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A document only morons, er, I mean Republicans (no difference actually) could enjoy and believe.

Watch what they do, not what they say. As of tonight 168 Republicans have signed onto legislation in the house to ban abortion nationwide. Watch what they do, not what they say - today a state judge in Arizona said that the new law limiting abortion to the first 15 weeks wasn't as good as the 157 year old law written in 1866 when women couldn't vote and had no voice in government, that bans abortion in all instances without exception, was indeed the law in Arizona.

I'm pretty sure that dumbass just cost Kari Lake and Brett Masters and the QMAGAt running for Secretary of State their races, as well as a couple R congressmen.

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Sep 24, 2022·edited Sep 24, 2022

As a one-time ‘blue water’ sailor, I appreciate having detailed nautical charts and electronic aides on a vexing voyage. President Biden, as captain of our ship of state, has clearly established an appropriate course which, as circumstances required, was adjusted midstream. His crew (the Democratic Congress), while encountering some back winds, has provided fulsome support to their skipper.

Trump has never relied on charts or electronic aides in office or afterwards. As president, He led our ship of state onto rocks on various occasions. As ex-president on policy he has been as vacuous as would-be-Senate-Majority-Leader-McConnell.

Two wannabe-leaders of the House, McCarthy and Stefanik (who replaced Liz Cheney in Republican House leadership) have now presented a one page Commitment to America ‘policy paper’ that reads like it was scribbled on a napkin after a boisterous night of drinking.

I would consider this ludicrous, were it not the only purported ship of state nautical charts provided by Republican ‘leadership.’ I find it frightening as indicative of a rudderless Republican ship of state.

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I love Dr Richardson’s letters and have shared them with all of my friends, many who too have become devoted readers! Thank you for making the time to write them.

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A particularly powerful Letter today, Professor Richardson.

Slicing the film of obfuscation from the GOP's talking points, exposing them for the treachery they are, your contribution to our understanding of the perilous space our Democracy now inhabits is invaluable.

Thank you!

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Whoa!!! “ said that the White House switchboard connected a call to a rioter’s phone while the Capitol was under siege on January 6, 2021.” I mean I’m not shocked but FFS.

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Of course the congressional Republicans are attempting to piggyback on Joe Biden's successes. Having become the 'Do Nothing Just Say N0' party over the last several decades they've stifulled their ability to create meaningful policies that proffer realistic solutions to the challenges facing the nation. The old adage applies: 'You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time.' The current party that calls itself 'Republican' is dominated by small minds that have nothing to offer their fellow Americans put lies. Their time for fooling people is coming rapidly to an end.

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I'm going to focus on only one overriding thought that occurred to me--and is probably obvious--about halfway through Professor Richardson's letter. The difference, in every point, between what Biden is doing and the Republican platform (and between Republicans and the Biden administration in general) is the difference between carefully constructed catch phrases and the very particular work on one concrete and undramatic issue at a time. The difference between words and action.

I suppose the insight for me, also not a surprise, is that so many American voters respond to what someone says rather than what another someone does. Drama and show vs. one-step-at-a-time accomplishment of specific goals. Why do we buy this? And has TFG finally made it so dreadful that we might finally be changing?

I don't know. I think I said the same thing when Biden went on his train tour and was shouting and romping and stomping like a man on the campaign trail. Comment after comment praised him with great sighs of relief, "Biden has finally found his voicc! Now he's doing something." We are failing to understand that drama is drama. Joe Biden accomplished a staggering amount of nation-building change one small item at a time and he accomplished it sitting at his desk, talking on the phone, crafting bills and consulting with experts when necessary. He was too busy saving the soul of the country to come out into the corridor every hour and perform.

Are Americans just lazy? Are we so superficial that we require loud noise to convince us something is happening?

I think the tide might be turning but far too many voters lay hold of the words and just don't look beyond them.

I don't think this happened overnight with Trump's election, but he suddenly bombarded us with a lot of noise and bling for long enough to have managed to instill a fatigue we need to shake off.

I believe we can.

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Sep 24, 2022·edited Sep 24, 2022

Is anyone reading DIVIDER Baker/Glasser?

It’s devastating detail of what it was like to breathe in that administration.

Thank you, Professor for your LETTER - I read it and thought to myself, “We as a nation are going to be recovering from that knot head for generations.”

“Knot head” is my polite for very bad jerk.

I have to believe he is ill.

That is the only reasonable explanation for the trail of destruction he levies upon anything he touches.

For someone who doesn’t drink or do drugs, he sure acts under a craven influence.

Okay. I think I can peel myself off the ceiling and slip back into a semblance of calm.

We could really use a lifetime without this individual’s further meddling. Cripes….

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From Brett Meiselas on Twitter: “Let me get this straight: The GOP is running on banning abortion, banning contraception, banning books, eliminating Social Security and Medicare, defunding the FBI, targeting the people investigating Jan 6, raising drug prices, and protecting Trump? “

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Sep 24, 2022·edited Sep 24, 2022

"It feels rather as if the Republicans recognize that Biden’s policies are popular, and are hoping that voters haven’t noticed that he is actually putting them in place."

Well, given that essentially all of rural America is covered by far right AM radio talk shows all day, and, morning and evening much of America is tuned in to the radical right wing fascist Fox News, and completely unaware of anything not reported on those two platofrms......

I would not be surprised one bit if most Americans have not noticed what Biden is doing.

Rather, if you listen to AM radio, (make sure to have a hanky to wipe the hate spittle off your face while listening) you will hear anti Biden and anti Democrat bile that will make you feel sick, angry and, in my case, which is honestly pretty rare, helpless.

All of you guys should stream WHAM 1180 in Rochester NY some weekday from 8 am to noon to hear what I am talking about. Listen to to this crank Bob Lonsberry for 4 hours just so you know what is being said. Or pick the nuts on AM radio down in rural Eastern PA. Serously, it is a completely different world.

The far right has done an absolutely fantastic job taking over the apparatus of communications to Americans and they are blowing smoke up American arse all....day....long....every single day.

I know what it feels like to listen to that stuff and feel like it is true. Note the word feel, not think.

Much or most of America uses their feelings, not their rational apparatus, to sort out the world. Maybe most humans do this, including all of us, but, for those who read, we have a mechanism to dampen that tendency. To add information to the feeling part of the brain.

I don't really know, but, I hear what I hear and I see lots of folks fully bought in to the far right, fascist, propaganda.

Worse, if I try to have even a brief conversation about what Biden is doing I get what I call the "red face" result. Because people are so deep into their feelings by having been brainwashed by far right media so long, they just get angry if I bring up a simple, provable fact. They get really angry. There is no talking with them.

And, until the invasion of Afghanistant and Iraq, so did I (buy in to right wing BS). It is hard for me to feel and see into myself prior to that, but, I clearly remember "feeling" great when I heard Rush Limbaugh bash Bill Clinton when the blue dress turned up.

Of course, having a Protestant background and raised by two loyal parents who loved and respected each other, and having a father who was enthralled with my mother, Bill Clinton represented everything that I never wanted to be plus a stupid smile and a complete lack of ethics. Plus, he just sounded stupid to me. I know, he went to this fancy college and that one too. No matter.

So, even now, I would probably agree with Rush Limbaugh about Bill Clinton keeping his pants down around his ankles every chance he could, even if he was sitting at the Oval Office desk for goodness sakes.

That is how the far right gained credibility. They know the issues that matter to (some) Americans and they bang on them all day long. AND......in Trump's case, who was way worse than Clinton, they just decided not report on what a low life he was. A really cynical decision to be sure.

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"said that the White House switchboard connected a call to a rioter’s phone while the Capitol was under siege on January 6, 2021."

Honestly, this is no surprise to either MAGA people or me/us here.

What is a surprise is that, two years after a traitor called up an army to take over the National Government and kill Mike Pence, that traitor is still living in the lap of luxury at Mara Lago running around telling more lies.

That, I have to say, is profoundly disturbing.

George Washington would have rounded up Trump and his leaders and he would have hung them forthwith. John Adams would have attended to show support. Period.

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Orwell's Politics and the English Language is a great essay. It is available in ebook form from the usual sources for under 2 dollars. A good investment

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Correction: "teaching subjects that make white students uncomfortable." Nowhere have any parents objected to teaching a version of U.S. history that makes Black, brown, AAPI, or Indigenous American children "uncomfortable."

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Every time Republicans bring up this plan they need to be pressed on their voting record this past session and how these two things jibe?

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‘Make Orwell fiction again’, as a recent bumpersticker spotted in Maine recently read. Thanks as always for the clarity you bring to current political events. Imagine if the Republicans devoted just 10% of their resources and energy to governing rather than trying to game the system in a never-ending quest for power.

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The Republicans are in a tough spot; How to keep the support TFG's Maga Mob (MM) while distancing themselves from TFG himself. The MM by itself won't get you elected, but lose them and you're toast. And they won't abandon TFG no matter what. It seems he was right when he said he could shoot someone in broad daylight on 5th Ave. and not lose a vote.

The White House/capitol assualt phone connection story, if true, is stunning. it will be more than interesting if 60 Minutes has the details of whose phone was at each end of that connection. If not, it should be relatively easy for the 1/6 Committee to find out. If the White House end was the Oval Office phone, we have a very smokey gun. Or, perhaps those phone logs were among the documents stolen and taken to Mar-A-Lago.

Stay tuned!

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