I mean, you know it’s really bad when you find yourself on the same side as Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Karl Rove. I guess it’s never too late to join the fight to defend our freedom of speech. Show up for No Kings 2.0 on October 18 - and call your reps and talk to your neighbors every day!
Hello Linda... Colorado should be Proud of Jason Crow.... On January 6th, 2021 Jason stayed on the House Floor, ready to Fight, and Defend his fellow Congress-People... The 82nd-Aiborne is an Elite Tier-2 Unit.... If Putin attacks NATO, the 82nd will respond... The 75th Ranger Regiment. is an Elite Spec Ops Capable Unit... We should be all be proud of those that Serve in these Units... Thank You Jason, and Thank You to those that Served Along-Side Jason....
JASON CROW and CARLOS ALVAREZ ALRANY …two new names I am learning about this morning…thank you for links here in comments on LFAA. Those two brave Americans speak for most of us here in the land of the free. Let’s stand the f up with them!
Hello Jane... In Times Of Crisis, Heroes Will Emerge... This Nation Was Founded By Heroes Who Dared To Resist... May the Republic that they Founded Endure... No Kings Are Allowed To Reign Over Us...
And some brain dead Cardinal of the RC Elite called Kirk a hero who followed the teachings of Christ. As if I would trust the comments of a mouthpiece of an organization which has paid out BILLIONS of dollars in reparations for sexual abuse.
A “friend” posted the connection between Jesus’ disciples and Kirk. I responded asking where in the Bible Jesus preaches on accepting “a few deaths” as the price of gun ownership. No response yet.
Ordering flags at half staff? For a RWer who was devote Christian who was the antithesis of Christian teachings. There is something so unsettling about that when flags at half mast are always for prominent respected public figures.
Berry, there is no connection as you well know, well except maybe Judas. Jesus taught acceptance of the outliers. He threw the money changers out of the Temple and criticized hypocrisy. He said give up your goods and follow me. He did not say preach hatred and become rich.
This needs to be louder! Jesus as a teachers was pretty job if you take the intent and he was clearly anti violence long before there were even guns! These radical few, so-called followers of Jesus, are insane! And they are using Christian’s for cover to their fire.
That was Dolan, Mr Hail Fellow Well Met. Loves the limelight. Compared Kirk to St Paul! Bishop Barron complimented Kirk earlier in the week. Believe me when I say there are bishops—and everyday Catholics —who DO NOT agree. Pope Leo is paying attention to the fractured USCCB though he can’t do much in the short term. Ignore those media hogs. Past time for Dolan to retire anyway. He’s also buds with 47.
I wonder if Dolan is aware that Paul the Apostle did not write most of the "Pauline letters." I wonder if Dolan remembers that "Saint" Paul is the same Saul of Tarsus who was a religious extremist responsible for the execution of individuals he disagreed with. There is no record that he ever faced accountability or even apologized for those murders.
The faithful perpetuate the notion that when Saul became Paul, he underwent a complete transformation and became a different man, ignoring the fact that modern converts bring their old opinions and positions with them when they join the Christian faith. An unbiased reading of the Pauline letters reveals that much of what he wrote were his own opinions and his alone.
For example, he wrote that women should keep silent in public convocations. The biblical record shows that Jesus was a champion of women's rights. And why wouldn't he be? Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susanna bankrolled his ministry, while the gang of 12 guys dithered and argued among themselves.
Catholic history, Mormon history, Baptist history, oh what the hell too much Christian history. Just ask the natives. Well just kill them untill they like us.
Only the teachings he wanted to follow and he ignored and criticized the rest. He preached women were only good as mothers and housewives, how will his followers take being led by his wife?
Kirks "teachings" have nothing to do with Christ's teaching or the truth from the Bible. Perverse, sick minded man. I wish I could be there to hear God's judgement on him. He will not be a guest in Heaven.
I like your support for Crow, but I do wish so man y would stop trying to push everyone who does something decent to run for the Presidency! We need WAY mire than a decent President to renew our country's basic principles. We NEED honorable people in Congress and State Offices too.
Yes Cheryl. For the people who would (want to) speak out.., "people" who also feel they have a family or a career or a job to LOSE.., I see a good deal of hesitance, n this current atmosphere. Sickening as it is. the Epstein Files is/are the canary-in-the-coalmine. The big balloon, however, is/are the "young ladies" who can lay this country to waste. Watch, as they are dissected, influenced and intimidated, discounted and discredited, and pretty-much just redacted. This mess we are in offers incredible opportunities to excell. So many. Our country is built on a firm foundation, this current despotic situation will not last.
Celebrating my birthday tomorrow with some of the family. Lots of September birthdays in our family--hard to keep celebrations separate so we often group them. True of both my family and my closest friends.
Indeed. Hear Hear! Most of us running the reported ‘close second’ in ‘24 and after the shocking supposed results ..took some needed time to reassess, regroup,regain our solid grounding. But today ,near a year later, are convinced of the foul punch landed and surprised still of the easy way out far too many chose as capitulation is second rate to the grovel.
My gut reaction to the money mongers is quick. The snobs, more tuned as snubs, is present with alarming consistency. It’s the air about them -better than thou- going right along with the “OK for me , but not for Thee..” mentality action and premise.
No, again, I would not/did not own any part thereof ..and voted every time.
Heather ( and Robert Hubble piece today) kept the ‘We the People.” spirit front and center . Applause in order-as originalism is round about discussion again - I’ll note my profound thanks for keeping the Faith..which says so much so many ways apparent.
Mom and Pop’s age old decency vs Corporate Snubbery .
I’ve learned a lot, somber moments, questioning even at my age beliefs, understanding, and what to do.
We are far from ‘out of the woods’ with purse strings dangling smiles persuasively and dollar sized promises ..they’re still lies.
As tired as I am of hearing “ he said/he promised ..”yada yada I will be patient with my belt cinched trusting the rovers to come over and put America back to the task of equality..albeit it will never quite be the same , nor I as naive again…but pompous ..be gone with ya. The King of the Mountain game as child’s play has no place in sharing our Mother Earth and quite frankly all those children need a sound spanking and put to bed.
If only 4 GOP Senators found the courage to join with the Dems, we would have a majority in the Senate and could stop a lot of this madness. Four! Where are you GOP Senators?
Good point, Apache! This Coloradoan is very proud of Jason Crow and the District 6 residents who elected him. His speech was outstanding, his bravery well established. I’m grateful there are politicians with integrity still active on behalf of “We the people”.
The emergence of Rep. Jason Crow as our leader is the most rationally hope-inspiring event since the onset of the MAGAT assault, and as a Regular Army veteran (active duty 1959-1962, 16 months in Korea), I salute him accordingly.
With militarily seasoned political leadership, we not only evolve effective resistance; we position ourselves to sustain it no matter how much the enemy escalates its retaliatory onslaughts.
Originally, I did. He was my congressman for two years until redistricting, which was a fraud, btw. Then"affiliated " were actually lying republicans who misrepresented themselves.
Now I have Lauren Boebert. Last night went to a fundraiser for the woman who very nearly beat her when she changed districts. Trisha Calvarese will be one to watch.
I rely upon the comment section to keep us aware of national news like this.
Please keep us posted!
BTW, I also subscribe to "Belle of the Ranch" youtube channels, which, under "The Roads with Belle" is "Research Road" and "Interstate news". Yesterday, on the Roads, Belle mentioned there is some issue with Youtube, so she can't post the RR and IN, and you have to go to Patreon to view it. She said other YouTubers are having some issue also, but if they can work it out, they will again post under her "Roads" umbrella.
I really enjoyed Interstate news.
I wonder if there is something going on behind the YouTube issue. On her most recent Politics Chat, Heather did mention we should have multiple ways to stay in contact. I have no social media accounts. Didn't want any. Gonna wait to see what happens before I sign up.
Given the DNC's Vichy-like response to the MAGAT onslaught, I'd say any candidate they fund would most likely continue the post-JFK "Democratic" (sic) Party's Fifth Column service to the "Republican" (sic) Christonazi/Neoconfederate Party -- the "change-we-can-believe-in" lies and Tonkin-Gulf-caliber betrayals that did at least as much as the GOPorkers' legitimization of bigotry and agitation of lynch-mob-caliber hatefulness to bring about our present denouement. The Democrats we support should be, like Rep. Crow, avowed to do whatever is necessary to restore the Constitution and resurrect the Republic. To vote for any Democrat who is not equally militant is tantamount to voting for surrender.
They told me Sandy that my day of the military was dead and gone. That America had changed making me irrelevantly obsolete as a former military asset. Yet here is Crow applauded, and rightly so. At what time in American history has the military been so changed as not to stand to the constitution? I am going to reiterate that they are the sons and daughters of us all. I am going to reiterate they remain that way in this day and age as they have proven over the centuries we have been a nation. If one doubts the iteration of today’s military harken to what Is Crowing on our behalf.
He is in Congress now… clearly can THINK… Hope he is learning…Lots can be dine in the upcoming elections, if we can KEEP them clean of Trumpian mischief.
His service to country is beyond enthusiasm. He is not a bandaid to politics. More like the antibiotic under the dressing healing the wound while holding the philobacters at bay.
Are you asking this question because you don't know and would like someone else to tell you or because you know and don't think he is qualified? Personally, I am pleased that Representative Crow is now on our radar. We need more like him to step up and speak out.
Not yet. He is not yet qualified for the Presidency. We need to welcome and develop the brilliant and energetic younger people entering the Democratic Party. We need their voices in Congress. We need them to challenge the older Democratic Party Leadership. We need their leadership on the ground.
I would like to see the Office of the Presidency become a matter of qualifications. This is a hard get in today's political arena.
Would you recommend a new person entering a company be suddenly promoted to the CEO position?
Barbara, I got soundly chastized on here awhile back for saying I didn't personally "like" Hilary, even though in the same comment I said I thought she was the best qualified candidate for POTUS in my lifetime, perhaps in our entire history.
I supported her and voted for her.
I hate that many view the POTUS as a popularity contest.
You raise good points. What constitutes a younger person? How many years of experience would you require? We don't live in a perfect world and, as you say, a checklist of ideal qualifications isn't likely to be feasible. As far as your last question, I do not think the comparison to a company CEO should have any bearing on our qualifications for President. It would be interesting to see a list of the qualifications and experience of all former US Presidents compared side-by-side.
His abilities and experience might make him a good candidate for Secretary of Defense (after we ditch the Dept. of War nonsense). Could use some competent leadership in that post.
First and foremost....tho only real qualification for any office is a solid moral and ethical sense. There are many younger Dems coming up who deserve our support so that they are ready when the time comes.
This current fiasco is the perfect example of why that matters.
Especially glad that Jason Crow brought up the boycott idea. Hopefully it will start to get more attention and traction and will soon actually happen on a large scale.
Andra Watkins, in her Sept. 19th "For Such a Time as This" Substack goes even further:
"If you value what’s left of your freedom. If you want your children and grandchildren to have some modicum of liberty. If you don’t want to live in the equivalent of Russia or China or North Korea or Venezuela. NOW IS THE TIME TO PERMANENTLY PUNISH EVERY SINGLE COMPANY THAT BOWS TO THIS REGIME. PERIOD.
I don’t mean boycotts. I mean PERMANENTLY deprive these companies and their owners and shareholders of money and attention. Forever. Nothing they do will ever entice you to go back. Not discounts. Not great programming. Not major stars begging you to relent."
I am proud of Jason Crow. He was my congressman for two years, until redistricting gave me Ken Buck and then the disgrace Lauren Boebert.
Note to everyone about "impartial " redistricting commissions: the "unaffiliated" voters on the commission can actually be closet republicans, as was the case on Colorado. They made an additional red district by including very populated Douglas county with the agricultural eastern plains. We're a denver suburb.
And they made another very competitive district out of liberal Fort Collins, where there's a major University, with pig farming Weld county.
Apache, there are true patriots. I can, humbly, ask that my actions will be considered a statement against the T admin.'s when I protest. See you 10/18!
Thank you for your service! My husband was 101st Airborne. Over the years he has explained (and felt optimistic) about the ability of the military to refuse an illegal order. I've been wary about that at best. Now that I see what is happening with the National Guard being pulled into "law enforcement" roles, following questionably legal orders, I have great fears for the future of our military.
I understand that Hegseth is now demanding that members of the military cede their social media presence to a litmus test. Apparently, they are now required to turn over all their social media, and if they find any criticism of this administration, they will be expelled.
Since when was our military ever a political wing of the federal government?? And isn't there room for all of us who have varied political leanings?
This kind of blanket intimidation is anathema to our democracy. Yes, there should be room for all voices under the First Amendment--among other things. But this kind of personal violation is completely unacceptable.
Sadly, I no longer have faith that the members of our military (at least, those that have not been purged) will understand and stand up to illegal orders. It seems that every agency is all too ready to capitulate to intimidation. I fear for our future.
Hello Alyssa... Thanks, I'm sure that you appreciate your Husband's Service as Well... There was times when it wasn't Respected.... Notice that the DJT Regime, Plan 2025?, purged the Military IGs, and the top 3-Layers of the DoD... Hegseth is Absolutely Corrupt, and is notable only for a Slavish Absolute Devotion to DJT... I appreciate your Fears... Have Faith... Everything That Trump Touches Dies... Pray For Divine Intervention...
As a constituent in Jason Crow's district, I can tell you we are extremely proud to have him representing us in Congress. He works hard, he keeps us informed, and he asks our opinion! That's exactly how his representation should work. He has visited the ICE detention facility in Aurora over 70 times since 2020, and has detailed problems and followed to make sure they were resolved.
Took the words right out of my mouth! Ted Cruz and Tucker Carlson BOTH want to get in bed with me. And here I thought Republicans *weren’t* supposed to be the party of unnatural acts! (And then I suddenly remembered someone named Jeffrey Epstein…)
Epstein did horrible things. Making light of things that went on through inference is wildly inappropriate. Please remember there are even women reading this forum who have been deeply harmed through abuse. To make jokes in connection to a monster is really regrettable.
They know that when the Dems get back in power, what’s to stop them from pulling the same stuff? Faux & Tucker Carlson will be one of the first ones “cancelled.”
They don't intend to give up power, Jackie, no matter what.
The pro-democracy movement must point out at every opportunity that the GOP is the fascist party. Including Congress people and Senators, the right-wingers will never work with Democrats in good faith, so Dems need to work in lock step to label all right-wingers as the fascists they are. Now, after the latest attack on Constitutional free speech rights, the true patriots need to step up the fight and make the public pay attention.
If you're lucky enough to have "local newspapers," that is. Meanwhile, the various social media can reach people on the far fringes of our own social circles -- and beyond.
Those cretins mentioned contributed to this mess, along with others of evil intent, but they have finally caught the car and it’s a total wreck. Sorry you greedy, hypocritical bastards, you are trying to regain a modicum of legitimacy. Too late, your stench precedes you. No kumbaya from this quarter.
JD, I'm with you: NOW they stand up and provide their rather mealy-mouthed support. You can bet that Vacation-Going Ted is gonna vote for anything the Felon tells him to and despicables like Carlson and Rove (and Dick Cheney, etc) will change their language in a New York minute if one of the people they "like" takes over for the Felon. Like JustaDick, who I suspect is plotting, along with his best bud Thiel, a takeover.
The ultra-rich (Oligarchs) have funded and probably have helped plot this fascist coup. Only by making all political races funded only by the public and only publicly financed can we hope to have a legitimate democracy, along with destroying the Electoral Collage and ending gerrymandering.
Sometimes even the greatest cowards catch a whiff of fresh air and realize what they have forsaken when keeping their noses pressed too tightly to the pipeline.
Still shaking my head at how timid Americans are being. Trump’s in a rocket and you’re following in an air balloon. On a weekend. In a month.
We’re not quite talking Euromaidan, are we?
I suppose better late than never, but seriously. If the French government had done a quarter of what yours has done, the country would be at a standstill (as it was on Thursday this week over austerity proposals against the most vulnerable).
Grift upon grift. $100,000 per person for a skilled person visa is the answer that the Trump regime has to Hyundai saying, “you changed the rules on the B1 & B2 visas and encouraged us to send our engineers and skilled workers anyway. Then you arrested them, beat them up, made racist slurs and kept them in inhumane conditions, including a pregnant woman”. It’s also the answer to ex-friend Elon asking for more highly trained but cheap-for-him Indian tech workers. Indian tech workers will come. I’m not so sure about South Koreans.
Beware of overconfidence. Republicans were bound to lose a few people who actually had a shred less ambition and opportunism and a shred more respect for the Constitution. The folks in charge of the coup would have anticipated that.
Remember we're not dealing with Trump-level intelligence here. It's the Russell Voughts, Stephen Millers and Peter Thiels who are calling the shots behind the scenes. They know they have one chance at this, with a prison sentence strongly possible on the other side if they fail, and you can bet they gamed out every possible scenario before deciding that Trump could be their figurehead and eternal distraction.
We should welcome and remember the Republicans who are calling out the coup this early. But if we think this show of disloyalty was not anticipated by the people who planned this arc of ultimate disloyalty to the country, we're being naiive.
Or maybe I'm just being paranoid. I can always hope.
I agree. The Project 2025 and Heritage Foundation crowd have been planning this for many years, and Trump is their useful idiot. Their success at packing the Federal Judiciary with right wing ideologues, and their election subversions to give the GOP seats out of proportion to their actual supporter among voters were necessary precursors to the current power grab. They will stop at nothing to advance their fascist White Christian nationalist agenda, and to avoid the consequences of failure.
I've written about this before, but I'll go ahead and repeat myself. Project 2025 is the culmination of an evangelical plot that began taking shape in the 1950s. That was the decade of an unprecedented rise in the income and benefits for the U.S. Middle Class. With that increased affluence and actual weekends away from work, people had the time and means for leisure activities – which preempted church attendance, and the attendant decline of "tithing." Church leaders became concerned and considered ways to compel religious support.
The 1960s brought "the sexual revolution," "women's lib," "the civil rights movement," removal of compulsory Christian prayer from schools and the beginnings of LGBTQ rights. All of these developments were anathema to evangelical dogma, and evangelical leaders panicked. "Mainline" denominations, which had been conservative began splitting into conservative and liberal versions.
Evangelical and conservative religious groups spread the myth that the U.S. had been founded as "a Christian nation," and formulated strategies to "take back the U.S. for God." These strategies included summer camps to indoctrinate youth with Christian nationalist beliefs, getting "born-again Christians" elected or appointed to political office at all levels of government, including the judiciary.
Republican operatives took notice of this evangelical/political movement and saw the value of harnessing the political power of the evangelical voting bloc. The GOP was also aware of the declining birthrate among white women who were rejecting or deferring motherhood in favor of careers or independence, thereby depriving the GOP of future voters. They seized on anti-abortion as a wedge issue, a litmus test and a means to force white births. They formed alliances with evangelical leaders to overturn religious tradition and criminalize abortion.
It has taken 75 years, but evangelicals and religious conservatives are now poised to take full control of U.S. government and culture. Project 2025 is the blueprint.
While there is some reason to be cautiously encouraged by those on the right who are, apparently, changing their tune, I can't help but wonder what songbook they are singing from.
Yes please call out these assholes! They are the brain farts, the wormtongues, and they hate people! PP Peter in particular would like to get rid of organic humans as fast as possible, and Musky-Boy is right there with him! In their world we are ‘consumers, or perhaps even to be consumed.
We are not meat! Yell! Please tell them loud and clear!
They have been very sick and strange for a long time…you are not paranoid, the feeling of fear and loathing is based on actions and facts!
Of course the reason I hate them is their pervasive perversion of Tolkien. They are not anything more than Ring Wraiths in the thrall of the devil, the ring of power.
Where is Gollum biting off Frodo’s finger and falling into the lava pool?
The real King was known by his healing and lack of pretext!
Today I offered a local org to be a driver for children of immigrants who now fear to take their children to school. It’s done to that. We are in this together.
When I moved to New Orleans in 1968 I got to know two women who had helped integrate public schools there by taking black students to school. Bill, you are following American tradition: public education for everyone!
From 2025 DIRECT ACTION ALERT: We’re calling for protests at all Fox affiliates throughout the country on Saturday, September 20, 2025 at 1PM.
We will be present at the Fox affiliate in Denver (Fox 31, 100 Speer Blvd. Denver, CO 80203). Please join a Fox Takedown event or create your own protest. We’re asking everyone to join us in protesting for freedom of speech and against the network that called for the mass murder of unhoused Americans.
As glad as I was to see Ted Cruz's comments, as a former constituent, I'm not fooled. If the winds were blowing a different way, he would have spoken in favor of censorship. That man has no soul or moral center. As such, his words are even better news because it means he thinks the side of freedom of speech will prevail.
Misty, some years ago, I worked for an advertising agency. Among our clients were political candidates. As clients, they were permitted to use our conference room for "backroom meetings" that were closed to the public and even their own campaign staffs.
As it happened, my office was adjacent to the conference room and the common wall was not soundproofed. I heard a lot of conversations that I was not meant to hear, and I thought it best not to disclose that I'd heard them.
What I learned from those conversations is that politicians claim to be for and against the very same issue, depending on the audience they are addressing. It's a strategy to garner votes.
I'm sure that not every politician lies, but I'm equally sure that most of them do.
I’m busily making hand-drawn posters to hand out to anyone who wants one on Oct. 18. It’s a small act, but TOGETHER we can bring about the change we want. Most Americans DO NOT SUPPORT this Administration’s unconstitutional acts.
The annual Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) convention is October 17th - 19th in Hilton Head, SC. The keynote speaker is John Fugelsang who just released a book on how to deal with WCN's.
I wanted to share what is going on from a personal point of view because many people tell me they are not able to find out what is going on. For that I can thank the Chicago Sun-Times as being a paper that is not bending to the Trump administration. They are reporting what is going on here.
I did not realize that Jimmy Kimmel had been fired; I was hoping he would be re-instated. Thank you, Dr Richardson, for an inspiring essay. I needed a morale booster-shot after the downer I felt yesterday. 🙂
My optimism these days is directly co-relative with the amount of sleep I have had the night before. 🤭
On the concerns over civil war or widespread street violence, Republican Adam Kinzinger, a leader among conservatives standing should-to-shoulder with the rest of us, cautions heavily against people, primarily macho-mouthed M.A.G.A.s uttering threats or making predictions, in this six and a half minute vid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqAqYMHe6Gk 🤔
Although I am scared not only of a civil war, but also whether I would have the courage to fight, I remain stubbornly optimistic, not because I prefer to be optimistic, but because I have to be. If I seem inconsistent, it is because I am to the point of feeling wishy-washy. 🤢
B.L.U.F. (bottom-line, up-front): the data and conclusions I present below may well be way off; the scenario presented is only one among millions.🙄
Vacillation aside, skepticism should be the order of the day. One important matter for me is how many in the M.A.G.A. base remain so dedicated to the cult of personality that they are willing to die, fighting, for Trump or for what he represents. 🤔
Guesstimating from several data from recent polling ('The Economist / YouGov); the usafacts.org site; and, the C.I.A. World Fact-book (i.e., World Almanac for grown-ups), the Trump base ranges *from the seventy-five to one hundred million people. 🫨
Let us take the lower end, for optimism's sake. So what portion of that seventy-five million professes undying -- better said, dying -- support for Trump. My swagger (scientifically wild-assed guessing) is that half of the thirty-nine per cent of those polled as favouring Trump are hard-core supporters, including the great majority who are peaceable and decent. 😳
Now that is the undying (i.e., vote M.A.G.A. no matter what) support of thirty-seven million. What percentage of that cohort have a taste for violence (i.e., the dying, or willing-to-die support)? My inference / guess is that those looking to fight have an anti-social personality disorder, generally ranging from one to four per cent of the population. 🤬
So, applying these parameters to others mentioned would yield a number of one to three million *malcontents actually out for blood. That is a lot of people, especially if they are heavily armed. What concerns me is that, even at a million people, such a catastrophic cohort would be a vanguard of violence as more and more people would get drawn into the conflict. 💔
When I told ____ that I would stand up for their right to free speech they told me they didn’t need me to do anything for them. Basically- to go f myself.
I told _____ I’d even stand up for their right to say bad stuff…..I dont think it sunk in.
Linda, I can't wait until 10/18! Another chance to show our true colors. And to have another blow to the MAGats who think they can control our thoughts & actions. GTH!
I agree, Ron. Brooks misrepresented what Heather wrote over a period of several days. She gave her sources as always, and updated her summary as new information was available. Brooks maybe only pretends to have read HCR.
David Brooks works for the New York Times which many journalists have abandoned for editing their work. Brooks is certainly not the journalist he used to be when he was on the McNeil/Lehrer Report on PBS years ago.
Paul Krugman used to write for The NY Times but left because they forced him to rewrite several columns in 2024. They have become a political rag and even though there are still several excellent journalists there A. G. Sulzberger is only interested in money and doesn't give a shit about the integrity of the journalists that write for the paper.
The article headlines of the current NYT are infuriating -- yesterday one of them was along the lines of "Trump MAY have crossed Constitutional norms" Ya think??? I comment as often as allowed, but legacy press has let us down badly and hard.
David Brooks has made some salient points over the years. But more recently, he talks to us as if we were "intellectuals" sitting around discussing authors that 99.9% of us have never heard of. His elitism is maddening. I think that at his core, he's a good guy who just doesn't have the guts to admit that his party and his "conservative" philosophy are faulty at best and diabolical at worst.
Jonathan Capehart is also disappointing of late. I like the guy and share his values. But he is fumbling, grasping at words. For years I looked forward to the Friday night NewsHour specifically for this discussion. Note to PBS - get some new opinion voices. I miss Mark Shields so much. He kept Brooks honest.
Addendum. Most of the reporting crew on the NewsHour are doing excellent work. The hosts have exceeded expectations. Amna takes no prisoners. Jeff is only getting better. And William impresses me more and more. Nick, Stephanie and Paul. Miles and Jeffrey - all really great. It's still the best reporting on TV.
I still look forward to their takes, having been following their work over the years and go past the one-offs in these uncertain times. Good counterpoints keyed up by PBS staff and their swinging reminds me of how hard it must be to be living in this time when journalists are looking for a path out of the mess the country is in and seeing their normative foundations sliding all over while trying to figure out the future being sought by us in the audience. I am really enjoying Goldberg's Washington Weekly with the Atlantic. Panels and scope I gain from and appreciate. Not ready to throw out Brooks and Caphardt for being inconsistent. Good men, minds, and efforts to follow this mess.
Public TV is soon to be the ONLY place to get competent news reporting. the MSM has totally capitulated to threats from this bunch of fascists. And the cable channels are terrified of the boycotts that are threatened , and equally terrified of Trump and his threats, so they are now nothing much more than self neutered eunuchs.
My current rebellion is that I have upped my sustaining contribution to both Public TV and Public Radio. We need to step up and contribute so that they can free themselves permanently from the possibility pod any future tyrant deciding that he can control the news that we are hearing. My local NPR radio broadcasts BBC news, which I depend on for a perspective that is not found on any US based outlet.
We can get French TV news, in English. Also German. Half hour programs that repeat until there is new news. They don’t beat around the bush with euphemisms like “pushing against the norms.” Also great for a broader perspective.
You are lucky. Are you on a border where this kind of news comes from Canada? Or is your PBS station broadcasting these programs? I can only get foreign stations (and few of those) by streaming them, and they are mostly in the native languages, so not being fluent, I miss a lot.
The funding issue at both PBS and NOR and especially PBS has been going on for Ali g time. I noticed this in the early nineties. The quality of some of the shows not all was les
s than it was and less creative works. There also was a lack of what to do. Bill Moyers programs were floated around especially at the end and even his work told but did not address how to change and what to do. Frontline excellent but depressing so I stopped. The community based programming sometimes great but scattered abd what one presented in one city not shown in another. The fund raisers became boring. The best one I remember was the showing of Monty Python and the Holy Grail at our affiliate in 1979. Lots of missed opportunities but also a long decline in government support so they became beholden to certain entities.
Sorry your local PBS does not suit you. I am lucky to have both TV and Radio that are outstanding. Certainly there are some programs that do not interest me,so I don’t listen/watch those.
PBS stations are more locally oriented than the msm broadcasting stations or the cable channels. Perhaps if you contribute to your local stations you can also interact with them to suggest programming that you believe to be of public interest.
I believe the perceived "elitist" attitude of the left by MAGA only hurts the Democrats with the working class. Don't forget how MAGA embraced Trump's proclaiming "I LOVE THE POORLY EDUCATED!"
We really need to reach people where they are. Sadly, I believe that the threat of losing our democracy didn't resonate with people fired up over the price of eggs. Perhaps they are learning NOW just what that democracy means to them.
"...reach people where they are." Exactly. Which is why we should be following the lead of people like Senator Chris Murphy, Bernie and others who want the Dems to rebrand as the Party of Economic Justice. Big tent to include all sorts of people with different social values. I'd go further and rename ourselves "The Democratic Workers Party". There can be no social justice if we don't win. And I think our winning card will be the price of everything.
Billionaires are approaching being Trillionaires. And workers wages have barely budged in decades. The minimum wage hasn't increased in decades. It is beyond injustice. It is obscene.
Thank you for that. Unfortunately, the majority of the people who have similar political beliefs to me are more interested in the social than the economic. That was one of the things that Bernie did so well and continues to do.
I could be wrong on this, but I listened to Bernie's speech a few days ago. I believe he mentioned the average worker makes relatively LESS now than in the 1970s.
I've always liked Katie Porter and her white boards. She'd break down issues in a way people could follow what point she was attempting to make.
I think it is fair to say that the climate of misinformation that Trump and others dispense contributes to a climate of mistrust and violence, but Kirk's assassin clearly followed his own twisted course.
I defy anyone to make much ideological sense at all of the sad, young lone wolf accused of his murder. Details about him suggest a “community” of violent video gamers, not a Bolshevik talking shop….
Bullet case markings (themselves a trademark of incel-style assassination attempts before) filled with snippets and memes that don’t make sense at all to most people — some weird, Italian anti-fascist song nobody’s ever heard of before, references to “furry” subculture (you can go look it up yourselves), markings understandable only to violent gamers untethered to reality, such as the “Groypers” — an on-line community about as fruity and “righty” as you could ever get.
Nick Fuentes and his lot, associated with the Groypers, had been actively trolling Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point, USA for years, presumably because Kirk’s group wasn’t fruity, ‘Christo-Nazi’ and anti-Semitic enough for their tastes. Fuentes has been a young Trumpy for years, who’s now turned on his former idol (sort of), labeling him a scam artist this past summer, presumably in connection with right-wing shock over what the Epstein Files appear to show.
Back in 2021, MAGA world was once assured that Donald Trump was a brilliant strategist leading an army of brave warriors battling secret cabals of child-trafficking cannibals acting on Hillary Clinton’s direct orders. Now, in 2025, a birthday card from an estate shows wink-wink, nudge-nudge references between two pals about “secrets” that link the Manchurian Cantaloupe to his child-trafficking boyfriend.
Doesn’t take much imagination to picture their new terror — all along the calls look as though they’ve been coming from inside the house, not from Venezuela, Havana, or Minsk
‘When a Stranger Calls.’…. “Why haven’t you checked the children?”
Why etch those Groyper memes on the shell casings at all if he didn't want to express that message? Remember, we have only heard about the evidence from the ultra-right-wing Mormon prosecutor and the FBI, who have a vested interest in framing this case as some gay-trans sexual crime. Let's see what they can prove in court. Groypers hate women. I wonder how unusual it is for any percentagee of groypers to be gay.
I would be careful trying to infer anything coherent whatever from these shell casings, from the "Groypers" whose world is filled with simulated violence, real hatred and psychiatric confusion and dysphoria. What connection all of it has to the alleged assailant's sexual orientation and that of his boy/girlfriend is even less clear.
The etched memes are Groyper memes, and until or unless Robinson explains what drove him to murder Kirk, those etchings on the shell casings points to Groyper ideologygy as his manifesto.
The reason that the prosecutor wants to frame this as a gay or trans crime is because, in Utah County, the most Mormon place on earth, is that a jury there will easily convict. And of course the FBI is pushing trump’s MAGA agenda that they were pushing before anyone knew who was responsible.
I read last night that has not made a statement yet. Will he remain silent? Was he actually the shooter? How much of his ideology is just being made up to make him appear a far left extremist? I’ve noticed that conservatives are the last people to get their children mental healthcare and in the Mormon church that care would come from a deacon of the church and probably include sexual abuse.
Through all my readings of the last 8 years now, I could not agree with you more. These christo-fascists libertarians thought Reagan was their man, but he actually had some heart for American democracy, then there was GW Bush, but once again there was some American loyalty, but not much. They needed someone who would just sign whatever a republican majority filled Congress would send over. They got that with tRump. None of this is remotely possible without the conservative leadership. None of it. I remind my republican elected reps daily.
Rickey, it's my observation that the U.S. presidency ceased being an office held by a single person when Eisenhower left it. He had advisors, but he called the shots.
From Nixon on, the office was held by a committee. For that dynamic to work, the person whose name is branded on the administration must be manageable – or manipulable.
The GOP wholeheartedly embraced this structure and selected candidates who would fit in without resistance. Reagan was the prototype, an actor who could be given his lines which he would recite reliably. His onsetting dementia made him pliable and reliable.
George W. Bush was the "crash test dummy" for experimenting with having a halfwit in The Oval. He was the "proof-of-concept."
Along came Donald Trump, who was born with a learning disability, exacerbated by delusional thinking and likely early onset dementia. He is the epitome of the moron-in-office. The GOP will be hard-pressed to find another candidate as ideally suited to committee control.
Learning disabilities don't determine character, or even necessarily preclude high academic achievement. Trump's character disability is malignant narcissism, starting with a monomaniacal "love of money".
I also heard David Brooks comment about Heather on PBS last night. I remember reading Heather’s Letter where she referenced the shooter’s possible connection to Fuentes and the Groypers and I recently responded to my brother (a big Trump supporter), who sent me a text about Charlie Kirks’s murder, with the suggestion about the shooter’s political leanings. Now I feel I was spreading a conspiracy theory! Please tell me what Substack letter where Heather gave an update about the shooter not being linked to the Groypers and Fuentes so I can correct my comments to my brother. I must have missed that update as I read Heather’s letters every day.
She spoke with The Bulwark about the controversy around what she posted the other day. It sounds like she’s been through the deepest hell this week: https://youtu.be/8HJh35_-U5g?si=1Cza2qAI4OoACUWl The rest of the interview is also quite good. Lots of Heather teaching as well as exchanging ideas with Jonathon Last of The Bulwark.
Heather has been doing SO many interviews that I am struggling to keep up with it all. I see she will be doing another one with Red, Wine & Blue on the 24th.
There are so many good voices out there, but truly, I could spend the entire day doing nothing but listening to them all, and I'm sure Heather would agree that isn't the healthiest way to live.
And good that you did! This community is a family. Sometimes we get snarky and picky with each other, and we do have the resident "Grandpa Simpson yelling at the sky".
Not to inundate you with information and videos, but it occurred to me that the information in this PBS NewsHour interview may also be quite helpful in your endeavor. Not to convert but to provide information that your relatives may not be seeing. They discuss the subculture that is linked to the etchings on the bullet casings. It’s 7 1/2 minutes long and the transcript is included. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/a-look-into-the-online-subcultures-tied-to-charlie-kirks-accused-killer
I lifted this out of the transcript. There’s much more, but this points to the need for a different approach in trying to understand a motive or underlying ideology:
So it is possible that Robinson is a leftist, an anti-fascist, someone you would consider on the political left. It's equally possible that he is trying to muddy the waters. And we have seen this with other spree shooters at schools across the country this year, where a shooter will write conflicting political messages. In Nashville, Minneapolis, we have seen this.
Dating all the way back to 2019, with the use of memes in the Christchurch shooting in New Zealand, this is a common tactic for what you would call an accelerationist. For those who aren't familiar, an accelerationist is someone who wants to accelerate the end of the status quo, end of society, someone who wants to push politics and political violence to such an extreme that the order of the country would fall apart.
It is a very nihilistic, very apocalyptic view that has become more and more popular, particularly on the dark corners of the Internet in the last 10 years.
I suppose he is an attempt on the part of the NYT to provide balance to their editorial dept, but he's not my cuppa tea. I'm more comfortable with Maureen Dowd and Nick Kristof.
I came on here only to find aquatic historians arguing about minutia and non sequiturs. You all should get out of your house. It’s no longer a time to quote the 50s or the 60s. It’s time to realize that we live in 2025 and you’ve missed it. You’ve missed it by a long shot and your heat is overwriting your common sense, and logic. But the next three years are gonna be beautiful and eventually you’re gonna have no choice but just realize that and understand if you have half a brain.
77 million plus. Now over 100 million AND growing. Keep up the violence and the only supporters you’ll have left will be elderly stuck in the mud communists
For Monroe still hasn’t figured out that the Russia hoax was a hoax and Trump had nothing to do with Russia whatsoever and when it comes out, I hope you were at least honest enough to admit it, but probably not
I think this description is more apt than some others. DB used to be a principled conservative (such people do exist) and though I disagreed with a lot he had to say I was at least willing to listen. But since Trumps return to office DB has been all over the map with his opinion pieces. I’m not angry with him as much as I am dismayed. He can’t seem to figure where he stands. That might well be because the NYT won’t let him speak his mind freely, or out of fear of Trump.
I have for decades listened to, read David Brooks. I do believe he’s well meaning. It’s his calling card. He’s a reconciliatory character. He has failed to grasp his time. He’s a 17th century rationalist trapped in a computer driven word game.
This is currently the MAGA script for spreading disinformation. I've gotten that criticism too on my Facebook posts that were specifically talking about Nick Fuentes and Groypers - no mention of that other toxic guy at all.
Brooks is just wrong. Why would he venture such an opinion? And calling HCR Left is also wrong; she is small 'l' liberal. The two things I remember about her posts on the murder are her use of the phrase "It appears" and the fact she waited several days to write about the event. Is he professionally jealous of her? IDK, I generally agree with him 90% of the time, but the other 10% sours my gut.
Brooks is only as honest as it suits his narrative to be. That raises the question - it's not whether the glass is half full or half empty, it' also a question of just how much urine can you tolerate in the drinks he'll be serving up. I guess when he says things his public likes they'll tolerate quite a lot.
In contast to that, Dr. Heather is a (an?) Historian. As such, she puts in an effort to only put out honest and verifieable statements. Any less would be unprofessional. Also, instead of writing editorials she's presenting a record of current events and showing how history compares with those events. Honesty of this sort has gotten her painted as "A Lefty".
Once again, it appears that honesty and accuracy have a liberal bias.
Oooo, a grammar geeks comment thread. My brief dive into the etymology tells me that "historian" is both a noun and an adjective. For usage, all three dictionaries I looked at (Miriam-Webster, OED, and Cambridge) used "...a historian" in their descriptions of the word, with one of them saying that (paraphrased) "some people drop the "h" and say "an" but that sounds old fashioned."
I wonder what AI would do with that? When I've finished my manuscripts, I have run them through ProWritingAid. I don't use them to write, (UGH! DON'T GET ME STARTED ON CHATGPT!) but I find the tools better than those in Word. When I first started using it, I was playing around with it to see what the AI would do to various phrases. Some of them were hilariously awful!
The old "how many r's are there in 'strawberry'?" I remind my LLM lovers in the family of that failing quite frequently when they tell me how advanced "AI" is.
'A' historian is correct. An is only used in front of words starting with a vowel, such as 'an economist.' H has a 'vowelly' sound to it which can make an sound right at times.
This dilemma was caused by the British of olde, who frequently omitted pronouncing the "h" at the beginnings of words. You can still hear this in several UK dialects. As our spoken language has evolved, we've kept the silent "h" in hour, but added the audible "h" in history.
"An" developed as a means for separating two vowel sounds in adjacent words. Try to speak the phrase, "sixty miles a hour." It feels awkward to wrap your mouth around it. When those earlier English speakers encountered such a juxtaposition, "an" smoothed out the transition in "a 'istoric event."
Either mode is considered correct by grammarians, but most are leaning toward "a historian," as "an historian" tends to slightly interrupt the smooth flow of speech.
Some would argue that using "an historian" reflects a pretentious air, which is something to consider.
French grammar has some of the same conventions (one of the things I DO remember) to separate vowel sounds, like "mes_amis," when "mes" could normally be pronounced like "may."
Exactly. In fact, when 'umans were migrating from their origins to the British island, they first had to come through the area we now call France. My own Welsh surname was likely spelled Rouette before it was anglicized.
On the whole you're exactly right. It just came out of the blue that Brooks would engage the same political device. It just doesn't seem like him in my experience.
No. David Brooks is intelligent, well educated, well read and articulate. Unfortunately, his social consciousness seems to have stalled somewhere around the 1950s sitcoms Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best.
Everything for him feels like a parlor game. I think he sees himself as the erudite, well-read inheritor to William F. Buckley. It’s all sort of an inside joke, untethered to a real world filled with real suffering.
I don’t know about using it, but Eddie Haskell’s smarmy, ingratiating attempts to curry favor with superficiality is common on the right, though not from Brooks.
Although I like Brooks and Capehart both substantively and perhaps more importantly demonstrating by example what mutually respectful discussions between contrasting viewpoints looks like. Even so, it’s no match for Gergan and Shields.
I too was very disappointed in David Brooks’ flippant misrepresentation of Heather’s reporting. She was fair and measured and he twisted it all the way to support the radical right’s grievances against truth and nuance.
Brooks tries to play the interpreter of everything. He feel morally above all and feels he is the umpire in politics. However he really likes to tell the left where they went wrong but is very weak in his party’s own self reflection. He’s never apologized for his support of so many policies that got us to where we are now.
Ron, before we toss the baby out with the bathwater, let’s ask did Heather say it was MAGA or not. One can draw assumptions that because the shooter was influenced by characters defined as MAGA supporters that he was MAGA. Brooks made an overly brief reference to Heather’s overall position and mine as well. Many voices speak for a cause and many of those voices are not on the same page. I think Brooks needed to show both sides with his argument. I’m not that disappointed in him mentioning Heather and Kimmel. Point is that if the right is upset that late night satirists are all on the left, well, the biggest and most profitable on cable that is not a news organization but a comedy and entertainment voice is Fox itself. Given the argument, Fox’s should be removed from cable for deceiving the public making them believe it’s hard core journalism. But really, 24/7 brainwashed entertainment has achieved their goals of pulling a growing % of the population to the right. The 21st century version of The Guilded Age is upon us.
It’s Gilded Age. Miselle, I was the worst on the spelling bees. I was the last to be picked and the first to mistake, lol. But certainly not Gilted, lol.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, wild speculation was carrying the load that is more reliably born by facts. It is to be understood that rational minds (and certainly HCRs qualifies) would look at the events and their context as they are presented, and speculate in absence of reliable information which will, it is hoped, provide a clearer, truer picture. To say what is likely or possible, is not to be confused with making definitive statement.
This is where careful listening becomes so important. David did not accuse Heather of blaming MAGA for the Kirk shooting. On the other hand, in tying Robinson to his Republican parents, and thus implying that he was a conservative himself, Heather suggested a political stance on Robinson’s part that was at the time (September 12th) actually an unknown.
My bad. I should probably not post so near to awakening and before I’ve checked my brain. David did made that accusation. My apologies for my original post.
However, Heather posted this the next day.
"But in fact, the alleged shooter was not someone on the left. The alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, is a young white man from a Republican, gun enthusiast family, who appears to have embraced the far right, disliking Kirk for being insufficiently radical.”
While it doesn’t directly link Robinson to MAGA, it is not hard to see how David might have taken her to mean just that.
The whole frame of Robinson's motives departs from the reality of the relative irrelevance of what he may have thought justified his unsupportable act. Unlike the 9/11 attacks, there was no apparent conspiracy, no apparent confederates. That said, I believe that public advocacy of violence can encourage marginally-inhibited persons with poor impulse control to act. Whether a killer is ideologically "left" or "right", (and history provides examples of both) or none of the above, what make a killer a killer is the willingness to kill, be that the aim of an individual or (as in 9/11, Mao's "Great Leap Forward" or The Third Reich) conspiratorial.
I mis-listened myself, probably a results of doing so at dawn before my brain was awake.
Heather did post this the next day.
"But in fact, the alleged shooter was not someone on the left. The alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, is a young white man from a Republican, gun enthusiast family, who appears to have embraced the far right, disliking Kirk for being insufficiently radical.”
One can understand how David might have read this as MAGA. f
One can understand how someone who is not a journalist to misinterpret that, but David Brooks prepares for that Friday evening debate that he has every week. As for being sleepy-eyed, no worries. Sleepy eyed, not enough sleep, water from a firehose splashing our eyes, we’ll just have to keep firmly planted and press forward. It’s good, I think, to be able to question each other and post the information or transcript. We’re all dealing with a lot. This is a shared effort.
I also heard David Brooks comment about Heather on PBS last night. I remember reading Heather’s Letter where she referenced the shooter’s possible connection to Fuentes and the Groypers and I recently responded to my brother (a big Trump supporter), who sent me a text about Charlie Kirks’s murder, with the suggestion about the shooter’s political leanings. Now I feel I was spreading a conspiracy theory! Please tell me what Substack letter where Heather gave an update about the shooter not being linked to the Groypers and Fuentes so I can correct my comments to my brother. I must have missed that update as I read Heather’s letters every day.
Deborah, nobody went that far. It’s established that the shooter had a thing for the Groypers and Fuentes which is why our dear beloved friend Laura Loomer accused Kirk of being a sell out then quickly delet d her remarks after the shooting. The shooter allowed himself to sink into online everything as so many of us do if you have t noticed every crazy-ass human walking down streets holding their cells. Have I answered?
I did make a mistake about David’s words on PBS. I should probably not post upon awakening and before my brain is sufficiently in gear.
And yet soo much depends on when one has read what. In fact, until and if we know what the shooter’s motive was from his own mouth, no one can say for sure what that was. Given some of the e-mails the formal indictment notes, it may well be that it was not a political statement at all, but rather a matter of personal attachment to someone whose sexual preferences were being attacked by the right, including Charlie Kirk.
I understand it had been his grandfather’s. When his dad asked him to produce a photo of the gun (while they were on the phone), Robinson could not. That’s when his father knew.
I would listen ad read Brooks for a look into conservatism. He was initially an acolyte of Bill Buckley. Their vocabulary at times helpful to know and learn. For awhile he seemed ready to jump ship with his highlight of Jane Addams and Hull House and others. Then he seemed to turn back and it has been beyond painful to read or listen to him. Just check in every now and then and am always disappointed.
You reminded me of the politics section from Monday’s PBS NewsHour. In it, they discussed Trump’s deploying National Guard into Memphis. I was struck by how normal and understandable it was to them. The controversy was now over red versus blue states, not over presidential power to deploy the guard. Also, that since Trump’s platform included crime, this deployment is a logical step in the course of addressing crime in cities. They never mentioned improved support for local police forces with funding resources and evidence based community programs.
This is what Joyce Vance warned about, I think. Shifting the Overton Window, shifting what we see as normal or no longer see as abnormal. Right there, on PBS.
Here’s the transcript of that portion and the link, if you want it:
Meanwhile, in this sort of heated environment, Tam, we saw the president today sign a memo in the Oval Office announcing he's going to be sending the National Guard troops into Memphis, Tennessee. Why now? What signal does this end?
Tamara Keith:
I think the why now is largely because he has support from Tennessee's governor, who says, come on down. President Trump has been saying that he wants to be invited. He's been invited.
And the mayor is less excited about this, to say the least. The mayor is a Democrat. But this is forming a task force. So it's not just the National Guard, which the governor could call up on his own, but he's also — the president's also bringing in ATF, FBI, that sort of alphabet soup of federal law enforcement.
And, in fact, the president said that the FBI has been operating in Memphis for some time now leading into this. President Trump has been clear that D.C. was a test case and that he intended to expand it. He is now expanding it. He's also talking about Chicago, potentially St. Louis. This is not the end. This is just the next step at what the president is making it seem would be the early stages of a plan to target many cities in America.
Amy Walter:
Yes, and it also addresses what many of the critics of the president have said, which is, oh, how come you're only going to blue states? Well, I'm going to red states. These are — we're going to — whether it's Missouri or not, but we're going to go to Tennessee, which obviously has a Republican governor and..
Amna Nawaz:
A Democratic mayor of Memphis.
Amy Walter:
And a Democratic mayor, absolutely, absolutely.
But it bypasses the challenge that he's had with blue states, like Governor Newsom in California or Governor Pritzker in Illinois.
Amna Nawaz:
Illinois.
Amy Walter:
The other issue is, it is very clear that Donald Trump would like to make crime and safety the centerpiece of the conversation that we're having, the political conversation that we're having, certainly when you look at the midterms.
And it makes some sense. It's one of the only issues in which the president's overall approval ratings are higher than his disapproval ratings. If it's about the economy, that's very deeply underwater. Even immigration is a little bit — people see him more negatively than positively by a smaller percentage, but still more negatively.
I find it amusing that District judge Merryday was so peeved by the length of the Trump diatribe. His full quote:
"Alleging only two simple counts of defamation, the complaint consumes eighty-five pages....Count I appears on page eighty, and Count II appears on page eighty-three … Even under the most generous and lenient application of Rule 8, the complaint is decidedly improper and impermissible.”
That's judgespeak for 'what a total pile of crap' and he's given Trump's lawyers 28 days to resubmit if they dare.
And OMG the language of the suit! I read only a few pages but I remember his comparing himself to—wait for it—Christopher Columbus! He was also mortally offended it was claimed Mark Burnett made him a star. 😂😂
While we all rejoice in the language of District Judge Merryday to reject this frivolous law suit let us not forget that it was not written by Trump himself but written and filed by his lawyers. You have to marvel at the level of incompetence and stupidity it takes to present such a document to the Court with a straight face. When this administration finally crumbles and Trump is long gone from this plane do these lawyers actually believe they could put this example of their work on a resume?
Per the New York Times, the decision to suspend “Jimmy Kimmel Live” was made by Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, and Dana Walden, the company’s television chief.
Complain to Sinclair Broadcasting - tell them you are boycotting and urging your friends and networks to boycott ALL Sinclair stations. Sinclair is demanding that Kimmel donated to the Kirks and Turning Point USA. The Sinclairs have been buying up networks/stations across the country to promote their right-wing ideology:
There is a sample script there for calling/writing Sinclair/Nextar advertisers:
----Hello, I just wanted to reach out to you, as I see that your company is currently holding ads on ABC7 in Washington DC. Many DC-based residents are initiating a boycott of ABC7 due to their parent company's decision to cancel Jimmy Kimmel's program. While it is a network's right to maintain their programming as they see fit, free speech is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Kimmel's sudden cancelation is a clear signal of ABC's capitulation to the will of a few instead of its guarantee to the rights of the many.
As advertisers on the station, I encourage your company to consider withdrawing any advertising on the network, lest you be included in the boycott.
Thank you for your dedication to American ideals. ------
Good template for contacting Boycott list:
Dear Mr. Iger, Mr. Erwich and Mr. Ripley,
When faced with a gross abuse of power by the Trump administration’s FCC, your organizations caved to government coercion by taking Jimmy Kimmel off the air indefinitely.
You are complicit in corruption and you need to grow a backbone.
Sincerely,
Representative Rick Larsen
Bravo, Rep Larsen - this went out to these CEOs on his Congressional letterhead.
Not for nothing did Ann Telnaes draw a prostrate Mickey Mouse kowtowing to a ginormous stone Trump statue, like a supplicant entreating Zeus at Olympia — a drawing which the Washington Post refused to print, which led her to resign from it and join Substack.
My new last name is Mr Cott and I’m a boy. It’s hard for me to be any more effective since I lead a non material and frugal life. I don’t hardly buy anything but I’ll lie and talk the talk which is what I can do best. I’ll download that list by Alexandra and work it.
High time! I'm glad to hear that Democrats have introduced a constitutional amendment to overturn the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Supreme Court decision that permitted unlimited corporate money to flow into elections. This decision may not be the root of all evil, but it's probably responsible for more than its fair share.
High time indeed. Yes, it may not get a chance to pass anytime soon, but you have to start somewhere. Support for reform needs a focus around which to collect.
As I understand it, a constitutional convention is not limited to one issue. The Koch crowd wants one and has an agenda all planned out. Be careful what you ask for.
With Project 2025 and a compliant republican Congress, they may not need a convention. Just change a few laws here and there like the OBBBA and the recissions packages.
Their untold “think tanks” have been planning such a takeover for decades. I would guess as 2000 played out and all kinds of possibilities opened up. But even before that Rove had started the denigration of democrats in Texas. Newt was a harbinger of things to come.
Yes, need to get money out of politics. ALL outside money. Let the state fund each party's capped election spend (and only with a very small amount) according to previous polling numbers.
When I read Rep. Crow's speech on the floor, I am reminded of the courage it took to create this country, and the courage to fight back to preserve it.
I thought of this week, twenty four years ago, when a group of ordinary Americans, facing certain death, stood up and took action to stop a hijacked plane from crashing into the Capitol.
Their battle cry: "Let's go!"
They did not wait, in fear for the inevitable outcome. Instead, they initiated plan that saved hundreds, if not thousands of lives. These people are the true patriots, not people like someone whose death is being held up as a patriotic sacrifice.
And from JB Pritzker. Adam Schiff’s speech at the Center for American Progress was top-notch. Pete Buttigieg brought down the house in Indiana condemning Republican gerrymandering in Texas and Missouri.
We have many stong, powerful, articulate, rising new voices. They have an old, desperate, demented, gaslighting moron who likes riding around in a gold-plated carriage on the grounds of Windsor Castle.
Trump’s criminal extortion of businesses seeking mergers, of universities’ research funding, of the entertainment industry only works because Congressional oversight, the regulatory agencies, and the courts have so far allowed him to. Their disloyalty to our Constitution and the rule of law is morally abhorrent. But the heart of the matter is their cowardice.
The destruction of the regulatory agencies gives them the ability to take action. They learned that from his his first term. Those independent agencies have been in the crosshairs of the conservatives for decades. Look back to Reagan and come forward. Read about Americans For Prosperity, the John Birch Society and what Jane Mayer writes about in Dark Money. The independent, regulatory administrative state was a cornerstone for the rule of law. Take that down and you can become a dictator rather quickly.
Recall his very first action was to fire nearly every Inspector General in every Cabinet department and agency — illegally. There was a reason for that. From there it was the “waste, fraud and abuse” bullshit line justifying DOGE.
He was a criminal before and a criminal starting this past January. He’ll continue being one until the hamberders catch up with him, since Republicans aren’t going to do anything about it.
The Bulwark has a short podcast on Judge Merryday’s ruling to throw out the frivolous $15 billion lawsuit President Trump filed against the New York Times. It’s on YouTube and is worth watching.
MAGA has invented a new term to counter allegations that they are now on the wrong side of the cancel culture issue - they're calling the dismissal of Kimmel and Colbert from the airwaves 'consequence culture'. Even Ted Cruz applauds the removal of Kimmel.
Meanwhile, 95 House Democrats voted in favour of a Republican resolution honoring Charlie Kirk as a "courageous American patriot...who boldly lived out his faith with conviction, courage, and compassion." 58 Democrats voted against the resolution.
While 95 Democrats supported the resolution, 58 voted against it and 38 voted “present,” effectively abstaining. Republicans had warned ahead of the vote that no one should oppose the measure, but many Democrats said they felt Kirk’s death had been politicized and the resolution elevated views they disagreed with.
“Today’s resolution underscores the majority’s recklessness by choosing to author this condemnation and honoring on a purely partisan basis,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, a high-profile Democrat who voted against the resolution. “We should be clear about who Charlie Kirk was.”AP
Give the whole story, not just what fits your preconceived notions. Got it?
Cardinal Dolan was also talking with support for the deceased Mr. Kirk. And there is the trope one does not speak ill of the dead and his family must just be so overcome with loss but I had been concerned about his role in his organization for some time. He made millions abd that is what concerns me the most how? And he used the old preacher tactics of the prosperity gospel not the social gospel to create admirers abd stifle debate. Rapid fire repetitive words and phrases. Not a true debate. I don’t think most of these people were in Model UN. That program should have been I every school and every student should have been exposed and before being in Model UN there should be a Model Senate and a Model Congress debating teams. And the debates should have been for competition and also in their schools. Facts should matter more than communication techniques.
“Rapid fire and repetitive phrases”…you nailed it, Not a true debate at all…exactly the firehouse of garbage Bannon, Limbaugh and all talk radio called for years ago.
We have a major problem in this internet world we have created: how to educate our young people to be fact checkers and invested morally in the common good…the common good which reaches beyond all man-made borders.
What preconceived notions, Carol-Ann? I merely stated the facts on this and you just repeated them adding that 38 Democrats abstained. What was wrong with them? Didn't they know what they were voting for? From what I know about Kirk he was not a "courageous American patriot...who boldly lived out his faith with conviction, courage, and compassion." He was a shill for the fossil fuel industry and other dark powers - those anonymous donors to Turning Point. He was a polemicist not a debater as many who confronted him directly have pointed out.
Now if Democrats don't have the guts to denounce his senseless killing but also denounce his racism, sexism and rejection of science then perhaps they deserved to lose the last election and will probably lose the next one too.
Why thank you ma'am. The last time you chose to criticize my comments, your tune changed after hearing the full explanation. Once again, since you don't have a dog in this hunt, let me explain.....giving a half statement that once again cast aspersions on the only party that is still in the fight for the American people is not helpful. It is what MAGA lives for - a circle firing squad. THAT is why I made that comment.
By the way, "what a charmer."? If you want to throw shade? Here, catch: your circle of friends consist of more than just your mirror?
The discussion concerned the term "playmander." Because you hadn't heard of it, you maintained it didn't exist.
Margaret-Rose Stringer
Margaret-Rose Stringer
Aug 11
I can say only that in my horribly lengthy lifetime, occupied with much disgruntled political opinion, I've never come across either term !! But thanks for the input. :)
It does look as if your need to make snarky comments in your rôle of manners police. This is not your fight, this is not your country on the brink. When people decide to pretend this is just another scene in a parlor game and not part of a real test of our form of government, no, I will not let it stand. I live here. You don't. My rights are being taken from me. Yours aren't. This kind petty game is fine when we are not in a pitch battle for democracy. Making comments about going after those who chose to vote with the opposition over vote that are of no intrinsic value is just what the opposition lives for. The Democratic party can not, at this time, afford to take down good legislators over one stupid vote. Not being angry is how we got into this mess. This is a country where less than 70% of eligible voters even bother to show or mail in. So, yes, I'm angry. Very angry. Health care, civil rights, education, taxation, inflation, basic freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution are under constant assault by an adjudicated rapist and felon and his lackeys. There are times when discourse within the party is necessary. But over a resolution that will change nothing and then want to primary those who voted for it? No. Vote "yes" with MAGA on the curtailing of rights? Yes, that Democrat needs to be primaried.
Not being "angry" is for the time of peace. This is not a peaceful time. Not in this country. So I will remain angry when folks stir the sand over what amounts to another distraction.
There are groups that work with young people and prepare them to run for office and to primary electeds who have been in office for too long and have forgotten that they're there to serve their constituents.
Charlie Kirk was a young, charismatic fruitcake straight out of the 19th century. Hated women’s rights, gay rights, said that MLK Jr. was an “awful” person, wanted to reverse the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts both, claimed Jews run everything and said an indeterminate number of gun deaths everywhere were worth having a 2nd Anendment “to stop tyranny.”
We’re not exactly talking Mahatma Gandhi’s reincarnation here.
I agree. Yet today he will be beatified at his memorial service at a 63,000-seat football stadium in Arizona where Trump is expected to use his death to announce new arbitrary restrictions on liberal NGOs. The list of speakers at the service will also include Vance, Rubio, Hegseth, Gabbard, Don Jnr and RFK.
Shame, shame, shame. Didn’t these morons read or listen to more the Repub version of KIRK. He was a fountain of evil verbiage interlaced with a few Christian quotes. The worst hypocrite, and as I understand it, hypocrisy is the one unforgivable sin. I repeat shame, shame, shame. Who are these DINOs. Or is that a majority these days.
Is this a party that is seriously able to respond in a united and courageous way to the most dangerous assault on US democracy that has ever taken place? Because much will depend on the answer to that question.
As I said in my earlier comment, the truly courageous patriots were those people who twenty four years ago stormed the cockpit of Flight 93. In the face of certain death, they saved hundreds, maybe thousands of lives, ensuring their deaths would not be in vain.
For Trump and MAGA, the true patriots were the rabble who stormed the Capitol building on 6 January 2021 and whom he pardoned en masse without even considering the case against those who had savagely attacked the Capitol police on that day. The Republican party in Congress has set up its own commission to re-write the history of that day so important is it to them to defend the credentials of the MAGA movement. That such a president and political party should now be condemning political violence shows staggering hypocrisy.
Suggest that we all write our reps with a list of things Kirk boldly said, starting with his comments about Biden. Just copy and paste those words to them. Shame can be a powerful tool
I suspect that they already know this, Rickey, but have calculated that the least damaging approach was to vote for the resolution anyway. The Democratic party's approval rating has been plummeting and no one seems to know what to do about it.
Sarah McBride was a Yes vote. I suggest reading her statement about her vote. I can't say I agree with it but, of all people, she has the most to lose by that Yes vote.
Okay, but perhaps she should have read Kyle Chayka's article in the New Yorker on 17 September (Charlie Kirk and Tyler Robinson Came from the Same Warped Online Worlds). I will quote:
"...Kirk leveraged a version of the same toxic online dynamics and algorithmic-attention sinkholes that can ensnare people like Robinson. He launched a regular digital broadcast, the Charlie Kirk Show, in 2019, and in 2022 created a TikTok account that gained millions of followers, stocked with clips from his show and smartphone-recorded riffs. He created a universe of content that his adherents could live within, complete with its own ideological memes. The kind of free speech and lively discourse that Kirk espoused involved spreading hateful conspiracy theories and misinformation. He shared (and later deleted) inflated human-trafficking arrest numbers plucked from 8chan, supported Trump’s false claim that the 2020 election was stolen, told Taylor Swift to “submit to your husband,” and targeted prominent Black women while stoking “great replacement” fears. Kirk was not simply practicing democratic politics; he was a slick and professionalized counterpart to the online troll, someone who understood that reckless lies promulgated through viral sound bites and incendiary podcast monologues repeated ad nauseum can shape today’s public opinion, whether on college campuses or in the halls of the White House."
In 2021, Kirk commented on Simone Biles' decision to withdraw from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He called her "you selfish sociopath," "weak," "very selfish," "immature," "a shame to the country," "totally a sociopath, of course she's a sociopath" and "a disgrace."
I guess they were dared by the Republicans not to vote for the resolution, leaving them open to claims that they were diminishing the significance of Charlie Kirk's killing and failing to condemn political violence. That, of course, was far from the case. Democratic leaders were first among those to condemn the killing outright with no qualifications. Meanwhile, Trump and his administration focused on finding someone to blame whom they characterised as 'the radical left'.
Trump led the way in his infamous address to the nation following Kirk's killing.
Stephen Miller claimed without evidence that there was an “organised campaign that led to this assassination” and promised to “uproot and dismantle these terrorist networks” by using “every resource we have.”
Vice president Vance blamed the killing on “crazies on the far left” and said “We’re going to go after the NGO network that foments, facilitates and engages in violence.”
US attorney general, Pam Bondi, blamed “leftwing radicals” for the shooting and said “they will be held accountable”. She also warned: “We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech. And that’s across the aisle", forgetting that the First Amendment protects hate speech.
MAGA heavyweights Steve Bannon and Alex Jones told their podcast audiences that the left had declared war on America. Laura Loomer immediately demanded that the government take action against the left for orchestrating the shooting of Kirk.
The New College of Florida is proposing to erect a statue of Kirk. Here's a rendition of what they're proposing:
MAGA Republican House Representative Ana Paulina Luna and others have asked Speaker Mike Johnson to commission a statue of Kirk in the Capitol building, comparing him to Martin Luther King.
This is clearly bordering on insane. In my humble opinion, what the Democtratic party ought to have done is to table their own resolution along these lines:
'We, the undersigned, condemn the senseless killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. There should be no place in American politics for this sort of criminal violence and we will cooperate with the government in any genuine measures to prevent such a thing happening again.
However, we will not participate in the beatification of Kirk and the shameless exploitation of his death for political ends as being proposed by senior members of the administration and we will vigorously oppose any government measures to use this incident to unlawully proscribe NGOs and remove their tax status. We also continue to condemn the government for unlawfully curtailing and threatening the First Amendment rights of Americans.'
You know … much of this mess was created by Moscow Mitch McConnell, from blocking a Supreme Court appointment to allowing Trump to pass two impeachments. None of this would have happened if Mitch McConnell had had a scrap of integrity.
Defamation law sets a high bar for public figures. It protects a free press and tough scrutiny. You do not get to punish criticism by turning a complaint into a press release. For a quick historical parallel on what happens when power treats institutions as tools, I wrote about the Gilded Age spoils system and why civil service protections matter. “Government for Sale: The Gilded Age’s Spoils System is Back—And Worse Than Ever” https://forgottenfiles.substack.com/p/government-for-sale
Kudos to Jason Crow for demonstrating in his life several forms of courage, self-sacrifice, and service to one’s country, all of which continue beyond his time in the military.
The message I got from his speech is that he didn’t risk his life and the lives of his compatriots so that a draft-dodging psychopath could toss American democracy down the toilet.
Jason Crow’s efforts to preserve and defend democracy continue in a different theater, and should inspire us all to do the same.
Thank you, Jason Crow, for showing us the different forms of real patriotism.
I mean, you know it’s really bad when you find yourself on the same side as Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Karl Rove. I guess it’s never too late to join the fight to defend our freedom of speech. Show up for No Kings 2.0 on October 18 - and call your reps and talk to your neighbors every day!
Hello Linda... Colorado should be Proud of Jason Crow.... On January 6th, 2021 Jason stayed on the House Floor, ready to Fight, and Defend his fellow Congress-People... The 82nd-Aiborne is an Elite Tier-2 Unit.... If Putin attacks NATO, the 82nd will respond... The 75th Ranger Regiment. is an Elite Spec Ops Capable Unit... We should be all be proud of those that Serve in these Units... Thank You Jason, and Thank You to those that Served Along-Side Jason....
JASON CROW and CARLOS ALVAREZ ALRANY …two new names I am learning about this morning…thank you for links here in comments on LFAA. Those two brave Americans speak for most of us here in the land of the free. Let’s stand the f up with them!
Hello Jane... In Times Of Crisis, Heroes Will Emerge... This Nation Was Founded By Heroes Who Dared To Resist... May the Republic that they Founded Endure... No Kings Are Allowed To Reign Over Us...
And some brain dead Cardinal of the RC Elite called Kirk a hero who followed the teachings of Christ. As if I would trust the comments of a mouthpiece of an organization which has paid out BILLIONS of dollars in reparations for sexual abuse.
A “friend” posted the connection between Jesus’ disciples and Kirk. I responded asking where in the Bible Jesus preaches on accepting “a few deaths” as the price of gun ownership. No response yet.
Ordering flags at half staff? For a RWer who was devote Christian who was the antithesis of Christian teachings. There is something so unsettling about that when flags at half mast are always for prominent respected public figures.
Berry, there is no connection as you well know, well except maybe Judas. Jesus taught acceptance of the outliers. He threw the money changers out of the Temple and criticized hypocrisy. He said give up your goods and follow me. He did not say preach hatred and become rich.
accepting “a few deaths” - talk about irony.
I can think of a few deaths that I would find acceptable.
This needs to be louder! Jesus as a teachers was pretty job if you take the intent and he was clearly anti violence long before there were even guns! These radical few, so-called followers of Jesus, are insane! And they are using Christian’s for cover to their fire.
Good on you, Berry M! ❤️👍
That was Dolan, Mr Hail Fellow Well Met. Loves the limelight. Compared Kirk to St Paul! Bishop Barron complimented Kirk earlier in the week. Believe me when I say there are bishops—and everyday Catholics —who DO NOT agree. Pope Leo is paying attention to the fractured USCCB though he can’t do much in the short term. Ignore those media hogs. Past time for Dolan to retire anyway. He’s also buds with 47.
I wonder if Dolan is aware that Paul the Apostle did not write most of the "Pauline letters." I wonder if Dolan remembers that "Saint" Paul is the same Saul of Tarsus who was a religious extremist responsible for the execution of individuals he disagreed with. There is no record that he ever faced accountability or even apologized for those murders.
The faithful perpetuate the notion that when Saul became Paul, he underwent a complete transformation and became a different man, ignoring the fact that modern converts bring their old opinions and positions with them when they join the Christian faith. An unbiased reading of the Pauline letters reveals that much of what he wrote were his own opinions and his alone.
For example, he wrote that women should keep silent in public convocations. The biblical record shows that Jesus was a champion of women's rights. And why wouldn't he be? Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susanna bankrolled his ministry, while the gang of 12 guys dithered and argued among themselves.
Little has changed in 2,000 years.
Yes, Dolan...very handsome in his attire and with his lovely smile, yet underneath an ultimate FOOL!!!
Well, Kirk’s antisemitism and misogyny was,all too close to too much Catholic history.
Catholic history, Mormon history, Baptist history, oh what the hell too much Christian history. Just ask the natives. Well just kill them untill they like us.
Dolan ought to br an embarrassment to every person of genuine faith
Only the teachings he wanted to follow and he ignored and criticized the rest. He preached women were only good as mothers and housewives, how will his followers take being led by his wife?
Where is the "appalled" emoji?
These might work: 😮😱😡. For starters.
😤
🤮
Christ to church-goers is to each what each wants him to be.
I’m for paganism.
Kirks "teachings" have nothing to do with Christ's teaching or the truth from the Bible. Perverse, sick minded man. I wish I could be there to hear God's judgement on him. He will not be a guest in Heaven.
I have it from a confidential source that Satan turned him away: he doesn’t want the competition.
Dolans comments shocked me. My first thought "release the Epstein files". Now I'm really curious to see which names are in there.
Jason Crow is someone all Democrats should stand by, hope he’s considering “jumping into” the 2028 presidential campaign!
I like your support for Crow, but I do wish so man y would stop trying to push everyone who does something decent to run for the Presidency! We need WAY mire than a decent President to renew our country's basic principles. We NEED honorable people in Congress and State Offices too.
Yes Cheryl. For the people who would (want to) speak out.., "people" who also feel they have a family or a career or a job to LOSE.., I see a good deal of hesitance, n this current atmosphere. Sickening as it is. the Epstein Files is/are the canary-in-the-coalmine. The big balloon, however, is/are the "young ladies" who can lay this country to waste. Watch, as they are dissected, influenced and intimidated, discounted and discredited, and pretty-much just redacted. This mess we are in offers incredible opportunities to excell. So many. Our country is built on a firm foundation, this current despotic situation will not last.
Apache, you remind me of the phrase "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." (been true for me)
Perhaps we can say when the populace is ready, the leaders will emerge.
(A good weekend to you! I'm seeing plenty of my favorite commentors on here today. 😊)
Hello Miselle... Thank You... You as Well...
Celebrating my birthday tomorrow with some of the family. Lots of September birthdays in our family--hard to keep celebrations separate so we often group them. True of both my family and my closest friends.
Apache, That is what I think too.
Thank You Linda... Thank You... You as Well...
Indeed. Hear Hear! Most of us running the reported ‘close second’ in ‘24 and after the shocking supposed results ..took some needed time to reassess, regroup,regain our solid grounding. But today ,near a year later, are convinced of the foul punch landed and surprised still of the easy way out far too many chose as capitulation is second rate to the grovel.
My gut reaction to the money mongers is quick. The snobs, more tuned as snubs, is present with alarming consistency. It’s the air about them -better than thou- going right along with the “OK for me , but not for Thee..” mentality action and premise.
No, again, I would not/did not own any part thereof ..and voted every time.
Heather ( and Robert Hubble piece today) kept the ‘We the People.” spirit front and center . Applause in order-as originalism is round about discussion again - I’ll note my profound thanks for keeping the Faith..which says so much so many ways apparent.
Mom and Pop’s age old decency vs Corporate Snubbery .
I’ve learned a lot, somber moments, questioning even at my age beliefs, understanding, and what to do.
We are far from ‘out of the woods’ with purse strings dangling smiles persuasively and dollar sized promises ..they’re still lies.
As tired as I am of hearing “ he said/he promised ..”yada yada I will be patient with my belt cinched trusting the rovers to come over and put America back to the task of equality..albeit it will never quite be the same , nor I as naive again…but pompous ..be gone with ya. The King of the Mountain game as child’s play has no place in sharing our Mother Earth and quite frankly all those children need a sound spanking and put to bed.
If only 4 GOP Senators found the courage to join with the Dems, we would have a majority in the Senate and could stop a lot of this madness. Four! Where are you GOP Senators?
Here is where Representative Crow was at his finest, sheltering a Congresswoman on January 6.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1B84X8rSSZ/
Good point, Apache! This Coloradoan is very proud of Jason Crow and the District 6 residents who elected him. His speech was outstanding, his bravery well established. I’m grateful there are politicians with integrity still active on behalf of “We the people”.
Hello Gary... We The People When Properly Led, Will Reign Supreme In This Land That We Share....
The emergence of Rep. Jason Crow as our leader is the most rationally hope-inspiring event since the onset of the MAGAT assault, and as a Regular Army veteran (active duty 1959-1962, 16 months in Korea), I salute him accordingly.
With militarily seasoned political leadership, we not only evolve effective resistance; we position ourselves to sustain it no matter how much the enemy escalates its retaliatory onslaughts.
Meanwhile -- as a just-in-case measure we should hope we never have to employ -- we should familiarize ourselves with how the citizenry of Ukraine has networked its individual households into a nation-wide defense industry that is said to be both adequately productive and dispersed so widely as to be impossible for the enemy to destroy. (See Olga Lautman, Julie Roginsky and Ken Harbaugh for details at https://olgalautman.substack.com/p/pax-americana-episode-19?publication_id=382626&post_id=173951640&isFreemail=true&r=cb67r&triedRedirect=true )
It is my hope that someone -- preferably a Coloradoan -- will forward this information to Rep. Crow. For which my thanks in advance.
Crowe was interviewed by Heather I believe and his growing up and joining the military to pay for college is classic American.
Thank you for the link to the Olga Lautman piece. Fascinating. And encouraging.
So proud to have Jason Crow represent my state. I don't live in his district (Diane Degette is my rep) but feel Crow is the leader to watch.
Originally, I did. He was my congressman for two years until redistricting, which was a fraud, btw. Then"affiliated " were actually lying republicans who misrepresented themselves.
Now I have Lauren Boebert. Last night went to a fundraiser for the woman who very nearly beat her when she changed districts. Trisha Calvarese will be one to watch.
I rely upon the comment section to keep us aware of national news like this.
Please keep us posted!
BTW, I also subscribe to "Belle of the Ranch" youtube channels, which, under "The Roads with Belle" is "Research Road" and "Interstate news". Yesterday, on the Roads, Belle mentioned there is some issue with Youtube, so she can't post the RR and IN, and you have to go to Patreon to view it. She said other YouTubers are having some issue also, but if they can work it out, they will again post under her "Roads" umbrella.
I really enjoyed Interstate news.
I wonder if there is something going on behind the YouTube issue. On her most recent Politics Chat, Heather did mention we should have multiple ways to stay in contact. I have no social media accounts. Didn't want any. Gonna wait to see what happens before I sign up.
I totally, 100% agree!
Gary, I sure wish we had someone like Jason Crow representing our district! Instead we have that ass kisser Bill Huizenga!
There are several women with military experience running for congress. Joanne Mendoza in AZ 6 con use your support. Protect our elections!!
Mikie Sherrill, Dem candidate for Governor of NJ was a Navy helicopter pilot.
We have a woman ex military running to be the dem challenger to Lauren Boebert.
Her name is Rear Admiral (ret) Eileen Laubacker and she was a Republican until May. She's funded by the DNC and I absolutely do not support her.
She was a protocol officer and never served aboard ship.
Given the DNC's Vichy-like response to the MAGAT onslaught, I'd say any candidate they fund would most likely continue the post-JFK "Democratic" (sic) Party's Fifth Column service to the "Republican" (sic) Christonazi/Neoconfederate Party -- the "change-we-can-believe-in" lies and Tonkin-Gulf-caliber betrayals that did at least as much as the GOPorkers' legitimization of bigotry and agitation of lynch-mob-caliber hatefulness to bring about our present denouement. The Democrats we support should be, like Rep. Crow, avowed to do whatever is necessary to restore the Constitution and resurrect the Republic. To vote for any Democrat who is not equally militant is tantamount to voting for surrender.
Thank you for "outing" Laubacker. We have too many MAGA Democrats in Congress now. The DNC is a loser organization. Do not give them money.
Crow for President.
They told me Sandy that my day of the military was dead and gone. That America had changed making me irrelevantly obsolete as a former military asset. Yet here is Crow applauded, and rightly so. At what time in American history has the military been so changed as not to stand to the constitution? I am going to reiterate that they are the sons and daughters of us all. I am going to reiterate they remain that way in this day and age as they have proven over the centuries we have been a nation. If one doubts the iteration of today’s military harken to what Is Crowing on our behalf.
Definitely high on my list as one of the 3-4 Democratic possibilities!!
What are his qualifications for the most powerful office on earth? Enthusiasm is one thing, Experience is another.
What were Trump’s? He didn’t even have maturity.
And we see what happened.
He is in Congress now… clearly can THINK… Hope he is learning…Lots can be dine in the upcoming elections, if we can KEEP them clean of Trumpian mischief.
His service to country is beyond enthusiasm. He is not a bandaid to politics. More like the antibiotic under the dressing healing the wound while holding the philobacters at bay.
Nice simile.
Mrs. Hingham freshman English Sentinel High School Missoula Montana. 1965.
Are you asking this question because you don't know and would like someone else to tell you or because you know and don't think he is qualified? Personally, I am pleased that Representative Crow is now on our radar. We need more like him to step up and speak out.
Not yet. He is not yet qualified for the Presidency. We need to welcome and develop the brilliant and energetic younger people entering the Democratic Party. We need their voices in Congress. We need them to challenge the older Democratic Party Leadership. We need their leadership on the ground.
I would like to see the Office of the Presidency become a matter of qualifications. This is a hard get in today's political arena.
Would you recommend a new person entering a company be suddenly promoted to the CEO position?
Barbara, I got soundly chastized on here awhile back for saying I didn't personally "like" Hilary, even though in the same comment I said I thought she was the best qualified candidate for POTUS in my lifetime, perhaps in our entire history.
I supported her and voted for her.
I hate that many view the POTUS as a popularity contest.
You raise good points. What constitutes a younger person? How many years of experience would you require? We don't live in a perfect world and, as you say, a checklist of ideal qualifications isn't likely to be feasible. As far as your last question, I do not think the comparison to a company CEO should have any bearing on our qualifications for President. It would be interesting to see a list of the qualifications and experience of all former US Presidents compared side-by-side.
His abilities and experience might make him a good candidate for Secretary of Defense (after we ditch the Dept. of War nonsense). Could use some competent leadership in that post.
What qualifications are you looking for?
Military discipline, courage, respect of military command.
As to experience, what was Obama’s, and for that matter, what was Lincoln’s?
First and foremost....tho only real qualification for any office is a solid moral and ethical sense. There are many younger Dems coming up who deserve our support so that they are ready when the time comes.
This current fiasco is the perfect example of why that matters.
Humility.
He is a veteran and he has a law degree.
Indeed! Hope Crow is considering “jumping into” the 2028 presidential campaign!
Especially glad that Jason Crow brought up the boycott idea. Hopefully it will start to get more attention and traction and will soon actually happen on a large scale.
Andra Watkins, in her Sept. 19th "For Such a Time as This" Substack goes even further:
"If you value what’s left of your freedom. If you want your children and grandchildren to have some modicum of liberty. If you don’t want to live in the equivalent of Russia or China or North Korea or Venezuela. NOW IS THE TIME TO PERMANENTLY PUNISH EVERY SINGLE COMPANY THAT BOWS TO THIS REGIME. PERIOD.
I don’t mean boycotts. I mean PERMANENTLY deprive these companies and their owners and shareholders of money and attention. Forever. Nothing they do will ever entice you to go back. Not discounts. Not great programming. Not major stars begging you to relent."
Wow Jason Crow! I’m calling him/his office today to thank him!
Phone: (202) 225-7882
And thank you to the people of Colorado who sent this fine American to Congress!
I am proud of Jason Crow. He was my congressman for two years, until redistricting gave me Ken Buck and then the disgrace Lauren Boebert.
Note to everyone about "impartial " redistricting commissions: the "unaffiliated" voters on the commission can actually be closet republicans, as was the case on Colorado. They made an additional red district by including very populated Douglas county with the agricultural eastern plains. We're a denver suburb.
And they made another very competitive district out of liberal Fort Collins, where there's a major University, with pig farming Weld county.
Hooray, Apache! Inspiring, good man, inspiring!
Thank You Ned.... Stay In The Fight.... Stay Safe...
If Putin attacks NATO will we respond though? Please, talk me down from the ledge!
Hello Brian.... NATO will respond... The USA already has Troops on the Ground there... Over the Decades, Russia has made few friends in Europe...
Trump has been so wishy-washy on NATO and worships Putin. He's totally transactional and he's the Commander-in-Chief. So, there's that.
Hello Brian... DJT is Compromised... NATO is more than the USA....
By "we," I meant the USA.
Apache, there are true patriots. I can, humbly, ask that my actions will be considered a statement against the T admin.'s when I protest. See you 10/18!
Thanks Cindy...
Thank you for your service! My husband was 101st Airborne. Over the years he has explained (and felt optimistic) about the ability of the military to refuse an illegal order. I've been wary about that at best. Now that I see what is happening with the National Guard being pulled into "law enforcement" roles, following questionably legal orders, I have great fears for the future of our military.
I understand that Hegseth is now demanding that members of the military cede their social media presence to a litmus test. Apparently, they are now required to turn over all their social media, and if they find any criticism of this administration, they will be expelled.
Since when was our military ever a political wing of the federal government?? And isn't there room for all of us who have varied political leanings?
This kind of blanket intimidation is anathema to our democracy. Yes, there should be room for all voices under the First Amendment--among other things. But this kind of personal violation is completely unacceptable.
Sadly, I no longer have faith that the members of our military (at least, those that have not been purged) will understand and stand up to illegal orders. It seems that every agency is all too ready to capitulate to intimidation. I fear for our future.
Hello Alyssa... Thanks, I'm sure that you appreciate your Husband's Service as Well... There was times when it wasn't Respected.... Notice that the DJT Regime, Plan 2025?, purged the Military IGs, and the top 3-Layers of the DoD... Hegseth is Absolutely Corrupt, and is notable only for a Slavish Absolute Devotion to DJT... I appreciate your Fears... Have Faith... Everything That Trump Touches Dies... Pray For Divine Intervention...
As a constituent in Jason Crow's district, I can tell you we are extremely proud to have him representing us in Congress. He works hard, he keeps us informed, and he asks our opinion! That's exactly how his representation should work. He has visited the ICE detention facility in Aurora over 70 times since 2020, and has detailed problems and followed to make sure they were resolved.
Don't forget Negouse, another Coloradan to be proud of
Let’s hope that the US will help if Putin invades a NATO country…..
Took the words right out of my mouth! Ted Cruz and Tucker Carlson BOTH want to get in bed with me. And here I thought Republicans *weren’t* supposed to be the party of unnatural acts! (And then I suddenly remembered someone named Jeffrey Epstein…)
Love this. Take care. The motive is suspect.
I’m not touching that one but almost did.
That works on so many levels
Epstein did horrible things. Making light of things that went on through inference is wildly inappropriate. Please remember there are even women reading this forum who have been deeply harmed through abuse. To make jokes in connection to a monster is really regrettable.
It's a coping mechanism but point taken. (What I meant to say was I thank you for the reminder. Sometimes we all need to take reminders to heart.)
Well said!
They know that when the Dems get back in power, what’s to stop them from pulling the same stuff? Faux & Tucker Carlson will be one of the first ones “cancelled.”
They don't intend to give up power, Jackie, no matter what.
The pro-democracy movement must point out at every opportunity that the GOP is the fascist party. Including Congress people and Senators, the right-wingers will never work with Democrats in good faith, so Dems need to work in lock step to label all right-wingers as the fascists they are. Now, after the latest attack on Constitutional free speech rights, the true patriots need to step up the fight and make the public pay attention.
What’s to stop them, Jackie? THE CONSTITUTION!
I don't think that is true.
Eww! EWW!!
It’s come to this: you’re so bad it’s fabulous. I’ll be chucking my way through the day with those words in mind.
Oh…. Another thought. Now, how about the current speaker of the house? Lemme think….🤔
little Mikey Johnson?
ICCT---TOO FUNNY!!
🦉🦅🫏
🚫
🐓🦖🐘
Also call your local newspapers to make sure the demonstrations hit the front pages.
If you're lucky enough to have "local newspapers," that is. Meanwhile, the various social media can reach people on the far fringes of our own social circles -- and beyond.
Those cretins mentioned contributed to this mess, along with others of evil intent, but they have finally caught the car and it’s a total wreck. Sorry you greedy, hypocritical bastards, you are trying to regain a modicum of legitimacy. Too late, your stench precedes you. No kumbaya from this quarter.
JD, I'm with you: NOW they stand up and provide their rather mealy-mouthed support. You can bet that Vacation-Going Ted is gonna vote for anything the Felon tells him to and despicables like Carlson and Rove (and Dick Cheney, etc) will change their language in a New York minute if one of the people they "like" takes over for the Felon. Like JustaDick, who I suspect is plotting, along with his best bud Thiel, a takeover.
I often wondered what the J D stood for !! LMAO!!
I'm not responsible: reader contest on Andy Borowitz's substack months ago voted that as his correct and proper name.
JustaDick will govern and Thiel will run the government infrastructure because 47 has already granted his company permission.
The ultra-rich (Oligarchs) have funded and probably have helped plot this fascist coup. Only by making all political races funded only by the public and only publicly financed can we hope to have a legitimate democracy, along with destroying the Electoral Collage and ending gerrymandering.
Sometimes even the greatest cowards catch a whiff of fresh air and realize what they have forsaken when keeping their noses pressed too tightly to the pipeline.
Still shaking my head at how timid Americans are being. Trump’s in a rocket and you’re following in an air balloon. On a weekend. In a month.
We’re not quite talking Euromaidan, are we?
I suppose better late than never, but seriously. If the French government had done a quarter of what yours has done, the country would be at a standstill (as it was on Thursday this week over austerity proposals against the most vulnerable).
And now the news. 1. Senate rejects competing bills to fund government, increasing risk of shutdown on Oct. 1.
2. Trump suggests US troops could return to base in Afghanistan, citing its proximity to rival China
3. Zelenskiy says Ukrainian forces inflict heavy losses on Russia in counteroffensive
4. U.S. Government Is Expected to Get Multibillion-Dollar Fee in TikTok Deal
Fee would be latest example of government getting paid for involvement in private-sector deals
5. Trump adds $100,000 fee for skilled worker visa applicants
6. Sacramento man arrested in shooting at ABC10 news station, police say
Thank you, Daniel.
Grift upon grift. $100,000 per person for a skilled person visa is the answer that the Trump regime has to Hyundai saying, “you changed the rules on the B1 & B2 visas and encouraged us to send our engineers and skilled workers anyway. Then you arrested them, beat them up, made racist slurs and kept them in inhumane conditions, including a pregnant woman”. It’s also the answer to ex-friend Elon asking for more highly trained but cheap-for-him Indian tech workers. Indian tech workers will come. I’m not so sure about South Koreans.
Beware of overconfidence. Republicans were bound to lose a few people who actually had a shred less ambition and opportunism and a shred more respect for the Constitution. The folks in charge of the coup would have anticipated that.
Remember we're not dealing with Trump-level intelligence here. It's the Russell Voughts, Stephen Millers and Peter Thiels who are calling the shots behind the scenes. They know they have one chance at this, with a prison sentence strongly possible on the other side if they fail, and you can bet they gamed out every possible scenario before deciding that Trump could be their figurehead and eternal distraction.
We should welcome and remember the Republicans who are calling out the coup this early. But if we think this show of disloyalty was not anticipated by the people who planned this arc of ultimate disloyalty to the country, we're being naiive.
Or maybe I'm just being paranoid. I can always hope.
I agree. The Project 2025 and Heritage Foundation crowd have been planning this for many years, and Trump is their useful idiot. Their success at packing the Federal Judiciary with right wing ideologues, and their election subversions to give the GOP seats out of proportion to their actual supporter among voters were necessary precursors to the current power grab. They will stop at nothing to advance their fascist White Christian nationalist agenda, and to avoid the consequences of failure.
I've written about this before, but I'll go ahead and repeat myself. Project 2025 is the culmination of an evangelical plot that began taking shape in the 1950s. That was the decade of an unprecedented rise in the income and benefits for the U.S. Middle Class. With that increased affluence and actual weekends away from work, people had the time and means for leisure activities – which preempted church attendance, and the attendant decline of "tithing." Church leaders became concerned and considered ways to compel religious support.
The 1960s brought "the sexual revolution," "women's lib," "the civil rights movement," removal of compulsory Christian prayer from schools and the beginnings of LGBTQ rights. All of these developments were anathema to evangelical dogma, and evangelical leaders panicked. "Mainline" denominations, which had been conservative began splitting into conservative and liberal versions.
Evangelical and conservative religious groups spread the myth that the U.S. had been founded as "a Christian nation," and formulated strategies to "take back the U.S. for God." These strategies included summer camps to indoctrinate youth with Christian nationalist beliefs, getting "born-again Christians" elected or appointed to political office at all levels of government, including the judiciary.
Republican operatives took notice of this evangelical/political movement and saw the value of harnessing the political power of the evangelical voting bloc. The GOP was also aware of the declining birthrate among white women who were rejecting or deferring motherhood in favor of careers or independence, thereby depriving the GOP of future voters. They seized on anti-abortion as a wedge issue, a litmus test and a means to force white births. They formed alliances with evangelical leaders to overturn religious tradition and criminalize abortion.
It has taken 75 years, but evangelicals and religious conservatives are now poised to take full control of U.S. government and culture. Project 2025 is the blueprint.
You're not paranoid.
While there is some reason to be cautiously encouraged by those on the right who are, apparently, changing their tune, I can't help but wonder what songbook they are singing from.
Yes please call out these assholes! They are the brain farts, the wormtongues, and they hate people! PP Peter in particular would like to get rid of organic humans as fast as possible, and Musky-Boy is right there with him! In their world we are ‘consumers, or perhaps even to be consumed.
We are not meat! Yell! Please tell them loud and clear!
They have been very sick and strange for a long time…you are not paranoid, the feeling of fear and loathing is based on actions and facts!
Of course the reason I hate them is their pervasive perversion of Tolkien. They are not anything more than Ring Wraiths in the thrall of the devil, the ring of power.
Where is Gollum biting off Frodo’s finger and falling into the lava pool?
The real King was known by his healing and lack of pretext!
Yep. There’s a meme:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heartbreaking:_The_Worst_Person_You_Know_Just_Made_a_Great_Point
Today I offered a local org to be a driver for children of immigrants who now fear to take their children to school. It’s done to that. We are in this together.
When I moved to New Orleans in 1968 I got to know two women who had helped integrate public schools there by taking black students to school. Bill, you are following American tradition: public education for everyone!
Thank you. These children are the future.
Way to go Bill thank you 😊
There will be a No Kings demonstration on October 18. Spread the word! 👑👑👑👑👑
To find a location, follow this link!
https://www.nokings.org/
From 2025 DIRECT ACTION ALERT: We’re calling for protests at all Fox affiliates throughout the country on Saturday, September 20, 2025 at 1PM.
We will be present at the Fox affiliate in Denver (Fox 31, 100 Speer Blvd. Denver, CO 80203). Please join a Fox Takedown event or create your own protest. We’re asking everyone to join us in protesting for freedom of speech and against the network that called for the mass murder of unhoused Americans.
In solidarity, The American Opposition Team
https://www.americanopposition.org/?ss_source=sscampaigns&ss_campaign_id=68cdbee852111b28766a92e8&ss_email_id=68cdc18021ccdc171d2d417b&ss_campaign_name=Direct+Action+Alert%3A+Fox+News+Protests+on+9%2F20&ss_campaign_sent_date=2025-09-19T20%3A48%3A09Z
Yes, UGH - but whatever it takes.
As glad as I was to see Ted Cruz's comments, as a former constituent, I'm not fooled. If the winds were blowing a different way, he would have spoken in favor of censorship. That man has no soul or moral center. As such, his words are even better news because it means he thinks the side of freedom of speech will prevail.
Misty, some years ago, I worked for an advertising agency. Among our clients were political candidates. As clients, they were permitted to use our conference room for "backroom meetings" that were closed to the public and even their own campaign staffs.
As it happened, my office was adjacent to the conference room and the common wall was not soundproofed. I heard a lot of conversations that I was not meant to hear, and I thought it best not to disclose that I'd heard them.
What I learned from those conversations is that politicians claim to be for and against the very same issue, depending on the audience they are addressing. It's a strategy to garner votes.
I'm sure that not every politician lies, but I'm equally sure that most of them do.
I’m busily making hand-drawn posters to hand out to anyone who wants one on Oct. 18. It’s a small act, but TOGETHER we can bring about the change we want. Most Americans DO NOT SUPPORT this Administration’s unconstitutional acts.
Get into your commitment to
NO KINGS ! Please!
The annual Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) convention is October 17th - 19th in Hilton Head, SC. The keynote speaker is John Fugelsang who just released a book on how to deal with WCN's.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=john+fugelsang+book&t=osx&ia=web
Like the millions of Americans that will be working to serve the public on October 18th, the attendees of the convention will be there in spirit.
If you're interested in attending the convention, check out the list of speakers. It is an amazing cast of speakers.
Fugelsang's conversation with Andy Borowitz (available on YouTube and on Andy's Substack) is fantastic.
I am currently reading Fugelsang's book, Separation of Church and Hate. It is excellent...informative and funny...highly recommend.
Agreed. I am also on the opposite side on other things though. I am having my own Chicago experiences with the effects of ICE.
I wrote about this on Thursday and Friday. I am coordinating 3 moves and dependent on immigrants every step of the way.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/view-from-chicago-no-ice-no-fear?r=f0qfn
The immigrants are being affected by ICE which is in Chicago.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/view-from-chicago-life-with-ice-is?r=f0qfn
I wanted to share what is going on from a personal point of view because many people tell me they are not able to find out what is going on. For that I can thank the Chicago Sun-Times as being a paper that is not bending to the Trump administration. They are reporting what is going on here.
I did not realize that Jimmy Kimmel had been fired; I was hoping he would be re-instated. Thank you, Dr Richardson, for an inspiring essay. I needed a morale booster-shot after the downer I felt yesterday. 🙂
My optimism these days is directly co-relative with the amount of sleep I have had the night before. 🤭
In the long comment below, I re-post a long and laboured comment on Dr Bandy Lee's thoughtful column of yesterday, "The Spread of Conspiracy Claims as a Measure of Dangerousness". https://bandyxlee.substack.com/p/the-spread-of-conspiracy-claims-as ✍️
On the concerns over civil war or widespread street violence, Republican Adam Kinzinger, a leader among conservatives standing should-to-shoulder with the rest of us, cautions heavily against people, primarily macho-mouthed M.A.G.A.s uttering threats or making predictions, in this six and a half minute vid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqAqYMHe6Gk 🤔
Although I am scared not only of a civil war, but also whether I would have the courage to fight, I remain stubbornly optimistic, not because I prefer to be optimistic, but because I have to be. If I seem inconsistent, it is because I am to the point of feeling wishy-washy. 🤢
B.L.U.F. (bottom-line, up-front): the data and conclusions I present below may well be way off; the scenario presented is only one among millions.🙄
Vacillation aside, skepticism should be the order of the day. One important matter for me is how many in the M.A.G.A. base remain so dedicated to the cult of personality that they are willing to die, fighting, for Trump or for what he represents. 🤔
Guesstimating from several data from recent polling ('The Economist / YouGov); the usafacts.org site; and, the C.I.A. World Fact-book (i.e., World Almanac for grown-ups), the Trump base ranges *from the seventy-five to one hundred million people. 🫨
Let us take the lower end, for optimism's sake. So what portion of that seventy-five million professes undying -- better said, dying -- support for Trump. My swagger (scientifically wild-assed guessing) is that half of the thirty-nine per cent of those polled as favouring Trump are hard-core supporters, including the great majority who are peaceable and decent. 😳
Now that is the undying (i.e., vote M.A.G.A. no matter what) support of thirty-seven million. What percentage of that cohort have a taste for violence (i.e., the dying, or willing-to-die support)? My inference / guess is that those looking to fight have an anti-social personality disorder, generally ranging from one to four per cent of the population. 🤬
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/social-instincts/202405/two-ways-to-tell-psychopaths-and-sociopaths-apart ✍️
So, applying these parameters to others mentioned would yield a number of one to three million *malcontents actually out for blood. That is a lot of people, especially if they are heavily armed. What concerns me is that, even at a million people, such a catastrophic cohort would be a vanguard of violence as more and more people would get drawn into the conflict. 💔
When I told ____ that I would stand up for their right to free speech they told me they didn’t need me to do anything for them. Basically- to go f myself.
I told _____ I’d even stand up for their right to say bad stuff…..I dont think it sunk in.
Wait—they care about firing comedians now? After everything else they’ve shrugged off? What’s next, Republicans suddenly finding a conscience? Please.
Linda, I can't wait until 10/18! Another chance to show our true colors. And to have another blow to the MAGats who think they can control our thoughts & actions. GTH!
I just came on to complain about David Brooks’ statement tonight on PBS NewsHour that Heather blamed MAGA for the Kirk shooting! Nothing of the sort!
I agree, Ron. Brooks misrepresented what Heather wrote over a period of several days. She gave her sources as always, and updated her summary as new information was available. Brooks maybe only pretends to have read HCR.
David Brooks works for the New York Times which many journalists have abandoned for editing their work. Brooks is certainly not the journalist he used to be when he was on the McNeil/Lehrer Report on PBS years ago.
Paul Krugman used to write for The NY Times but left because they forced him to rewrite several columns in 2024. They have become a political rag and even though there are still several excellent journalists there A. G. Sulzberger is only interested in money and doesn't give a shit about the integrity of the journalists that write for the paper.
The article headlines of the current NYT are infuriating -- yesterday one of them was along the lines of "Trump MAY have crossed Constitutional norms" Ya think??? I comment as often as allowed, but legacy press has let us down badly and hard.
There was a change with Reagan. The press outted Nixon's lies, yet began eating out of Regan's hand.
David Brooks has made some salient points over the years. But more recently, he talks to us as if we were "intellectuals" sitting around discussing authors that 99.9% of us have never heard of. His elitism is maddening. I think that at his core, he's a good guy who just doesn't have the guts to admit that his party and his "conservative" philosophy are faulty at best and diabolical at worst.
Jonathan Capehart is also disappointing of late. I like the guy and share his values. But he is fumbling, grasping at words. For years I looked forward to the Friday night NewsHour specifically for this discussion. Note to PBS - get some new opinion voices. I miss Mark Shields so much. He kept Brooks honest.
Addendum. Most of the reporting crew on the NewsHour are doing excellent work. The hosts have exceeded expectations. Amna takes no prisoners. Jeff is only getting better. And William impresses me more and more. Nick, Stephanie and Paul. Miles and Jeffrey - all really great. It's still the best reporting on TV.
I still look forward to their takes, having been following their work over the years and go past the one-offs in these uncertain times. Good counterpoints keyed up by PBS staff and their swinging reminds me of how hard it must be to be living in this time when journalists are looking for a path out of the mess the country is in and seeing their normative foundations sliding all over while trying to figure out the future being sought by us in the audience. I am really enjoying Goldberg's Washington Weekly with the Atlantic. Panels and scope I gain from and appreciate. Not ready to throw out Brooks and Caphardt for being inconsistent. Good men, minds, and efforts to follow this mess.
Public TV is soon to be the ONLY place to get competent news reporting. the MSM has totally capitulated to threats from this bunch of fascists. And the cable channels are terrified of the boycotts that are threatened , and equally terrified of Trump and his threats, so they are now nothing much more than self neutered eunuchs.
My current rebellion is that I have upped my sustaining contribution to both Public TV and Public Radio. We need to step up and contribute so that they can free themselves permanently from the possibility pod any future tyrant deciding that he can control the news that we are hearing. My local NPR radio broadcasts BBC news, which I depend on for a perspective that is not found on any US based outlet.
We can get French TV news, in English. Also German. Half hour programs that repeat until there is new news. They don’t beat around the bush with euphemisms like “pushing against the norms.” Also great for a broader perspective.
You are lucky. Are you on a border where this kind of news comes from Canada? Or is your PBS station broadcasting these programs? I can only get foreign stations (and few of those) by streaming them, and they are mostly in the native languages, so not being fluent, I miss a lot.
The funding issue at both PBS and NOR and especially PBS has been going on for Ali g time. I noticed this in the early nineties. The quality of some of the shows not all was les
s than it was and less creative works. There also was a lack of what to do. Bill Moyers programs were floated around especially at the end and even his work told but did not address how to change and what to do. Frontline excellent but depressing so I stopped. The community based programming sometimes great but scattered abd what one presented in one city not shown in another. The fund raisers became boring. The best one I remember was the showing of Monty Python and the Holy Grail at our affiliate in 1979. Lots of missed opportunities but also a long decline in government support so they became beholden to certain entities.
Sorry your local PBS does not suit you. I am lucky to have both TV and Radio that are outstanding. Certainly there are some programs that do not interest me,so I don’t listen/watch those.
PBS stations are more locally oriented than the msm broadcasting stations or the cable channels. Perhaps if you contribute to your local stations you can also interact with them to suggest programming that you believe to be of public interest.
I believe the perceived "elitist" attitude of the left by MAGA only hurts the Democrats with the working class. Don't forget how MAGA embraced Trump's proclaiming "I LOVE THE POORLY EDUCATED!"
We really need to reach people where they are. Sadly, I believe that the threat of losing our democracy didn't resonate with people fired up over the price of eggs. Perhaps they are learning NOW just what that democracy means to them.
"...reach people where they are." Exactly. Which is why we should be following the lead of people like Senator Chris Murphy, Bernie and others who want the Dems to rebrand as the Party of Economic Justice. Big tent to include all sorts of people with different social values. I'd go further and rename ourselves "The Democratic Workers Party". There can be no social justice if we don't win. And I think our winning card will be the price of everything.
Billionaires are approaching being Trillionaires. And workers wages have barely budged in decades. The minimum wage hasn't increased in decades. It is beyond injustice. It is obscene.
Thank you for that. Unfortunately, the majority of the people who have similar political beliefs to me are more interested in the social than the economic. That was one of the things that Bernie did so well and continues to do.
I could be wrong on this, but I listened to Bernie's speech a few days ago. I believe he mentioned the average worker makes relatively LESS now than in the 1970s.
I've always liked Katie Porter and her white boards. She'd break down issues in a way people could follow what point she was attempting to make.
You wrote and I concur “ I miss Mark Shields so much” along with David Gergen.
And let’s not ignore Sulzberger’s lapdog, Ezra Klein.
What nonsense. The old Grey Lady is still a great paper.
Arlen Blechman
I think it is fair to say that the climate of misinformation that Trump and others dispense contributes to a climate of mistrust and violence, but Kirk's assassin clearly followed his own twisted course.
I defy anyone to make much ideological sense at all of the sad, young lone wolf accused of his murder. Details about him suggest a “community” of violent video gamers, not a Bolshevik talking shop….
Bullet case markings (themselves a trademark of incel-style assassination attempts before) filled with snippets and memes that don’t make sense at all to most people — some weird, Italian anti-fascist song nobody’s ever heard of before, references to “furry” subculture (you can go look it up yourselves), markings understandable only to violent gamers untethered to reality, such as the “Groypers” — an on-line community about as fruity and “righty” as you could ever get.
Nick Fuentes and his lot, associated with the Groypers, had been actively trolling Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point, USA for years, presumably because Kirk’s group wasn’t fruity, ‘Christo-Nazi’ and anti-Semitic enough for their tastes. Fuentes has been a young Trumpy for years, who’s now turned on his former idol (sort of), labeling him a scam artist this past summer, presumably in connection with right-wing shock over what the Epstein Files appear to show.
Back in 2021, MAGA world was once assured that Donald Trump was a brilliant strategist leading an army of brave warriors battling secret cabals of child-trafficking cannibals acting on Hillary Clinton’s direct orders. Now, in 2025, a birthday card from an estate shows wink-wink, nudge-nudge references between two pals about “secrets” that link the Manchurian Cantaloupe to his child-trafficking boyfriend.
Doesn’t take much imagination to picture their new terror — all along the calls look as though they’ve been coming from inside the house, not from Venezuela, Havana, or Minsk
‘When a Stranger Calls.’…. “Why haven’t you checked the children?”
“Manchurian Cantaloupe” 😅😅
Why etch those Groyper memes on the shell casings at all if he didn't want to express that message? Remember, we have only heard about the evidence from the ultra-right-wing Mormon prosecutor and the FBI, who have a vested interest in framing this case as some gay-trans sexual crime. Let's see what they can prove in court. Groypers hate women. I wonder how unusual it is for any percentagee of groypers to be gay.
I would be careful trying to infer anything coherent whatever from these shell casings, from the "Groypers" whose world is filled with simulated violence, real hatred and psychiatric confusion and dysphoria. What connection all of it has to the alleged assailant's sexual orientation and that of his boy/girlfriend is even less clear.
The etched memes are Groyper memes, and until or unless Robinson explains what drove him to murder Kirk, those etchings on the shell casings points to Groyper ideologygy as his manifesto.
The reason that the prosecutor wants to frame this as a gay or trans crime is because, in Utah County, the most Mormon place on earth, is that a jury there will easily convict. And of course the FBI is pushing trump’s MAGA agenda that they were pushing before anyone knew who was responsible.
What a tangled web we weave, when with lies we do deceive!
That sounds sounds like a confession, however unintended.
I read last night that has not made a statement yet. Will he remain silent? Was he actually the shooter? How much of his ideology is just being made up to make him appear a far left extremist? I’ve noticed that conservatives are the last people to get their children mental healthcare and in the Mormon church that care would come from a deacon of the church and probably include sexual abuse.
DISinformation.
“Misinformation” is accidentally stating something.
There’s nothing accidental about the BS Trump and his cult constantly spews.
"Lies" works for me.
It gets to the point.
Thank you. I've been utilizing that for quite some time now.
Agreed. I think we all unintentionally carry some misinformation. Lies are deliberate falsehood, the result of a choice.
Misinformation..is when you say something wrong by mistake.
Disinformation.. is when you say something wrong on purpose!
You made my point much clearer than I. Thank you!
Or more likely he’s paid by an organization that has billions to silence her brilliance.
Project 25 /Heritage Foundation will do everything in their power ( billions$$$) to get their goals met — ON TIME.
Through all my readings of the last 8 years now, I could not agree with you more. These christo-fascists libertarians thought Reagan was their man, but he actually had some heart for American democracy, then there was GW Bush, but once again there was some American loyalty, but not much. They needed someone who would just sign whatever a republican majority filled Congress would send over. They got that with tRump. None of this is remotely possible without the conservative leadership. None of it. I remind my republican elected reps daily.
"I remind my republican elected reps daily."
A smile and a thank you from here.
Rickey, it's my observation that the U.S. presidency ceased being an office held by a single person when Eisenhower left it. He had advisors, but he called the shots.
From Nixon on, the office was held by a committee. For that dynamic to work, the person whose name is branded on the administration must be manageable – or manipulable.
The GOP wholeheartedly embraced this structure and selected candidates who would fit in without resistance. Reagan was the prototype, an actor who could be given his lines which he would recite reliably. His onsetting dementia made him pliable and reliable.
George W. Bush was the "crash test dummy" for experimenting with having a halfwit in The Oval. He was the "proof-of-concept."
Along came Donald Trump, who was born with a learning disability, exacerbated by delusional thinking and likely early onset dementia. He is the epitome of the moron-in-office. The GOP will be hard-pressed to find another candidate as ideally suited to committee control.
Learning disabilities don't determine character, or even necessarily preclude high academic achievement. Trump's character disability is malignant narcissism, starting with a monomaniacal "love of money".
Project 25 is a phantom of your imagination stopped the non-
Brilliance? How’s about her utter hatred of The country that provides this forum…for her to inculcate the weak-minded.
Rubbish
So is your denial.
I also heard David Brooks comment about Heather on PBS last night. I remember reading Heather’s Letter where she referenced the shooter’s possible connection to Fuentes and the Groypers and I recently responded to my brother (a big Trump supporter), who sent me a text about Charlie Kirks’s murder, with the suggestion about the shooter’s political leanings. Now I feel I was spreading a conspiracy theory! Please tell me what Substack letter where Heather gave an update about the shooter not being linked to the Groypers and Fuentes so I can correct my comments to my brother. I must have missed that update as I read Heather’s letters every day.
She spoke with The Bulwark about the controversy around what she posted the other day. It sounds like she’s been through the deepest hell this week: https://youtu.be/8HJh35_-U5g?si=1Cza2qAI4OoACUWl The rest of the interview is also quite good. Lots of Heather teaching as well as exchanging ideas with Jonathon Last of The Bulwark.
Thanks for that info, Ferbie.
Heather has been doing SO many interviews that I am struggling to keep up with it all. I see she will be doing another one with Red, Wine & Blue on the 24th.
There are so many good voices out there, but truly, I could spend the entire day doing nothing but listening to them all, and I'm sure Heather would agree that isn't the healthiest way to live.
Omg, so overwhelming. Truly. I posted this because Deborah was concerned about possibly having misled her relatives and wanted more information.
And good that you did! This community is a family. Sometimes we get snarky and picky with each other, and we do have the resident "Grandpa Simpson yelling at the sky".
Thanks so much for sharing this link to Heather’s conversation with the Bulwark. It was very helpful in answering my question .
Not to inundate you with information and videos, but it occurred to me that the information in this PBS NewsHour interview may also be quite helpful in your endeavor. Not to convert but to provide information that your relatives may not be seeing. They discuss the subculture that is linked to the etchings on the bullet casings. It’s 7 1/2 minutes long and the transcript is included. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/a-look-into-the-online-subcultures-tied-to-charlie-kirks-accused-killer
I lifted this out of the transcript. There’s much more, but this points to the need for a different approach in trying to understand a motive or underlying ideology:
So it is possible that Robinson is a leftist, an anti-fascist, someone you would consider on the political left. It's equally possible that he is trying to muddy the waters. And we have seen this with other spree shooters at schools across the country this year, where a shooter will write conflicting political messages. In Nashville, Minneapolis, we have seen this.
Dating all the way back to 2019, with the use of memes in the Christchurch shooting in New Zealand, this is a common tactic for what you would call an accelerationist. For those who aren't familiar, an accelerationist is someone who wants to accelerate the end of the status quo, end of society, someone who wants to push politics and political violence to such an extreme that the order of the country would fall apart.
It is a very nihilistic, very apocalyptic view that has become more and more popular, particularly on the dark corners of the Internet in the last 10 years.
Thank you .
You’re welcome.
I suppose he is an attempt on the part of the NYT to provide balance to their editorial dept, but he's not my cuppa tea. I'm more comfortable with Maureen Dowd and Nick Kristof.
Brooks was always a dick.
I came on here only to find aquatic historians arguing about minutia and non sequiturs. You all should get out of your house. It’s no longer a time to quote the 50s or the 60s. It’s time to realize that we live in 2025 and you’ve missed it. You’ve missed it by a long shot and your heat is overwriting your common sense, and logic. But the next three years are gonna be beautiful and eventually you’re gonna have no choice but just realize that and understand if you have half a brain.
Anachronistic.not aquatic
David Brooks is a moron.
He’s a Republican. But that’s just repeating the statement.
77 million plus. Now over 100 million AND growing. Keep up the violence and the only supporters you’ll have left will be elderly stuck in the mud communists
"100 million AND growing"
This is how many Russian bots will be voting for the Groper-in-Chief's Toadies in our 2026 election?
For Monroe still hasn’t figured out that the Russia hoax was a hoax and Trump had nothing to do with Russia whatsoever and when it comes out, I hope you were at least honest enough to admit it, but probably not
By the way, how many bots voted for trump in the last election?
What you should be asking is how is it possible to Joe Biden and unaccomplished legislator for 40 years got 13 million more votes than Obama the god
56,000 requests for new chapters of the turning point USA, Charlie Kirk foundation since his death. You better wake up and change your tune
Most of the people in this thread are Russians… They just don’t want to translate to work Russian from communist
🙄
But one who often knows better, and just reverts to form. Core moron
Jeri, good to see you! I was thinking about you yesterday night, as I had missed any comments you might have posted recently.
Thank you, I check you out as well. Docs have taken priority lately. 🙁
Hope everything goes well for you. Seeing my new GP today, my doc of 35 years retired.
So far, so good😵💫
Until he says what you wanted to say and then he’s your hero
Brooks has been a very confused person for a very long time. He’s even getting worse.
I think this description is more apt than some others. DB used to be a principled conservative (such people do exist) and though I disagreed with a lot he had to say I was at least willing to listen. But since Trumps return to office DB has been all over the map with his opinion pieces. I’m not angry with him as much as I am dismayed. He can’t seem to figure where he stands. That might well be because the NYT won’t let him speak his mind freely, or out of fear of Trump.
I think that’s a good description of him: “all over the map”. I’m never sure where he stands or what response he’s going to give to a question.
I have for decades listened to, read David Brooks. I do believe he’s well meaning. It’s his calling card. He’s a reconciliatory character. He has failed to grasp his time. He’s a 17th century rationalist trapped in a computer driven word game.
This is currently the MAGA script for spreading disinformation. I've gotten that criticism too on my Facebook posts that were specifically talking about Nick Fuentes and Groypers - no mention of that other toxic guy at all.
Brooks is just wrong. Why would he venture such an opinion? And calling HCR Left is also wrong; she is small 'l' liberal. The two things I remember about her posts on the murder are her use of the phrase "It appears" and the fact she waited several days to write about the event. Is he professionally jealous of her? IDK, I generally agree with him 90% of the time, but the other 10% sours my gut.
Brooks is only as honest as it suits his narrative to be. That raises the question - it's not whether the glass is half full or half empty, it' also a question of just how much urine can you tolerate in the drinks he'll be serving up. I guess when he says things his public likes they'll tolerate quite a lot.
In contast to that, Dr. Heather is a (an?) Historian. As such, she puts in an effort to only put out honest and verifieable statements. Any less would be unprofessional. Also, instead of writing editorials she's presenting a record of current events and showing how history compares with those events. Honesty of this sort has gotten her painted as "A Lefty".
Once again, it appears that honesty and accuracy have a liberal bias.
It seems that facts have a definite liberal bias as well.
“Dr. Heather is a (an?) Historian.”
Thanks for pointing this grammatical (?) anomaly out Garrett. I was a history major and I’ve never figured it out either.
Oooo, a grammar geeks comment thread. My brief dive into the etymology tells me that "historian" is both a noun and an adjective. For usage, all three dictionaries I looked at (Miriam-Webster, OED, and Cambridge) used "...a historian" in their descriptions of the word, with one of them saying that (paraphrased) "some people drop the "h" and say "an" but that sounds old fashioned."
Ally, I had the same reaction!
I wonder what AI would do with that? When I've finished my manuscripts, I have run them through ProWritingAid. I don't use them to write, (UGH! DON'T GET ME STARTED ON CHATGPT!) but I find the tools better than those in Word. When I first started using it, I was playing around with it to see what the AI would do to various phrases. Some of them were hilariously awful!
The old "how many r's are there in 'strawberry'?" I remind my LLM lovers in the family of that failing quite frequently when they tell me how advanced "AI" is.
It is ‘an Historian’.
Well, which is it boys?😵💫
Turns out I'm a little off! An goes in front vowel 'sounds,' not just vowels. Both are correct for historian!
I learned from listening to speakers of British English to dissemble by inserting a "phantom hyphen".
Thus, Dr. Heather is a-Nistorian, a-Noyster is a fine hors d'eouvre, and the very famous, "There's a-N'ole in me pocket!"
She do history.
'A' historian is correct. An is only used in front of words starting with a vowel, such as 'an economist.' H has a 'vowelly' sound to it which can make an sound right at times.
Nope. Actually depends on how one pronounces the word. “An herb” is the same situation. Personally, I think Garrett ⬆️ has the best solution.
As "an" historian, I agree!
This dilemma was caused by the British of olde, who frequently omitted pronouncing the "h" at the beginnings of words. You can still hear this in several UK dialects. As our spoken language has evolved, we've kept the silent "h" in hour, but added the audible "h" in history.
"An" developed as a means for separating two vowel sounds in adjacent words. Try to speak the phrase, "sixty miles a hour." It feels awkward to wrap your mouth around it. When those earlier English speakers encountered such a juxtaposition, "an" smoothed out the transition in "a 'istoric event."
Either mode is considered correct by grammarians, but most are leaning toward "a historian," as "an historian" tends to slightly interrupt the smooth flow of speech.
Some would argue that using "an historian" reflects a pretentious air, which is something to consider.
French grammar has some of the same conventions (one of the things I DO remember) to separate vowel sounds, like "mes_amis," when "mes" could normally be pronounced like "may."
Exactly. In fact, when 'umans were migrating from their origins to the British island, they first had to come through the area we now call France. My own Welsh surname was likely spelled Rouette before it was anglicized.
Anyone who is not on the extreme of "right" is currently labeled "left".
On the whole you're exactly right. It just came out of the blue that Brooks would engage the same political device. It just doesn't seem like him in my experience.
I also wondered if Brooks is professionally jealous of HCR
She is LEFT OF SANTA CLAUSE. and hates with a passion.
Perhaps your handlers have had too much vodka.
Poor baby! Did Santa not bring you the toy you wanted?
Yikes. Poor james. Wrong again,……so sad you losers.
Always guessing wrong. Keep telling you that crystal balls don’t work nor do ouija boards.
I celebrate Chanukah.
BTW. What have you done with all the gains in your 401K’s and investment wins since Trump has been in office? Wrong again. But you keep on hating??
LOL
Yeah, I love when you guys are laughing all the way to the bank like hypocritical slime.
David can’t help but talk out of “both sides” of his mouth. Must be a symptom of his cognitive dissonance run amok.
What??!!! That’s absurd!
No. David Brooks is intelligent, well educated, well read and articulate. Unfortunately, his social consciousness seems to have stalled somewhere around the 1950s sitcoms Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best.
Everything for him feels like a parlor game. I think he sees himself as the erudite, well-read inheritor to William F. Buckley. It’s all sort of an inside joke, untethered to a real world filled with real suffering.
Yup, we could use some insight from Eddie Haskell.
I don’t know about using it, but Eddie Haskell’s smarmy, ingratiating attempts to curry favor with superficiality is common on the right, though not from Brooks.
Although I like Brooks and Capehart both substantively and perhaps more importantly demonstrating by example what mutually respectful discussions between contrasting viewpoints looks like. Even so, it’s no match for Gergan and Shields.
"Good morning Mrs Cleaver"
When I brought a friend home from school, which rarely happened, my mother would often say, "He's the Eddie-Haskell-type."
The friends I brought home would say, "It feels like a funeral home here."
I learned not to bring friends home from school.
I too was very disappointed in David Brooks’ flippant misrepresentation of Heather’s reporting. She was fair and measured and he twisted it all the way to support the radical right’s grievances against truth and nuance.
No he didn’t. He did simply reference what Heather has stated correctly about the shooter. That’s all. No need to make a mountain from a molehill.
David Brooks, never my favorite but I did read occasionally decent columns, has turned into a holier than though idiot.
Brooks tries to play the interpreter of everything. He feel morally above all and feels he is the umpire in politics. However he really likes to tell the left where they went wrong but is very weak in his party’s own self reflection. He’s never apologized for his support of so many policies that got us to where we are now.
My thoughts exactly, Kouchia!
His recent conversion from non-practicing Jew to Christianity probably has something to do with that.
Thanks for standing up for the truth, Ron!
Heather speaks TRUTH to POWER.
Timothy Snyder has some wise words for all of us providing some specific insight of the past week. It’s short and worth a listen:
https://open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/speak-truth-to-power?r=9vmv5&utm_medium=ios
I grow weary of David Brooks. I once admired him, but he’s a bit of an apologist. Love Jonathon Capehart.
I'm disappointed in Brooks too. He writes in one of his books about listening deeply and carefully -- and apparently he doesn't follow his own advice.
Ron, before we toss the baby out with the bathwater, let’s ask did Heather say it was MAGA or not. One can draw assumptions that because the shooter was influenced by characters defined as MAGA supporters that he was MAGA. Brooks made an overly brief reference to Heather’s overall position and mine as well. Many voices speak for a cause and many of those voices are not on the same page. I think Brooks needed to show both sides with his argument. I’m not that disappointed in him mentioning Heather and Kimmel. Point is that if the right is upset that late night satirists are all on the left, well, the biggest and most profitable on cable that is not a news organization but a comedy and entertainment voice is Fox itself. Given the argument, Fox’s should be removed from cable for deceiving the public making them believe it’s hard core journalism. But really, 24/7 brainwashed entertainment has achieved their goals of pulling a growing % of the population to the right. The 21st century version of The Guilded Age is upon us.
Okay, with the word thread above, I had to grab the dictionary on my desk to see if I was wrong. I think you meant "The Gilted Age".
Unless you did mean "Guilded"--in which case, I don't follow your reference to guilds?
It's still early for me and the caffeine hasn't kicked in yet.
It’s Gilded Age. Miselle, I was the worst on the spelling bees. I was the last to be picked and the first to mistake, lol. But certainly not Gilted, lol.
Very clever bit of word play there! Sometimes the most creative stuff emerges from the early morning, pre-caffeine fog.
I always understood the term to be "The Gilded Age," presented notably by the works of Edith Wharton, who knew whereof she wrote.
Enjoy your morning cuppa. 🍵 I can use a top up myself about now.
Or maybe a nap.
The label was taken from the title of a Mark Twain novel.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, wild speculation was carrying the load that is more reliably born by facts. It is to be understood that rational minds (and certainly HCRs qualifies) would look at the events and their context as they are presented, and speculate in absence of reliable information which will, it is hoped, provide a clearer, truer picture. To say what is likely or possible, is not to be confused with making definitive statement.
This is where careful listening becomes so important. David did not accuse Heather of blaming MAGA for the Kirk shooting. On the other hand, in tying Robinson to his Republican parents, and thus implying that he was a conservative himself, Heather suggested a political stance on Robinson’s part that was at the time (September 12th) actually an unknown.
James, I had to listen to David’s brief comment several times and he did lay the connections of MAGA that he said she said. Oh Cbeeses.
My bad. I should probably not post so near to awakening and before I’ve checked my brain. David did made that accusation. My apologies for my original post.
However, Heather posted this the next day.
"But in fact, the alleged shooter was not someone on the left. The alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, is a young white man from a Republican, gun enthusiast family, who appears to have embraced the far right, disliking Kirk for being insufficiently radical.”
While it doesn’t directly link Robinson to MAGA, it is not hard to see how David might have taken her to mean just that.
The whole frame of Robinson's motives departs from the reality of the relative irrelevance of what he may have thought justified his unsupportable act. Unlike the 9/11 attacks, there was no apparent conspiracy, no apparent confederates. That said, I believe that public advocacy of violence can encourage marginally-inhibited persons with poor impulse control to act. Whether a killer is ideologically "left" or "right", (and history provides examples of both) or none of the above, what make a killer a killer is the willingness to kill, be that the aim of an individual or (as in 9/11, Mao's "Great Leap Forward" or The Third Reich) conspiratorial.
He referred to “conflict entrepreneurs” who posted from the right and the left after the shooting, Kimmel and HCR being his examples from the left.
I mis-listened myself, probably a results of doing so at dawn before my brain was awake.
Heather did post this the next day.
"But in fact, the alleged shooter was not someone on the left. The alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, is a young white man from a Republican, gun enthusiast family, who appears to have embraced the far right, disliking Kirk for being insufficiently radical.”
One can understand how David might have read this as MAGA. f
One can understand how someone who is not a journalist to misinterpret that, but David Brooks prepares for that Friday evening debate that he has every week. As for being sleepy-eyed, no worries. Sleepy eyed, not enough sleep, water from a firehose splashing our eyes, we’ll just have to keep firmly planted and press forward. It’s good, I think, to be able to question each other and post the information or transcript. We’re all dealing with a lot. This is a shared effort.
I also heard David Brooks comment about Heather on PBS last night. I remember reading Heather’s Letter where she referenced the shooter’s possible connection to Fuentes and the Groypers and I recently responded to my brother (a big Trump supporter), who sent me a text about Charlie Kirks’s murder, with the suggestion about the shooter’s political leanings. Now I feel I was spreading a conspiracy theory! Please tell me what Substack letter where Heather gave an update about the shooter not being linked to the Groypers and Fuentes so I can correct my comments to my brother. I must have missed that update as I read Heather’s letters every day.
Deborah, nobody went that far. It’s established that the shooter had a thing for the Groypers and Fuentes which is why our dear beloved friend Laura Loomer accused Kirk of being a sell out then quickly delet d her remarks after the shooting. The shooter allowed himself to sink into online everything as so many of us do if you have t noticed every crazy-ass human walking down streets holding their cells. Have I answered?
I did make a mistake about David’s words on PBS. I should probably not post upon awakening and before my brain is sufficiently in gear.
And yet soo much depends on when one has read what. In fact, until and if we know what the shooter’s motive was from his own mouth, no one can say for sure what that was. Given some of the e-mails the formal indictment notes, it may well be that it was not a political statement at all, but rather a matter of personal attachment to someone whose sexual preferences were being attacked by the right, including Charlie Kirk.
Exactly. And the fact remains that Robinson's parents gave him guns as gifts. I don't know if they purchased the weapon that was used to shoot Kirk.
I understand it had been his grandfather’s. When his dad asked him to produce a photo of the gun (while they were on the phone), Robinson could not. That’s when his father knew.
Thanks for clarifying.
This sounds reasonable.
Misspoke? Transcribed incoherently ?
I’m astonished Brooks could make
Such a mis-speak!
Overtired?
I haven’t searched him out to listen …
I would listen ad read Brooks for a look into conservatism. He was initially an acolyte of Bill Buckley. Their vocabulary at times helpful to know and learn. For awhile he seemed ready to jump ship with his highlight of Jane Addams and Hull House and others. Then he seemed to turn back and it has been beyond painful to read or listen to him. Just check in every now and then and am always disappointed.
You reminded me of the politics section from Monday’s PBS NewsHour. In it, they discussed Trump’s deploying National Guard into Memphis. I was struck by how normal and understandable it was to them. The controversy was now over red versus blue states, not over presidential power to deploy the guard. Also, that since Trump’s platform included crime, this deployment is a logical step in the course of addressing crime in cities. They never mentioned improved support for local police forces with funding resources and evidence based community programs.
This is what Joyce Vance warned about, I think. Shifting the Overton Window, shifting what we see as normal or no longer see as abnormal. Right there, on PBS.
Here’s the transcript of that portion and the link, if you want it:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/tamara-keith-and-amy-walter-on-the-political-response-to-charlie-kirks-killing
Amna Nawaz:
Meanwhile, in this sort of heated environment, Tam, we saw the president today sign a memo in the Oval Office announcing he's going to be sending the National Guard troops into Memphis, Tennessee. Why now? What signal does this end?
Tamara Keith:
I think the why now is largely because he has support from Tennessee's governor, who says, come on down. President Trump has been saying that he wants to be invited. He's been invited.
And the mayor is less excited about this, to say the least. The mayor is a Democrat. But this is forming a task force. So it's not just the National Guard, which the governor could call up on his own, but he's also — the president's also bringing in ATF, FBI, that sort of alphabet soup of federal law enforcement.
And, in fact, the president said that the FBI has been operating in Memphis for some time now leading into this. President Trump has been clear that D.C. was a test case and that he intended to expand it. He is now expanding it. He's also talking about Chicago, potentially St. Louis. This is not the end. This is just the next step at what the president is making it seem would be the early stages of a plan to target many cities in America.
Amy Walter:
Yes, and it also addresses what many of the critics of the president have said, which is, oh, how come you're only going to blue states? Well, I'm going to red states. These are — we're going to — whether it's Missouri or not, but we're going to go to Tennessee, which obviously has a Republican governor and..
Amna Nawaz:
A Democratic mayor of Memphis.
Amy Walter:
And a Democratic mayor, absolutely, absolutely.
But it bypasses the challenge that he's had with blue states, like Governor Newsom in California or Governor Pritzker in Illinois.
Amna Nawaz:
Illinois.
Amy Walter:
The other issue is, it is very clear that Donald Trump would like to make crime and safety the centerpiece of the conversation that we're having, the political conversation that we're having, certainly when you look at the midterms.
And it makes some sense. It's one of the only issues in which the president's overall approval ratings are higher than his disapproval ratings. If it's about the economy, that's very deeply underwater. Even immigration is a little bit — people see him more negatively than positively by a smaller percentage, but still more negatively.
I find it amusing that District judge Merryday was so peeved by the length of the Trump diatribe. His full quote:
"Alleging only two simple counts of defamation, the complaint consumes eighty-five pages....Count I appears on page eighty, and Count II appears on page eighty-three … Even under the most generous and lenient application of Rule 8, the complaint is decidedly improper and impermissible.”
That's judgespeak for 'what a total pile of crap' and he's given Trump's lawyers 28 days to resubmit if they dare.
Wish I had been a fly on the wall to see those judicial eye-rolls!
I think the judge was pissed at having to waste an afternoon reading this guff.
Right on District judge Merryday!
🎉 thanks for sharing Russell John Netto!
And OMG the language of the suit! I read only a few pages but I remember his comparing himself to—wait for it—Christopher Columbus! He was also mortally offended it was claimed Mark Burnett made him a star. 😂😂
Imagine having to read all of it as that poor judge had to do. It's little wonder he was angry.
While we all rejoice in the language of District Judge Merryday to reject this frivolous law suit let us not forget that it was not written by Trump himself but written and filed by his lawyers. You have to marvel at the level of incompetence and stupidity it takes to present such a document to the Court with a straight face. When this administration finally crumbles and Trump is long gone from this plane do these lawyers actually believe they could put this example of their work on a resume?
Marc Elias of Democracy Docket has been very effective in the courts, bringing suits against the administration and winning.
He's wonderful.
Updated BOYCOTT LIST, addresses and links:
Per the New York Times, the decision to suspend “Jimmy Kimmel Live” was made by Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, and Dana Walden, the company’s television chief.
Email Bob Iger robert@disney.com robert.iger@disney.com
Call Bob Iger at 818-560-1000 (Walt Disney Co.) (The line was down for a while, overwhelmed by calls. Other people got through later).
Bob Iger’s corporate mailing address is:
Bob Iger
c/o Walt Disney Company
500 S. Buena Vista St.
Burbank, CA 91521
Follow Deepak Purl's link to an action kit with links, specific ABC shows to boycott, and other actions:
https://thedemlabs.org/2025/09/17/billionaire-media-barons-fire-journalists-to-appease-trump/
You can cancel your Hulu subscription (Hulu is a Disney-owned company) by logging in to your account:
http://hulu.com
Even without an account you can send a message to Hulu here:
https://help.hulu.com/feedback?type=report-a-problem-with-hulu
Complain to the FCC:
fcc.gov/complaints
Complain to Sinclair Broadcasting - tell them you are boycotting and urging your friends and networks to boycott ALL Sinclair stations. Sinclair is demanding that Kimmel donated to the Kirks and Turning Point USA. The Sinclairs have been buying up networks/stations across the country to promote their right-wing ideology:
https://sbgi.net/contact-us/
Write to NEXSTAR - tell them you are boycotting and urging your friends and networks to boycott ALL NEXSTAR stations:
nxst@jcir.com
communications@nexstar.tv
This Reddit thread is compiling a list of Sinclair and Nexstar local stations and advertisers to contact:
https://www.reddit.com/r/washingtondc/comments/1nksuur/local_sinclair_advertisers_if_you_fancy_a_boycott/
There is a sample script there for calling/writing Sinclair/Nextar advertisers:
----Hello, I just wanted to reach out to you, as I see that your company is currently holding ads on ABC7 in Washington DC. Many DC-based residents are initiating a boycott of ABC7 due to their parent company's decision to cancel Jimmy Kimmel's program. While it is a network's right to maintain their programming as they see fit, free speech is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Kimmel's sudden cancelation is a clear signal of ABC's capitulation to the will of a few instead of its guarantee to the rights of the many.
As advertisers on the station, I encourage your company to consider withdrawing any advertising on the network, lest you be included in the boycott.
Thank you for your dedication to American ideals. ------
Good template for contacting Boycott list:
Dear Mr. Iger, Mr. Erwich and Mr. Ripley,
When faced with a gross abuse of power by the Trump administration’s FCC, your organizations caved to government coercion by taking Jimmy Kimmel off the air indefinitely.
You are complicit in corruption and you need to grow a backbone.
Sincerely,
Representative Rick Larsen
Bravo, Rep Larsen - this went out to these CEOs on his Congressional letterhead.
Not for nothing did Ann Telnaes draw a prostrate Mickey Mouse kowtowing to a ginormous stone Trump statue, like a supplicant entreating Zeus at Olympia — a drawing which the Washington Post refused to print, which led her to resign from it and join Substack.
I immediately subscribed to Ann Teneaes's Substack when she left the Post. She unabashedly admits that she hates Trump and I couldn't agree more.
The WAPO, NY Times, LA Times have become tools of the oligarchy just like ABC and CBS and all of the Murdoch rags.
Thanks for Boycott List AlexandraSokoloff 🎉
Potent praxis posting Alexandra Sokoloff -- with Links! 🎯
Priceless. Does Resistbot still exist. I think so, text resist to 50409. Flood the bastards with outrage, polite of course.
My new last name is Mr Cott and I’m a boy. It’s hard for me to be any more effective since I lead a non material and frugal life. I don’t hardly buy anything but I’ll lie and talk the talk which is what I can do best. I’ll download that list by Alexandra and work it.
That’s my guy!
Beautiful! Thank you.
High time! I'm glad to hear that Democrats have introduced a constitutional amendment to overturn the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission Supreme Court decision that permitted unlimited corporate money to flow into elections. This decision may not be the root of all evil, but it's probably responsible for more than its fair share.
High time indeed. Yes, it may not get a chance to pass anytime soon, but you have to start somewhere. Support for reform needs a focus around which to collect.
Remember Obama calling out the Citizen's United decision during his first Inaugural Address to Congress and the country.
They panned to Robert's who mouthed, "That's Not True." Robert's was and still is a fucking tool of the Oligarchy, a political hack and a liar.
I think that was Alito....
It was Samuel Alito who mouthed the words " Not true".
Now that you mention it, I can still see his ugly face mouthing the words.
All the while, wearing his robes of power, sanctified. Puke
Roberts is the Red Queen of the Calvinball Court!
As I understand it, a constitutional convention is not limited to one issue. The Koch crowd wants one and has an agenda all planned out. Be careful what you ask for.
An amendment doesn’t require a convention. I’m with you. The fruit loops that want a convention have nefarious goals.
With Project 2025 and a compliant republican Congress, they may not need a convention. Just change a few laws here and there like the OBBBA and the recissions packages.
Their untold “think tanks” have been planning such a takeover for decades. I would guess as 2000 played out and all kinds of possibilities opened up. But even before that Rove had started the denigration of democrats in Texas. Newt was a harbinger of things to come.
Yes, Newt was indeed “a harbinger of things to come: a fellow misogynist. These guys will do ANYTHING to denigrate women.
I believe they call for one in Project 2025, but I'm not going to wade through 800 pages to check.
They leave no stone unturned. Zip, zero, all in for ultimate power…
it is there, but I think they are working another direction as well.
Yes, need to get money out of politics. ALL outside money. Let the state fund each party's capped election spend (and only with a very small amount) according to previous polling numbers.
When I read Rep. Crow's speech on the floor, I am reminded of the courage it took to create this country, and the courage to fight back to preserve it.
I thought of this week, twenty four years ago, when a group of ordinary Americans, facing certain death, stood up and took action to stop a hijacked plane from crashing into the Capitol.
Their battle cry: "Let's go!"
They did not wait, in fear for the inevitable outcome. Instead, they initiated plan that saved hundreds, if not thousands of lives. These people are the true patriots, not people like someone whose death is being held up as a patriotic sacrifice.
Our battle cry: "I'm ready to jump."
Ready to jump too! Mad respect to Rep. Crow!
Powerful words from Jason Crow. Wow!!! I’m so grateful for his leadership!
And from JB Pritzker. Adam Schiff’s speech at the Center for American Progress was top-notch. Pete Buttigieg brought down the house in Indiana condemning Republican gerrymandering in Texas and Missouri.
We have many stong, powerful, articulate, rising new voices. They have an old, desperate, demented, gaslighting moron who likes riding around in a gold-plated carriage on the grounds of Windsor Castle.
Trump’s criminal extortion of businesses seeking mergers, of universities’ research funding, of the entertainment industry only works because Congressional oversight, the regulatory agencies, and the courts have so far allowed him to. Their disloyalty to our Constitution and the rule of law is morally abhorrent. But the heart of the matter is their cowardice.
The destruction of the regulatory agencies gives them the ability to take action. They learned that from his his first term. Those independent agencies have been in the crosshairs of the conservatives for decades. Look back to Reagan and come forward. Read about Americans For Prosperity, the John Birch Society and what Jane Mayer writes about in Dark Money. The independent, regulatory administrative state was a cornerstone for the rule of law. Take that down and you can become a dictator rather quickly.
Recall his very first action was to fire nearly every Inspector General in every Cabinet department and agency — illegally. There was a reason for that. From there it was the “waste, fraud and abuse” bullshit line justifying DOGE.
He was a criminal before and a criminal starting this past January. He’ll continue being one until the hamberders catch up with him, since Republicans aren’t going to do anything about it.
Exactly, and when I wrote my Senators - Grassley and Ernst - crickets came back. They are all in on this unitary executive.
“He was a criminal before…,” who takes his orders from Putin as he did from his KKK father [to finish Its Come To This].
Some of the best news in what seems like an eternity.
Is this J Graham from Haverhill High School in MA ?
The Bulwark has a short podcast on Judge Merryday’s ruling to throw out the frivolous $15 billion lawsuit President Trump filed against the New York Times. It’s on YouTube and is worth watching.
Thank you, Heather
MAGA has invented a new term to counter allegations that they are now on the wrong side of the cancel culture issue - they're calling the dismissal of Kimmel and Colbert from the airwaves 'consequence culture'. Even Ted Cruz applauds the removal of Kimmel.
Meanwhile, 95 House Democrats voted in favour of a Republican resolution honoring Charlie Kirk as a "courageous American patriot...who boldly lived out his faith with conviction, courage, and compassion." 58 Democrats voted against the resolution.
should have been 153 Democrats against. Shame on them!
We will remember those that stood up!
We also need to remember those who didn't.
While 95 Democrats supported the resolution, 58 voted against it and 38 voted “present,” effectively abstaining. Republicans had warned ahead of the vote that no one should oppose the measure, but many Democrats said they felt Kirk’s death had been politicized and the resolution elevated views they disagreed with.
“Today’s resolution underscores the majority’s recklessness by choosing to author this condemnation and honoring on a purely partisan basis,” said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, a high-profile Democrat who voted against the resolution. “We should be clear about who Charlie Kirk was.”AP
Give the whole story, not just what fits your preconceived notions. Got it?
Cardinal Dolan was also talking with support for the deceased Mr. Kirk. And there is the trope one does not speak ill of the dead and his family must just be so overcome with loss but I had been concerned about his role in his organization for some time. He made millions abd that is what concerns me the most how? And he used the old preacher tactics of the prosperity gospel not the social gospel to create admirers abd stifle debate. Rapid fire repetitive words and phrases. Not a true debate. I don’t think most of these people were in Model UN. That program should have been I every school and every student should have been exposed and before being in Model UN there should be a Model Senate and a Model Congress debating teams. And the debates should have been for competition and also in their schools. Facts should matter more than communication techniques.
“Rapid fire and repetitive phrases”…you nailed it, Not a true debate at all…exactly the firehouse of garbage Bannon, Limbaugh and all talk radio called for years ago.
We have a major problem in this internet world we have created: how to educate our young people to be fact checkers and invested morally in the common good…the common good which reaches beyond all man-made borders.
Glad somebody glanced at the big picture. Greg Olear certainly did on Sep 16. Awesome post…
What preconceived notions, Carol-Ann? I merely stated the facts on this and you just repeated them adding that 38 Democrats abstained. What was wrong with them? Didn't they know what they were voting for? From what I know about Kirk he was not a "courageous American patriot...who boldly lived out his faith with conviction, courage, and compassion." He was a shill for the fossil fuel industry and other dark powers - those anonymous donors to Turning Point. He was a polemicist not a debater as many who confronted him directly have pointed out.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/sep/20/charlie-kirk-debate-style
Now if Democrats don't have the guts to denounce his senseless killing but also denounce his racism, sexism and rejection of science then perhaps they deserved to lose the last election and will probably lose the next one too.
..."What a charmer", reminds me of my Mom, thanks.
I can hear her!
Why thank you ma'am. The last time you chose to criticize my comments, your tune changed after hearing the full explanation. Once again, since you don't have a dog in this hunt, let me explain.....giving a half statement that once again cast aspersions on the only party that is still in the fight for the American people is not helpful. It is what MAGA lives for - a circle firing squad. THAT is why I made that comment.
By the way, "what a charmer."? If you want to throw shade? Here, catch: your circle of friends consist of more than just your mirror?
The discussion concerned the term "playmander." Because you hadn't heard of it, you maintained it didn't exist.
Margaret-Rose Stringer
Margaret-Rose Stringer
Aug 11
I can say only that in my horribly lengthy lifetime, occupied with much disgruntled political opinion, I've never come across either term !! But thanks for the input. :)
It does look as if your need to make snarky comments in your rôle of manners police. This is not your fight, this is not your country on the brink. When people decide to pretend this is just another scene in a parlor game and not part of a real test of our form of government, no, I will not let it stand. I live here. You don't. My rights are being taken from me. Yours aren't. This kind petty game is fine when we are not in a pitch battle for democracy. Making comments about going after those who chose to vote with the opposition over vote that are of no intrinsic value is just what the opposition lives for. The Democratic party can not, at this time, afford to take down good legislators over one stupid vote. Not being angry is how we got into this mess. This is a country where less than 70% of eligible voters even bother to show or mail in. So, yes, I'm angry. Very angry. Health care, civil rights, education, taxation, inflation, basic freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution are under constant assault by an adjudicated rapist and felon and his lackeys. There are times when discourse within the party is necessary. But over a resolution that will change nothing and then want to primary those who voted for it? No. Vote "yes" with MAGA on the curtailing of rights? Yes, that Democrat needs to be primaried.
Not being "angry" is for the time of peace. This is not a peaceful time. Not in this country. So I will remain angry when folks stir the sand over what amounts to another distraction.
Yes, I called my congressman this afternoon asking for an explanation behind his support for that Republican resolution. Still waiting for his answer.
Don't hold your breath.
Ninety-five Democrats that don’t need to be re-elected next year.
As long as you have 95 other Democrats available who can replace them.
There are groups that work with young people and prepare them to run for office and to primary electeds who have been in office for too long and have forgotten that they're there to serve their constituents.
Charlie Kirk was a young, charismatic fruitcake straight out of the 19th century. Hated women’s rights, gay rights, said that MLK Jr. was an “awful” person, wanted to reverse the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts both, claimed Jews run everything and said an indeterminate number of gun deaths everywhere were worth having a 2nd Anendment “to stop tyranny.”
We’re not exactly talking Mahatma Gandhi’s reincarnation here.
I agree. Yet today he will be beatified at his memorial service at a 63,000-seat football stadium in Arizona where Trump is expected to use his death to announce new arbitrary restrictions on liberal NGOs. The list of speakers at the service will also include Vance, Rubio, Hegseth, Gabbard, Don Jnr and RFK.
Shame, shame, shame. Didn’t these morons read or listen to more the Repub version of KIRK. He was a fountain of evil verbiage interlaced with a few Christian quotes. The worst hypocrite, and as I understand it, hypocrisy is the one unforgivable sin. I repeat shame, shame, shame. Who are these DINOs. Or is that a majority these days.
If you didn't think that the Democratic party could have ever been more cringeworthy let's go back to the 1996 DNC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8yqWU0UzeY
Is this a party that is seriously able to respond in a united and courageous way to the most dangerous assault on US democracy that has ever taken place? Because much will depend on the answer to that question.
That was so disgusting I can't even think about it right now.
As I said in my earlier comment, the truly courageous patriots were those people who twenty four years ago stormed the cockpit of Flight 93. In the face of certain death, they saved hundreds, maybe thousands of lives, ensuring their deaths would not be in vain.
For Trump and MAGA, the true patriots were the rabble who stormed the Capitol building on 6 January 2021 and whom he pardoned en masse without even considering the case against those who had savagely attacked the Capitol police on that day. The Republican party in Congress has set up its own commission to re-write the history of that day so important is it to them to defend the credentials of the MAGA movement. That such a president and political party should now be condemning political violence shows staggering hypocrisy.
WTF is wrong with these dems? Capitulating to their fantasy…
It frankly doesn't augur well for the shutdown vote that looms ahead.
Suggest that we all write our reps with a list of things Kirk boldly said, starting with his comments about Biden. Just copy and paste those words to them. Shame can be a powerful tool
I suspect that they already know this, Rickey, but have calculated that the least damaging approach was to vote for the resolution anyway. The Democratic party's approval rating has been plummeting and no one seems to know what to do about it.
For sure.
Sarah McBride was a Yes vote. I suggest reading her statement about her vote. I can't say I agree with it but, of all people, she has the most to lose by that Yes vote.
https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/politics/2025/09/19/sarah-mcbride-vote-charlie-kirk-resolution/86243122007/?utm_source=thenewsjournal-dailybriefing-strada&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailybriefing-headline-stack&utm_term=newsletter-greeting&utm_content=pwil-wilmington-nletter65
Okay, but perhaps she should have read Kyle Chayka's article in the New Yorker on 17 September (Charlie Kirk and Tyler Robinson Came from the Same Warped Online Worlds). I will quote:
"...Kirk leveraged a version of the same toxic online dynamics and algorithmic-attention sinkholes that can ensnare people like Robinson. He launched a regular digital broadcast, the Charlie Kirk Show, in 2019, and in 2022 created a TikTok account that gained millions of followers, stocked with clips from his show and smartphone-recorded riffs. He created a universe of content that his adherents could live within, complete with its own ideological memes. The kind of free speech and lively discourse that Kirk espoused involved spreading hateful conspiracy theories and misinformation. He shared (and later deleted) inflated human-trafficking arrest numbers plucked from 8chan, supported Trump’s false claim that the 2020 election was stolen, told Taylor Swift to “submit to your husband,” and targeted prominent Black women while stoking “great replacement” fears. Kirk was not simply practicing democratic politics; he was a slick and professionalized counterpart to the online troll, someone who understood that reckless lies promulgated through viral sound bites and incendiary podcast monologues repeated ad nauseum can shape today’s public opinion, whether on college campuses or in the halls of the White House."
In 2021, Kirk commented on Simone Biles' decision to withdraw from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He called her "you selfish sociopath," "weak," "very selfish," "immature," "a shame to the country," "totally a sociopath, of course she's a sociopath" and "a disgrace."
https://x.com/charliekirk11/status/1420416913914613763?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1420416913914613763%7Ctwgr%5Eeeb96889c96586e74bc086dcb6e3c742c95532fe%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.snopes.com%2Ffact-check%2Fsimone-biles-charlie-kirk-post%2F
This was from a community college dropout who has never done anything positive to represent the United States.
I guess they were dared by the Republicans not to vote for the resolution, leaving them open to claims that they were diminishing the significance of Charlie Kirk's killing and failing to condemn political violence. That, of course, was far from the case. Democratic leaders were first among those to condemn the killing outright with no qualifications. Meanwhile, Trump and his administration focused on finding someone to blame whom they characterised as 'the radical left'.
Trump led the way in his infamous address to the nation following Kirk's killing.
Stephen Miller claimed without evidence that there was an “organised campaign that led to this assassination” and promised to “uproot and dismantle these terrorist networks” by using “every resource we have.”
Vice president Vance blamed the killing on “crazies on the far left” and said “We’re going to go after the NGO network that foments, facilitates and engages in violence.”
US attorney general, Pam Bondi, blamed “leftwing radicals” for the shooting and said “they will be held accountable”. She also warned: “We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech. And that’s across the aisle", forgetting that the First Amendment protects hate speech.
MAGA heavyweights Steve Bannon and Alex Jones told their podcast audiences that the left had declared war on America. Laura Loomer immediately demanded that the government take action against the left for orchestrating the shooting of Kirk.
The New College of Florida is proposing to erect a statue of Kirk. Here's a rendition of what they're proposing:
https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2025/09/16/NSHT/86183039007-charlie-kirk-statue.jpg?width=2560
Oklahoma Republicans are proposing that all state colleges should have a statue.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/20/oklahoma-republicans-charlie-kirk
MAGA Republican House Representative Ana Paulina Luna and others have asked Speaker Mike Johnson to commission a statue of Kirk in the Capitol building, comparing him to Martin Luther King.
https://www.fox21news.com/news/national/gop-lawmakers-call-for-charlie-kirk-statue-in-us-capitol/
This is clearly bordering on insane. In my humble opinion, what the Democtratic party ought to have done is to table their own resolution along these lines:
'We, the undersigned, condemn the senseless killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. There should be no place in American politics for this sort of criminal violence and we will cooperate with the government in any genuine measures to prevent such a thing happening again.
However, we will not participate in the beatification of Kirk and the shameless exploitation of his death for political ends as being proposed by senior members of the administration and we will vigorously oppose any government measures to use this incident to unlawully proscribe NGOs and remove their tax status. We also continue to condemn the government for unlawfully curtailing and threatening the First Amendment rights of Americans.'
There - job done.
Cripes!
You know … much of this mess was created by Moscow Mitch McConnell, from blocking a Supreme Court appointment to allowing Trump to pass two impeachments. None of this would have happened if Mitch McConnell had had a scrap of integrity.
...One of the bigger turds in a wheelbarrow full!
Recently I read an interview with McConnell where he—I kid you not—said with a straight face that he’d be leaving with an untarnished legacy.
Unvarnished Greed is more like it!
Hello Doug… Integrity, Courage, or Patriotism…
The only way to stop Trump’s frivolous lawsuits is to make him pay the amount he is suing for if he loses the case.
So far, he has all kinds of free legal work “donated” as a result of his blackmail schemes. What’s to lose. Laughing his fat arse off. Love your idea
Defamation law sets a high bar for public figures. It protects a free press and tough scrutiny. You do not get to punish criticism by turning a complaint into a press release. For a quick historical parallel on what happens when power treats institutions as tools, I wrote about the Gilded Age spoils system and why civil service protections matter. “Government for Sale: The Gilded Age’s Spoils System is Back—And Worse Than Ever” https://forgottenfiles.substack.com/p/government-for-sale
Kudos to Jason Crow for demonstrating in his life several forms of courage, self-sacrifice, and service to one’s country, all of which continue beyond his time in the military.
The message I got from his speech is that he didn’t risk his life and the lives of his compatriots so that a draft-dodging psychopath could toss American democracy down the toilet.
Jason Crow’s efforts to preserve and defend democracy continue in a different theater, and should inspire us all to do the same.
Thank you, Jason Crow, for showing us the different forms of real patriotism.