Late Friday night, Tennessee House Republican Caucus chair Jeremy Faison posted “President Biden has finally approved [Tennessee governor Bill Lee’s] state of emergency request,” making it sound as if the delay in federal support for the state during the devastation of Hurricane Helene was Biden’s fault.
I often wish that sub stack gave us different or at least multiple options of response. That is, I love that you keep us informed, I hate almost all of what truth demands that you report. The “almost” is highlighting the work of FEMA and other government response teams. Their heroic efforts in dangerous situations cannot be adequately described.
On September 15, 2024, Connie Millard of Missouri died. She had been deployed with MO Taskforce 1, the first FEMA team deployed to the World Trade Center on 9/11. She was a canine specialist in SAR. She and her dog and the rest of their team spent 11 days crawling—literally— through the rubble, seeking survivors at first, and then later bringing out body parts to help with identification for closure for the victims’ families. Connie and her subsequent dogs (she trained six dogs to live finds and cadaver work at the highest certification in disaster response) went on many more missions, including response to NOLA after hurricane Katrina and CT after hurricane Sandy. There are now only 3 surviving members of the FEMA heroes who were at the WTC.. Take a moment to salute them, please.
Hey wait a blessed minute; Don’t any of you guys get any sleep? 💤 This was posted at 3:30. Of course if you are on the west coast, it was 12:30.
Brief Observations:
1. When southern white women are interviewed about politics, one can usually predict a MAGA supporter if she is overweight and uses a southern vernacular.
2. Perhaps one of the dirtiest things in the world is a toilet handle especially in public lavatories. I never hand touch them. I wrap toilet paper around them to flush. But what is dirtier than a toilet handle? A MAGA politician especially Don-old slurring-voiced Trump.
3. On a personal level, when men enter a lavatory, to a person, they walk over to the urinals to go pee pee. Their dirty hands then touch what normally would be the most pristine part of their bodies. Not I. I go to the sink and wash my hands first. Think about it. Either way,I would never shake hands with a republican.
Trump pleaded with Russia during the 2016 election to hack the campaign records and emails of Hillary Clinton. On July 27, 2016, he cried:
"Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 missing emails."
On July 15, 2018, the dictator Putin and wannabe dictator Trump sit down for a summit in Helsinki, Finland. No scribes were allowed in the room, but someone has now revealed the conversation.
And so it came to pass that Russia hacked the accounts of Hillary Clinton and democratic operatives. Both Trump and Russia were amply rewarded for this act of treachery. Trump became the first president in history elected by a Russian dictator. And Russia, the longtime enemy of Western democratic tradition, became a new investment partner and mentor to tired old Uncle Sam, who lords over a disquieted tribe of manic-depressive, freedom-loving, patriotic simpletons formerly known as Americans.
Trump: "Vlad, thank you for helping me with the new Trump Moscow Hotel. Everyone thinks that we are exchanging international secrets!"
Putin: "Donald, you dog, you know how to throw them off pony trail. In Moscow, we have Russian mafia to pay off. They demand special favors."
Trump: "It will be a tremendous hotel, unlike anything seen before. Ok Vlad, let's go to the press conference and talk about dismantling NATO. No one will ever guess what this meeting was really about. We're gonna make a lot of money on it."
Trump: “Oh, and Vlad, is that old shower scandal forgotten?”
Thank you Kem for your report on Connie Millard and her K9 partners. These flash reports of real people doing their duties with dedication and loyalty to the people they serve - such a wonderful antidote to the self-serving lies and spins and equivocations offered by politicians safely holed up with their PR minions.
Thank you KEM for informing us of the sacrifices made by the FEMA team at the Wirkd Trade Center. That team as well as those who have responded to other disasters, are unsung heroes.
Thank you, KEM for your work in remembering Connie. We had s/heros here in Ohio back then from our Task Force One. Most went on to other work, like Connie, and their daily police and fire, and FEMA jobs. I’m literally crying, because here we are talking about the antithesis of them. The fat, old, big pores clown who dupes and disrespects so many. Let’s all, PLEASE, work to save humankind from these monsters our parents thought they had defeated and banished via WW II.
Write postcards, get going door to door if able. Spread the hope and joy of Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, and our beloved American Democracy. Remember FDR-We have nothing to fear, but fear itself!
Oh, Kem, thank you for telling us about Connie Millard from Missouri and her very special dogs. I had forgotten about the crawling through rubble part of their heroic work in New York City, in a completely different state. May her family and friends find some comfort during a tender time that I think must be lasting forever for them.
I just posted my first comment, and was amazed to see that somebody else named Kem is already posting. Since our's is such an unusual name, I'm wondering who you are. I am Kem Phillips from Cavendish Vermont. Thanks
As a practicing witch I can tell you that every time a Christian lights a candle that’s witchcraft. Every time a Christian chants a prayer that’s witchcraft. So mote it be.
Asking the Universe to suspend it's rules of operation "just this once" because they're frightened and unhappy sounds more like irrationl superstition on their part.
“Pray, v. To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a single petitioner, confessedly unworthy.” — Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary
Well, just the same, I wouldn't be surprised if there hasn't been a lot of community support coming from church organizations on a practical basis, and regardless, I'm sure those with chain saws etc are very busy helping clear trees and debris.
The quintessential "American", the most religious among the OECD I would hazard. Nonetheless religious decline broadly continues in the USA, and Lance aced that with his comments how American has been mostly "stolen" by "woke" at al. This seems to have made Evangelicals esp more fervent in their faith than ever, esp now that they've swamped into politics in such a big way.
Andra Watkins: Why Is a White Guy Calling Harris a "Jezebel?"
“To the Christian Nationalist in the video, Kamala Harris is a Jezebel, or wicked woman, BECAUSE she seeks the kind of power and authority he thinks women should not want or have. Calling her Jezebel is their insinuation that a powerful woman will lead good people (read: white men) astray.”
Clearly, "these are the times that try men's souls." - Thomas Paine. How in the hell did we arrive at this juncture? We could blame our schools in failing adequately to teach critical thinking skills and civics. The "Christian crusade" in this country has been going on for at least forty years with the advent of charter schools, designed to separate the races and infuse religion into the curricula. We're paying the price for this neglect.
There were the lies Vance spread about Springfield, Ohio, of course, attacking the legal Haitian immigrants there who have been credited with revitalizing the city. On Friday and Saturday, Trump lied that Vice President Harris had let 13,000 or 14,000 convicted murderers enter the U.S. in the past three years, who “freely and openly roam our country,” a lie that Elon Musk called “true.”
“ On Saturday, Vance spoke at an event hosted by right-wing extremist evangelical leader Lance Wallnau, a member of the New Apostolic Reformation movement that seeks to end the separation of church and state and put the United States under religious rule.”
It feels a lot to me like an American version of the radical Muslim dogma. I think we all know how well that has worked out in the Middle East.
Thank you Heather for continuing to keep your subscribers informed.
Early this morning, at 3:59 AM Eastern, Forbes has reported 30 deaths in North Carolina's Buncombe County ... "where the mountain city of Asheville became isolated after facing historic flooding".
The city of Asheville NC is is a popular retirement area for folks from many states that benefits from a strong community.
" . . . an American version of the radical Muslim dogma," Gary?
Aren't you leaving out the 670,000 Israeli far-right settlers busily (and illegally) stealing land in the West Bank, insulting Palestinians, putting up roadblocks to harass them?
Let's remember, Steve, that the U.S. only pushes more arms, more arms.
Nothing in regard to education or schools.
Just equip them (and only one side) with bombs, rockets, gunships, more bombs, other explosives, incendiary devices, jet fighters, tanks, self-propelled howitzers, troop carriers, more bombs, automatic weapons, more bombs, more bombs.
And, again (and again and again) nothing for schools. No programs at all for teaching youth to see others on the other side as individuals. Only keep the schools in all the usual idiot standardized testing mode, which only reinforces all the thinking in categories, feeding more reliance on group think only, on packaging others to their groups and oldest hoariest stereotypes.
Ahhhh, the predictable joys in U.S.-taxpayer paid-for repetitions of expenses-be-damned murder, crippled schools, more murder, more destruction of civilian life, more idiot vulgarity.
Get more about Wallnau from this Wikipedia. Gobsmacking, but if I'd been paying attention.... my mind is usually very much elsewhere trying to maintain a humane secular outlook in my life. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/articles/Lance_Wallnau
The early Christians were an extremist apocalyptic Jewish movement which took their message to the pagans when most Jews turned their back on them. The quote from Timothy was part of a widespread patriarchal view in the ancient world.
We have been warned that the last days of the campaign would be turbulent driven by anger and lies. Trump and Vance are delivering both every day. It’s an extraordinary time in our history that we here hope will end well. The alternative to Harris/Walz is so scary yet still millions of his minions believe everything they say. It’s also extraordinary that these two put so much effort into their disinformation. If this were a movie instead of real life, they’d win an Oscar for sure!!
These Republican Lies should not Surprise Anyone... The GOP now puts Party Loyalty above Country.... Ideology Over Reason... Reminds me of the Russian Bolsheviks of 1917... The Scary Thing is that DJT could Melt-Down into an Orange Puddle, and DJT would still get at least 50,000,000 Votes... JD as President after DJT gets 'Carted-Away'? The Horror has no Description...
To compare Trump and the current crop of MAGAt minions to the Bolsheviks of 1917 is pretty insulting and shows a fair ignorance of history. It is true that the ensuing history of communism in the Soviet Union in the later 20th century didn't go well, but the Bolsheviks of the Revolution were fighting against the czarist tyranny in support of a better Russia. In that respect they were more like those of us who are terrified of a return of Trump to power, a man who loves the idea of dictatorship in the US. Sadly as often happens, men like Stalin later came to power and created their own form of dictatorship which ultimately led to the down fall of the Soviet Union. But to suggest that the Bolsheviks of 1917 were anything like the modern day Trump GOP is a real misrepresentation of what they tried to do in Czarist Russia. My great uncle was part of that Revolution and he said it was the best thing that happened to Russia even if the later rise of tyrannical Soviet rule killed the idealism and hope of the Revolution.
Hold the phone Jon Rosen. I’m well read on the topic and once took a Russian history course taught by a former Hungarian general in the failed revolution of 1957. The Bolsheviks were a smaller tight knit extremist group that overthrew the moderate Mensvicks who had taken power after overthrowing Czarist Russia. Lenin might have guided them better but he soon died and his crazed Stalin took over and sowed the seeds to ruination and much destroyed of Russians.
From I understand their game plan, the target is to stymie state certifications so the president is picked by the house. However, the senate picks the VP. Potentially a Trump/Harris White House. At least she would stand in the path of Mike Johnson!
Well it would be a Trump/Walz executive IF the Senate chose the VP BUT only if the Democrats hold the Senate which is still highly unlikely. Not impossible if Texas and/or Florida revolt against their current GOP domination and beat either Ted Cruz or Rick Scott (or both!). But without at least one of those seats the Gop will hold the majority of the Senate after this election because the Dems will lose both West Virginia (Manchin's seat) and Montana (Tester's seat) and there are no easy pickups from the GOP.
My point about Walz is that the Senate picks the VP from the VP candidates. Harris is not running for VP this election. She is running for President. And that vote takes place in the House by STATE and the GOP holds s 26-23 majority of the House delegations with one state split evenly.
Last polls I saw show Tester behind by 8 pts. That is far outside the margin of error. I don't know what you are using as a reference but my sources tend to be pretty good. But I sure hope you are right because losing the Senate is not good even if Harris wins.
Ah, you are right! So the swearing in of the new crew is the 3d and certification the 6th, if I am not mistaken. In that case, I think we have a better chance of taking the house. It could be visa versa.
But a House Vote for President under the 12th amendment is by STATE delegation (1 vote per state) NOT by individual congresscritters. So even if Dems "take" the House by raw votes, the state delegations will still likely be 26-23 GOP with one state a tie. So Trump would still win in the House.
So the House picks Trump, and the Senate chooses Walz as VP, who goes on to invoke the 25th Amendment against Trump, thus giving himself the Presidency.
President Walz. It has a certain ring to it, doesn't it?
Sharon, I also wonder at “ It’s also extraordinary that these two put so much effort into their disinformation.” It leads me always to want to follow the money to reveal the real story. The Firehose of lies to “flood the zone” is so transparently calculated that it no longer surprises me. “Shame” left the building a long time ago for gop politics. It’s a full-on fascist assault on democracy now. It’s their hail-mary pass in the face of the Dems stronger performance. Even in spite of trump’s calls for violence and bloodbaths, we are stronger because we’ve seen this strategy before. Same old tired playbook. And most importantly: WE are different. So many more are active and understanding what is at stake. Yet, I still know I need to do all I can for these last days before Nov. 5.
MLRGRMI, you’re right—WE are different. We are paying attention to the destruction of norms and no longer look at both parties as essentially equal in their adherence to rules and norms. We are each active according to what we are capable of doing.
I love the idea of Red, Wine and Blue to contact 5 Blue friends to make sure that they are registered and vote. Have each of them contact 5 friends who will contact five friends. The influence will spread exponentially. It’s one of those small things that can have big consequences.
I LOVE your passion and yes we need to do all those things but don't delude yourself. In fact there are only a few swing states that matter and if the y manage to block certification in even a few states, the election week be so close it will go into the House. And Harris will NOT win in the House because the GOP leads delegations 26-23. It's not good news at all.
The lies never stop. The thirst to control and dominate others and persecute those who disagree with them never stops. Their hypocritical claims of providing for constituents when they actually voted against said measures never stops. Trump is sick and sad, but Vance is a true fascist disciple. Please vote.
And while still recovering in Florida from Hurricane Ian (two years ago Saturday), I can only imagine the devastation our brothers and sisters to the north are experiencing. We live in Florida-we know the risks. Those up north would not. For those who can, please contribute to reputable organizations who can support those impacted. Thank goodness for President Biden, for FEMA, for NOAA, and all the other incredible agencies and information services that helped in the immediate aftermath. Please also be aware that Governors like Desantis allow insurance companies to run unchecked, causing additional pain and heartache with their corruption. There needs to be oversight so that needs are met. Only Democrats are willing to do that. We need our VP to lead us into this next chapter. Yes, we KAM!
Insurance is a HUGE problem for Florida residents. Insurance companies simply leave the state because the risks are so great. All my kids and grandkids are in Florida, and we have a place there, so we pay those high rates.
Trump is ramping up the crazy because he’s realizing that his old shtick is getting old and wearing thin with his base. And he’s found a compliant sycophant to magnify and amplify his lies.
Now that he’s had four years to plant his foot soldiers, we can expect him to mobilize them and assault the electoral process in a way that will make J6 look like a training exercise.
Trump and Vance have gone beyond just telling tall tales. They now are not only admitting to it, they are bragging about it and justifying them as needed to destroy the old order.
In short, they are revolutionaries calling for an overthrow of the American government! God help us!
Worse, I truly believe Vance & friends are planning to “Amendment 25” thump after the election & intern him in an “Old Folks Home for the Senile” & make Vance president.
If this seems unreal watch The Sixth, a documentary . It is so frightening to see these rabid animals who will stop at nothing at Trumps behest. A few of them are incarcerated,but the vast majority are out there among us ready to raise him to power. It’s the stuff of nightmares.
The Atlantic had a good article (Oct 24 issue-paywall) about some of these people moving into the neighborhood of the journalist.
These people still believe they did nothing wrong. Sadly the ones that were/are in prison were in prison with other Jan 6ers, reinforcing their beliefs.
I’m still completely flabbergasted that these people a) lie so openly, clearly and brazenly, and b) they even get away with iit, legally as well as socially. The media happily copy and paste these lies. Is that then “freedom of speech”?
Do you have a plan that might work? Most of these people live in states where the majority believe this nonsense. So it will be hard if not impossible to "vote them out". I'll help if you actually have a plan and not just a slogan.
Sure. Campaign and all that means. Then vote and early. We won’t get rid of all of them and certainly not all at once but we can win slowly but surely if we work at it.
write "megan.mia.mccall@gmail.com to write post cards to people in those states to get them to register to vote as they do not even know they have been taken off the registrar.
If you listened to Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones & FOX for several years, it would be the logical explanation.
These people really do live in an alternate universe.
Reed Galen today/yesterday? wrote:
Reading Richard J. Evans’ latest addition to his incredible collection on Nazi Germany, Hitler’s People, I came across the following passage in the Introduction to “The Instruments,” the book’s final section:
Most Germans who belonged to the educated middle classes, the so-called Bildungsburgertum, comprising people with university degrees and professional status, welcomed the coming of the Third Reich and collaborated with the Nazi regime to the end. There were numerous reasons for this. Under the Bismarckian Empire they had enjoyed a secure and respected place in a self-confident and seemingly stable society, a position they had lost with Germany’s defeat in World War I, the revolution of 1918, the creation of the Weimar Republic with its enthronement of democratic rights such as universal and equal suffrage, and the advent of the feared and hated (and largely working class) Social Democrats to power. If relatively few of them were Nazi fanatics, the great majority still openly or tacitly support Hitler because they saw in him the guarantor of social order, national pride, economic stability, and cultural tradition, all of which had been so conspicuously absent, they thought, under the Weimar Republic. Not only medicine, and the law, each of which had their own peculiarities, but also other professions, followed a similar pattern. So too did the world of business, big, medium-sized, and small. Nazism was not the ideology of the un-educated or the unsuccessful.
Totally agree. Last night on Sunday Lester news the anchor took a white board to the street and asked about the economy!!! The person on the street had to write ONLY ONE word! Fortunately one very informed woman wrote complicated! Mostly ‘sucks’ was shown as the response, Duh! What a waste of time asking such a question! Insipid media piece feeding pablum to the uninformed!
Thanks Heather, we have a cold morning here and your collection of hypocrisy by the Republicans has set my blood to boiling. (Other side effects: nausea and tears.)
I have been communicating with Andra Watkins about Christian Nationalism, since she explains the implications in Project 2025 of Christian Nationalism to some extent. I am in a Democrats Abroad book club that is reading and discussing Project 2025, and I gave a speech on it last Sunday in Hamburg, Germany at a Defend Democracy rally for Americans Abroad. When one understands the End of Days beliefs of Christian Nationalists, which is who wrote Project 2025, one sees why the Department of Education would go. If you believe that the End of days is really near and when it comes, you and yours will be taken to Heaven to live with God, and will leave all worldly problems behind. It is also important to understand that the Charismatic CNs who are in the New Apostolic Reformation branch, believe that End of Days will only happen when everyone on earth is living Godly lives as they define it, and it is the job of members of NAR to use whatever means necessary to force people to follow these rules.
That includes coercion, and we don't know what else, because they act in some ways like a secretive cult. That along with planning on massive deportation and putting in camps of immigrants, in numbers greater than the undocumented population of the USA, is very concerning. As for education, why should you teach your child history, science or math if you believe your child is not long for this world. Reading would be useful to read scriptures, but otherwise, what else are they using? The Handmaids Tale should appear on reading lists this year, and Project 2025, at least some parts of it should be studied in high schools and universities as a document of a plan for government and what it means. The goal is to turn the USA into a Racist, Christian Nationalist Theocracy, making us akin to Iran, a country that CNs feel is a sworn enemy, but has a lot in common in terms of their beliefs for their people. This is why it is important to get the vote out now. We have gotten our ballots abroad and filled them out and are mailing them today.
At 90 I feel that I am experiencing a nightmare that is a combination of a modern-day George Orwell 1984 and a prelude to Project 2025.
I have never lived in an America in which a president or major presidential candidate has trashed the Constitution and rants in a manner that makes a ‘crazy uncle’ seem moderate by comparison.
Trump already has demonstrated that he refuses to play by the rules of the Constitution and relative decency that reflect the core of our democracy. His blatherings often are incoherence and dangerous to the governance of our country.
JD Vance is a chameleon companion of Trump who I find frightening in his blatant lies and his absence of core principles.
I fear for our country. We have more than a month of this internecine political fight before November 5th.
I hope that the character of Kamala/Coach and their programs and policies will result in a solid victory on November 5th.
I realize that, whatever the result, Trump and his co-conspirators will engage in anti-constitutional swamp fighting reflective of what they initiated after the 2020 elections.
My gut tells me that good will prevail. It also tells me that our country is in a fight for its life over the coming weeks.
I recall personally some of the dark months of the Cold War. Ultimately we triumphed and the authoritarianism and economic nonsense of the communist world oozed into oblivion from its stark internal contradictions.
My hope is such will again occur, as the falseness of Trump’s MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN withers against reality.
Good to hear you weigh in, Keith! Been thinking about you & missing your wise comments. These you write here today are both scary (I, too, tho a couple of decades younger, have never been as scared for our country as I am now) AND that you are hopeful/optimistic that truth & good & shared community will prevail. 🤞Live long and prosper ye wise one ☮️!
This whole letter is mind-blowing! Trump, Vance, and many other MAGA extremists shamelessly pouring out lies, blaming Biden for things that are their fault while taking credit for everything good that’s actually provided by Biden/Harris. And much, much more.
They are blatantly inundating the consciousness of millions of people with totally incorrect info on all important issues across the board. Can Dems surmount this disaster????
Hopefully, the debate tomorrow between JD Vance and Tim Walz will convince many undecideds to vote for Harris if only to prevent any chance of Vance becoming President.
btw, my paid subscription was set to expire tomorrow but i just renewed it.
As others said, no surprise in lies as that is all MAGA has ever been. But the lack of any concentration on his slurring, his inability to construct an argument, on in ability to follow a thought beyond flight-or-flight screaming is unbelievable. Vote vote vote vote
Gary, Trump may have said he doesn’t drink alcohol, but he is dangerously under some type of pharmaceuticals that is making him mentally unstable to run for office. He should be required to have three mandatory blood tests to prove he is mentally fit to run for office.
I often wish that sub stack gave us different or at least multiple options of response. That is, I love that you keep us informed, I hate almost all of what truth demands that you report. The “almost” is highlighting the work of FEMA and other government response teams. Their heroic efforts in dangerous situations cannot be adequately described.
On September 15, 2024, Connie Millard of Missouri died. She had been deployed with MO Taskforce 1, the first FEMA team deployed to the World Trade Center on 9/11. She was a canine specialist in SAR. She and her dog and the rest of their team spent 11 days crawling—literally— through the rubble, seeking survivors at first, and then later bringing out body parts to help with identification for closure for the victims’ families. Connie and her subsequent dogs (she trained six dogs to live finds and cadaver work at the highest certification in disaster response) went on many more missions, including response to NOLA after hurricane Katrina and CT after hurricane Sandy. There are now only 3 surviving members of the FEMA heroes who were at the WTC.. Take a moment to salute them, please.
RIP, Connie. Thank you for decades of service.
And thank you KEM for highlighting the efforts of an unsung hero and her canine assistants.
Hey wait a blessed minute; Don’t any of you guys get any sleep? 💤 This was posted at 3:30. Of course if you are on the west coast, it was 12:30.
Brief Observations:
1. When southern white women are interviewed about politics, one can usually predict a MAGA supporter if she is overweight and uses a southern vernacular.
2. Perhaps one of the dirtiest things in the world is a toilet handle especially in public lavatories. I never hand touch them. I wrap toilet paper around them to flush. But what is dirtier than a toilet handle? A MAGA politician especially Don-old slurring-voiced Trump.
3. On a personal level, when men enter a lavatory, to a person, they walk over to the urinals to go pee pee. Their dirty hands then touch what normally would be the most pristine part of their bodies. Not I. I go to the sink and wash my hands first. Think about it. Either way,I would never shake hands with a republican.
I’m in the Colorado mountains. It was only 1:30 here when I read Heather’s latest letter.
(From 'Donald's Vanity Tantrums)
Trump is Clean as a Toilet Handle
Trump pleaded with Russia during the 2016 election to hack the campaign records and emails of Hillary Clinton. On July 27, 2016, he cried:
"Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 missing emails."
On July 15, 2018, the dictator Putin and wannabe dictator Trump sit down for a summit in Helsinki, Finland. No scribes were allowed in the room, but someone has now revealed the conversation.
And so it came to pass that Russia hacked the accounts of Hillary Clinton and democratic operatives. Both Trump and Russia were amply rewarded for this act of treachery. Trump became the first president in history elected by a Russian dictator. And Russia, the longtime enemy of Western democratic tradition, became a new investment partner and mentor to tired old Uncle Sam, who lords over a disquieted tribe of manic-depressive, freedom-loving, patriotic simpletons formerly known as Americans.
Trump: "Vlad, thank you for helping me with the new Trump Moscow Hotel. Everyone thinks that we are exchanging international secrets!"
Putin: "Donald, you dog, you know how to throw them off pony trail. In Moscow, we have Russian mafia to pay off. They demand special favors."
Trump: "It will be a tremendous hotel, unlike anything seen before. Ok Vlad, let's go to the press conference and talk about dismantling NATO. No one will ever guess what this meeting was really about. We're gonna make a lot of money on it."
Trump: “Oh, and Vlad, is that old shower scandal forgotten?”
Putin: “Da.”
Trump: “Good, it was pissing me off.”
Thank you Kem for your report on Connie Millard and her K9 partners. These flash reports of real people doing their duties with dedication and loyalty to the people they serve - such a wonderful antidote to the self-serving lies and spins and equivocations offered by politicians safely holed up with their PR minions.
Thank you KEM for informing us of the sacrifices made by the FEMA team at the Wirkd Trade Center. That team as well as those who have responded to other disasters, are unsung heroes.
Thank you, KEM for your work in remembering Connie. We had s/heros here in Ohio back then from our Task Force One. Most went on to other work, like Connie, and their daily police and fire, and FEMA jobs. I’m literally crying, because here we are talking about the antithesis of them. The fat, old, big pores clown who dupes and disrespects so many. Let’s all, PLEASE, work to save humankind from these monsters our parents thought they had defeated and banished via WW II.
Write postcards, get going door to door if able. Spread the hope and joy of Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, and our beloved American Democracy. Remember FDR-We have nothing to fear, but fear itself!
Contrast that career of hard work and service to "thoughts and prayers" and there you have it.
You tell Connie's story quite well KEM. A hero's story never grows old! Thank you!
Oh, Kem, thank you for telling us about Connie Millard from Missouri and her very special dogs. I had forgotten about the crawling through rubble part of their heroic work in New York City, in a completely different state. May her family and friends find some comfort during a tender time that I think must be lasting forever for them.
I just posted my first comment, and was amazed to see that somebody else named Kem is already posting. Since our's is such an unusual name, I'm wondering who you are. I am Kem Phillips from Cavendish Vermont. Thanks
Dedicated and people don't always understand what it takes out of you to work in intense work areas like this. May she RIP
As a practicing witch I can tell you that every time a Christian lights a candle that’s witchcraft. Every time a Christian chants a prayer that’s witchcraft. So mote it be.
Well said.
Asking the Universe to suspend it's rules of operation "just this once" because they're frightened and unhappy sounds more like irrationl superstition on their part.
“Pray, v. To ask that the laws of the universe be annulled in behalf of a single petitioner, confessedly unworthy.” — Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary
Besides, I think "God" is too busy with high school football games to be able to attend to people facing hurricanes...
That is exactly what it is.
Religious people exhaust me with their "thoughts and prayers".
Especially since those people do not put any hands and feet to those prayers when they could act to help improve the lives of others.
Well, just the same, I wouldn't be surprised if there hasn't been a lot of community support coming from church organizations on a practical basis, and regardless, I'm sure those with chain saws etc are very busy helping clear trees and debris.
The quintessential "American", the most religious among the OECD I would hazard. Nonetheless religious decline broadly continues in the USA, and Lance aced that with his comments how American has been mostly "stolen" by "woke" at al. This seems to have made Evangelicals esp more fervent in their faith than ever, esp now that they've swamped into politics in such a big way.
Yes, well governor capitulated finally, did they also delay in getting into the mutual support disaster network states use all the time?
Right? I was accused of witch craft recently, (to the HOA) and I’m like so? Freedom of religion.
The HOA?
I’m with you sister!
lol that's too good. This apply to birthday candle wishes? I guess so! The good Christians want to reserve "witchcraft" all to themselves i see.
Andra Watkins: Why Is a White Guy Calling Harris a "Jezebel?"
“To the Christian Nationalist in the video, Kamala Harris is a Jezebel, or wicked woman, BECAUSE she seeks the kind of power and authority he thinks women should not want or have. Calling her Jezebel is their insinuation that a powerful woman will lead good people (read: white men) astray.”
https://open.substack.com/pub/project2025istheocracy/p/why-is-a-white-guy-calling-harris?r=fqsxl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Clearly, "these are the times that try men's souls." - Thomas Paine. How in the hell did we arrive at this juncture? We could blame our schools in failing adequately to teach critical thinking skills and civics. The "Christian crusade" in this country has been going on for at least forty years with the advent of charter schools, designed to separate the races and infuse religion into the curricula. We're paying the price for this neglect.
Harris practicing witchcraft????!!!! She has certainly put “a spell on me”!
Christopher L Groesbeck, you win -- greatest comeback!
- Pulled Quote -
Right out of the fascist playbook:
There were the lies Vance spread about Springfield, Ohio, of course, attacking the legal Haitian immigrants there who have been credited with revitalizing the city. On Friday and Saturday, Trump lied that Vice President Harris had let 13,000 or 14,000 convicted murderers enter the U.S. in the past three years, who “freely and openly roam our country,” a lie that Elon Musk called “true.”
Vote.
Then there is this (another pulled quote):
“ On Saturday, Vance spoke at an event hosted by right-wing extremist evangelical leader Lance Wallnau, a member of the New Apostolic Reformation movement that seeks to end the separation of church and state and put the United States under religious rule.”
It feels a lot to me like an American version of the radical Muslim dogma. I think we all know how well that has worked out in the Middle East.
Thank you Heather for continuing to keep your subscribers informed.
Early this morning, at 3:59 AM Eastern, Forbes has reported 30 deaths in North Carolina's Buncombe County ... "where the mountain city of Asheville became isolated after facing historic flooding".
The city of Asheville NC is is a popular retirement area for folks from many states that benefits from a strong community.
Bryan Sean McKown, very sad.
Home to the Biltmore, largest private residence in US!
" . . . an American version of the radical Muslim dogma," Gary?
Aren't you leaving out the 670,000 Israeli far-right settlers busily (and illegally) stealing land in the West Bank, insulting Palestinians, putting up roadblocks to harass them?
It's not working out so well for the Israelis, either.
Let's remember, Steve, that the U.S. only pushes more arms, more arms.
Nothing in regard to education or schools.
Just equip them (and only one side) with bombs, rockets, gunships, more bombs, other explosives, incendiary devices, jet fighters, tanks, self-propelled howitzers, troop carriers, more bombs, automatic weapons, more bombs, more bombs.
And, again (and again and again) nothing for schools. No programs at all for teaching youth to see others on the other side as individuals. Only keep the schools in all the usual idiot standardized testing mode, which only reinforces all the thinking in categories, feeding more reliance on group think only, on packaging others to their groups and oldest hoariest stereotypes.
Ahhhh, the predictable joys in U.S.-taxpayer paid-for repetitions of expenses-be-damned murder, crippled schools, more murder, more destruction of civilian life, more idiot vulgarity.
And killing them.
Oh yes, the "promised land" ...
I haven’t listened yet, but the descriptions of this organization are scary enough:
Charismatic Revival Fury: Christian Extremism Podcast - ICJS:
https://icjs.org/charismatic-revival-fury/
Wow. This is nuts.
Thanks, emailed myself the link.
Get more about Wallnau from this Wikipedia. Gobsmacking, but if I'd been paying attention.... my mind is usually very much elsewhere trying to maintain a humane secular outlook in my life. https://www.wikiwand.com/en/articles/Lance_Wallnau
Then there is this from 1 Timothy 2:12 in the Bible:
“ I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.”
Clearly, those of us who are appreciative of the HCR intellect and capacity to teach, are in violation of scripture.
The early Christians were an extremist apocalyptic Jewish movement which took their message to the pagans when most Jews turned their back on them. The quote from Timothy was part of a widespread patriarchal view in the ancient world.
We have been warned that the last days of the campaign would be turbulent driven by anger and lies. Trump and Vance are delivering both every day. It’s an extraordinary time in our history that we here hope will end well. The alternative to Harris/Walz is so scary yet still millions of his minions believe everything they say. It’s also extraordinary that these two put so much effort into their disinformation. If this were a movie instead of real life, they’d win an Oscar for sure!!
These Republican Lies should not Surprise Anyone... The GOP now puts Party Loyalty above Country.... Ideology Over Reason... Reminds me of the Russian Bolsheviks of 1917... The Scary Thing is that DJT could Melt-Down into an Orange Puddle, and DJT would still get at least 50,000,000 Votes... JD as President after DJT gets 'Carted-Away'? The Horror has no Description...
To compare Trump and the current crop of MAGAt minions to the Bolsheviks of 1917 is pretty insulting and shows a fair ignorance of history. It is true that the ensuing history of communism in the Soviet Union in the later 20th century didn't go well, but the Bolsheviks of the Revolution were fighting against the czarist tyranny in support of a better Russia. In that respect they were more like those of us who are terrified of a return of Trump to power, a man who loves the idea of dictatorship in the US. Sadly as often happens, men like Stalin later came to power and created their own form of dictatorship which ultimately led to the down fall of the Soviet Union. But to suggest that the Bolsheviks of 1917 were anything like the modern day Trump GOP is a real misrepresentation of what they tried to do in Czarist Russia. My great uncle was part of that Revolution and he said it was the best thing that happened to Russia even if the later rise of tyrannical Soviet rule killed the idealism and hope of the Revolution.
Bravo Jon!
Thank you, thank you, I'm here all month or at least until Trump comes looking for me LOL!
Hold the phone Jon Rosen. I’m well read on the topic and once took a Russian history course taught by a former Hungarian general in the failed revolution of 1957. The Bolsheviks were a smaller tight knit extremist group that overthrew the moderate Mensvicks who had taken power after overthrowing Czarist Russia. Lenin might have guided them better but he soon died and his crazed Stalin took over and sowed the seeds to ruination and much destroyed of Russians.
From I understand their game plan, the target is to stymie state certifications so the president is picked by the house. However, the senate picks the VP. Potentially a Trump/Harris White House. At least she would stand in the path of Mike Johnson!
Well it would be a Trump/Walz executive IF the Senate chose the VP BUT only if the Democrats hold the Senate which is still highly unlikely. Not impossible if Texas and/or Florida revolt against their current GOP domination and beat either Ted Cruz or Rick Scott (or both!). But without at least one of those seats the Gop will hold the majority of the Senate after this election because the Dems will lose both West Virginia (Manchin's seat) and Montana (Tester's seat) and there are no easy pickups from the GOP.
My point about Walz is that the Senate picks the VP from the VP candidates. Harris is not running for VP this election. She is running for President. And that vote takes place in the House by STATE and the GOP holds s 26-23 majority of the House delegations with one state split evenly.
No need to be so pessimistic about Tester and Senate. Tester is still 50-50.
Last polls I saw show Tester behind by 8 pts. That is far outside the margin of error. I don't know what you are using as a reference but my sources tend to be pretty good. But I sure hope you are right because losing the Senate is not good even if Harris wins.
I'm sticking with Heather's advice to take all candidate polls with a huge grain of salt - or ignore them.
There are a lot of polls and some are Republican funded and intended only to push a narrative. I’m told that Montana senate remains very close. .
Ah, you are right! So the swearing in of the new crew is the 3d and certification the 6th, if I am not mistaken. In that case, I think we have a better chance of taking the house. It could be visa versa.
But a House Vote for President under the 12th amendment is by STATE delegation (1 vote per state) NOT by individual congresscritters. So even if Dems "take" the House by raw votes, the state delegations will still likely be 26-23 GOP with one state a tie. So Trump would still win in the House.
Just didn’t think that one through. My bad.
So the House picks Trump, and the Senate chooses Walz as VP, who goes on to invoke the 25th Amendment against Trump, thus giving himself the Presidency.
President Walz. It has a certain ring to it, doesn't it?
https://youtu.be/c87p3udiytc
Sharon, I also wonder at “ It’s also extraordinary that these two put so much effort into their disinformation.” It leads me always to want to follow the money to reveal the real story. The Firehose of lies to “flood the zone” is so transparently calculated that it no longer surprises me. “Shame” left the building a long time ago for gop politics. It’s a full-on fascist assault on democracy now. It’s their hail-mary pass in the face of the Dems stronger performance. Even in spite of trump’s calls for violence and bloodbaths, we are stronger because we’ve seen this strategy before. Same old tired playbook. And most importantly: WE are different. So many more are active and understanding what is at stake. Yet, I still know I need to do all I can for these last days before Nov. 5.
MLRGRMI, you’re right—WE are different. We are paying attention to the destruction of norms and no longer look at both parties as essentially equal in their adherence to rules and norms. We are each active according to what we are capable of doing.
I love the idea of Red, Wine and Blue to contact 5 Blue friends to make sure that they are registered and vote. Have each of them contact 5 friends who will contact five friends. The influence will spread exponentially. It’s one of those small things that can have big consequences.
I LOVE your passion and yes we need to do all those things but don't delude yourself. In fact there are only a few swing states that matter and if the y manage to block certification in even a few states, the election week be so close it will go into the House. And Harris will NOT win in the House because the GOP leads delegations 26-23. It's not good news at all.
You physician can prescribe lithium carbonate.
🤔
I misread the word "minions" as "morons" because I haven't put on my readers yet. But, in the case of most Trump voters it seems apt.
Yes. For scariest horror movie.
The lies never stop. The thirst to control and dominate others and persecute those who disagree with them never stops. Their hypocritical claims of providing for constituents when they actually voted against said measures never stops. Trump is sick and sad, but Vance is a true fascist disciple. Please vote.
And while still recovering in Florida from Hurricane Ian (two years ago Saturday), I can only imagine the devastation our brothers and sisters to the north are experiencing. We live in Florida-we know the risks. Those up north would not. For those who can, please contribute to reputable organizations who can support those impacted. Thank goodness for President Biden, for FEMA, for NOAA, and all the other incredible agencies and information services that helped in the immediate aftermath. Please also be aware that Governors like Desantis allow insurance companies to run unchecked, causing additional pain and heartache with their corruption. There needs to be oversight so that needs are met. Only Democrats are willing to do that. We need our VP to lead us into this next chapter. Yes, we KAM!
Insurance is a HUGE problem for Florida residents. Insurance companies simply leave the state because the risks are so great. All my kids and grandkids are in Florida, and we have a place there, so we pay those high rates.
Trump is ramping up the crazy because he’s realizing that his old shtick is getting old and wearing thin with his base. And he’s found a compliant sycophant to magnify and amplify his lies.
Now that he’s had four years to plant his foot soldiers, we can expect him to mobilize them and assault the electoral process in a way that will make J6 look like a training exercise.
Trump and Vance have gone beyond just telling tall tales. They now are not only admitting to it, they are bragging about it and justifying them as needed to destroy the old order.
In short, they are revolutionaries calling for an overthrow of the American government! God help us!
Worse, I truly believe Vance & friends are planning to “Amendment 25” thump after the election & intern him in an “Old Folks Home for the Senile” & make Vance president.
Talk about scary!
Yep, been thinking the same, based on the evidence.
Agree, HulitC.
If this seems unreal watch The Sixth, a documentary . It is so frightening to see these rabid animals who will stop at nothing at Trumps behest. A few of them are incarcerated,but the vast majority are out there among us ready to raise him to power. It’s the stuff of nightmares.
The Atlantic had a good article (Oct 24 issue-paywall) about some of these people moving into the neighborhood of the journalist.
These people still believe they did nothing wrong. Sadly the ones that were/are in prison were in prison with other Jan 6ers, reinforcing their beliefs.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2024/10/jan-6-capitol-attack-ashli-babbitt-dc-residents/679563/
I’m still completely flabbergasted that these people a) lie so openly, clearly and brazenly, and b) they even get away with iit, legally as well as socially. The media happily copy and paste these lies. Is that then “freedom of speech”?
My question exactly. Can a democracy persist when lying becomes part of the public discourse with no consequences or accountability.
Shut down right wing fake news sites including FOX & Newsmax.
Nationalize Xitter & Facebook.
Make right wing “mega churches” rename themselves as not churches but community organizers - make them pay taxes & publish their agenda.
Get rid of PACs
There’s lots “we” could do, but won’t.
Vote them out.
Do you have a plan that might work? Most of these people live in states where the majority believe this nonsense. So it will be hard if not impossible to "vote them out". I'll help if you actually have a plan and not just a slogan.
Sure. Campaign and all that means. Then vote and early. We won’t get rid of all of them and certainly not all at once but we can win slowly but surely if we work at it.
write "megan.mia.mccall@gmail.com to write post cards to people in those states to get them to register to vote as they do not even know they have been taken off the registrar.
We can only wonder!
How, why have we reached this place?
If you listened to Rush Limbaugh, Alex Jones & FOX for several years, it would be the logical explanation.
These people really do live in an alternate universe.
Reed Galen today/yesterday? wrote:
Reading Richard J. Evans’ latest addition to his incredible collection on Nazi Germany, Hitler’s People, I came across the following passage in the Introduction to “The Instruments,” the book’s final section:
Most Germans who belonged to the educated middle classes, the so-called Bildungsburgertum, comprising people with university degrees and professional status, welcomed the coming of the Third Reich and collaborated with the Nazi regime to the end. There were numerous reasons for this. Under the Bismarckian Empire they had enjoyed a secure and respected place in a self-confident and seemingly stable society, a position they had lost with Germany’s defeat in World War I, the revolution of 1918, the creation of the Weimar Republic with its enthronement of democratic rights such as universal and equal suffrage, and the advent of the feared and hated (and largely working class) Social Democrats to power. If relatively few of them were Nazi fanatics, the great majority still openly or tacitly support Hitler because they saw in him the guarantor of social order, national pride, economic stability, and cultural tradition, all of which had been so conspicuously absent, they thought, under the Weimar Republic. Not only medicine, and the law, each of which had their own peculiarities, but also other professions, followed a similar pattern. So too did the world of business, big, medium-sized, and small. Nazism was not the ideology of the un-educated or the unsuccessful.
The frog was boiled gradually.
Totally agree. Last night on Sunday Lester news the anchor took a white board to the street and asked about the economy!!! The person on the street had to write ONLY ONE word! Fortunately one very informed woman wrote complicated! Mostly ‘sucks’ was shown as the response, Duh! What a waste of time asking such a question! Insipid media piece feeding pablum to the uninformed!
Well stated. Read Sarah kenzdior book They Knew
Thanks Heather, we have a cold morning here and your collection of hypocrisy by the Republicans has set my blood to boiling. (Other side effects: nausea and tears.)
As Harry Truman observed back in 1948, "The only 'good Republicans' are pushing up daisies."
The Tennessee House Republican Caucus is a minstrel show. They still think it’s funny.
If witchcraft worked men like trump would have been turned into frogs decades ago.
Bridget Collins, haha, oh to dream.
From here to eternity... involuntary prayer and fasting...
That... and sixty lies a minute. Amen.
Behold the Promise MAGA holds in store for America... a masochist's heaven!
Heaven for the select in gated communities guarded by Blackrock thugs. Hell for the rest, particularly for those living near water ways and forests.
I have been communicating with Andra Watkins about Christian Nationalism, since she explains the implications in Project 2025 of Christian Nationalism to some extent. I am in a Democrats Abroad book club that is reading and discussing Project 2025, and I gave a speech on it last Sunday in Hamburg, Germany at a Defend Democracy rally for Americans Abroad. When one understands the End of Days beliefs of Christian Nationalists, which is who wrote Project 2025, one sees why the Department of Education would go. If you believe that the End of days is really near and when it comes, you and yours will be taken to Heaven to live with God, and will leave all worldly problems behind. It is also important to understand that the Charismatic CNs who are in the New Apostolic Reformation branch, believe that End of Days will only happen when everyone on earth is living Godly lives as they define it, and it is the job of members of NAR to use whatever means necessary to force people to follow these rules.
https://project2025istheocracy.substack.com/p/what-is-the-new-apostolic-reformation
That includes coercion, and we don't know what else, because they act in some ways like a secretive cult. That along with planning on massive deportation and putting in camps of immigrants, in numbers greater than the undocumented population of the USA, is very concerning. As for education, why should you teach your child history, science or math if you believe your child is not long for this world. Reading would be useful to read scriptures, but otherwise, what else are they using? The Handmaids Tale should appear on reading lists this year, and Project 2025, at least some parts of it should be studied in high schools and universities as a document of a plan for government and what it means. The goal is to turn the USA into a Racist, Christian Nationalist Theocracy, making us akin to Iran, a country that CNs feel is a sworn enemy, but has a lot in common in terms of their beliefs for their people. This is why it is important to get the vote out now. We have gotten our ballots abroad and filled them out and are mailing them today.
At 90 I feel that I am experiencing a nightmare that is a combination of a modern-day George Orwell 1984 and a prelude to Project 2025.
I have never lived in an America in which a president or major presidential candidate has trashed the Constitution and rants in a manner that makes a ‘crazy uncle’ seem moderate by comparison.
Trump already has demonstrated that he refuses to play by the rules of the Constitution and relative decency that reflect the core of our democracy. His blatherings often are incoherence and dangerous to the governance of our country.
JD Vance is a chameleon companion of Trump who I find frightening in his blatant lies and his absence of core principles.
I fear for our country. We have more than a month of this internecine political fight before November 5th.
I hope that the character of Kamala/Coach and their programs and policies will result in a solid victory on November 5th.
I realize that, whatever the result, Trump and his co-conspirators will engage in anti-constitutional swamp fighting reflective of what they initiated after the 2020 elections.
My gut tells me that good will prevail. It also tells me that our country is in a fight for its life over the coming weeks.
I recall personally some of the dark months of the Cold War. Ultimately we triumphed and the authoritarianism and economic nonsense of the communist world oozed into oblivion from its stark internal contradictions.
My hope is such will again occur, as the falseness of Trump’s MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN withers against reality.
Good to hear you weigh in, Keith! Been thinking about you & missing your wise comments. These you write here today are both scary (I, too, tho a couple of decades younger, have never been as scared for our country as I am now) AND that you are hopeful/optimistic that truth & good & shared community will prevail. 🤞Live long and prosper ye wise one ☮️!
This whole letter is mind-blowing! Trump, Vance, and many other MAGA extremists shamelessly pouring out lies, blaming Biden for things that are their fault while taking credit for everything good that’s actually provided by Biden/Harris. And much, much more.
They are blatantly inundating the consciousness of millions of people with totally incorrect info on all important issues across the board. Can Dems surmount this disaster????
Hopefully, the debate tomorrow between JD Vance and Tim Walz will convince many undecideds to vote for Harris if only to prevent any chance of Vance becoming President.
btw, my paid subscription was set to expire tomorrow but i just renewed it.
Yeah, Ellen, I’m trying to collect scattered pieces of my brain from where they landed in my living room as I read this LFAA…..🤯
As others said, no surprise in lies as that is all MAGA has ever been. But the lack of any concentration on his slurring, his inability to construct an argument, on in ability to follow a thought beyond flight-or-flight screaming is unbelievable. Vote vote vote vote
Gary, Trump may have said he doesn’t drink alcohol, but he is dangerously under some type of pharmaceuticals that is making him mentally unstable to run for office. He should be required to have three mandatory blood tests to prove he is mentally fit to run for office.
Vance can advise him as to how to pass the blood tests.