CNN’s bombshell revelation of Trump loyalist lawyer John Eastman’s six-point memo of instructions for overturning the 2020 election—discussed in the new book by veteran journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa—seems to be sparking a reckoning with how dangerous the Trump loyalists are to the survival of American democracy.
Dr. R's continued focus on the GOP's voter suppression efforts and attempts to replace nonpartisan election officials is most appreciated. This area is where a new front has opened up in the battle to save voting rights. Just last night I received my assignment as a poll worker for the Nov. 2nd Virginia gubernatorial election. My 5th year of serving as an election officer, and I can't wait! My local elections office needs several hundred poll workers and had over 1,000 requesting to serve - that gives me hope
I've been on Gwynn's Island!! Growing up and sailing on the Bay, my family often went to the Fishing Bay Yacht Club on a weekend sail, passing Gwynn's Island on the way in. You've just set off a rabbit hole of memory. We stopped at Gwynn's Island to meet up with Gilbert Klingel, author of "The Bay" (c1951). I'm pretty sure my father already knew him (he had been sailing on the bay since the 1920s and seemed to know everyone); the purpose of the visit was to ask Klingel to inscribe my father's copy of "The Bay" to me, have it still.
Realizing that I knew little about him beyond this book, which is a wonderful account of his naturalist studies above & below the Chesapeake Bay, I looked him up on Wikipedia.
"Klingel wrote articles for National Geographic and The Baltimore Sun,[6] mainly on topics related to the Chesapeake Bay.
His article, "One Hundred Hours Beneath the Chesapeake," in the May 1955 issue of National Geographic featured color photos by Willard R. Culver (1898-1986) that were among the first taken from beneath a temperate estuary. These images were taken from inside a diving vessel invented by Klingel that was lowered into the waters off Gwynn's Island in the Chesapeake Bay."
Then, the article mentions Thomas Colvin, who my father also knew, and who built steel & aluminum-hull sailing vessels, as did Klingel. I knew of him as Tom Colvin and remember encountering him sailing on the bay in his steel Chinese Junk with red sails. Such fun to remember all of that. Thanks for the memories.
Indeed! They knew they were lying and lied anyway. That's called "actual malice" and as I learned in "Avoiding defamation for writers," actual malice wipes out all the other defenses to a defamation suit. The Three Stooges are staring down the barrel of a billion dollar lawsuit standing their in their legal "birthday suit." If you want to fuck up a Republican, take what they love the most - their money.
Not just in Washington, ergo the age old adage, power corrupts. My favorite book on this subject is by Eduardo Duran, Buddha in the Redface. I would love to learn if this was ever formally taught at institutions like West Point or the Ivy League. Obama gave voice to understanding it and spoke of taking steps to insulate against it, like getting out of the WH and spending time with the people who power the engine of our country instead of just those choosing the direction. Voters would do well to learn to discern between those who are committed to serving versus those who are committed to being served.
And yet... millions of dollars are being funneled into Secretary of State/Supervisor of elections races so as to overturn elections. Big money that was never spent like this before, to replace and physically threaten law-abiding people who uphold the legitimacy of fair elections. As for these new revelations, no matter how many facts come to light that reveal the truth about this blatant attempt to overturn the presidential election and the coup attempt to overthrow our government, there is an ever-growing number of Republicans who are doubling down on believing the Big Lie. That and the anti-vaccine movement insistent on “freedom of choice,” while vaccinated people are dying because they can’t get medical care that is now rationed... its all more than I can wrap my head around.
Oh, Dr. R, it is hard to believe that every morning I can be more appalled about Trump & his henchmen and their evil deeds than the morning before. Yet, it is so.
I agree….but must add that I am most appalled at people like McConnell, et al who have allowed and even supported this behavior. They are despicable human beings who have used us…all of us…as pawns for power, and left us divided, angry, sick/dying. Hatred is not a word I use, but it has crept into my heart for these people. We are watching, in real time, our country’s destruction by these evil people. It’s past time for justice!
Personally I thought her phrase "basket of deplorables” was perfect . . . the only beef I had was it should have been 100% of republicans belong in that bucket :)
She could have called them heroes. She was never going to get their votes. Ever. There's a teensy chance it could've been another story had she been a man.
Though I'm not suggesting that liberals go full sociopath, seeking affirmation or even acknowledgment from these people seems a waste of time at best. At worst, it's a kind of madness.
People (including me—I can’t resist a good put-down) keep forgetting the perfectly sound sense to be found in the Bible.
“It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.”
…Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles.”
But the most striking—and uncomfortable—thing of all is how our aspersions and insults may or may not tell something about those at whom they’re aimed but will invariably betray the unacceptable contents of our own mind. If you want to know what Trump, McConnell & Co. plan for Americans, you have only to look at what they accuse their opponents of. Cheating and the theft of election results tell nothing about actual practice but everything about GOP plans and actions.
Why not apply this principle when investigating the Q merchants? You know what to look for...
There is nothing in or about McConnell that has ever been worthy of note. He exists simply to enrich himself... His wife committed crimes as well. What a circus
C'mon! Ya gotta give the Donald some credit. When he sez his niece and the Times' reporters are part of some "insidious plot," he speaks from experience! His accusation comes from someone who has spent a lifetime carrying out "insidious plots" against anyone with whom he did business including the vote-hungry suckers in the Republican Party, the American people and most of all those who were, and are to this day, sufficiently ignorant or gullible, to support him in Congress, State Houses and at the ballot box. Don't laugh. Cry.
Yes, it takes one to tell one, but they usually won't admit to it. But that logic can be applied in both directions, not only to the former president, but to his critics as well, so words should be chosen carefully, which I try to do.
Exactly. Because people put so much meaning to words. It takes us out of the moment to think so much. Better to take positive action to advance the candidates and causes in which you believe.
Thank you is far too tepid Professor Richardson for your extraordinarily fine-tuned and astute reporting. It's more than a wakeup call to the infamy concocted by anti-democratic individuals in the Republican party, it is a clarion call to all those who love our country and its flawed form of government. We are a continual work-in-progress but these forces sought to stent and kill it. Again, your work is so, so appreciated by this citizen.
I think that sadly, we are already seeing that not only will he pay no price whatsoever, he may very (and will likely be) the next President. I'm certain that he's going to run again in 2024.
I'll be shocked if Donald is alive in 2024, but I was shocked that he became president and stayed president for a full term. I've kicked most of my family out of my life over his presidency. The orange god-king has revealed to me just how foolish a great swath of the species is. Him and the other little god-kings dotting the lands we inhabit.
Mitch is an evil man in his own right. He committed this Democrat-paralyzing behavior under Obama. Refusing to allow anything good to be accomplished by a Democrat.
Okay ... so I made a call. I know that they may not listen to phone calls nor read emails, but they do count them. They only pay attention to the numbers, however, if the margin of victory which put them into office were a narrow one. The real answer is strict legislation limiting campaign financing, eliminating so-called "Dark Money." (See Jane Mayer's book with that title.) Ideally, making more than token minimal donations to any candidate or PAC financially supporting candidates should be a felony. All campaigning should be equitably financed by taxpayers through the government.
And end the filibuster. There is nothing sacred about it. You can contact any senator or rep through that number when you get the switchboard. Is there a Republican with a brain or any sense of decency???????
"Time to light up the switchboard to the Senate." I laugh and laugh hard. My senators are Blackburn and Hagerty. You think those wingers are going to do the right thing? I must rely on swing staters.
Braun - a special kind of Rethuglican. Hate him with a passion. If you are going to be a wingnut - act like a wingnut at all times, like the witch Marsha Blackburn. Now there's a wingnut's wingnut. He's is the "intellectual wingnut". The most dangerous kind IMO.
Perhaps not "foolish," but unwittingly subject to the propaganda campaign that has been waged for the last 40 years by the movement conservatives... the most sophisticated, the most successful campaign in history. The more successful the propaganda, the less aware are its victims.
I told my 19 y/o grandson that these politicians are old and won’t live forever. But there are younger ones waiting to step in and I am hopeful none of them will be able to control 50 Senators like McConnell does and the Trump cult won’t just follow the next guy because cults sometimes falter when their leaders die. That being said, the Moonies are still out there and probably worse than they were.
I am trying to give him hope because he’s having a tough time feeling like college will improve his actual life. He has a what’s the point attitude. I told him the point is he needs to focus on himself and what he wants, to work towards his goals and not let the awful people make choices for him. This was easier 25 years ago when my daughter was ready for college.
Oh the constitution doesn't prevent, even if indicted. The R's, like always, will assess what the best path forward is to get power in the White House. If they believe it is the orange dumpster fire, then they are going to do it. Country be damned. Failed state? Well, I'd say failed society, or a strong part of it.
I think he will try to run again, but I think his body and mind will continue to deteriorate to the point of such visible humiliation that it will turn out to be a scramble for all his 'wannabes' to hop into the clown car and the fiasco will fall flat. Wishful thinking I guess.
Cynthia, I hope you are right about Trump but I am certain you are right about the wannabes....we have one here in FL, the current actor playing the role of the Gov. Of FL. The problem with the wannabes is that they will be smarter, more adept at running the machinery of governing and exponentially more dangerous than even TFG!!!
If Trump runs again, he will be like the Charlton Heston character in the movie "El Cid," dead but strapped upright on a horse to look as his he's leading his troops into battle. But unlike in the film, Trump will be severely mentally and physically depleted and unable to inspire victory.
Can’t run if he’s in prison, exiled or dead. It’s not going happen! But don’t worry, there are many other power grabbing minions who will scramble to take his place! We simply Must Vote Blue!!!
Gayle, I agree with your Vote Blue!!!, up and especially down the ticket for local offices. However, there is no constitutional bar to running for federal offices by incarcerated persons. The most famous example is Eugene Debs, who in 1920 ran (for the fourth time) while in prison for sedition. He got over 900k votes. Clearly there would be new, real problems if an incarcerated person actually won. A short, readable summary is at:
Voting rights--other than Constitutional protections for gender, race, and age--are set by individual states. The result is a hodgepodge of specifications for current or former felons. For a summary see:
But the requirements for holding federal elective offices (in the Constitution) are minimal: age, citizenship and residency. There may be restrictions on current or former felons in some states for state or local offices, but I am not familiar with that issue. Perhaps someone else can comment.
I keep thinking about A Man Without a Country by Edward Everett Hale, which we read way back when in high school. He was stripped of citizenship for treason and sentenced to life cruising up and down the East Coast on a ship (frigate?) It’s a nice mental picture.
"Trump Organization Trial Is Scheduled for Next Summer, Judge Says
A Manhattan judge set a trial schedule for Allen Weisselberg and the Trump Organization on Monday that could coincide with the run-up to the 2022 midterm elections."
"Mr. Vance, a Democrat, did not run for re-election and was not present in the courtroom on Monday...Mr. Bragg, a Democrat and *former federal prosecutor*, is favored".
Trump should never have gone up against Gov. Cuomo and AG Letitia James. Now they got him IN THEIR COURT.
The implications of Republican extremism, authoritarianism and mob boss rule in the manner that Trump and his cronies execute it, is also threatening to America's capitalism. Our corporations may not like regulations, but our democracy results in more predictable, reviewable and appealable regulations. Trump's impulsive edicts, friend vs enemy, fixer vs persecutor, oligarch vs business people all add up to economic chaos. His tariffs are one example. Winners and losers with subsidies to those he could not afford to hurt by tariffs. Russia is the Trump model for America.
American businesses are fool hardy to think they can do better in that environment.
They want to play both sides of the fence as long as possible. But they're playing with fire. If this out-of-control train derails, there's no going back.
Also, the revelations are piling up at a dizzying pace. Even us news junkies have trouble tracking and digesting everything, although the professor makes it easier. Many Americans are clueless. And much of the media isn't helping, in part because there's no precedent.
We now have a paper trail of Trump and his traitors' attempt at a coup. Why isn't this treated as a story of epic, historical proportions dominating the news?
Tragic story. And had she not been white and gorgeous, it would not be everywhere. Had she been a young Black woman we wouldn’t know a thing about her.
Michael, I thought of you yesterday and happy to see you with us today. Can you reply with a nod indicating that the deed was done and you go forward with your usual good spirit. Thank you. Cheers!
Thanks very much for thinking of me. I'm nodding now, subtly because of a brace that will be my constant companion for six weeks. I posted an update on one of your earlier posts. I didn't mention that I'm elated at getting through it without complications. I was in good hands and told the doctors and nurses how confident I was in them before they put me under.
"Hi Fern. Totally unrelated to the political news, but I promised to update you about my neck surgery, which was yesterday. It was successful, though longer than expected at three hours. It's amazing that I can sit at my computer today and still prattle on.*"
One example why is my brother who is ashamed to admit he fell for the false tRump bid. He’s finally nice to me again, but we still only post puppies and kittens. Talk about a wounded ego!
Easy. As long as the Republicans are keeping corporate taxes abysmally low, they're making money hand over fist, and they're gonna keep that "goose laying the golden eggs" as long as they possibly can. They don't care about ethics. It's profits over everything else, even the future of the country. Unbridled capitalism ALWAYS has its downside, and we're witnessing it up close and personal. Get used to it.
The “crime family” is too geographically small as a metaphor. Think Putin and the Russian oligarchy he operates and one gets a clearer picture of the impact on us and the possibilities in that model.
Yes, but that's just mob boss rule writ larger than ever. Russians have to live with it, Americans came as near as dammit to enjoying the same fate and still aren’t safe.
When questioned about Khodorkovsky, whom he'd had jailed for wandering across the demarcation line that surrounds his exclusive territory—politics—Putin compared his victim to Al Capone, and the tax evasion rap to how the FBI had trapped the boss of the Chicago Outfit.
Yes, but as I noted at the time, Al Capone never made it to President of the United States...
Who could foresee that a lesser don would emulate the performance of the Leningrad backyard tough who came to rule the Kremlin?
Scariest quote in "Peril" is on the back cover, from Parscale: "He had an army. An army for Trump. He wants that back. I don't think he sees it as a comeback. He sees it as vengeance."
Vengeance has been his operating fuel since he was six years old and hit a teacher who had corrected him in class.
He doesn't need to be arrested, tried and convicted. He needs to die. Keep praying for the Karma of the Hamberders. A massive fatal myocardial infarction, mid-rant in front of the true believers at the next hatealong.
My husband who has Lewy Body Dementia looked at me the day after the vile thing got elected and said jokingly "you know I can't be held liable for my actions, want me to take him out?"
I said thanks, but I don't want you to spend the rest of your life in a padded room.
He offered again last week, saying that the tremors are getting worse, so his aim isnt as good as it was and this was probably my last chance.
Your husband sounds like a man we can't afford to lose, Beth. I'd like to encourage you to say YES! but I fear an asassination would only cause his followers to deify him further.
TC dying can be hard, but, death is painless. I’d much rather see him in a Supermax prison, stripped of all sycophants, with nothing but himself for company. That would be justice.
Oh! That would be delicious! But couldn't there be a little more exposure of his heart on display for all his followers to feel some acknowledgment and shame? You're the writer! Create the story that would be the perfect ending!
Certainly Dr. Richardson could be portrayed as the super hero! The power of the pen vs. the power of evil!
Every day presents more evidence of corruption, sedition, criminal activity by trump and his minions. Every day we wring our hands, voice our concern/disbelief, and collectively nod our heads that all of this is putting us into a clear and present danger and places us at the brink of losing our democracy (along with our sanity!) And, yet we do not see the words indictment, trial, conviction, or jail next to any of the names of the perps and as a result they are "free to roam the country" and hold the government hostage. IMO Mitch McConnell and his cronies are pure evil. I simply cannot get my head around the fact there has been such a lack of accountability. The justice department needs to take the gloves off and start making the cases in real and current time.
And, as if all that isn't enough . . . wartime medical triage is on its way to your neighborhood because self centered idiots who decided they didn't want to get the vaccine are consuming limited medical resources. Medical personnel at every level are overwhelmed, burned out, and leaving the profession which further compounds the problem. And, so much of this disaster could have been mitigated after vaccines became available. It's just gobsmack disgusting and frustrating as hell.
"Alaska and Idaho have activated statewide 'crisis standards of care,' in which health systems can prioritize patients for scarce resources — based largely on their likelihood of survival — and even deny treatment." CNN and other news stations
"The largest hospital system in Central Massachusetts, UMass Memorial Health, ran out of intensive care beds Wednesday as critically ill patients with deferred chronic health problems and those stricken with COVID-19 overwhelm health care providers". Boston Globe
As I have previously posted here it is past time for the media to emphasize that the problems of our overwhelmed healthcare systems are not a shortage of hospital beds or staff but too many patients. We have the tools to solve this, vaccine and mask mandates where appropriate, and compliance with public health guidelines. The irresponsibility of the unvaccinated should no longer be tolerated by responsible members of society.
It’s comparable to the country (perhaps saying “some states” would be more accurate?) being a dysfunctional family and the adults are incapable of creating a healthy environment where the family can thrive instead of die.
I am beginning to doubt that we have a viable DOJ. I am horrified that trump is allowed to skulk around freely, go back to holding his poisonous rallies after committing treason against his own country!!!
I wish someone could come up with a reasonable explanation of what in God’s name is taking so long to hold trump and his people accountable.
And then we have the lack of progress by the democrats on voting rights legislation, the infrastructure bill and the filibuster. Now the republicans are refusing to raise the debt ceiling? I can’t watch the news anymore.
I know that it is difficult to have patience. Prosecutors have much to sift through as they build their case and they start at the bottom and work their way to the top. They also like to have the best case possible. Mafia don and corrupt minions left a enormous mess to clean up. Meanwhile the other problems continue to blight the landscape as well. Also I would like to thank everyone here who responded by subscribing and donating to various Native American sites.
I remember, but things were going on then that are not going on now. Billy Bob Barr and Rosenstein are not running the DOJ. Prosecutors like to have the best case possible and they often work bottom to top. And it isn't just the DOJ in the case of mafia don, but other entities as well.
The cases against the insurrectionists seem to be moving along pretty quickly - at least to what I was imagining the pace would be. As more and more of the cancer called Trump and his minions is exposed, I have more hope that there will be accountability. I also hope that all this will wake up voters from the cult trance.
Some of them got off too easily in my opinion. But the investigation is slowly headed to the top. Also just saw that the Jan 6th committee has issued some subpoenas....I think Meadows and Bannon. I doubt the cult will ever wake up. Among these people, facts do not matter and they are absolutely hostile when someone actually presents them with sites that are not far right wing nut sites. I used to teach expository writing with emphasis on critical thinking and ascertaining bias of sources. One person told me to dig deeper because I refused to accept something she posted from one such site. No hope for true believers.
I agree with you, Elizabeth. But we must remember that lawyers must know the answers to every question before they ask witnesses. I'm sure the DOJ has many questions they need to ask and have not yet learned those answers. Unfortunately, it often takes a very long time to learn them.
Proof of racketeering takes time, is difficult to prove, but not impossible when you think of the players all connected through the Trump org. Just very irksome that those seemingly clearly associated with Jan 6 are still in positions of power and decision making while under investigation. 😡
I agree that it is hard to watch the news anymore. Why is it taking so long? When I think about it I think I know. DOJ is moving slowly because if they misstep, powerful people will shut them down in a hurry. A person on extended supervision who runs a stop sign is in custody faster. Nevermind that society is not really harmed. Their life as they know it can come to a standstill and everything taken from them in the blink of an eye. If you cause harm but are a person with $ or power you can live to old age in the comfort of your own home before you serve a day in jail (if ever). Let's face it, all the checks in our system to take stock and slow things down in the name of justice are set up to protect property and capital. People without power are a nuisance to be dealt with as quickly as possible. The DOJ does not have a different or purer outlook; the policies and procedures of the DOJ work to preserve what is valued in our country.
Here’s maybe a consoling thought: give a man enough rope and he’ll hang himself. tRump can do no right. When the Feds get him, his game will be completely over. This isnt pre-WWII Germany
Mr Garland was the president’s choice, and it is also the president’s profoundly mistaken belief that holding the former president accountable would look tacky and be ‘divisive.’
And the war is still being fought nie on 150 years later! Having the freedom to vote....if the state systems so permit it and indeed do thereafter count it doesn't quite hack it. The Emancipation Proclamation was Federal and is in the Constitution. Civic rights must remain federal; a primary unifying element for the whole Union.
I drove through New Hampshire yesterday, the first red and orange autumn leaves are waving...bye-bye...just like those infiltrated in our government should be doing.
Stuart On the Left Bank I found them less fattening when taken with steaming expresso and a jot of cognac. Of course that was in 1953 and things may have changed.
Mi dispiace molto, ma..... but NIE [nee]= never in German, What you wanted is NIGH (rhymes w/ sigh), an olde english form of near or nearly . And absolutely, to what you wrote.
"It is impossible to overstate just how momentous are both an attempted coup and an attempt to force the U.S. to default on its debts." - HCR LFAA 9/22/2021
This single sentence is why I cannot feel confident about our future as a democracy. When Dr. Richardson, with all her historical perspective, expresses such troubling thoughts about what has (and is) happening to our country, it should be a sign to all of us that the time for serious action is past due.
I’m so deeply grateful for these letters. It would be otherwise impossible for me to be this informed about what’s going on and able to be efficiently active. Knowledge (and truth) are power (I hope).
Fear is a God (actually evolutionary driven) given emotion for the purpose of survival. Either we freeze or we get busy saving our asses. Without it we would likely all perish. ❤️🙏
As evidence to support allegations of insurrection, attempted coup, tax fraud, election tampering mount, I have to wonder if McConnell will crash the economy via the debt ceiling, put the USA in chaos; rendering the prosecution of Trump moot
Thank you so much, Professor Richardson. This is enlightening stuff. Meanwhile, I wonder why nobody talks about the spending on the military-industrial complex. While Manchin and others yowl about spending, the Pentagon never passes an audit. Half of our tax dollars go to support the military. It's absurd, according to Lt. Col. Lawrence Wilkerson: https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2021/09/20/the-members-of-congress-who-want-to-rethink-the-pentagons-budget
$7.5 trillion spending over 10 years and no one bats an eyelash at that huge figure when Congress votes with overwhelming approval in both the House and the Senate. Finally, there are members of Congress who are paying attention to the increased spending and failed audits and are speaking up.
U.S. Representatives Mark Pocan (WI-02) and Barbara Lee (CA-13), both co-founders and Co-Chairs of the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus and members of the House Appropriations Committee, sent a letter to House Armed Services Committee Chair Adam Smith on August 30 urging him and the committee to not pass a National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22 NDAA) that is larger than the level requested by President Biden earlier this year.
There are no limits to what this criminal lunatic will do to avoid the consequences of his actions.
This, we have already seen.
In his brinkmanship on the edge of legality he has always taken care to create diversions and smokescreens, and to implicate others. Now the signs are that he has run out of tricks.
McConnell and cronies are out to save their party and preserve its purpose, namely to reverse the outcome of the Civil War and most American history since the adoption of the Constitution… They are playing for very high stakes but they are out to defend themselves, not the former President.
Fast approaching the most dangerous reefs now, when DT will try to ignite a new Civil War and many of those who used him as their human battering ram will peel away from him at the last possible moment.
Almost there!—some conspirators are coming out into the open—look at what just appeared on my computer screen:
Good one! 😂🤣 like a snake 🤣😂 I keep thinking about that TV series called “V” from years ago. Alien Reptilians posing as humans. If I were into conspiracy theories…..😳
I was thinking more like crocodiles, crying their fake tears when needed to garner sympathy from their insipid followers. Only because I hate to malign snakes who keep the rodents down in my garden....
I was thinking of Trump’s repeatedly told snake story ending with “you knew I was a snake before you took me in” but I appreciate your fondness for garden snakes
The above link features Sen Lindsey Graham’s charge, “If Republicans don’t challenge and change the U.S. election system, there will never be another Republican president elected again,” Graham said on Fox News on the Sunday following the 2020 election. Enter, stage right, John Eastman, the Federalist Society, Claremont Institute, and the Freedom Caucus as the core of the conservative movement.
THIS attempt to subvert Democracy is at the heart and soul of the conservative movement today. The INTENTION is to subvert the rule of the federal government order to allow states’ rights to legislate dominion (control) over this country. The two most prevalent examples of the insidiousness of states’ rights is the absolute dereliction of the trump regime to intervene against Covid-19, and the total disregard for federal action regarding the climate catastrophe we face. States were floundering with unnecessary deaths because of the lack of federal action toward protective measures and the creation of masks and other items. Mainline conservatives now will NOT intervene against the corporate capitalist market in order to save the planet. A third strike against states rights is their focus on local, willy-nilly control of elections, where every state maintains its insidious threats to peoples’ right to vote.
Strikes against states rights:
1) inability to combat the global threats to health, and inability to protect citizens;
2) inability to combat global threats to the earth and catastrophic disasters, and inability to provide protection for citizens and infrastructure;
3) local control of voting, with inability to assure equal access to democracy
The Biden economy (Democracy Capitalism, in my words) intervenes at the only level possible, the federal level, in order to preserve our national and planetary ecosystem - which is directly tied to our health, economy and communities. A local example for me: a neighborhood east of me, along Rte 1, where the Frances Perkins Museum is located, Damariscotta, Maine, is meeting next week to address the grave threats posed at their waterfront, of rising tides and flooding the major commercial street of the entire village. We must have federal action - but this is antithetical to conservatives’ rabid individualism and their abject hostility to federal action.
What was “far right” has become mainstream conservatism and mainstream Republican. Therefore, I believe all elephants must be set free as the symbol of the GOP, and released of the noose around their necks -- so I move to institute the COAT HANGER as the icon of the conservative movement and the Republican Party. They can hang their WHITE SHEETS on the hanger.
Your use of the coat hanger analogy really strikes a nerve for most of us women as well. Y'all can hang sheets on that hanger as you make us resort to a coat hanger in order to obtain a constitutionally guaranteed right to body autonomy.
"so I move to institute the COAT HANGER as the icon of the conservative movement and the Republican Party. They can hang their WHITE SHEETS on the hanger."
Yesterday I spoke on the phone with a young sobbing patient who had just found out the fetus she is carrying tested positive for a serious genetic disorder that children rarely live with past the age of 30 and while alive require frequent medical intervention. If exposed to Covid-19 such an infant certainly would not survive long. The patient and her partner had made the very painful decision to terminate the pregnancy and she was essentially getting the run around about where and how to do so. She is nowhere near the stage of viability but she is far enough along that she was able to have the testing, more than 6 weeks. Eventually she will get the help she needs but it's not well coordinated here in our state and it's not going to get any better. If she were in TX, she would be forced to have this baby she isn't prepared mentally or emotionally to care for or make complicated arrangements to leave the state if she could afford it in order to terminate. This is all pure torture for women and completely uncalled for. It seems to me to be a human rights issue.
I AGREE that this is an issue of women’s freedom and liberty. Pure and simple; it is an issue of health and safety for every woman. It is not about the fetus.
Dr. R's continued focus on the GOP's voter suppression efforts and attempts to replace nonpartisan election officials is most appreciated. This area is where a new front has opened up in the battle to save voting rights. Just last night I received my assignment as a poll worker for the Nov. 2nd Virginia gubernatorial election. My 5th year of serving as an election officer, and I can't wait! My local elections office needs several hundred poll workers and had over 1,000 requesting to serve - that gives me hope
ClairBlue, I’m postcarding for you all in VA💙!
That's wonderful, AshleyR! Thank you so much
Where are you located in VA ClairBlue?
In Northern Virginia - you, too?
I’m in Mathews County on Gwynn’s Island…Mathews is rural red trump country 😵💫 but more and more of us BLUE FOLK are retiring here!
I've been on Gwynn's Island!! Growing up and sailing on the Bay, my family often went to the Fishing Bay Yacht Club on a weekend sail, passing Gwynn's Island on the way in. You've just set off a rabbit hole of memory. We stopped at Gwynn's Island to meet up with Gilbert Klingel, author of "The Bay" (c1951). I'm pretty sure my father already knew him (he had been sailing on the bay since the 1920s and seemed to know everyone); the purpose of the visit was to ask Klingel to inscribe my father's copy of "The Bay" to me, have it still.
Realizing that I knew little about him beyond this book, which is a wonderful account of his naturalist studies above & below the Chesapeake Bay, I looked him up on Wikipedia.
"Klingel wrote articles for National Geographic and The Baltimore Sun,[6] mainly on topics related to the Chesapeake Bay.
His article, "One Hundred Hours Beneath the Chesapeake," in the May 1955 issue of National Geographic featured color photos by Willard R. Culver (1898-1986) that were among the first taken from beneath a temperate estuary. These images were taken from inside a diving vessel invented by Klingel that was lowered into the waters off Gwynn's Island in the Chesapeake Bay."
Then, the article mentions Thomas Colvin, who my father also knew, and who built steel & aluminum-hull sailing vessels, as did Klingel. I knew of him as Tom Colvin and remember encountering him sailing on the bay in his steel Chinese Junk with red sails. Such fun to remember all of that. Thanks for the memories.
Ha ha - we'll win them over yet!
This memo will not help their case.
Indeed! They knew they were lying and lied anyway. That's called "actual malice" and as I learned in "Avoiding defamation for writers," actual malice wipes out all the other defenses to a defamation suit. The Three Stooges are staring down the barrel of a billion dollar lawsuit standing their in their legal "birthday suit." If you want to fuck up a Republican, take what they love the most - their money.
And power
Power is the thing. A friend's father was once a governor and a vice president. He said that in Washington, POWER is the aphrodisiac.
Not just in Washington, ergo the age old adage, power corrupts. My favorite book on this subject is by Eduardo Duran, Buddha in the Redface. I would love to learn if this was ever formally taught at institutions like West Point or the Ivy League. Obama gave voice to understanding it and spoke of taking steps to insulate against it, like getting out of the WH and spending time with the people who power the engine of our country instead of just those choosing the direction. Voters would do well to learn to discern between those who are committed to serving versus those who are committed to being served.
In today’s US, there is no power without wealth.
…and that of all their descendants and relatives for 9 degrees.!
At least!
And yet... millions of dollars are being funneled into Secretary of State/Supervisor of elections races so as to overturn elections. Big money that was never spent like this before, to replace and physically threaten law-abiding people who uphold the legitimacy of fair elections. As for these new revelations, no matter how many facts come to light that reveal the truth about this blatant attempt to overturn the presidential election and the coup attempt to overthrow our government, there is an ever-growing number of Republicans who are doubling down on believing the Big Lie. That and the anti-vaccine movement insistent on “freedom of choice,” while vaccinated people are dying because they can’t get medical care that is now rationed... its all more than I can wrap my head around.
Now THAT is scary. KKK tactics
Pamsy, I can't wrap my head around it either.
Oh, Dr. R, it is hard to believe that every morning I can be more appalled about Trump & his henchmen and their evil deeds than the morning before. Yet, it is so.
I agree….but must add that I am most appalled at people like McConnell, et al who have allowed and even supported this behavior. They are despicable human beings who have used us…all of us…as pawns for power, and left us divided, angry, sick/dying. Hatred is not a word I use, but it has crept into my heart for these people. We are watching, in real time, our country’s destruction by these evil people. It’s past time for justice!
Hillary's term "deplorables" comes to mind more and more these days.
Let's replace "deplorables" with "despicables."
It's fine whatever term one wants to use, but evil is also a most appropriate word.
I agree!
And detestables.
Both.
Personally I thought her phrase "basket of deplorables” was perfect . . . the only beef I had was it should have been 100% of republicans belong in that bucket :)
Clinton eventually acknowledged that her name calling diminished her election chances by causing the ‘deplorables’ to vote in mass.
Leave the name calling to Trump and Company .
She could have called them heroes. She was never going to get their votes. Ever. There's a teensy chance it could've been another story had she been a man.
Though I'm not suggesting that liberals go full sociopath, seeking affirmation or even acknowledgment from these people seems a waste of time at best. At worst, it's a kind of madness.
People (including me—I can’t resist a good put-down) keep forgetting the perfectly sound sense to be found in the Bible.
“It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.”
…Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles.”
But the most striking—and uncomfortable—thing of all is how our aspersions and insults may or may not tell something about those at whom they’re aimed but will invariably betray the unacceptable contents of our own mind. If you want to know what Trump, McConnell & Co. plan for Americans, you have only to look at what they accuse their opponents of. Cheating and the theft of election results tell nothing about actual practice but everything about GOP plans and actions.
Why not apply this principle when investigating the Q merchants? You know what to look for...
Projection.
Well we owe a lot to Republican election officials in states where Voldemort tried to undermine or overturn democracy in 2020.
But now they seem to be tucking in their tails and running back to the fold.
She wasn't wrong!
There is nothing in or about McConnell that has ever been worthy of note. He exists simply to enrich himself... His wife committed crimes as well. What a circus
Every time I see his ugly face, I start to feel nauseous.
Moscow Mitch seems apt!
C'mon! Ya gotta give the Donald some credit. When he sez his niece and the Times' reporters are part of some "insidious plot," he speaks from experience! His accusation comes from someone who has spent a lifetime carrying out "insidious plots" against anyone with whom he did business including the vote-hungry suckers in the Republican Party, the American people and most of all those who were, and are to this day, sufficiently ignorant or gullible, to support him in Congress, State Houses and at the ballot box. Don't laugh. Cry.
What people say about others, they are talking about themselves. No?
Yes, it takes one to tell one, but they usually won't admit to it. But that logic can be applied in both directions, not only to the former president, but to his critics as well, so words should be chosen carefully, which I try to do.
Yes, words matter and thoughts become things!
Exactly. Because people put so much meaning to words. It takes us out of the moment to think so much. Better to take positive action to advance the candidates and causes in which you believe.
What amazes me (maybe I should say "sickens me,") is the vitriol that keeps spewing from the minions. How did they get that way? For what ends?
It started 4 generations ago. (Only because I am having difficulty tracing back further, so probably more.).
The Trump Saga continues...
Thank you is far too tepid Professor Richardson for your extraordinarily fine-tuned and astute reporting. It's more than a wakeup call to the infamy concocted by anti-democratic individuals in the Republican party, it is a clarion call to all those who love our country and its flawed form of government. We are a continual work-in-progress but these forces sought to stent and kill it. Again, your work is so, so appreciated by this citizen.
Yes, indeed. The facts. Clearly presented. Their relevance succinctly explained. These letters are a treasure.
I second that emotion.
If Trump does not pay a price for his evil America is a failed state.
I think that sadly, we are already seeing that not only will he pay no price whatsoever, he may very (and will likely be) the next President. I'm certain that he's going to run again in 2024.
I'll be shocked if Donald is alive in 2024, but I was shocked that he became president and stayed president for a full term. I've kicked most of my family out of my life over his presidency. The orange god-king has revealed to me just how foolish a great swath of the species is. Him and the other little god-kings dotting the lands we inhabit.
Treason. Sedition. McConnell tolerates it. Moscow Mitch could do something.
Time to light up the switchboard to the Senate. Gotta get voting rights passed or we are screwed.
202-224-3121. Tell them you support Freedom to Vote snd John Lewis Voting Rights acts.
Trump would not have been possible without the support of Mitch McConnell.
Yes, I almost think he's the bigger villain!
He is.
Mitch is an evil man in his own right. He committed this Democrat-paralyzing behavior under Obama. Refusing to allow anything good to be accomplished by a Democrat.
That's absolutely true.
Okay ... so I made a call. I know that they may not listen to phone calls nor read emails, but they do count them. They only pay attention to the numbers, however, if the margin of victory which put them into office were a narrow one. The real answer is strict legislation limiting campaign financing, eliminating so-called "Dark Money." (See Jane Mayer's book with that title.) Ideally, making more than token minimal donations to any candidate or PAC financially supporting candidates should be a felony. All campaigning should be equitably financed by taxpayers through the government.
You are spot on, Jack. Thanks!
And end the filibuster. There is nothing sacred about it. You can contact any senator or rep through that number when you get the switchboard. Is there a Republican with a brain or any sense of decency???????
Senator Murkowski. Senator Cheney.
Yes, why is Senator Cheney voting strictly down Republican lines? I thought she was for democracy?
Liz Cheney is a representative, not a senator
"Time to light up the switchboard to the Senate." I laugh and laugh hard. My senators are Blackburn and Hagerty. You think those wingers are going to do the right thing? I must rely on swing staters.
Yup. In Indiana also. Young and Braun.
Braun - a special kind of Rethuglican. Hate him with a passion. If you are going to be a wingnut - act like a wingnut at all times, like the witch Marsha Blackburn. Now there's a wingnut's wingnut. He's is the "intellectual wingnut". The most dangerous kind IMO.
Exactly! I can't tell if Young & Braun are trump wannabes or trump lapdogs. Either way, they are firmly RFP (Rethuglican Fascist Party) members.
Right here with ya, neighbor. Grrr!
Perhaps not "foolish," but unwittingly subject to the propaganda campaign that has been waged for the last 40 years by the movement conservatives... the most sophisticated, the most successful campaign in history. The more successful the propaganda, the less aware are its victims.
And their pockets are deep.
💯times 10!
I told my 19 y/o grandson that these politicians are old and won’t live forever. But there are younger ones waiting to step in and I am hopeful none of them will be able to control 50 Senators like McConnell does and the Trump cult won’t just follow the next guy because cults sometimes falter when their leaders die. That being said, the Moonies are still out there and probably worse than they were.
I am trying to give him hope because he’s having a tough time feeling like college will improve his actual life. He has a what’s the point attitude. I told him the point is he needs to focus on himself and what he wants, to work towards his goals and not let the awful people make choices for him. This was easier 25 years ago when my daughter was ready for college.
According to Woodward, he will run in 2024 as vengeance towards Biden. I used to think he would not run but would support someone else.
I hold on to the “pie in the sky” belief that many of his one time voters won’t stomach him again. 🙏🏻
Or will be 6 feet under.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Zk8V19iG-Q
!!!!!
What about Pence? I read something yesterday that indicated he was seriously considering. I know, in the deplorable basket, too.
His dementia should be full blown by then. Although, in saying so I realize it may not impede his electoral chances.
If Democrats cannot bar him from running again we are a failed state.
Oh the constitution doesn't prevent, even if indicted. The R's, like always, will assess what the best path forward is to get power in the White House. If they believe it is the orange dumpster fire, then they are going to do it. Country be damned. Failed state? Well, I'd say failed society, or a strong part of it.
"Failed state? Well, I'd say failed society, or a strong part of it."
Is a failed state different from a failed society?
Yes, the Constitution has a couple of ways of preventing rule by a demented executive.
Or will not.
Terrifying
And Cut, Run, Surrender and spend is any better? He cannot even answer a question. Beyond pathetic. Sad.
Beyond pathetic is anyone who would attempt to defend Trump whether by distraction or decree.
A bit absolutist but a tough one to cozy up to....
Indeed - lol.
I think the GOP would prop him up and take him around like the movie "What about Bob" if he didn't make it to 2024. 🤣
I think he will try to run again, but I think his body and mind will continue to deteriorate to the point of such visible humiliation that it will turn out to be a scramble for all his 'wannabes' to hop into the clown car and the fiasco will fall flat. Wishful thinking I guess.
I think this is why their is so much effort to paint Biden as mentally deficient. They need to distract from how bad Trump is.
Cynthia, I hope you are right about Trump but I am certain you are right about the wannabes....we have one here in FL, the current actor playing the role of the Gov. Of FL. The problem with the wannabes is that they will be smarter, more adept at running the machinery of governing and exponentially more dangerous than even TFG!!!
VOTE THEM OUT!!!
: (
If Trump runs again, he will be like the Charlton Heston character in the movie "El Cid," dead but strapped upright on a horse to look as his he's leading his troops into battle. But unlike in the film, Trump will be severely mentally and physically depleted and unable to inspire victory.
Love your wishful thinking!
Can’t run if he’s in prison, exiled or dead. It’s not going happen! But don’t worry, there are many other power grabbing minions who will scramble to take his place! We simply Must Vote Blue!!!
I'll take door number 3.
Ha, haha, ha…
Gayle, I agree with your Vote Blue!!!, up and especially down the ticket for local offices. However, there is no constitutional bar to running for federal offices by incarcerated persons. The most famous example is Eugene Debs, who in 1920 ran (for the fourth time) while in prison for sedition. He got over 900k votes. Clearly there would be new, real problems if an incarcerated person actually won. A short, readable summary is at:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/05/can-trump-run-for-president-from-prison.html
But convicted felons can’t even vote, can they??? Yet they can run for office???
Voting rights--other than Constitutional protections for gender, race, and age--are set by individual states. The result is a hodgepodge of specifications for current or former felons. For a summary see:
https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/felon-voting-rights.aspx
But the requirements for holding federal elective offices (in the Constitution) are minimal: age, citizenship and residency. There may be restrictions on current or former felons in some states for state or local offices, but I am not familiar with that issue. Perhaps someone else can comment.
Thanks.
Recall that Eugene Debs ran for president from prison.
I keep thinking about A Man Without a Country by Edward Everett Hale, which we read way back when in high school. He was stripped of citizenship for treason and sentenced to life cruising up and down the East Coast on a ship (frigate?) It’s a nice mental picture.
What's a CI?
Oh! I know! Confidential Idiot!
🤡🤡🤡. Oh my goodness
I posted this before:
"Trump Organization Trial Is Scheduled for Next Summer, Judge Says
A Manhattan judge set a trial schedule for Allen Weisselberg and the Trump Organization on Monday that could coincide with the run-up to the 2022 midterm elections."
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/20/nyregion/allen-weisselberg-trump-organization.html
Very significant ) in addition to the timing) is:
"Mr. Vance, a Democrat, did not run for re-election and was not present in the courtroom on Monday...Mr. Bragg, a Democrat and *former federal prosecutor*, is favored".
Trump should never have gone up against Gov. Cuomo and AG Letitia James. Now they got him IN THEIR COURT.
The gane’s mot over intil the fat lafy sings and the refrigerator door closes.
(lady)
And THAT is the test.
Let's try this again.
The implications of Republican extremism, authoritarianism and mob boss rule in the manner that Trump and his cronies execute it, is also threatening to America's capitalism. Our corporations may not like regulations, but our democracy results in more predictable, reviewable and appealable regulations. Trump's impulsive edicts, friend vs enemy, fixer vs persecutor, oligarch vs business people all add up to economic chaos. His tariffs are one example. Winners and losers with subsidies to those he could not afford to hurt by tariffs. Russia is the Trump model for America.
American businesses are fool hardy to think they can do better in that environment.
Then why aren’t more businesses speaking out against the Republicans in Congress forcefully? I don’t understand the silence.
They want to play both sides of the fence as long as possible. But they're playing with fire. If this out-of-control train derails, there's no going back.
Also, the revelations are piling up at a dizzying pace. Even us news junkies have trouble tracking and digesting everything, although the professor makes it easier. Many Americans are clueless. And much of the media isn't helping, in part because there's no precedent.
We now have a paper trail of Trump and his traitors' attempt at a coup. Why isn't this treated as a story of epic, historical proportions dominating the news?
Because we’re too busy covering the search for the fiancé of a murdered blonde 22 year old. Ratings 🤦♀️
Tragic story. And had she not been white and gorgeous, it would not be everywhere. Had she been a young Black woman we wouldn’t know a thing about her.
Agreed, I said exactly the same thing.
I believe too many Americans stay disengaged on purpose. The old myth “what you don’t know can’t hurt you!”
The democracy saving question of the day. Why isn’t it? More importantly, how do we make it so?
Michael, I thought of you yesterday and happy to see you with us today. Can you reply with a nod indicating that the deed was done and you go forward with your usual good spirit. Thank you. Cheers!
Thanks very much for thinking of me. I'm nodding now, subtly because of a brace that will be my constant companion for six weeks. I posted an update on one of your earlier posts. I didn't mention that I'm elated at getting through it without complications. I was in good hands and told the doctors and nurses how confident I was in them before they put me under.
"Hi Fern. Totally unrelated to the political news, but I promised to update you about my neck surgery, which was yesterday. It was successful, though longer than expected at three hours. It's amazing that I can sit at my computer today and still prattle on.*"
*aided and abetted by oxycodone and other meds.
One example why is my brother who is ashamed to admit he fell for the false tRump bid. He’s finally nice to me again, but we still only post puppies and kittens. Talk about a wounded ego!
Hopefully he won’t turn you in for a no questions asked $10M reward should you ever require an abortion after SCOTUS ends Roe v. Wade.
Easy. As long as the Republicans are keeping corporate taxes abysmally low, they're making money hand over fist, and they're gonna keep that "goose laying the golden eggs" as long as they possibly can. They don't care about ethics. It's profits over everything else, even the future of the country. Unbridled capitalism ALWAYS has its downside, and we're witnessing it up close and personal. Get used to it.
Deplorable.
Promises of lower taxes, mostly.
“Mob boss rule” sums it up!
The “crime family” is too geographically small as a metaphor. Think Putin and the Russian oligarchy he operates and one gets a clearer picture of the impact on us and the possibilities in that model.
More like a multinational cartel.
Yes, but that's just mob boss rule writ larger than ever. Russians have to live with it, Americans came as near as dammit to enjoying the same fate and still aren’t safe.
When questioned about Khodorkovsky, whom he'd had jailed for wandering across the demarcation line that surrounds his exclusive territory—politics—Putin compared his victim to Al Capone, and the tax evasion rap to how the FBI had trapped the boss of the Chicago Outfit.
Yes, but as I noted at the time, Al Capone never made it to President of the United States...
Who could foresee that a lesser don would emulate the performance of the Leningrad backyard tough who came to rule the Kremlin?
That's why one of my names for him is mafia don.
Yes, the Godfather.
I agree with you. But these are clearly people who think and act short term, because that’s their capability.
David, can you put something on your profile please?
Scariest quote in "Peril" is on the back cover, from Parscale: "He had an army. An army for Trump. He wants that back. I don't think he sees it as a comeback. He sees it as vengeance."
Vengeance has been his operating fuel since he was six years old and hit a teacher who had corrected him in class.
He doesn't need to be arrested, tried and convicted. He needs to die. Keep praying for the Karma of the Hamberders. A massive fatal myocardial infarction, mid-rant in front of the true believers at the next hatealong.
My husband who has Lewy Body Dementia looked at me the day after the vile thing got elected and said jokingly "you know I can't be held liable for my actions, want me to take him out?"
I said thanks, but I don't want you to spend the rest of your life in a padded room.
He offered again last week, saying that the tremors are getting worse, so his aim isnt as good as it was and this was probably my last chance.
The man loves dark humor and me. 😉
Your husband sounds like a man we can't afford to lose, Beth. I'd like to encourage you to say YES! but I fear an asassination would only cause his followers to deify him further.
Sounds like a fine man. You're lucky.
And I love him (and you!)
Say yes.
And Steve Bannon trampled by some crowd somewhere in the ensuing chaos.
How does that loser get so much influence?
He reflects half of America
Less than half. 36%
Good Lower is better.... Let's hope he turns into the one who is forgotten.... Onward...
Deplorable ;)
Because some people are obsessed with him.
Why? Do they really want to accept his lies? Do they understand that they are lies?!
Yes. He tells them what they want to hear. Feeds their collective amygdalae.
They do not believe that they are lies. Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth - Joseph Goebbels.
Seems obvious to me but Let’s hope.
Really?!
I wonder if the Maxwell trial will tell us?
Classic behavior of a clinical malignant narcissist. "How dare you disturb my perfect existence?"
I think he's into pathological territory here.
TC, your lips to the Unified Field of the Universe. Vengeance should be his middle name.
We can only hope!~
TC dying can be hard, but, death is painless. I’d much rather see him in a Supermax prison, stripped of all sycophants, with nothing but himself for company. That would be justice.
I would like that too, but I'm not talking about justice - I'm talking about the safety of the country. Remove him as the leader of the morons.
The dank, dark dungeon part of the Supermax, heavily infested with other large rats where there is not a single thing that can glitter.
Exactly! Why should he get off so easily?!
I love the scenario you set here in your last paragraph. May it be so.
Oh! That would be delicious! But couldn't there be a little more exposure of his heart on display for all his followers to feel some acknowledgment and shame? You're the writer! Create the story that would be the perfect ending!
Certainly Dr. Richardson could be portrayed as the super hero! The power of the pen vs. the power of evil!
Every day presents more evidence of corruption, sedition, criminal activity by trump and his minions. Every day we wring our hands, voice our concern/disbelief, and collectively nod our heads that all of this is putting us into a clear and present danger and places us at the brink of losing our democracy (along with our sanity!) And, yet we do not see the words indictment, trial, conviction, or jail next to any of the names of the perps and as a result they are "free to roam the country" and hold the government hostage. IMO Mitch McConnell and his cronies are pure evil. I simply cannot get my head around the fact there has been such a lack of accountability. The justice department needs to take the gloves off and start making the cases in real and current time.
And, as if all that isn't enough . . . wartime medical triage is on its way to your neighborhood because self centered idiots who decided they didn't want to get the vaccine are consuming limited medical resources. Medical personnel at every level are overwhelmed, burned out, and leaving the profession which further compounds the problem. And, so much of this disaster could have been mitigated after vaccines became available. It's just gobsmack disgusting and frustrating as hell.
"Alaska and Idaho have activated statewide 'crisis standards of care,' in which health systems can prioritize patients for scarce resources — based largely on their likelihood of survival — and even deny treatment." CNN and other news stations
"The largest hospital system in Central Massachusetts, UMass Memorial Health, ran out of intensive care beds Wednesday as critically ill patients with deferred chronic health problems and those stricken with COVID-19 overwhelm health care providers". Boston Globe
As I have previously posted here it is past time for the media to emphasize that the problems of our overwhelmed healthcare systems are not a shortage of hospital beds or staff but too many patients. We have the tools to solve this, vaccine and mask mandates where appropriate, and compliance with public health guidelines. The irresponsibility of the unvaccinated should no longer be tolerated by responsible members of society.
It’s comparable to the country (perhaps saying “some states” would be more accurate?) being a dysfunctional family and the adults are incapable of creating a healthy environment where the family can thrive instead of die.
I am beginning to doubt that we have a viable DOJ. I am horrified that trump is allowed to skulk around freely, go back to holding his poisonous rallies after committing treason against his own country!!!
I wish someone could come up with a reasonable explanation of what in God’s name is taking so long to hold trump and his people accountable.
And then we have the lack of progress by the democrats on voting rights legislation, the infrastructure bill and the filibuster. Now the republicans are refusing to raise the debt ceiling? I can’t watch the news anymore.
I know that it is difficult to have patience. Prosecutors have much to sift through as they build their case and they start at the bottom and work their way to the top. They also like to have the best case possible. Mafia don and corrupt minions left a enormous mess to clean up. Meanwhile the other problems continue to blight the landscape as well. Also I would like to thank everyone here who responded by subscribing and donating to various Native American sites.
Remember when we fretted and waited and believed and had patience that Robert Mueller would expose and lock TFG up? 🥴
I remember, but things were going on then that are not going on now. Billy Bob Barr and Rosenstein are not running the DOJ. Prosecutors like to have the best case possible and they often work bottom to top. And it isn't just the DOJ in the case of mafia don, but other entities as well.
I’m hanging on to that belief and hoping justice will prevail.
The cases against the insurrectionists seem to be moving along pretty quickly - at least to what I was imagining the pace would be. As more and more of the cancer called Trump and his minions is exposed, I have more hope that there will be accountability. I also hope that all this will wake up voters from the cult trance.
Some of them got off too easily in my opinion. But the investigation is slowly headed to the top. Also just saw that the Jan 6th committee has issued some subpoenas....I think Meadows and Bannon. I doubt the cult will ever wake up. Among these people, facts do not matter and they are absolutely hostile when someone actually presents them with sites that are not far right wing nut sites. I used to teach expository writing with emphasis on critical thinking and ascertaining bias of sources. One person told me to dig deeper because I refused to accept something she posted from one such site. No hope for true believers.
I agree with you, Elizabeth. But we must remember that lawyers must know the answers to every question before they ask witnesses. I'm sure the DOJ has many questions they need to ask and have not yet learned those answers. Unfortunately, it often takes a very long time to learn them.
Proof of racketeering takes time, is difficult to prove, but not impossible when you think of the players all connected through the Trump org. Just very irksome that those seemingly clearly associated with Jan 6 are still in positions of power and decision making while under investigation. 😡
I agree that it is hard to watch the news anymore. Why is it taking so long? When I think about it I think I know. DOJ is moving slowly because if they misstep, powerful people will shut them down in a hurry. A person on extended supervision who runs a stop sign is in custody faster. Nevermind that society is not really harmed. Their life as they know it can come to a standstill and everything taken from them in the blink of an eye. If you cause harm but are a person with $ or power you can live to old age in the comfort of your own home before you serve a day in jail (if ever). Let's face it, all the checks in our system to take stock and slow things down in the name of justice are set up to protect property and capital. People without power are a nuisance to be dealt with as quickly as possible. The DOJ does not have a different or purer outlook; the policies and procedures of the DOJ work to preserve what is valued in our country.
🎶Money! Money! Money! Money🎶Mooooooney! 🎶
Here’s maybe a consoling thought: give a man enough rope and he’ll hang himself. tRump can do no right. When the Feds get him, his game will be completely over. This isnt pre-WWII Germany
I hope you are right! From your lips to god's ears as they say.
I hope you’re right! I actually thought it was prewar Germany.
Me too.
I sincerely hope he hangs himself😊thanks for the consoling thought. Susan!
Keep thinking this…thoughts become things!
Mr Garland was the president’s choice, and it is also the president’s profoundly mistaken belief that holding the former president accountable would look tacky and be ‘divisive.’
Sept 22, 1862 -- Abraham Lincoln issues the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation
Glory Hallelujah!
And the war is still being fought nie on 150 years later! Having the freedom to vote....if the state systems so permit it and indeed do thereafter count it doesn't quite hack it. The Emancipation Proclamation was Federal and is in the Constitution. Civic rights must remain federal; a primary unifying element for the whole Union.
Good morning, Stewart!
Top o' the mornin' to you Susan and to all. The sun's shining here...a beautiful autumn day.
I drove through New Hampshire yesterday, the first red and orange autumn leaves are waving...bye-bye...just like those infiltrated in our government should be doing.
Croissants all round?
Very nice but fattening so not all the time.
Stuart On the Left Bank I found them less fattening when taken with steaming expresso and a jot of cognac. Of course that was in 1953 and things may have changed.
Ah, mais si bon!!
Mi dispiace molto, ma..... but NIE [nee]= never in German, What you wanted is NIGH (rhymes w/ sigh), an olde english form of near or nearly . And absolutely, to what you wrote.
Grazie molto, Anne. You're quite right. I didn't check.
I love that it’s also the Autumnal equinox. Glorious Fall!
My very favorite season!
You've been missing in the line-up for a while TPJ.
Thank you for the reminder, TPJ.
Nice to see you again, and what a lovely reminder you give us today!
Now we know why Republicans were against a full investigation into Jan. 6th. The truth is coming out, America. Listen up!
"It is impossible to overstate just how momentous are both an attempted coup and an attempt to force the U.S. to default on its debts." - HCR LFAA 9/22/2021
This single sentence is why I cannot feel confident about our future as a democracy. When Dr. Richardson, with all her historical perspective, expresses such troubling thoughts about what has (and is) happening to our country, it should be a sign to all of us that the time for serious action is past due.
YES!
I’m so deeply grateful for these letters. It would be otherwise impossible for me to be this informed about what’s going on and able to be efficiently active. Knowledge (and truth) are power (I hope).
Yes, but I am truly afraid....
Fear is a God (actually evolutionary driven) given emotion for the purpose of survival. Either we freeze or we get busy saving our asses. Without it we would likely all perish. ❤️🙏
So am I.
As evidence to support allegations of insurrection, attempted coup, tax fraud, election tampering mount, I have to wonder if McConnell will crash the economy via the debt ceiling, put the USA in chaos; rendering the prosecution of Trump moot
Is evil has no limits.
Count on it.
Thank you so much, Professor Richardson. This is enlightening stuff. Meanwhile, I wonder why nobody talks about the spending on the military-industrial complex. While Manchin and others yowl about spending, the Pentagon never passes an audit. Half of our tax dollars go to support the military. It's absurd, according to Lt. Col. Lawrence Wilkerson: https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2021/09/20/the-members-of-congress-who-want-to-rethink-the-pentagons-budget
$7.5 trillion spending over 10 years and no one bats an eyelash at that huge figure when Congress votes with overwhelming approval in both the House and the Senate. Finally, there are members of Congress who are paying attention to the increased spending and failed audits and are speaking up.
U.S. Representatives Mark Pocan (WI-02) and Barbara Lee (CA-13), both co-founders and Co-Chairs of the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus and members of the House Appropriations Committee, sent a letter to House Armed Services Committee Chair Adam Smith on August 30 urging him and the committee to not pass a National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22 NDAA) that is larger than the level requested by President Biden earlier this year.
https://pocan.house.gov/sites/pocan.house.gov/files/NDAA%20Topline%20Concerns%20Member%20Letter%20to%20Chairman%20Smith%208-30-21%5B1%5D.pdf
The sacred military, the sacred churches, the sacred oligarchy - all with no names.
There are no limits to what this criminal lunatic will do to avoid the consequences of his actions.
This, we have already seen.
In his brinkmanship on the edge of legality he has always taken care to create diversions and smokescreens, and to implicate others. Now the signs are that he has run out of tricks.
McConnell and cronies are out to save their party and preserve its purpose, namely to reverse the outcome of the Civil War and most American history since the adoption of the Constitution… They are playing for very high stakes but they are out to defend themselves, not the former President.
Fast approaching the most dangerous reefs now, when DT will try to ignite a new Civil War and many of those who used him as their human battering ram will peel away from him at the last possible moment.
Almost there!—some conspirators are coming out into the open—look at what just appeared on my computer screen:
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/steve-bannon-admits-he-helped-plan-6-january-trump-rally-to-kill-the-biden-presidency-in-the-crib/ar-AAOIcGH?ocid=winp1taskbar
DANGER LOOMING.
Time for extreme vigilance. NOW.
Wow. Just, Wow....
Bannon is sooo disgusting. He’s the embodiment of evil. I can’t watch without retching.
And he looks disgusting.
He always looks in desperate need of a bath
And why does he wear so many shirts?
Cold-blooded.
Good one! 😂🤣 like a snake 🤣😂 I keep thinking about that TV series called “V” from years ago. Alien Reptilians posing as humans. If I were into conspiracy theories…..😳
I was thinking more like crocodiles, crying their fake tears when needed to garner sympathy from their insipid followers. Only because I hate to malign snakes who keep the rodents down in my garden....
I was thinking of Trump’s repeatedly told snake story ending with “you knew I was a snake before you took me in” but I appreciate your fondness for garden snakes
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/11/09/lindsey-grahams-curious-conspiratorial-argument-why-trump-should-fight-election-results/
The above link features Sen Lindsey Graham’s charge, “If Republicans don’t challenge and change the U.S. election system, there will never be another Republican president elected again,” Graham said on Fox News on the Sunday following the 2020 election. Enter, stage right, John Eastman, the Federalist Society, Claremont Institute, and the Freedom Caucus as the core of the conservative movement.
THIS attempt to subvert Democracy is at the heart and soul of the conservative movement today. The INTENTION is to subvert the rule of the federal government order to allow states’ rights to legislate dominion (control) over this country. The two most prevalent examples of the insidiousness of states’ rights is the absolute dereliction of the trump regime to intervene against Covid-19, and the total disregard for federal action regarding the climate catastrophe we face. States were floundering with unnecessary deaths because of the lack of federal action toward protective measures and the creation of masks and other items. Mainline conservatives now will NOT intervene against the corporate capitalist market in order to save the planet. A third strike against states rights is their focus on local, willy-nilly control of elections, where every state maintains its insidious threats to peoples’ right to vote.
Strikes against states rights:
1) inability to combat the global threats to health, and inability to protect citizens;
2) inability to combat global threats to the earth and catastrophic disasters, and inability to provide protection for citizens and infrastructure;
3) local control of voting, with inability to assure equal access to democracy
The Biden economy (Democracy Capitalism, in my words) intervenes at the only level possible, the federal level, in order to preserve our national and planetary ecosystem - which is directly tied to our health, economy and communities. A local example for me: a neighborhood east of me, along Rte 1, where the Frances Perkins Museum is located, Damariscotta, Maine, is meeting next week to address the grave threats posed at their waterfront, of rising tides and flooding the major commercial street of the entire village. We must have federal action - but this is antithetical to conservatives’ rabid individualism and their abject hostility to federal action.
What was “far right” has become mainstream conservatism and mainstream Republican. Therefore, I believe all elephants must be set free as the symbol of the GOP, and released of the noose around their necks -- so I move to institute the COAT HANGER as the icon of the conservative movement and the Republican Party. They can hang their WHITE SHEETS on the hanger.
Your use of the coat hanger analogy really strikes a nerve for most of us women as well. Y'all can hang sheets on that hanger as you make us resort to a coat hanger in order to obtain a constitutionally guaranteed right to body autonomy.
"so I move to institute the COAT HANGER as the icon of the conservative movement and the Republican Party. They can hang their WHITE SHEETS on the hanger."
Love the visual! Or rather, hate the visual.
I feel the coat hanger is rather apropos, though I feel great pain at the idea.
Yesterday I spoke on the phone with a young sobbing patient who had just found out the fetus she is carrying tested positive for a serious genetic disorder that children rarely live with past the age of 30 and while alive require frequent medical intervention. If exposed to Covid-19 such an infant certainly would not survive long. The patient and her partner had made the very painful decision to terminate the pregnancy and she was essentially getting the run around about where and how to do so. She is nowhere near the stage of viability but she is far enough along that she was able to have the testing, more than 6 weeks. Eventually she will get the help she needs but it's not well coordinated here in our state and it's not going to get any better. If she were in TX, she would be forced to have this baby she isn't prepared mentally or emotionally to care for or make complicated arrangements to leave the state if she could afford it in order to terminate. This is all pure torture for women and completely uncalled for. It seems to me to be a human rights issue.
I AGREE that this is an issue of women’s freedom and liberty. Pure and simple; it is an issue of health and safety for every woman. It is not about the fetus.