''Today, ten retired senior military officials endorsed Harris, saying she “is the best—and only—presidential candidate in this race who is fit to serve as our commander-in-chief…. Frankly stated, Donald Trump is a danger to our national security and our democracy. His own former National Security Advisors, Defense Secretaries, and Chiefs of Staff have said so.”''
''Donald Trump is a danger to our national security and our democracy.''
And that's all any patriotic American needs to know.
Rickey, from my viewpoint, there are now few Republicans, their having been shuttled aside by MAGA, a KKK cult. That's not to say that the Reagan Republican Revolution/War on the Middle Class was not successful - it destroyed America's Middle Class, leaving us today with 806 billionaires whose wealth is equal to one-half of the American population. That's 806 vs. 163,000,000. We are now an oligarchy, where the oligarchs control the economy and the government. Harris and Walz are on the right track, IMO, rebuild the Middle Class with a process of pragmatic capitalism, what's found in the Scandinavian countries.
I too, look to Scandinavian models. Sometimes we dither with returning to the Dark Ages, while (apparently) other nations squeak toward tomorrow, I say squeak because they are not without problems of the modern world including immigration, bullying from Russia, and international crime syndicates, but they've resolved the basics of being human; housing, education, health care and much better relatonships with each other.
A subject that can be discussed forever. But somehow, these countries (including Iceland BTW) have found a way to govern a society such that long term and short term goals can be integrated, all people are treated with respect, that people's health and well being are a given, and taxation to support government policies and programs is fair and can manage debt. Also, these countries regularly rank high in citizen satisfaction surveys. Yes they have their problems, but they manage their societies far better than we do. Gotta ask why. And Republicans are central to the problem.
The majority of workers in those countries belong to labor unions. Their theory of government appears to reflect that of our own Fances Perkins, the architect of The New Deal:
"The people are what matter to government, and a government should aim to provide the means by which all the people under its jurisdiction can access the best possible life." All the people, and not just 806.
Again this is misleading. A country like Sweden with a virtually all Anglo-European population of 10 million can hardly be compared to a huge multicultural population of 350 million a we have in the United States.
How would you propose to "break" this supposed "cycle"? We are still a nation that theoretically believes in free enterprise so like it or not media sources are so entitled to be owned by private citizens and espouse for causes they believe in regardless of whether or not you or anyone else likes it. I am being very serious in this question. It's easy to say "let's break up the media conglomerates", it's a lot harder to actually frame an approach that wouldn't be horribly dangerous to free press and free speech. I have my ideas but I'd love to hear yours as you brought this up.
It needs to be pointed out in fairness that the societies/countries you mentioned are far more homogenous, far less multicultural and much smaller than the United States. The total population of all Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark) is less than 30 million people not even 10 percent of the US population and smaller than several states (California, Texas, New York). Comparing the ability of those mostly similar cultural and ethnic populations with the issues found in multicultural and multiethnic states in the US is a serious stretch.
True, but we have states that are nations unto themselves, such as Texas, Louisiana, and Florida, which are among those trying to recapture the Dark Ages. Also, Scandinavian countries have their share of immigration from the Global South. IMO, they are pre-conditioned to have a much better sense of fairness. I think of the Republicans and Christian Nationalists who have devolved from fiscal conservatism to plain obstructionism, obscene income disparity, and inherent racism, which contribute to the imbalances here in America.
They don't have the 3 branches of government and a 2 party system and they do not have very diverse populations. Instead they have a coalition government where consensus is part of governing and they developed their constitutions and modern lifestyles while they were predominantly White countries, and did not factor racism into denying their citizens a good quality of life, just so that they could prevent a minority of the population from getting that too. A big problem in the US. I was reading a discussion of how with US politicians who have 4 year terms just do not do any long term planning because the system is not set up for them to be reelectable if they do. Look at what just happened to Biden for governing like that. He hit the rich people hard, and they hit back. Kamala is already going to tax the super wealthy at a lower rate than Biden was going to. I think she said 28% whereas I think Biden was going for 39%. That and Lina Khan going after the monopolies which are making filthy people, filthy rich, as they crap on the rest of us, is why they pressured Dems to push him out.
The Scandinavian countries are not just essentially homogeneous, but they all fought a common enemy on their soil in WWII. A common enemy is a unifying force. And it teaches a country that we really are all in this together.
The only war on US soil, besides 1812, was divisive and sowed decades long hatred’s.
Only WWII—even more than WWI—came close to being a unifier to the US. But it was “over there.”
It's a good point although it begs the question why Scandinavia which was NOT as heavily involved in WW2 is used as an example contrasted with England, France and the eastern European countries which were.
The Scandinavian countries managed to survive WW2 in better shape than the others mostly by ducking direct involvement and maintaining neutrality (mostly) with Hitler. They maintained their homogenous populations too, something Hitler loved because Scandinavians were "true" Aryans, and not mostly ethnically mixed, something Hitler abhorred.
The Reagan Revolution was actually a Counter Revolution... After leaving the CA Governorship in the early '70s, he hung out with the Reactionaries in the 1970s Palm Springs, who complained about the Social Movements of the 1960s.... The Intent of the Reagan Counter Revolution was to bring back the Roaring '20s... That eventually happened with the same result... The Great Depression, and the Great 2008-2015 Recession... For a Refresher of what inspired Reagan, watch the Brad Pitt Movie, 'Babylon'... Now back to where we are now... A.I. will displace Knowledge Workers... Look at the potential of iPhone 16... Visit an Amazon Warehouse, or a Modern Car Manufacturer Assembly Line... Robotics Rule.. Our Social Systems must Evolve... The Scandinavian Systems are just the beginning... One of the latest Blurbs is that the USA has over 800 Billionaires, and more Workers are working 2-3 Jobs to just stay afloat... Putin/Xi are Smiling...
Absolutely, Rickey! I firmly believe that MAGA won't go away until, or should I say IF, the GOP can oust them.
Way back years ago (okay, probably only prior to Trump, though that does seem an eternity ago) I also split my ticket. I realized that no candidate hit every single qualification that I wanted and sometimes, (esp at local issue), I felt like the Republican was the best. (Heck, I started my voting years in Chicago, and I've spent my life in Illinois. Nuf said)
Since Trump NO MORE. Straight ticket Democrat.
I am a believer in a two party system to create checks and balances, but I don't see how anything can get done with the extremists on the right.
Miselle, I also once split my ticket although I never voted for any R that would be in the Federal Government. Now I am straight D and I know some local Rs who are disgusted with MAGAs and death star. I did smile about your comment about voting in Chicago and Illinois. Good old machine politics.
I suppose the question is: is there now a Republican Party? MAGA, IMO, is 21st century KKK. It's core concern is a racist white Protestant theocracy, with racism trumping the religious aspect.
I left the Republican Party during the Reagan Administration. Reagan began the tax on Social Security, began the war on the Middle Class, turned the emotionally and mentally ill out onto the streets (I saw scores of them sleeping in boxes in San Jose, CA,) and began the massive tax breaks for the wealthy and large corporations. They used that money to indoctrinate the mostly white evangelicals to vote Republican. And, Republican politicians just kept piling tax break on top of tax break.
I suspect that the Old School Republicans in the 'Lincoln Project' would like to see MAGA Lose Massively in November 2024... That way the GOP can be purged, and rebuilt, or a new Center/Right Party can be started... We DO NEED more than one Political Party... Still Curious as to why we have only two mainstream Political Parties...
Exactly! How could a country as large and diverse as the US have only two parties to represent everyone? The only answer I can come up with as that the whole system is being choreographed to stay balanced. I really saw this in Obama's first term. He has so much momentum leading up to the election. Then, within months, the press started saying negative things about him, even NPR!. Then, by the 2010 mid-terms, he lost the House and he had to confront the strongest obstructionism in US history for the rest of his six years.
The best defense we have is to teach our children critical thinking skills so that they are not so swayed by the BS being spoon-fed to them by the MSM.
What I would like to know is who are the choreographers? The 806? (Or a subset of them?)
However, there are a lot of Americans who are not patriotic. They do feel that they are, but they are patriotic to an idea that has nothing to do with knowledge of the constitution or the laws, for the most part it is based on a feeling of their own relevance. Robert Ritchie shared this on Joyce Vance's Substack, on September 9, 2024, and I think it gets to the heart of who votes for Trump and why. So, it is the undecideds who must be made to see that that is not just patriotism but self interest that should have them voting for Kamala.
The Cult of Opposition: Understanding the Psychology Behind Trump’s Supporters
In modern political discourse, the relationship between leaders and their supporters often reflects a symbiotic exchange—one of mutual benefit. Typically, a leader provides tangible improvements to the supporters’ lives, who in turn offer their allegiance. However, Donald Trump's presidency introduced a paradigm shift that baffled many analysts. A significant portion of Trump’s base does not measure his success by what he does *for* them, but rather by what he does against those they consider adversaries. This phenomenon raises a critical question: why do Trump's supporters define his success not by policy achievements or personal benefit but by his ability to antagonize perceived enemies? In this research paper, we explore the psychology, sociocultural factors, and communication strategies behind this phenomenon, offering a deep dive into the mechanisms that sustain this unwavering loyalty.
The Psychology of "Othering"
At the heart of this dynamic lies a fundamental psychological concept known as *othering.* Othering refers to the process of creating a division between "us" and "them," where "them" are people deemed different or antagonistic to one's own group. Social identity theory posits that individuals derive part of their self-worth from their membership in groups (Tajfel & Turner, 1979). When Trump attacks certain groups—be they immigrants, Democrats, or marginalized communities—his supporters feel that their in-group (conservative, predominantly white Americans) is being validated. The "other," typically those outside their cultural or political bubble, becomes a target of scorn and aggression. By constantly positioning himself against these groups, Trump reassures his supporters that they are on the winning side of a cultural war.
This is where the success metrics diverge from typical political calculations. Success, in the eyes of Trump's supporters, is not rooted in economic growth or policy achievements, but in the symbolic victories won over those they disdain. Trump’s antagonistic rhetoric serves as a rallying cry for a base that measures success by how effectively he torments the "other."
Fear as a Unifying Emotion
The divisiveness Trump exploits is not built solely on disdain for others but on deep-rooted fear. Research has shown that political conservatism often correlates with heightened fear responses (Hibbing, Smith, & Alford, 2014). These fears manifest in concerns over demographic changes, perceived threats to cultural identity, and economic anxiety—particularly in the wake of globalization and immigration. For Trump’s base, he offers not only validation of their fears but also an outlet for their anxiety: the vilification of outsiders.
By acting against these outsiders—whether through harsh immigration policies, vilification of the media, or incendiary tweets targeting "leftist elites"—Trump provides a sense of catharsis to his supporters. It’s not about building bridges or creating new opportunities; it’s about protecting their identity and keeping perceived threats at bay. In their minds, Trump’s success is defined by his defense of the status quo against forces of change.
The Appeal of a Strongman
This dynamic is exacerbated by the allure of authoritarian leadership, often characterized by a leader who promises protection and order while silencing dissent. Trump's rhetoric—filled with hyperbole, aggressive language, and dismissive attitudes toward political correctness—resonates deeply with those who feel disempowered by societal changes. Studies have shown that authoritarian personalities are drawn to leaders who project strength and offer simple, binary solutions to complex problems (Feldman, 2003). Trump’s combative style against the "other" fits neatly into this framework.
In this context, Trump is seen as the protector, someone who will go to any length to defend his supporters from external threats. His aggressive behavior—though often condemned by critics—is perceived by his base as a strength. In their eyes, his relentless attacks on groups like the media, the "deep state," or racial minorities are evidence of his success as a leader willing to do whatever it takes to secure their safety and identity.
The Role of Media and Propaganda
An essential factor in maintaining this dynamic is the role of right-wing media in amplifying Trump’s actions *against* others while downplaying or ignoring any lack of substantive achievements. Fox News, Breitbart, and other conservative outlets often frame Trump’s attacks on immigrants, liberals, and the media as necessary battles in a larger cultural war. Through selective reporting, these outlets reinforce the idea that Trump’s presidency is less about improving the lives of his supporters through policy and more about the symbolic victories he achieves through opposition to their perceived enemies.
Trump himself understood the power of media manipulation, often stoking controversy to keep his name in the headlines. As noted by philosopher Hannah Arendt, in authoritarian regimes, propaganda serves to simplify the world into friend versus foe (Arendt, 1951). By keeping the public focused on his skirmishes against the "other," Trump ensured that his base remained engaged and energized, even when his policies provided little material benefit to their lives.
The Social Contract of Aggrievement
This relationship between Trump and his supporters can be understood as a kind of *social contract of aggrievement.* While traditional politicians offer economic benefits, infrastructure improvements, or social programs, Trump offers emotional validation. His base, particularly those who feel marginalized by economic shifts or demographic changes, finds solace in his outward displays of aggression. His ability to provoke outrage in the "other" reassures them that they are still relevant in a world they fear is changing too fast.
Interestingly, this contract does not require Trump to follow through on traditional metrics of success like job creation or healthcare reform. His supporters are not primarily concerned with how he improves their lives directly. Instead, they focus on how he reinforces their worldview—one where they are under constant attack and where Trump is their defender. This emotional satisfaction creates a loyalty that transcends policy, rooted instead in the shared sense of grievance and resentment.
Conclusion: A Loyalty That Transcends
In understanding Trump’s success, it is critical to recognize the unique metrics by which his supporters measure his achievements. His base does not primarily seek economic relief or policy victories; they seek validation of their fears and grievances. By acting *against* the "other," Trump provides emotional and psychological sustenance that traditional political figures often fail to deliver. His success, therefore, lies in his ability to symbolize and enact opposition rather than constructively improve the lives of his supporters. As long as Trump continues to antagonize those perceived as threats, his base will remain loyal, even in the absence of tangible benefits.
In the end, the tormenting of the "others" does more than sustain them—it defines them.
Isn't "Othering" the antithesis of being a "Christian"? This agnostic "None" would like to hear more about how millions of Americans can abandon the teachings of their prophet, Jesus Christ, and still claim his name to describe their life view.
I have never been fond of any religious sect or "faith". But I used to have real respect for those "believers" who said things like "All are welcome at our table" or "Welcome the stranger" or "Love thy Neighbor".
I don't know that one can find anyone more committed as an atheist than me, but that having been said, I think that Matthew 25: 34-46 is a great formula for all of us: "Even as you do it unto the least of these." That, and the political philosophy of Frances Perkins, the architect of the New Deal:
"The people are what matter to government, and a government should aim to provide the means by which all the people under its jurisdiction can access the best possible life."
What I hear in that article is "Trump makes it acceptable to think and feel all the ugliest things they do, so they don't have to feel bad about themselves". Many people, through nurture, later experiences, and yes even nature, find living by Christian or other religions' and atheist moral codes' finest precepts to be far too difficult and thus feel badly about themselves more than others who find it much easier. Finding belonging in Trump's cult gives them a way to achieve a positive self esteem more easily than belonging within a non-Trumpist Christian or other religious and philosophical group's teachings. The need is so powerful they're blind to the hypocrisy even if they aren't just ascribed in name only.
Considering Linda's excellent expose of the MAGA mindset, couldn't we say they are, in a sense, followers of Jesus, though perverted. Perhaps, it was radical to welcome the Other to the table, as Jesus preached. Now not welcoming the Other into our nation, which is a melting pot of immigrants, a nation made of immigrants, is a radical idea. Maybe it is always human nature to fight against the established.
They don't understand the meaning of "patriotic" just like they don't understand the meaning of "christian". THIS IS WHY trump LOVES UNEDUCATED PEOPLE.
Bill, you are right. "Othering" is not what Jesus was about. He was about "love your enemies" and "pray for those who persecute you." It's hard (impossible?) to live that way. To the communities he visited, he spoke peace and disallowed violence. To the Roman government, he was feared as a zealot because some people (f.ex., Judas) hoped Jesus was there to lead the troops against the oppressors. Jesus didn't fulfill people's desires. He was more radical than we can honor in our own lives. No wonder he was killed.
Agreed, Melinda. It's hard to really follow Jesus for the reason you state here. Following Jesus never smacks of triumphalism. "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." It isn't a doormat in the face of injustice but "Instead, it doesn’t retaliate when wronged and doesn’t exude pride and narcissism." Meek people don’t envy, don’t retaliate, and exercise patience in the face of adversity.
Right! I wasn’t really believed, but as a preacher/pastor (ordained almost 70 years ago) I have stated that if one really lived by the example of Jesus the powers that be would destroy that person’s life, if not just murder.
Melinda, Jesus also spoke out and acted out about the hierarchy of the Temple, who were using their position to acquire power and wealth. He also spoke forcefully against hypocrisy, calling out those who prayed loudly in the Temple. The Romans may have crucified Jesus, but they had help from the Temple hierarchy. First century Palestine was full of people claiming to be Messiahs as the Jews chafed against Roman rule. Usually Romans were pretty tolerant in terms of other religions and gave the Jews special privileges and when Jews rebelled anyway, they were baffled, but did not tolerate rebellion, so Titus destroyed the Temple and put an end to the rebellion in AD 70.
Isn't "Othering" the antithesis of being a "Christian"?
Sadly, no. For most of its history, Christianity "Othered" the living hell out of Jews, Muslims, atheists, cultures with multiple or different gods or none at all, and anyone else who didn't fall into line. The Church used the power of the state to enforce its will, and got access to millions of "clients" every time a king or emperor conquered another people--the missionaries flooded the zone and the Church controlled the culture.
It is vastly better now, of course, but J.D. Vance, for instance, is the cover model for the Illustrated Bible of Using the Terrible Swift Sword to Other Your Enemies. Their love is power and fame, not Jesus.
Well, as you point out there is a long history of congregants and even leaders not actually being good Christians so the space is between the ideal and the enacted.
Absolutely. Not unlike life in general and the ideals of America laid out in our founding documents--ideals are ideals but people are people, so one can strive and fall short. Good news is Christianity long gave up the institutional Terrible Swift Sword and is a net positive for our culture, not a negative. One step at a time, right?
Bill, one of the things we noted last night on the meeting of the police and the latest school shooter and his father is that both father and son had crosses around their necks. It would be nice to see people who wear the cross symbol, including tattoos, actually act as Jesus taught. Richard S below mention Matthew 25: 34-46 as an example.
It has long been a known tactic for lawyers to make sure their clients are cleaned up, wear coat and ties even if they have to loan them, and wear glasses because it's believed wearing glasses makes them look more bookish or studious and less apt to have been violent. It's staging. I suspect either a lawyer or the client themselves was engaging in staging.
Well said. Trump's supporters want him to crush the "undesirables," i.e., women's rights advocates, minorities, immigrants, gays and others. ["The Anger Games: Who Voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 Election, and Why?" published in the peer-reviewed journal, Critical Sociology in Feb. 2018. MAGA is 21st century KKK.
After further thought, I am adding to my response to Linda Weide's posting above: this analysis is brilliant and spot on. I am copying it and sending it to family and friends. I have been studying this phenomenon for several decades and this summary is the best that I've seen.
Richard, for centuries, white men have been top dogs and one of the problems, is that white men have seen others gain rights and assert themselves. Some of this, in my mind, is resentment for that happening.
Thank you so much Linda for your time invested to educate us further as to how this madman maintains his grip on people. Their lack of initiative and curiosity feeds right in to his manipulative strategy. I encourage others to read your essay. Maybe "Othering" shares space with "Kinning" as a means of creating a bond for lazy, unthinking people to find common ground. Thank you again. Your writing is always so thought provoking, and actionable. Regarding JV Dunce, methinks perhaps he had some hard times with cats growing up. He is such a petty little man , do we laugh, or cry watching him repeat jokes he heard about Kamala Harris in a little dive bar? Prompting them to laugh, hearing the boos, his Jeb Bush :"you're supposed to clap" moment has arrived!
Jim, I did not write the essay. I just thought it was informative and saved it to share. I agree JVD is horrid, but have read that his role is to draw some of the ire and shield Trump. Trump seems to often forget JDV and amplify people like Musk and Kennedy. In Project 2025, in Chapter 1 White House Office, the vice president is the last person named, and it is clear that he is supposed to just support whatever the president wants and have no other role than that. Who has the real power is the Chief of Staff. He is written in as the gatekeeper. Also, today in Popular Information I read that the Trump family has started a new crypto business that has them set to make millions if Trump gets back in to the White House. We should not let him. https://popular.info/p/trump-teams-up-with-pickup-artist
Marcia, what I take from it, is that we do not spend our time on them right now, and focus on getting lots of people signed up to vote and out to vote. That is the best strategy. However, we have to hope that as Kamala wins, and runs the country these people, who can hate it the whole time and her, as we know White Supremacists will no matter what. But the others, might be able to have a slow change of heart if Trump can be made to fade away and they do not embrace JDV in his place, or anyone else for that matter.
Linda, I agree with you 100% - spending time on "them" is a total waste of time. We need to get to the undecideds. All of the research and my own personal experience proves that they are committed to voting for their "Lord and Savior," Donald Trump, the bigot, racist, misogynist and xenophobe, who will crush the "undesirables," thrilling their cold, black, dead hearts.
This is my hope, too, Linda. Would it make a difference if Trump had a heart attack or something of the sort and there was no one, except Vance maybe, to replace him? I keep hoping Trump implodes like he might do at the debate tonight. At least, he will fizzle, I think.
“My mother…taught us to never complain about injustice but do something about it. She also taught us, ‘Never do anything half-assed.’ That’s a direct quote.” —Kamala Harris. With all due respect to Robert Hubbell, his analysis is half-assed. The following is the other half.
Human beings are all the same. We are all subjects of a social system. And we are all doing the same thing. We are all trying to understand that system, strengthen it, and protect it from external threats.
A subject’s potentially but not necessarily sufficient understanding of the system is the subject's “circle of concern.” The more powerful a subject is, the larger the subject’s “circle of influence.” If a subject’s circle of concern encompasses the subject’s circle of influence, then the subject is sufficiently mature. If a subject’s circle of influence extends beyond the subject's circle of concern, then the subject is immature.
Warning to human brain operators: Granting power to immature subjects is dangerous and can be fatal.
Strengthening the system by resolving within-system dilemmas takes a back seat to neutralizing external threats. Strengthening the system is important, but Trump knows that people intuitively perceive neutralizing threats as important AND urgent.
If a subject’s perception of the social system includes only some people within the subject's circle of influence while excluding other people, then “we” are always relevant whereas the “others” are opportunities to be exploited if time allows, threats to be neutralized as soon as possible, and otherwise utterly irrelevant.
What is the MAGA Republican circle of concern? That’s a good question to ask after we answer another question. What is our circle of concern? For the record, if the law allows you to vote in November, your circle of influence includes 50 states and 16 territories.
“We are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us.” —Jo Cox (1974–2016)
James, you ask: "What is the MAGA Republican circle of concern?" From my vantage point, the term Republican is now irrelevant and MAGA is now the direct descendant of the KKK. Racist to the core support White Protestant nationalism. That's the KKK.
It's complicated. Many MAGA supports do not identify with white supremacy, or Protestant nationalism, or the KKK. After all, many are not white, or identify as Catholic, or identify exclusively with Libertarianism.
And, in addition to being complicated, it is also simple. A MAGA supporter thinks some people are important, other people are not, and "I" am one of the important people. To be more specific, the former is a subset of the latter. To be even more specific, the former is the largest subset of the latter.
Please be clear. This was not written by Robert Hubbell, it was posted by someone commenting in his Substack and posted this, which I thought fit with a German documentary I had seen the night before called Trumpland.
A towering description that is elegant in its careful delineation of the issues.
I also read much of Hannah Arendt and Tim Snyder into this thesis. Now Linda Weide is to be explored for my understanding.
We must be certain we are aware the current situation is not an academic study but the real life drama of extremely well funded ideological evil intent on joining global authoritarian forces and get people out to vote.
Hap, the wealthy oligarchs have been funding the campaign of disinformation/misinformation and outright lies for decades. "What's the Matter with Kansas?" by Thomas Frank (2004)
Thank you, Linda, for posting this in full. This paper, and the Atlantic's promising new podcast series "Autocracy in America", are starting to answer the question that has puzzled me for this entire election cycle: how is it that a solid half of this country's electorate takes as their role model a man who is shallow, self-absorbed and totally driven by grievance, to the point of abandoning what could improve their existence to live out a revenge fantasy?
This, and little else, explains why half the country is willingly following a man whose middle finger is his moral compass.
I'll add this tidbit from the Atlantic podcast to Linda's contribution: people buy into Trump's lies not because they actually believe them, but because claiming to accept such obvious falsehoods is a code that shows they are part of the in-crowd. Trump is clever this way - start by forcing people to accept a small lie with no consequences ("my inauguration crowd was bigger than Obama's") and gradually ramp up to the point where your choice is accepting claims that are existentially dangerous or being cast out of the group you've worked so hard to identify with.
Perhaps Dr. Richardson could give some historical perspective on this moment, but isn't this the point at which the increasing extremism of past radical movements have led to the formation of new parties? Everyone talks about the "true Republicans" who have been cast out of the party because they didn't embrace MAGA. Instead of endorsing Harris, or perhaps after the election, why don't they form a new political party that promotes reasonable governance?
As a Democrat, I would look forward in the short term to the fight between Republicanism and MAGA, which would assure Democratic dominance for some time. But I would look forward even more to the long term return to a two-party system where neither side embraced nihilism and everyone could discuss policy differences with an eye toward resolving them rather than using them for political ammunition.
A Harris victory this November, backed up by Democratic legislative majorities, can be a first step toward this future. Vote Blue, top to bottom.
Mobiguy, I think that we all have struggled with how to make sense of the loyality from some that Trump commands. There are the usual suspects: racism, misogyny, homophobia, Islamophobia, xenophobia and more. Part of that more, I've finally concluded, is stupidity. They don't know what they don't know.
I have a hard time accepting stupidity as an answer. America has come through 250 years and no small number of crises, but has never come close to having a near-majority of the voting population manipulated to install the purveyor of such obvious and blatant lies. This in spite of a population that is, on average, far more educated (in the formal, public-school sense) than it has ever been.
I think Linda's post, and the Atlantic podcast series on autocracy, nail the problem. Trump may be an idiot or may just act like one on TV, but his feral instincts make him the most dangerous kind of idiot: one with an unerring instinct for self-preservation.
Decades ago I took a water safety and lifesaving course. One of the most important lessons was to stay out of the reach of a drowning person, who will instinctively grab on and use you as a flotation device, dooming both of you. Trump, faced with more prosecutions than he can handle, knows that he will drown unless he regains the power to make them go away. He has cultivated a following nearly large enough to allow him to do that, and is ready to drown them along with the rest of us if it's his last chance to save himself.
Trump has spent the nine years since the golden elevator ride creating an army ready to sacrifice themselves and everything around them for his own personal gain. Again, Dr. Richardson could provide perspective, but I don't believe this country has seen his like before, at least not anywhere this close to the levers of power. We are simply not mentally prepared to counter an attack of this type on our system.
I hope VP Harris does not underestimate the depths to which Trump will sink to save his own skin, or the level of support his minions will provide to let him get away with whatever actions he attempts. I personally hope her debate strategy takes this into account tonight. I try to avoid exaggeration, but this may be the most important night in the history of our country.
I feel that our schools have failed to teach two very important lessons: 1) critical thinking skills, and 2) government/history/civics. For example, those supporting Trump, IMO, are ignorant of what a Fascist-run state would be. Critical thinking could begin as early as the 6th grade. History, government, civics could lean more heavily on comparative systems.
Yes to both of those. Teaching these subjects in the schools would be an excellent first step, although the impact on voters wouldn't be felt until a number of years later, when those students reach voting age. We need a similar outreach effort for adults, which will unfortunately be labeled as propaganda by those who want to see it fail.
Let Us Hope For The Best... Sometimes Civilizations Get Tired... Read Up On Roman, Or Chinese History... When People get Tired, they often Yearn for a Strongman, a Savior...
Linda Weide, thank you! This brings a lot into focus, especially when tied with our species' deeply entrenched need to belong to a group or family or tribe to survive.
We do need to spend our time efficiently and not waste it. This from someone who made phone calls last night. It is an excellent way for each of us to get involved.
I did another 2 hours of phone banking to Pennsylvania last night. It's really fascinating. I talked to some strong supporters, but also some people who don't plan to vote, and to a physician named Ahmed who plans to vote for Jill Stein because of the Gaza issue. The talking points they gave us on how to respond to such arguments are quite good, so I may have made a little progress changing their minds.
C4C WHY VOTE - conversations with voters who won't or don't vote (Harris)
C4C WHY VOTE - conversations with voters who won't or don't vote (Harris)
WHY VOTE? Persuasion conversations | connecting with those who don’t / won’t vote Handy all-purpose phrases L...
You would be really good at phone banking because you know the issues so well and are persuasive. You could swing more voters that way than talking to MAGA stupidos or by talking to echo chambers.
The group I worked with last night is called Call 4 Change. You can call into whatever swing state or swing race you feel passionate about. There were over 800 people making calls last night. They do trainings for those who need it.
And, this is how to get in touch with the phone banking system:
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Thank you for signing up for today’s phone bank @ 3pm Pacific Time (6pm EasternTime).
We’re looking forward to seeing you. Please arrive at the phone bank on time to check in.
Training will be provided for those who need training after a brief introduction and phone bank instructions. The calling links will ONLY be dropped into chat after the instructions.
Candidates background and voting information per state---------- TIps on what to say when voters say they are not voting------------- Rebuttal points on the issues including where Dems and KH stands vs MAGA
Everyone must have their video on at the start of the phone bank. Once the calling gets started, you can turn your video off if you like.
Coaches are on hand throughout the entire phone banking session to help and support you. All you need to do is raise your Zoom hand and ask for a coach.
Thank you for sharing this clearly written article on how to understand the MAGA supporters and why it is so hard to get them to change their minds with our traditional ways of trying to convince them. I'm sharing this with family so we can keep it rolling along and maybe gather in some of the undecideds at least. any idea who should get the credits for it?
In my lifetime I’ve seen Republicans create horrendous damage by adopting “Othering” as a political strategy. In the 60s, hippies and Vietnam War protesters were the subject of vituperative attacks (anyone remember the bumper stickers: America- Love It Or Leave It?). In the 80s it was people on “welfare” (code for Black). After 9-11 there was the anti-Muslim enemy. It seems like every twenty years the GOP develops new enemies. But now we have Rightwing media, foreign trolls, and homegrown militia as the foot soldiers. It is terribly depressing.
And with social media playing an outsized role in influencing the young men in our country to be associated with conservatism, although I think extremism is more like it, we need to stop letting the tech companies determine who they go after with their products and start putting ratings on websites, making them off limits for minors, and frankly for anyone under 30, who does not have the emotional maturity to manage being on these websites radicalizing them and spewing hate.
Excellent... In Talking to many MAGAs in a non-Judgemental Fashion, this Validates a lot of my findings... Seems that a lot of the MAGAs feel 'Cheated' as they have to Work Harder for Less-And-Less... That Frustration results in Blaming Others... The Billionaires have been Glorified since the 'Greed-Is-Good' 1980s...
Actually, my Democrats Abroad Project 2025 Book club got into a discussion tonight about how men 30 and younger, who used to be part of the democratic party, are now turning to the Republican party. How they are not doing as well in school, or economically, as the number of women are moving ahead and what can the party do to show them that the policies are for them too. The Gen Zer males in my family are Democrats, but one of them, who just finished Chef school, is not as committed. He sees Dems as the lessor of evils. I know there are MAGA young women, still generationally, more young women are not going for being Trad wives, but for taking charge of their own lives. We do need to look at why young men are having a high rate of suicide, and some are turning to terrorism. Who is influencing them and apparently Trump is getting up in there are really relating to them on the platforms they frequent with the no nothing influencers that they follow. We need to be looking at how we can help young me. That is a bigger topic than I can address here.
I agree. As a teacher I have tried to do engage the boys I taught in existing beyond stereotypes and being active and creative. I am concerned at how physically inactive students are expected to be for long periods of time. We have to make learning more active. I think of Tim Walz as a great role model for young men. I am glad he is the model the Democrats offer. I wish that young men would see him as that.
Being Inert is Lethal... Activity Cleanses The Mind... The Common Lifestyle doesn't Help, along with a Poor Diet... Seems to Me that Sedentary Distractions such Video Games, which seems to be a Common Thread, among many of the Dysfunctional Disaffected, are not Helpful... I wonder if the Falling 1st-World Birth-Rate, and Sense Of Isolation are a Result... GO COACH!!!
The question that will end Trump’s career at tonight’s debate: “Mr. Trump, you have used a series of negative words to describe Vice President Harris. Assuming you believe she merits those words, would you advise your male supporters to use the same words to describe their mothers, wives, girl friends and daughters, when they merit it?”
Given what I know about Trump's supporters I would not expect them to be watching this debate. Also, from what I am learning they do not care if he does anything for them economically, as long as he appears to fight for who they are. That is White Supremacist, gun loving, Christians, who are cis-gender, straight, and hate anyone who is not all of those things. He tells them that who they are great, and in a changing world that reassures them that they still have validity and power.
I think you are 100% accurate, Linda. It is not about anything other than "restoring" them to their "rightful" place "atop" society and culture. Anyone who is not white, Christian, heteronormative, cisgendered, and male should be nowhere near the "top spot". Women are useful to them as chattel. That's it.
Trump's supporters should not be Harris's intended audience, at least not in real time. Her best strategy should be to pull away as many undecided voters as possible - and hopefully they will be watching tonight - and let the after-the-fact news coverage sow doubt among whatever persuadable Trump supporters there are.
The vast majority of engaged voters have already made up their minds. This race will likely be decided by a small margin of people who are just starting to pay attention to the race, and who will actually be paying attention between now and Election Day. For both Harris and Trump, these are the only people who matter.
The question isn’t for Trump’s male supporters. It’s for his female supporters, some of whom likely know nothing about his cruel misogyny, and for some fence sitters who never had the matter so starkly presented to them.
I expected quite a few trumpeters would watch the debate to see their king trounce the black woman. If so, I wonder how many actually listened to both candidates?
It is. And yet, every story I read still has Trump and Harris statistically in a dead heat. I don't understand the thinking of half my fellow Americans.
I think Josh Marshall in TPM is simply trying to look at overall polling trends rather than focus on the ones that either make us happy or freak us out. That’s the best way to handle this stuff I think, and probably Prof. Richardson would agree. We always knew there would be ups and downs before the election. Let’s try not to lose our enthusiasm and instead focus on GOTV efforts, which not only keep us sane, but may have a real effect on driving the outcome we want. Let’s get rid of this horrible man and his movement once and for all on Nov. 5th.
We are walking on a knife edge. The trump base is secure, few top repubs have abandoned him.. While many of his former military and civilian advisors have denounced him as unfit to serve, I fear that nothing Harris can do to shake his support. I think that only trump can destroy the trump image. Possibly he will become the Trojan horse for the oligarchs who will run or ruin this country.I can't breath.
Tfg is a guy who has bankrupted multiple companies over his life time. I haven't seen anything that makes me feel he'd do a better job with our national economy. From Wikipedia: "Although Trump has never filed for personal bankruptcy, hotels and casino businesses of his have declared bankruptcy six times between 1991 and 2009 due to its inability to meet required payments and to re-negotiate debt with banks, owners of stock and bonds and various small businesses (unsecured creditors). Because the businesses used Chapter 11 bankruptcy, they were allowed to operate while negotiations proceeded. Trump was quoted by Newsweek in 2011 saying, "I do play with the bankruptcy laws—they're very good for me."
". . . . Harris backs passing the bipartisan immigration bill that Republicans killed on Trump’s orders . . . ." In the debate tonight, ¿why should Vice President Harris NOT say the following?
"This guy [pointing toward the former President] had been screaming that there was an invasion at our Southern border. Yet both parties in the Senate together passed an immigration bill. Then the impeached President opted to instruct M.A.G.A. extremists in the House to kill that timely bill. The Speaker and others dutifully obliged him. Accordingly, President Biden and I stepped into the breach to address border security out of good faith. What gets me, here, is what Trump's actions said to all of us.
"Either there was no invasion or this old and desperate felon was willing to let an invasion proceed unabated for five months for his benefit only. The former alternative was a lie, the latter reeked of treason. So, candidate Trump, what gives? [Shrugs her shoulders.] Given this guy's [thumbing dismissively toward the former President] track record with the truth, I think we all know which alternative it is: a problem duly addressed by President Biden when Trump crippled Congress from doing so."
Endorsement by the ten top military experts is important but it seems to me at least as or more important is this portion of their letter:
"Ten former Generals, Admirals, and the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps issued a letter today blaming Donald Trump for the issues that led to the chaotic withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan". That is an extremely important statement. Trump is attempting to blame Biden for the deaths of the Americans at Abbey Gate.
The letter not only warns against putting Trump in power again but specifically addresses the Trump lie that led to his Arlington National Cemetery PR stunt:
"Without involving the Afghan government, he and his Administration negotiated a deal with the Taliban that freed 5,000 Taliban fighters and allowed them to return to the battlefield. Then, he left President Biden and Vice President Harris with no plans to execute a withdrawal, and with little time to do so. This chaotic approach severely hindered the Biden-Harris Administration's ability to execute the most orderly withdrawal possible and put our service members and our allies at risk." It could not have been put more clearly, and from these leading military strategy experts.
But we don’t have to take their word for it! Trump’s everyday detachment from reality shows his unfitness.
As does his record when he was president. For one thing, his miserable selfishness was on display during the pandemic. ( Don’t test so much, it makes me look bad! What will it do to the stock market and my reelection prospects?)
Refreshing, isn't it, to see a candidate acting like a grownup with a grasp of the issues, instead of like a toddler in a mud-slinging contest? Maybe the press will even take notice.
That is a big ‘maybe’ I fear. I am trying to manifest a solid performance by Harris tonight and anticipate that Trump..unmedicated.. will keep going in the same vein as he has recently and maybe even worse as he cannot control his disdain and fear of strong female opponents. This scenario would give the main stream press a perfect opportunity to recalibrate the coverage of Trump’s incoherence and paranoia. After all the main stream press certainly took their gloves off vis-à-vis Biden after his debate struggles.
I would hope that I would have had the presence of mind to say "What the hell are you doing ?" Go stand at your lectern and let's have a real debate. Stop this infantile crap and grow up. "
That is the worst thing he could do. The best thing is that he will blow up, spread his venom, reveal his brutality, reveal his ignorance, spout lies and absolute nonsense.
If TUMP tries that tactic with Kamala, i would love to see her turn around and slap the taste out of his filthy mouth and then kick him in his testicles so hard that he would crumple to the floor in an orange blob of goo.
He could, but that would be a blatant foul, and she'd point that out to the moderator. Pity Hillary hadn't reacted, instead of pretending she didn't know what he was doing. Well, plenty of recorded hindsight.
When did a blatant foul ever stop Trump ? He revels in them. He may not troll her, but he'll push the boundaries in some way, attract the criticism and then he will scream foul...he's the victim. It's his MO. I just want to see more "undecided's say, he's not Presidential....I can't vote for that. She makes sense. " I think that's the goal tonight.
It was so telling that when Trump did his ominous stalking routine behind Hillary Clinton during the 2016 debate that the moderators didn't rein him in. I'm sure it's because they were afraid of him. He certainly did a good job of projecting a menacing presence. He wouldn't have done that of his opponent were a man. If Trump tries that tonight, I would hope the moderator or even the show producer insist he cease and desist or he will be escorted from the studio. In spite of the high stakes of tonight's debate, or maybe even because of the high stakes, it is possible Trump could have a temper tantrum worthy of a two-year old live on the set and that would increase the enthusiasm of his supporters. It's all political theatre until the shock troops bust your door down in the middle of the night.
NL he will push the boundaries some how. He always does. He likes to dance around the edge where he can claim it was innocent, or a joke...and then lash back at any criticism because he is the victim...not poor Nell tied up on the train tracks. He plays hero to victim better than any I have ever seen. In his world he is NEVER the villain, never Snidely Whiplash. He morphs from Dudley Do Right to Nell in a moment for his fans. Or Victim to hero, like he did when bullets were headed his way.
Remember that like Hillary, we weren't yet used to Trump full blast - I think the moderators too thought if you ignored the behaviour it wasn't really happening. Also nobody knew yet about his foreign puppeteers.
that's haunted me too -- I think Kamala would turn around and order him to get back to his spot. Hilary must have been so surprised and kept her composure - I wish she had called him out on his malevolent lurking.
MLMinET, I sometimes think Hillary could have won the election in a landslide if she just turned around & hit the Stalker with a quick combo: A sharp Left to that large stomach & then a Right cross sending him all the way back to Queens.
Unfortunately, Trump would have pressed assault charges against Clinton because she would have broken the law. Trump would have truly enjoyed the fallout - giving him the perfect chance to play the victim.
A sleezy rich cardiologist came up behind me once when I was the nursing supervisor for CCU on the late shift at 10 pm. He put his arms around me, and I SCREAMED and broke his grip by bringing my arms up and out. Woke up every patient. He never did it again. Wish Kamala had a similar tool in her box.
And they likely will look for any stammer, or “laugh” that they can criticize. Sorry to be so negative, but I have been shocked to the core by the MSMs path down the Fox hole.
MSM's descent is disgusting, but nothing can falsify the videos of the VP's hands-on welcome by the people. As for her performance, she's an experienced debater, a lawyer, a senator, and very photogenic. And if the ABC don't do the right thing, she's not going to let it pass in bewildered silence.
I have a feeling that the writers of Saturday Night Live are anticipating an easy week of script-writing. They will probably only have to tweak some of the debate transcripts and mesh that into this week’s SNL. In fact, they may just change the name of the comedy show to TNL - Tuesday Night Live.
Like nothing can change the crowd size of chump’s inauguration? Sorry for the snark, but they are masters of the three-ring-circus. Sure hope her stellar performance (and I know it will be) resonates with any non-cult people left who are undecided, or haven’t been purged from the roles.
He is so in-your-face inept, incompetent, vacuous, evil, and ugly that it has taken a master propagandist to cut and paste him into human form for those who have mush for brains. I can think back to many elections when he would have been laughed at and mocked as the joke he is.
Bias at the crossroads of our lives. And the lives of our children…. They need a whole new news paradigm to deal with the onslaught of bull schittery that emanates from the bowels of the repubs.
What a great way to put it, JD. Corporate Media has gone right up the Faux hole. I use the verb "up" in place of "down" because one: I like foxes and two: I can just hear my Dad's common rejection of "Up your @$$ with Mobile gas" in the scenario you describe.
His hatred of Mobile gas stems from his childhood; his Dad took in a number of his nieces/younger siblings (all girls) straining his household budget, while his brother (also married with two kids) set them out while running his series of Mobile gas stations to increase his personal wealth.
Don’t bet the farm on it. The press will continue reporting on the lies and made up crap, making sure that they repeat it all. With social media in on the nonsense. How I long for the press to take some truth serum and do the right thing.
Then we would be back to this, and I would welcome it. From Umberto Eco “Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak who previously only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without damaging the community. They were silenced immediately,
but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It’s the invasion of the imbeciles.”
The militias have been practicing for decades. And when Obama was elected, I read that the FBI had stopped monitoring them. I hope that as a mistake, or has been remedied
JD I think the militias are so badly out-matched it's not even funny. The only hope "they" have in a civil war is massive defections of the right units. Taking over a LOT of National Guard units...and getting a lot of general officers to defect like the Confederates did. It's an insane Harry Turtledove scenario. I would hope that there's a LOT of effort going in to knowing who supports the US and who supports rebellion.
I have thought so for decades, and I hope there are those who take the threats seriously. The SS certainly had their share of MAGAts, and knew how to erase records from their phones on Jan 5
That's something that needs to be verified as it doesn't make sense. I'm pretty sure the FBI would have stepped up their efforts after Obama's election.
That’s what I thought, why I was shocked. I had just seen a poster with Obama described as a skunk, half black and half white, with cross hairs on him. It was in a newspaper as I recall.
There were many times more reported than they could waste available resources on, but multiples in the number of serious threats followed up on were , to me, indicative of the increased real threat.
I have no doubt that Lincoln was the most at risk President from the time he was elected through the next 4 years 6 months. I don't know who was the second most at risk, but suspect Obama was high on the list.
I seem to remember the Secret Service reporting 4 times as many threats soon after the election, but the 2014 article has it as just triple the number.
There was a lot of loose talk I'd hear, usually among pairs of what I'd call "less intellectual" students of backgrounds J D Vance claims to come from, suggesting what they wished to do to President Obama. I know they weren't serious but I'd caution them that I was supposed to report such threats (or claims to have planned or committed actions along those lines). It easily stopped the most careless talk, as much as I could on campus. It was also the method I used to limit what I believe were false braggadocios claims of racist actions before joining the military.
When the story seemed true, I did report what I was told to the CID as in what one of the unwilling participants in the My Lai incident told me after his two sleepless nights later.
Trump may very well leave the debate early if he starts his gibberish and his handlers can pull him off before he starts doing his dance. 90 minutes....it's still going to be a shit show for him.
I'm not so sure he can afford to do so. My feeling is that it will more than likely be his demise. Imagine the independent voter making a decision based on that move. Most, if not all, of independent voters will insist on seeing the debate all the way through. Kamala Harris is set to compete; tRump, if abandoning the debate, will only set his defeat. The realities are now catching up to him. And it's about damn time they did.
Touché Jim. Full disclosure, I have no ‘manifestation’ practice but I do remain cautiously, pessimistically optimistic that Trump is going to self-implode before the first Tuesday of November. I know this could be too late to salvage the electoral college win in view of early voting.
Alas, JJ, once again it all depends on WHICH press, which media you are talking about. There has been such a proliferation of media platforms it has left many, if not most of us, completely baffled at what constitutes real information. It is the same issue which bedevils any possible accuracy in polling. We keep returning to the only poll which really matters, the national election.
Everyone needs to watch Lawrence O'Donnell's 24/09/09 takedown of the NYTimes. It's hilarious, unless you happen to work for or pay for the NYTimes, in which case it's respectively humiliating or infuriating.
Ref: Lawrence: The media is trying (and failing) to cure themselves of 'sane-washing' Trump
Thank you for writing such a comprehensive summary of the various ways in which the MAGA wing of the Republican Party are attacking our democracy—from 1) refusing to promote military leaders and to fully fund those who defend us to 2) sowing white supremacy violence to 3) spreading racist lies against legal immigrants to make people fear them. It seems that the party that used to pride itself on supporting our troops and rule by laws has been corrupted by greed and personal fear. We need to elect Kamala, Tim and a Congess willing to put our needs and the Constitution first.
We should be fair. There are still people like Liz and Dick Cheney and many highly placed generals and others who remain stalwart Republicans but are voting this time against Trump. So while the number of MAGA people is terrifying, there are still some nonMAGA Republicans
I saw a woman (probably in her 60’s) in Biloxi proudly wearing a bright pink T-shirt proclaiming “I’m voting for the convicted felon” with Cheetolini’s face in the middle.
The stupid is STRONG in some of these shameless cultists.
Although your statement has some truth to it, we shouldn't forget the main thread that runs through republican ideology: its' all about the money! With republicans, it's *always* been about the money. Regardless of whether we have tRumpsters or non-MAGA types, or traditional republicans, it's *always been about the money*. The ideology among these folks, and here is where there *is* a "fair" part to them, is that there are some who are decent folks who simply think differently than we do and are able to come to some mid-point in a discussion. On issues such as foreign policy, the Cheney's, although courageous in their actions on tRump today, are still a bridge too far to come to a realistic agreement on methods in negotiating with folks who are on the other side of a different culture. To endorse something like The Project of a New American Century, which had its roots in one, Paul Wolfowitz's mind, still haunts the republican party. And although folks like William Kristol now see the dangers of tRump, it was folks like him, Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, Eliot Abrahms, etc. that rooted where the republicans now stand. All that was argued by the republicans back in 1992, and now seemingly abandoned by the same, left a scar that MAGA now carries proudly. It's not unlike engineering a train full speed ahead to a destination only to find that the bridge is out and too late to apply the brakes on a steel rail that will guide and ride them into cavernous abyss. In a way, we've all been taken for a ride whether we wanted to go or not. Folks, such as the Cheney's and William Kristol, as good as their intentions are today, blindly and maybe unintentionally, set this up to where we are today. It's good that they are supporting Harris; however, there is an uneasy tardiness to their efforts.
Riad, what you call "uneasy tardiness" I would call it shameful tardiness. Not holding at the heart of one's politics the well-being of the poor and the middle class, women, minorities, and anyone in need –– in favor of the betterment of those who already have plenty –– is disgusting.
Melinda, I don't disagree with anything you've said. I doubt seriously that their endorsement of Kamala Harris will turn a new leaf in their lives; for those who are "shamefully" tardy, I am grateful at least for what may well be only this transitional agreement with the left of center. For instance, there has been some mention of Liz Cheney joining a Harris cabinet should KH win the presidency. I just don't see that happening. If by the well-off chance that it does, it will be a short-lived cabinet appointment to the disappointment of all concerned on the left as well as on the right.
I agree. I found a copy of a letter I wrote (but didn’t send) back during the Dubya era to a Republican fundraiser who addressed me as a “usual donor" to Republicans. Reading my letter I realized that everything I wrote back then needs only to be put into the superlative mode to be a true reflection of Trump and today’s MAGA members. The last decent Republican president was Eisenhower, and he wasn’t perfect by a considerable extent, but he was not solely out for power and money.
Agreed. No daylight left between MAGAworld and the RNC. That was after all why Lara Trump and friends took it over. I wonder how Lara squares the overt misogyny with her own sense of self?
A good education, no doubt, is a valuable asset, Swbv. I would argue that a good education is not necessarily a road to smart or brilliant critical thinking. Promising a scorched earth policy from the Republican National Committee is clearly not the surest way to maintain friends. There is no daylight between being "brighter" and being manipulative in politics. It all catches up with one who commits to those policies. It doesn't make any difference what party one belongs to.
Drown them in a blue tsunami. Sent more than 12 million texts this cycle. Need phone banking and canvassing to close the deal.
The electorate is not set... yet. Millions of potential Harris voters are not registered ... yet. She trends 60% with women, the same with young people, 70% with tenants in the blue wall swing states. Now is the hour to expand our base significantly.
FT 6 calls primarily unregistered people who trend Democratic...mostly women. Usually don't have to do a lot of persuading.
Many people are lazy to read the true facts. They vote only for the party, thinking the Republicans are the “elite” who support a small government, and feel the Democrats are the “poor” who want a bloated govt with lots of social supports.
In reality, the Democrats are literate and progressive while many Republicans are greedy and are bad stewards of fiscal responsibility.
If you have not seen it, this was part of the official 2012 Republican Party for the state of Texas:
"Knowledge-Based Education – We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority."
We should be careful on that score; republicans make the same argument concerning democrats. Although I have friends who are republican and have demonstrated critical thinking skills, MAGA republicans have shown too often their lack of education and world experience in knowing what the outside world (outside the US, that is) is like. GeorgeC, I believe, has the more likely answer.
Update desperately needed, but the propaganda is still spewed non-stop. When I hear people ask why are we so divided, I used to post a picture of Rupert Murdoch. He may have been the first, but he certainly attracted a mob of like-minded power-hungry cretins.
There's a whole host of right wing MSM pictures you can post JD -- Rush Limbaugh is one of the grand daddies. But, Murdoch certainly has the best right wing media incubator.
I'm baffled too, but Big Money has a lot to do with it. The "Reagan Revolution" discarded governance of, by and for the people and handed the reins to the ultra rich.
Slave-based agriculture was America's first big business, and was as political as ever. Take away the oligarchs and you remove the contemporary Republican Party's raison d'etre; a body without a head. It could grow another one, but without consolidation of money and power, it's current momentum would have no point.
And they want us to believe they are conservatives. Adding $7.9 trillion to the national debt under Trump was not conservative nor is only passing the fewest bills in history conservative. McConnell started us on the path that "do-nothing" was acceptable and McCarthy and Johnson have made it acceptable.
I wonder if the MAGA supporters realize how awful they've been but just can't back down because they'd be admitting stupidity or gullibility? Every time I say that I almost feel sorry for them, my husband says "Do not go there..." You be safe, too!
Some are sociopaths, other sincere but excessively gullible; such as the guy who went to jail for attacking the Comet Ping Pong Pizza Parlor. Yeah, he had no business bringing a gun, but I got the sense that he really believed he was rescuing children. It seems perhaps more curable than those who are proud of their lack of conscience.
Typically a Roy Cohn - Joseph McCarthy mentality. This is where we need a Joseph Welch to speak out against the likes of Ted Cruz. "Until this moment, senator, I think I never gauged your cruelty or recklessness . . . . Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
I don't think "Until this moment, senator, I think I never gauged your cruelty or recklessness . . . . Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?" will work today.
I think it is more like "What on earth are you thinking? Do you even have a brain? Have you lost your ever loving <or colorful metaphor> mind?"
Ally, you may be right; however, this is the problem, symptom if you will, of today's political atmosphere. in 1953 or '54 (whenever this quote was made by Josheph Welch), it was considered strong language at that time and in fact, did put McCarthy and Cohn in their place. Now, we are dependent on using irreverent language (to put it mildly), in order to get our point across. To which, the likes of Ted Cruz will simply shrug it off and accuse the critic of having only a four-letter word vocabulary. Please don't get me wrong: on the vast scale of guilt on who uses 4 letter word vocabulary, the MAGA intellect less take all the prizes on that score. That's the way they think; that is their form of word smith and vocabulary. Educationaless (new word by the way that I made up 😅), non-critical thinkers, and generally simple minded in their view of the world, it is their own language that will eventually bring them down or help them take us all back to the neanderthal age. Essentially, that is where they belong. All these folks Ally, were born way too late and well after their time. I believe it becomes incumbent on us to foster and lift the educational sphere in our world so that these poor misguided folks don't do the damage that inevitably will be owned solely by them. If I come across as lecturing, please forgive me. I am not taking you for granted and respect your views.
The whole "story" goes to show that the Republicans know their target audience is stupid enough to fall for it. This kind of BS has been used against immigrants (and groups perceived as "the other") for hundreds of years.
No lo creas. A Donald Trump no le importas. Sólo le importa enriquecerse a sí mismo y a su oligarquía. Impondrá un gran arancel a los bienes importados. Ese arancel se convertirá en un impuesto para las personas que compren esos productos. Afectará más gravemente a la clase media y a los pobres. Cuando abre la boca es para llenarse la cara de comida chatarra o escupir mentiras de clase mundial. Se engaña, es dado al pensamiento mágico y fabrica mentiras extravagantes. Respalda la violencia, el racismo, el antisemitismo, la misogenia, la prohibición del aborto y el terrorismo local. Quiere ser como autoritarios como Fidel Castro, Orbán de Hungría, Putin, Kim de Corea del Norte, Maduro de Venezuela. Le importa un comino la invasión de la soberanía de Ucrania y ha dicho: "Putin puede hacer lo que quiera en Europa.” Vota por él bajo tu propio riesgo.
The image is less appalling than the lack of decency shown using it as an emotional appeal to manipulate people. There is anything hasn't been desecrated in this war on humans, all we value used as props to disguise sheer intent to dominate.
Yes, the set of lies from Springfield, Ohio, shows the entire Republican playbook.
They lie knowing the U.S. mainstream press will cover for them.
Lawrence O'Donnell's lead segment today was on the egregious cover for Republican lies by The New York Times. He calls the Times' policies “rot.”
If reporters, editors, and execs at the Times could recall some humanities – novels, films, songs – they could touch the personal, they could tie actual human emotions to the complicated places arts visit.
Orwell praised this specificity. He said (“Politics and the English Language”) couching oneself in real, human, or nature’s physicality gives us language keeping at bay the abstract diction, slogans, and the clichéd which lets our brains rot, lets us side with evil.
We will, we do side with evil, as tens of millions of abysmally educated Americans do in orange felon cultism, as The New York Times does in its reporters, editors, and executives lacking any and all humanities.
Phil, it’s not just a lacking in humanity, it’s a willingness to forget what they’ve said before about tariffs—that importers pay the tax and, usually, pass it on to the consumer. If we take Trump’s claim that the tariffs will raise a hundred of billions of dollars, that means that the average citizen will pay over $300 a year in increased costs (super inflation). Of course, it won’t be equal because rich people don’t buy cheap Chinese goods—so the tariff inflation will hit middle and lower income people disproportionately. And when they complain, Project 2025 says the military is to quell protests with force.
And nobody is talking about the GUARANTEED retaliatory tariffs. Remember Cheetolini’s first term? He ended up spending so much money to make up for the lost grain sakes and others.
China understands politics quite well (and knows math MUCH BETTER thank any of Cheetolini’s “best people”, so they will make sure it hurts.
And then we had to bailout the ag-producers to the tune of $28 billion which, of course went mostly to the large corporate farms while many small producers struggled or went bankrupt.
Thanks for the details. I thought it was over $20 Billion and I’m not surprised that the mega farms got nearly all of it and small gamily farms suffered.
It is probably like emptying the ocean with a teaspoon but, if everyone just started canceling their subscriptions to the NYT and the WaPo, PERHAPS they would start rethinking their ways. I got fed up with them when they would give Traaaamp so much coverage and disparage President Biden or not even cover the good things he was trying to do!
The New York Times needs to admit that it died back in 2003 when they were the cheerleaders for Widdle Georgie's invasion of Poland, er, I mean Iraq, so we can have the funeral and plant them six feet under where they belong.
I stopped watching commercial TV for good while W was revving up for war in Iraq. The pretext was always preposterous, and the scale of loss of life (ours and theirs) immoral. WWII forced us to fight, but Bush II's war in Iraq seemed like a right wing adventure.
Haliburton money making scheme for one. Destroying lives, both here in our surviving military members in that 20 years war, and in the nations we tried to destroy for another.
Actually, the Times died when it published a story about the Gore v Bush election with a headline that implied that the SCOTUS-ordered, final count in Florida was substantially correct despite the fact that the story associated with the headline showed a proper count would have ended with a Gore win.
W was pretty incurious. So is Trump, but he has a certain creative flare when bending reality, and exceeds even W for quantity and absurdity of lies told. Or so it seem to me.
Great assessment, Phil. Millions of Americans side with that evil, and Corporate Media just amplifies it, wrapping it up in a pretty package with a bow on it. I would add "and a puppy" but that has new meaning today in the ridiculous garbage coming out about immigrants eating pets...
I don't need to watch the debate. Here is how it will be covered. Harris will be asked questions that she will answer articulately with specifics, but no matter how articulate, except for likely MSNBC, she will be criticized for being vague. Trump with reply with - to use a SteveMartinism, "We will hugely mamboo dogface in the banana patch" and the press will cover his nonsensical blather with the headline "Trump proposes overhaul of food policy in the US".
We are watching the US become a failed society in real time, courtesy of a supine media. I only hope when all is said and done that the NYT gets what it deserves and he shuts it down. - I won't be able to vote any way, so what the hell good will being an informed citizen be? At this point I'm only reading it for the recipes and weekly history quiz anyway.
Just to be sane I repeat to myself these days that Trump is a rapist, a racist, deranged, an insurrectionist, shared classified information with Russia during his presidency, presided over a crime against humanity that was his willful incompetence on Covid, profited off of his office corruptly, mocks the disabled, is a misogynist, incites to violence, is a religious hypocrite, and stole and kept classified information. And of course, it's Trump. I've left stuff out.
I have no idea what much of the American electorate is thinking . . . oh . . . wait . . .
After careful consideration, I think that a "supine media" is absolutely accurate. Flat on its back, face up, completely motionless. I also love your "Steve Martinism" and the sanewashing supine media translation.
You are not wrong. It's said we can accept there are people we can't change & have the courage to change what we can. I believe we can be encouraged that people may now be motivated to take our country back. History shows we have done it before & there has never been so much motivation!
It is remarkable that the criminal organization (and former political party) known as "the Republican party", or GOP, or MAGA/GOP has now dipped into the National Lampoon magazine for campaign ideas.
Absent any policy priorities other than slash taxes for the wealthy, pardon Trump for his multitude of crimes, and mass deportations for immigrants and refugees -they are now pulling things like "Look -refugees are eating your puppies and kittens" out of the same orifice where Trump wanted his MAGA cultists to shove their UV lamps to "cure Covid" (presumably after drinking bleach didn't work).
It would be hilarious -if it were not blindly believed by at least a third of the population in the United States.
It's simple. It is fear and hatred and division and to control people.
And take our freedom and Democracy away. They to rule this country with a dictatorship and a authoritarian government. Turn this country into a 3rd world country like Russia.
Since to me it is more likely than not that tomorrow's 9/11 date discussion will be more focused on tonight's 9/10 debate, I'd like to take this opportunity to honor the memory of the lives lost on that horrific day while at the same time wishing Heather and Buddy a Happy Anniversary. I've always wondered why the professor and Buddy chose 9/11 as the date to exchange marriage vows. I don't believe it was just a coincidence.
The only thing I can think of is that it is a Tuesday, and that is when the big things seem to happen (i.e. the SOTU, where I am always watching the director rather than the speech) or elections. But for my mind, why not the 4th or the 18th??
I also have 9/11 as a complicated day, for me personally. The loss of life of our police, fire, EMS, and other responders both that day and long after remains one of the ties to my chosen career, and the ultimate mission of what we do (did, in my case now). That it ushered in a 20 year war where we had military personnel serving 2-6 combat assignments (unlike Vietnam, where there were thousands of one year service assignments) is, for me, nothing to honor. Honor the service, yes. Not the "goals" of the Global War on Terrorism.
Well said, Ally. I remain in awe of the service you provided but really feel awkward saying "Thank you for your service" as it sounds...well, you know. But yes, honor the service not the goals.
"Ohio senator J.D. Vance, posted: “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country.” (The Haitians in Springfield are in the U.S. legally.)"
It's labeling and discrimination and racism to target people of color. This has been their strategy since 2016 and it will never change. This is why we have so hatred and division in this country. To have a rapist and a convicted felon turn us against one another because the color of our skin is evil.
Thank you Professor! Once again you have provided so much good information to all of us! Sadly, people are so stupid that they will believe the lies that their "leaders" spread. It is a little like manure, it all stinks. People know that it stinks and yet they keep spreading it. It is amazing to me that hate and fear spread faster than reason and love.
I am so angry with our MSM, pretty much all of them. When we have to rely on you, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Myers, or Jimmy Kimmel to call out the lies and deceit of the former guy (I like to call him traaaaaamp), there is something wrong in America! (Disclaimer: I am NOT comparing our wonderful HCR with late night comedians! I am just saying that our MSM seems unable or unwilling to really call out the crazy).
Colette….l love that our late night comedians “truth-skewer” politicos/pundits/powerbrokers (of either stripe)…oh, how I wish George Carlin was still with us….he’d be working overtime!
Republican vice presidential nominee, Ohio senator J.D. Vance, posted: “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country.”
J.D. Vance obviously has a very weird fixation with people's pets.
His creepy rants about ladies that have cats, dog parks, and now this twaddle makes me wonder if he even has pets or likes animals in the first place. I get the feeling animals sense his horrid nature and are repelled by him, like a lot of us are.
He will be diagnosed on 9/27 at an all-day Conference at the National Press Club by forensic psychiatrist, Dr Bandy X Lee & other nationally known mental health experts.
The title of the Conference is "The More Dangerous Case of Donald Trump."
One of my biggest concerns, which I wish Dr. Richardson would talk about (my apologies if she has done so and I missed it) is this: Trump insists that "he doesn't need the votes." The only conclusion I can come to is that he does not expect to win at the ballot box. He expects - and plans - to cheat in every possible way, especially in the battleground states. Fake elector schemes, machinations like Georgia's to change the rules, and threats of violence at every level. And I fully expect January 6 redux. If you've already stacked the deck, why would you worry about winning in an honest way? I wish that the mainstream media (which have done a disgraceful job of covering Trump) would pound this message into the voters. A Harris landslide would make it much more difficult for Trump to cheat his way into the White House.
Last night I had dinner with my family and talked to them about voting. All of them are totally committed to VP Harris, but my younger grandson (who is Gen Z, age 23), fears that an enormous body of powerful and wealthy people and corporations may already be sufficient to overcome anything we try to do. It's not that he distrusts government; it's that he fears the forces of power and wealth if they decide that democracy and "overregulation" have had their day. I hear him, but my only answer is to fight. With donations, volunteer time, and conversations with friends who might listen.
Thank you for allowing me to share these worries. It matters to me. I will share today's letter from HCR on FB, and I gave a small donation to Harris-Walz last night, to add to their pre-debate affirmations. I'm retired, 78 years old, and can't give much, but I give regularly. Thank you to the believers, wherever you are.
- Pulled Quote -
''Today, ten retired senior military officials endorsed Harris, saying she “is the best—and only—presidential candidate in this race who is fit to serve as our commander-in-chief…. Frankly stated, Donald Trump is a danger to our national security and our democracy. His own former National Security Advisors, Defense Secretaries, and Chiefs of Staff have said so.”''
''Donald Trump is a danger to our national security and our democracy.''
And that's all any patriotic American needs to know.
Vote.
Actually, and I must say all evidence supports this, it is the elected Republicans. ALL OF THEM that are the threat.
Rickey, from my viewpoint, there are now few Republicans, their having been shuttled aside by MAGA, a KKK cult. That's not to say that the Reagan Republican Revolution/War on the Middle Class was not successful - it destroyed America's Middle Class, leaving us today with 806 billionaires whose wealth is equal to one-half of the American population. That's 806 vs. 163,000,000. We are now an oligarchy, where the oligarchs control the economy and the government. Harris and Walz are on the right track, IMO, rebuild the Middle Class with a process of pragmatic capitalism, what's found in the Scandinavian countries.
I too, look to Scandinavian models. Sometimes we dither with returning to the Dark Ages, while (apparently) other nations squeak toward tomorrow, I say squeak because they are not without problems of the modern world including immigration, bullying from Russia, and international crime syndicates, but they've resolved the basics of being human; housing, education, health care and much better relatonships with each other.
A subject that can be discussed forever. But somehow, these countries (including Iceland BTW) have found a way to govern a society such that long term and short term goals can be integrated, all people are treated with respect, that people's health and well being are a given, and taxation to support government policies and programs is fair and can manage debt. Also, these countries regularly rank high in citizen satisfaction surveys. Yes they have their problems, but they manage their societies far better than we do. Gotta ask why. And Republicans are central to the problem.
The majority of workers in those countries belong to labor unions. Their theory of government appears to reflect that of our own Fances Perkins, the architect of The New Deal:
"The people are what matter to government, and a government should aim to provide the means by which all the people under its jurisdiction can access the best possible life." All the people, and not just 806.
Again this is misleading. A country like Sweden with a virtually all Anglo-European population of 10 million can hardly be compared to a huge multicultural population of 350 million a we have in the United States.
And billionaire owned media sources are central to creation and maintenance of Republican voters. It's a cycle that must be broken.
Absolutely, without those tools they couldn't control the masses that they manipulate.
How would you propose to "break" this supposed "cycle"? We are still a nation that theoretically believes in free enterprise so like it or not media sources are so entitled to be owned by private citizens and espouse for causes they believe in regardless of whether or not you or anyone else likes it. I am being very serious in this question. It's easy to say "let's break up the media conglomerates", it's a lot harder to actually frame an approach that wouldn't be horribly dangerous to free press and free speech. I have my ideas but I'd love to hear yours as you brought this up.
It needs to be pointed out in fairness that the societies/countries you mentioned are far more homogenous, far less multicultural and much smaller than the United States. The total population of all Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark) is less than 30 million people not even 10 percent of the US population and smaller than several states (California, Texas, New York). Comparing the ability of those mostly similar cultural and ethnic populations with the issues found in multicultural and multiethnic states in the US is a serious stretch.
True, but we have states that are nations unto themselves, such as Texas, Louisiana, and Florida, which are among those trying to recapture the Dark Ages. Also, Scandinavian countries have their share of immigration from the Global South. IMO, they are pre-conditioned to have a much better sense of fairness. I think of the Republicans and Christian Nationalists who have devolved from fiscal conservatism to plain obstructionism, obscene income disparity, and inherent racism, which contribute to the imbalances here in America.
They don't have the 3 branches of government and a 2 party system and they do not have very diverse populations. Instead they have a coalition government where consensus is part of governing and they developed their constitutions and modern lifestyles while they were predominantly White countries, and did not factor racism into denying their citizens a good quality of life, just so that they could prevent a minority of the population from getting that too. A big problem in the US. I was reading a discussion of how with US politicians who have 4 year terms just do not do any long term planning because the system is not set up for them to be reelectable if they do. Look at what just happened to Biden for governing like that. He hit the rich people hard, and they hit back. Kamala is already going to tax the super wealthy at a lower rate than Biden was going to. I think she said 28% whereas I think Biden was going for 39%. That and Lina Khan going after the monopolies which are making filthy people, filthy rich, as they crap on the rest of us, is why they pressured Dems to push him out.
The Scandinavian countries are not just essentially homogeneous, but they all fought a common enemy on their soil in WWII. A common enemy is a unifying force. And it teaches a country that we really are all in this together.
The only war on US soil, besides 1812, was divisive and sowed decades long hatred’s.
Only WWII—even more than WWI—came close to being a unifier to the US. But it was “over there.”
It's a good point although it begs the question why Scandinavia which was NOT as heavily involved in WW2 is used as an example contrasted with England, France and the eastern European countries which were.
The Scandinavian countries managed to survive WW2 in better shape than the others mostly by ducking direct involvement and maintaining neutrality (mostly) with Hitler. They maintained their homogenous populations too, something Hitler loved because Scandinavians were "true" Aryans, and not mostly ethnically mixed, something Hitler abhorred.
Hitler needed the dairy cows and farming in the Scandinavian countries. He took over the countries, but they weren't bombed.
But the general populations were starved as the Nazis took the food. .
The Reagan Revolution was actually a Counter Revolution... After leaving the CA Governorship in the early '70s, he hung out with the Reactionaries in the 1970s Palm Springs, who complained about the Social Movements of the 1960s.... The Intent of the Reagan Counter Revolution was to bring back the Roaring '20s... That eventually happened with the same result... The Great Depression, and the Great 2008-2015 Recession... For a Refresher of what inspired Reagan, watch the Brad Pitt Movie, 'Babylon'... Now back to where we are now... A.I. will displace Knowledge Workers... Look at the potential of iPhone 16... Visit an Amazon Warehouse, or a Modern Car Manufacturer Assembly Line... Robotics Rule.. Our Social Systems must Evolve... The Scandinavian Systems are just the beginning... One of the latest Blurbs is that the USA has over 800 Billionaires, and more Workers are working 2-3 Jobs to just stay afloat... Putin/Xi are Smiling...
Absolutely, Rickey! I firmly believe that MAGA won't go away until, or should I say IF, the GOP can oust them.
Way back years ago (okay, probably only prior to Trump, though that does seem an eternity ago) I also split my ticket. I realized that no candidate hit every single qualification that I wanted and sometimes, (esp at local issue), I felt like the Republican was the best. (Heck, I started my voting years in Chicago, and I've spent my life in Illinois. Nuf said)
Since Trump NO MORE. Straight ticket Democrat.
I am a believer in a two party system to create checks and balances, but I don't see how anything can get done with the extremists on the right.
Miselle, I also once split my ticket although I never voted for any R that would be in the Federal Government. Now I am straight D and I know some local Rs who are disgusted with MAGAs and death star. I did smile about your comment about voting in Chicago and Illinois. Good old machine politics.
I suppose the question is: is there now a Republican Party? MAGA, IMO, is 21st century KKK. It's core concern is a racist white Protestant theocracy, with racism trumping the religious aspect.
I think you've defined what used to be my Republican Party perfectly. The only thing they're missing is the pointy hoods.
I left the Republican Party during the Reagan Administration. Reagan began the tax on Social Security, began the war on the Middle Class, turned the emotionally and mentally ill out onto the streets (I saw scores of them sleeping in boxes in San Jose, CA,) and began the massive tax breaks for the wealthy and large corporations. They used that money to indoctrinate the mostly white evangelicals to vote Republican. And, Republican politicians just kept piling tax break on top of tax break.
I suspect that the Old School Republicans in the 'Lincoln Project' would like to see MAGA Lose Massively in November 2024... That way the GOP can be purged, and rebuilt, or a new Center/Right Party can be started... We DO NEED more than one Political Party... Still Curious as to why we have only two mainstream Political Parties...
Exactly! How could a country as large and diverse as the US have only two parties to represent everyone? The only answer I can come up with as that the whole system is being choreographed to stay balanced. I really saw this in Obama's first term. He has so much momentum leading up to the election. Then, within months, the press started saying negative things about him, even NPR!. Then, by the 2010 mid-terms, he lost the House and he had to confront the strongest obstructionism in US history for the rest of his six years.
The best defense we have is to teach our children critical thinking skills so that they are not so swayed by the BS being spoon-fed to them by the MSM.
What I would like to know is who are the choreographers? The 806? (Or a subset of them?)
Exactly, they are here to stay.
Ricky Woody - you just said it all 🗽🇺🇸🗳️
However, there are a lot of Americans who are not patriotic. They do feel that they are, but they are patriotic to an idea that has nothing to do with knowledge of the constitution or the laws, for the most part it is based on a feeling of their own relevance. Robert Ritchie shared this on Joyce Vance's Substack, on September 9, 2024, and I think it gets to the heart of who votes for Trump and why. So, it is the undecideds who must be made to see that that is not just patriotism but self interest that should have them voting for Kamala.
The Cult of Opposition: Understanding the Psychology Behind Trump’s Supporters
In modern political discourse, the relationship between leaders and their supporters often reflects a symbiotic exchange—one of mutual benefit. Typically, a leader provides tangible improvements to the supporters’ lives, who in turn offer their allegiance. However, Donald Trump's presidency introduced a paradigm shift that baffled many analysts. A significant portion of Trump’s base does not measure his success by what he does *for* them, but rather by what he does against those they consider adversaries. This phenomenon raises a critical question: why do Trump's supporters define his success not by policy achievements or personal benefit but by his ability to antagonize perceived enemies? In this research paper, we explore the psychology, sociocultural factors, and communication strategies behind this phenomenon, offering a deep dive into the mechanisms that sustain this unwavering loyalty.
The Psychology of "Othering"
At the heart of this dynamic lies a fundamental psychological concept known as *othering.* Othering refers to the process of creating a division between "us" and "them," where "them" are people deemed different or antagonistic to one's own group. Social identity theory posits that individuals derive part of their self-worth from their membership in groups (Tajfel & Turner, 1979). When Trump attacks certain groups—be they immigrants, Democrats, or marginalized communities—his supporters feel that their in-group (conservative, predominantly white Americans) is being validated. The "other," typically those outside their cultural or political bubble, becomes a target of scorn and aggression. By constantly positioning himself against these groups, Trump reassures his supporters that they are on the winning side of a cultural war.
This is where the success metrics diverge from typical political calculations. Success, in the eyes of Trump's supporters, is not rooted in economic growth or policy achievements, but in the symbolic victories won over those they disdain. Trump’s antagonistic rhetoric serves as a rallying cry for a base that measures success by how effectively he torments the "other."
Fear as a Unifying Emotion
The divisiveness Trump exploits is not built solely on disdain for others but on deep-rooted fear. Research has shown that political conservatism often correlates with heightened fear responses (Hibbing, Smith, & Alford, 2014). These fears manifest in concerns over demographic changes, perceived threats to cultural identity, and economic anxiety—particularly in the wake of globalization and immigration. For Trump’s base, he offers not only validation of their fears but also an outlet for their anxiety: the vilification of outsiders.
By acting against these outsiders—whether through harsh immigration policies, vilification of the media, or incendiary tweets targeting "leftist elites"—Trump provides a sense of catharsis to his supporters. It’s not about building bridges or creating new opportunities; it’s about protecting their identity and keeping perceived threats at bay. In their minds, Trump’s success is defined by his defense of the status quo against forces of change.
The Appeal of a Strongman
This dynamic is exacerbated by the allure of authoritarian leadership, often characterized by a leader who promises protection and order while silencing dissent. Trump's rhetoric—filled with hyperbole, aggressive language, and dismissive attitudes toward political correctness—resonates deeply with those who feel disempowered by societal changes. Studies have shown that authoritarian personalities are drawn to leaders who project strength and offer simple, binary solutions to complex problems (Feldman, 2003). Trump’s combative style against the "other" fits neatly into this framework.
In this context, Trump is seen as the protector, someone who will go to any length to defend his supporters from external threats. His aggressive behavior—though often condemned by critics—is perceived by his base as a strength. In their eyes, his relentless attacks on groups like the media, the "deep state," or racial minorities are evidence of his success as a leader willing to do whatever it takes to secure their safety and identity.
The Role of Media and Propaganda
An essential factor in maintaining this dynamic is the role of right-wing media in amplifying Trump’s actions *against* others while downplaying or ignoring any lack of substantive achievements. Fox News, Breitbart, and other conservative outlets often frame Trump’s attacks on immigrants, liberals, and the media as necessary battles in a larger cultural war. Through selective reporting, these outlets reinforce the idea that Trump’s presidency is less about improving the lives of his supporters through policy and more about the symbolic victories he achieves through opposition to their perceived enemies.
Trump himself understood the power of media manipulation, often stoking controversy to keep his name in the headlines. As noted by philosopher Hannah Arendt, in authoritarian regimes, propaganda serves to simplify the world into friend versus foe (Arendt, 1951). By keeping the public focused on his skirmishes against the "other," Trump ensured that his base remained engaged and energized, even when his policies provided little material benefit to their lives.
The Social Contract of Aggrievement
This relationship between Trump and his supporters can be understood as a kind of *social contract of aggrievement.* While traditional politicians offer economic benefits, infrastructure improvements, or social programs, Trump offers emotional validation. His base, particularly those who feel marginalized by economic shifts or demographic changes, finds solace in his outward displays of aggression. His ability to provoke outrage in the "other" reassures them that they are still relevant in a world they fear is changing too fast.
Interestingly, this contract does not require Trump to follow through on traditional metrics of success like job creation or healthcare reform. His supporters are not primarily concerned with how he improves their lives directly. Instead, they focus on how he reinforces their worldview—one where they are under constant attack and where Trump is their defender. This emotional satisfaction creates a loyalty that transcends policy, rooted instead in the shared sense of grievance and resentment.
Conclusion: A Loyalty That Transcends
In understanding Trump’s success, it is critical to recognize the unique metrics by which his supporters measure his achievements. His base does not primarily seek economic relief or policy victories; they seek validation of their fears and grievances. By acting *against* the "other," Trump provides emotional and psychological sustenance that traditional political figures often fail to deliver. His success, therefore, lies in his ability to symbolize and enact opposition rather than constructively improve the lives of his supporters. As long as Trump continues to antagonize those perceived as threats, his base will remain loyal, even in the absence of tangible benefits.
In the end, the tormenting of the "others" does more than sustain them—it defines them.
Isn't "Othering" the antithesis of being a "Christian"? This agnostic "None" would like to hear more about how millions of Americans can abandon the teachings of their prophet, Jesus Christ, and still claim his name to describe their life view.
I have never been fond of any religious sect or "faith". But I used to have real respect for those "believers" who said things like "All are welcome at our table" or "Welcome the stranger" or "Love thy Neighbor".
To quote EW&F: "Where is the love?"
I don't know that one can find anyone more committed as an atheist than me, but that having been said, I think that Matthew 25: 34-46 is a great formula for all of us: "Even as you do it unto the least of these." That, and the political philosophy of Frances Perkins, the architect of the New Deal:
"The people are what matter to government, and a government should aim to provide the means by which all the people under its jurisdiction can access the best possible life."
All the people, and not just 806 billionaires.
What I hear in that article is "Trump makes it acceptable to think and feel all the ugliest things they do, so they don't have to feel bad about themselves". Many people, through nurture, later experiences, and yes even nature, find living by Christian or other religions' and atheist moral codes' finest precepts to be far too difficult and thus feel badly about themselves more than others who find it much easier. Finding belonging in Trump's cult gives them a way to achieve a positive self esteem more easily than belonging within a non-Trumpist Christian or other religious and philosophical group's teachings. The need is so powerful they're blind to the hypocrisy even if they aren't just ascribed in name only.
Considering Linda's excellent expose of the MAGA mindset, couldn't we say they are, in a sense, followers of Jesus, though perverted. Perhaps, it was radical to welcome the Other to the table, as Jesus preached. Now not welcoming the Other into our nation, which is a melting pot of immigrants, a nation made of immigrants, is a radical idea. Maybe it is always human nature to fight against the established.
A committed atheist- I like it.
They don't understand the meaning of "patriotic" just like they don't understand the meaning of "christian". THIS IS WHY trump LOVES UNEDUCATED PEOPLE.
Bill, you are right. "Othering" is not what Jesus was about. He was about "love your enemies" and "pray for those who persecute you." It's hard (impossible?) to live that way. To the communities he visited, he spoke peace and disallowed violence. To the Roman government, he was feared as a zealot because some people (f.ex., Judas) hoped Jesus was there to lead the troops against the oppressors. Jesus didn't fulfill people's desires. He was more radical than we can honor in our own lives. No wonder he was killed.
If you really want to piss "some" people off, tell them Jesus was a liberal.
Yup, that works. & "some" people don't even know that cool carpenter wrote the hit song, 🎶 I believe in Miracles🎶
The MAGAts already use The Sermon on the Mount to claim Jesus was a communist.
Agreed, Melinda. It's hard to really follow Jesus for the reason you state here. Following Jesus never smacks of triumphalism. "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." It isn't a doormat in the face of injustice but "Instead, it doesn’t retaliate when wronged and doesn’t exude pride and narcissism." Meek people don’t envy, don’t retaliate, and exercise patience in the face of adversity.
Right! I wasn’t really believed, but as a preacher/pastor (ordained almost 70 years ago) I have stated that if one really lived by the example of Jesus the powers that be would destroy that person’s life, if not just murder.
Melinda, Jesus also spoke out and acted out about the hierarchy of the Temple, who were using their position to acquire power and wealth. He also spoke forcefully against hypocrisy, calling out those who prayed loudly in the Temple. The Romans may have crucified Jesus, but they had help from the Temple hierarchy. First century Palestine was full of people claiming to be Messiahs as the Jews chafed against Roman rule. Usually Romans were pretty tolerant in terms of other religions and gave the Jews special privileges and when Jews rebelled anyway, they were baffled, but did not tolerate rebellion, so Titus destroyed the Temple and put an end to the rebellion in AD 70.
Isn't "Othering" the antithesis of being a "Christian"?
Sadly, no. For most of its history, Christianity "Othered" the living hell out of Jews, Muslims, atheists, cultures with multiple or different gods or none at all, and anyone else who didn't fall into line. The Church used the power of the state to enforce its will, and got access to millions of "clients" every time a king or emperor conquered another people--the missionaries flooded the zone and the Church controlled the culture.
It is vastly better now, of course, but J.D. Vance, for instance, is the cover model for the Illustrated Bible of Using the Terrible Swift Sword to Other Your Enemies. Their love is power and fame, not Jesus.
Well, as you point out there is a long history of congregants and even leaders not actually being good Christians so the space is between the ideal and the enacted.
Absolutely. Not unlike life in general and the ideals of America laid out in our founding documents--ideals are ideals but people are people, so one can strive and fall short. Good news is Christianity long gave up the institutional Terrible Swift Sword and is a net positive for our culture, not a negative. One step at a time, right?
Bill, one of the things we noted last night on the meeting of the police and the latest school shooter and his father is that both father and son had crosses around their necks. It would be nice to see people who wear the cross symbol, including tattoos, actually act as Jesus taught. Richard S below mention Matthew 25: 34-46 as an example.
It has long been a known tactic for lawyers to make sure their clients are cleaned up, wear coat and ties even if they have to loan them, and wear glasses because it's believed wearing glasses makes them look more bookish or studious and less apt to have been violent. It's staging. I suspect either a lawyer or the client themselves was engaging in staging.
Did they really have crosses around their necks ? Jesus would weep .
Yes, they did. The father's was large.
Absolutely spot on!
Well said. Trump's supporters want him to crush the "undesirables," i.e., women's rights advocates, minorities, immigrants, gays and others. ["The Anger Games: Who Voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 Election, and Why?" published in the peer-reviewed journal, Critical Sociology in Feb. 2018. MAGA is 21st century KKK.
After further thought, I am adding to my response to Linda Weide's posting above: this analysis is brilliant and spot on. I am copying it and sending it to family and friends. I have been studying this phenomenon for several decades and this summary is the best that I've seen.
Richard, for centuries, white men have been top dogs and one of the problems, is that white men have seen others gain rights and assert themselves. Some of this, in my mind, is resentment for that happening.
Thank you so much Linda for your time invested to educate us further as to how this madman maintains his grip on people. Their lack of initiative and curiosity feeds right in to his manipulative strategy. I encourage others to read your essay. Maybe "Othering" shares space with "Kinning" as a means of creating a bond for lazy, unthinking people to find common ground. Thank you again. Your writing is always so thought provoking, and actionable. Regarding JV Dunce, methinks perhaps he had some hard times with cats growing up. He is such a petty little man , do we laugh, or cry watching him repeat jokes he heard about Kamala Harris in a little dive bar? Prompting them to laugh, hearing the boos, his Jeb Bush :"you're supposed to clap" moment has arrived!
Jim, I did not write the essay. I just thought it was informative and saved it to share. I agree JVD is horrid, but have read that his role is to draw some of the ire and shield Trump. Trump seems to often forget JDV and amplify people like Musk and Kennedy. In Project 2025, in Chapter 1 White House Office, the vice president is the last person named, and it is clear that he is supposed to just support whatever the president wants and have no other role than that. Who has the real power is the Chief of Staff. He is written in as the gatekeeper. Also, today in Popular Information I read that the Trump family has started a new crypto business that has them set to make millions if Trump gets back in to the White House. We should not let him. https://popular.info/p/trump-teams-up-with-pickup-artist
Thank you for this insight. Is there any strategy that would redirect this kind of thinking? Is there another way to change this kind of thinking?
Marcia, what I take from it, is that we do not spend our time on them right now, and focus on getting lots of people signed up to vote and out to vote. That is the best strategy. However, we have to hope that as Kamala wins, and runs the country these people, who can hate it the whole time and her, as we know White Supremacists will no matter what. But the others, might be able to have a slow change of heart if Trump can be made to fade away and they do not embrace JDV in his place, or anyone else for that matter.
Linda, I agree with you 100% - spending time on "them" is a total waste of time. We need to get to the undecideds. All of the research and my own personal experience proves that they are committed to voting for their "Lord and Savior," Donald Trump, the bigot, racist, misogynist and xenophobe, who will crush the "undesirables," thrilling their cold, black, dead hearts.
This is my hope, too, Linda. Would it make a difference if Trump had a heart attack or something of the sort and there was no one, except Vance maybe, to replace him? I keep hoping Trump implodes like he might do at the debate tonight. At least, he will fizzle, I think.
I watched his face during the debate and expected his head to explode at any minute, splattering the moderators and vice President with orange goo!
“My mother…taught us to never complain about injustice but do something about it. She also taught us, ‘Never do anything half-assed.’ That’s a direct quote.” —Kamala Harris. With all due respect to Robert Hubbell, his analysis is half-assed. The following is the other half.
Human beings are all the same. We are all subjects of a social system. And we are all doing the same thing. We are all trying to understand that system, strengthen it, and protect it from external threats.
A subject’s potentially but not necessarily sufficient understanding of the system is the subject's “circle of concern.” The more powerful a subject is, the larger the subject’s “circle of influence.” If a subject’s circle of concern encompasses the subject’s circle of influence, then the subject is sufficiently mature. If a subject’s circle of influence extends beyond the subject's circle of concern, then the subject is immature.
Warning to human brain operators: Granting power to immature subjects is dangerous and can be fatal.
Strengthening the system by resolving within-system dilemmas takes a back seat to neutralizing external threats. Strengthening the system is important, but Trump knows that people intuitively perceive neutralizing threats as important AND urgent.
If a subject’s perception of the social system includes only some people within the subject's circle of influence while excluding other people, then “we” are always relevant whereas the “others” are opportunities to be exploited if time allows, threats to be neutralized as soon as possible, and otherwise utterly irrelevant.
What is the MAGA Republican circle of concern? That’s a good question to ask after we answer another question. What is our circle of concern? For the record, if the law allows you to vote in November, your circle of influence includes 50 states and 16 territories.
“We are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us.” —Jo Cox (1974–2016)
James, you ask: "What is the MAGA Republican circle of concern?" From my vantage point, the term Republican is now irrelevant and MAGA is now the direct descendant of the KKK. Racist to the core support White Protestant nationalism. That's the KKK.
It's complicated. Many MAGA supports do not identify with white supremacy, or Protestant nationalism, or the KKK. After all, many are not white, or identify as Catholic, or identify exclusively with Libertarianism.
And, in addition to being complicated, it is also simple. A MAGA supporter thinks some people are important, other people are not, and "I" am one of the important people. To be more specific, the former is a subset of the latter. To be even more specific, the former is the largest subset of the latter.
Please be clear. This was not written by Robert Hubbell, it was posted by someone commenting in his Substack and posted this, which I thought fit with a German documentary I had seen the night before called Trumpland.
I apologize for not being careful enough to notice that Robert Hubbell was not the person who wrote the comment.
James, I apologize for my lack of clarity.
A towering description that is elegant in its careful delineation of the issues.
I also read much of Hannah Arendt and Tim Snyder into this thesis. Now Linda Weide is to be explored for my understanding.
We must be certain we are aware the current situation is not an academic study but the real life drama of extremely well funded ideological evil intent on joining global authoritarian forces and get people out to vote.
Hap, the wealthy oligarchs have been funding the campaign of disinformation/misinformation and outright lies for decades. "What's the Matter with Kansas?" by Thomas Frank (2004)
Thank you, Linda, for posting this in full. This paper, and the Atlantic's promising new podcast series "Autocracy in America", are starting to answer the question that has puzzled me for this entire election cycle: how is it that a solid half of this country's electorate takes as their role model a man who is shallow, self-absorbed and totally driven by grievance, to the point of abandoning what could improve their existence to live out a revenge fantasy?
This, and little else, explains why half the country is willingly following a man whose middle finger is his moral compass.
I'll add this tidbit from the Atlantic podcast to Linda's contribution: people buy into Trump's lies not because they actually believe them, but because claiming to accept such obvious falsehoods is a code that shows they are part of the in-crowd. Trump is clever this way - start by forcing people to accept a small lie with no consequences ("my inauguration crowd was bigger than Obama's") and gradually ramp up to the point where your choice is accepting claims that are existentially dangerous or being cast out of the group you've worked so hard to identify with.
Perhaps Dr. Richardson could give some historical perspective on this moment, but isn't this the point at which the increasing extremism of past radical movements have led to the formation of new parties? Everyone talks about the "true Republicans" who have been cast out of the party because they didn't embrace MAGA. Instead of endorsing Harris, or perhaps after the election, why don't they form a new political party that promotes reasonable governance?
As a Democrat, I would look forward in the short term to the fight between Republicanism and MAGA, which would assure Democratic dominance for some time. But I would look forward even more to the long term return to a two-party system where neither side embraced nihilism and everyone could discuss policy differences with an eye toward resolving them rather than using them for political ammunition.
A Harris victory this November, backed up by Democratic legislative majorities, can be a first step toward this future. Vote Blue, top to bottom.
Mobiguy, I think that we all have struggled with how to make sense of the loyality from some that Trump commands. There are the usual suspects: racism, misogyny, homophobia, Islamophobia, xenophobia and more. Part of that more, I've finally concluded, is stupidity. They don't know what they don't know.
I have a hard time accepting stupidity as an answer. America has come through 250 years and no small number of crises, but has never come close to having a near-majority of the voting population manipulated to install the purveyor of such obvious and blatant lies. This in spite of a population that is, on average, far more educated (in the formal, public-school sense) than it has ever been.
I think Linda's post, and the Atlantic podcast series on autocracy, nail the problem. Trump may be an idiot or may just act like one on TV, but his feral instincts make him the most dangerous kind of idiot: one with an unerring instinct for self-preservation.
Decades ago I took a water safety and lifesaving course. One of the most important lessons was to stay out of the reach of a drowning person, who will instinctively grab on and use you as a flotation device, dooming both of you. Trump, faced with more prosecutions than he can handle, knows that he will drown unless he regains the power to make them go away. He has cultivated a following nearly large enough to allow him to do that, and is ready to drown them along with the rest of us if it's his last chance to save himself.
Trump has spent the nine years since the golden elevator ride creating an army ready to sacrifice themselves and everything around them for his own personal gain. Again, Dr. Richardson could provide perspective, but I don't believe this country has seen his like before, at least not anywhere this close to the levers of power. We are simply not mentally prepared to counter an attack of this type on our system.
I hope VP Harris does not underestimate the depths to which Trump will sink to save his own skin, or the level of support his minions will provide to let him get away with whatever actions he attempts. I personally hope her debate strategy takes this into account tonight. I try to avoid exaggeration, but this may be the most important night in the history of our country.
I feel that our schools have failed to teach two very important lessons: 1) critical thinking skills, and 2) government/history/civics. For example, those supporting Trump, IMO, are ignorant of what a Fascist-run state would be. Critical thinking could begin as early as the 6th grade. History, government, civics could lean more heavily on comparative systems.
Yes to both of those. Teaching these subjects in the schools would be an excellent first step, although the impact on voters wouldn't be felt until a number of years later, when those students reach voting age. We need a similar outreach effort for adults, which will unfortunately be labeled as propaganda by those who want to see it fail.
Let Us Hope For The Best... Sometimes Civilizations Get Tired... Read Up On Roman, Or Chinese History... When People get Tired, they often Yearn for a Strongman, a Savior...
Linda Weide, thank you! This brings a lot into focus, especially when tied with our species' deeply entrenched need to belong to a group or family or tribe to survive.
We do need to spend our time efficiently and not waste it. This from someone who made phone calls last night. It is an excellent way for each of us to get involved.
I did another 2 hours of phone banking to Pennsylvania last night. It's really fascinating. I talked to some strong supporters, but also some people who don't plan to vote, and to a physician named Ahmed who plans to vote for Jill Stein because of the Gaza issue. The talking points they gave us on how to respond to such arguments are quite good, so I may have made a little progress changing their minds.
C4C WHY VOTE - conversations with voters who won't or don't vote (Harris)
C4C WHY VOTE - conversations with voters who won't or don't vote (Harris)
WHY VOTE? Persuasion conversations | connecting with those who don’t / won’t vote Handy all-purpose phrases L...
You would be really good at phone banking because you know the issues so well and are persuasive. You could swing more voters that way than talking to MAGA stupidos or by talking to echo chambers.
The group I worked with last night is called Call 4 Change. You can call into whatever swing state or swing race you feel passionate about. There were over 800 people making calls last night. They do trainings for those who need it.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1p5WCcPmFJMKQV6qCVHZEfnocLXBg1uUDn0QYiKiJ4yw/edit?pli=1
And, this is how to get in touch with the phone banking system:
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Dear Phone Banking Community!
Thank you for signing up for today’s phone bank @ 3pm Pacific Time (6pm EasternTime).
We’re looking forward to seeing you. Please arrive at the phone bank on time to check in.
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88945424130?pwd=OWhyTUx4elAvOXhMT21HVlBaeCtpUT09 Meeting ID: 889 4542 4130 Passcode: 036033
What to expect when you join phone bank:
Training will be provided for those who need training after a brief introduction and phone bank instructions. The calling links will ONLY be dropped into chat after the instructions.
INFORMATION PROVIDED CLICK ON LINK: https://rb.gy/r8qgm
Candidates background and voting information per state---------- TIps on what to say when voters say they are not voting------------- Rebuttal points on the issues including where Dems and KH stands vs MAGA
Everyone must have their video on at the start of the phone bank. Once the calling gets started, you can turn your video off if you like.
Coaches are on hand throughout the entire phone banking session to help and support you. All you need to do is raise your Zoom hand and ask for a coach.
Watch training video on Scale 2 Win dialer - https://rb.gy/rsoa8
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It is more effective than postcards.
Forgive me but simply said is this not just fascism defined?
Thank you for sharing this clearly written article on how to understand the MAGA supporters and why it is so hard to get them to change their minds with our traditional ways of trying to convince them. I'm sharing this with family so we can keep it rolling along and maybe gather in some of the undecideds at least. any idea who should get the credits for it?
In my lifetime I’ve seen Republicans create horrendous damage by adopting “Othering” as a political strategy. In the 60s, hippies and Vietnam War protesters were the subject of vituperative attacks (anyone remember the bumper stickers: America- Love It Or Leave It?). In the 80s it was people on “welfare” (code for Black). After 9-11 there was the anti-Muslim enemy. It seems like every twenty years the GOP develops new enemies. But now we have Rightwing media, foreign trolls, and homegrown militia as the foot soldiers. It is terribly depressing.
And with social media playing an outsized role in influencing the young men in our country to be associated with conservatism, although I think extremism is more like it, we need to stop letting the tech companies determine who they go after with their products and start putting ratings on websites, making them off limits for minors, and frankly for anyone under 30, who does not have the emotional maturity to manage being on these websites radicalizing them and spewing hate.
Linda, mille fois merci for sharing this!
Excellent... In Talking to many MAGAs in a non-Judgemental Fashion, this Validates a lot of my findings... Seems that a lot of the MAGAs feel 'Cheated' as they have to Work Harder for Less-And-Less... That Frustration results in Blaming Others... The Billionaires have been Glorified since the 'Greed-Is-Good' 1980s...
Actually, my Democrats Abroad Project 2025 Book club got into a discussion tonight about how men 30 and younger, who used to be part of the democratic party, are now turning to the Republican party. How they are not doing as well in school, or economically, as the number of women are moving ahead and what can the party do to show them that the policies are for them too. The Gen Zer males in my family are Democrats, but one of them, who just finished Chef school, is not as committed. He sees Dems as the lessor of evils. I know there are MAGA young women, still generationally, more young women are not going for being Trad wives, but for taking charge of their own lives. We do need to look at why young men are having a high rate of suicide, and some are turning to terrorism. Who is influencing them and apparently Trump is getting up in there are really relating to them on the platforms they frequent with the no nothing influencers that they follow. We need to be looking at how we can help young me. That is a bigger topic than I can address here.
Maybe Young Males need better Role Models, and need better Socialization... We tend to become what we Aspire To...
I agree. As a teacher I have tried to do engage the boys I taught in existing beyond stereotypes and being active and creative. I am concerned at how physically inactive students are expected to be for long periods of time. We have to make learning more active. I think of Tim Walz as a great role model for young men. I am glad he is the model the Democrats offer. I wish that young men would see him as that.
Being Inert is Lethal... Activity Cleanses The Mind... The Common Lifestyle doesn't Help, along with a Poor Diet... Seems to Me that Sedentary Distractions such Video Games, which seems to be a Common Thread, among many of the Dysfunctional Disaffected, are not Helpful... I wonder if the Falling 1st-World Birth-Rate, and Sense Of Isolation are a Result... GO COACH!!!
Thank you Linda Weide, for including this spot on article
Thank you. This was really helpful.
The question that will end Trump’s career at tonight’s debate: “Mr. Trump, you have used a series of negative words to describe Vice President Harris. Assuming you believe she merits those words, would you advise your male supporters to use the same words to describe their mothers, wives, girl friends and daughters, when they merit it?”
Given what I know about Trump's supporters I would not expect them to be watching this debate. Also, from what I am learning they do not care if he does anything for them economically, as long as he appears to fight for who they are. That is White Supremacist, gun loving, Christians, who are cis-gender, straight, and hate anyone who is not all of those things. He tells them that who they are great, and in a changing world that reassures them that they still have validity and power.
Bingo. Trump could commit first degree murder in plain sight and it would not make an iota of difference for them. None. It wouldn't.
I think you are 100% accurate, Linda. It is not about anything other than "restoring" them to their "rightful" place "atop" society and culture. Anyone who is not white, Christian, heteronormative, cisgendered, and male should be nowhere near the "top spot". Women are useful to them as chattel. That's it.
Trump's supporters should not be Harris's intended audience, at least not in real time. Her best strategy should be to pull away as many undecided voters as possible - and hopefully they will be watching tonight - and let the after-the-fact news coverage sow doubt among whatever persuadable Trump supporters there are.
The vast majority of engaged voters have already made up their minds. This race will likely be decided by a small margin of people who are just starting to pay attention to the race, and who will actually be paying attention between now and Election Day. For both Harris and Trump, these are the only people who matter.
The question isn’t for Trump’s male supporters. It’s for his female supporters, some of whom likely know nothing about his cruel misogyny, and for some fence sitters who never had the matter so starkly presented to them.
I expected quite a few trumpeters would watch the debate to see their king trounce the black woman. If so, I wonder how many actually listened to both candidates?
I'm sure they already do...
That is wonderful news.
It is. And yet, every story I read still has Trump and Harris statistically in a dead heat. I don't understand the thinking of half my fellow Americans.
Visceral.
That Springfield, Ohio, story is ironic, because Trump hates dogs and Vance hates cats.
Is Vance coming to the defense of cats as an attempt to regain the childless cat lady demographic?
I don't have a cite for this, but Heather has often explained that we shouldn't pay too much attention to political candidate polls.
Read this from Robert Hubbell: Check out this article on TPM: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/another-poll-check-in
I think Josh Marshall in TPM is simply trying to look at overall polling trends rather than focus on the ones that either make us happy or freak us out. That’s the best way to handle this stuff I think, and probably Prof. Richardson would agree. We always knew there would be ups and downs before the election. Let’s try not to lose our enthusiasm and instead focus on GOTV efforts, which not only keep us sane, but may have a real effect on driving the outcome we want. Let’s get rid of this horrible man and his movement once and for all on Nov. 5th.
But I still can't come up with one solid reason to vote for Trump.
thanks - still doesn't really put the whole 'polling' thing into the kind of perspective I've heard from Heather.
We are walking on a knife edge. The trump base is secure, few top repubs have abandoned him.. While many of his former military and civilian advisors have denounced him as unfit to serve, I fear that nothing Harris can do to shake his support. I think that only trump can destroy the trump image. Possibly he will become the Trojan horse for the oligarchs who will run or ruin this country.I can't breath.
Tfg is a guy who has bankrupted multiple companies over his life time. I haven't seen anything that makes me feel he'd do a better job with our national economy. From Wikipedia: "Although Trump has never filed for personal bankruptcy, hotels and casino businesses of his have declared bankruptcy six times between 1991 and 2009 due to its inability to meet required payments and to re-negotiate debt with banks, owners of stock and bonds and various small businesses (unsecured creditors). Because the businesses used Chapter 11 bankruptcy, they were allowed to operate while negotiations proceeded. Trump was quoted by Newsweek in 2011 saying, "I do play with the bankruptcy laws—they're very good for me."
Read Linda Weide's post above. Light will come to the darkness at once when you do!
TY - it's an excellent coment
I don't either.
". . . . Harris backs passing the bipartisan immigration bill that Republicans killed on Trump’s orders . . . ." In the debate tonight, ¿why should Vice President Harris NOT say the following?
"This guy [pointing toward the former President] had been screaming that there was an invasion at our Southern border. Yet both parties in the Senate together passed an immigration bill. Then the impeached President opted to instruct M.A.G.A. extremists in the House to kill that timely bill. The Speaker and others dutifully obliged him. Accordingly, President Biden and I stepped into the breach to address border security out of good faith. What gets me, here, is what Trump's actions said to all of us.
"Either there was no invasion or this old and desperate felon was willing to let an invasion proceed unabated for five months for his benefit only. The former alternative was a lie, the latter reeked of treason. So, candidate Trump, what gives? [Shrugs her shoulders.] Given this guy's [thumbing dismissively toward the former President] track record with the truth, I think we all know which alternative it is: a problem duly addressed by President Biden when Trump crippled Congress from doing so."
Endorsement by the ten top military experts is important but it seems to me at least as or more important is this portion of their letter:
"Ten former Generals, Admirals, and the Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps issued a letter today blaming Donald Trump for the issues that led to the chaotic withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan". That is an extremely important statement. Trump is attempting to blame Biden for the deaths of the Americans at Abbey Gate.
The letter not only warns against putting Trump in power again but specifically addresses the Trump lie that led to his Arlington National Cemetery PR stunt:
"Without involving the Afghan government, he and his Administration negotiated a deal with the Taliban that freed 5,000 Taliban fighters and allowed them to return to the battlefield. Then, he left President Biden and Vice President Harris with no plans to execute a withdrawal, and with little time to do so. This chaotic approach severely hindered the Biden-Harris Administration's ability to execute the most orderly withdrawal possible and put our service members and our allies at risk." It could not have been put more clearly, and from these leading military strategy experts.
https://meidasnews.com/news/retired-generals-admirals-blame-trump-for-afghan-withdrawal
But we don’t have to take their word for it! Trump’s everyday detachment from reality shows his unfitness.
As does his record when he was president. For one thing, his miserable selfishness was on display during the pandemic. ( Don’t test so much, it makes me look bad! What will it do to the stock market and my reelection prospects?)
And donate. We need a deeply BLUE congress.
Refreshing, isn't it, to see a candidate acting like a grownup with a grasp of the issues, instead of like a toddler in a mud-slinging contest? Maybe the press will even take notice.
That is a big ‘maybe’ I fear. I am trying to manifest a solid performance by Harris tonight and anticipate that Trump..unmedicated.. will keep going in the same vein as he has recently and maybe even worse as he cannot control his disdain and fear of strong female opponents. This scenario would give the main stream press a perfect opportunity to recalibrate the coverage of Trump’s incoherence and paranoia. After all the main stream press certainly took their gloves off vis-à-vis Biden after his debate struggles.
I wonder if he’ll stalk Kamala like he did Hillary. That visual then shocked me and has stayed with me.
“I wonder if [Trump will] stalk Kamala like he did Hillary.”
If I could change history I would have Hillary look him in the eye and forcefully tell him, “Back off, creep!”.
I would hope that I would have had the presence of mind to say "What the hell are you doing ?" Go stand at your lectern and let's have a real debate. Stop this infantile crap and grow up. "
That is the worst thing he could do. The best thing is that he will blow up, spread his venom, reveal his brutality, reveal his ignorance, spout lies and absolute nonsense.
George, I was replying to Jonathan's comment about what Hillary should have done.
If TUMP tries that tactic with Kamala, i would love to see her turn around and slap the taste out of his filthy mouth and then kick him in his testicles so hard that he would crumple to the floor in an orange blob of goo.
Dreaming is a part of life.
That's how it would go on WWE Wrestling for sure. That version might make it to SNL this week.
Er, quite.
Yup, Hillary just let Trumpie be a creep. If this same thing happens tonight, I hope Kamala says something like, “Hey, WEIRDO, back off!”
He can't. Split screen. No audience.
he could still walk over behind her...I do want to see what bag of tricks he will pull out tonight for his peeps to enjoy.
He could, but that would be a blatant foul, and she'd point that out to the moderator. Pity Hillary hadn't reacted, instead of pretending she didn't know what he was doing. Well, plenty of recorded hindsight.
When did a blatant foul ever stop Trump ? He revels in them. He may not troll her, but he'll push the boundaries in some way, attract the criticism and then he will scream foul...he's the victim. It's his MO. I just want to see more "undecided's say, he's not Presidential....I can't vote for that. She makes sense. " I think that's the goal tonight.
It was so telling that when Trump did his ominous stalking routine behind Hillary Clinton during the 2016 debate that the moderators didn't rein him in. I'm sure it's because they were afraid of him. He certainly did a good job of projecting a menacing presence. He wouldn't have done that of his opponent were a man. If Trump tries that tonight, I would hope the moderator or even the show producer insist he cease and desist or he will be escorted from the studio. In spite of the high stakes of tonight's debate, or maybe even because of the high stakes, it is possible Trump could have a temper tantrum worthy of a two-year old live on the set and that would increase the enthusiasm of his supporters. It's all political theatre until the shock troops bust your door down in the middle of the night.
NL he will push the boundaries some how. He always does. He likes to dance around the edge where he can claim it was innocent, or a joke...and then lash back at any criticism because he is the victim...not poor Nell tied up on the train tracks. He plays hero to victim better than any I have ever seen. In his world he is NEVER the villain, never Snidely Whiplash. He morphs from Dudley Do Right to Nell in a moment for his fans. Or Victim to hero, like he did when bullets were headed his way.
Remember that like Hillary, we weren't yet used to Trump full blast - I think the moderators too thought if you ignored the behaviour it wasn't really happening. Also nobody knew yet about his foreign puppeteers.
that's haunted me too -- I think Kamala would turn around and order him to get back to his spot. Hilary must have been so surprised and kept her composure - I wish she had called him out on his malevolent lurking.
MLMinET, I sometimes think Hillary could have won the election in a landslide if she just turned around & hit the Stalker with a quick combo: A sharp Left to that large stomach & then a Right cross sending him all the way back to Queens.
Very good comment, Bryan. I go along with your suggestion 100%. TUMP is a horrible blight on our nation!
😂👏
Thank you ... I'm working on my deadpan delivery.
Unfortunately, Trump would have pressed assault charges against Clinton because she would have broken the law. Trump would have truly enjoyed the fallout - giving him the perfect chance to play the victim.
A sleezy rich cardiologist came up behind me once when I was the nursing supervisor for CCU on the late shift at 10 pm. He put his arms around me, and I SCREAMED and broke his grip by bringing my arms up and out. Woke up every patient. He never did it again. Wish Kamala had a similar tool in her box.
And they likely will look for any stammer, or “laugh” that they can criticize. Sorry to be so negative, but I have been shocked to the core by the MSMs path down the Fox hole.
MSM's descent is disgusting, but nothing can falsify the videos of the VP's hands-on welcome by the people. As for her performance, she's an experienced debater, a lawyer, a senator, and very photogenic. And if the ABC don't do the right thing, she's not going to let it pass in bewildered silence.
I have a feeling that the writers of Saturday Night Live are anticipating an easy week of script-writing. They will probably only have to tweak some of the debate transcripts and mesh that into this week’s SNL. In fact, they may just change the name of the comedy show to TNL - Tuesday Night Live.
Jonathan Swift time
Like nothing can change the crowd size of chump’s inauguration? Sorry for the snark, but they are masters of the three-ring-circus. Sure hope her stellar performance (and I know it will be) resonates with any non-cult people left who are undecided, or haven’t been purged from the roles.
I admire your negativity JD when it comes to Donald TUMP. The MSM does everything possible to cover for everything he says and does. Makes me sick!
He is so in-your-face inept, incompetent, vacuous, evil, and ugly that it has taken a master propagandist to cut and paste him into human form for those who have mush for brains. I can think back to many elections when he would have been laughed at and mocked as the joke he is.
me too. Always nit-picking Kamala and ignoring the endless issues with Trump
Bias at the crossroads of our lives. And the lives of our children…. They need a whole new news paradigm to deal with the onslaught of bull schittery that emanates from the bowels of the repubs.
What a great way to put it, JD. Corporate Media has gone right up the Faux hole. I use the verb "up" in place of "down" because one: I like foxes and two: I can just hear my Dad's common rejection of "Up your @$$ with Mobile gas" in the scenario you describe.
His hatred of Mobile gas stems from his childhood; his Dad took in a number of his nieces/younger siblings (all girls) straining his household budget, while his brother (also married with two kids) set them out while running his series of Mobile gas stations to increase his personal wealth.
Up close and personal. I suggest that we all change Fox to Faux. I like foxes too, and Rupert has maligned them with his administrative hatred.
Don’t bet the farm on it. The press will continue reporting on the lies and made up crap, making sure that they repeat it all. With social media in on the nonsense. How I long for the press to take some truth serum and do the right thing.
The national press is actually the Corporate Media, no longer mainstream. As long as their owners are oligarchs, that truth serum is anathema.
And we scream into the void.
How I long for the so-called social media to suffer a gigantic outage.
Maybe the indictment of these terror creeps will bring about social media regulation.
Anne-Louise, me, too! Even better, to be permanently banned as X was in Brazil.
Then we would be back to this, and I would welcome it. From Umberto Eco “Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak who previously only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without damaging the community. They were silenced immediately,
but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It’s the invasion of the imbeciles.”
Umberto Eco said that?!!! Impossible to say it better.
I thought so. Knew not of him before but became an instant fan. His quotes are memorable, per Google. Not familiar with his books.
Yes , that is great but unfortunately that toddler and his mob are trying to encourage a civil war which would be a disaster.
Joyce Vance via Civil Discourse discussed the Terrorgram indictment in more detail. It truly is unsettling, with a civil war as part of their mandate:
https://joycevance.substack.com/p/terrorgram
The militias have been practicing for decades. And when Obama was elected, I read that the FBI had stopped monitoring them. I hope that as a mistake, or has been remedied
JD I think the militias are so badly out-matched it's not even funny. The only hope "they" have in a civil war is massive defections of the right units. Taking over a LOT of National Guard units...and getting a lot of general officers to defect like the Confederates did. It's an insane Harry Turtledove scenario. I would hope that there's a LOT of effort going in to knowing who supports the US and who supports rebellion.
I have thought so for decades, and I hope there are those who take the threats seriously. The SS certainly had their share of MAGAts, and knew how to erase records from their phones on Jan 5
That's something that needs to be verified as it doesn't make sense. I'm pretty sure the FBI would have stepped up their efforts after Obama's election.
That’s what I thought, why I was shocked. I had just seen a poster with Obama described as a skunk, half black and half white, with cross hairs on him. It was in a newspaper as I recall.
There were many times more reported than they could waste available resources on, but multiples in the number of serious threats followed up on were , to me, indicative of the increased real threat.
I have no doubt that Lincoln was the most at risk President from the time he was elected through the next 4 years 6 months. I don't know who was the second most at risk, but suspect Obama was high on the list.
I seem to remember the Secret Service reporting 4 times as many threats soon after the election, but the 2014 article has it as just triple the number.
See https://www.vox.com/2014/9/29/6859903/president-obama-has-faced-three-times-as-many-threats-on-his-life-as
There was a lot of loose talk I'd hear, usually among pairs of what I'd call "less intellectual" students of backgrounds J D Vance claims to come from, suggesting what they wished to do to President Obama. I know they weren't serious but I'd caution them that I was supposed to report such threats (or claims to have planned or committed actions along those lines). It easily stopped the most careless talk, as much as I could on campus. It was also the method I used to limit what I believe were false braggadocios claims of racist actions before joining the military.
When the story seemed true, I did report what I was told to the CID as in what one of the unwilling participants in the My Lai incident told me after his two sleepless nights later.
Thank you for this. Did they include militias…
thank you -- that one didn't hit my inbox!
Thanks for the link, Lynell. I hadn't seen that yet. I do know she's going to have a live chat going for the debate tonight.
Oh, and good morning!!!
Behind on my emails, so sorry for this late reply...see you tomorrow, Ally!
Trump may very well leave the debate early if he starts his gibberish and his handlers can pull him off before he starts doing his dance. 90 minutes....it's still going to be a shit show for him.
I'm not so sure he can afford to do so. My feeling is that it will more than likely be his demise. Imagine the independent voter making a decision based on that move. Most, if not all, of independent voters will insist on seeing the debate all the way through. Kamala Harris is set to compete; tRump, if abandoning the debate, will only set his defeat. The realities are now catching up to him. And it's about damn time they did.
Yeah, naw.
Touché Jim. Full disclosure, I have no ‘manifestation’ practice but I do remain cautiously, pessimistically optimistic that Trump is going to self-implode before the first Tuesday of November. I know this could be too late to salvage the electoral college win in view of early voting.
🤞
Well said, JJ
Don't hold your breath, JJ.
Alas, JJ, once again it all depends on WHICH press, which media you are talking about. There has been such a proliferation of media platforms it has left many, if not most of us, completely baffled at what constitutes real information. It is the same issue which bedevils any possible accuracy in polling. We keep returning to the only poll which really matters, the national election.
Everyone needs to watch Lawrence O'Donnell's 24/09/09 takedown of the NYTimes. It's hilarious, unless you happen to work for or pay for the NYTimes, in which case it's respectively humiliating or infuriating.
Ref: Lawrence: The media is trying (and failing) to cure themselves of 'sane-washing' Trump
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFd4zflqfeA
Very well said!
Nah. They’ll be too busy inventing stories about immigrants. Breaking news! Gay Indian immigrants are eating your babies!
Thank you for writing such a comprehensive summary of the various ways in which the MAGA wing of the Republican Party are attacking our democracy—from 1) refusing to promote military leaders and to fully fund those who defend us to 2) sowing white supremacy violence to 3) spreading racist lies against legal immigrants to make people fear them. It seems that the party that used to pride itself on supporting our troops and rule by laws has been corrupted by greed and personal fear. We need to elect Kamala, Tim and a Congess willing to put our needs and the Constitution first.
The Republican Party now IS the MAGA wing. That's all that's left.
Lincoln weeps.
We should be fair. There are still people like Liz and Dick Cheney and many highly placed generals and others who remain stalwart Republicans but are voting this time against Trump. So while the number of MAGA people is terrifying, there are still some nonMAGA Republicans
Not where I am. People are brain-washed and proud. But then Texas does stupid bigger and better than smaller places.
I saw a woman (probably in her 60’s) in Biloxi proudly wearing a bright pink T-shirt proclaiming “I’m voting for the convicted felon” with Cheetolini’s face in the middle.
The stupid is STRONG in some of these shameless cultists.
Like in Texas proud and stupid. They are everywhere
Although your statement has some truth to it, we shouldn't forget the main thread that runs through republican ideology: its' all about the money! With republicans, it's *always* been about the money. Regardless of whether we have tRumpsters or non-MAGA types, or traditional republicans, it's *always been about the money*. The ideology among these folks, and here is where there *is* a "fair" part to them, is that there are some who are decent folks who simply think differently than we do and are able to come to some mid-point in a discussion. On issues such as foreign policy, the Cheney's, although courageous in their actions on tRump today, are still a bridge too far to come to a realistic agreement on methods in negotiating with folks who are on the other side of a different culture. To endorse something like The Project of a New American Century, which had its roots in one, Paul Wolfowitz's mind, still haunts the republican party. And although folks like William Kristol now see the dangers of tRump, it was folks like him, Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, Eliot Abrahms, etc. that rooted where the republicans now stand. All that was argued by the republicans back in 1992, and now seemingly abandoned by the same, left a scar that MAGA now carries proudly. It's not unlike engineering a train full speed ahead to a destination only to find that the bridge is out and too late to apply the brakes on a steel rail that will guide and ride them into cavernous abyss. In a way, we've all been taken for a ride whether we wanted to go or not. Folks, such as the Cheney's and William Kristol, as good as their intentions are today, blindly and maybe unintentionally, set this up to where we are today. It's good that they are supporting Harris; however, there is an uneasy tardiness to their efforts.
Riad, what you call "uneasy tardiness" I would call it shameful tardiness. Not holding at the heart of one's politics the well-being of the poor and the middle class, women, minorities, and anyone in need –– in favor of the betterment of those who already have plenty –– is disgusting.
Melinda, I don't disagree with anything you've said. I doubt seriously that their endorsement of Kamala Harris will turn a new leaf in their lives; for those who are "shamefully" tardy, I am grateful at least for what may well be only this transitional agreement with the left of center. For instance, there has been some mention of Liz Cheney joining a Harris cabinet should KH win the presidency. I just don't see that happening. If by the well-off chance that it does, it will be a short-lived cabinet appointment to the disappointment of all concerned on the left as well as on the right.
I agree. I found a copy of a letter I wrote (but didn’t send) back during the Dubya era to a Republican fundraiser who addressed me as a “usual donor" to Republicans. Reading my letter I realized that everything I wrote back then needs only to be put into the superlative mode to be a true reflection of Trump and today’s MAGA members. The last decent Republican president was Eisenhower, and he wasn’t perfect by a considerable extent, but he was not solely out for power and money.
The country weeps
Not yet.
true
Agreed. No daylight left between MAGAworld and the RNC. That was after all why Lara Trump and friends took it over. I wonder how Lara squares the overt misogyny with her own sense of self?
She's clueless! Doesn't have an original idea in her head and demonstrated that she never had.
And yet.....she's brighter than she seems. Good education. But dwelling in the Trump family swamp has short circuited her common decency genes.
If she ever did have any decency genes, she would have never gone anywhere near the Trailer Trash that are the Trump's to begin with.
Aaaahhhhh..... but the money
A good education, no doubt, is a valuable asset, Swbv. I would argue that a good education is not necessarily a road to smart or brilliant critical thinking. Promising a scorched earth policy from the Republican National Committee is clearly not the surest way to maintain friends. There is no daylight between being "brighter" and being manipulative in politics. It all catches up with one who commits to those policies. It doesn't make any difference what party one belongs to.
Vote, vote, vote. It's now or never.
Drown them in a blue tsunami. Sent more than 12 million texts this cycle. Need phone banking and canvassing to close the deal.
The electorate is not set... yet. Millions of potential Harris voters are not registered ... yet. She trends 60% with women, the same with young people, 70% with tenants in the blue wall swing states. Now is the hour to expand our base significantly.
FT 6 calls primarily unregistered people who trend Democratic...mostly women. Usually don't have to do a lot of persuading.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/all-volunteer-ops/volunteer
Yes, I agree. 👍
Thank you Heather.
Can someone explain to me like I'm a 5 year old, why this election is so close.
Be safe. Be well.
Many people are lazy to read the true facts. They vote only for the party, thinking the Republicans are the “elite” who support a small government, and feel the Democrats are the “poor” who want a bloated govt with lots of social supports.
In reality, the Democrats are literate and progressive while many Republicans are greedy and are bad stewards of fiscal responsibility.
Or, “my granddaddy was a Republican; my daddy is a Republican; and I’m a Republican.” Like it’s an inherited trait.
Lack of critical thinking is the inherited trait . . .
And something many of the red states refuse to teach in schools.
Exactly. Keep them dumb.
Sad.
If you have not seen it, this was part of the official 2012 Republican Party for the state of Texas:
"Knowledge-Based Education – We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority."
We should be careful on that score; republicans make the same argument concerning democrats. Although I have friends who are republican and have demonstrated critical thinking skills, MAGA republicans have shown too often their lack of education and world experience in knowing what the outside world (outside the US, that is) is like. GeorgeC, I believe, has the more likely answer.
So is baldness and certain diseases. Try to find a cure. For ignorance suggest reading
Update desperately needed, but the propaganda is still spewed non-stop. When I hear people ask why are we so divided, I used to post a picture of Rupert Murdoch. He may have been the first, but he certainly attracted a mob of like-minded power-hungry cretins.
There's a whole host of right wing MSM pictures you can post JD -- Rush Limbaugh is one of the grand daddies. But, Murdoch certainly has the best right wing media incubator.
Rush and Lee Atwater did get the ball rolling, no doubt about it.
Tack on to the list Newt Gingrich. He may have been in there right at the beginning of driving the GOP golf cart into the swamp filled with alligators
I’ll never forget that phony religious zealot. He is the main reason I hated Repubs more than I was disgusted with Bill and his philandering.
At least, Lee Atwater repented when before he died. That may be one of the few decent statements that can be made on his behalf.
I read that his repentance was another political act. Insincere. May St Peter be the judge. He gets no quarter from me.
...maybe because political candidate polls are not very accurate!
I'm baffled too, but Big Money has a lot to do with it. The "Reagan Revolution" discarded governance of, by and for the people and handed the reins to the ultra rich.
Take away the money from the oligarchs, and the Republicans are in trouble, take away the right wing media (Fox, Newsmax, etc.) and they are nothing.
Slave-based agriculture was America's first big business, and was as political as ever. Take away the oligarchs and you remove the contemporary Republican Party's raison d'etre; a body without a head. It could grow another one, but without consolidation of money and power, it's current momentum would have no point.
There's lots of voter suppression going on, apparently, which keeps otherwise Democrat voters from the polls...or so I've read.
500,000 in Texas alone (KENS 5: San Antonio) removed from voting lists.
Unbelievable. If only it was unbelievable.
true
is it because of what TC said: The GOP is the MAGA wing. Formerly sane Republicans are still voting party.
And they want us to believe they are conservatives. Adding $7.9 trillion to the national debt under Trump was not conservative nor is only passing the fewest bills in history conservative. McConnell started us on the path that "do-nothing" was acceptable and McCarthy and Johnson have made it acceptable.
They love bullies these days
Because the "polls" keep on saying so?
Too much "sanewashing" of MAGA perfidy.
Exactly.
Frankly, I don't believe in polls. The only thing I believe in is our vote in November.
We can vote in person at our town hall in ME on October 6th. The 5 voters in our "compound" will be first thing that day.
If there's any problem, we have a month to straighten it out.
Hopefully, our new Democratic registrations are kicking in.......
Now or never.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/all-volunteer-ops/volunteer
It went from 38% percent nuts to a tie. People have lost what was left of republican minds.
I wonder if the MAGA supporters realize how awful they've been but just can't back down because they'd be admitting stupidity or gullibility? Every time I say that I almost feel sorry for them, my husband says "Do not go there..." You be safe, too!
Some are sociopaths, other sincere but excessively gullible; such as the guy who went to jail for attacking the Comet Ping Pong Pizza Parlor. Yeah, he had no business bringing a gun, but I got the sense that he really believed he was rescuing children. It seems perhaps more curable than those who are proud of their lack of conscience.
Ted Cruz, who shared an image with two kittens saying: “PLEASE VOTE FOR TRUMP SO IMMIGRANTS DON’T EAT US.”
ZERO decency.
A man without balls - in many ways.
And stupid enough to hit his target audience.
That is a under statement. It's complete insanity and unstable thinking to say immigrants eat people. They have lost their minds.
Typically a Roy Cohn - Joseph McCarthy mentality. This is where we need a Joseph Welch to speak out against the likes of Ted Cruz. "Until this moment, senator, I think I never gauged your cruelty or recklessness . . . . Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"
I don't think "Until this moment, senator, I think I never gauged your cruelty or recklessness . . . . Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?" will work today.
I think it is more like "What on earth are you thinking? Do you even have a brain? Have you lost your ever loving <or colorful metaphor> mind?"
Ally, you may be right; however, this is the problem, symptom if you will, of today's political atmosphere. in 1953 or '54 (whenever this quote was made by Josheph Welch), it was considered strong language at that time and in fact, did put McCarthy and Cohn in their place. Now, we are dependent on using irreverent language (to put it mildly), in order to get our point across. To which, the likes of Ted Cruz will simply shrug it off and accuse the critic of having only a four-letter word vocabulary. Please don't get me wrong: on the vast scale of guilt on who uses 4 letter word vocabulary, the MAGA intellect less take all the prizes on that score. That's the way they think; that is their form of word smith and vocabulary. Educationaless (new word by the way that I made up 😅), non-critical thinkers, and generally simple minded in their view of the world, it is their own language that will eventually bring them down or help them take us all back to the neanderthal age. Essentially, that is where they belong. All these folks Ally, were born way too late and well after their time. I believe it becomes incumbent on us to foster and lift the educational sphere in our world so that these poor misguided folks don't do the damage that inevitably will be owned solely by them. If I come across as lecturing, please forgive me. I am not taking you for granted and respect your views.
The whole "story" goes to show that the Republicans know their target audience is stupid enough to fall for it. This kind of BS has been used against immigrants (and groups perceived as "the other") for hundreds of years.
No lo creas. A Donald Trump no le importas. Sólo le importa enriquecerse a sí mismo y a su oligarquía. Impondrá un gran arancel a los bienes importados. Ese arancel se convertirá en un impuesto para las personas que compren esos productos. Afectará más gravemente a la clase media y a los pobres. Cuando abre la boca es para llenarse la cara de comida chatarra o escupir mentiras de clase mundial. Se engaña, es dado al pensamiento mágico y fabrica mentiras extravagantes. Respalda la violencia, el racismo, el antisemitismo, la misogenia, la prohibición del aborto y el terrorismo local. Quiere ser como autoritarios como Fidel Castro, Orbán de Hungría, Putin, Kim de Corea del Norte, Maduro de Venezuela. Le importa un comino la invasión de la soberanía de Ucrania y ha dicho: "Putin puede hacer lo que quiera en Europa.” Vota por él bajo tu propio riesgo.
The image is less appalling than the lack of decency shown using it as an emotional appeal to manipulate people. There is anything hasn't been desecrated in this war on humans, all we value used as props to disguise sheer intent to dominate.
Yes, the set of lies from Springfield, Ohio, shows the entire Republican playbook.
They lie knowing the U.S. mainstream press will cover for them.
Lawrence O'Donnell's lead segment today was on the egregious cover for Republican lies by The New York Times. He calls the Times' policies “rot.”
If reporters, editors, and execs at the Times could recall some humanities – novels, films, songs – they could touch the personal, they could tie actual human emotions to the complicated places arts visit.
Orwell praised this specificity. He said (“Politics and the English Language”) couching oneself in real, human, or nature’s physicality gives us language keeping at bay the abstract diction, slogans, and the clichéd which lets our brains rot, lets us side with evil.
We will, we do side with evil, as tens of millions of abysmally educated Americans do in orange felon cultism, as The New York Times does in its reporters, editors, and executives lacking any and all humanities.
Phil, it’s not just a lacking in humanity, it’s a willingness to forget what they’ve said before about tariffs—that importers pay the tax and, usually, pass it on to the consumer. If we take Trump’s claim that the tariffs will raise a hundred of billions of dollars, that means that the average citizen will pay over $300 a year in increased costs (super inflation). Of course, it won’t be equal because rich people don’t buy cheap Chinese goods—so the tariff inflation will hit middle and lower income people disproportionately. And when they complain, Project 2025 says the military is to quell protests with force.
They have it all worked out. Just like Mussolini did
And nobody is talking about the GUARANTEED retaliatory tariffs. Remember Cheetolini’s first term? He ended up spending so much money to make up for the lost grain sakes and others.
China understands politics quite well (and knows math MUCH BETTER thank any of Cheetolini’s “best people”, so they will make sure it hurts.
And then we had to bailout the ag-producers to the tune of $28 billion which, of course went mostly to the large corporate farms while many small producers struggled or went bankrupt.
Thanks for the details. I thought it was over $20 Billion and I’m not surprised that the mega farms got nearly all of it and small gamily farms suffered.
It's a Reaganomic axiom.
SO far I have only seen HRC mention Smoot-Hawley.
It is probably like emptying the ocean with a teaspoon but, if everyone just started canceling their subscriptions to the NYT and the WaPo, PERHAPS they would start rethinking their ways. I got fed up with them when they would give Traaaamp so much coverage and disparage President Biden or not even cover the good things he was trying to do!
Many of us already have cancelled our subscriptions.
NYT has wandered off the path of proper journalism, but WaPo is about the best we have for a general overview.
If they are the best, it isn't good enough.
In what ways? Can you be specific?
Ah, specificity; that MAGA always tries to muddle, and Harris may deliver. Accuracy counts.
Although it HAS been said that we hold certain truths to be self-evident.
Trainwreak always gets more coverage; and yet they seem to ignore the casualties.
Hardly.
I did
The New York Times needs to admit that it died back in 2003 when they were the cheerleaders for Widdle Georgie's invasion of Poland, er, I mean Iraq, so we can have the funeral and plant them six feet under where they belong.
I stopped watching commercial TV for good while W was revving up for war in Iraq. The pretext was always preposterous, and the scale of loss of life (ours and theirs) immoral. WWII forced us to fight, but Bush II's war in Iraq seemed like a right wing adventure.
In my opinion he was and is a criminal.
And, Bruce, he didn’t even need SCOTUS to rule he was immune from being held accountable. Sigh.
Sigh
Exactly
Haliburton money making scheme for one. Destroying lives, both here in our surviving military members in that 20 years war, and in the nations we tried to destroy for another.
Actually, the Times died when it published a story about the Gore v Bush election with a headline that implied that the SCOTUS-ordered, final count in Florida was substantially correct despite the fact that the story associated with the headline showed a proper count would have ended with a Gore win.
I haven’t forgotten that debacle. W will always have that around his neck, no matter what chump does
W. is a moron, but compared to DonOLD he's a genius.
How about moronic brothers from different mothers.
Evil
Partners in crime.
W was pretty incurious. So is Trump, but he has a certain creative flare when bending reality, and exceeds even W for quantity and absurdity of lies told. Or so it seem to me.
W. has been a very good former President, staying in his own lane for the most part.
But their followers and supporters have the money and the will to investigate every way to destroy centuries of effort for their own evil reasons.
Hear! Hear!
Great assessment, Phil. Millions of Americans side with that evil, and Corporate Media just amplifies it, wrapping it up in a pretty package with a bow on it. I would add "and a puppy" but that has new meaning today in the ridiculous garbage coming out about immigrants eating pets...
"Certainly, whoever has the right to make you absurd has the right to make you unjust."
-Voltaire
What lie Pheeel...mon dieu zat cat from nex door voz delicieux. Wiz ze sauce from ze moose dröppinks. Ca me gout bien
🤣🤣🤣
Humanities, civil civilization, and profit, OK, but people and the welfare living things and the planet come before it.
Thank you, Heather.
Big day ahead - and I have faith that Kamala will do US proud.
Yes, I agree.
I don't need to watch the debate. Here is how it will be covered. Harris will be asked questions that she will answer articulately with specifics, but no matter how articulate, except for likely MSNBC, she will be criticized for being vague. Trump with reply with - to use a SteveMartinism, "We will hugely mamboo dogface in the banana patch" and the press will cover his nonsensical blather with the headline "Trump proposes overhaul of food policy in the US".
We are watching the US become a failed society in real time, courtesy of a supine media. I only hope when all is said and done that the NYT gets what it deserves and he shuts it down. - I won't be able to vote any way, so what the hell good will being an informed citizen be? At this point I'm only reading it for the recipes and weekly history quiz anyway.
Just to be sane I repeat to myself these days that Trump is a rapist, a racist, deranged, an insurrectionist, shared classified information with Russia during his presidency, presided over a crime against humanity that was his willful incompetence on Covid, profited off of his office corruptly, mocks the disabled, is a misogynist, incites to violence, is a religious hypocrite, and stole and kept classified information. And of course, it's Trump. I've left stuff out.
I have no idea what much of the American electorate is thinking . . . oh . . . wait . . .
The media are not just supine but they have crawled into a huge hole in the ground and covered themselves all up in a mass grave.
I wish.
Rupert’s dream was to buy the NYT, maybe he already has.
After careful consideration, I think that a "supine media" is absolutely accurate. Flat on its back, face up, completely motionless. I also love your "Steve Martinism" and the sanewashing supine media translation.
You are not wrong. It's said we can accept there are people we can't change & have the courage to change what we can. I believe we can be encouraged that people may now be motivated to take our country back. History shows we have done it before & there has never been so much motivation!
Thank you Professor Richardson.
It is remarkable that the criminal organization (and former political party) known as "the Republican party", or GOP, or MAGA/GOP has now dipped into the National Lampoon magazine for campaign ideas.
Absent any policy priorities other than slash taxes for the wealthy, pardon Trump for his multitude of crimes, and mass deportations for immigrants and refugees -they are now pulling things like "Look -refugees are eating your puppies and kittens" out of the same orifice where Trump wanted his MAGA cultists to shove their UV lamps to "cure Covid" (presumably after drinking bleach didn't work).
It would be hilarious -if it were not blindly believed by at least a third of the population in the United States.
It's simple. It is fear and hatred and division and to control people.
And take our freedom and Democracy away. They to rule this country with a dictatorship and a authoritarian government. Turn this country into a 3rd world country like Russia.
Thank you, Heather, for the summary.
I have no issues, none, with “A New Way Forward” as proposed by Kamala Harris. May she, and Tim Walz, receive the support they’ve earned.
As for the others… no comment. The less attention, the better.
I like it.
Although some of the new ideas are updating of old ideas and some may be unprecedented. Dumping the bathwater, but holding onto the baby.
And who knows where that baby may take us?
A real, new and bright eyed baby I mean, not the arrested development emotional infant in an old man's body.
Thank you Cicada, I'm with you: fired up, feeling the JOY brought by Harris-Walz is how I'm moving forward.
(A wise teacher once told me ..its not good enough hating people because they're not loving enough.)
Since to me it is more likely than not that tomorrow's 9/11 date discussion will be more focused on tonight's 9/10 debate, I'd like to take this opportunity to honor the memory of the lives lost on that horrific day while at the same time wishing Heather and Buddy a Happy Anniversary. I've always wondered why the professor and Buddy chose 9/11 as the date to exchange marriage vows. I don't believe it was just a coincidence.
The only thing I can think of is that it is a Tuesday, and that is when the big things seem to happen (i.e. the SOTU, where I am always watching the director rather than the speech) or elections. But for my mind, why not the 4th or the 18th??
I also have 9/11 as a complicated day, for me personally. The loss of life of our police, fire, EMS, and other responders both that day and long after remains one of the ties to my chosen career, and the ultimate mission of what we do (did, in my case now). That it ushered in a 20 year war where we had military personnel serving 2-6 combat assignments (unlike Vietnam, where there were thousands of one year service assignments) is, for me, nothing to honor. Honor the service, yes. Not the "goals" of the Global War on Terrorism.
Well said, Ally. I remain in awe of the service you provided but really feel awkward saying "Thank you for your service" as it sounds...well, you know. But yes, honor the service not the goals.
Right On House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY)!
"Ohio senator J.D. Vance, posted: “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country.” (The Haitians in Springfield are in the U.S. legally.)"
Because they are black?
I cannot adequately express how very ashamed I am that Vance is an Ohio Senator and a maga republican.
Same. And I'll never forgive my fellow Buckeyes for this transgression.
Me either.
It's labeling and discrimination and racism to target people of color. This has been their strategy since 2016 and it will never change. This is why we have so hatred and division in this country. To have a rapist and a convicted felon turn us against one another because the color of our skin is evil.
Of course, they are good at fiction, Al Frankin knows.
I wish Al Franken was back. What a decent hoot of a man, despite the fake boob-grabbing thing.
I am still pissed at Gillibrand. He was trashed by friendly fire at a critical time. Unforgivable
Nö Jeelle, av yü neverr tästed ör heeten ze chat, zey arr nöt black, all ov zem, sömarr rouge ozers whaayt. Oui mennie couleurs.
Thank you Professor! Once again you have provided so much good information to all of us! Sadly, people are so stupid that they will believe the lies that their "leaders" spread. It is a little like manure, it all stinks. People know that it stinks and yet they keep spreading it. It is amazing to me that hate and fear spread faster than reason and love.
I am so angry with our MSM, pretty much all of them. When we have to rely on you, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Myers, or Jimmy Kimmel to call out the lies and deceit of the former guy (I like to call him traaaaaamp), there is something wrong in America! (Disclaimer: I am NOT comparing our wonderful HCR with late night comedians! I am just saying that our MSM seems unable or unwilling to really call out the crazy).
Colette….l love that our late night comedians “truth-skewer” politicos/pundits/powerbrokers (of either stripe)…oh, how I wish George Carlin was still with us….he’d be working overtime!
ME TOO Barbara!
Me, THREE!!
Colette, Lawrence O'Donnell did a fabulous take on "sanewashing" last night. It is well worth the time to watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFd4zflqfeA
They are still thinking it's 1976, (Carter/Ford) or 1952 (Eisenhower/Stevenson), when politics were (somewhat) decent and both sides honorable.
Republican vice presidential nominee, Ohio senator J.D. Vance, posted: “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country.”
J.D. Vance obviously has a very weird fixation with people's pets.
His creepy rants about ladies that have cats, dog parks, and now this twaddle makes me wonder if he even has pets or likes animals in the first place. I get the feeling animals sense his horrid nature and are repelled by him, like a lot of us are.
Need billboards quoting Vance with a BIG red stamp across his face saying “Weird”.
Question his insanity without diagnosing it. I’ll go with that
He will be diagnosed on 9/27 at an all-day Conference at the National Press Club by forensic psychiatrist, Dr Bandy X Lee & other nationally known mental health experts.
The title of the Conference is "The More Dangerous Case of Donald Trump."
Can’t wait
Anyone checked WHICH reports now show etc?
One of my biggest concerns, which I wish Dr. Richardson would talk about (my apologies if she has done so and I missed it) is this: Trump insists that "he doesn't need the votes." The only conclusion I can come to is that he does not expect to win at the ballot box. He expects - and plans - to cheat in every possible way, especially in the battleground states. Fake elector schemes, machinations like Georgia's to change the rules, and threats of violence at every level. And I fully expect January 6 redux. If you've already stacked the deck, why would you worry about winning in an honest way? I wish that the mainstream media (which have done a disgraceful job of covering Trump) would pound this message into the voters. A Harris landslide would make it much more difficult for Trump to cheat his way into the White House.
Last night I had dinner with my family and talked to them about voting. All of them are totally committed to VP Harris, but my younger grandson (who is Gen Z, age 23), fears that an enormous body of powerful and wealthy people and corporations may already be sufficient to overcome anything we try to do. It's not that he distrusts government; it's that he fears the forces of power and wealth if they decide that democracy and "overregulation" have had their day. I hear him, but my only answer is to fight. With donations, volunteer time, and conversations with friends who might listen.
Thank you for allowing me to share these worries. It matters to me. I will share today's letter from HCR on FB, and I gave a small donation to Harris-Walz last night, to add to their pre-debate affirmations. I'm retired, 78 years old, and can't give much, but I give regularly. Thank you to the believers, wherever you are.