarch. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/03/trump-media-es-family-trust-2022-loans
People don't usually brag when they get a "margin call" but I'm guessing you are correct.
Putin's Puppet? Indeed.
What a tangled web. Thanks.
Like all his other so called business adventures that are not propped up by oligarchs laundering their money through his real estate deals!
Buying DJT stock is no different than buying the Trump Bible or his shoes or wine or "trading cards." He sells them as an investment that will gain value while support their "chosen one."
When the stock first went public the MSM interviewed several small time private investors. Some of them cashed in their 401-Ks to buy DJT stock.
"A fool and his money are soon parted." Thomas Tusser 1573
What a great argument against privatization of Social Security.
After DJT goes belly up he could sell stock certificates signed by him for $99 per certificate.
Don't give him ideas, Michael!!! LOL, he'd sell his own crap if he could, and MAGA would line up to buy "Trump fudge".
🤣😲🤮🤣
😆😆😆
Whatever these facts are, Trump will get equal (or more) MSM time denying these truths.
To quote Ray Charles, Tell me what I say?
Billions in free advertising.
Always has been. Good for Kamala teaming up with Oprah. Now what will tfffg do to get the spotlight back?
What an energizing interview that was last night! Yeah, it felt more like a rally, but the courage and honestly of some of those people who spoke about the issues that had directly impacted THEM--OMG my heart!
I feel like the Trump circus is dominating headlines. That is what worries me. Even this thread is tantalized by the scandals. Maybe one of the movements needs to be a push on social media and old fashioned letters to the editor to emphasize the positive news. I am looking at my sad newspaper right now and there is not one article on the economy despite the stock market rally yesterday.
I'm SO curious about how this Robinson crap will affect the NC presidential vote! Drama galore...we'll see what happens tomorrow at Trump's NC rally....
even more, to see if Robinson is on stage with the rambling old whiner,
or if 45 does his usual and claims he never knew who he was...
considering he said Robinson was better than Martin Luther King!
THE MAGA GOP DID THIS - they deserve to all go down with that anchor around their necks, TOGETHER.
ExACTly!
FT 6 is still registering more Democrats in NC and in all the swing states.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/all-volunteer-ops/volunteer
My postcards are being delivered today 😎
I would think that Trump likes his black Nazis. Hopefully he’ll point that out to his cult followers in North Carolina.
On morning Joe this morning, Willie said that many Democrats were deeply concerned about the down ballot races because they were afraid Robinson would bow out of the race. Even Harris/Walz could be recipients of the electoral college votes in NC assuming Robinson stays in the race.
For myself I will follow the advice I found on substack post: (sorry I don't remember who):
"I will vote for a jar of peanut butter if it has a "D" after it."
Oh, heck! I need more info: why would Robinson's absence on the ballot hurt the Democrats down-ballot?
The motivation to show up to vote against Robinson would be lost, losing also those who would vote blue down ballot.
I credit "Beau of the Fifth Column" a few months ago for this "just a thought" as it struck me, and I urge those of us writing letters and postcards, making calls and knocking on doors to make this point:
EVEN IF YOU ARE SURE YOUR STATE WILL GO BLUE, we need every vote.
EVEN IF YOU ARE SURE YOUR STATE WILL GO RED, we need every vote.
The point is, we need to MAKE A POINT. Heaven forbid, if Trump/Vance was to win, we need all those blue votes--EVERY ONE OF THEM--to point out that there are views that are opposite. Even if that state will absolutely be red, we CANNOT STAY HOME, we need to show that EVEN IN THE RED STATES, not everyone agrees!
Even if that state will absolutely be blue, we CANNOT STAY HOME, we need to show the strength of the number of voters, that THIS is the candidate/party/platform we want.
Beau had mentioned that in any election, whatever side "wins" the sheer number of opposing votes show that the "other side" needs to be heard.
Heaven knows, we'd hope that voters would understand this, but the sorry state of people not only believing the ridiculous pet eating stories--MANY are not even paying attention and are making upset calls to ANY city named "Springfield" regardless of which state it is in! We need to break it down in ways all can understand. (Jesus spoke in parables!)
So, explain the need to vote in this way: your book club of 10 members is planning a get together. They've never done this, but decide that from now at the club will offer dessert (ONE dessert) served to all. A vote is put out: shall we have chocolate pudding or pumpkin spice cake? Ah, it's fall! Who doesn't LOVE pumpkin spice cake? And so 9 of the members vote pumpkin spice, and the single chocolate pudding member is unhappy. The 9 are so thrilled with the pumpkin spice cake, they decide from now on EVERY MONTH is pumpkin spice cake, and the chocolate pudding person has to put up or shut up.
Now consider this: the vote went 6 for the cake, 4 for the pudding. Those 4 are going to be vocal--they aren't going to agree to cake forever. Their voice will (should!) be heard and recognized. Maybe the members will even discuss this and have a "bipartisan" compromise! What is the defining factor--does the chocolate pudding person love all things chocolate? Or not like cake? Do the pumpkin spice people love cake, love the seasonal flavor? MAYBE after discussion, it could be decided that "chocolate" is fine with any chocolate, and "cake" is fine with cake, thus, going forward CHOCOLATE CAKE for everyone. We don't all get exactly what we want, but we COMPROMISE.
Would that compromise have been made if it was 8 for cake, 2 for pudding? Perhaps that minority opinion would not be as compelling.
We need to voice our opinions in numbers too large to deny, regardless of the outcome we think will happen. ( regardless of poll numbers!).
They’ll yell fake news while ‘loney’ lormer spews her hate mongering raunch!
❤️Break the trump MOLD!💙💙
It is poetic justice if Mark Robinson, who made his political career in NC as an Internet troll telling white supremacist Republicans what they wanted to hear, takes down Donald Trump, who did the same nationally. It is delicious to watch. My home state of NC is making me proud. https://jimbuie.substack.com/p/harris-surges-ahead-in-nc
you and me both, Jim!
I hope that in addition to Harris winning that the Dems will be able to control the House and the Senate. The fact that over the past two years the Republicans were basically unable to enact any laws that supported ordinary Americans should help. That would cause the Republican Party to become sane again.
I agree Harris needs the House and Senate to enact her policy visions
I disagree the Republican Party will ever be sane again.
Alternative realities
They've been programmed with hate, fear, and rage for decades
"Faux" and "Talk radio" and Conspiracy propaganda.
Just as importantly, we need to flip these corrupt state governments, as well. Ohio, Texas, Florida, Idaho, Arkansas.....it's a long list, and it needs to be addressed - NOW!!
One would hope, but as people continue to vote against their own best interests, I have doubts about the deep south.
"Before political thinkers legitimized the idea of political opposition to the king, disagreeing with the person in charge usually led to execution or banishment for treason. Parties allowed for the idea of loyal and legitimate opposition..." What a consciousness change, right???
We need to blow apart this notion that the Rebublicans are good for the Jews. I think a good point of entry would be the start of Mike Johnson's speakership, because nothing could be more emblematic of Republicans' relationship to Israel than those early actions.
The first was a non-binding resolution in support of Israel and its right to defend itself in the war that Hamas started on October 7th 2023. His goal was to get every representative on record one way or another so that Republicans could bash various Democrats and Rand Paul as anti Israel. The resolution passed overwhelmingly, there were no surprises in the voting and huzzah! Republicans - except Rand Paul - cast more yea votes than Democrats. But, this was a non-binding resolution, demanding nothing of its adherents or opponents. It was words without action.
Johnson's next move was telling. President Biden had a funding request before congress to provide aid (read real support, not just the non-binding kind) to Israel's response to Hamas' initial attack and aid to Ukraine. House Republicans did not let the funding request reach the floor of the house, instead tabling it for a full six full months. While he was quite happy to provide Israel with happy sounding performative palaver, he made sure the the actual help that the Democrat in the White House was attempting to offer would not, in any timely manner. Israel appears to have muddled through on its reserves, but Ukraine suffered major setbacks from which it may not recover while Johnson fiddled around.
I want to note here that these two nations have something in common that we must consider when we ask if Republicans are good for the Jews. That common element is that both Israel and Ukraine have a Jewish leader, and it is to these two nations that Speaker Johnson denied timely aid. In light of this, the non-binding resolution reads a bit more like the obsequious palaver with which an enemy draws you near so that he may place a dagger in your back than a true attestation of friendship.
wow
Rich, love « fiddled around »!