In an interview with right-wing host Mark Levin on the Fox News Channel last night, Trump complained about the new grand jury indictment of him for trying to steal the 2020 presidential election.
I think what frustrates me most of all right now is that our mainstream media -- what most Americans read/watch -- has completely failed in its role of holding the powerful accountable and publishing the facts (and fact-checking the liars). The rush to both-sides everything has created a very damaging perception of partisan politics -- that "both sides" are equally "normal" -- when the reality is that one side supports democracy, and the other side wants to tear it down.
This morning, on the CBS newshow, the host repeated Trump’s claim that, if elected, he would require health insurers to cover IVF procedures. The host wanted to know why her Democratic guest didn’t consider Trump’s proposal a step forward in reproductive rights.
My God, who is this buffoon?
Trump vomits out an obvious lie and the host treats it as a fact. Truly pathetic.
He will say just about anything to get women to vote for him. I remember him promising a middle-class tax cut right before the 2018 midterm elections. Never heard a word about it after the elections. Lyin’ Trump!
As a woman with a brain I assert that there are zero healthy, self-respecting women who would vote for the GOP. Ever. Actions speak louder than words… and their actions to date prove they believe the gist of this piece.
Encourage everyone you know to check their voter status from now until the election. And save proof that you are/were enrolled.
Bill-these women are definitely out there. I drove through an upscale suburban area the other day and the number of “Women for Trump” signs was unbelievable. What kind of people of these people who want to give someone like DJT power over us? This is not 2016. He’s clearly shown us who he is by words and deeds.
I think reproductive care issues ie overthrowing Roe vs Wade is going to add considerable tilt toward Dems this round. Look at how the plebiscites of late have gone, and there are more on the way. Women shone (and i think outnumbered) at the DNC.
Let me try an explain human nature. No, forget it. It’s impossible. But I’ll speculate. And I will explain by example. When something goes wrong and others reject what I did, my first instinct is to ask myself what I did wrong. So we should ask ourselves what have we done wrong and I reject if someone responds “nothing.”
My feeling is this and it’s mostly race-generated. Im white. I’m often singled out as coming from privilege. And I fricken despise that remark when it is directed toward me. If I was anyone else, I would also be a MAGA. Indeed I would. So we had better stop this shit of blaming everyone not of color.
The irony is truely that discrimination is all but eliminated. There is no housing discrimination. There is no education discrimination. And I know you will refute me but the real problem in urban communities is that 72% of children are born out of wedlock (and the poverty, crime, drugs, etc.) and until this changes, ie, family planning, we will witness impoverishment generation after generation and there is no federal, state or local aid that will end it. It must come from within the communities. It’s not for an outsider to resolve. I believe it was Nelson Rockefeller who studied this and found the same results in the 196os and he was thoroughly chastised as a white man for it. (I may have the wrong Rockefeller correct me if I’m wrong.)
Now you can hate me and call me what you like. I’m still voting for Harris/Walz and working for them. But I understand how society at large can be so self-destructive and not even understand why but I am a witness to this terrible disease.
( I won’t even discuss this on my blog because I know I’ll get repaid with deletions, lol.)
Brainwashed. I have two sisters like this. One is married to a high-end CPA; the other is just gullible. It's all about the money to them. To me, it's all about Democracy. They're sellouts, just like their sicko leader!
Gina, key word is probably upscale because they can fly off to get an abortion or anything else. They are more concerned about their money and status while spending their days playing bridge and/or golf and attending big money galas. I am thinking of my ex-classmate who lives in Naples, Florida, who was all caps about Obama when we were still communicating which didn't last past that.
You answered your own question. Upscale. The wealthy want to keep that which they feel entitled to have. Higher taxes and support of middle class folx and those that don't look or live like them is taking away from their privilege.
There is a clue to the Women-for-Trump you report in the comment Musk reposted --that there is a link between being able to defend yourself physically and "critical thinking". Generations of brainwashing have unfortunately left significant portions of our female population believing that they need a "man" to protect them physically (and also insure their social and economic status) so there is a tendency to defer to said protective "man"and his interests including his judgment, i.e. his perceived "critical thinking". Stand by your man!
they are concerned about tax cuts, and estate taxes. they think that their wealth also protects their medical needs, including abortion, plus they have "friends who can take care of it." They don't want to know about Project 2025, or women dying of sepsis, or climate change, because ignorance is bliss.
Most don't live in Red states, where doctors are fleeing and Med school applications are down, both by double digit percentages. Fewer OB/Gyns. Prenatal docs. ER docs. Nurses. In other words, they are entitled fools.
Gina, those Trumpettes are white, rich or rich wannabees who believe in their own superiority and/or are sure they are inferior and need someone like Trump and his hatred of everyone not like himself telling them they count, well, not as much as white men, but definitely better than everyone else. Those pathetic women have drunk the Kool-Ade of an enslaved person to her hubby and kiddies, a woman who does not know how to escape, so has trained herself through her church and coffee clotch to believe she is living the good life and Trump and Kump will continue to give it to her. It's really disgusting, but it may be too late to wake these women up. So, we just have to overwhelm them at the polls in November.
Damn right! What continues to strike me is the number of both men and women who will vote for Trump inspite of his obvious, and dangerous, flaws. It's almost as though half the country has lost its mind.
It is the exception that makes the rule. Trump is finished. The state Dems need to do everything possible to protect the vote. MAGAts know no boundaries. They will cheat, steal, lie and use violence. They will be challenging every district that goes against them. They will gum up the works to the point that this election may not get declared for weeks, if not months. They are fascists, by definition.
Musk is right about one thing. People who lack the ability to think critically are an imminent threat to the survival of civilization. But he's wrong about the most important thing. He believes in the delusional conspiracy theory that people who agree with him are important, and he thinks of people who disagree with him the way I think about cardboard boxes. How do I think about cardboard boxes? If they're useful, I use them, if they're in the way, they get discarded, and they are otherwise utterly irrelevant.
Everyone who supports the 2024 version of the Republican party believes in Musk's delusional conspiracy theory. You don't have to be male to believe in that delusion, but I'm embarrassed to say that having my gender is clearly a factor.
Unlike little Elon, people who think critically use that ability to deduce the truth, and the truth is that the inherent value of any one human life is precisely equal to the inherent value of every other human life. Musk needs to ignore almost all the evidence to believe otherwise.
We are all born openminded and immature, and when an individual's body is fully mature, they've retained one of those two traits while leaving the other one behind. Hey, little Elon, guess which one you retained?
Thank you DMS. And if you can vote early in your state, do it as soon as you can. In my state, we can vote in person on October 6th and we have same day registration.
Do you know what kind of citizenship checks are made during same day registration?
I live in GA, with no same day registration and with no approvals for non citizen voting (except clearly marked purple "potential non citizen X" provisional voting that never gets counted unless the voter cures the provisional ballot after the fact.) I work the polls on election day, and I certainly don't see any evidence that election procedures would allow any non citizen voting...and that was before these 3 election deniers got placed on the Board.
I live in rural Maine and the 5 of us are all white in a community of about 1800 people. We have lived in this town for 6 years. When my wife and I registered to vote we brought our real-id and showed them to the town clerk. 2 years later in 2020 my mother-in-law and sister-in-law moved in with us. When they went to register to vote, the town clerk told them they didn't need id to register since she knew my wife and I. And when my daughter moved back from FL last fall, she also needed no id to register. We all are registered Independents, but I don't think that makes a difference.
I registered in two different counties in FL and it was also quick and easy. Duval County took awhile as I recall but less than 15 minutes. Nassau County, I walked in and was out of there in 2 minutes. My wife registered Independent and I registered Republican back in 2004. It didn't seem like the clerks cared one way or another. They were just doing their jobs.
I would love to see a video of a cooperative non-citizen attempting to register and being rejected. Plaster that all over socials and msm to counter that stupid lie about illegal voting.
As someone with many Trump loyalists in his family, I can tell you that your assertion is wrong.
That flat statement reminds me of MAGA types who believe Dems murder children.
Dems would win more elections by understanding why the word Democrat is so distasteful to many decent people in the electorate, and setting out to correct it.
This statement. I find it incredibly tone-deaf that we Dems act smugly superior—often insultingly do—to voters who disagree with them.:
“ As a woman with a brain I assert that there are zero healthy, self-respecting women who would vote for the GOP. Ever. Actions speak louder than words… and their actions to date prove they believe the gist of this piece.
Encourage everyone you know to check their voter status from now until the election. And save proof that you are/were enrolled.
This “ As a woman with a brain I assert that there are zero healthy, self-respecting women who would vote for the GOP. Ever. Actions speak louder than words… and their actions to date prove they believe the gist of this piece.”
Lincoln Project: "It has been 9 long years". Today it's a bit over 60 Days to the national election on 11/5/24. Lincoln Project: "Trump is Failing - America is Winning".
"Election Threats" can be easily reported to the DOJ at www.justice.org which includes "suspected threats" or mere "risk of harm" --- that means do not wait for actual political violence.
Call the FBI or in the case of "Imminent danger" call 911 & your Local Police!
Thank you, Bryan for the very valuable information. I personally hope i live to see the day when this blob of rot named Donald TUMP is finally DEAD! Just when i thought i couldn't hate and despise someone any worse than him, i hate him even more now! It is appalling to realize that something as horrible as he is could exist. A raging monster out of hell.
But will the magnuts rage on when he is gone? They have infiltrated every phase of our lives and levels of government. Donnie Defective has been totally outrageous since the Democratic convention and the media is still covering up for him. Dana Bash’s interview of Kamala and Tim was full of stupid trumpian lies that they correctly refused to answer and defend. The media should be reporting news not trying to make headlines and we should oppose it loudly and clearly.
I will be gathering with a local college organized group on Wednesday whose expressed purpose is to get out the vote in Hartford, CT. My input will be to make contact with Pennsylvania activists and rent a bus on Election Day to assist where it’s most needed. Connecticut doesn’t need us.
It’s hard for me to believe that if Trump is elected that I won’t set aside my life-long repudiation of arms and begin arming and joining a training group. Of course the NRA achieved their industry-supported ambition to convince the citizenry that the 2nd amendment gave everyone this right but it never did.
Soon Sue, he'll release his plan "soon", like with his great big wonderful health care plan he would release right after the election and then right after they vote to repeal the ACA. Or perhaps releasing his tax returns right after the election in 2016 and dozens of time thereafter. Why isn't anyone asking him to release his tax returns now?
He uses the word, "everyone" when he means himself or "people tell me".
And like a mafia thug he never quite says what he means. "Yeah, I left the "potatoes" in the trunk if you run into trouble."
While I don't agree with Musk's posting, 10-20% of the US population is illiterate and innumerate. And almost half of the US population reads at a sixth grade level or below. Are these people actually voting and if they are how do they get the information to decide who are the candidates that will represent them? Many of these people don't vote, but are the ones that do, more susceptible to believing Trump's lies than the ones that don't?
That’s interesting , though most of the base defend , the reality is seldom broken down into the ‘ tell me like I’m in kindergarten’ -now another of our emerging famous slogans. *Though I will give Katie Porter another round of applause for her Jeopardy presentation to the legislators -of waste FEW COULD ANSWER CORRECTLY- within our military.*
Thank you Heather for the tab keeping on Faux Fox Fabrications. Another applause goes out to those highlighting CBS repeating yet another liar’s babblings. I’m keeping PBS the last station to watch…so far. Is not money the root of evil-that almighty dollar or the ratings, the MAGATS, corporate media…pick yer own order , you’re welcome!
How to turn them OFF?
About 10 cycles of straight BLUE at the ballot box.
I’m excited , broadcasting widely the Dems winning seats/primaries/hearts, the hope,joy, yes even the money. A LOT of my Republican friends (yes they’re still my friends) have come over to ‘the other side’ . They’ve ’come to the light’ as one by one their choices slipped away, were indicted then jailed, caught in the act, or gave up. I’m proud of them. A lot of them have stood up a told the truth of the chaos and courted being disowned, thrown off from their committees/under buses/or in other countries out windows or fell off the boat. Expect more. Loyalists …even.
Hey, I’ve made mistakes too, but not once voting BLUE.
I have been reading about this IVF promise the past 2 days and everyone is coming up with that the MSM would question how Harris would finance it if they could, but instead they don't question it with Donald Trump even though he has no way of paying for it, at all. This is crazy talk, and why Harris should stay away from following Trump's talking points. We cannot expect that of MSM. They are now fighting to keep their jobs as they turn many off from their jaded and fraudulent reporting, lacking the gravitas needed for this election.
I watch little TV but the 2 Sunday morning news shows; Sunday Morning and Meet the Press which have been an staple are frequently turned off now. I’m trying to understand if they simply want to expose both sides of the issue or do they purposely give press time to obvious MAGA heads to increase or stabilize listenership.
We watched Meet the Press faithfully for decades. When Kristin Welker took over we gave her a good shot - but now I can no longer stand her soft ball questions. She clearly has a list of talking points, which is her focus, and does not push back on bullshit. CNN has had so many right wing shills on their shows - again with little to no pushback on the most outrageous claims.
I did too, as well as WaPo. I am in total agreement with Rebecca Solnit of the Guardian about the role the Corporate Media is playing in this election,
That buffoon (as you do arrogantly call her) is a reporter who has the job of relaying Trump’s (and Harris’s) assertions to the public and to those bring interviewed.
It’s up to the “Democratic guest” to point out the believability of the assertion.
Reporters often qualify Trump quotes as “without evidence” or even “falsely”. But a policy assertion is not a provable lie, often.
I find the msm do a pretty good job in handling Trump. They can’t ignore him. Like it or not, he’s running for president. And while many of his loudest supporters are racists and grifters, many are decent people who happen to believe he has their interests at heart.
Instead of dismissing them or criticizing their choice, as Dems, why not find out their needs, their hopes, their goals?
And there's the Lincoln Project who are mostly former Republicans (like myself) that are PO'd because Trump stole our party. Of course, it all started a long time ago with Reagan and then Newt, but before moving to the northeast we were living in a Midwestern red state, where we actually had some politicians with integrity like Tom Osborne and Mike Johanns.
But there are perhaps a dozen others that post several times a week.
The ones I can't help watching though are Trump waving to non-existent crowds. No wonder he so deflated. At least on the golf course everyone cheers every shot.
And the corporatized media in this nation-thingy are the state media, doing what they can for the state. Must be so, for there are no other media of comparable scale here, and the state itself isn't about to do anything about it (OK, maybe tax breaks, if one can all that "doing something").
Absolutely correct. «mainstream» is an inclusive term which refers to societal values and the rule of law. Criminality and nazism are not a mainstream values; Musk, Daryl Cooper, and Tucker Carlson embrace them. This is Corporate Media at work. I propose that, going forward, we call it what it is: CORPORATE MEDIA and NOT MSM.
NPR - most especially Morning Edition - has been moving to the right for many years. I still support NPR, but only the basics. I recently had to donate a car, which in the past would've gone to NPR. I donated it instead to Habitat for Humanity. The local chapter called me personality to thank me. It was their largest single donation!
Yes. Their donors are, for the most part, wealthy with Republican leanings. (Until David died, The Kochs used to be big donors and are among the folks who are bringing us Project 2025.) But I recall at least 20 years ago when the right wing complained that the liberal orientation of NPR/PBS was discriminatory. Same ol' stuff. Use the language of the liberals against them. It's amazing how the right wing folks have systematically intruded upon democracy itself. (Think of how the awful screeds on social media get away with it by saying,"Free Speech.")
He looks curled in on himself - like he has been forced to drink the poison - his current editorials in NYT and his debates on formally great PBS are scary pitiful.
At last. Thank you Rachel. I’ve been waiting to hear this; it’s a perfect description of him I could not have come up with. He does seem deeply uncomfortable with his own self, and I too am deeply offended that PBS, the news hour In particular continues to put him in on ad nauseam. Of course it’s about raising money, about trying to be fair….balanced ohoh. Balanced with a violent sociopath criminal running backwards for office. I’m now chocking and feeling really sick just saying this. Maybe I’m too too way too sensitive? Anyhow, Rachel a huge Thank you.🙏🏼
I do too, I especially focus on the number of “average joes” they interview who are pro Drump, but fail to do as many interviews with people who are pro dems. I think this is important because the average citizen is skeptical of professional political analysts and care more about hearing from the regular citizens.
I think we can assume it is another bad consequence of the Citizens United decision. Once the oligarchs’ money could buy politicians, they also had the money to buy off media as well. NPR and PBS both do twice annual fundraisers from their viewers/listeners, but when you listen to who is buying ad space in a place that was once littered with charitable foundations and private trusts, you hear the real decision makers around content and political leaning. And it’s clear from the shift in content. We lost the fact-based voice because we couldn’t out-spend the big spenders.
Staunch NPR and PBS supporter for over 40 years. While not perfect, still better than what has been labeled MSM. I also regularly email or call them with feedback. That’s also the “public” in public media.
Just look how CNN has evolved into a similar outlet as Fox News - a false “both sides “format! Apparently the management at CNN has caved to MAGA! Once a reliable source of news, it no longer is!
I quoted a Faux-like CNN article with one of my former work cohort; he asked if I thought CNN was biased. I told him that I did, and he laughed. These people...
-- In the four Presidential elections prior to Obama’s 2008 run we averaged 47% of the vote.
-- In the four Presidential elections since 2008, 2008 to 2020, we’ve averaged 51% of the vote,
--In 2022 we picked up a Senate seat, 4 state legislative chambers, 2 governorships. We kept the House close enough to make it far easier to win it this year, and denied Kevin McCarthy ideological control, leading to all sorts of ugly MAGA chaos and dysfunction.
-- We got to 59% in CO, 57% in PA, 55% in MI, 54% in NH. In a year that was supposed to be a disaster for us, we outperformed 2020, an election we won by 4.5 points, in AZ, CO, GA MI, MN, NH and PA.
--In 2023 and 2024 we’ve continued to defy history, have repeatedly overperformed expectations and polling and have again and again taken stuff away from Republicans.
-- We took away the Wisconsin Supreme seat back in April of 2023 and ended their outrageous gerrymander of the state.
-- We took away Jacksonsville and Colorado Springs, CO, two of the largest Republican held cities in the country.
--We took away the six week abortion ban in Ohio. We’ve taken away state legislative seats, municipalities, city council and school board seats all across the country.
-- Despite Glenn Youngkin’s big spending, we took away the Virginia Assembly and elected the first Black Speaker in Virginia’s 400 year history.
--We picked up state legislative seats in New Jersey and Governor Beshear grew his margin of victory in his re-election in Kentucky.
--We took away NY-3 by a rollicking 8 points earlier this year, and took away Tulsa, Oklahoma last night.
-- Due to their extremism more is possible for us now, and if keep working hard, as we’ve been doing all across the country these last few years, we can keep growing our coalition and keep taking stuff away from them.
--The Harris Effect - in the 13 states that have updated voter files since July 21st, we are seeing incredible surges in voter registration relative to the same time period in 2024, driven by women, voters of color, and young voters.
--Young Black women are leading the way, seeing their registration almost triple, relative to the same point in 2020. Young Hispanic women aren't far behind, with a 150% increase in registration. Black women overall have almost doubled their registration numbers from 2020.
These changes are, unsurprisingly, substantially to the benefit of Democrats. Democratic registration has increased by over 50%, as compared to only 7% for Republicans. These new registrants are modeled as +20 pts Dem, as compared to +6 during the same week in 2020.
Folks so much more is possible for us now. It’s why we have to keep doing the work. We can grow our coalition in these closing days by reaching new demographic and geographic targets, and driving up our performance with more traditional parts of our coalition. We can, and must, do both.
Thanks for this bucking up! I am not complacent. Staying away from clever verbal repartee and put-downs, and simply talking to people who have been drowned and pickled in Fox news' entertainment for a long time, is good. Getting the young women to vote is great. If all the women we can talk to would just vote, we can win. Continuing to talk with people we are given the opportunity to talk to, who are willing to hear us, is good. Young men want a stake in the work world. Talking about jobs, healthcare and access to housing, ability to stretch tax dollars with the EITC, these are important issues. My kids want cheaper gasoline, for the daily truck use. Jobs for the non-college educated, which can support a family. Housing!
Sean, I believe what we’re battling, except for a handful of instances, is the notion of mainstream professional journalism as non-partisan. While I imagine all of us here would agree that genuine journalism entails investigating to learn who is telling the truth, I increasingly sense said journalists are regarded as not being professional, not being objective, having an ideological axe to grind.
While I don’t have a ready solution for remedying how commercial media increasingly has zeroed out genuine journalism, I’m certain what remains of our representative republic undoubtedly demands one.
I expect there is going to be a significant turnaround in this realm because at the least the owners are going to start losing money when people don't buy their lack of journalistic approaches. We have about six or so decades of bad practice since the very bad decision to make TV news 'entertaining' as a money maker; they then pushed to have the fairness doctrine set aside and the dam of non-news began to overflow the container. Now, with assaults on our very liberty, the new demands for the stability and accuracy of information in general, in government, in economics, certainly in science and research it seems they'll start having to deliver just to stay in business, get elected. But not without an increasing push of demand from the public. Trying to imagine what the consumer receivers of Faux ‘News’ will be experiencing as that funnel of hypocrisy is somehow possibly forced to do actual reporting - or disappear, could be even more dependency on crazy social media-as-uncontrolled-spew, or maybe more folks will start to question and look for better sources as a new thirst for relatable reality (?)
We as a nation have allowed the MSM to be bought by the owner class, instead of funding it ourselves. Americans drive to get everything for nothing is part of that. In Germany, one of my two homes, all residents pay a monthly fee of 18€ for broadcast news. It does not cover other forms of news, which remain varied from left to right. However, there is a reliable source that many can access. It is more trusted because of this independence.
It is not even bothsidism. It is blatant non- coverage of the Harris campaign while covering every Trump pronouncement. No fact checking or criticism of Trump lies and no information about the policies of either side.
The MSM, and especially the NYTimes, maintains a VERY horserace mentality towards the race, thereby treating Trump like just a normal candidate. The same journalist who pounded the drum the loudest to get Biden to withdraw seem to thinkTrump's crimes, lies and perverted tweets don't disqualify him as a candidate for President. Where is the outcry for Trump to withdraw??? The MSM knows he is a much greater threat to America than Biden would ever be, but hey ..Trump sells clicks. Very sad
Yes, the MSM is very frustrating but I think that is a symptom, not a cause.
Ted Koppel did a piece a few months back where he rode a tour bus with a bunch of right-wing supporters. One take-away I got from his reporting was the MAGA supporters don't listen to the MSM anyway. Ted specifically asked one woman where she got her news and she refused to say, execpt that it was not MSM.
Going off on a tangent from your topic, the current polls indicate a close race between Harris and Trump and I suspect that will be the case going forward. Red States (ID, WY) don't have enough Democrats to make a difference if everyone voted. And, as I mentioned in a previous comment to one of Dr. Richardson's letters a few weeks ago, there aren't enough Senators in the running to make a significant impact.
Trump has said, "we have all the votes we need" (or something to that effect) and with the shenanigans that the Republicans have pulled with gerrymandering, the election certification process, and the courts, a close race is a win for Trump.
Sean, you are only partially right about the media. When they attempt the two sided coverage, they do not reveal the viciousness, the hatred, the false fears, the anti-democratic statements of the MEGA leaders. They select or worse present a calm, normal other side. Fox "News" is the most watched news program. What their anchors are claiming and thus promoting is anything but calm, normal political arguments. These are the lies that must be revealed in a true two sided news coverage. I also feel that his loyal followers support the male dominant image that t-rump represents and it is kind of thinking that must be countered.
With the media being owned by the wealthy, of course they are going to say things that keep the heat off. It does seem that our people are too easily fooled by the errant "news".
As Joyce Vance says, we'd best get out every eligible vote, the numbers must be overwhelming, because the Mango Menace will try every nefarious and illegal ploy to claim he won the election.
We must focus first on enabling massive voter registration drives of women who support reproductive rights, Blacks, Latinos, Community College students as well as big Universities as well as high school seniors who will turn 18 before Nov 5. I respectfully submit that we concentrate our efforts in battleground states, plus NC, GA, FL, NV, TX, and "truly competitive" Congressional Districts (there are only 23 of them)? These efforts are underway massively! The most effective organization in my humble opinion is www.TurnUp.US run by brilliant Harvard students. Please donate generously and it is tax deductible because it is nonpartisan and concentrates on registering new young voters who support abortion rights, effective gun safety and robust efforts against Climate Change. Massive Voter Registration and then turnout it out!
Winning by a lot is a great strategy, no doubt about it.
But wouldn't one think that Trump would be campaigning his ass off to tighten those margins?
My biggest fear is he already has the Pres'y in the bag, promised by the demonstrably corrupt, accountable to nobody SCOTUS who will declare her win "unconstitutional."
Does any aspect of the United States government have a plan in place to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic? The President's oath of office requires the President to do that, to defend the Constitution. It should not surprise us to see the 45th president attempt to become president again, regardless of the will of the voters, as he did before. The current President should be able to outwit the former president.
When you read P25, hear the statements made by its authors, have the silence of the elected Republicans bout P25, and see the legal battles of Mark Elias, WE HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE WORRIED.
Our institutions should have been able to protect the country from this, but akas due to the Lewis Powell Memo and the conservatives implanting it core tenets, voting may not save us either. Just look at the last 2 repub pres to understand. GW bush lost popular vote once, engaged in the election fraud search, then set off 2 wars helping him stay in office, the Obama wins twice with the votes, then came tRump with his bogus underwhelming first win almost a 3M loss, the he loses by over 7M but in reality he barely lost even with that large of a margin. Now I hear that the repubs could lose by 10M votes and still win? They have it figured out and that is my concern.
Ukrainians write putin and russia de-capitalized [путин and росія]. I used to write «tRump», also de-capitalized. Now I refer to him as CFDT. I also exchanged the name putin for the French word, putain … enjoy !
Not necessarily. He is too lazy to campaign “his ass off” and thinks the office will be his because he’s entitled and because he did little to win in 2016.
Bone laziness is a pillar of Trump's character. Born to wealth, his life is one of a playboy and a crook, with the impunity that only the very wealthy enjoy. His sole métier is lying and cheating. He does not even tell clever lies; and yet the faithful repeat them as holy writ. Trump is willing to shamelessly claim that he is what his followers want him to be and they are willing to believe it. It's like a voluntary quasi-psychosis, but a very dangerous one for under it is a lust for absolute power.
New media changes a lot. That said, Trump may think he does not have to win, just radicalize the base. One hopes that is not enough. He is trying to fool us twice. I noted how entitled and nonchalant the Jan 6th invades were, gifting the prosecution with selfies. The seemed to be sure that they would be win the day. They were wrong.
If he had it in the bag, he'd be a happy grinning thumbs-up guy. But he's grumpy, angry, more outrageous than usual, constantly whining. He doesn't think he's winning.
The big Plan B (don't certify the votes and intimidate Dem voters) is totally known to hordes of lawyers who are already on it.
Hes not out there because he's tired, he's old and his crowds are smaller than used to be. Bad Kamala took away his shiny toy.
All the lies in the world don't make him less lonely and glum.
Not really JL. Read P25. They will work around it. These guys have been training and placing those trainees in key positions while the elected repubs chip away at the legal means to stop them. It is one reason they hate the IRS.
The SCOTUS immunity decision is just one step to making Project 2025 a reality. SCOTUS has already begun work on Project 2025 as you can tell from several of their decisions this last session and before (Dobbs).
In fact, their success is part of the reason the Project 2025 people feel so confident they can pull over much of their agenda.
As his comments underlined above. The king can do no wrong; just what the Revolution rejected. In the coverage I have seen about the Arlington National Cemetery perfidy, little has been said about the outrage of ignoring and literally pushing aside a representative of the monument; and that in the run-up to an election. It is a chilling foretaste of fanatical Republican's push to subdue rule of law, and the statutory philosophies supporting our society.
Check out the videos on YouTube about Arlington and read about Arlington in many posts on Substack. You're not going to get the truth about the backlash from any of the corporate media.
The COF (convicted orange felon) is good to go. I predict that when Kamala wins, he will appeal to the SCOTUS, whining that he lost, and they will simply rule that the election results are void because “they have clearly been tampered with” and hand the victory to Rump.
When I was in the Army, half a century ago, we liked to reply to an outrageous proposition by saying "Oh, yeah? You and whose Army?"
SCOTUS has no power to enforce their decrees. When they act in ways to lose the respect of the nation, they become like the Great Oz, who turns out to be a small man behind a curtain, or judicial robes, still trying to convince us they are truly big and powerful. They will get the respect they deserve for making shite up, like the idea of "Presidential Immunity". Our system has worked well for a long time, but our system depends on trust, and good faith. Can we trust 45? Absolutely not. Should we trust our Supreme Court? We should, but it has become very difficult to trust the wisdom and the intellect and the integrity of the current majority of the high court.
"Ik vertrouw die mensen zo ver als ik ze kan gooien", is what we say in the Netherlands: "I trust these people as far as I can throw them". I wouldn't put it past them to rule in their standard 6:3 majority that the election was fraudulent. And they don't need to see any proof, of course, because they will simply know it, and hey, 45 is a really smart guy because he says so himself, and he knows it, too!
David-Throughout history we’ve see the “real” Americans dismiss SC rulings they disagreed with always finding workarounds. Violence to prevent Black people from voting, poll taxes, literacy tests, segregation academies, filling summon pools with cement etc.
You’re so right they have no enforcement power-but presidents do especially since they are now “immune”.
I surely hope the Dems are prepared for what’s to come when SC decides DJT is the winner. Alito and Thomas are ready to intervene so they can retire.
We need to trust in the wisdom of division of powers and in judges not inserted by crooks. The system is sound but only when we apply it, or insure that it is applied, in good faith.
Exactly. What else was this "presidential immunity" thing for? Certainly not for granting Joe Biden complete freedom from responsibility.
But the trouble is, how _can_ they be stopped? I wouldn't know how, as they are the Supreme Court and can pretty much do as they wish, but then again, I'm not very well versed in the American legal system.
Sorry to scare you like that! But I'm just trying to warn you guys: as you said, the SCOTUS did it before (with Bush vs Gore), and in my opinion, WILL do it again this time.
Trump will claim his overwhelming defeat as evidence of fraud. He has not—and never will—acknowledged the fact that he is a loser in many aspects of his life. He is a malevolent narcissist.
This thread is truly terrifying! So many solid observations from all you really smart peeps! I take it to mean your concerns are all too real, and many iterations of the problems are things I did not even think possible! Sends a shiver down my spine.
The conservatives on the Supreme Court might even appreciate the fact that he clearly and simply desctibed the desired result of his behavior without muddling the statement with allusions to motivation. Given the details in the immunity ruling (disallowing inquiry into motivation) It should be acceptable evidence as is.
The majority in Trump v. United States constructed a regime of presidential immunity with no constitutional basis. In doing so, the majority eviscerated the separation of powers. By judicial fiat, it raised the President above the law, crippling the capacity of Congress to act as a check on the President's exercise of power.
The immunity proclaimed by the majority did Trump a big favor in relation to his January 6th prosecution, However, it ought not protect Trump as a presidential candidate if he breaks the law in attempting to derail the 2024 election. Trump's statement about having the right to interfere in a presidential election suggests that he may not have registered this key point. He may believe that he continues to have some form of immunity which allows him to interfere without consequence in the election. Or he may believe that his judicial guardians on the Supreme Court will pull his chestnuts out of the fire once again.
If there is a challenge in court to anything a president does which supposedly falls under “presidential immunity” the final decision will be made by the SCOTUS.
Biden could do whatever he wants but the SCOTUS will decide if what he did falls under “presidential immunity”. It’s circular. Basically they’re saying ‘You can’t go left unless you take a right hand turn first, but right hand turns are not allowed’. It’s a rigged game, rigged by the extremist right wing Christian Justices on the Supreme Court.
Hoyt, a false god. The question I have is about what his followers will do if he is defeated and ultimately imprisoned. Will the scales fall from their eyes? We know about "deprogramming" former cult members. What is to be done when you have millions of members?
We here know the grave danger facing the nation. But do enough Americans? I suspect a more aggressive attorney general and ethical media would have kept all this madness more at bay.
you will see those states where since Citizens United unleashed unlimited corporate money into politics, taking the vote away from "we the people" has become the modus operandi. TV ads mislead voters, billionaires, funneling unlimited money into politics and court cases (seeDonor Trust, Federalist Society and the like), the Judges elected in some states by enormous amounts of corporate money as well as the Attorney Generals. Our democracy has been systematically stripped by SCOTUS and corporate power. Only getting the people to say NO and vote will we ever get back to sanity
"Judges elected in some states by enormous amounts of corporate money as well as the Attorney Generals. Our democracy has been systematically stripped by SCOTUS and corporate power." If Lincoln had not been killed we would be living in a very different world. As history records, Reconstruction was a complete failure in the South, as they ignored the war's outcome and went on their merry way "Reconstructing" a NEW way to suppress the black populis, and made Jim Crow the law of the land. If the races would have been integrated, over time we would have come to see we were all on the same boat. Reconstruction was a failure because the South was reconstructed by all the same people who controlled it BEFORE the war. We didn't experience even the hope of equality until the '60's. So now the Democrats and Republicans have changed sides, but the game is still afoot. The rich oppress the poor. It's being played out right now in our elections. Why else would we be facing one half of the country enabling a reptilian like Trump. They are afraid of the rest of us. Especially the dark skinned Americans, First Nations, previously enslaved, and new arrivals alike. This election is so important now, to finally END the Civil War. If we can put this building coalition together and combine our talents and strengths, we can beat MAGA and heal the Soul of our Nation. We can do it. It will not be easy, but we know the obstructionists, they published a big book to remind us. This IS the battle of our national life. When we fight, We Win!
Craig-You’ve clearly articulated the crux of the issues. Why are MAGA voters afraid of people with dark skin? It’s actually people with White skin who’ve perpetrated violence throughout history with massacres, lynchings, burning, tar/feathers, rape etc.
The fallacy of race and white privilege has been perpetrated and enforced by laws and customs over centuries. It’s clear evidence that lies and propaganda work. Racism is the scaffolding for our society.
This is indeed our chance to push back against the divide and conquer strategies that have been used to control the masses. We’ll soon see if there are enough people with white skin who will join with the Democratic coalition (which is not perfect either but surely better than MAGA).
Indeed, our nation has been "systematically stripped by SCOTUS and corporate power." There is a great article in Barron's on the money billionaires and millionaires are pouring into the campaigns of both parties. https://www.barrons.com/articles/trump-harris-election-campaign-billionaires-megadonors-6cf28b0c. It is time for the government to go after the oligarchs and monopolies much as T. Roosevelt went after the monopolies and trusts.
Reagan was the slick TV salesman to convince the public that government of, by and for the people was a total failure and that the wealthiest among us would lead us to the Promised Land. Bit that road just led to where it always does.
I listened to Reagan and finally became a Democrat. The old Republican ideas of conservation of the land, and attending to the budget, that the money was doing what it was intended to do. They were ideals not necessarily reality by that time.
Reagan was bought and paid for- he looked and acted like Howdy-Duty! They pulled the strings and told him what to say.
This is DJT's playbook, but there are other players at work here. His dementia is too far advanced to put forth a coherent plan. But there are some powerful people who want him in the White House by any means necessary. Wait for the torrent of hate ads against Harris, defaming her in every way possible.
Earlier today Musk posted an AI graphic of Harris in a Communist commandant uniform, claiming m]she would be a "communist dictator" on her first day. Never mind that those are his words, minus the imaginary communism.
Dementia can augment basic personality traits and at the same time remove inhibitions. We can expect COF to become explosively violent, debasing and outright lewd and insulting now.
I don't think they need Vance. Trump can be talked into signing stuff put together by his much smarter crew. They're a cross of Nazi/KKK and Christian Nationalists bolstered with lots and lots of money from super wealthy American oligarchs.
They're kind of like a super wealthy island of fanatics who can exercise a lot of power over a useful fool like Trump.
Future working taxpayers for the wealthy. If Republicans cared about babies they'd talk about gun control. Everything is about keeping American oligarchs on the top of the food chain. Maybe the common man needs to buy pitch forks.
I don't believe all rump supporters are eager to use violence, but enough may feel it's justified against "others" and not apply any rational brakes to a forming uprising. Our best bet is to turn out and vote at a 100% rate. I do hope the Feds are getting ready for potential localized outbreaks of voter suppression, though.
It seems a certainty that there will be voter suppression at a (cough) 'legal' level with new rules that have been put in place, but I believe there is a high chance of physical intimidation as a means of voter suppression. These extremists have had four years of training in ways to subvert the popular vote, but I have no doubt that at the end if it comes to getting physical, they will.
Voter suppression was definitely physical for Black people. An untold number of people have died, lost their livelihoods, churches and homes to prevent people from voting.
When voter registration drives were organized in the South in the 1960s less than 10% of Black people were voting because of laws, intimidation and violence. America must reckon with our past so we can move forward and not go back.
If the message regarding having all the requisite credentials in order, i's dotted, t's crossed et cetera is made crystal clear to those who may feel that there is more time then the path to stealing this election will be made a little more complex for the maga's who at this point clearly intend to grab it no matter 'how'.
The destructive danger is in how he normalises the horror.
The first time I heard him say he would build a wall because Mexicans (from all the" Mexican" countries) were murderers and rapists, it was not normal, I could hardly believe he said it.
Now it's normal.
"Grab 'em by the pussy", "Fascists are acceptable (good on both sides)"... again and again he normalises an alternative reality.
Now.... violent revolution is ok.... we did it before.
Thank you, Dr. Richardson for once again bringing us to see just how frightening this move by the authoritarian promoting trump loving group has become. Yes, what I have read in Project 2025 is a roadmap to dictatorship at its fascist worse. Project 2025 is too long and too boring for most people to read. I've scanned the 920 or so pages and have read only about 400. That is enough to scare me.
Fay, It’s definitely not boring! It’s frightening that these inhumane wealthy white people have taken the time to conjure up this appalling and alarming manifesto. Their guide was no doubt Mein Kampf mixed in with the usual white supremacy garbage.
In retirement I mentor nonprofit organizations, mostly those that are charitable groups determined to be tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. I love doing this because the people I mentor seriously desire through their efforts to make the world a better place for us all. It enrages me that the Heritage Foundation, a "charitable" organization, is also tax exempt under section 501(c)(3). Funded by tax deductible donations from oligarchs, I am certain the foundation enriches its founders (e.g., Leonard Leo), board members and staff in violation of IRS prohibitions of such inurement. They sponsored the Republican National Convention that nominated COF, which seems to fly in the face of IRS regulations forbidding 501(c)(3)s to campaign for political candidates. And Project 2025 isn't at all charitable, it is unadulterated hatred. I plan, after additional research, to file a complaint against Heritage using IRS Form 13909 to see if we can get their tax exempt status taken away. Please join me. Thank you.
I certainly will Marcia. There are far to many "charitable" organizations that are obviously 'for profit' I don't know where the IRS 'head' is at but I believe they are too lax with the wealthy. For too many years the National Football League was a "charitable" organization under the myth of being a non-profit. I am am avid football but under no circumstances is it non-profit
It has been said, when trump tells you something, believe him. He is hoping to interfere in the election results. What will be done to curtail his shenanigans? Those of us who are truly patriots want a fair election. Republicans want to win at any cost. I fear for the future. These rabid dogs must be squashed, but how? My hope is that the Dems have a plan to thwart theirs.
Marc Elias of the Elias Law Group has joined forces with what appears to be 100 lawyers from the DNC. They are filing lawsuits everywhere against those red states planning on putting election deniers on their boards. Georgia is a prime example of 3 election deniers placing themselves in that capacity. They’ve been sued. If you are not familiar with Marc you can go to his website Democracy Docket. He also posts the latest filings on Threads or X, plus YouTube.
Marlene, As a paid subscriber who regularly receives Elias’s emails, I simply would add that Elias repeatedly urges subscribers to do everything possible within their local communities to counteract voter intimidation-suppression tactics both at the front end (when votes are cast) and at the back end (when they’re tabulated).
You can also take a look at Chop Wood Carry Water on Substack for very frequent news of mostly the good sort from every corner of this country, homing in particularly on legal and political matters as people win victories that we don't otherwise hear about, certainly not on MSM. Stick to Substack where you will find truth a lot and good discussions. I personally have not watched MSM on the tube for over 2 years and can claim a certain amount of relative sanity in these times. Hope that helps.
Robin Birdfeather, I too am a follower of Chop Wood, Carry Water. AND yesterday it was posted that in Michigan, election denier, Matthew DePerno has ended his bid for our State Supreme Court! Good News Indeed!
Yes, and I don’t understand why he isn’t arrested for admitting that. If anyone else said they had committed the crime of interference through violence the FBI would be on their doorstep today.
So which of his positions on abortion should we believe? He's flip flopped so often on abortion and so many other topics does anyone have any idea what he believes?
He doesn’t believe anything except he’s the only person that matters in the whole world. His “opinion” on anything else is just what he thinks will get him elected. I must say that there are many politicians who, while unable to compete with his narcissism, have some “opinions” derived the same way.
Violence is never mainstream. It wasn’t in the Southern USA, nor in Nazi Germany. But it only takes a handful, like the few thousand who stormed the Capitol on Jan 6, to create havoc and fear.
I wonder how many police departments across the country are equipped and trained in riot control.
While it is comforting to know that over the course of history violence has not prevailed, it is still nerve wracking to live through these times (then—born and raised in Atlanta in the 1950s and ‘60s—and now). The bravery is miraculous.
I can speak for my local agencies in and around Eugene, OR. Eugene PD is well trained and equipped. They have several specialized units for different types of riot control. (To be frank, some of this stems from some of the campus "beer riots" that began 15 years ago or so; out of control off-campus drunken parties that morphed into street violence). Their SWAT team doubles in dignitary protection and riot control. They have established teams for Crisis Intervention and have a Rapid Deployment Unit, when the fairly stringent SWAT protocols are not met. Springfield PD (Springfield is about a third the size of Eugene) has a SWAT team, and has often sent officers to assist Eugene in some of their crowd control ops. The Sheriff's Office has a much smaller force (even as they cover a county which is geographically nearly as big as the state of Connecticut) but can be dispatched to render assistance as needed. The Oregon State Police can offer assistance, and does with major events. I am not as familiar with their training and details assigned.
Crowd control is an element of police response that is trained for, but isn't a big part of agency training.
Because American history has been “whitewashed” most Americans don’t know about the level and types of violence perpetrated over time. It’s horrific-not just physical violence but psychological, emotional and spiritual violence.
Well, Professor you might appreciate that I don't have much time comment on your post, but today is September 2, and I have too many commitments to fulfill...let's see...: 9AM to noon - Killing newborn babies at the Hospital..and 1PM to 5PM transformation of elementary and High School kids into sex of their choice. Oh lunch today is drinking blood and eating dead babies (get in ma Belly), I want my Baby Back, Baby Back....and then tonight let's not forget the election stealers' Ball at the Garage. Nope, I have a full Democrat day...I'll need a snack for Breaky though....🤯
A fact from Liz Cheney’s book on Jan 6th insurrection and subsequent impeachment. She said that there were maybe a dozen republicans Senators who would have voted to convict, buy they feared for their families. It only takes a distributed collection of violent racists to terrorize a larger section of the population. The threatening is enough without actually becoming violent.
Cowards, who were willing to put other people's families at risk but not their own when they 'signed up for' begged for the opportunity to be elected and kiss Trump's Felonious Orange Ass! What utter COWARDS!
Just like J Kelley, M Pence and two others I saw pictured—the author thought they didn’t to speak out so as not to be taunted by their fellow conservatives, republican neighbors, tfg-supporting family member, etc., etc. Seems to me considering the prominent leadership positions they held, all they need to say is “I took an oath to the constitution.” Nothing more.
I think what frustrates me most of all right now is that our mainstream media -- what most Americans read/watch -- has completely failed in its role of holding the powerful accountable and publishing the facts (and fact-checking the liars). The rush to both-sides everything has created a very damaging perception of partisan politics -- that "both sides" are equally "normal" -- when the reality is that one side supports democracy, and the other side wants to tear it down.
This morning, on the CBS newshow, the host repeated Trump’s claim that, if elected, he would require health insurers to cover IVF procedures. The host wanted to know why her Democratic guest didn’t consider Trump’s proposal a step forward in reproductive rights.
My God, who is this buffoon?
Trump vomits out an obvious lie and the host treats it as a fact. Truly pathetic.
He will say just about anything to get women to vote for him. I remember him promising a middle-class tax cut right before the 2018 midterm elections. Never heard a word about it after the elections. Lyin’ Trump!
As a woman with a brain I assert that there are zero healthy, self-respecting women who would vote for the GOP. Ever. Actions speak louder than words… and their actions to date prove they believe the gist of this piece.
Encourage everyone you know to check their voter status from now until the election. And save proof that you are/were enrolled.
This “ain’t over till it’s over.”
But you left out the percentage of unhealthy women who will support MAGA. They’re out there.
Bill-these women are definitely out there. I drove through an upscale suburban area the other day and the number of “Women for Trump” signs was unbelievable. What kind of people of these people who want to give someone like DJT power over us? This is not 2016. He’s clearly shown us who he is by words and deeds.
I think reproductive care issues ie overthrowing Roe vs Wade is going to add considerable tilt toward Dems this round. Look at how the plebiscites of late have gone, and there are more on the way. Women shone (and i think outnumbered) at the DNC.
Let me try an explain human nature. No, forget it. It’s impossible. But I’ll speculate. And I will explain by example. When something goes wrong and others reject what I did, my first instinct is to ask myself what I did wrong. So we should ask ourselves what have we done wrong and I reject if someone responds “nothing.”
My feeling is this and it’s mostly race-generated. Im white. I’m often singled out as coming from privilege. And I fricken despise that remark when it is directed toward me. If I was anyone else, I would also be a MAGA. Indeed I would. So we had better stop this shit of blaming everyone not of color.
The irony is truely that discrimination is all but eliminated. There is no housing discrimination. There is no education discrimination. And I know you will refute me but the real problem in urban communities is that 72% of children are born out of wedlock (and the poverty, crime, drugs, etc.) and until this changes, ie, family planning, we will witness impoverishment generation after generation and there is no federal, state or local aid that will end it. It must come from within the communities. It’s not for an outsider to resolve. I believe it was Nelson Rockefeller who studied this and found the same results in the 196os and he was thoroughly chastised as a white man for it. (I may have the wrong Rockefeller correct me if I’m wrong.)
Now you can hate me and call me what you like. I’m still voting for Harris/Walz and working for them. But I understand how society at large can be so self-destructive and not even understand why but I am a witness to this terrible disease.
( I won’t even discuss this on my blog because I know I’ll get repaid with deletions, lol.)
Brainwashed. I have two sisters like this. One is married to a high-end CPA; the other is just gullible. It's all about the money to them. To me, it's all about Democracy. They're sellouts, just like their sicko leader!
Gina, key word is probably upscale because they can fly off to get an abortion or anything else. They are more concerned about their money and status while spending their days playing bridge and/or golf and attending big money galas. I am thinking of my ex-classmate who lives in Naples, Florida, who was all caps about Obama when we were still communicating which didn't last past that.
You answered your own question. Upscale. The wealthy want to keep that which they feel entitled to have. Higher taxes and support of middle class folx and those that don't look or live like them is taking away from their privilege.
There is a clue to the Women-for-Trump you report in the comment Musk reposted --that there is a link between being able to defend yourself physically and "critical thinking". Generations of brainwashing have unfortunately left significant portions of our female population believing that they need a "man" to protect them physically (and also insure their social and economic status) so there is a tendency to defer to said protective "man"and his interests including his judgment, i.e. his perceived "critical thinking". Stand by your man!
they are concerned about tax cuts, and estate taxes. they think that their wealth also protects their medical needs, including abortion, plus they have "friends who can take care of it." They don't want to know about Project 2025, or women dying of sepsis, or climate change, because ignorance is bliss.
Most don't live in Red states, where doctors are fleeing and Med school applications are down, both by double digit percentages. Fewer OB/Gyns. Prenatal docs. ER docs. Nurses. In other words, they are entitled fools.
Gina, those Trumpettes are white, rich or rich wannabees who believe in their own superiority and/or are sure they are inferior and need someone like Trump and his hatred of everyone not like himself telling them they count, well, not as much as white men, but definitely better than everyone else. Those pathetic women have drunk the Kool-Ade of an enslaved person to her hubby and kiddies, a woman who does not know how to escape, so has trained herself through her church and coffee clotch to believe she is living the good life and Trump and Kump will continue to give it to her. It's really disgusting, but it may be too late to wake these women up. So, we just have to overwhelm them at the polls in November.
Damn right! What continues to strike me is the number of both men and women who will vote for Trump inspite of his obvious, and dangerous, flaws. It's almost as though half the country has lost its mind.
The marks are easy here...
Then let’s stop telling all white peoples that we are privileged for a change.
It is the exception that makes the rule. Trump is finished. The state Dems need to do everything possible to protect the vote. MAGAts know no boundaries. They will cheat, steal, lie and use violence. They will be challenging every district that goes against them. They will gum up the works to the point that this election may not get declared for weeks, if not months. They are fascists, by definition.
Yes… and even a small percentage converted could make a difference.
Just check a rally at The Villages to see
Musk is right about one thing. People who lack the ability to think critically are an imminent threat to the survival of civilization. But he's wrong about the most important thing. He believes in the delusional conspiracy theory that people who agree with him are important, and he thinks of people who disagree with him the way I think about cardboard boxes. How do I think about cardboard boxes? If they're useful, I use them, if they're in the way, they get discarded, and they are otherwise utterly irrelevant.
Everyone who supports the 2024 version of the Republican party believes in Musk's delusional conspiracy theory. You don't have to be male to believe in that delusion, but I'm embarrassed to say that having my gender is clearly a factor.
Unlike little Elon, people who think critically use that ability to deduce the truth, and the truth is that the inherent value of any one human life is precisely equal to the inherent value of every other human life. Musk needs to ignore almost all the evidence to believe otherwise.
We are all born openminded and immature, and when an individual's body is fully mature, they've retained one of those two traits while leaving the other one behind. Hey, little Elon, guess which one you retained?
Thank you DMS. And if you can vote early in your state, do it as soon as you can. In my state, we can vote in person on October 6th and we have same day registration.
Do you know what kind of citizenship checks are made during same day registration?
I live in GA, with no same day registration and with no approvals for non citizen voting (except clearly marked purple "potential non citizen X" provisional voting that never gets counted unless the voter cures the provisional ballot after the fact.) I work the polls on election day, and I certainly don't see any evidence that election procedures would allow any non citizen voting...and that was before these 3 election deniers got placed on the Board.
I live in rural Maine and the 5 of us are all white in a community of about 1800 people. We have lived in this town for 6 years. When my wife and I registered to vote we brought our real-id and showed them to the town clerk. 2 years later in 2020 my mother-in-law and sister-in-law moved in with us. When they went to register to vote, the town clerk told them they didn't need id to register since she knew my wife and I. And when my daughter moved back from FL last fall, she also needed no id to register. We all are registered Independents, but I don't think that makes a difference.
I registered in two different counties in FL and it was also quick and easy. Duval County took awhile as I recall but less than 15 minutes. Nassau County, I walked in and was out of there in 2 minutes. My wife registered Independent and I registered Republican back in 2004. It didn't seem like the clerks cared one way or another. They were just doing their jobs.
I would love to see a video of a cooperative non-citizen attempting to register and being rejected. Plaster that all over socials and msm to counter that stupid lie about illegal voting.
As someone with many Trump loyalists in his family, I can tell you that your assertion is wrong.
That flat statement reminds me of MAGA types who believe Dems murder children.
Dems would win more elections by understanding why the word Democrat is so distasteful to many decent people in the electorate, and setting out to correct it.
Sorry, what flat statement are you referring to? Substack leaves a lot to be desired with its comments formatting.
This statement. I find it incredibly tone-deaf that we Dems act smugly superior—often insultingly do—to voters who disagree with them.:
“ As a woman with a brain I assert that there are zero healthy, self-respecting women who would vote for the GOP. Ever. Actions speak louder than words… and their actions to date prove they believe the gist of this piece.
Encourage everyone you know to check their voter status from now until the election. And save proof that you are/were enrolled.
This “ As a woman with a brain I assert that there are zero healthy, self-respecting women who would vote for the GOP. Ever. Actions speak louder than words… and their actions to date prove they believe the gist of this piece.”
Voter Polls are being Purged with EagleAI in 9 states. Check that you're registered, and find up-do-date Voting Info at Vote. org
Please Share This Message!
Disruption of Voting is a KEY strategy for the Rs,
and may explain why the felon seems so over confidant.
Still, I think this Lincoln Project video called Stress, captures how we are all feeling. https://youtu.be/B9XTNcneynw?si=Gq-5txcXHWeqTPTW
Lincoln Project: "It has been 9 long years". Today it's a bit over 60 Days to the national election on 11/5/24. Lincoln Project: "Trump is Failing - America is Winning".
"Election Threats" can be easily reported to the DOJ at www.justice.org which includes "suspected threats" or mere "risk of harm" --- that means do not wait for actual political violence.
Call the FBI or in the case of "Imminent danger" call 911 & your Local Police!
Thank you, Bryan for the very valuable information. I personally hope i live to see the day when this blob of rot named Donald TUMP is finally DEAD! Just when i thought i couldn't hate and despise someone any worse than him, i hate him even more now! It is appalling to realize that something as horrible as he is could exist. A raging monster out of hell.
But will the magnuts rage on when he is gone? They have infiltrated every phase of our lives and levels of government. Donnie Defective has been totally outrageous since the Democratic convention and the media is still covering up for him. Dana Bash’s interview of Kamala and Tim was full of stupid trumpian lies that they correctly refused to answer and defend. The media should be reporting news not trying to make headlines and we should oppose it loudly and clearly.
that's excellent
I will be gathering with a local college organized group on Wednesday whose expressed purpose is to get out the vote in Hartford, CT. My input will be to make contact with Pennsylvania activists and rent a bus on Election Day to assist where it’s most needed. Connecticut doesn’t need us.
It’s hard for me to believe that if Trump is elected that I won’t set aside my life-long repudiation of arms and begin arming and joining a training group. Of course the NRA achieved their industry-supported ambition to convince the citizenry that the 2nd amendment gave everyone this right but it never did.
Soon Sue, he'll release his plan "soon", like with his great big wonderful health care plan he would release right after the election and then right after they vote to repeal the ACA. Or perhaps releasing his tax returns right after the election in 2016 and dozens of time thereafter. Why isn't anyone asking him to release his tax returns now?
He uses the word, "everyone" when he means himself or "people tell me".
And like a mafia thug he never quite says what he means. "Yeah, I left the "potatoes" in the trunk if you run into trouble."
While I don't agree with Musk's posting, 10-20% of the US population is illiterate and innumerate. And almost half of the US population reads at a sixth grade level or below. Are these people actually voting and if they are how do they get the information to decide who are the candidates that will represent them? Many of these people don't vote, but are the ones that do, more susceptible to believing Trump's lies than the ones that don't?
That’s interesting , though most of the base defend , the reality is seldom broken down into the ‘ tell me like I’m in kindergarten’ -now another of our emerging famous slogans. *Though I will give Katie Porter another round of applause for her Jeopardy presentation to the legislators -of waste FEW COULD ANSWER CORRECTLY- within our military.*
Thank you Heather for the tab keeping on Faux Fox Fabrications. Another applause goes out to those highlighting CBS repeating yet another liar’s babblings. I’m keeping PBS the last station to watch…so far. Is not money the root of evil-that almighty dollar or the ratings, the MAGATS, corporate media…pick yer own order , you’re welcome!
How to turn them OFF?
About 10 cycles of straight BLUE at the ballot box.
I’m excited , broadcasting widely the Dems winning seats/primaries/hearts, the hope,joy, yes even the money. A LOT of my Republican friends (yes they’re still my friends) have come over to ‘the other side’ . They’ve ’come to the light’ as one by one their choices slipped away, were indicted then jailed, caught in the act, or gave up. I’m proud of them. A lot of them have stood up a told the truth of the chaos and courted being disowned, thrown off from their committees/under buses/or in other countries out windows or fell off the boat. Expect more. Loyalists …even.
Hey, I’ve made mistakes too, but not once voting BLUE.
💙💙VOTE ALL THE COMPLICIT OUT💙💙
Everything that trump says is a lie. Yes, there may be a thread of truth in his word “weave”
I suggest that we hold Trump to the thread of truth until the whole cloth of LIES unravel.
The Wily Liar
That is definitely true, he made fools out of them with his BS.
I have been reading about this IVF promise the past 2 days and everyone is coming up with that the MSM would question how Harris would finance it if they could, but instead they don't question it with Donald Trump even though he has no way of paying for it, at all. This is crazy talk, and why Harris should stay away from following Trump's talking points. We cannot expect that of MSM. They are now fighting to keep their jobs as they turn many off from their jaded and fraudulent reporting, lacking the gravitas needed for this election.
I watch little TV but the 2 Sunday morning news shows; Sunday Morning and Meet the Press which have been an staple are frequently turned off now. I’m trying to understand if they simply want to expose both sides of the issue or do they purposely give press time to obvious MAGA heads to increase or stabilize listenership.
We watched Meet the Press faithfully for decades. When Kristin Welker took over we gave her a good shot - but now I can no longer stand her soft ball questions. She clearly has a list of talking points, which is her focus, and does not push back on bullshit. CNN has had so many right wing shills on their shows - again with little to no pushback on the most outrageous claims.
God, I miss Tim Russert.
I CANCELED my subscription to the NYT. The many channels of Substack are my go-to sources …
I did too, as well as WaPo. I am in total agreement with Rebecca Solnit of the Guardian about the role the Corporate Media is playing in this election,
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/sep/06/trump-clinton-harris-election?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
as well as Robert Hubbell's complaint that the NYT, as the largest news agency in the world, is irresponsible to put it mildly.
Mexico will pay. He says so.
😂
That buffoon (as you do arrogantly call her) is a reporter who has the job of relaying Trump’s (and Harris’s) assertions to the public and to those bring interviewed.
It’s up to the “Democratic guest” to point out the believability of the assertion.
Reporters often qualify Trump quotes as “without evidence” or even “falsely”. But a policy assertion is not a provable lie, often.
I find the msm do a pretty good job in handling Trump. They can’t ignore him. Like it or not, he’s running for president. And while many of his loudest supporters are racists and grifters, many are decent people who happen to believe he has their interests at heart.
Instead of dismissing them or criticizing their choice, as Dems, why not find out their needs, their hopes, their goals?
Remember when reporting the news did not involve glamour or entertainment. And the reporter’s physical appearance was not relevant.
Who was the host?
Perfectly described. “corporate entertainment that dabbles in news manipulation”
Hoyt, I was captivated on Saturday night with the myriad YouTube posts denigrating Trump and JD Vance.
This one is from David Packman who has been posting on YouTube for years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkY38jGcjV0
And there's the Lincoln Project who are mostly former Republicans (like myself) that are PO'd because Trump stole our party. Of course, it all started a long time ago with Reagan and then Newt, but before moving to the northeast we were living in a Midwestern red state, where we actually had some politicians with integrity like Tom Osborne and Mike Johanns.
But there are perhaps a dozen others that post several times a week.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8ZCyuMkjgvc
The ones I can't help watching though are Trump waving to non-existent crowds. No wonder he so deflated. At least on the golf course everyone cheers every shot.
It has been pointed out that it is no longer “mainstream media” but is “corporate media”
Following the Fox example. It seems to work in America where our educational system gets a D-.
Death by starvation. Republicans know that the uneducated are easier to rule.
And the corporatized media in this nation-thingy are the state media, doing what they can for the state. Must be so, for there are no other media of comparable scale here, and the state itself isn't about to do anything about it (OK, maybe tax breaks, if one can all that "doing something").
They seem to like the stance taken by the Fox host who said that he was an entertainer....
Absolutely correct. «mainstream» is an inclusive term which refers to societal values and the rule of law. Criminality and nazism are not a mainstream values; Musk, Daryl Cooper, and Tucker Carlson embrace them. This is Corporate Media at work. I propose that, going forward, we call it what it is: CORPORATE MEDIA and NOT MSM.
I’m finding that public media (NPR & PBS) reporting is start to do the same things as the cable networks. I’m ready to cancel my memberships
NPR - most especially Morning Edition - has been moving to the right for many years. I still support NPR, but only the basics. I recently had to donate a car, which in the past would've gone to NPR. I donated it instead to Habitat for Humanity. The local chapter called me personality to thank me. It was their largest single donation!
Great thinking.
I am having the same experience with NPR and PBS. What happened to them? Were they bought off?
Yes. Their donors are, for the most part, wealthy with Republican leanings. (Until David died, The Kochs used to be big donors and are among the folks who are bringing us Project 2025.) But I recall at least 20 years ago when the right wing complained that the liberal orientation of NPR/PBS was discriminatory. Same ol' stuff. Use the language of the liberals against them. It's amazing how the right wing folks have systematically intruded upon democracy itself. (Think of how the awful screeds on social media get away with it by saying,"Free Speech.")
$$$$
I regularly email PBS Newshour to point out their inaccurate “what-about-Isms.” You can do the same. Viewermail@newshour.org
Thank you for sharing this. It fits with Michelle Obama’s admonition, “Do Something!” and HCR’s to call the media out.
And David Brooks???? WTF?
He looks curled in on himself - like he has been forced to drink the poison - his current editorials in NYT and his debates on formally great PBS are scary pitiful.
At last. Thank you Rachel. I’ve been waiting to hear this; it’s a perfect description of him I could not have come up with. He does seem deeply uncomfortable with his own self, and I too am deeply offended that PBS, the news hour In particular continues to put him in on ad nauseam. Of course it’s about raising money, about trying to be fair….balanced ohoh. Balanced with a violent sociopath criminal running backwards for office. I’m now chocking and feeling really sick just saying this. Maybe I’m too too way too sensitive? Anyhow, Rachel a huge Thank you.🙏🏼
I do too, I especially focus on the number of “average joes” they interview who are pro Drump, but fail to do as many interviews with people who are pro dems. I think this is important because the average citizen is skeptical of professional political analysts and care more about hearing from the regular citizens.
All their employees went to schools where none learned access to any humanities.
What do you all think about the Guardian????
I subscribe and find it fairly balanced.
I think we can assume it is another bad consequence of the Citizens United decision. Once the oligarchs’ money could buy politicians, they also had the money to buy off media as well. NPR and PBS both do twice annual fundraisers from their viewers/listeners, but when you listen to who is buying ad space in a place that was once littered with charitable foundations and private trusts, you hear the real decision makers around content and political leaning. And it’s clear from the shift in content. We lost the fact-based voice because we couldn’t out-spend the big spenders.
Remember it was NPR that reported the Arlington NC incident first, though..I'm not convinced we should give up on them.
Staunch NPR and PBS supporter for over 40 years. While not perfect, still better than what has been labeled MSM. I also regularly email or call them with feedback. That’s also the “public” in public media.
Lucian Truscott’s Substack covers a lot of this.
NPR does some good reporting but is too often maddeningly wishy-washy in covering Trump and Republicans.
Sadly I am experiencing the same. I can no longer watch PBS Newshour or Week in Review.
I've not seen that yet. Thanks for the heads-up; I'll be looking for what you describe …
This is why million subscribe to Substack newsletters, especially to HCR,! ♥️
Agreed.
Exactly, Mr. Bangs. Exactly.
I’ve seen it posted that we should stop calling it the “mainstream media,” but instead “the corporate media.”
It's all about the Benjamins. If it bleeds it leads. And if it doesn't bleed, they make shit up.
YES‼️
Just look how CNN has evolved into a similar outlet as Fox News - a false “both sides “format! Apparently the management at CNN has caved to MAGA! Once a reliable source of news, it no longer is!
Always follow the money, in this case who owns the outlet.
Exactly!
They got BOUGHT.
I call CNN FOXlite.
I quoted a Faux-like CNN article with one of my former work cohort; he asked if I thought CNN was biased. I told him that I did, and he laughed. These people...
Great way to put it!
I stopped watching.
Faux CHANNEL
-- In the four Presidential elections prior to Obama’s 2008 run we averaged 47% of the vote.
-- In the four Presidential elections since 2008, 2008 to 2020, we’ve averaged 51% of the vote,
--In 2022 we picked up a Senate seat, 4 state legislative chambers, 2 governorships. We kept the House close enough to make it far easier to win it this year, and denied Kevin McCarthy ideological control, leading to all sorts of ugly MAGA chaos and dysfunction.
-- We got to 59% in CO, 57% in PA, 55% in MI, 54% in NH. In a year that was supposed to be a disaster for us, we outperformed 2020, an election we won by 4.5 points, in AZ, CO, GA MI, MN, NH and PA.
--In 2023 and 2024 we’ve continued to defy history, have repeatedly overperformed expectations and polling and have again and again taken stuff away from Republicans.
-- We took away the Wisconsin Supreme seat back in April of 2023 and ended their outrageous gerrymander of the state.
-- We took away Jacksonsville and Colorado Springs, CO, two of the largest Republican held cities in the country.
--We took away the six week abortion ban in Ohio. We’ve taken away state legislative seats, municipalities, city council and school board seats all across the country.
-- Despite Glenn Youngkin’s big spending, we took away the Virginia Assembly and elected the first Black Speaker in Virginia’s 400 year history.
--We picked up state legislative seats in New Jersey and Governor Beshear grew his margin of victory in his re-election in Kentucky.
--We took away NY-3 by a rollicking 8 points earlier this year, and took away Tulsa, Oklahoma last night.
-- Due to their extremism more is possible for us now, and if keep working hard, as we’ve been doing all across the country these last few years, we can keep growing our coalition and keep taking stuff away from them.
--The Harris Effect - in the 13 states that have updated voter files since July 21st, we are seeing incredible surges in voter registration relative to the same time period in 2024, driven by women, voters of color, and young voters.
--Young Black women are leading the way, seeing their registration almost triple, relative to the same point in 2020. Young Hispanic women aren't far behind, with a 150% increase in registration. Black women overall have almost doubled their registration numbers from 2020.
These changes are, unsurprisingly, substantially to the benefit of Democrats. Democratic registration has increased by over 50%, as compared to only 7% for Republicans. These new registrants are modeled as +20 pts Dem, as compared to +6 during the same week in 2020.
Folks so much more is possible for us now. It’s why we have to keep doing the work. We can grow our coalition in these closing days by reaching new demographic and geographic targets, and driving up our performance with more traditional parts of our coalition. We can, and must, do both.
Simon Rosenberg
Thanks for this bucking up! I am not complacent. Staying away from clever verbal repartee and put-downs, and simply talking to people who have been drowned and pickled in Fox news' entertainment for a long time, is good. Getting the young women to vote is great. If all the women we can talk to would just vote, we can win. Continuing to talk with people we are given the opportunity to talk to, who are willing to hear us, is good. Young men want a stake in the work world. Talking about jobs, healthcare and access to housing, ability to stretch tax dollars with the EITC, these are important issues. My kids want cheaper gasoline, for the daily truck use. Jobs for the non-college educated, which can support a family. Housing!
Thanks for your comment! It is inspiring.
Sean, I believe what we’re battling, except for a handful of instances, is the notion of mainstream professional journalism as non-partisan. While I imagine all of us here would agree that genuine journalism entails investigating to learn who is telling the truth, I increasingly sense said journalists are regarded as not being professional, not being objective, having an ideological axe to grind.
While I don’t have a ready solution for remedying how commercial media increasingly has zeroed out genuine journalism, I’m certain what remains of our representative republic undoubtedly demands one.
I expect there is going to be a significant turnaround in this realm because at the least the owners are going to start losing money when people don't buy their lack of journalistic approaches. We have about six or so decades of bad practice since the very bad decision to make TV news 'entertaining' as a money maker; they then pushed to have the fairness doctrine set aside and the dam of non-news began to overflow the container. Now, with assaults on our very liberty, the new demands for the stability and accuracy of information in general, in government, in economics, certainly in science and research it seems they'll start having to deliver just to stay in business, get elected. But not without an increasing push of demand from the public. Trying to imagine what the consumer receivers of Faux ‘News’ will be experiencing as that funnel of hypocrisy is somehow possibly forced to do actual reporting - or disappear, could be even more dependency on crazy social media-as-uncontrolled-spew, or maybe more folks will start to question and look for better sources as a new thirst for relatable reality (?)
We as a nation have allowed the MSM to be bought by the owner class, instead of funding it ourselves. Americans drive to get everything for nothing is part of that. In Germany, one of my two homes, all residents pay a monthly fee of 18€ for broadcast news. It does not cover other forms of news, which remain varied from left to right. However, there is a reliable source that many can access. It is more trusted because of this independence.
It is not even bothsidism. It is blatant non- coverage of the Harris campaign while covering every Trump pronouncement. No fact checking or criticism of Trump lies and no information about the policies of either side.
I completely agree. It's as if they are trying to sabotage any and all Democratic candidates with their click-bait, misleading article headlines.
I heard a commentator on NPR call the brutal tactics used by MAGA to attack, “tribalism.” Bullshit! It’s thuggery! It’s mob tactics!
The MSM, and especially the NYTimes, maintains a VERY horserace mentality towards the race, thereby treating Trump like just a normal candidate. The same journalist who pounded the drum the loudest to get Biden to withdraw seem to thinkTrump's crimes, lies and perverted tweets don't disqualify him as a candidate for President. Where is the outcry for Trump to withdraw??? The MSM knows he is a much greater threat to America than Biden would ever be, but hey ..Trump sells clicks. Very sad
Yes, the MSM is very frustrating but I think that is a symptom, not a cause.
Ted Koppel did a piece a few months back where he rode a tour bus with a bunch of right-wing supporters. One take-away I got from his reporting was the MAGA supporters don't listen to the MSM anyway. Ted specifically asked one woman where she got her news and she refused to say, execpt that it was not MSM.
Going off on a tangent from your topic, the current polls indicate a close race between Harris and Trump and I suspect that will be the case going forward. Red States (ID, WY) don't have enough Democrats to make a difference if everyone voted. And, as I mentioned in a previous comment to one of Dr. Richardson's letters a few weeks ago, there aren't enough Senators in the running to make a significant impact.
Trump has said, "we have all the votes we need" (or something to that effect) and with the shenanigans that the Republicans have pulled with gerrymandering, the election certification process, and the courts, a close race is a win for Trump.
Lamenting does not win a war, Sean. Remember Patton. We have to fight.
Sean, you are only partially right about the media. When they attempt the two sided coverage, they do not reveal the viciousness, the hatred, the false fears, the anti-democratic statements of the MEGA leaders. They select or worse present a calm, normal other side. Fox "News" is the most watched news program. What their anchors are claiming and thus promoting is anything but calm, normal political arguments. These are the lies that must be revealed in a true two sided news coverage. I also feel that his loyal followers support the male dominant image that t-rump represents and it is kind of thinking that must be countered.
kind of ironic, too, since the Fairness Doctrine died a long time ago, and has been honored 100% in the breach by Fox and their spawn
With the media being owned by the wealthy, of course they are going to say things that keep the heat off. It does seem that our people are too easily fooled by the errant "news".
As Joyce Vance says, we'd best get out every eligible vote, the numbers must be overwhelming, because the Mango Menace will try every nefarious and illegal ploy to claim he won the election.
We must focus first on enabling massive voter registration drives of women who support reproductive rights, Blacks, Latinos, Community College students as well as big Universities as well as high school seniors who will turn 18 before Nov 5. I respectfully submit that we concentrate our efforts in battleground states, plus NC, GA, FL, NV, TX, and "truly competitive" Congressional Districts (there are only 23 of them)? These efforts are underway massively! The most effective organization in my humble opinion is www.TurnUp.US run by brilliant Harvard students. Please donate generously and it is tax deductible because it is nonpartisan and concentrates on registering new young voters who support abortion rights, effective gun safety and robust efforts against Climate Change. Massive Voter Registration and then turnout it out!
And partner with FT 6. https://www.fieldteam6.org/
Thank you so much for this information. I just donated; they're on actblue, which I trust for donations. What a terrific group of young adults!
Thank you; very effective young group that has been doing this so well for four years!
Winning by a lot is a great strategy, no doubt about it.
But wouldn't one think that Trump would be campaigning his ass off to tighten those margins?
My biggest fear is he already has the Pres'y in the bag, promised by the demonstrably corrupt, accountable to nobody SCOTUS who will declare her win "unconstitutional."
Does any aspect of the United States government have a plan in place to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic? The President's oath of office requires the President to do that, to defend the Constitution. It should not surprise us to see the 45th president attempt to become president again, regardless of the will of the voters, as he did before. The current President should be able to outwit the former president.
When you read P25, hear the statements made by its authors, have the silence of the elected Republicans bout P25, and see the legal battles of Mark Elias, WE HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE WORRIED.
Our institutions should have been able to protect the country from this, but akas due to the Lewis Powell Memo and the conservatives implanting it core tenets, voting may not save us either. Just look at the last 2 repub pres to understand. GW bush lost popular vote once, engaged in the election fraud search, then set off 2 wars helping him stay in office, the Obama wins twice with the votes, then came tRump with his bogus underwhelming first win almost a 3M loss, the he loses by over 7M but in reality he barely lost even with that large of a margin. Now I hear that the repubs could lose by 10M votes and still win? They have it figured out and that is my concern.
But if trump loses, President Biden can do whatever he sees fit within his power as President to do what needs to be done. Good luck to us all.
Ukrainians write putin and russia de-capitalized [путин and росія]. I used to write «tRump», also de-capitalized. Now I refer to him as CFDT. I also exchanged the name putin for the French word, putain … enjoy !
Not necessarily. He is too lazy to campaign “his ass off” and thinks the office will be his because he’s entitled and because he did little to win in 2016.
Bone laziness is a pillar of Trump's character. Born to wealth, his life is one of a playboy and a crook, with the impunity that only the very wealthy enjoy. His sole métier is lying and cheating. He does not even tell clever lies; and yet the faithful repeat them as holy writ. Trump is willing to shamelessly claim that he is what his followers want him to be and they are willing to believe it. It's like a voluntary quasi-psychosis, but a very dangerous one for under it is a lust for absolute power.
A "front porch" campaign.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_porch_campaign
New media changes a lot. That said, Trump may think he does not have to win, just radicalize the base. One hopes that is not enough. He is trying to fool us twice. I noted how entitled and nonchalant the Jan 6th invades were, gifting the prosecution with selfies. The seemed to be sure that they would be win the day. They were wrong.
If he had it in the bag, he'd be a happy grinning thumbs-up guy. But he's grumpy, angry, more outrageous than usual, constantly whining. He doesn't think he's winning.
The big Plan B (don't certify the votes and intimidate Dem voters) is totally known to hordes of lawyers who are already on it.
Hes not out there because he's tired, he's old and his crowds are smaller than used to be. Bad Kamala took away his shiny toy.
All the lies in the world don't make him less lonely and glum.
This is the post I've been waiting for today, though I didn't even know it. Thank you, Susan!
I imagine his campaign is having their own difficulties trying to rein him in.
GLWT,BTW!
Only if Trump were actually smart. He is NOT.
They will have to declare the Constitution unconstitutional.
Not really JL. Read P25. They will work around it. These guys have been training and placing those trainees in key positions while the elected repubs chip away at the legal means to stop them. It is one reason they hate the IRS.
The SCOTUS immunity decision is just one step to making Project 2025 a reality. SCOTUS has already begun work on Project 2025 as you can tell from several of their decisions this last session and before (Dobbs).
In fact, their success is part of the reason the Project 2025 people feel so confident they can pull over much of their agenda.
This is truly frightening and ominous
That will be the next step by the “supreme” traitors!
I guess Biden will have to use his newfound immunity to refuse to step aside for T-ump and to arrest the Supreme Court for treason.
He'd HAVE to arrest the SCOTUS Six, otherwise they'd overrule his immunity actions because his name's not Trump.
Hard to make a ruling from The Greybar Hotel. They don't even have a typewriter.
As his comments underlined above. The king can do no wrong; just what the Revolution rejected. In the coverage I have seen about the Arlington National Cemetery perfidy, little has been said about the outrage of ignoring and literally pushing aside a representative of the monument; and that in the run-up to an election. It is a chilling foretaste of fanatical Republican's push to subdue rule of law, and the statutory philosophies supporting our society.
Check out the videos on YouTube about Arlington and read about Arlington in many posts on Substack. You're not going to get the truth about the backlash from any of the corporate media.
Not front and center anyway.
YouTube is always worth exploring, hunt for stuff on veterans for Harris etc, they rip him apart.
The COF (convicted orange felon) is good to go. I predict that when Kamala wins, he will appeal to the SCOTUS, whining that he lost, and they will simply rule that the election results are void because “they have clearly been tampered with” and hand the victory to Rump.
After "presidential immunity" I wouldn't put anything past them.
When I was in the Army, half a century ago, we liked to reply to an outrageous proposition by saying "Oh, yeah? You and whose Army?"
SCOTUS has no power to enforce their decrees. When they act in ways to lose the respect of the nation, they become like the Great Oz, who turns out to be a small man behind a curtain, or judicial robes, still trying to convince us they are truly big and powerful. They will get the respect they deserve for making shite up, like the idea of "Presidential Immunity". Our system has worked well for a long time, but our system depends on trust, and good faith. Can we trust 45? Absolutely not. Should we trust our Supreme Court? We should, but it has become very difficult to trust the wisdom and the intellect and the integrity of the current majority of the high court.
"Ik vertrouw die mensen zo ver als ik ze kan gooien", is what we say in the Netherlands: "I trust these people as far as I can throw them". I wouldn't put it past them to rule in their standard 6:3 majority that the election was fraudulent. And they don't need to see any proof, of course, because they will simply know it, and hey, 45 is a really smart guy because he says so himself, and he knows it, too!
David-Throughout history we’ve see the “real” Americans dismiss SC rulings they disagreed with always finding workarounds. Violence to prevent Black people from voting, poll taxes, literacy tests, segregation academies, filling summon pools with cement etc.
You’re so right they have no enforcement power-but presidents do especially since they are now “immune”.
I surely hope the Dems are prepared for what’s to come when SC decides DJT is the winner. Alito and Thomas are ready to intervene so they can retire.
We need to trust in the wisdom of division of powers and in judges not inserted by crooks. The system is sound but only when we apply it, or insure that it is applied, in good faith.
I’m starting to lose sleep over that idea. I think it’s very possible.
One fear to be believed.
They are setting it up for that for months!!!! We need to stop them
Exactly. What else was this "presidential immunity" thing for? Certainly not for granting Joe Biden complete freedom from responsibility.
But the trouble is, how _can_ they be stopped? I wouldn't know how, as they are the Supreme Court and can pretty much do as they wish, but then again, I'm not very well versed in the American legal system.
CFDT
Sorry to scare you like that! But I'm just trying to warn you guys: as you said, the SCOTUS did it before (with Bush vs Gore), and in my opinion, WILL do it again this time.
Trump will claim his overwhelming defeat as evidence of fraud. He has not—and never will—acknowledged the fact that he is a loser in many aspects of his life. He is a malevolent narcissist.
Exactly. He simply cannot lose. Ever.
Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad?
For my part, the gods are allowed to make Rump so mad that he will destroy himself. With luck, he might even self-destruct and explode.
I have had the same image.
This thread is truly terrifying! So many solid observations from all you really smart peeps! I take it to mean your concerns are all too real, and many iterations of the problems are things I did not even think possible! Sends a shiver down my spine.
““Whoever heard you get indicted for interfering with a presidential election where you have every right to do it,” he asked.“
This is nothing short of a tacit admission that he did consciously, intentionally interfere.
Glenn Kirshner recently pointed out how this admission can be used against Trump in the trial -- if there ever is one.
The conservatives on the Supreme Court might even appreciate the fact that he clearly and simply desctibed the desired result of his behavior without muddling the statement with allusions to motivation. Given the details in the immunity ruling (disallowing inquiry into motivation) It should be acceptable evidence as is.
The majority in Trump v. United States constructed a regime of presidential immunity with no constitutional basis. In doing so, the majority eviscerated the separation of powers. By judicial fiat, it raised the President above the law, crippling the capacity of Congress to act as a check on the President's exercise of power.
The immunity proclaimed by the majority did Trump a big favor in relation to his January 6th prosecution, However, it ought not protect Trump as a presidential candidate if he breaks the law in attempting to derail the 2024 election. Trump's statement about having the right to interfere in a presidential election suggests that he may not have registered this key point. He may believe that he continues to have some form of immunity which allows him to interfere without consequence in the election. Or he may believe that his judicial guardians on the Supreme Court will pull his chestnuts out of the fire once again.
Sadly, there are those in power that would enable this. Look at the silence of the repubs in regards to P25.
If there is a challenge in court to anything a president does which supposedly falls under “presidential immunity” the final decision will be made by the SCOTUS.
Biden could do whatever he wants but the SCOTUS will decide if what he did falls under “presidential immunity”. It’s circular. Basically they’re saying ‘You can’t go left unless you take a right hand turn first, but right hand turns are not allowed’. It’s a rigged game, rigged by the extremist right wing Christian Justices on the Supreme Court.
Tossing a coin: heads I win and tails you lose.
Exactly.
What does he mean “where you have every right to do it”?
Part of his narcissism? Whatever he believes is fact ergo sum.
He hopes that if he says it with enough indignation, that you will believe it.
Weird
Hoyt, a false god. The question I have is about what his followers will do if he is defeated and ultimately imprisoned. Will the scales fall from their eyes? We know about "deprogramming" former cult members. What is to be done when you have millions of members?
Narcissists have rights, Linda, you and I can never imagine.
You may have to consult "alternate facts" for an answer. Or just reject the question.
Headline: Trump Admits to Interfering with Election Results!
Holy moly, HCR. That is a scary post tonight!
As Joyce Vance said, we must vote in huge numbers!
You're not kidding. Definitely not sleep-inducing, but I am so grateful for these posts.
Vote early Brenda and encourage everyone you know to vote early!!
If they say you aren't registered -- do it immediately and in person if you can.
They need to feel intimidated by the disenfranchised.
I vote early because I am a poll worker at neighboring district.
We here know the grave danger facing the nation. But do enough Americans? I suspect a more aggressive attorney general and ethical media would have kept all this madness more at bay.
When you look at the maps at https://www.lgbtmap.org/democracy-maps/ratings_by_state
you will see those states where since Citizens United unleashed unlimited corporate money into politics, taking the vote away from "we the people" has become the modus operandi. TV ads mislead voters, billionaires, funneling unlimited money into politics and court cases (seeDonor Trust, Federalist Society and the like), the Judges elected in some states by enormous amounts of corporate money as well as the Attorney Generals. Our democracy has been systematically stripped by SCOTUS and corporate power. Only getting the people to say NO and vote will we ever get back to sanity
"Judges elected in some states by enormous amounts of corporate money as well as the Attorney Generals. Our democracy has been systematically stripped by SCOTUS and corporate power." If Lincoln had not been killed we would be living in a very different world. As history records, Reconstruction was a complete failure in the South, as they ignored the war's outcome and went on their merry way "Reconstructing" a NEW way to suppress the black populis, and made Jim Crow the law of the land. If the races would have been integrated, over time we would have come to see we were all on the same boat. Reconstruction was a failure because the South was reconstructed by all the same people who controlled it BEFORE the war. We didn't experience even the hope of equality until the '60's. So now the Democrats and Republicans have changed sides, but the game is still afoot. The rich oppress the poor. It's being played out right now in our elections. Why else would we be facing one half of the country enabling a reptilian like Trump. They are afraid of the rest of us. Especially the dark skinned Americans, First Nations, previously enslaved, and new arrivals alike. This election is so important now, to finally END the Civil War. If we can put this building coalition together and combine our talents and strengths, we can beat MAGA and heal the Soul of our Nation. We can do it. It will not be easy, but we know the obstructionists, they published a big book to remind us. This IS the battle of our national life. When we fight, We Win!
It will take many years of battle to purge the maga poison from the US. It is deeply imbedded, thanks to the media and the poor educational system.
Media has failed both itself and us nationally. Education is a regional problem.
Craig-You’ve clearly articulated the crux of the issues. Why are MAGA voters afraid of people with dark skin? It’s actually people with White skin who’ve perpetrated violence throughout history with massacres, lynchings, burning, tar/feathers, rape etc.
The fallacy of race and white privilege has been perpetrated and enforced by laws and customs over centuries. It’s clear evidence that lies and propaganda work. Racism is the scaffolding for our society.
This is indeed our chance to push back against the divide and conquer strategies that have been used to control the masses. We’ll soon see if there are enough people with white skin who will join with the Democratic coalition (which is not perfect either but surely better than MAGA).
Indeed, our nation has been "systematically stripped by SCOTUS and corporate power." There is a great article in Barron's on the money billionaires and millionaires are pouring into the campaigns of both parties. https://www.barrons.com/articles/trump-harris-election-campaign-billionaires-megadonors-6cf28b0c. It is time for the government to go after the oligarchs and monopolies much as T. Roosevelt went after the monopolies and trusts.
Reagan was the slick TV salesman to convince the public that government of, by and for the people was a total failure and that the wealthiest among us would lead us to the Promised Land. Bit that road just led to where it always does.
The most dangerous "nice guy" you could ever meet...
And there is a movie about him that fully makes him a saint.
I listened to Reagan and finally became a Democrat. The old Republican ideas of conservation of the land, and attending to the budget, that the money was doing what it was intended to do. They were ideals not necessarily reality by that time.
Reagan was bought and paid for- he looked and acted like Howdy-Duty! They pulled the strings and told him what to say.
This is DJT's playbook, but there are other players at work here. His dementia is too far advanced to put forth a coherent plan. But there are some powerful people who want him in the White House by any means necessary. Wait for the torrent of hate ads against Harris, defaming her in every way possible.
Earlier today Musk posted an AI graphic of Harris in a Communist commandant uniform, claiming m]she would be a "communist dictator" on her first day. Never mind that those are his words, minus the imaginary communism.
Nearly 60% of Trump's campaign ads are already attacks against Harris (compared to just 8% of Harris's ads attacking Trump).
Honestly, I am not certain he has dementia because he is as hateful, if not worse than he was in 2016.
Dementia can augment basic personality traits and at the same time remove inhibitions. We can expect COF to become explosively violent, debasing and outright lewd and insulting now.
He'll be like a bobcat backed into a corner.
Please don’t compare most Republicans in politics with any animal. They have fewer morals than a tarantula.
More like a demon rather than a respectable feline!
Is he not already lewd, hateful and insulting as well as encouraging violence.
Yes, but it will get worse. Much worse.
Just watch the Mark Levin/Trump interview on FOX the other day. Trump is looney toons.
Brazil has the right action regarding Musk rat.
‼️THIS ‼️
Did I miss something??
They just want a figure head. Once he is in, they will use Vance to run the show.
I don't think they need Vance. Trump can be talked into signing stuff put together by his much smarter crew. They're a cross of Nazi/KKK and Christian Nationalists bolstered with lots and lots of money from super wealthy American oligarchs.
They're kind of like a super wealthy island of fanatics who can exercise a lot of power over a useful fool like Trump.
Exactly so.
About that socialism bit:
It seems like it is the republicans who are trying to seize the means of production, at least as it pertains to babies...
Future working taxpayers for the wealthy. If Republicans cared about babies they'd talk about gun control. Everything is about keeping American oligarchs on the top of the food chain. Maybe the common man needs to buy pitch forks.
Good one!
I don't believe all rump supporters are eager to use violence, but enough may feel it's justified against "others" and not apply any rational brakes to a forming uprising. Our best bet is to turn out and vote at a 100% rate. I do hope the Feds are getting ready for potential localized outbreaks of voter suppression, though.
It seems a certainty that there will be voter suppression at a (cough) 'legal' level with new rules that have been put in place, but I believe there is a high chance of physical intimidation as a means of voter suppression. These extremists have had four years of training in ways to subvert the popular vote, but I have no doubt that at the end if it comes to getting physical, they will.
It wouldn't surprise me if they cut elders from the registrants, based on "too old to vote."
Then I'm to old to pay taxes!!
Voter suppression was definitely physical for Black people. An untold number of people have died, lost their livelihoods, churches and homes to prevent people from voting.
When voter registration drives were organized in the South in the 1960s less than 10% of Black people were voting because of laws, intimidation and violence. America must reckon with our past so we can move forward and not go back.
Jerry Helfand — so we need to be ready to get physical too.
Unfortunately yes JH.
If the message regarding having all the requisite credentials in order, i's dotted, t's crossed et cetera is made crystal clear to those who may feel that there is more time then the path to stealing this election will be made a little more complex for the maga's who at this point clearly intend to grab it no matter 'how'.
“This is the banality of evil right here—"
The destructive danger is in how he normalises the horror.
The first time I heard him say he would build a wall because Mexicans (from all the" Mexican" countries) were murderers and rapists, it was not normal, I could hardly believe he said it.
Now it's normal.
"Grab 'em by the pussy", "Fascists are acceptable (good on both sides)"... again and again he normalises an alternative reality.
Now.... violent revolution is ok.... we did it before.
The Overton window described perfectly.
Thank you, Dr. Richardson for once again bringing us to see just how frightening this move by the authoritarian promoting trump loving group has become. Yes, what I have read in Project 2025 is a roadmap to dictatorship at its fascist worse. Project 2025 is too long and too boring for most people to read. I've scanned the 920 or so pages and have read only about 400. That is enough to scare me.
Fay, It’s definitely not boring! It’s frightening that these inhumane wealthy white people have taken the time to conjure up this appalling and alarming manifesto. Their guide was no doubt Mein Kampf mixed in with the usual white supremacy garbage.
It's more detailed and therefor much more frightening than Mein Kampf, which I read in my 20's (I'm now 91 and haven' read it again)
Faye, there's Project 2025 summaries and also youtube below:
"The People's Guide to Project 2025"
https://democracyforward.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/2024-05_Peoples-Guide-Pro-2025.pdf
.
Project 2025 Co-Author Lays Out "Radical Agenda" for Next Trump Term in Undercover Video
https://youtu.be/UQjdwsZhE_Q?si=blvFoKuNb4F_ZzkJ
.
Project 2025: The Radical Conservative Plan to Reshape America Under Trump | WSJ
https://youtu.be/y16SZhZJHkI?si=L0GsE_EaLCUIvSFU
In retirement I mentor nonprofit organizations, mostly those that are charitable groups determined to be tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. I love doing this because the people I mentor seriously desire through their efforts to make the world a better place for us all. It enrages me that the Heritage Foundation, a "charitable" organization, is also tax exempt under section 501(c)(3). Funded by tax deductible donations from oligarchs, I am certain the foundation enriches its founders (e.g., Leonard Leo), board members and staff in violation of IRS prohibitions of such inurement. They sponsored the Republican National Convention that nominated COF, which seems to fly in the face of IRS regulations forbidding 501(c)(3)s to campaign for political candidates. And Project 2025 isn't at all charitable, it is unadulterated hatred. I plan, after additional research, to file a complaint against Heritage using IRS Form 13909 to see if we can get their tax exempt status taken away. Please join me. Thank you.
I certainly will Marcia. There are far to many "charitable" organizations that are obviously 'for profit' I don't know where the IRS 'head' is at but I believe they are too lax with the wealthy. For too many years the National Football League was a "charitable" organization under the myth of being a non-profit. I am am avid football but under no circumstances is it non-profit
It has been said, when trump tells you something, believe him. He is hoping to interfere in the election results. What will be done to curtail his shenanigans? Those of us who are truly patriots want a fair election. Republicans want to win at any cost. I fear for the future. These rabid dogs must be squashed, but how? My hope is that the Dems have a plan to thwart theirs.
Marc Elias of the Elias Law Group has joined forces with what appears to be 100 lawyers from the DNC. They are filing lawsuits everywhere against those red states planning on putting election deniers on their boards. Georgia is a prime example of 3 election deniers placing themselves in that capacity. They’ve been sued. If you are not familiar with Marc you can go to his website Democracy Docket. He also posts the latest filings on Threads or X, plus YouTube.
Marlene, As a paid subscriber who regularly receives Elias’s emails, I simply would add that Elias repeatedly urges subscribers to do everything possible within their local communities to counteract voter intimidation-suppression tactics both at the front end (when votes are cast) and at the back end (when they’re tabulated).
You can also take a look at Chop Wood Carry Water on Substack for very frequent news of mostly the good sort from every corner of this country, homing in particularly on legal and political matters as people win victories that we don't otherwise hear about, certainly not on MSM. Stick to Substack where you will find truth a lot and good discussions. I personally have not watched MSM on the tube for over 2 years and can claim a certain amount of relative sanity in these times. Hope that helps.
Robin Birdfeather, I too am a follower of Chop Wood, Carry Water. AND yesterday it was posted that in Michigan, election denier, Matthew DePerno has ended his bid for our State Supreme Court! Good News Indeed!
This Michigander says Thanks for the News!
The Orange Felon admitted interfering with elections. Jack Smith has another piece of evidence!
Yes, and I don’t understand why he isn’t arrested for admitting that. If anyone else said they had committed the crime of interference through violence the FBI would be on their doorstep today.
So which of his positions on abortion should we believe? He's flip flopped so often on abortion and so many other topics does anyone have any idea what he believes?
He doesn’t believe anything except he’s the only person that matters in the whole world. His “opinion” on anything else is just what he thinks will get him elected. I must say that there are many politicians who, while unable to compete with his narcissism, have some “opinions” derived the same way.
Comparison to rabid dogs insulting to rabid dogs.
Violence is never mainstream. It wasn’t in the Southern USA, nor in Nazi Germany. But it only takes a handful, like the few thousand who stormed the Capitol on Jan 6, to create havoc and fear.
I wonder how many police departments across the country are equipped and trained in riot control.
While it is comforting to know that over the course of history violence has not prevailed, it is still nerve wracking to live through these times (then—born and raised in Atlanta in the 1950s and ‘60s—and now). The bravery is miraculous.
Fortunately the National Guard will be under Biden's control this time.
I can speak for my local agencies in and around Eugene, OR. Eugene PD is well trained and equipped. They have several specialized units for different types of riot control. (To be frank, some of this stems from some of the campus "beer riots" that began 15 years ago or so; out of control off-campus drunken parties that morphed into street violence). Their SWAT team doubles in dignitary protection and riot control. They have established teams for Crisis Intervention and have a Rapid Deployment Unit, when the fairly stringent SWAT protocols are not met. Springfield PD (Springfield is about a third the size of Eugene) has a SWAT team, and has often sent officers to assist Eugene in some of their crowd control ops. The Sheriff's Office has a much smaller force (even as they cover a county which is geographically nearly as big as the state of Connecticut) but can be dispatched to render assistance as needed. The Oregon State Police can offer assistance, and does with major events. I am not as familiar with their training and details assigned.
Crowd control is an element of police response that is trained for, but isn't a big part of agency training.
Because American history has been “whitewashed” most Americans don’t know about the level and types of violence perpetrated over time. It’s horrific-not just physical violence but psychological, emotional and spiritual violence.
Well, Professor you might appreciate that I don't have much time comment on your post, but today is September 2, and I have too many commitments to fulfill...let's see...: 9AM to noon - Killing newborn babies at the Hospital..and 1PM to 5PM transformation of elementary and High School kids into sex of their choice. Oh lunch today is drinking blood and eating dead babies (get in ma Belly), I want my Baby Back, Baby Back....and then tonight let's not forget the election stealers' Ball at the Garage. Nope, I have a full Democrat day...I'll need a snack for Breaky though....🤯
LOL; thanks, Bruce. See you at the Ball!
See you there, and Good Morning, Lynell!
Of course...morning, Ally!
🤣
A fact from Liz Cheney’s book on Jan 6th insurrection and subsequent impeachment. She said that there were maybe a dozen republicans Senators who would have voted to convict, buy they feared for their families. It only takes a distributed collection of violent racists to terrorize a larger section of the population. The threatening is enough without actually becoming violent.
Cowards, who were willing to put other people's families at risk but not their own when they 'signed up for' begged for the opportunity to be elected and kiss Trump's Felonious Orange Ass! What utter COWARDS!
Just like J Kelley, M Pence and two others I saw pictured—the author thought they didn’t to speak out so as not to be taunted by their fellow conservatives, republican neighbors, tfg-supporting family member, etc., etc. Seems to me considering the prominent leadership positions they held, all they need to say is “I took an oath to the constitution.” Nothing more.
Wish Liz would be more public today! Where is she and Romney?
Still waiting for the DeSantis election police to arrest convicted felon Trump for recently voting illegally in Florida.
Me too. Except they don't target orange!
We need to prepare ourselves. The worst is yet to come up to and possibly after the election.
THESE are "the good old days."