Unlike so many in her party, Liz Cheney makes her decisions based on the facts of history and the constraints of the Constitution. Although I disagree with a lot of her positions probably, it's reassuring that she's paying informed attention. In that respect, she's a role model for all of Congress.
A breath of relief on October 1. This morningтАЩs tea tastes extra special with the news carefully presented by Heather Cox Richardson along with highly intelligent..some passionate..responses from her readers.
I have a feeling that Liz Cheney and a group of other Republicans are organizing a coalition to return their party to a sane course. Me-thinks they got the speakeтАЩrs ear; he may be a wobble toy but this time he wobbled the correct way.
Thanks for noting the GOP in Wyoming - and not the people of Wyoming. Most are ranchers, herders of sheep - just keeping their heads down and working hard. Wyoming also is home to one of our largest and most beautiful national parks, Yellowstone. So they are caregivers too
Liz Cheney was a carpet-bagger from Texas who thought she could use Wyoming like a private fiefdom. She didnтАЩt really bother to campaign against her opponent, Harriet Hageman, who fought to get TrumpтАЩs nomination thrown out of the 2016 Republican Convention before seeing the political light and embracing MAGA doctrines. Harriet is a snake, but she is a snake from Wyoming. I much preferred LizтАЩs response to TrumpтАЩs treason, but before Trump went totally bat-shit crazy, Liz voted with Trump more than 90% of the time, not for the interests of Wyoming. DonтАЩt over-simplify local politics.
Yes, she did the right thing in this instance (J6 committee) but 2028 is in the future - she may be thinking long-term possibilities. Just thinking to the many/most times she voted WITH Trump. Up till now - its been party first.
Agreed. She may be ethical, for a given value of "ethical", but she is also an unrepentant right-wing conservative. She may not be an actual MAGAt, but her policy positions are or at least have been totally unacceptable in the America we want to live in.
I don't label her as such. I don't think she is her father. I think people can evolve and even put aside their core beliefs to dangers more important to battle. This she has done. In her recent role, she is not in my opinion self-serving if you believe her words, or even if you don't. She is admirable.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but when you're fighting for your life (and the non-fascists in this country are doing just that, whether we realize it or not) demanding political purity from your allies is not the best strategy.
Liz !, May have LOST, Her Wyoming, Earthly Seat, BUT !,, She has 'MOVED UP !, the Row, at GODS TABLE !, to GODS Delight !! COMMON SENSE PRINCIPLES, ARE Given, into the HEARTS ! , of GODS Children ! AMEN !
Not to mention "her old Daddy" is responsible for hundreds of thousands of innocent, dead, or wounded, Iraqi men, women and children AND thousands of American soldiers. Also, the complete destruction of thousands of historic buildings, palaces, towns and cities in one of the oldest human civilizations on earth.
Also, the bombing of schools and hospitals in Iraq.
All for "No Bid" Contracts to Haliburton which resulted in a 500% increase in Haliburton stock.
Can you say Pure Evil?? I personally would be a bit careful about too much praise for his daughter. Very careful actually.
the "murdering monster" ,if you can blame the whole Iraq war on one person, could have been stopped where the buck stopped.
Regarding Liz, you give lightly with one hand and smack down hard with the other. This is quite harsh and inappropriate imo. "thief of freedom'? gimme a break! Let's leave the hyperbole to those immature on the other side.
You are right. Old Dick was hardly a loner when it came to promoting a bogus butchery of a war. He and "W" should be sharing a cell.
You and I are "entitled" to the facts about Liz Cheney. She stood firm and assisted in the investigation of the January 6th insurrection. Something we should expect from any normal patriotic political leader. Good. Hear my applause.
But anyone who takes the positions she has on a woman's right choose childbirth or not... is definitely a "thief of freedom". That is not "hyperbole". That is fact. Read about her and return to this forum to explain how she is not an extremist who thinks like an old white bigoted male. You want harsh? Do your own further research on the outrageous positions she has maintained. She is her fathers daughter in blood and beliefs. Of course, she is hardly alone. And I would rather have a beer with her than MTG.
I applaud her integrity and devotion to the Constitution, but would I vote for her? She voted with Trump more than 90% of the time. No, I would not vote her into office.
I would vote for a Democrat. But in Wyoming it's meaningless. In the primary you would have voted for her Trumpist MAGA competition because she voted with Republicans 90% of the time during the Trump admin?
Could not agree with you more. It gives me the oogies to hear this high praise reaped on Liz. We are all pretty confident who her political advisor is.
I get the oogies too. This and the comment above and others are a disappointment, a partisan drag down at this time when the ship is sinking and all hands are needed on deck. Most Democrats, some as fearful as Republicans, and only a handful of Republicans cannot deal with this by themselves. Republicans getting on board and speaking out are more important actually.
Regarding ,Dick Cheney, who I dislike, & am no fan of, especially in his later career as VP...
"......blasted former President Donald Trump, calling him a "coward" and labeling him a "threat" to the country in a new campaign ad for his daughter U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney.
"In our nation's 246-year history, there has never been an individual that was a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump," Cheney said in the one-minute ad posted to his daughter's Twitter on Thursday. "He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters rejected him." CBSNEWs 8/2022
So who influenced who? And does it matter? Or are we going the grudge on about VP Dick Cheney?
You don't agree with her politics. Okay, neither do I. But what I heard from her lately has been admirable and brave. She paid a price. Your comment shows plain partisanship above all. That's not better than Trump and what he promites and thrives on.
Your comment is really annoying. Dick Cheney started out in government with a great deal of high regard. And then he changed to the dark side, and became smarmy and unlikeable as he worked GW Bush ( who is really responsible). Cheney is obviously not regarded well by the wider commentariat in his retirement, and is irrelevant.
On the other hand, Liz Cheney, without disrespecting or dissing her father, took her own course. She is NOT her father anymore than you are yours or responsible for what they do.
I disagree with her political philosophy but she, like we, realizes that without this country's foundations, we all sink regardless of political philosophy.
She risked her powerful position and lost in Congress and fell on her sword for taking the correct moral stance on Trump, more than many Democrats along with the almost completely cowardly Republicans on both sides of the aisle have been able to do.
Liz Cheney is not Dick Cheney. She has done the country a service by making it possible to call the Jan 6th committee bipartisan but more as well by taking a strong lead as sub or co chair in her many strong statements.
The sins of the father should not be visited on the children and visa versa , We must each find our own way. Family ties are on a different plane from their public lives.
I would be careful about assigning what her father did and was for to her. I would give her a chance as well to evolve. She stands out from the rest in what she understands about the goals and meaning of this country and seems to be pushing her Conservatism, such as it is anymore, to the side at least for now.
Then TRY to remember her role on the Jan6 committee - making the TRUE REVEAL of Cassidy HutchinsonтАЩs testimony. Good grief, people! YouтАЩre totally losing perspective here. MS Cheney is one person AND she did a great job with that monumental investigation. IтАЩm giving her my unabated Democratic gratitude!
Mike ! Check the WORD !, of GOD ! There are MANY iNSTANCES, Where God, inspired ' the Next Generation' , to pull a 180 degree spin, unto the GLORY ! , of His People , AND ! ,,,,,,,,HIS JUSTICE !!
Jesus Christ, Cramer, if you are actually trying to make a point, can't you just express yourself as a normal human being would, and lose all the CAPS AND .... sTrANgE KEYBOARD GYMNASTICS and .... be....unto...some SE<mBlance of fucking SANE???? You people are either irrational or "bots" sent here to inject noise. I truly hope you dry up and blow away. But now I guess you can say you've accomplished your mission, and so my only recourse is to unleash my unbounded resources within the global internet hacker's community to identify, your precise location, light your laptop up to, say, 3,800 degrees C, and send it straight up your idiotic ass! Good night.
WOW !. LeMoine !, You ARE, Going to DIE ! Carrying ALL THAT HATRED !! YOU, and Your Family, are on a GIANT PRAYER LIST , ,,,, BLESSINGS ! MATHEW 7, Verse 6 I Feel SORRY, ,,,,, for your SOUL !
Yes, her work to preserve and protect our democracy against the lunatic fringe in her own party is very admirable. She has carved out...along with other members of the Jan 6 Committee...a significant place at the table of true American patriots who have the courage to do the right thing for our country when it really matters.
The victory over the MAGAs of trump is another important milestone on our road back to normalcy as a nation. Lots of good and important work ahead for the smart and dedicated elected leaders who represent what we want and need as a nation. LetтАЩs elect more people like them.
KD, I always wonder how best to judge people. Do we praise them for their best moments or condemn them for their worst? Can and should we do both? Liz Cheney is a case in point.
Interesting question, Marge. I think you framed it very well. We all have our moments when weтАЩre pretty terrible or great. Her body of opinions is right there for us to see in her voting record which she, owns. What Liz did though in response to the coup attempt led by trump, though, carries a great deal of weight because she knew it would cost her dearlyтАж.her fellow republicans would surely disown her. She made the leap anyway because of her oath to preserve and protect our country. Very brave of her and selfless. Our founders would understand why she did it and so would the guys who stormed the beaches of Normandy or those who ignored their own safety as they searched for victims in the WTC pile on 9/11 and for months afterwards. We admire heroes because they shed their personal fear and go into the breach. What she did was heroic and will be long remembered as such. So we have to take people as they comeтАжand love them for their selflessness and try to forgive them when theyтАЩre not at their best.
I suppose that we can say that Liz Cheney is a "conservative" as that term once meant: limited government, fiscal responsibility, individual rights. Of course, today the term conservative is hollow, meaningless. I've asked and asked Republican political pundits to tell me what conservative means. Nothing. No answer. Frances Perkins understood the reality of what government should and must be. Perkins is the person most responsible for Social Security, Workers Compensation, 40-hour work week, end of child labor, etc. Her philosophy of government: "The people are what matter to government, and a government should aim to provide all the people under its jurisdiction the best possible life." Perhaps Liz could and should read Frances Perkins' biography.
"Conservative" once meant "individual rights" - but just for straight white men. The current crop of "conservatives" have pulled back the curtain and ripped off the dressing on the awful bloody wounds their philosophy represents. It's the ultimate expression of classism, sexism, racism and elitism - a style of thought exemplified by land owning southern plantation owners. A vicious style still worshiped and being resurrected under the banner of MAGA.
I had often used the word "conservative" in its original meaning. For instance, in our personal finances or in terms of conserving the natural world. But I find it makes me gag now. But maybe we should repossess the term!
Lets' talk about conserving women's rights and mother's rights to adequate nutrition for their kids. Let's talk about conserving voting rights for everyone. Let's conserve our oceans so there will be enough protein to feed billions of people. Let's conserve our potable water supplies so humans can survive.... Let's be the "New Conservatives" who want to make Progress on Conserving our Planet. What do you think?
When we try to study any discernible тАЬConservative,тАЭ values in the modern Republican Party even the connection to Laissez Faire policies become pretty vague and are used in a manner that harms. The pretenses of applying free markets to the fossil fuel industry intensifies emissions and accelerates Climate Change.
All free markets mean to fossil fuels is high profit.
But the main thrust of the American Republican Conservatives in the 20th Century was banning abortion and the National chaos caused by that victory has resulted in vast new layers of state and federal governance.
Conservatives insist the second half of the 2nd Amendment is the Law of the Land with multitudes of gun bearing nuts forming disastrous and deadly results. One result of the ensuing additional Government necessary to license guns has been the open carry and even permit free experiments which bring nightmares to the parents of school children.
My conclusions are the phenomena of unforeseen consequences perfected by the disgraced former President have been incorporated into his cult, the former Conservative Republicans.
This development of nightmares as governance has been amply displayed for the past two weeks in Congress.
I like the idea and when asked by some Republicans, I tell them that I left the Republican Party during Reagan's term in office because I am fiscally conservative. I objected then and I object now to the plundering of the national treasury, increasing the national debt exponentially to benefit the wealthy and large corporations, mortgaging the futures of those to come after us. It's unethical, irresponsible and immoral. We are the conservatives, they are the irresponsible, selfish plunderers. They've stolen trillions of dollars. For starters, we need to revise the tax code to get back some of that money.
Richard, I just started reading "Democracy Awakens" (the Professor's new book). I couldn't quite finish reading the chapter (either 2 or 3) but she delves into this, and the iteration of what the definition of "conservative" was. Since I fell asleep whilst reading, I'm not going to quote it here but it is well worth reading.
Me, too! I'll pick it up in a couple of weeks when I visit my niece (to our shame, as the State capital, and almost unbelievably, there are NO "local"/independent bookstores in Augusta, ME - all we have is a Barnes & Noble - so I'm supporting the local bookstore where my niece and her two young daughters live). And when I finish with it, I'm donating it to our library!
I just ordered both from Amazon, "Democracy Awakens" and "How the South Won the Civil War." I will read through them quickly and share with my Democratic neighbors, all of whom I now know.
In 1980 Ronald Reagan was elected and promised to cut the top marginal tax rate. This he did, and the top marginal tax rate was lowered over his 8 years in office from 73% to 28% on incomes over just $29,750 - the lowest this rate had been since 1925.[6]
The Tax Reform Act of 1986 lowered the top tax rate for ordinary income from 50% to 28% and raised the bottom tax rate from 11% to 15%. This was the first time in U.S. income tax history that the top tax rate was lowered and the bottom rate was increased at the same time.
The first tax cut (Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981) among other things, cut the highest personal income tax rate from 70% to 50% and the lowest from 14% to 11% and decreased the highest capital gains tax rate from 28% to 20%.[1]
The second tax cut (Tax Reform Act of 1986) among other things, cut the highest personal income tax rate from 50% to 38.5% but decreasing to 28% in the following years[2] and increased the highest capital gains tax rate from 20% to 28%.[1
In my next life, I want to have the direct gaze and articulation of facts that Liz Cheney possesses. I find it interesting that both she and Nancy Pelosi both have five children each. Eleanor Roosevelt had six but one died in infancy. All three of these women come well equipped to deal with infantile tantrums.
LizтАЩs main interest is ensuring oil and gas make as much money as possible. She is a complete climate change denier, and underneath all the talk about the constitution and standing up to TrumpтАЩs treasonous impulse, her real beef with him was that he was upsetting her own plans to take over the government to make the tax situation perfect for oil and gas interests.-$
Maybe it's not either/or but both. Knowing her father's association with Halliburton and his unfailing insistence that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction long after the intelligence said Hussein did not, I was highly suspicious of Liz Cheney, but it seemed to me she served nobly in an environment where there was treachery in her party that she was diligent and brave. It seems simplistic to me that she was investigating the insurrection simply to further gas and oil interests. I would agree with you, though, that the battle for control of our democracy is tied up in the urgent need to address climate change, and oil and gas are at odds with that.
I was not clear. I loved the articulate stance she took against the insurrectionists. She believes in democracy. What she doesnтАЩt believe in is climate change or a social safety net. SheтАЩs more than happy to have people see the patriot. We all just need to be very careful to ask her the right questions when she decides to put herself back in the spot light. Whatever pain and chaos her Daddy and W wrecked, itтАЩs old news, and the focus needs to be on what she would chose to do to guide our country and the world going forward, if she takes a run for the Presidency. Having grown up in Wyoming, I recall one of the first political lessons my father gave me. He said,тАЭAlways vote for the stupider politician, they cause less trouble than the smart onesтАжтАЭ Liz Cheney is not stupid. One of the reasons why I like Biden so much, is that he keeps telling everyone who will listen that the things he does are designed to make ordinary peopleтАЩs lives better. That is a question that Liz needs to be asked over and over (as well as every single politician who runs for any political office. What are you planning to do? How will it make my life better?
Yup. Appeasement doesnтАЩt work with narcissists and psychopaths. The next time, they simply want more, because last time, they got their way, and they want it this time, too; it never ends.
ItтАЩs imperative in fact. ItтАЩs a movement like none other, which will take sustained application . ItтАЩs a war , this battle of which has been won but needs continued forward motion. Like my (many greats) Uncle Joshua Chamberlain , the leaders who wish to maintain victory must follow at a consistent pace, continued resolve . US TOO.
The enemy -greed, selfish gain, and cheap notoriety needs stopped.
ThatтАЩs a L O N G list .
WE have too long allowed the silent creep of callous business and self aggrandizement practices the spotlight. There are too many humans in danger, severely neglected, not even recognized.
The slow steady gains eliminating poverty need strengthened even more, incrementally !the days of getting rich off the backs of the poor or taking advantage of those who know not their worth...done!
Fair trade
No monopolies
Lies called out lighting false advertisement or based on NO FACT
I actually thought this was what we labeled integrity
Man was I wrong.
Hold their feet to the fire comrades , the new resolve .
The rich have plenty to GIVE BACK...have plenty to fund , to absolve greed , and specifically autocracy...have plenty to live in far more comfort than the worker bees ever will...let them -THE RICH- pave the new resolution .
I can guarantee plenty of worker bees will do THE WORK NEEDED.
Our world has plenty of room to compromise. If a program doesnтАЩt accomplish whatтАЩs intended then cease or INcrease it as needed. No pork in the bill. No pira├▒as in our government. No more BS . No deadbeat politicians.
ЁЯТЩЁЯТЩVOTE THE COMPLICIT OUT ЁЯЧгя╕ПALL OF THEMЁЯСИЁЯТЩЁЯТЩ
Was it not The American Dream? I worked 32+ years upholding this active in the system,now on a mere subsistent income I put lovingly in a $3-5 dollar offering. But weтАЩre still helping the neighbor(s). It may sound like IтАЩm standing on a soapbox but rather that than contributing to a soap opera!
Thanks for believing, and wonderful posts, Jeri. Glad to be in your boat.ЁЯл╢
We are not appeasing. We had a choice and decided on war if we could not expand NATO into the Ukraine and RussiaтАЩs border. Joe BidenтАЩs administration is the Party of War. A war that may grow much larger and we may be soon obligated to fight. Forever War. We may all soon have to choose what side we are on. We and Congress get another chance in 45 days. War.
Actually, we chose to help Ukraine defend itself after Putin chose to invade it. We should have done so much earlier, when Putin invaded Crimea. That we allowed it emboldened him to invade further.
Ukraine was humming along, prosperous, beautiful and successful by any measure. And damn, here comes the devil knocking on their door. I know there is a long history here, and I know that some leaders of America have been warmongers. But, they wanted to continue on their path, and Putin tried to destroy them. Well, duh, Hitler redux. Rather my tax money go to them than it be added to the billionaires billions.
Go back further - Putin should have been stopped when he invaded and annexed part of Georgia in 2008. Maybe that would have prevented him from invading and annexing part of the Crimean peninsula, encouraging him to think he could just keep biting off chunks of land at a whim. I mean, without NATO's presence, is anyone willing to believe he wouldn't try it with Poland? We - the democratic nations of the world - HAVE to say THIS FAR AND NO FURTHER, return all Ukrainian land and repair the devastation you have wrought - the damage to buildings and land at least, to the extent it can be, although the damage to people can NEVER be mended. There really are no words sufficient to excoriate and damn that individual properly.
Cheryl we did not choose to defend the Ukraine after they invaded the Ukraine. We knew and chose to expand and threatened Russia. We chose to risk war and expand NATO along RussiaтАЩs border. Putin sees himself defending RussiaтАЩs security. As for the Crimea, it had been part of Russia since 1793 when Russia annexed it after defeating the Ottoman Empire. The Crimea was merged into the Ukraine in 1954 by the Soviet government. It is as strategic to Russia as New Orleans and Houston are to America. Joe chose to fight this war. According to Jans Stoltenberg, Joe refused to negotiate with Putin in late 2021. Putin then invaded the Ukraine. We chose this war. Biden is leader of the Party of War.
Why do you think Ukraine wanted to be part of NATO? Could it be to protect itself from the orcs of Russia, perhaps? After Ukraine (and the rest of the world) witnessed both Russia's invasion and annexation of part of the Republic of Georgia in 2008, and ditto the Crimean peninsula in 2014, both ineffectively opposed, if at all? Jeez, with a neighbor like that, I'd be wanting to get the friendly folks on the other side to help me protect myself, too. There has never been any justification at all for Russia's violent land grabs - none. And after that earlier behavior of Putin, how could any responsible other country refuse Ukraine's request? This war is not on the US, or on Ukraine, or on NATO - it is solely on the head of Putin the Insane.
We took eight years arming and training Ukraine to invade the Donbass republics, who broke away after the U.S.-supported neo-Nazi takeover of Ukraine's security establishment.
Read more essays from Professor Heather Cox Richardson. It's a protection, not an aggregation for an endless war. We can not allow the aggressor to succeed because he will only go for more!
We need to stick together through NATO to preserve Democracy around the world and stave off fascism and autocratic rule!
You buy the Cool Aid. The U.S. is NATO. We pressed for war, threaten the security of a rival, then blamed them for starting starting the war. We and Joe knew. We knew Putin would likely respond. We wanted war. We see ourselves as the new Empire fiat currency and all. Now we own it. War.
I don't recall anyone invading Russia in recent years, not since the Nazis tried it in WW2. So, no, there was no threat to Russia and its oligarchs except in the tiny mind of Putin the Insane. And apparently, David, sadly, that insanity is contagious. Please read more deeply and broadly than Russian propaganda.
I seriously disagree. History shows that appeasement does NOT work. Try studying it. We are trying to preserve democracy. Appeasement gave hitler the ability to gobble up much of Europe before we stepped in. The world knew over 50 years of fewer wars worldwide after WWII. I grew up in a time of great peace. The rethuglicans -- koch brothers (raised by nazi nannys), murdoch (extremely greedy lying capitalist/oligarch) and the rest of the uber-rich who have gotten away with paying very few taxes at all --- need to be voted out of office, and return to the loyal (too the Constitution) opposition they once were. And remember also that the rethuglicans are the ones who kept the Afganistan war ongoing so they could get very very rich.
Since this is partly a history newsletter, it's interesting to find out who among our own contemporaries would have rolled over, applauded, or blamed the victims when Hitler, Kaiser Wilhelm, Napoleon, Julius Caesar and other aggressive warlords were launching their armies and invading my continent.
I hear you David, and I hate war -any war, no mother wants to see her child die for our country and yet proudly stands by them...But the alternative is NOT a choice for me And anyone who doesnтАЩt understand this , wants to stand with the MAGA Republicans-THAT is your choice - and while you still have one ...IтАЩm glad to know who you are.
A lot of people surprised me , many even regretted ,some apologized , some came тАШoverтАЩ. This whole sham of a era has taught me I was sorely lacking in awareness though deeply involved in a social work profession...but I saw it happening before when I was very young (but old enough) and this time itтАЩs far worse ..and IтАЩm still learning. Thank God , Thank this marvelous community , and even thankful for the lesson.
The alternative to defending yourself and your allies against aggression is to become a slave or see them become slaves. Success is not assured, but failure is if nothing is done.
Here's hoping it was a one-time concession in order to achieve what seemed impossible: driving a wedge into the GOP and showing what is possible when adults are in charge. Well, one can hope, no?
Heather Cox Richardson continues her shameless, sickening support of Ukraine's oppressive neo-fascist thug regime, where all the opposition parties have been suppressed after Zelensky capitulated to neo-Nazi war-mongers and reneged on his campaign promise to bring peace to the Donbass region.
Recently, both Zelensky and Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau applauded as the Speaker of Canada's House of Commons praised a Ukrainian who was a real-life Nazi, a member of a Nazi SS unit that committed genocide against Poles during World War II. After international condemnation, Speaker Anthony Rota quickly resigned.
When Zelensky became President, he initially moved toward fulfilling the Minsk Agreements that had "frozen" the civil war in the Donbass and outlined a pathway toward peace. But then he capitulated to the Neo-Nazis (who controlled Ukraine's Interior Ministry, in charge of the police stations) and eventually re-ignited the frozen war, precipitating the Russian invasion. We are being lied to.
In August, after U.S. Secretary of State Blinken announced more aid for Ukraine, Zelensky posted a video showing him with Ukraine's most prominent Neo-Nazi Andriy Biletsky:
See also (from 2019) "Neo-Nazis and the Far Right Are On the March in Ukraine":
"Five years ago, UkraineтАЩs Maidan uprising ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, to the cheers and support of the West. Politicians and analysts in the United States and Europe not only celebrated the uprising as a triumph of democracy, but denied reports of MaidanтАЩs ultranationalism, smearing those who warned about the dark side of the uprising as Moscow puppets and useful idiots. Freedom was on the march in Ukraine.
"Today, increasing reports of far-right violence, ultranationalism, and erosion of basic freedoms are giving the lie to the WestтАЩs initial euphoria. There are neo-Nazi pogroms against the Roma, rampant attacks on feminists and LGBT groups, book bans, and state-sponsored glorification of Nazi collaborators.
"These stories of UkraineтАЩs dark nationalism arenтАЩt coming out of Moscow; theyтАЩre being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity."
How do you know all the news links you post aren't Russian propaganda like Fox News? Do you not believe that our US Intelligence would understand that your accusations are lies to assist Putin? It is PutinтАЩs argument to his people to support his vicious war.
In no way is Professor Richardson reporting anything untrue and far from shameless. Everyone knows the Russians are experts at creating & disseminating propaganda, and now you are part of continuing this insidious scheme of lies on this forum. You are the one being lied to. I don't buy it, and probably no one else on this Substack page does either. Not many тАШLikesтАЩ are there? Spread your fear-laden propaganda elsewhere, and quit insulting our country's intelligence, the people on this thread, and all Americans who know propaganda when we see it!
He (or it) is a troll. Like tfg he (or it) revels in getting a reaction to what he/ it writes. Whether itтАЩs a negative or positive response doesnтАЩt matter. Getting a reaction, any reaction, is what a troll wants and sees as a тАЬwinтАЭ.
I hope that George T is not trying to cover up his fascist proclivities by calling me a troll. Once again, quoting that 2019 article from "The Nation" (a mainstream liberal source):
"Neo-Nazis and the Far Right Are On the March in Ukraine"
"Five years ago, UkraineтАЩs Maidan uprising ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, to the cheers and support of the West. Politicians and analysts in the United States and Europe not only celebrated the uprising as a triumph of democracy, but denied reports of MaidanтАЩs ultranationalism, smearing those who warned about the dark side of the uprising as Moscow puppets and useful idiots. Freedom was on the march in Ukraine.
"Today, increasing reports of far-right violence, ultranationalism, and erosion of basic freedoms are giving the lie to the WestтАЩs initial euphoria. There are neo-Nazi pogroms against the Roma, rampant attacks on feminists and LGBT groups, book bans, and state-sponsored glorification of Nazi collaborators.
"These stories of UkraineтАЩs dark nationalism arenтАЩt coming out of Moscow; theyтАЩre being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity."
"The magazine [The Nation] has also aligned with the interests of Vladimir Putin in the modern Russian Federation, including after the Russian dictatorтАЩs invasion and seizure of Ukrainian territory in the Crimea and parts of Donbass in late 2014". https://www.influencewatch.org/for-profit/nation/
Why does Joyce Kell-Sanders avoid talking about the following quote? Is Joyce Kell-Sanders anti-semitic?
"These stories of UkraineтАЩs dark nationalism arenтАЩt coming out of Moscow; theyтАЩre being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity."
Neo-fascist minions want others to ignore the evidence of rampant far-right bigotry in Ukraine.
"These stories of UkraineтАЩs dark nationalism arenтАЩt coming out of Moscow; theyтАЩre being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity."
I'm not surprised that Judy Dyer, the (paid?) Biden troll, wants others to ignore the evidence of rampant far-right bigotry in Ukraine.
"These stories of UkraineтАЩs dark nationalism arenтАЩt coming out of Moscow; theyтАЩre being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity."
Once again, you and others are welcome to refute any of the facts presented in the linked articles. You and others have consistently failed to do so. Instead you raise the McCarthyist boogeyman of "Russian propaganda" as a fig leaf for your despicable support of Ukraine's oppressive far-right regime. Shame on you.
Keeping Democracy in any country that has been infiltrated by Nazi Fascist is difficult and it's happening all over the world; The United States and Ukraine not withstanding. We must continue to assist in keeping Ukraine a Democratic country whatever the cost. It doesn't belong to the Nazi fascist Russian thugs. The United States doesn't belong to MAGA and Trump alone either. So we fight to keep them at bay. I understand your fear, but to panic and spew propaganda to support that fear doesn't help anything. Just makes you look like a Troll.
Gayle Cureton, my basic point is that all the fascist minions around here refuse to address the following quote:
"These stories of UkraineтАЩs dark nationalism arenтАЩt coming out of Moscow; theyтАЩre being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity."
Oh, sorry, John, this is Meredith.I tried to have honest conversation with you. Remember that? It sorta worked for a bit, but then you retreated to your usual tropes.
"Usual tropes"? Why is almost everyone around here incapable of engaging with the following quote?
"Neo-Nazis and the Far Right Are On the March in Ukraine":
"Five years ago, UkraineтАЩs Maidan uprising ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, to the cheers and support of the West. Politicians and analysts in the United States and Europe not only celebrated the uprising as a triumph of democracy, but denied reports of MaidanтАЩs ultranationalism, smearing those who warned about the dark side of the uprising as Moscow puppets and useful idiots. Freedom was on the march in Ukraine.
"Today, increasing reports of far-right violence, ultranationalism, and erosion of basic freedoms are giving the lie to the WestтАЩs initial euphoria. There are neo-Nazi pogroms against the Roma, rampant attacks on feminists and LGBT groups, book bans, and state-sponsored glorification of Nazi collaborators.
"These stories of UkraineтАЩs dark nationalism arenтАЩt coming out of Moscow; theyтАЩre being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity."
Show me a rebuttal of any of the points made in the linked sources.
"Tne Nation," with that extended quote about rampant neo-Nazis in Ukraine, is hardly a fringe source. It is well over a hundred years old, the heir to William Lloyd Garrison's "The Liberator."
Perhaps your word "appeasement" is inaccurate. And perhaps you're trying to change the subject away from Ukraine's disgusting far-right thug regime. Why would anyone but a fascist do that...
Liars like Christopher Colles want others to ignore the evidence of rampant far-right bigotry in Ukraine.
"These stories of UkraineтАЩs dark nationalism arenтАЩt coming out of Moscow; theyтАЩre being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity."
Actually, this is A. I. , a programmable bot. It will generate massive amounts of text to drown out and distract from reality. It will get better at it by the week.
Supporting PutinтАЩs talking points is troubling to me given his fascistic form of government and lies about Ukraine. Support for Ukraine is necessary to help stem the tide of authoritarianism. Allowing Putin to annex Crimea was a major mistake opening g the way to this horrific war of aggression.
Neo-fascist minions want others to ignore the evidence of rampant far-right bigotry in Ukraine.
"These stories of UkraineтАЩs dark nationalism arenтАЩt coming out of Moscow; theyтАЩre being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity."
Think appeasement with Hitler in WWII. Let's see, all of Europe, Scandinavia, the Balkans, Eastern Europe, North Africa, and U boats along our eastern seaboard sinking merchant ships. Then the boa ate a porcupine (Russia) and died (for real).
I was very surprised that the shutdown was avoided. Wiser minds than mine have accepted the delay (at a minimum) with a shrug that promises, тАЬWeтАЩll get to it laterтАЭ. Perhaps (probably?) this is so, but I canтАЩt escape the feeling that is on a par with trying to enjoy a long-planned day at the beach while fighting back a severe toothache.
Put yourself in the position of the MAGA bomb throwers who are being told endlessly that they were sold out by their colleagues, McCarthy being at the head of the parade. When you regroup, what will you double down on? No aid to Ukraine, naturally.
One would assume that there is time for one more tranche of aid to go to Ukraine before the vagaries of election season make it politically necessary to turn off the tap. I see the hard right caucus using every procedural trick in the book to delay getting that money out until it is too late to do so.
Eric Swalwell waved this fear away without specifics. I was not reassured by that. Ukraine has had a very difficult second season of fighting and itтАЩs nearly over. Nobody should have any illusions that the Russians are going to give up. They have proved their tenacity throughout history, especially in WWII. They may feel they are turning the tide on the battlefield, albeit with grinding slowness. Last nightтАЩs bill has the seeds at least of comfort to Putin.
Americans have all been protected for 45 days by this CR. That is fair, although this was, to be sure, a manufactured crisis. Once again the creaky American way of government has shot itself in the foot and stole away on crutches. But the moral opportunity was cast aside in favor of a tactical compromise. The toothache continues to take its toll and will do so until the country has once again backed Ukraine at a pivotal point.
I wasn't. It seems to be a regular occurrence - go to the wire to show you mean business, then negotiate with the other party. Negotiation is the only way to avoid extremist Neinsagers, including those on one's own side.
But I could not conceive of McCarthy effectively backhanding Trump, breaking his long-standing policy of gladhanding him. I think GratzтАЩs moment in the sun is about up, but Trump was baying for a shutdown and I thought McCarthy would cave.
On the other point IтАЩm a bit of a hawk on Ukraine and also a general pessimist. I really did not want the aid sacrificed, if only temporarily. Zelensky owes it to his AllieтАЩs to be relentless in cleaning out internal rot. If he holds true to that, then I think we are in that part of the marriage bow that says, тАЬthrough thick and through thin, in good times and bad, for better or worse. . . тАЬ (I may have that out of order - itтАЩs been a while since I got married.
Perhaps the aid will flow after the CR dies. In that case, yours is the salient point.
I thought he would after he threw down the gauntlet and told his MAGAlites to go ahead and fucking call a vote on his Speakership. Also, I understand that the Republican Congress members from districts that voted for Biden were creating a counter-pressure.
What Liz Cheney said. Appeasement is bad policy, both domestically and abroad.
Unlike so many in her party, Liz Cheney makes her decisions based on the facts of history and the constraints of the Constitution. Although I disagree with a lot of her positions probably, it's reassuring that she's paying informed attention. In that respect, she's a role model for all of Congress.
Unfortunately she lost her seat, standing up for basic principles. This just goes to show how extreme Wyoming is.
She lost her seat but kept her integrity. She also won the admiration of those who otherwise donтАЩt agree with her politically.
A breath of relief on October 1. This morningтАЩs tea tastes extra special with the news carefully presented by Heather Cox Richardson along with highly intelligent..some passionate..responses from her readers.
I have a feeling that Liz Cheney and a group of other Republicans are organizing a coalition to return their party to a sane course. Me-thinks they got the speakeтАЩrs ear; he may be a wobble toy but this time he wobbled the correct way.
Let's hope!
Yes! That would be wonderful. I love the LOYAL opposition, we need balance. And an intelligent 3rd party too.
Loyal opposition depends on who the people are. trumpers are very loyal to trump as is a lot of the extreme politicians.
Yep!
Totally agree
It shows you how extreme the GOP in Wyoming is, not the state itself. When Trump is finally in jail, maybe people will think differently.
Thanks for noting the GOP in Wyoming - and not the people of Wyoming. Most are ranchers, herders of sheep - just keeping their heads down and working hard. Wyoming also is home to one of our largest and most beautiful national parks, Yellowstone. So they are caregivers too
...and FIRST National Park
She could be the nucleus of a new conservative party once the MAGA melt away as fertilizer into the grass at Mar a Lago
Yes, Liz Cheney is positioning herself to remain relevant until MAGA fever subsides. I don't think she is done with politics.
Certainly hope not (in spite of how I see her father)
Liz Cheney was a carpet-bagger from Texas who thought she could use Wyoming like a private fiefdom. She didnтАЩt really bother to campaign against her opponent, Harriet Hageman, who fought to get TrumpтАЩs nomination thrown out of the 2016 Republican Convention before seeing the political light and embracing MAGA doctrines. Harriet is a snake, but she is a snake from Wyoming. I much preferred LizтАЩs response to TrumpтАЩs treason, but before Trump went totally bat-shit crazy, Liz voted with Trump more than 90% of the time, not for the interests of Wyoming. DonтАЩt over-simplify local politics.
Yes, she did the right thing in this instance (J6 committee) but 2028 is in the future - she may be thinking long-term possibilities. Just thinking to the many/most times she voted WITH Trump. Up till now - its been party first.
Agreed. She may be ethical, for a given value of "ethical", but she is also an unrepentant right-wing conservative. She may not be an actual MAGAt, but her policy positions are or at least have been totally unacceptable in the America we want to live in.
Yeah - Its hard hearing people praise her for doing the right thing! As rare as that is currently.
Thank you.
Yes and don't worship anyone. But Liz Cheney is admirable.
Self-serving people aren't admirable.
I don't label her as such. I don't think she is her father. I think people can evolve and even put aside their core beliefs to dangers more important to battle. This she has done. In her recent role, she is not in my opinion self-serving if you believe her words, or even if you don't. She is admirable.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but when you're fighting for your life (and the non-fascists in this country are doing just that, whether we realize it or not) demanding political purity from your allies is not the best strategy.
Yikes. DidnтАЩt know she was so on tRumps sideЁЯШм
Liz !, May have LOST, Her Wyoming, Earthly Seat, BUT !,, She has 'MOVED UP !, the Row, at GODS TABLE !, to GODS Delight !! COMMON SENSE PRINCIPLES, ARE Given, into the HEARTS ! , of GODS Children ! AMEN !
She shows that you can be a republican and not go along with almost all democratic ideas, but when it comes to integrity she carries the ball.
What complete lies!ЁЯдгЁЯдгЁЯдг
Her old daddy helped create this mess, good on her for calling out the parallel
Not to mention "her old Daddy" is responsible for hundreds of thousands of innocent, dead, or wounded, Iraqi men, women and children AND thousands of American soldiers. Also, the complete destruction of thousands of historic buildings, palaces, towns and cities in one of the oldest human civilizations on earth.
Also, the bombing of schools and hospitals in Iraq.
All for "No Bid" Contracts to Haliburton which resulted in a 500% increase in Haliburton stock.
Can you say Pure Evil?? I personally would be a bit careful about too much praise for his daughter. Very careful actually.
Liz Cheney should be acknowledged for her appeasement warning and her respect for the Constitution. Acknowledged as being normal. Good stuff.
Beyond that, if she had a more complete sense of integrity, she would publicly condemn and chastise her murdering monster of a father.
A vote for Liz is a vote for the subjugation of women and the continuing impoverishment of Americans.
Thanks Liz, but until you see the big picture, you are just another thief of freedom and the National Treasure.
Bill,
I completely agree. As is most common for your posts.
see my above
the "murdering monster" ,if you can blame the whole Iraq war on one person, could have been stopped where the buck stopped.
Regarding Liz, you give lightly with one hand and smack down hard with the other. This is quite harsh and inappropriate imo. "thief of freedom'? gimme a break! Let's leave the hyperbole to those immature on the other side.
Yes I know, you are entitled....
You are right. Old Dick was hardly a loner when it came to promoting a bogus butchery of a war. He and "W" should be sharing a cell.
You and I are "entitled" to the facts about Liz Cheney. She stood firm and assisted in the investigation of the January 6th insurrection. Something we should expect from any normal patriotic political leader. Good. Hear my applause.
But anyone who takes the positions she has on a woman's right choose childbirth or not... is definitely a "thief of freedom". That is not "hyperbole". That is fact. Read about her and return to this forum to explain how she is not an extremist who thinks like an old white bigoted male. You want harsh? Do your own further research on the outrageous positions she has maintained. She is her fathers daughter in blood and beliefs. Of course, she is hardly alone. And I would rather have a beer with her than MTG.
https://sbaprolife.org/representative/liz-cheney
I applaud her integrity and devotion to the Constitution, but would I vote for her? She voted with Trump more than 90% of the time. No, I would not vote her into office.
I would vote for a Democrat. But in Wyoming it's meaningless. In the primary you would have voted for her Trumpist MAGA competition because she voted with Republicans 90% of the time during the Trump admin?
I wouldn't have voted in the primary because I'm a Democrat.
Agree with every word. And I thought W/Dickie were as low as they could go. I appreciate her position on chump, but nothing else.
Could not agree with you more. It gives me the oogies to hear this high praise reaped on Liz. We are all pretty confident who her political advisor is.
I get the oogies too. This and the comment above and others are a disappointment, a partisan drag down at this time when the ship is sinking and all hands are needed on deck. Most Democrats, some as fearful as Republicans, and only a handful of Republicans cannot deal with this by themselves. Republicans getting on board and speaking out are more important actually.
Regarding ,Dick Cheney, who I dislike, & am no fan of, especially in his later career as VP...
"......blasted former President Donald Trump, calling him a "coward" and labeling him a "threat" to the country in a new campaign ad for his daughter U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney.
"In our nation's 246-year history, there has never been an individual that was a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump," Cheney said in the one-minute ad posted to his daughter's Twitter on Thursday. "He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters rejected him." CBSNEWs 8/2022
So who influenced who? And does it matter? Or are we going the grudge on about VP Dick Cheney?
You don't agree with her politics. Okay, neither do I. But what I heard from her lately has been admirable and brave. She paid a price. Your comment shows plain partisanship above all. That's not better than Trump and what he promites and thrives on.
Your comment is really annoying. Dick Cheney started out in government with a great deal of high regard. And then he changed to the dark side, and became smarmy and unlikeable as he worked GW Bush ( who is really responsible). Cheney is obviously not regarded well by the wider commentariat in his retirement, and is irrelevant.
On the other hand, Liz Cheney, without disrespecting or dissing her father, took her own course. She is NOT her father anymore than you are yours or responsible for what they do.
I disagree with her political philosophy but she, like we, realizes that without this country's foundations, we all sink regardless of political philosophy.
She risked her powerful position and lost in Congress and fell on her sword for taking the correct moral stance on Trump, more than many Democrats along with the almost completely cowardly Republicans on both sides of the aisle have been able to do.
Liz Cheney is not Dick Cheney. She has done the country a service by making it possible to call the Jan 6th committee bipartisan but more as well by taking a strong lead as sub or co chair in her many strong statements.
Good words for Liz.
Perhaps she does deserve some respect for showing courage when almost all of the rest of the Republicans are cowering under Trump's large arse.
I will give on that.
The sins of the father should not be visited on the children and visa versa , We must each find our own way. Family ties are on a different plane from their public lives.
I would be careful about assigning what her father did and was for to her. I would give her a chance as well to evolve. She stands out from the rest in what she understands about the goals and meaning of this country and seems to be pushing her Conservatism, such as it is anymore, to the side at least for now.
Ok, but I just canтАЩt forget her creepy tribute to Teflon Ron at the beginning of her impeachment summary.
Then TRY to remember her role on the Jan6 committee - making the TRUE REVEAL of Cassidy HutchinsonтАЩs testimony. Good grief, people! YouтАЩre totally losing perspective here. MS Cheney is one person AND she did a great job with that monumental investigation. IтАЩm giving her my unabated Democratic gratitude!
Mike ! Check the WORD !, of GOD ! There are MANY iNSTANCES, Where God, inspired ' the Next Generation' , to pull a 180 degree spin, unto the GLORY ! , of His People , AND ! ,,,,,,,,HIS JUSTICE !!
Leave the magic sky daddy out of this
Please, just stop.
Jesus Christ, Cramer, if you are actually trying to make a point, can't you just express yourself as a normal human being would, and lose all the CAPS AND .... sTrANgE KEYBOARD GYMNASTICS and .... be....unto...some SE<mBlance of fucking SANE???? You people are either irrational or "bots" sent here to inject noise. I truly hope you dry up and blow away. But now I guess you can say you've accomplished your mission, and so my only recourse is to unleash my unbounded resources within the global internet hacker's community to identify, your precise location, light your laptop up to, say, 3,800 degrees C, and send it straight up your idiotic ass! Good night.
WOW !. LeMoine !, You ARE, Going to DIE ! Carrying ALL THAT HATRED !! YOU, and Your Family, are on a GIANT PRAYER LIST , ,,,, BLESSINGS ! MATHEW 7, Verse 6 I Feel SORRY, ,,,,, for your SOUL !
Which God Mark??
There are more than a thousand in India alone.
Let me know.
Mike ! , There is Only ONE, TRUE GOD ! JOHN 14 , Verses 16, 17 BLESSINGS !, Mike !
Please.
Take a break.
Many think God is on Trump's side.
:-)
Which God? There are thousands.
It is reassuring democracy means more to her than party.
She needs to repair all the damage wrought by her father and W.
She does not.. we do... we the country. And we have to be careful about who we vote for.
Liz is a defender of our democracy тАж but before that, she acknowledges she voted for The Criminal Defendant in 2020. SheтАЩs a very mixed bag.
DO raise your hand if youтАЩre perfect. Give us all a break Raul - and all the rest of you тАЬoh so perfectтАЭ people. GEEZ
Yes, her work to preserve and protect our democracy against the lunatic fringe in her own party is very admirable. She has carved out...along with other members of the Jan 6 Committee...a significant place at the table of true American patriots who have the courage to do the right thing for our country when it really matters.
The victory over the MAGAs of trump is another important milestone on our road back to normalcy as a nation. Lots of good and important work ahead for the smart and dedicated elected leaders who represent what we want and need as a nation. LetтАЩs elect more people like them.
KD, I always wonder how best to judge people. Do we praise them for their best moments or condemn them for their worst? Can and should we do both? Liz Cheney is a case in point.
Interesting question, Marge. I think you framed it very well. We all have our moments when weтАЩre pretty terrible or great. Her body of opinions is right there for us to see in her voting record which she, owns. What Liz did though in response to the coup attempt led by trump, though, carries a great deal of weight because she knew it would cost her dearlyтАж.her fellow republicans would surely disown her. She made the leap anyway because of her oath to preserve and protect our country. Very brave of her and selfless. Our founders would understand why she did it and so would the guys who stormed the beaches of Normandy or those who ignored their own safety as they searched for victims in the WTC pile on 9/11 and for months afterwards. We admire heroes because they shed their personal fear and go into the breach. What she did was heroic and will be long remembered as such. So we have to take people as they comeтАжand love them for their selflessness and try to forgive them when theyтАЩre not at their best.
The only thing that matters right now is stopping the fascist overthrow of the USA. I'll take any allies I can get in that fight.
She and the single other Republican on the committee - plus Democrats.
I suppose that we can say that Liz Cheney is a "conservative" as that term once meant: limited government, fiscal responsibility, individual rights. Of course, today the term conservative is hollow, meaningless. I've asked and asked Republican political pundits to tell me what conservative means. Nothing. No answer. Frances Perkins understood the reality of what government should and must be. Perkins is the person most responsible for Social Security, Workers Compensation, 40-hour work week, end of child labor, etc. Her philosophy of government: "The people are what matter to government, and a government should aim to provide all the people under its jurisdiction the best possible life." Perhaps Liz could and should read Frances Perkins' biography.
Well said!
"Conservative" once meant "individual rights" - but just for straight white men. The current crop of "conservatives" have pulled back the curtain and ripped off the dressing on the awful bloody wounds their philosophy represents. It's the ultimate expression of classism, sexism, racism and elitism - a style of thought exemplified by land owning southern plantation owners. A vicious style still worshiped and being resurrected under the banner of MAGA.
I had often used the word "conservative" in its original meaning. For instance, in our personal finances or in terms of conserving the natural world. But I find it makes me gag now. But maybe we should repossess the term!
Lets' talk about conserving women's rights and mother's rights to adequate nutrition for their kids. Let's talk about conserving voting rights for everyone. Let's conserve our oceans so there will be enough protein to feed billions of people. Let's conserve our potable water supplies so humans can survive.... Let's be the "New Conservatives" who want to make Progress on Conserving our Planet. What do you think?
When we try to study any discernible тАЬConservative,тАЭ values in the modern Republican Party even the connection to Laissez Faire policies become pretty vague and are used in a manner that harms. The pretenses of applying free markets to the fossil fuel industry intensifies emissions and accelerates Climate Change.
All free markets mean to fossil fuels is high profit.
But the main thrust of the American Republican Conservatives in the 20th Century was banning abortion and the National chaos caused by that victory has resulted in vast new layers of state and federal governance.
Conservatives insist the second half of the 2nd Amendment is the Law of the Land with multitudes of gun bearing nuts forming disastrous and deadly results. One result of the ensuing additional Government necessary to license guns has been the open carry and even permit free experiments which bring nightmares to the parents of school children.
My conclusions are the phenomena of unforeseen consequences perfected by the disgraced former President have been incorporated into his cult, the former Conservative Republicans.
This development of nightmares as governance has been amply displayed for the past two weeks in Congress.
Old bumper sticker I would like to see again: if you donтАЩt believe in abortion, donтАЩt have one.
I like the idea and when asked by some Republicans, I tell them that I left the Republican Party during Reagan's term in office because I am fiscally conservative. I objected then and I object now to the plundering of the national treasury, increasing the national debt exponentially to benefit the wealthy and large corporations, mortgaging the futures of those to come after us. It's unethical, irresponsible and immoral. We are the conservatives, they are the irresponsible, selfish plunderers. They've stolen trillions of dollars. For starters, we need to revise the tax code to get back some of that money.
Yep,
While Reagan talked out one side of his mouth about "fiscal responsibility" he raided the treasury out of the other side of his (whole body).
Like your thinking, BillтАж
Bill, Dr. Richardson's new book discusses the origin of "conservative" in America.
Pretty interesting.
Richard, I just started reading "Democracy Awakens" (the Professor's new book). I couldn't quite finish reading the chapter (either 2 or 3) but she delves into this, and the iteration of what the definition of "conservative" was. Since I fell asleep whilst reading, I'm not going to quote it here but it is well worth reading.
Just ordered HCR's book from a local bookstore! Looking forward to reading.
Me, too! I'll pick it up in a couple of weeks when I visit my niece (to our shame, as the State capital, and almost unbelievably, there are NO "local"/independent bookstores in Augusta, ME - all we have is a Barnes & Noble - so I'm supporting the local bookstore where my niece and her two young daughters live). And when I finish with it, I'm donating it to our library!
I just ordered both from Amazon, "Democracy Awakens" and "How the South Won the Civil War." I will read through them quickly and share with my Democratic neighbors, all of whom I now know.
Richard,
I recommend Dr. Richardson's new book. In that book she reviews the origin of the word "conservative. Very interesting.
In 1980 Ronald Reagan was elected and promised to cut the top marginal tax rate. This he did, and the top marginal tax rate was lowered over his 8 years in office from 73% to 28% on incomes over just $29,750 - the lowest this rate had been since 1925.[6]
The Tax Reform Act of 1986 lowered the top tax rate for ordinary income from 50% to 28% and raised the bottom tax rate from 11% to 15%. This was the first time in U.S. income tax history that the top tax rate was lowered and the bottom rate was increased at the same time.
The first tax cut (Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981) among other things, cut the highest personal income tax rate from 70% to 50% and the lowest from 14% to 11% and decreased the highest capital gains tax rate from 28% to 20%.[1]
The second tax cut (Tax Reform Act of 1986) among other things, cut the highest personal income tax rate from 50% to 38.5% but decreasing to 28% in the following years[2] and increased the highest capital gains tax rate from 20% to 28%.[1
Agree!
In my next life, I want to have the direct gaze and articulation of facts that Liz Cheney possesses. I find it interesting that both she and Nancy Pelosi both have five children each. Eleanor Roosevelt had six but one died in infancy. All three of these women come well equipped to deal with infantile tantrums.
"All three of these women come well equipped to deal with infantile tantrums."
Assuming that they, not their nannies, are actually raising their kids. Which, I would have some doubts about.
LizтАЩs main interest is ensuring oil and gas make as much money as possible. She is a complete climate change denier, and underneath all the talk about the constitution and standing up to TrumpтАЩs treasonous impulse, her real beef with him was that he was upsetting her own plans to take over the government to make the tax situation perfect for oil and gas interests.-$
Maybe it's not either/or but both. Knowing her father's association with Halliburton and his unfailing insistence that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction long after the intelligence said Hussein did not, I was highly suspicious of Liz Cheney, but it seemed to me she served nobly in an environment where there was treachery in her party that she was diligent and brave. It seems simplistic to me that she was investigating the insurrection simply to further gas and oil interests. I would agree with you, though, that the battle for control of our democracy is tied up in the urgent need to address climate change, and oil and gas are at odds with that.
I was not clear. I loved the articulate stance she took against the insurrectionists. She believes in democracy. What she doesnтАЩt believe in is climate change or a social safety net. SheтАЩs more than happy to have people see the patriot. We all just need to be very careful to ask her the right questions when she decides to put herself back in the spot light. Whatever pain and chaos her Daddy and W wrecked, itтАЩs old news, and the focus needs to be on what she would chose to do to guide our country and the world going forward, if she takes a run for the Presidency. Having grown up in Wyoming, I recall one of the first political lessons my father gave me. He said,тАЭAlways vote for the stupider politician, they cause less trouble than the smart onesтАжтАЭ Liz Cheney is not stupid. One of the reasons why I like Biden so much, is that he keeps telling everyone who will listen that the things he does are designed to make ordinary peopleтАЩs lives better. That is a question that Liz needs to be asked over and over (as well as every single politician who runs for any political office. What are you planning to do? How will it make my life better?
Thanks for the clarification. As for my part, I would never VOTE for her.
ЁЯдгЁЯдгЁЯдг
Yup. Appeasement doesnтАЩt work with narcissists and psychopaths. The next time, they simply want more, because last time, they got their way, and they want it this time, too; it never ends.
This should be the headline everywhere. Not only for repubs, but for RFK,jr and the no labels nuts.
ItтАЩs imperative in fact. ItтАЩs a movement like none other, which will take sustained application . ItтАЩs a war , this battle of which has been won but needs continued forward motion. Like my (many greats) Uncle Joshua Chamberlain , the leaders who wish to maintain victory must follow at a consistent pace, continued resolve . US TOO.
The enemy -greed, selfish gain, and cheap notoriety needs stopped.
ThatтАЩs a L O N G list .
WE have too long allowed the silent creep of callous business and self aggrandizement practices the spotlight. There are too many humans in danger, severely neglected, not even recognized.
The slow steady gains eliminating poverty need strengthened even more, incrementally !the days of getting rich off the backs of the poor or taking advantage of those who know not their worth...done!
Fair trade
No monopolies
Lies called out lighting false advertisement or based on NO FACT
I actually thought this was what we labeled integrity
Man was I wrong.
Hold their feet to the fire comrades , the new resolve .
The rich have plenty to GIVE BACK...have plenty to fund , to absolve greed , and specifically autocracy...have plenty to live in far more comfort than the worker bees ever will...let them -THE RICH- pave the new resolution .
I can guarantee plenty of worker bees will do THE WORK NEEDED.
Our world has plenty of room to compromise. If a program doesnтАЩt accomplish whatтАЩs intended then cease or INcrease it as needed. No pork in the bill. No pira├▒as in our government. No more BS . No deadbeat politicians.
ЁЯТЩЁЯТЩVOTE THE COMPLICIT OUT ЁЯЧгя╕ПALL OF THEMЁЯСИЁЯТЩЁЯТЩ
Wonderful dream and worth putting our arses on the line for.
Was it not The American Dream? I worked 32+ years upholding this active in the system,now on a mere subsistent income I put lovingly in a $3-5 dollar offering. But weтАЩre still helping the neighbor(s). It may sound like IтАЩm standing on a soapbox but rather that than contributing to a soap opera!
Thanks for believing, and wonderful posts, Jeri. Glad to be in your boat.ЁЯл╢
I suspect those people are just conscience-free hustlers. Well, except for RFKJ, who just seems to be a loon.
Indeed, his moronic rhetoric about vaccinations has cost lives. Then he had to go full stop lunatic
We are not appeasing. We had a choice and decided on war if we could not expand NATO into the Ukraine and RussiaтАЩs border. Joe BidenтАЩs administration is the Party of War. A war that may grow much larger and we may be soon obligated to fight. Forever War. We may all soon have to choose what side we are on. We and Congress get another chance in 45 days. War.
Actually, we chose to help Ukraine defend itself after Putin chose to invade it. We should have done so much earlier, when Putin invaded Crimea. That we allowed it emboldened him to invade further.
Ukraine was humming along, prosperous, beautiful and successful by any measure. And damn, here comes the devil knocking on their door. I know there is a long history here, and I know that some leaders of America have been warmongers. But, they wanted to continue on their path, and Putin tried to destroy them. Well, duh, Hitler redux. Rather my tax money go to them than it be added to the billionaires billions.
Go back further - Putin should have been stopped when he invaded and annexed part of Georgia in 2008. Maybe that would have prevented him from invading and annexing part of the Crimean peninsula, encouraging him to think he could just keep biting off chunks of land at a whim. I mean, without NATO's presence, is anyone willing to believe he wouldn't try it with Poland? We - the democratic nations of the world - HAVE to say THIS FAR AND NO FURTHER, return all Ukrainian land and repair the devastation you have wrought - the damage to buildings and land at least, to the extent it can be, although the damage to people can NEVER be mended. There really are no words sufficient to excoriate and damn that individual properly.
Putin didn't annex part of Georgia.
Cheryl we did not choose to defend the Ukraine after they invaded the Ukraine. We knew and chose to expand and threatened Russia. We chose to risk war and expand NATO along RussiaтАЩs border. Putin sees himself defending RussiaтАЩs security. As for the Crimea, it had been part of Russia since 1793 when Russia annexed it after defeating the Ottoman Empire. The Crimea was merged into the Ukraine in 1954 by the Soviet government. It is as strategic to Russia as New Orleans and Houston are to America. Joe chose to fight this war. According to Jans Stoltenberg, Joe refused to negotiate with Putin in late 2021. Putin then invaded the Ukraine. We chose this war. Biden is leader of the Party of War.
No disrespect, but do you realize youтАЩre parroting PutinтАЩs claims? Read Timothy SnyderтАЩs online history of Ukraine.
Why do you think Ukraine wanted to be part of NATO? Could it be to protect itself from the orcs of Russia, perhaps? After Ukraine (and the rest of the world) witnessed both Russia's invasion and annexation of part of the Republic of Georgia in 2008, and ditto the Crimean peninsula in 2014, both ineffectively opposed, if at all? Jeez, with a neighbor like that, I'd be wanting to get the friendly folks on the other side to help me protect myself, too. There has never been any justification at all for Russia's violent land grabs - none. And after that earlier behavior of Putin, how could any responsible other country refuse Ukraine's request? This war is not on the US, or on Ukraine, or on NATO - it is solely on the head of Putin the Insane.
"We chose to risk war and expand NATO along RussiaтАЩs border."
This is a lie. The countries along Russia's border CHOSE to become part of NATO when that was offered. Their own free will choice.
Stop crawling at Putin's feet and sniffing around his arse. Kinda gross.
Sorry, this is not the time for Biden bashing.
We took eight years arming and training Ukraine to invade the Donbass republics, who broke away after the U.S.-supported neo-Nazi takeover of Ukraine's security establishment.
Crimea escaped first.
Read more essays from Professor Heather Cox Richardson. It's a protection, not an aggregation for an endless war. We can not allow the aggressor to succeed because he will only go for more!
We need to stick together through NATO to preserve Democracy around the world and stave off fascism and autocratic rule!
You buy the Cool Aid. The U.S. is NATO. We pressed for war, threaten the security of a rival, then blamed them for starting starting the war. We and Joe knew. We knew Putin would likely respond. We wanted war. We see ourselves as the new Empire fiat currency and all. Now we own it. War.
I don't recall anyone invading Russia in recent years, not since the Nazis tried it in WW2. So, no, there was no threat to Russia and its oligarchs except in the tiny mind of Putin the Insane. And apparently, David, sadly, that insanity is contagious. Please read more deeply and broadly than Russian propaganda.
Wow. Do you really believe that? You must have dug so deep that you ended up in Putin's Propaganda Land!
So sad.
I seriously disagree. History shows that appeasement does NOT work. Try studying it. We are trying to preserve democracy. Appeasement gave hitler the ability to gobble up much of Europe before we stepped in. The world knew over 50 years of fewer wars worldwide after WWII. I grew up in a time of great peace. The rethuglicans -- koch brothers (raised by nazi nannys), murdoch (extremely greedy lying capitalist/oligarch) and the rest of the uber-rich who have gotten away with paying very few taxes at all --- need to be voted out of office, and return to the loyal (too the Constitution) opposition they once were. And remember also that the rethuglicans are the ones who kept the Afganistan war ongoing so they could get very very rich.
Appreciate it. You have made your choice. You are officially a Neocon, Party of forever War adherent.
Anyone who accuses others of drinking the Kool-Aid....has serious anger issues.
Since this is partly a history newsletter, it's interesting to find out who among our own contemporaries would have rolled over, applauded, or blamed the victims when Hitler, Kaiser Wilhelm, Napoleon, Julius Caesar and other aggressive warlords were launching their armies and invading my continent.
I hear you David, and I hate war -any war, no mother wants to see her child die for our country and yet proudly stands by them...But the alternative is NOT a choice for me And anyone who doesnтАЩt understand this , wants to stand with the MAGA Republicans-THAT is your choice - and while you still have one ...IтАЩm glad to know who you are.
A lot of people surprised me , many even regretted ,some apologized , some came тАШoverтАЩ. This whole sham of a era has taught me I was sorely lacking in awareness though deeply involved in a social work profession...but I saw it happening before when I was very young (but old enough) and this time itтАЩs far worse ..and IтАЩm still learning. Thank God , Thank this marvelous community , and even thankful for the lesson.
The alternative to defending yourself and your allies against aggression is to become a slave or see them become slaves. Success is not assured, but failure is if nothing is done.
Appeasement is caving in to blackmail. It NEVER produces the desired result because one party intends to act in bad faith.
Exactly.
The same result with bullies of all ages & size!
Beautifully put
Here's hoping it was a one-time concession in order to achieve what seemed impossible: driving a wedge into the GOP and showing what is possible when adults are in charge. Well, one can hope, no?
Heather Cox Richardson continues her shameless, sickening support of Ukraine's oppressive neo-fascist thug regime, where all the opposition parties have been suppressed after Zelensky capitulated to neo-Nazi war-mongers and reneged on his campaign promise to bring peace to the Donbass region.
Recently, both Zelensky and Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau applauded as the Speaker of Canada's House of Commons praised a Ukrainian who was a real-life Nazi, a member of a Nazi SS unit that committed genocide against Poles during World War II. After international condemnation, Speaker Anthony Rota quickly resigned.
When Zelensky became President, he initially moved toward fulfilling the Minsk Agreements that had "frozen" the civil war in the Donbass and outlined a pathway toward peace. But then he capitulated to the Neo-Nazis (who controlled Ukraine's Interior Ministry, in charge of the police stations) and eventually re-ignited the frozen war, precipitating the Russian invasion. We are being lied to.
In August, after U.S. Secretary of State Blinken announced more aid for Ukraine, Zelensky posted a video showing him with Ukraine's most prominent Neo-Nazi Andriy Biletsky:
https://mronline.org/2023/08/21/zelensky-holds-court-with-ukraines-most-notorious-neo-nazi/
See also "Ukraine is Brutally Repressing the Left, Criminalizing Socialist Parties, Imprisoning Activists"
https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2022/03/21/ukraine-repressing-left-criminalizing-socialist-parties/
See also "How Zelensky Made Peace with Neo-Nazis"
https://consortiumnews.com/2022/03/04/how-zelensky-made-peace-with-neo-nazis/
See also "How One Ukrainian Billionaire Funded Hunter Biden, President Volodymyr Zelensky, And Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion"
https://greatgameindia.com/hunter-biden-zelensky-neo-nazi/
See also (from 2019) "Neo-Nazis and the Far Right Are On the March in Ukraine":
"Five years ago, UkraineтАЩs Maidan uprising ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, to the cheers and support of the West. Politicians and analysts in the United States and Europe not only celebrated the uprising as a triumph of democracy, but denied reports of MaidanтАЩs ultranationalism, smearing those who warned about the dark side of the uprising as Moscow puppets and useful idiots. Freedom was on the march in Ukraine.
"Today, increasing reports of far-right violence, ultranationalism, and erosion of basic freedoms are giving the lie to the WestтАЩs initial euphoria. There are neo-Nazi pogroms against the Roma, rampant attacks on feminists and LGBT groups, book bans, and state-sponsored glorification of Nazi collaborators.
"These stories of UkraineтАЩs dark nationalism arenтАЩt coming out of Moscow; theyтАЩre being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity."
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/neo-nazis-far-right-ukraine/
How do you know all the news links you post aren't Russian propaganda like Fox News? Do you not believe that our US Intelligence would understand that your accusations are lies to assist Putin? It is PutinтАЩs argument to his people to support his vicious war.
In no way is Professor Richardson reporting anything untrue and far from shameless. Everyone knows the Russians are experts at creating & disseminating propaganda, and now you are part of continuing this insidious scheme of lies on this forum. You are the one being lied to. I don't buy it, and probably no one else on this Substack page does either. Not many тАШLikesтАЩ are there? Spread your fear-laden propaganda elsewhere, and quit insulting our country's intelligence, the people on this thread, and all Americans who know propaganda when we see it!
He (or it) is a troll. Like tfg he (or it) revels in getting a reaction to what he/ it writes. Whether itтАЩs a negative or positive response doesnтАЩt matter. Getting a reaction, any reaction, is what a troll wants and sees as a тАЬwinтАЭ.
Yup. Report it and move on.
I hope that George T is not trying to cover up his fascist proclivities by calling me a troll. Once again, quoting that 2019 article from "The Nation" (a mainstream liberal source):
"Neo-Nazis and the Far Right Are On the March in Ukraine"
"Five years ago, UkraineтАЩs Maidan uprising ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, to the cheers and support of the West. Politicians and analysts in the United States and Europe not only celebrated the uprising as a triumph of democracy, but denied reports of MaidanтАЩs ultranationalism, smearing those who warned about the dark side of the uprising as Moscow puppets and useful idiots. Freedom was on the march in Ukraine.
"Today, increasing reports of far-right violence, ultranationalism, and erosion of basic freedoms are giving the lie to the WestтАЩs initial euphoria. There are neo-Nazi pogroms against the Roma, rampant attacks on feminists and LGBT groups, book bans, and state-sponsored glorification of Nazi collaborators.
"These stories of UkraineтАЩs dark nationalism arenтАЩt coming out of Moscow; theyтАЩre being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity."
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/neo-nazis-far-right-ukraine/
"The magazine [The Nation] has also aligned with the interests of Vladimir Putin in the modern Russian Federation, including after the Russian dictatorтАЩs invasion and seizure of Ukrainian territory in the Crimea and parts of Donbass in late 2014". https://www.influencewatch.org/for-profit/nation/
Report the troll and move on. Don't engage.
Why does Joyce Kell-Sanders avoid talking about the following quote? Is Joyce Kell-Sanders anti-semitic?
"These stories of UkraineтАЩs dark nationalism arenтАЩt coming out of Moscow; theyтАЩre being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity."
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/neo-nazis-far-right-ukraine/
Yep, he drank all the kool-aid.
Neo-fascist minions want others to ignore the evidence of rampant far-right bigotry in Ukraine.
"These stories of UkraineтАЩs dark nationalism arenтАЩt coming out of Moscow; theyтАЩre being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity."
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/neo-nazis-far-right-ukraine/
5 years agoтАж
Actually it has been four years since that article in "The Nation" was published. And what has been going on since then? See this post:
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-30-2023/comment/41075196
Johnny Sm├йagol is a troll, likely paid by Moscow or the "Internet Research Agency". I'd say: report and ignore.
Honey, don't take this guy seriously. Or, do. And Report.
I'm not surprised that Judy Dyer, the (paid?) Biden troll, wants others to ignore the evidence of rampant far-right bigotry in Ukraine.
"These stories of UkraineтАЩs dark nationalism arenтАЩt coming out of Moscow; theyтАЩre being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity."
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/neo-nazis-far-right-ukraine/
I don't read your nutty rants.
You go girl! Just whatтАЩs needed to reply with dignity and intelligence to his twisted comment.
Once again, you and others are welcome to refute any of the facts presented in the linked articles. You and others have consistently failed to do so. Instead you raise the McCarthyist boogeyman of "Russian propaganda" as a fig leaf for your despicable support of Ukraine's oppressive far-right regime. Shame on you.
Keeping Democracy in any country that has been infiltrated by Nazi Fascist is difficult and it's happening all over the world; The United States and Ukraine not withstanding. We must continue to assist in keeping Ukraine a Democratic country whatever the cost. It doesn't belong to the Nazi fascist Russian thugs. The United States doesn't belong to MAGA and Trump alone either. So we fight to keep them at bay. I understand your fear, but to panic and spew propaganda to support that fear doesn't help anything. Just makes you look like a Troll.
Gayle Cureton, my basic point is that all the fascist minions around here refuse to address the following quote:
"These stories of UkraineтАЩs dark nationalism arenтАЩt coming out of Moscow; theyтАЩre being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity."
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/neo-nazis-far-right-ukraine/
5 years ago... What about now?
I don't believe that.
What are you wearing for Halloween, John!
DonтАЩt feed the troll.
Said the troll who's trying to diet.
Oh, sorry, John, this is Meredith.I tried to have honest conversation with you. Remember that? It sorta worked for a bit, but then you retreated to your usual tropes.
"Usual tropes"? Why is almost everyone around here incapable of engaging with the following quote?
"Neo-Nazis and the Far Right Are On the March in Ukraine":
"Five years ago, UkraineтАЩs Maidan uprising ousted President Viktor Yanukovych, to the cheers and support of the West. Politicians and analysts in the United States and Europe not only celebrated the uprising as a triumph of democracy, but denied reports of MaidanтАЩs ultranationalism, smearing those who warned about the dark side of the uprising as Moscow puppets and useful idiots. Freedom was on the march in Ukraine.
"Today, increasing reports of far-right violence, ultranationalism, and erosion of basic freedoms are giving the lie to the WestтАЩs initial euphoria. There are neo-Nazi pogroms against the Roma, rampant attacks on feminists and LGBT groups, book bans, and state-sponsored glorification of Nazi collaborators.
"These stories of UkraineтАЩs dark nationalism arenтАЩt coming out of Moscow; theyтАЩre being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity."
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/neo-nazis-far-right-ukraine/
I hope you're not the kind of guy who dresses up as a Nazi SS officer for Halloween, so he has an excuse to keep the uniform in his closet.
1. Show me a source other than fringe media 2. Show me the alternative
Ignore and report the troll. Just scroll on by. There's no "there" there.
...said the neo-Fascist minion who wants others to ignore the evidence of Ukraine's far-right oppressive bigotry.
Show me a rebuttal of any of the points made in the linked sources.
"Tne Nation," with that extended quote about rampant neo-Nazis in Ukraine, is hardly a fringe source. It is well over a hundred years old, the heir to William Lloyd Garrison's "The Liberator."
YouтАЩre the one who needs to back up your assertion and propose alternatives to appeasement
Perhaps your word "appeasement" is inaccurate. And perhaps you're trying to change the subject away from Ukraine's disgusting far-right thug regime. Why would anyone but a fascist do that...
FUSSIAN TROLL
Does everybody know this is a Putin financed troll.
Russia dedicate huge amounts of money and resources to making sure that there is one in every conversation on the web.
Liars like Christopher Colles want others to ignore the evidence of rampant far-right bigotry in Ukraine.
"These stories of UkraineтАЩs dark nationalism arenтАЩt coming out of Moscow; theyтАЩre being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity."
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/neo-nazis-far-right-ukraine/
Actually, this is A. I. , a programmable bot. It will generate massive amounts of text to drown out and distract from reality. It will get better at it by the week.
It is programmed to deny this.
...said the apologist for neo-fascist bigotry and hate-crime terrorism.
Supporting PutinтАЩs talking points is troubling to me given his fascistic form of government and lies about Ukraine. Support for Ukraine is necessary to help stem the tide of authoritarianism. Allowing Putin to annex Crimea was a major mistake opening g the way to this horrific war of aggression.
Neo-fascist minions want others to ignore the evidence of rampant far-right bigotry in Ukraine.
"These stories of UkraineтАЩs dark nationalism arenтАЩt coming out of Moscow; theyтАЩre being filed by Western media, including US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE); Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Simon Wiesenthal Center; and watchdogs like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Freedom House, which issued a joint report warning that Kiev is losing the monopoly on the use of force in the country as far-right gangs operate with impunity."
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/neo-nazis-far-right-ukraine/
TROLL ALERT
...said Brian the Troll as he looked in the mirror
I jolly well hope Putin is paying you a decent wage for all your hard work on his behalf. Otherwise, you sound like a right mug.
...said the neo-fascist minion who wants others to ignore the evidence of Ukrainian far-right hate-crime terror against its own people.
To quote that now famous line from the Snake Island defenders: ╨╕╨┤╨╕ ╨╜╨░ ╤Е╤Г╨╣
To quote former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin: "It is with your bitter enemy that you make peace."
Zelensky has no power to make peace. He is in effect a slave, and through him Ukraine has been enslaved by the International Monetary Fund and NATO.
As Putin said, "The decisions are not being made in Kyiv. They are being made in Washington and Brussels."
I suspect that Zelensky the "acting" President will continue to be a puppet until "we" arrange for his untimely death.
Rabin was murdered by an extremist - the kind of people in Israel who now support Putin.
If you see:
John Schmeeckle
Scroll on by.......
...said the (paid?) Biden troll
said the nut with accusations pulled out of thin air.
Think appeasement with Hitler in WWII. Let's see, all of Europe, Scandinavia, the Balkans, Eastern Europe, North Africa, and U boats along our eastern seaboard sinking merchant ships. Then the boa ate a porcupine (Russia) and died (for real).
I don't believe there are absolutes.. but I do respect Liz
I was very surprised that the shutdown was avoided. Wiser minds than mine have accepted the delay (at a minimum) with a shrug that promises, тАЬWeтАЩll get to it laterтАЭ. Perhaps (probably?) this is so, but I canтАЩt escape the feeling that is on a par with trying to enjoy a long-planned day at the beach while fighting back a severe toothache.
Put yourself in the position of the MAGA bomb throwers who are being told endlessly that they were sold out by their colleagues, McCarthy being at the head of the parade. When you regroup, what will you double down on? No aid to Ukraine, naturally.
One would assume that there is time for one more tranche of aid to go to Ukraine before the vagaries of election season make it politically necessary to turn off the tap. I see the hard right caucus using every procedural trick in the book to delay getting that money out until it is too late to do so.
Eric Swalwell waved this fear away without specifics. I was not reassured by that. Ukraine has had a very difficult second season of fighting and itтАЩs nearly over. Nobody should have any illusions that the Russians are going to give up. They have proved their tenacity throughout history, especially in WWII. They may feel they are turning the tide on the battlefield, albeit with grinding slowness. Last nightтАЩs bill has the seeds at least of comfort to Putin.
Americans have all been protected for 45 days by this CR. That is fair, although this was, to be sure, a manufactured crisis. Once again the creaky American way of government has shot itself in the foot and stole away on crutches. But the moral opportunity was cast aside in favor of a tactical compromise. The toothache continues to take its toll and will do so until the country has once again backed Ukraine at a pivotal point.
I wasn't. It seems to be a regular occurrence - go to the wire to show you mean business, then negotiate with the other party. Negotiation is the only way to avoid extremist Neinsagers, including those on one's own side.
Interesting point. There is definitely a pattern.
But I could not conceive of McCarthy effectively backhanding Trump, breaking his long-standing policy of gladhanding him. I think GratzтАЩs moment in the sun is about up, but Trump was baying for a shutdown and I thought McCarthy would cave.
On the other point IтАЩm a bit of a hawk on Ukraine and also a general pessimist. I really did not want the aid sacrificed, if only temporarily. Zelensky owes it to his AllieтАЩs to be relentless in cleaning out internal rot. If he holds true to that, then I think we are in that part of the marriage bow that says, тАЬthrough thick and through thin, in good times and bad, for better or worse. . . тАЬ (I may have that out of order - itтАЩs been a while since I got married.
Perhaps the aid will flow after the CR dies. In that case, yours is the salient point.
I thought he would after he threw down the gauntlet and told his MAGAlites to go ahead and fucking call a vote on his Speakership. Also, I understand that the Republican Congress members from districts that voted for Biden were creating a counter-pressure.
I agree with you on Ukraine.