Just over a month to go and he continues to spiral down like the Tasmanian Devil! Maybe this October Surprise will be a full babbling breakdown broadcast live as the sweat pours down and the Secret Service steps aside for the guys with the white coats “coming to take him away(haha)”!
Maureen, I hope your version of an October surprise is closer to the truth than the fear I’ve been harboring, namely, as a consequence of our failure to leverage aid to Israel to secure policy changes, including a ceasefire, that Netanyahu, who wants to see Trump reinstated, invades Lebanon, striking a blow, to say the least, to Democratic leadership.
To expand a bit, I’ve observed, while initially Harris was granted the benefit of the doubt as to her connection to Biden policy, more recently, at a time when the election expectantly will be decided by a point or two in a handful of battleground states, Harris is increasingly viewed as much closer to Biden on Middle East policy. Accordingly, I will be writing the Harris campaign urging it as quickly as possible and as much as possible to draw a distinction.
In October, the Apprentice will be available in theaters only, across the US.
The Trump campaign has tried unsuccessfully to prevent this "documentary" from airing in the US. So much for freedom and the 1st amendment rights the MAGAs are always accusing the Democrats of ignoring.
Frontline on PBS had its biographies of Trump and Harris on Tuesday. Worth seeing. Only two hours, so much about Trump’s presidency had to be summarized rather than given full exposure.
Barbara, there’s a reason why “I am not in control” is Step One of the twelve-step program, a reason for the serenity prayer, a reason why Abraham Lincoln said, “with public sentiment, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed,” and it’s all the same reason.
Fortunately, the Harris-Walz campaign is influenced by public sentiment. Otherwise, it would be incompetent and lose. But American public sentiment is a limiting factor in what any American politician can accomplish. Unfortunately, we all have to face the fact that that sentiment is so fractured at this point in history.
To me, the right thing is to get the American house in order first, and then the Harris-Walz administration will have a much greater moral influence over the actions of governments in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Harris's loyalty to President Biden stifles her ability to voice her dislike and mistrust of Netanyahu. I strongly believe that she will stand with Israel but NOT Netanyahu.
The most vocal and well informed anti Zionist sentiment & protesters are Jewish. They seem to accept Israel but not its practices since 1947 of violence, displacement, oppression, ethnic cleansing, and expansion. Amy Goodman, Democracy Now, whose maternal grandmother was from Ukraine and maternal grandfather was a rabbi reports everyday with various on the ground experts about the conditions around the world influencing and prolonging the violence in the Middle East which affects us here in the U.S. Ilan Pappe and Avi Shlaim, both Israeli historians, among many others have dedicated their lives to educating us. Palestinian American Rashida Tlaib, U.S. House representative from Michigan criticized Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (Jewish) for prosecuting more severely University of Michigan students who held pro Palestinian demonstrations. Many of the protesters were Jewish. Jews supporting a cease fire and a permanent resolution to the mistreatment of Palestinians to achieve a safe & peaceful Israel & Palestine are hidden from view, silenced or treated as criminals.
Nessel and other unconditionally pro Israel leaders & press spread statements and memes that were Islamophobic claiming that Tlaib said Nessel is Jewish, that Tlaib is antisemitic, and that she associates with terrorists. According to a Michigan news reporter who first reported Tlaib’s criticism of Nessel, said that she never mentioned Nessel being Jewish, and that she was caught up in the standard Israel trope that “every support of Palestinian right to life or criticism of Israeli policy & military action” is antisemitism. This is typical authoritarianism. We see this with Putin, Trump and more than just Netanyahu. We see this in 75+ years of Israeli leadership when we read the Israeli & Jewish historians who know the facts, unlike most Americans, politicians & academics who spread Israeli propaganda.
Maureen, what I just wrote was in response to your comment, but -- like Putin -- monomaniac Netanyahu will do his damnedest to ride to fellow-madman Trump's rescue.
This must be incomprehensible to most honest, upright simple-minded witnesses, but this idiot Netanyahu, with his ultra-extremist sidekicks, is the tool of his far-sighted and terrible foe, doing exactly what Sinwar et al both expected of him and wanted. The fool would burn the whole world rather than face Israeli justice for his relatively venial crimes of corruption and influence peddling. No enemy, no antiSemite could ever inflict lasting damage on his people comparable to his current actions. Trapped in a vicious situation, he is sowing perennial dragon's teeth, recruiting merciless enemy armies, making strategic errors worse than the worst the human mind could conceive of.
*
If you can make no sense of what I have just written, I sympathize, I understand. These horrors are so hard for us to get our minds around.
Who, after all, could ever have imagined that Nazism and Fascism, defeated in 1945, would be resurrected in the most unimaginable places today? And in the cheapest, most criminal form... Even in Moscow, even in America.
The vilest most dreadful aspect of extreme evil is how it defiles not only its poor victims but even the minds of witnesses, even the victims' posterity.
And, like the Holy Inquisition, like the Nazi leaders, these men -- and all too often we too -- suffer from the immense delusion that by destroying men's bodies one destroys the ideas -- evil or good -- that they represent.
On the contrary, on the contrary, this empowers a continuum of evil. "The evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft interrèd with their bones."
Peter, in a recent conversation with friends we came to the same conclusion about Netanyahu, although we were not so eloquent. Well said.
The only one I disagree with is Shakespeare. The good we do does live after us. We are the beneficiaries of the good done by previous generations, and future generations will be the beneficiaries of the good done by this generation.
Only, the good, too, may disappear underground for a while, re-emerging when needed.
Groundwater in fact provides an excellent metaphor for our innate power... despite the tainting of so many wells.
When I was a kid, I thought that the phrase about visiting the sins of the fathers onto the children told of a cruel deity.
In time, I came to see that it simply describes a natural reality... An aspect of our shadow.
Incidentally, one dangerously pernicious weakness of our western societies that places us at a severe disadvantage in relation to the most fanatical Islamists, is our weak sense of time. In strategic terms, our feet of clay.
How to compete with those whose actions are planned for their effects in the very long term, when one's horizon is quarterly returns?
There must surely be men and women with a deeper understanding of issues, in academe, in the State Department, even in the Pentagon and the armed forces...
Nevertheless, one thing that struck me, working in a highly political environment, was, from the mid-1980s onward, finding a better-grounded sense of realities among marginal people, kooks and taxi drivers.
*
One example, a Saxon friend's description of a 1986 visit to relatives in Communist East Germany was so clear -- especially talks with an engineer running a factory -- that it was plain the regime was a dead man walking.
And I who'd thought Germans could make any system work -- even Communist central planning -- foresaw then the impending collapse of the Soviet empire...
If Germans couldn't make it work, Russians certainly could not. We then forgot about all this until it happened...
But...
But... right up till the very last moment well-established boneheads with an interest in the status quo were obstructing initiatives like trucking supplies to the Solidarnosc strikers in Gdansk...
And who, among our experts, our great and good, saw what was coming? We all tend to see only what we want to see, only what our personal or professional tunnel vision enables us to see.
*
Curious now how Putin, who saw the collapse of the Soviet Bloc as the tragedy of the 20th century, is busy reinstating all the rot that brought the empire down...
There were a few conservative specialists in the Soviet economy who foresaw USSR's collapse--I think Marshall Goldman and Richard Pipes were among them, and I think my father, a liberal specialist in the Soviet economy was not surprised. There were a lot of "Russian Jokes" he liked to tell that played on the weaknesses of the Soviet system.
There's one about the annual celebration at the collective farm. The head of it is telling the workers that things have improved so much on the farm that in five years everyone will have bicycles. They all cheer.
Then the head says, and in 10 years, we'll all have automobiles. More cheers, and louder.
And in 15 years, you'll all have airplanes! Still more cheers, and louder.
Shapiro, the mathematician, raises his hand, and the head calls on him. "What, Sir, says the mathematician, could we possibly need our own airplanes for?
"If the stores in Moscow suddenly have lots of clothes, you can fly to Moscow and be the first in line to stock up!"
Right on, Peter. You got me thinking about an idea that popped into my head the other day.
There is a “deep state” comprised of a significant percentage of people who, like you and me, simply want to do our best to have a positive long-term impact on others. It is specifically because of that that the social system works. And when it works, it restricts the “freedom” of people who only care about themselves. But the “conspiracy” is the natural effect of people remembering the difference between right and wrong, something every human knew on the day they were born.
Our choice is between a virtuous cycle (we think long term because we trust the system, we trust the system to the extent that the system is trustworthy, and the system is trustworthy to the extent that we work together to make it trustworthy) or a vicious cycle (do whatever serves my personal self-interest right now).
Good Morning from here, Peter Burnett. I hear your frustration, but I must push back on your statement quoting Shakespeare : "The evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft interrèd with their bones." He also said (and in my opinion more accurately) “Same play, different actors”. Shakespeare himself disproves your quote. His words live on. His efforts live on. The good he did at exciting the mind, lives on. A group of friends and I had lunch yesterday. We found ourselves on the topic of kind actions people in our lives did that still live within us and continue to shape our lives. The stories were heartfelt, uplifting, and an important reminder that “The good is NOT interrèd with their bones.” The good actions we all make in life are enduringly important. Even if we never get acknowledged or credited.
MLRGRMI, nicely said. Many people helped me growing up and I made it one of my principles to pass that on, especially when I was in education. Sometimes when I feel down, I remind myself how fortunately I have been and how certain individuals gave me support along the way along with insights about the how we should be in this world. Gratitude is the word. And one of the things i feel gratitude for is Heather and so many of you who post here. I have learned much.
Thanks, MLRGRMI, and I hope I have just answered your point in my response to James R. Carey. Nevertheless, I should perhaps have been more careful with words placed in the mouth of Mark Antony... who would have been much concerned with political currency, actions visible.
Meanwhile, I have not the slightest doubt about the truth you were celebrating with your friends. Being an old man now, my parents and their generation have long since departed this world, and so have many of my dear friends and teachers. If anything positive has ever grown up in me, I owe it to their kindness. Yet, as James R. Carey noted and HCR keeps reminding us, this truth goes far, far beyond our contemporaries, to all those throughout history whose radiant influence still touches us—always bearing in mind Lichtenberg’s stricture that “The only trouble with works of real value is that they usually give rise to many other bad or simply mediocre ones”; for people glean whatever crumbs they think will best stuff the sausages they mean to sell to unsuspecting buyers…
I think you overstate the centrality of the US election to Netanyahu. Yes, he wants Tripe, I mean Trump, to win, but he is smart enough to know that there is a very high degree of likelihood that he will have to deal with President Harris. And he knows he’ll have to deal with Biden until January 20th. Finally, he shows little ability to think ahead. All of those will reduce his inclination and opportunity to affect the US election.
The op-ed is more than useful. It's absolutely terrific. This link should be shareable, but I'm not sure. You'll probably have to paste the link into your browser. If it doesn't share, email me, and I'll try again, or I'll email you a copy.
I have come across thinking akin to that which I have expressed here among Israelis, but not so much elsewhere. So I'm keen to examine criticisms and counter-arguments.
In my personal life, I have often found that many friends flattered my failings while the truest friends have been those who knew how and when to play the enemy, showing me what I did not want to see in myself.
With friends like some keen and deeply committed allies, advocates and lobbyists, who needs enemies? This applies to Israel, to Palestine, to any and every entity.
The October Surprise will be the movie, The Apprentice, I expect. Roy Cohn, Frankenstein maker, will show us just how he cobbled this mess of pure hatred together. tgf does not want people to see this dark tale in which his long descent into madness began so long ago. DonOld meets Karma. Her name is Kamala Harris!
You are quite right Julie. We are in for the long haul. Step by step, we proceed into the future. The land of perpetual impermanence. We will survive, and thrive we will in doing so!
Jim -- I'm not so sure, as it will only be playing in theaters (but perhaps it will be reported on by viewers.) Let's hope the October Surprise is the release (even if partial) of Jack Smith's trove of evidence -- although it won't change any minds about the man except for perhaps some undecisededs (why does this word look like a misspelling?). Judge Chutkan, let Jack Bring It!
Gotta ask-what’s going in with the make up? It’s orangier (if that’s even possible) and less expertly applied than before….???????? Another sign of the crazy???
Yes, indeed. If his insane and horrific nonsense wasn't on the news, we could focus on the things that need to be done. Like the big ones. Climate Catastrophe and Democracy Reform.
Limiting our emissions that are the cause. Creating a whole new economy with new sources of energy. Mitigating the effects of fires and floods. Planning withdrawals from vulnerable areas. Restructuring an insurance industry that pays people to rebuild in places destined for destruction. Planning for the inevitable waves of humanity fleeing their homes - where there is no longer potable water or an environment capable of food production.
And taking a fresh look at the flawed elements of our government. A Supreme Court that rules with the values of a minority of bigots. A Senate that allows tiny states to have outsized influence over legislation for the majority. An Electoral College that allows presidents to be elected without majority support - a system that allows a handful of "swing states" to determine the future of the country and the Earth.
There is a lot to do once we cleanse the air and our brains of the Orange Psychopath and his robotic Neo-Nazis.
See the transcript (below) of Applebaum and Pomerantsev’s podcast on the Atlantic website today. They clearly describe the relationship between Trump’s support of dictators and the establishment of a kleptocracy as a bridge to full-on autocracy. Many of these elements are already in place in this country. Here is one of the most insightful quotes in the article”
“…when governments start to act like these self-interested corporations, it doesn’t just make these governments less efficient and less positive for the people; it also leads to a fundamentally different type of government.
I mean, think about it: Once you have people running the country who use it to enrich themselves, then they don’t want to let go of that resource ever again. And they find ways to make sure they, essentially, never leave power. They rig elections. They curtail rights of anyone who wants to challenge them. They want to repress people who ask too many questions about where their money comes from. And then they institute a system of surveillance and control to make sure that repression succeeds.”
I’m concerned that the crazy one in front of the curtain is the distraction for the evil behind the curtain. We are distracted from what’s happening. The millions of climate migrants and tyrant migrants starving and dying because we are too distracted to see the disaster the world is in. As we are told to be afraid because migrants will replace us and ruin our careful delusion.
And we are too distracted to see the global overlords who are playing a game of stealing and controlling the earth’s assets before they run out.
Perhaps I’m just buying into the ‘deep state’ evil. I just don’t trust what I see lurking behind the edges.
Tracy, I sure get it. One of the things that helps me is to take a break (in music, it is called "stagger breathing". I play the tuba, and not infrequently, we are asked to either hold a constant note, or a repeating rhythm for multiple (like 30+ measures). As a section, we stagger breathe; I get to breathe on odd numbers, my section mate breathes on even numbers. The note/rhythm continues even as we take time to breathe. Outside of music, I get that outdoors. I garden, I hike in the woods, and I go to the ocean. I have an imaginary "box" where I put those thoughts, and lock it in the back of the truck. I can open it when I get back to the truck, but until then, those thoughts stay there.
Thank you for your kind words, Ally. I’ve not put this out on social media or told many people at all, but I started taking vocal lessons last March, two weeks before I turned 64 and what do you know I’m a mezzo soprano. My vocal coach went to Juilliard. She has taught hundreds of students of all ages
She said I have one of the most powerful voices she has encountered, more powerful than hers even. I always knew I was good for something.
With all the technological advances and information at our disposal, we could be having a renaissance right now, all of us! Nobody need be hungry or homeless anymore if not for these mad men who only want to cause heartache and destruction in their wake.
Ally, I love this. I am not a musician, but my day is filled with music usually the radio station, All Classical in Portland. Right now they are playing some song that sounds Irish or Scottish. It is Irish. I garden and I used to hike. Ah, the ocean, speaking to us of the rhythms of the universe and life. I also read voraciously and divide my time between mainly mysteries and various nonfiction about my interests, right now the later Tudors. I love the locked box. When I was at the Monroe Institute in Virginia and we did our mental exercises, we started out with ocean sounds and then we imagined a box where we put things that might get in the way of our journey. After reading your post, I might reinstate my box....actually it was a chest and I could always hear it snap shut.
SO many of us feel the same way, Tracy. You have plenty of company. Every day try to focus on one or two things that bring you joy and filter out the rest. Before retirement, I bought grocery store flowers every week and placed them where I'd see them as soon as I walked in the door after work each day. I still do it because they make me smile! My grandchildren's pictures attached to the fridge - bonus smile! The thought of the disinterested, recalcitrant child who suddenly emerged as a teacher's aide the day we released our butterflies, gently coaching the fearful classmates who hesitated to allow one to come to rest on their fingers - my heart soars. Dig into your memories. The good stuff is there and waiting for you!
I’m trying to do that, Pat. This week has been especially trying it seems. I just can’t fathom how so many ordinary people don’t understand what he truly represents. He will wrought only despair and destruction if he gets reelected. Most of his supporters will be the first to go.
Thank you for you encouraging words. Much appreciated.
Hey Tracy Sample, you are not alone. This is a long fight. But a worthy one. That does not make it any easier. But I see Life as about “the-company-you-keep”, and I would rather be us than them. Take a break, and check out if you need to for your own mental health. There are others who are energize, and have the capacity to carry the baton for a length. Peace.
You sound like my husband! Don't worry, only 40 more days until the election and then we'll have our country back! Or maybe begin an exciting new life in a different land.
"Melt down" is a polite way of foreshadowing what we're in for in the coming weeks. As the walls close in, he will lash out with increasing rage and incoherence. He is running to stay out of prison, and the more it looks like he might lose, the more the house of cards on which he has built his life teeters and crumbles, the more rabid his response. May the coming days continue to reveal him for what he is: a sociopathic fraud who, were he not so dangerous, is simply pathetic and trivial. And may the messages of consequence for actions penetrate his violence-prone supporters' consciousness.
My fact checking today didn't include too much of Trump, my Republican liar given a microphone was Kevin D Roberts (President of the Heritage Foundation) who was invited to speak from New York Times reporter David Gelles at the NYT Climate Forward event.
Apparently David Gelles wasn't familiar with Kevin Roberts typical smoke & mirrors disinformation, because, in front of the event crowd, he told the audience that it was the climate agenda (his term)—not the ACTUAL climate change SCIENCE itself—is what should most concern people.
To Roberts, climate wasn’t the REAL issue. Progressive climate policies were. The Inflation Reduction Act, he said, was imposing the will of “elites” onto the American people by forcing a transition to clean energy and electric vehicles.
(“I’m very happy, by the way, in my diesel F-150,” Roberts later joked, “because I enjoy my high carbon lifestyle.”) What an immature embarrassing unprofessional thug Kevin Roberts was, and his game of playing dumb was in extreme bad taste. Who can believe that the Heritage Foundation brags about the "think tank of intellectuals" that wrote up the playbook for Project 2025.
Lets tell Kevin Roberts to pick-up and read John Doerr's book 'Speed and Scale: An Action Plan for Solving Our Climate Crisis Now.' And try telling Swedish environmental activist, Greta Thunberg, who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize every year between 2019 and 2023, what an embarrassment the US has for our Republican party.
Here are my two references where I found the story:
The NYT is going through a crazy, bizarre, right wing period - I wish they gave Trump a modicum of the scrutiny they give Harris. It's become pretty crazy. Here is an excellent interview on the subject with Rebecca Solnit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0ORWJ2RfkU
Pax, it seems the NYT may say in one place that Trump is unfit for office, then invite a climate denier to speak. Everyone already knows the position of climate denial, so presenting an ignoramus is a slap in the face to the readers, but I suspect it brought in some money from someone.
The only place they are doing so is on their Op-Ed page and not as an official NYT editorial. They are using "avatars" to bury that message even as their headline writers obfuscate the facts in the stories they write and the articles they feature. For instance, in the morning "Headlines" email, the opinion piece that "concluded" that CFDT is not fit for office was not in the email as a featured essay. It appears in the Opinion newsletter, but it was buried in the paper.
Pax, as I have written on this thread, they knew what he is and his position on climate, and well, everything else. It is unclear to me if they invited him for their ridiculous false balance agenda or because they wanted his viewpoint blasted out from a respected or should I say, formerly respected news source. Or, maybe it was both.
I live on the southeastern NC coast. Climate change is an everyday consideration in my life. I garden every day. Climate change in the form of two devastating hurricanes a year apart severely damaged my house and took out all of the mature trees in the backyard, about 10. Now in summer, the full sun makes it too hot to be outside. The USDA hardiness zones have been bumped up five degrees. Anyone claiming climate change is a hoax is lying.
I've got a dear friend in Wilmington (she runs "Cape Fear's Going Green" publication). She was visiting her sister (my best friend) here in Eugene this summer, and said just about the same thing.
Meanwhile, on the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia our summer was so temperate my tomatoes were a disappointment and the “normal” summer heat was very short lived.
Kathaleen, now, let's raise our hands if we think the NYT folks really didn't know the position of their "invited guest." I am guessing no one has their hand up because everyone knows even when the NYT screws up, it isn't because they didn't know what they were doing. They clearly have a corporate agenda and wanted to get their guest's views out there without themselves having to state the nonsense. I keep hearing that they really are impartial from various sources, the latest, Maggie Haberman, but I know better just by reading what they are publishing and listening to their people defending the indefensible. Ah well, money can even corrupt a noted newspaper/news service.
Yah, I heard NYT Maggie H. get interviewed on PBS Fresh Air with Dave Davies, and she made her job sound so difficult and *sigh* they’re doing the best they can because theres so many changes. I think the NYT culture is not the quality they used to be. The NYT doesn’t fact check their Election news, and when I read that Kevin Roberts was trying to impress with a cowboy swagger and recklessly behaving like his head has been in the sand for the last 20-years - it’s pathetic.
From yesterday's newsletter: "In 2004 a senior advisor to President George W. Bush famously told journalist Ron Suskind that people like Suskind lived in 'the reality-based community.' They believed people could find solutions to problems through careful study of discernible reality. But, the aide continued, Suskind’s worldview was obsolete."
That doesn't say everything we need to know about the Republican party. The other thing we need to know is that it is killing itself. The only question is the number of innocent victims that already include Brian Sicknick, Amber Nicole Thurman, Candi Miller, their families, their friends, etc.
So typical of the upper class style Republican bubble net that keeps them also safely wrapped & ensconsed in their favorite ongoing assumption of superior self-worth that can make up the rules for everybody else out of their 'kingly' status. Cheap. Lazy.
Paul, I am also concerned that he might be taking some kind of medication that keeps him from dozing off regularly and keeps the craziness flowing from his mouth. Some of the sentences he is saying now almost make sense, but not in context. I am concerned that some people will see them as proof that Trump is really just fine, since they don't really listen to what he is saying anyway; he isn't fine!
The military does authorize some critical people to use certain drugs in critical situations where they have to stay awake. The ones I talked to were advised to test them in a safe environment to see how they individually were affected by them, though most I talked to didn't test them in advance. Some few did finally use them when they had no other choice, as in behind enemy lines, escaping and evading, or long, multi-aerial refueling ferrying flights.
If Trump was actually using them, he certainly wasn't using the stimulants as he sat in court, maybe he was advised to take the opposite type medication to keep him from further incriminating himself.
Big buck right wing media made him a god. Can it be that the more he acts like the pathetic phony his is, the more he becomes one? You can always fool some of the people all of the time, but I think that more are starting to notice.
JL Did you see the survey of "evangelical preachers" that showed his support among this group has dropped from 68% to 61%. There could be several reasons for this, but one may be because their flocks are shrinking because people are tired of hearing the same old BS at church all the time.
Not in my world, JL. I posted on a friend's pro-fpotus Facebook post "better a prosecutor than a convict." All I've gotten is cries of "weaponized prosecution" and "she sounds like a prosecutor summing up a bad case". No, they are doubling down on the crazy. These were both former cops, by the way...
So typical of the upper class style Republican bubble net that keeps them also safely wrapped & ensconsed in their favorite ongoing assumption of superior self-worth that can make up the rules for everybody else out of their 'kingly' status. Cheap. Lazy.
Paul, that's the ticket to our winning the election- that the "messages of consequence for actions penetrate his violence-prone supporters' consciousness."
I've been waiting for that to happen for eight years. Thank goodness some have come to their senses, but he still commands crowds of cheering, laughing, clapping people who wear tshirts with F___ Biden, and tshirts of the flag with Trump's face plastered on it.🙈
Trump says he "doesn't know the situation" about Robinson. Who, in their right mind, believes that?
Well, we saw in NC yesterday the folks who DO believe everything he says. That is so frightening to me.
The people I have tried to convince otherwise will not listen to anything but praise for him.🙉
What's sadder and more frightening is that Trump "doesn't know the situation" on anything of importance. Who could possibly want a person of his disgraceful character as president of our United States.
When you realize how tRump has gotten away with so much fraud and crimes that there just might be his comeuppance soon. All of his claims that the system is rigged against him as he tries to convince his base that he is a victim. His whole MO is based on what he has learned and has practiced his entire adult life he learned from Roy Cohn like he is Roy Cohn's incarnation.
Lessons learned and faithfully practiced:
#1: All publicity is good regardless of how negative it is.
#2: When attacked attack back harder. When sued counter sue for more.
His TV ads are increasingly nasty attacks on kaMAla with distorted paste-ins of her giggling while someone reports that she is uninformed and dangerous.
Heather has been saying this for the past 6 years. Trump is unraveling, Trump is floundering, Trump’s supporters are dwindling. At the same time she claims Biden is sharp as a tack still. Reality check- Trump's numbers and base are stronger than ever, and Biden is in obvious cognitive decline. We can deny the reality, love Kamala’s and Joe’s team who are truly running the show, but let’s not play pretend. Even Trump’s voters admit they would not have him for dinner, but like his policies better. Neither Joe nor Kamala can articulate a coherent thought. For two different reasons, but none the less it’s true and we all see it. Keep Kamala and Walz away from live interviews and tough press question like was done with Joe and perhaps we can get them over the finish line.
The grotesque details of this person selling bibles, sneakers and now watches. Imagine any other presidential candidate doing this, plus talking of a giant faucet somewhere in Canada, that it takes almost a day to turn, plus all the rest. If America can an elect this person again then it has truly lost its collective mind.
Sounds good but the problem is states that have agreed to it can change. To me, it needs Constitutional Amendment backing, just as the ERA does to ensure the rights of Women can't be denied state by state.
While we're at it, make sure Citizens United is abolished forever by Constitutional Amendment that no corrupted Supreme Court can overturn.
National popular vote compact is going to be the easiest way to fix this. Interesting that the blue states are the ones that have ratified it. They're willing to let their peoples votes be counted.
The goal of this HGA is to educate Americans about Steve Bannon’s “precinct strategy” and to encourage Americans to check their voter registration, register and vote!
A serial rapist's projection. His vision of the United States as a hellscape is a reflection of his own mind and body. His inability to look inward results in a mirror where he sees only failure and rot in front of him.
If only the media would report how many Democrats, Republicans, and Independents make up North Carolina’s list of purged voters. Want to bet Democrats comprise the largest percentage?
Youtube is my go to for honest up to date journalism. Once you find one, the others pop up. I am not as focused on the election because that is hardly a difficult mystery to me.
But, the "war" is a massive study for this Lit. major.
Judge Andrew Napolitano..John Mearsheimer, Palestinian journalists, Katie Halper, Israelis: Norman Finkelstein, ILan Pappe, Gideon Levy....
Yesterday, I was surprised to the see the NY Times article about Israel's bulldozing of Palestinian properties in the West Bank. And, the comments which were the opposite of what I have seen since Oct 7 where the main theme was uninformed "Israel protecting its self" bull.
Michael, I suspect in addition, most of those voters are people of color too, then a chunk are young voters. Republicans all over this country know they have nothing positive to offer anyone, so are going the route of cheating, lying, and disinformation. It's too bad so many people have been primed to accept that cheating, lying, and disinforming as normal and acceptable. We all have to do better in trying to keep our citizens from falling into cults that rob them of thought and the will to challenge anything.
IF it's a fact, not pure rubbish, that those who were purged had not voted in the past two federal elections, then they never voted for Trump. Either moved or dead in the head.
Have any of the purged voters taken measures to be reinstated? Was the only criteria they had not voted in the last two federal elections? What are or can the Dems do ?
In Florida, statewide we lost close to a million Democrats. 84,000 in my county. We are trying to re-register them. The drop dead date is October 7. We also lose many more vote by mail Democrats because after 2 years they are dropped. FT6, Movement Labs, DNC try to register as many as possible.
I'm wondering how many of them are dead or no longer live in NC like Mark Meadows and his wife.
I'm not trying to defend voter purges, but I have voted in 10 states. (Yes, legally).
When moving away from a state, we have never notified the election board that we no longer reside there so they remove us from their roles. We are a very nomadic society as a whole.
Sure, 30 something percent of us has never left the state they were born in, but that means that 60 something percent have.
Of course, there are some shenanigans that go on with these purges, but without reviewing every case, how can we know?
We did make sure to cancel our registration in California, and update the address from the time we stayed with my daughter's family (while waiting to move into our permanent home when the seller's new home was ready to move into).
We also check our registration status multiple times before primaries and general elections to make sure no one has changed them like what happened before the 2016 California Primary (suspected Russian allied hackers trying to cause distrust in primaries more than the general election).
All of the “good” news in today’s letter was overshadowed by the last section. I don’t think we’ll be able to grasp the coordinated efforts by Magites to suppress and intimidate voters in important states until well after November 5th.
There is no attempt to win the election by Trump. His mission is to throw it into chaos so that it becomes impossible to declare a victor. Almost 10% of registered voters were removed in North Carolina. That is huge!
I am a dedicated postcard writer. There must already be a postcard (and text, and phonebank) campaign to reach all of these purged voters to let them know that they need to re-register. Does anyone know of such a campaign?
I know Daily Kos and other outlets have postcard campaigns to encourage voters to vote for Democratic candidates, other sites stress for voters to check their registrations, but I don’t know if there is a postcard or phone bank to do this. It’s an excellent idea to help encourage Democratic voters, however.
It’s really hard for me to grasp what’s going on in this very last section… why is there a glimmer of hope for tfg ? Can all those purged discarded beings go and register today ? Or before the election is over??? How to get the news out in ALL THE 50 STATES that everyone must verify they are indeed registered to vote in this November 5th election?? Thanks 🙏
At Trump's press conferences and rallies, we desperately need the equivalent of the young boy who loudly said "Mommy... the Emperor has no clothes on!"
Trump's "firehose of lies" needs to be exposed by the mainstream press... not just "reported". Stenographic journalism is killing democracy.
Reading about Trump watches made me picture in my mind the people wearing coats with many inside pockets each containing a fake Rolex or some other pricey watch. I'm sure that Trump watches are correct, at least twice every 24 hours.
You might need to be my age (76) to get this: Now that Trump is hawking watches, we can speak once again about some people not being able “to tell sh*t from Shinola.”
OK, I grew up with the "you don't know shit from shinola" phrase that was very, very common in my family growing up. That they've taken the name and rebranded it is probably making my Dad laugh so freaking hard that the afterlife is caught in an infectious laugh.
He's trying to turn his minions into walking billboards/ads for MAGA. Look at the red hats. Say what you will, it has been one of his rare successes. "Time" will tell about the watches.
I am cautiously optimistic and hopeful about the small (?) victories Dr. Richardson reported in this newsletter and truly appreciate the research & reporting. But we still have over a month before election day. Any & every small act will help. Offer to help neighbors register or drive them to election sites. Engage young (18+) family members in conversation about the importance of voting. We can do this, but not without continuing work.
I’m so glad that there will be no shutdown until after the election.
Heather, thank you for highlighting the purging of voter rolls right before this election. Each of us needs to remind friends and families to check their voter registration at vote.gov.
A bad day for Trump is a good day for democracy. We need to stay focused on making November 5th another bad day for the orange-haired weirdo and his puppet masters.
in an OpEd in The NY Times, GEN Stanley McChrystal, USA (Ret) endorsed the Harris-Walz ticket. I hope that is the catalyst for a permission structure for more 4-star Generals & Admirals to speak their minds.
It was a very well written opinion piece. I placed it on my Facebook page as a gift article. I ,also, hope other retired military men will publicly support her.
Can someone please clarify. When a state removes a person from the registered voter list (especially when this is in error), is the person allowed to vote when they show up in person? Will their vote get counted? If the person is not allowed to vote, do they sue and win the case?
Each state is different, and it depends on what your board of elections wants to accomplish - if they want to support voting, they help people file a provisional ballot, or take emergency legal action to re-register, (at least in PA); but if the board wants to suppress the vote, then they would tell the voter they can’t vote, (which also happens in PA).
I registered this year in PA. Huge mistake, except they need Dems. I was voting from CO. for the past 15 years and it was SO easy and online. I am grappling at this moment to get the ballot printed and delivered via a daughter this weekend when she returns to the States. I have to wonder if they are trying to purge dumb people. Tomorrow I call PA.
Pennsylvania’s election systems are archaic and not voter-friendly.
In 2018, after mounting pressure to fix the heavily gerrymandered district maps, the R legislature passed a law that voters could vote by mail without needing an excuse. FF 2 years, and a full 1/3 of PA voters wanted mail-in ballots. Then, after Trump lost PA, the same legislators wanted EVERY MAIL IN BALLOT DISQUALIFIED, because they claimed their new law went against the PA constitution. Good times.
My daughter votes from Canada. I know that she gets her ballot mailed to her, but, as an American living abroad, she can still vote from anywhere she is registered.
Oregon went to that "no excuse" mail in ballot some time ago. It proved to be so popular that we are now a "vote by mail" state. Our fraud percentage over time is less than .2% over the past nearly 40 years.
Clay Higgins. Andy Biggs. J.D. Vance. Tucker Carlson. Paul Gosar. Frank Robinson.
The fat orange felon has plenty of company from fellow racists cursing our legal immigrants. Plenty of MAGA see white America as endangered, mortally so from black, brown, and other colors.
But they learned this, they learned to think abstracted, categorically – from schools where elites push batteries of instruments that always stress the rule of a-b-c-d categories, where three items cohere and one stands as outlier.
Students learn to spot the one that doesn’t properly belong to the proper group.
They do not learn novels, histories, memoirs, and other arts to see and prize individuals. They do not learn to see life as nuanced, complicated, multi-layered, and resonant with subordinate clauses, echoes, and parallels.
We have racism rampaging for the same reason Netanyahu’s far-right settlers push war by ever stealing more West Bank land, insulting more Palestinians. For the same reason Putin and his oligarchs invaded Georgia in 2008, Crimea in 2014, Ukraine in 2022.
“They” will always lie, steal, and murder if they’ve gone to schools absent humanities but ruled instead by those pushing their categorical conceits only.
Looking at the path of Helene, it made me think of the families in Gaza, running from one crappy "home" to another, only to fear or face more bombing. I am sure they would LOVE to be in a nice wet windy town to be saved by Uncle Sam as soon as the storm passes.
Sad to say, Judith, but the U.S. has but one commitment in Israel/Palestine.
It's to keep the far-right Israeli settlers happy. Keep them well-armed. Support the Netanyahu pogroms across the West Bank so the Palestinians keep getting indignities, roadblocks, continuously more land stolen from them.
Zero effort by the U.S. that regional schools try to do some good. As I said just above here, the U.S. totally approves of schools that continue the spirals of categorizing. Group think continues. Stereotyping continues. Tribalism continues. Throw in arms from Iran, arms from Russia, arms from the U.S. and we're guaranteed those additions to the already dehumanized logic crippling all schools.
At least several million U.S. evangelicals are happy -- our schools and governments together all committed to goading on The Rapture.
I have studied the horrible Israel/Palestine thing and continue and I know this is true. I don't even want to know what those several million U.S. evangelicals are about. I consider it to be despicable. Do they REALLY think Jesus approves their message?
Remember, Judith, they all go to schools with no humanities.
Of course the humane which was in Jesus no longer applies -- at least not to people who (by the tens of millions) learn only formulae, abstractions, and group think.
Governments have ignored Jesus' peaceable messages almost from the get go, but esp once enabled by being given legal standing in the world's almost mightiest empire. Anyway, the NT is also full of "we are the only right" ones and the rest be damned.
Thank you, Phil. I might add that in those schools they also do not learn to think critically, nor are they ever exposed to any other schools of thought. No wonder they are so one-dimensional.
Good lord. I just hope I live long enough for my brain to be a Trump-free zone.
Just over a month to go and he continues to spiral down like the Tasmanian Devil! Maybe this October Surprise will be a full babbling breakdown broadcast live as the sweat pours down and the Secret Service steps aside for the guys with the white coats “coming to take him away(haha)”!
Maureen, I hope your version of an October surprise is closer to the truth than the fear I’ve been harboring, namely, as a consequence of our failure to leverage aid to Israel to secure policy changes, including a ceasefire, that Netanyahu, who wants to see Trump reinstated, invades Lebanon, striking a blow, to say the least, to Democratic leadership.
To expand a bit, I’ve observed, while initially Harris was granted the benefit of the doubt as to her connection to Biden policy, more recently, at a time when the election expectantly will be decided by a point or two in a handful of battleground states, Harris is increasingly viewed as much closer to Biden on Middle East policy. Accordingly, I will be writing the Harris campaign urging it as quickly as possible and as much as possible to draw a distinction.
In October, the Apprentice will be available in theaters only, across the US.
The Trump campaign has tried unsuccessfully to prevent this "documentary" from airing in the US. So much for freedom and the 1st amendment rights the MAGAs are always accusing the Democrats of ignoring.
Reminds me of the Citizens United "documentary " about Hilary Clinton the extreme court used to make the apocalyptic decision by that name.
I loath what the Republican Party has become.
Frontline on PBS had its biographies of Trump and Harris on Tuesday. Worth seeing. Only two hours, so much about Trump’s presidency had to be summarized rather than given full exposure.
Barbara, there’s a reason why “I am not in control” is Step One of the twelve-step program, a reason for the serenity prayer, a reason why Abraham Lincoln said, “with public sentiment, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed,” and it’s all the same reason.
Fortunately, the Harris-Walz campaign is influenced by public sentiment. Otherwise, it would be incompetent and lose. But American public sentiment is a limiting factor in what any American politician can accomplish. Unfortunately, we all have to face the fact that that sentiment is so fractured at this point in history.
To me, the right thing is to get the American house in order first, and then the Harris-Walz administration will have a much greater moral influence over the actions of governments in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Right. The last thing we need is division.
Harris's loyalty to President Biden stifles her ability to voice her dislike and mistrust of Netanyahu. I strongly believe that she will stand with Israel but NOT Netanyahu.
The most vocal and well informed anti Zionist sentiment & protesters are Jewish. They seem to accept Israel but not its practices since 1947 of violence, displacement, oppression, ethnic cleansing, and expansion. Amy Goodman, Democracy Now, whose maternal grandmother was from Ukraine and maternal grandfather was a rabbi reports everyday with various on the ground experts about the conditions around the world influencing and prolonging the violence in the Middle East which affects us here in the U.S. Ilan Pappe and Avi Shlaim, both Israeli historians, among many others have dedicated their lives to educating us. Palestinian American Rashida Tlaib, U.S. House representative from Michigan criticized Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (Jewish) for prosecuting more severely University of Michigan students who held pro Palestinian demonstrations. Many of the protesters were Jewish. Jews supporting a cease fire and a permanent resolution to the mistreatment of Palestinians to achieve a safe & peaceful Israel & Palestine are hidden from view, silenced or treated as criminals.
Nessel and other unconditionally pro Israel leaders & press spread statements and memes that were Islamophobic claiming that Tlaib said Nessel is Jewish, that Tlaib is antisemitic, and that she associates with terrorists. According to a Michigan news reporter who first reported Tlaib’s criticism of Nessel, said that she never mentioned Nessel being Jewish, and that she was caught up in the standard Israel trope that “every support of Palestinian right to life or criticism of Israeli policy & military action” is antisemitism. This is typical authoritarianism. We see this with Putin, Trump and more than just Netanyahu. We see this in 75+ years of Israeli leadership when we read the Israeli & Jewish historians who know the facts, unlike most Americans, politicians & academics who spread Israeli propaganda.
G*d forbid!!!!
Since 2016, we should all have been investing in the manufacture of straitjackets. Including one Supersize item in gold lamé...
Maureen, what I just wrote was in response to your comment, but -- like Putin -- monomaniac Netanyahu will do his damnedest to ride to fellow-madman Trump's rescue.
This must be incomprehensible to most honest, upright simple-minded witnesses, but this idiot Netanyahu, with his ultra-extremist sidekicks, is the tool of his far-sighted and terrible foe, doing exactly what Sinwar et al both expected of him and wanted. The fool would burn the whole world rather than face Israeli justice for his relatively venial crimes of corruption and influence peddling. No enemy, no antiSemite could ever inflict lasting damage on his people comparable to his current actions. Trapped in a vicious situation, he is sowing perennial dragon's teeth, recruiting merciless enemy armies, making strategic errors worse than the worst the human mind could conceive of.
*
If you can make no sense of what I have just written, I sympathize, I understand. These horrors are so hard for us to get our minds around.
Who, after all, could ever have imagined that Nazism and Fascism, defeated in 1945, would be resurrected in the most unimaginable places today? And in the cheapest, most criminal form... Even in Moscow, even in America.
The vilest most dreadful aspect of extreme evil is how it defiles not only its poor victims but even the minds of witnesses, even the victims' posterity.
And, like the Holy Inquisition, like the Nazi leaders, these men -- and all too often we too -- suffer from the immense delusion that by destroying men's bodies one destroys the ideas -- evil or good -- that they represent.
On the contrary, on the contrary, this empowers a continuum of evil. "The evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft interrèd with their bones."
Peter, in a recent conversation with friends we came to the same conclusion about Netanyahu, although we were not so eloquent. Well said.
The only one I disagree with is Shakespeare. The good we do does live after us. We are the beneficiaries of the good done by previous generations, and future generations will be the beneficiaries of the good done by this generation.
I'm with you, James.
Only, the good, too, may disappear underground for a while, re-emerging when needed.
Groundwater in fact provides an excellent metaphor for our innate power... despite the tainting of so many wells.
When I was a kid, I thought that the phrase about visiting the sins of the fathers onto the children told of a cruel deity.
In time, I came to see that it simply describes a natural reality... An aspect of our shadow.
Incidentally, one dangerously pernicious weakness of our western societies that places us at a severe disadvantage in relation to the most fanatical Islamists, is our weak sense of time. In strategic terms, our feet of clay.
How to compete with those whose actions are planned for their effects in the very long term, when one's horizon is quarterly returns?
There must surely be men and women with a deeper understanding of issues, in academe, in the State Department, even in the Pentagon and the armed forces...
Nevertheless, one thing that struck me, working in a highly political environment, was, from the mid-1980s onward, finding a better-grounded sense of realities among marginal people, kooks and taxi drivers.
*
One example, a Saxon friend's description of a 1986 visit to relatives in Communist East Germany was so clear -- especially talks with an engineer running a factory -- that it was plain the regime was a dead man walking.
And I who'd thought Germans could make any system work -- even Communist central planning -- foresaw then the impending collapse of the Soviet empire...
If Germans couldn't make it work, Russians certainly could not. We then forgot about all this until it happened...
But...
But... right up till the very last moment well-established boneheads with an interest in the status quo were obstructing initiatives like trucking supplies to the Solidarnosc strikers in Gdansk...
And who, among our experts, our great and good, saw what was coming? We all tend to see only what we want to see, only what our personal or professional tunnel vision enables us to see.
*
Curious now how Putin, who saw the collapse of the Soviet Bloc as the tragedy of the 20th century, is busy reinstating all the rot that brought the empire down...
Another all-powerful idiot.
There were a few conservative specialists in the Soviet economy who foresaw USSR's collapse--I think Marshall Goldman and Richard Pipes were among them, and I think my father, a liberal specialist in the Soviet economy was not surprised. There were a lot of "Russian Jokes" he liked to tell that played on the weaknesses of the Soviet system.
There's one about the annual celebration at the collective farm. The head of it is telling the workers that things have improved so much on the farm that in five years everyone will have bicycles. They all cheer.
Then the head says, and in 10 years, we'll all have automobiles. More cheers, and louder.
And in 15 years, you'll all have airplanes! Still more cheers, and louder.
Shapiro, the mathematician, raises his hand, and the head calls on him. "What, Sir, says the mathematician, could we possibly need our own airplanes for?
"If the stores in Moscow suddenly have lots of clothes, you can fly to Moscow and be the first in line to stock up!"
Right on, Peter. You got me thinking about an idea that popped into my head the other day.
There is a “deep state” comprised of a significant percentage of people who, like you and me, simply want to do our best to have a positive long-term impact on others. It is specifically because of that that the social system works. And when it works, it restricts the “freedom” of people who only care about themselves. But the “conspiracy” is the natural effect of people remembering the difference between right and wrong, something every human knew on the day they were born.
Our choice is between a virtuous cycle (we think long term because we trust the system, we trust the system to the extent that the system is trustworthy, and the system is trustworthy to the extent that we work together to make it trustworthy) or a vicious cycle (do whatever serves my personal self-interest right now).
Good Morning from here, Peter Burnett. I hear your frustration, but I must push back on your statement quoting Shakespeare : "The evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft interrèd with their bones." He also said (and in my opinion more accurately) “Same play, different actors”. Shakespeare himself disproves your quote. His words live on. His efforts live on. The good he did at exciting the mind, lives on. A group of friends and I had lunch yesterday. We found ourselves on the topic of kind actions people in our lives did that still live within us and continue to shape our lives. The stories were heartfelt, uplifting, and an important reminder that “The good is NOT interrèd with their bones.” The good actions we all make in life are enduringly important. Even if we never get acknowledged or credited.
MLRGRMI, nicely said. Many people helped me growing up and I made it one of my principles to pass that on, especially when I was in education. Sometimes when I feel down, I remind myself how fortunately I have been and how certain individuals gave me support along the way along with insights about the how we should be in this world. Gratitude is the word. And one of the things i feel gratitude for is Heather and so many of you who post here. I have learned much.
Thanks, MLRGRMI, and I hope I have just answered your point in my response to James R. Carey. Nevertheless, I should perhaps have been more careful with words placed in the mouth of Mark Antony... who would have been much concerned with political currency, actions visible.
Meanwhile, I have not the slightest doubt about the truth you were celebrating with your friends. Being an old man now, my parents and their generation have long since departed this world, and so have many of my dear friends and teachers. If anything positive has ever grown up in me, I owe it to their kindness. Yet, as James R. Carey noted and HCR keeps reminding us, this truth goes far, far beyond our contemporaries, to all those throughout history whose radiant influence still touches us—always bearing in mind Lichtenberg’s stricture that “The only trouble with works of real value is that they usually give rise to many other bad or simply mediocre ones”; for people glean whatever crumbs they think will best stuff the sausages they mean to sell to unsuspecting buyers…
Sounds like a lovely lunch.
I think you overstate the centrality of the US election to Netanyahu. Yes, he wants Tripe, I mean Trump, to win, but he is smart enough to know that there is a very high degree of likelihood that he will have to deal with President Harris. And he knows he’ll have to deal with Biden until January 20th. Finally, he shows little ability to think ahead. All of those will reduce his inclination and opportunity to affect the US election.
He can react but shows little ability to think.
Thomas Friedman s oped in the NYT yesterday is useful.
The op-ed is more than useful. It's absolutely terrific. This link should be shareable, but I'm not sure. You'll probably have to paste the link into your browser. If it doesn't share, email me, and I'll try again, or I'll email you a copy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/25/opinion/israel-hezbollah-hamas.html
Replying to Peter Burnett above.
I have come across thinking akin to that which I have expressed here among Israelis, but not so much elsewhere. So I'm keen to examine criticisms and counter-arguments.
In my personal life, I have often found that many friends flattered my failings while the truest friends have been those who knew how and when to play the enemy, showing me what I did not want to see in myself.
With friends like some keen and deeply committed allies, advocates and lobbyists, who needs enemies? This applies to Israel, to Palestine, to any and every entity.
The October Surprise will be the movie, The Apprentice, I expect. Roy Cohn, Frankenstein maker, will show us just how he cobbled this mess of pure hatred together. tgf does not want people to see this dark tale in which his long descent into madness began so long ago. DonOld meets Karma. Her name is Kamala Harris!
I wish it were that easy. This isn’t individual combat. MAGA will not just say never mind and disappear.
Exactly. The howling of MAGA will only grow louder, no matter who wins. Is there any plan for safely certifying THIS election?
You are quite right Julie. We are in for the long haul. Step by step, we proceed into the future. The land of perpetual impermanence. We will survive, and thrive we will in doing so!
Jim -- I'm not so sure, as it will only be playing in theaters (but perhaps it will be reported on by viewers.) Let's hope the October Surprise is the release (even if partial) of Jack Smith's trove of evidence -- although it won't change any minds about the man except for perhaps some undecisededs (why does this word look like a misspelling?). Judge Chutkan, let Jack Bring It!
Gotta ask-what’s going in with the make up? It’s orangier (if that’s even possible) and less expertly applied than before….???????? Another sign of the crazy???
Such manly make-up. His hair is more normal than usual, though.
Have courage. As the yard sign says, Voting Prevents Unwanted Presidencies.
An interesting piece says sexist attitudes predict voting for Trump, even more than racism does. It shows a great ad, Be a Man, Vote for a Woman.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/series/young-men-and-the-election
Where can I get that yard sign?
😝
("They're coming to take me away ha ha...."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xRCbdFrSSc
Maybe Melania will have an October surprise for us in her soon to be released book!
Yes, indeed. If his insane and horrific nonsense wasn't on the news, we could focus on the things that need to be done. Like the big ones. Climate Catastrophe and Democracy Reform.
Limiting our emissions that are the cause. Creating a whole new economy with new sources of energy. Mitigating the effects of fires and floods. Planning withdrawals from vulnerable areas. Restructuring an insurance industry that pays people to rebuild in places destined for destruction. Planning for the inevitable waves of humanity fleeing their homes - where there is no longer potable water or an environment capable of food production.
And taking a fresh look at the flawed elements of our government. A Supreme Court that rules with the values of a minority of bigots. A Senate that allows tiny states to have outsized influence over legislation for the majority. An Electoral College that allows presidents to be elected without majority support - a system that allows a handful of "swing states" to determine the future of the country and the Earth.
There is a lot to do once we cleanse the air and our brains of the Orange Psychopath and his robotic Neo-Nazis.
See the transcript (below) of Applebaum and Pomerantsev’s podcast on the Atlantic website today. They clearly describe the relationship between Trump’s support of dictators and the establishment of a kleptocracy as a bridge to full-on autocracy. Many of these elements are already in place in this country. Here is one of the most insightful quotes in the article”
“…when governments start to act like these self-interested corporations, it doesn’t just make these governments less efficient and less positive for the people; it also leads to a fundamentally different type of government.
I mean, think about it: Once you have people running the country who use it to enrich themselves, then they don’t want to let go of that resource ever again. And they find ways to make sure they, essentially, never leave power. They rig elections. They curtail rights of anyone who wants to challenge them. They want to repress people who ask too many questions about where their money comes from. And then they institute a system of surveillance and control to make sure that repression succeeds.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2024/09/kleptocracy-club/680022/
I’m concerned that the crazy one in front of the curtain is the distraction for the evil behind the curtain. We are distracted from what’s happening. The millions of climate migrants and tyrant migrants starving and dying because we are too distracted to see the disaster the world is in. As we are told to be afraid because migrants will replace us and ruin our careful delusion.
And we are too distracted to see the global overlords who are playing a game of stealing and controlling the earth’s assets before they run out.
Perhaps I’m just buying into the ‘deep state’ evil. I just don’t trust what I see lurking behind the edges.
Trump is in front of the curtain and the 2025 people, including Vance, are behind the curtain.
Well said, Bill.
I’m in!
I'm so over this crap. It's affecting my entire life. I can barely focus at work and I'm always angry it feels like.
Tracy, I sure get it. One of the things that helps me is to take a break (in music, it is called "stagger breathing". I play the tuba, and not infrequently, we are asked to either hold a constant note, or a repeating rhythm for multiple (like 30+ measures). As a section, we stagger breathe; I get to breathe on odd numbers, my section mate breathes on even numbers. The note/rhythm continues even as we take time to breathe. Outside of music, I get that outdoors. I garden, I hike in the woods, and I go to the ocean. I have an imaginary "box" where I put those thoughts, and lock it in the back of the truck. I can open it when I get back to the truck, but until then, those thoughts stay there.
Thank you for your kind words, Ally. I’ve not put this out on social media or told many people at all, but I started taking vocal lessons last March, two weeks before I turned 64 and what do you know I’m a mezzo soprano. My vocal coach went to Juilliard. She has taught hundreds of students of all ages
She said I have one of the most powerful voices she has encountered, more powerful than hers even. I always knew I was good for something.
With all the technological advances and information at our disposal, we could be having a renaissance right now, all of us! Nobody need be hungry or homeless anymore if not for these mad men who only want to cause heartache and destruction in their wake.
It’s grieves me so.
Interesting , I never thought of how you have to breathe playing tuba.
I have enough trouble with a tenor recorder.
Jen, I also have a tenor recorder. I really, really have to adjust my airflow else I overblow constantly.
Ally, I love this. I am not a musician, but my day is filled with music usually the radio station, All Classical in Portland. Right now they are playing some song that sounds Irish or Scottish. It is Irish. I garden and I used to hike. Ah, the ocean, speaking to us of the rhythms of the universe and life. I also read voraciously and divide my time between mainly mysteries and various nonfiction about my interests, right now the later Tudors. I love the locked box. When I was at the Monroe Institute in Virginia and we did our mental exercises, we started out with ocean sounds and then we imagined a box where we put things that might get in the way of our journey. After reading your post, I might reinstate my box....actually it was a chest and I could always hear it snap shut.
Beautiful strategy for coping. Thank you Ally.
You offer powerfully good good medicine Ally. Kudos to you!
Lovely! Music!!!
Tracy...You are not alone. I hope you know this and it helps you to relax a little.
We'll get through this. Inhale Exhale
If I may quote Jimmy Buffett: Breathe in, breathe out, move on.
I truly hope that you are correct
SO many of us feel the same way, Tracy. You have plenty of company. Every day try to focus on one or two things that bring you joy and filter out the rest. Before retirement, I bought grocery store flowers every week and placed them where I'd see them as soon as I walked in the door after work each day. I still do it because they make me smile! My grandchildren's pictures attached to the fridge - bonus smile! The thought of the disinterested, recalcitrant child who suddenly emerged as a teacher's aide the day we released our butterflies, gently coaching the fearful classmates who hesitated to allow one to come to rest on their fingers - my heart soars. Dig into your memories. The good stuff is there and waiting for you!
I’m trying to do that, Pat. This week has been especially trying it seems. I just can’t fathom how so many ordinary people don’t understand what he truly represents. He will wrought only despair and destruction if he gets reelected. Most of his supporters will be the first to go.
Thank you for you encouraging words. Much appreciated.
Hey Tracy Sample, you are not alone. This is a long fight. But a worthy one. That does not make it any easier. But I see Life as about “the-company-you-keep”, and I would rather be us than them. Take a break, and check out if you need to for your own mental health. There are others who are energize, and have the capacity to carry the baton for a length. Peace.
You sound like my husband! Don't worry, only 40 more days until the election and then we'll have our country back! Or maybe begin an exciting new life in a different land.
me too...I'm so tired of him
Drown him in a blue tsunami.
https://www.mobilize.us/ft6/
Me too! What will we do with all those brain cells that we will have after his GONE?!
Absolutely! Every time HCR adds to the Indicted One's litany of lies, it still seems incredulous.
Incredible
From your lips .....
Amen!
Amen! And I can't wait for the day when I can open a news source that's free of his name and/or picture.
Nero. By the time our great grandchildren crack world history, favorable comparisons between Trump and Nero will be commonplace.
You aren't alone in your thinking!
"Melt down" is a polite way of foreshadowing what we're in for in the coming weeks. As the walls close in, he will lash out with increasing rage and incoherence. He is running to stay out of prison, and the more it looks like he might lose, the more the house of cards on which he has built his life teeters and crumbles, the more rabid his response. May the coming days continue to reveal him for what he is: a sociopathic fraud who, were he not so dangerous, is simply pathetic and trivial. And may the messages of consequence for actions penetrate his violence-prone supporters' consciousness.
My fact checking today didn't include too much of Trump, my Republican liar given a microphone was Kevin D Roberts (President of the Heritage Foundation) who was invited to speak from New York Times reporter David Gelles at the NYT Climate Forward event.
Apparently David Gelles wasn't familiar with Kevin Roberts typical smoke & mirrors disinformation, because, in front of the event crowd, he told the audience that it was the climate agenda (his term)—not the ACTUAL climate change SCIENCE itself—is what should most concern people.
To Roberts, climate wasn’t the REAL issue. Progressive climate policies were. The Inflation Reduction Act, he said, was imposing the will of “elites” onto the American people by forcing a transition to clean energy and electric vehicles.
(“I’m very happy, by the way, in my diesel F-150,” Roberts later joked, “because I enjoy my high carbon lifestyle.”) What an immature embarrassing unprofessional thug Kevin Roberts was, and his game of playing dumb was in extreme bad taste. Who can believe that the Heritage Foundation brags about the "think tank of intellectuals" that wrote up the playbook for Project 2025.
Lets tell Kevin Roberts to pick-up and read John Doerr's book 'Speed and Scale: An Action Plan for Solving Our Climate Crisis Now.' And try telling Swedish environmental activist, Greta Thunberg, who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize every year between 2019 and 2023, what an embarrassment the US has for our Republican party.
Here are my two references where I found the story:
Mother Jones - https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2024/09/project-2025-kevin-roberts-climate-ira/.
and
Inside Climate News - https://insideclimatenews.org/news/26092024/activists-disrupt-occidental-petroleum-interview-at-new-york-times-climate-event/
I thought the NYT was out of its damn mind to invite him in the first place! Was there any kind of push back? Fact check, maybe?
The NYT is going through a crazy, bizarre, right wing period - I wish they gave Trump a modicum of the scrutiny they give Harris. It's become pretty crazy. Here is an excellent interview on the subject with Rebecca Solnit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0ORWJ2RfkU
Well, but didn't they just post "Trump is unfit to be president"?
Pax, it seems the NYT may say in one place that Trump is unfit for office, then invite a climate denier to speak. Everyone already knows the position of climate denial, so presenting an ignoramus is a slap in the face to the readers, but I suspect it brought in some money from someone.
The only place they are doing so is on their Op-Ed page and not as an official NYT editorial. They are using "avatars" to bury that message even as their headline writers obfuscate the facts in the stories they write and the articles they feature. For instance, in the morning "Headlines" email, the opinion piece that "concluded" that CFDT is not fit for office was not in the email as a featured essay. It appears in the Opinion newsletter, but it was buried in the paper.
Pax, as I have written on this thread, they knew what he is and his position on climate, and well, everything else. It is unclear to me if they invited him for their ridiculous false balance agenda or because they wanted his viewpoint blasted out from a respected or should I say, formerly respected news source. Or, maybe it was both.
I did think, reading the articles, that maybe they wanted to expose him....it kind of worked, maybe.
I pasted the links to both articles (with my comment)
Yes! And I did read them! Thanks!
I live on the southeastern NC coast. Climate change is an everyday consideration in my life. I garden every day. Climate change in the form of two devastating hurricanes a year apart severely damaged my house and took out all of the mature trees in the backyard, about 10. Now in summer, the full sun makes it too hot to be outside. The USDA hardiness zones have been bumped up five degrees. Anyone claiming climate change is a hoax is lying.
Please try to stay safe, a big one is coming your way.
I've got a dear friend in Wilmington (she runs "Cape Fear's Going Green" publication). She was visiting her sister (my best friend) here in Eugene this summer, and said just about the same thing.
Meanwhile, on the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia our summer was so temperate my tomatoes were a disappointment and the “normal” summer heat was very short lived.
Kathaleen, now, let's raise our hands if we think the NYT folks really didn't know the position of their "invited guest." I am guessing no one has their hand up because everyone knows even when the NYT screws up, it isn't because they didn't know what they were doing. They clearly have a corporate agenda and wanted to get their guest's views out there without themselves having to state the nonsense. I keep hearing that they really are impartial from various sources, the latest, Maggie Haberman, but I know better just by reading what they are publishing and listening to their people defending the indefensible. Ah well, money can even corrupt a noted newspaper/news service.
Yah, I heard NYT Maggie H. get interviewed on PBS Fresh Air with Dave Davies, and she made her job sound so difficult and *sigh* they’re doing the best they can because theres so many changes. I think the NYT culture is not the quality they used to be. The NYT doesn’t fact check their Election news, and when I read that Kevin Roberts was trying to impress with a cowboy swagger and recklessly behaving like his head has been in the sand for the last 20-years - it’s pathetic.
I would change CAN to HAS!
And Kevin Robert's outsized ego led to his thinking that the electorate would embrace Project 2025.
From yesterday's newsletter: "In 2004 a senior advisor to President George W. Bush famously told journalist Ron Suskind that people like Suskind lived in 'the reality-based community.' They believed people could find solutions to problems through careful study of discernible reality. But, the aide continued, Suskind’s worldview was obsolete."
That doesn't say everything we need to know about the Republican party. The other thing we need to know is that it is killing itself. The only question is the number of innocent victims that already include Brian Sicknick, Amber Nicole Thurman, Candi Miller, their families, their friends, etc.
So typical of the upper class style Republican bubble net that keeps them also safely wrapped & ensconsed in their favorite ongoing assumption of superior self-worth that can make up the rules for everybody else out of their 'kingly' status. Cheap. Lazy.
Boring. Stupid. Quite obviously heartless.
Immature thugs need to be seen to be believed, by the people who aren’t paying attention.
Paul, I am also concerned that he might be taking some kind of medication that keeps him from dozing off regularly and keeps the craziness flowing from his mouth. Some of the sentences he is saying now almost make sense, but not in context. I am concerned that some people will see them as proof that Trump is really just fine, since they don't really listen to what he is saying anyway; he isn't fine!
Adderall. I’m not a medical professional by any means, but there’s been evidence of his misuse of this medication for years. https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-63163/adderall-oral/details
The military does authorize some critical people to use certain drugs in critical situations where they have to stay awake. The ones I talked to were advised to test them in a safe environment to see how they individually were affected by them, though most I talked to didn't test them in advance. Some few did finally use them when they had no other choice, as in behind enemy lines, escaping and evading, or long, multi-aerial refueling ferrying flights.
See https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240314-the-drug-pilots-take-to-stay-awake
If Trump was actually using them, he certainly wasn't using the stimulants as he sat in court, maybe he was advised to take the opposite type medication to keep him from further incriminating himself.
Derek, doesn't Adderall have some challenging side effects, particularly if you don't really need it?
According to the American Addiction Centers:
"Other serious side effects of Adderall misuse include:
Anxiety.
Tremors.
Insomnia.
Hostility.
Psychosis. "
Whoda thunk it...
Ally, that is interesting, all symptoms he has at least in part. I suspect we will never know what/if Trump is using.
Adderall is a methampletamine analog and would explain this. He's reputed to have been on it for years.
At his age, it most definitely can cause aberrant behavior,
So could his life experience. And his tiny fists.
😜
Big buck right wing media made him a god. Can it be that the more he acts like the pathetic phony his is, the more he becomes one? You can always fool some of the people all of the time, but I think that more are starting to notice.
JL Did you see the survey of "evangelical preachers" that showed his support among this group has dropped from 68% to 61%. There could be several reasons for this, but one may be because their flocks are shrinking because people are tired of hearing the same old BS at church all the time.
https://www.christianpost.com/news/evangelicals-for-harris-spends-over-1m-on-billy-graham-ad.html
Holy moly!!
Maybe the 7% drop is due to the ones now incarcerated and no longer available for polling.
🙏🏼. It would be lovely if the MAGats finally recognize the true “elites” on their golden thrones.
Not in my world, JL. I posted on a friend's pro-fpotus Facebook post "better a prosecutor than a convict." All I've gotten is cries of "weaponized prosecution" and "she sounds like a prosecutor summing up a bad case". No, they are doubling down on the crazy. These were both former cops, by the way...
I see it too Ally. Some are in full meltdown, with the whole “immigrant are criminals living off taxpayers” nonsense in full swing.
So typical of the upper class style Republican bubble net that keeps them also safely wrapped & ensconsed in their favorite ongoing assumption of superior self-worth that can make up the rules for everybody else out of their 'kingly' status. Cheap. Lazy.
Boring. Quite obviously heartless.
Amen to that, Paul!
I fear there may be a run on strawberries as he hurtles precipitously toward his Captain Queeg moment
Movie or book goes on my to-do list after Dr Fauci’s book. The audio version is great.
Not sure which is the best way to do that. I was a "book then movie" and it really worked well for me.
The MAGAs are coming for your Ketchup.
There won’t be enough ketchup for Trump to throw at the wall during one of his tantrums!
Paul, that's the ticket to our winning the election- that the "messages of consequence for actions penetrate his violence-prone supporters' consciousness."
I've been waiting for that to happen for eight years. Thank goodness some have come to their senses, but he still commands crowds of cheering, laughing, clapping people who wear tshirts with F___ Biden, and tshirts of the flag with Trump's face plastered on it.🙈
Trump says he "doesn't know the situation" about Robinson. Who, in their right mind, believes that?
Well, we saw in NC yesterday the folks who DO believe everything he says. That is so frightening to me.
The people I have tried to convince otherwise will not listen to anything but praise for him.🙉
What's sadder and more frightening is that Trump "doesn't know the situation" on anything of importance. Who could possibly want a person of his disgraceful character as president of our United States.
Therein lies the problem. Many do.
When you realize how tRump has gotten away with so much fraud and crimes that there just might be his comeuppance soon. All of his claims that the system is rigged against him as he tries to convince his base that he is a victim. His whole MO is based on what he has learned and has practiced his entire adult life he learned from Roy Cohn like he is Roy Cohn's incarnation.
Lessons learned and faithfully practiced:
#1: All publicity is good regardless of how negative it is.
#2: When attacked attack back harder. When sued counter sue for more.
#3: NEVER apologize.
#4: Whatever happens claim victory.
#5: You do not have to believe what you say.
Indeed…well said, Paul.
Forced myself to watch that "speech" and press conference yesterday. Barely coherent and the body language and his monotone showed alot of breakdown.
His TV ads are increasingly nasty attacks on kaMAla with distorted paste-ins of her giggling while someone reports that she is uninformed and dangerous.
Heather has been saying this for the past 6 years. Trump is unraveling, Trump is floundering, Trump’s supporters are dwindling. At the same time she claims Biden is sharp as a tack still. Reality check- Trump's numbers and base are stronger than ever, and Biden is in obvious cognitive decline. We can deny the reality, love Kamala’s and Joe’s team who are truly running the show, but let’s not play pretend. Even Trump’s voters admit they would not have him for dinner, but like his policies better. Neither Joe nor Kamala can articulate a coherent thought. For two different reasons, but none the less it’s true and we all see it. Keep Kamala and Walz away from live interviews and tough press question like was done with Joe and perhaps we can get them over the finish line.
The grotesque details of this person selling bibles, sneakers and now watches. Imagine any other presidential candidate doing this, plus talking of a giant faucet somewhere in Canada, that it takes almost a day to turn, plus all the rest. If America can an elect this person again then it has truly lost its collective mind.
US voters lost their minds when nearly half of them voted for the elderbush’s nitwit son. A vote for Trump is full-on crazy, not to mention vicious.
I love the name of George Conway's Anti-Psychopath PAC. It's so appropriate.
To add: vindictive, malicious, and inhuman.
He is SO low class.
Trump is the epitome of tackiness and a creature guided by his id.
What? I just ordered my $100K Trump watch and your saying it might be tacky?
I wonder how many people have a $100K credit limit on their credit cards. /S
I wonder how many malign foreign actors suddenly need new watches.
Trump is a heckuva diplomat. Very "presidential". He claimed J. Trudeau is Castro's son. The PM was not amused.
That's OK. It's a sign of Justin doing something right.
Trump is ridiculous! The only people he wants as allies are the dictators he envies and admires.
The fault is with the Electoral College. I look to the National park vote interstate compact https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Popular_Vote_Interstate_Compact
Sorry, I’m on my cell phone and typing is mighty hard. Dagnabbit!
Sounds good but the problem is states that have agreed to it can change. To me, it needs Constitutional Amendment backing, just as the ERA does to ensure the rights of Women can't be denied state by state.
While we're at it, make sure Citizens United is abolished forever by Constitutional Amendment that no corrupted Supreme Court can overturn.
National popular vote compact is going to be the easiest way to fix this. Interesting that the blue states are the ones that have ratified it. They're willing to let their peoples votes be counted.
I have been working with Melbourne, Australia based, TheJuiceMedia,
on their latest Honest Government Ad (HGA) TRUMP2024 (Stop the Steal). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHuMjIhS6t0
The goal of this HGA is to educate Americans about Steve Bannon’s “precinct strategy” and to encourage Americans to check their voter registration, register and vote!
My, oh, my...
That is quite the ad.
The R "plan" laid out ... genius! Profanity appropriate 👏
Quite brilliant!!❤️💙🥳
Thank you, Jason!
That ad is the approach that is needed.
Wow!
"a number of horrific rapes committed by immigrants:
Pretty rich coming from the convicted rapist.
A serial rapist's projection. His vision of the United States as a hellscape is a reflection of his own mind and body. His inability to look inward results in a mirror where he sees only failure and rot in front of him.
Trump would make of a real hellscape if he gets back in, which is why we must keep him out.
If only the media would report how many Democrats, Republicans, and Independents make up North Carolina’s list of purged voters. Want to bet Democrats comprise the largest percentage?
Meidastouch,.....IHIPNEWS......StephanieMiller.........these heros are devoting their lives to save American democracy. F-mainstream media.
Youtube is my go to for honest up to date journalism. Once you find one, the others pop up. I am not as focused on the election because that is hardly a difficult mystery to me.
But, the "war" is a massive study for this Lit. major.
Judge Andrew Napolitano..John Mearsheimer, Palestinian journalists, Katie Halper, Israelis: Norman Finkelstein, ILan Pappe, Gideon Levy....
Yesterday, I was surprised to the see the NY Times article about Israel's bulldozing of Palestinian properties in the West Bank. And, the comments which were the opposite of what I have seen since Oct 7 where the main theme was uninformed "Israel protecting its self" bull.
Trump would deport Palestinians........
https://www.reuters.com/world/netanyahu-denies-report-he-spoke-trump-about-gaza-talks-2024-08-15/
Michael, I suspect in addition, most of those voters are people of color too, then a chunk are young voters. Republicans all over this country know they have nothing positive to offer anyone, so are going the route of cheating, lying, and disinformation. It's too bad so many people have been primed to accept that cheating, lying, and disinforming as normal and acceptable. We all have to do better in trying to keep our citizens from falling into cults that rob them of thought and the will to challenge anything.
IF it's a fact, not pure rubbish, that those who were purged had not voted in the past two federal elections, then they never voted for Trump. Either moved or dead in the head.
My guess is it was focused demographically.
Have any of the purged voters taken measures to be reinstated? Was the only criteria they had not voted in the last two federal elections? What are or can the Dems do ?
In Florida, statewide we lost close to a million Democrats. 84,000 in my county. We are trying to re-register them. The drop dead date is October 7. We also lose many more vote by mail Democrats because after 2 years they are dropped. FT6, Movement Labs, DNC try to register as many as possible.
Same in many other states. Electronically. https://voterizer.org/
There are a few states where no electronical registrations are permitted, like Montana.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/about-us
You can sign up with NAACP to write postcards to those voters who have been purged
and give them the web site (VOTERIZER>COM)where they can register .
I looked up the registration deadline in NC. It’s Oct. 11th. Hope these people learn about this and re-register.
I'm wondering how many of them are dead or no longer live in NC like Mark Meadows and his wife.
I'm not trying to defend voter purges, but I have voted in 10 states. (Yes, legally).
When moving away from a state, we have never notified the election board that we no longer reside there so they remove us from their roles. We are a very nomadic society as a whole.
Sure, 30 something percent of us has never left the state they were born in, but that means that 60 something percent have.
Of course, there are some shenanigans that go on with these purges, but without reviewing every case, how can we know?
Red states, plus my purple Virginia left the system that managed voter information, ERIC, saying it was it was biased to liberals. https://www.npr.org/2023/05/11/1175662382/virginia-eric-withdrawal
We did make sure to cancel our registration in California, and update the address from the time we stayed with my daughter's family (while waiting to move into our permanent home when the seller's new home was ready to move into).
We also check our registration status multiple times before primaries and general elections to make sure no one has changed them like what happened before the 2016 California Primary (suspected Russian allied hackers trying to cause distrust in primaries more than the general election).
Heather Cox Richardson thank you. The idea of the slipping hold of MAGA is heartening Professor ⭐
All of the “good” news in today’s letter was overshadowed by the last section. I don’t think we’ll be able to grasp the coordinated efforts by Magites to suppress and intimidate voters in important states until well after November 5th.
There is no attempt to win the election by Trump. His mission is to throw it into chaos so that it becomes impossible to declare a victor. Almost 10% of registered voters were removed in North Carolina. That is huge!
I am a dedicated postcard writer. There must already be a postcard (and text, and phonebank) campaign to reach all of these purged voters to let them know that they need to re-register. Does anyone know of such a campaign?
l just posted the web site VOTERIZER.ORG.
I know Daily Kos and other outlets have postcard campaigns to encourage voters to vote for Democratic candidates, other sites stress for voters to check their registrations, but I don’t know if there is a postcard or phone bank to do this. It’s an excellent idea to help encourage Democratic voters, however.
It’s really hard for me to grasp what’s going on in this very last section… why is there a glimmer of hope for tfg ? Can all those purged discarded beings go and register today ? Or before the election is over??? How to get the news out in ALL THE 50 STATES that everyone must verify they are indeed registered to vote in this November 5th election?? Thanks 🙏
Given the 2 anti democratic decisions from the SCOTUS, Project 25 has already begun. There are strong forces behind this "election". Screw the voters.
Huge it is for sure, Herb.
It needs to be made a "thing" of. It's a knife in the back of democracy.
At Trump's press conferences and rallies, we desperately need the equivalent of the young boy who loudly said "Mommy... the Emperor has no clothes on!"
Trump's "firehose of lies" needs to be exposed by the mainstream press... not just "reported". Stenographic journalism is killing democracy.
Democracy really does die in darkness. Perhaps even in too much twinight. Criminals rate the searchlights. "Hat's off" to those who illuminate.
According to Robert Hubbell’s Substack this AM, the NYT did mention T💩p’s ‘press conference’ in unflattering terms.
https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/not-proposals-for-peace-instead-proposals
Every.Single.Day
Reading about Trump watches made me picture in my mind the people wearing coats with many inside pockets each containing a fake Rolex or some other pricey watch. I'm sure that Trump watches are correct, at least twice every 24 hours.
You might need to be my age (76) to get this: Now that Trump is hawking watches, we can speak once again about some people not being able “to tell sh*t from Shinola.”
https://www.shinola.com
Why heavens, honey, it sure ain't shoe-shine no mo!
No shit, man!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinola_(retail_company)
OK, I grew up with the "you don't know shit from shinola" phrase that was very, very common in my family growing up. That they've taken the name and rebranded it is probably making my Dad laugh so freaking hard that the afterlife is caught in an infectious laugh.
Steve Martin’s character in The Jerk learned the difference from his daddy just before leaving home to make his fortune. Just in time, I guess.
Here’s the clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv-HiGT8dyE
Actually, a pretty cool watch, but for a conversation piece, the price in pesos: $64,200 ($3,566usd) is ridiculous.
I wouldn't count on it. Accuracy was never TFG's forte.
He's trying to turn his minions into walking billboards/ads for MAGA. Look at the red hats. Say what you will, it has been one of his rare successes. "Time" will tell about the watches.
lol
I am cautiously optimistic and hopeful about the small (?) victories Dr. Richardson reported in this newsletter and truly appreciate the research & reporting. But we still have over a month before election day. Any & every small act will help. Offer to help neighbors register or drive them to election sites. Engage young (18+) family members in conversation about the importance of voting. We can do this, but not without continuing work.
If I may add: don't let off the gas and coast. This is a marathon, and we're getting to the wall. Push through and kick to the finish!
I’m so glad that there will be no shutdown until after the election.
Heather, thank you for highlighting the purging of voter rolls right before this election. Each of us needs to remind friends and families to check their voter registration at vote.gov.
I just did check my registration using your link, it worked flawlessly, including listing all of my options for early voting. 👍👍💥
A bad day for Trump is a good day for democracy. We need to stay focused on making November 5th another bad day for the orange-haired weirdo and his puppet masters.
in an OpEd in The NY Times, GEN Stanley McChrystal, USA (Ret) endorsed the Harris-Walz ticket. I hope that is the catalyst for a permission structure for more 4-star Generals & Admirals to speak their minds.
It was a very well written opinion piece. I placed it on my Facebook page as a gift article. I ,also, hope other retired military men will publicly support her.
We know why is it that ONLY the retired risk endorsing Trump.
active duty military can't speak out on politics. it's the law, and their oath.
Can someone please clarify. When a state removes a person from the registered voter list (especially when this is in error), is the person allowed to vote when they show up in person? Will their vote get counted? If the person is not allowed to vote, do they sue and win the case?
Each state is different, and it depends on what your board of elections wants to accomplish - if they want to support voting, they help people file a provisional ballot, or take emergency legal action to re-register, (at least in PA); but if the board wants to suppress the vote, then they would tell the voter they can’t vote, (which also happens in PA).
I registered this year in PA. Huge mistake, except they need Dems. I was voting from CO. for the past 15 years and it was SO easy and online. I am grappling at this moment to get the ballot printed and delivered via a daughter this weekend when she returns to the States. I have to wonder if they are trying to purge dumb people. Tomorrow I call PA.
Pennsylvania’s election systems are archaic and not voter-friendly.
In 2018, after mounting pressure to fix the heavily gerrymandered district maps, the R legislature passed a law that voters could vote by mail without needing an excuse. FF 2 years, and a full 1/3 of PA voters wanted mail-in ballots. Then, after Trump lost PA, the same legislators wanted EVERY MAIL IN BALLOT DISQUALIFIED, because they claimed their new law went against the PA constitution. Good times.
My daughter votes from Canada. I know that she gets her ballot mailed to her, but, as an American living abroad, she can still vote from anywhere she is registered.
Oregon went to that "no excuse" mail in ballot some time ago. It proved to be so popular that we are now a "vote by mail" state. Our fraud percentage over time is less than .2% over the past nearly 40 years.
Clay Higgins. Andy Biggs. J.D. Vance. Tucker Carlson. Paul Gosar. Frank Robinson.
The fat orange felon has plenty of company from fellow racists cursing our legal immigrants. Plenty of MAGA see white America as endangered, mortally so from black, brown, and other colors.
But they learned this, they learned to think abstracted, categorically – from schools where elites push batteries of instruments that always stress the rule of a-b-c-d categories, where three items cohere and one stands as outlier.
Students learn to spot the one that doesn’t properly belong to the proper group.
They do not learn novels, histories, memoirs, and other arts to see and prize individuals. They do not learn to see life as nuanced, complicated, multi-layered, and resonant with subordinate clauses, echoes, and parallels.
We have racism rampaging for the same reason Netanyahu’s far-right settlers push war by ever stealing more West Bank land, insulting more Palestinians. For the same reason Putin and his oligarchs invaded Georgia in 2008, Crimea in 2014, Ukraine in 2022.
“They” will always lie, steal, and murder if they’ve gone to schools absent humanities but ruled instead by those pushing their categorical conceits only.
Looking at the path of Helene, it made me think of the families in Gaza, running from one crappy "home" to another, only to fear or face more bombing. I am sure they would LOVE to be in a nice wet windy town to be saved by Uncle Sam as soon as the storm passes.
Sad to say, Judith, but the U.S. has but one commitment in Israel/Palestine.
It's to keep the far-right Israeli settlers happy. Keep them well-armed. Support the Netanyahu pogroms across the West Bank so the Palestinians keep getting indignities, roadblocks, continuously more land stolen from them.
Zero effort by the U.S. that regional schools try to do some good. As I said just above here, the U.S. totally approves of schools that continue the spirals of categorizing. Group think continues. Stereotyping continues. Tribalism continues. Throw in arms from Iran, arms from Russia, arms from the U.S. and we're guaranteed those additions to the already dehumanized logic crippling all schools.
At least several million U.S. evangelicals are happy -- our schools and governments together all committed to goading on The Rapture.
I have studied the horrible Israel/Palestine thing and continue and I know this is true. I don't even want to know what those several million U.S. evangelicals are about. I consider it to be despicable. Do they REALLY think Jesus approves their message?
Remember, Judith, they all go to schools with no humanities.
Of course the humane which was in Jesus no longer applies -- at least not to people who (by the tens of millions) learn only formulae, abstractions, and group think.
Governments have ignored Jesus' peaceable messages almost from the get go, but esp once enabled by being given legal standing in the world's almost mightiest empire. Anyway, the NT is also full of "we are the only right" ones and the rest be damned.
Thank you, Phil. I might add that in those schools they also do not learn to think critically, nor are they ever exposed to any other schools of thought. No wonder they are so one-dimensional.