But let’s not keep amplifying the evil message. There is a growing audience for this and while we’re calling them out we are also feeding them and making them feel powerful and confident that they are succeeding.
How do we combat the evil without saying we see you and see what you’re doing and we are afraid that there are so many of you?
I suggest that we remind the brownshirts of what became of them. Of how many died meaninglessly for the Fuhrer and Mussolini and Stalin. They ended up being the big losers.
We should not convey fear of Trump’s thugs, but we should definitely point this stuff out, plainly, through media outlets that will be consumed by people in the Trump Bubble.
Hopefully that twisted Trump bubble will begin to burst. It's beyond outrageous that he's allowed to continue with his threats while out on bail without any consequences. Rep. Swalwell stated recently that his kids can't even play in their front yard anymore. In the meantime, one of the brown shirt, goon squad leaders Roger Stone also remains free and continues to echo the mango madman's dangerous evil messages. Where the hell is the justice when we need it the most?
You are so right, Rick. When i look at Roger Stone, i see an evil fiend just by looking at his creepy face, especially when he wears those goofy goggles on his fiendish face. It's truly appalling that this thing called Roger Stone isn't in a maximum security prison now in solitary confinement.
Wonder how many people he killed who didn't do as he wanted? He seems like a pshycopath when he talks. Like Trump he is like a cartoon character...a bad one in a movie. His power gone to his head.
Hmmm, Judith, i haven't thought about that. There is no telling how many people he has murdered. Stone is a perfect example of a psychopath, and TFG is a close second to him. TFG is a sexual predator and i read an article a while back that he used to peek in at little girls in one of those pageant things to watch them undress.. To me, that is about sick as it gets.
Not so minor problem; there ain't no law against wishing someone were dead out loud and taking positive steps to to convert the wish to a fact! Then you get the free vacation.
That brings up Judith Stevens' question below. If the answer is 1 or more Roger Stone definitely qualifies for vacation time - - - but although he may be "like" a cartoon character he most certainly is not one and deserves suitable attention in the future.
I am an American... non -violent, against the ownership of guns except for our police who owe their jobs to us, against vitriol and hate speech. For “choice” of freedom of religion and of personal decisions concerning private serious decisions women make concerning having children.
If I were to say things in public the ugly american Rump says I would feel overwhelming shame .I am for treatment of mental health issues done so with kindness and compassion.
I demand , as a serious defender of choice , that those who make public threats against another be held accountable in a serious and permanent way. Nothing on social media is private. Regulate the companies who feel no regard for sanity under their freedom to dump garbage on all of us through their so called business. Make them pay the price of fear! A huge fine would work.... I am talking a HUGE fine... one they totally understand as “business” as usual. Let them feel the pinch of non-existence.... broke, incriminated, out of work! Shame in the most visceral way... prison for life.... their life, not ours!
Folk forget their Freedom ends at my nose. And, freedom entails responsibility- also ,too often forgotten. The vulgar, vile, threatening patterns we are now living in the US are destroying our sense of community. This is a distortion of freedom and our systems are failing to call it out. I agree with you.
People who feel threatened into public support of tRump have the opportunity, in the privacy of the voting booth, to vote their conscience. Look at what happened to Roe in Kansas and Ohio. Women married to rabid MAGAs made their voices heard.
Agree with you, Vicki, that freedom entails responsibility!
I volunteer with Activate America, writing stacks of postcards to get out the vote. Strongly encourage others to get involved.
As for community, there's a huge Silent Majority who are just waiting to vote the bums out. The vile, vulgars get the most press, but they're the minority.
For what it's worth, most states do have criminal statutes against making credible threats to harm another person. The legal definition of "credible" varies and can be hard to prove, but such statutes do exist. For example, I (and maybe you) would prefer Trump were not around, and we may have said so in public, but if we take no positive steps to accomplish that end, i.e. to convert our wish to a "credible threat" (by hiring an assassin?) it remains just a wish and not a prosecutable threat.
I hope that helps - it shouldn't change one bit the opinion you or I hold for DJT - it's just that neither of us care to spend the rest of our lives in jail, but we would like to exercise our First Amendment Right to tell people what we think about him!
Alex Jones got a taste of that recently for airing his cruel lies that kids and teachers really didn’t die at Sandy Hook Elementary, piling unimaginable pain upon the unspeakable agony of the families of those murdered children and teachers. He’s still fighting it in court, but there is a judgment against him and he’s less free to peddle his lies. The Proud Boys also may have been sued out of existence. The legal process can be glacially slow, but sometimes justice does get served.
What media outlets are those? Trump consumers are not going to read Robert Reich's Substack, or watch CNN, MSNBC, or any other "fake news" outlets. On the other hand, Fox, NewsMax, and OAN certainly aren't going to say anything on air comparing Trump's vigilantes to Brownshirts.
Thanks, DK. What is needed, in my opinion, is a fundamental shift of paradigm. Let's remember FDR's quote "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." In other words, let us do the progressive work centred on political and economic justice despite the "brownshirts" threats. In essence, this takes spiritual courage, but it is essential to maintaining a democracy.
It also takes physical courage. You, in 1/3 of the US have made accidental pregnancy or intentional pregnancy a gamut to be walked, unto death. But, the Repug Senate cowards, never able in 150 years to rid us of white supremacy structures, have admitted instead of speaking out, banding together, asking for state or federal protection ran away from their desired JOB for VOTERS . This is NOT ok. The underlying US structures are so compromised, corruption reigns. I remember my US when we did not get shot in grocery stores, school or churches. The Baby Boomers must undo what we have created. It will take what East Germany just did, hundreds and thousands of us in our locales in peaceful nonviolent protest. Truly, our brown shirts are active and here.
I did NOT create this and I will not let anyone make a blanket condemnation of people born at a certain time in history. Not only is it unfair to those of us who’ve been actively trying our entire adult lives to make this world better than we found it, but it invites condemnation and even violence against older people. Please stop. We all, at every age, have to look at our own lives and figure out how we’re contributing to social problems and then try to do better. It’s not the responsibility of “Boomers” to fix the problems we also inherited or don’t have much control over.
You must have little experience with historical context. This is exactly what Baby Boomers have created, with or without you and I. I feel as you stated myself, as a road not often taken person myself. But, this has been created in our time and in our context. Without claiming it, there is little motivation to fix it.
My entire life has been about trying to fix it, no motivation required! No, I will not take responsibility for things that were not in my control. You are welcome to blame yourself if that motivates you, but you don’t have the right to blame an entire group of people for the sins of the oligarchs who brought us to this place.
This is very true DK. I keep thinking about the foolish adoration of the orange jesus and how he will violently treat his followers at the slightest criticism.
DK - I recall a wonderful Governor that we had out here in the West named Tom McCall. McCall was a visionary and he created a wonderful legacy for Oregonians including making all our beautiful beaches accessible and public. He got people jazzed up - and t focused on the future. It was easy to trust him. He was both genuine and direct... It was a tense time in Oregon and I remember he changed the narrative... declaring that "People are motivated to vote - when you talk about what you are for - rather than what you're against." He helped Inspire people - and excited people by talking about what we could do, what we wanted to protect, what people could create, and talked about a vision that felt safe, beautiful, and special. He inspired a renaissance in how we regarded our Oregon and led a whole generation to feel renewed energy and commitment to protect it.
That's a fine idea, DK, but remind any of them of their fate in following their Orange Fuhrer and ask if they would die for him would only result in a full throated scream of 'Jawohl!' (Yes, indeed!).
If only… Hate is a powerful motivator. They follow Trump because he hates those they hate. He says the quiet part out loud.
Hitler sold the German people a pack of lies: That they were “victims” of predatory Jews. That Germany lost WWI bc the Jews betrayed them. Easily disproven, but people still fell for it.
A frightening percentage of Republicans, armed to the teeth, now support violence as the way to “get the country back.” The Heritage Foundation’s transition plan, Project 2025, is all set to go if Trump is re-elected. Trump fires all civil servants, replacing them with hand picked loyalists. It’s a blueprint for authoritarianism.
We are on our own. 80 years ago, the Allies landed at Normandy & saved democracy. We have 1 shot.
Agreed. I am reading about North Korea and the thought comes to mind "when has ANY dictatorship ever truly succeeded?" It's all so easy to fall for a pack of lies. I am still looking for a dictatorship that ever worked out for the people. It worked out great for the dictator - until it didn't. We cannot, absolutely must not, let this guy take the reins again. We could easily go down a very bad road.
The SHITler 1.0's SA brown shirts DIED due to, and at the very behest/ORDERS of their evil POS Fuehrer.
These current, dumber than a rock, MAGAt NAZIS are way too brain dead to realize that they too will be thrown under the bus by their worshiped, adored, and deified SHITler 2.0.
They may not wear brown colored shirts, and have visible swastika armbands, but the SCUMp's evil, murderous SA is just as blood oath loyal and dangerous.
WHAT (and when) will be THEIR 'Kristallnacht'??
The POS 'Proud'<-LOFL! Boyz DO wear black shirts, just like IL DOUCHEBAG Mussolini's Camicie Nere did, and I guess that's why.
DK Brooklyn ; It is a fact that those who threaten our Democracy and follow Donald J Trump are the minority, I'm not saying that they are not a threat. terrorism is cowardly, and dangerous. But they are not succeeding, except to show voters who they really are. Why would voters support dangerous extremists? Why would anyone believe the lie that "there are so many of you?" The brown shirts 'reminder ' will not be repeated in the media that most MAGAs consume. We can only hope that the Justice department works this time!
Patriotic Americans, please do not forget all the military men and women who have fought and died to protect our freedoms! MAGA, AKA the Grand Oligarch Party, has no respect for the fact that these Americans gave their lives to protect our Democracy and our country.
Trump has called the U.S. military weak because it is “woke.” He has called its LEADERS, “some of the dumbest people I’ve ever met in my life.” He has defamed John McCain over and over!
If you really think you have it terrible here in America please watch “Beyond Utopia” on PBS for a crushing dose of what it could be like if Trump or one of his disciples becomes president!
I wish every American would take the time to watch this true story of a North Korean family and what they went through to escape from the dictatorship of North Korea.
I was in Vietnam while cowardly Cadet Bone Spurs was dancing the night away. And he’s still criticizing now deceased war hero John McCain because he, Trump, doesn’t like those heroes who, like McCain, got captured. He won’t go to jail soon enough.
I'm one of the 20% that don't. And I don't believe 80% is accurate. Still, it boggles the mind that there are veterans who are okay with the orange traitor.
That was a poll from 2019. So much has happened since then. Is there anything more recent? My search didn't turn up anything newer than 2020. I can't believe that many veterans are that clueless. I hope not.
I've been working in a Dem vets group. We need to turn the vets organizations -- the American Legion, VFW, DAV, Am Vets. Need to campaign at VA.
Just to give you an idea, several VA counselors who are 100% disabled, probably PTSD themselves, are MAGA campaign workers. Probably violate the Hatch Act. Lots of MAGA money spread around to vets.
And they probably have Fox playing on all the TVs in the VA and VA hospitals. When trump was in office, I read they had it playing in all the mess halls.
I don't think that would be a good idea. Since the groups you mention are no doubt tax exempt 501c3 organizations, they must not be turned into partisan political action groups -- or, they could lose their tax exempt status.
Hitler organized his far right groups from disgruntled WWI veterans; A similar movement, I think after WW I depression era America with Army vets. I am just wondering about how we may be facing a similar time.
A guy I served with back in the '70's recently tried to reconnect. I looked at his Facebook page, and wanted to cry. We were best friends, did everything together, but his posts were all about trump and MAGA. Not sure I'll ever get over seeing that.
Terry, - I don't mean to be offensive; I understsand your concern and share it. But I do think Democrat-leaning voters have been so busy formulating invectives against Trump to notice how popular Trump really is - and how desperately necessary it is for the Democratic Party to make an immediate and radical turn from incremental economic improvements - hardly noticed by the groups you need to reach - to an announcement of a New Deal-style policy that specifically target the voters who are hurting, financially and psychologically: the unemployed, the under-employed, the under-paid, the zero-hours contract workers, and those who are simply fed up with a corrupt election system.
And don't forget the police, many of whom openly support and socialize with militia groups like the "Proud" Boys. A few years ago this group was especially active in Salem, Oregon and several local police were seen drinking beer with them and in a few other instances when they in close proximity (usually they simply observed their antics from afar), exchanging symbolic hand gestures. It is very important for us to realize that the police are not on our side.
I just looked this up. It seems that it’s impossible to get official statistics, but military people on Quora have said that while members of the military tend to be conservative, pro-Trump feeling has decreased significantly because of diversity and because of the things he’s said and done. There are official demographics about active duty and veteran members but there’s nothing about political affiliation in them.
Considering we have been in so many wars I bet the number of vets is pretty high. A relative of mine who was in the Air Force for his career is a Trump fan as a vet. I can't get to him. Trump called the military losers. Selective listening?
100% of my father and his friends- Korean War vets, and their wives. 100% of the Vietnam vets I know. 50% of Afghanistan vets… it’s a mystery how they love their abuser- they’re all better men than Trump (I’ve told them to their faces. No longer on my feeds- I want to try to hold onto the shred of respect I have for them for the sake of my friendship with their spouses. I don’t bring up politics with them- but they keep me at an arm’s length for sure.)
I wonder that the kind of wars we are now fighting are leaving folk faithless. The injuries are often invisible and psych in the US has been degraded to homelessness.
Nationalism is a powerful, irrational force. Vietnam war protesters discredited themselves by burning and dishonoring the US flag. We may be living with some lingering consequences of this foolishness.
Please someone explain how 80% of veterans can support someone whio has made comments that TFD has said. The threat that RR has presented is real and the parallels to Nazi Germany are such that every and anyone who is interested in preserving our Democracy should figure out what more we can do to assure that TFG does not gain any more power. He should be imprisoned for a long long time held incommunicado. We are sick of the coverage of his stupid comments. His supporters need to be called out for what they are and what they are doing. Law enforcement needs to track down those who are threatening officials and lock them up.
But, governments are not always "by and for the people"! Right? Focus on how recently the government handled the Covid response, forcing many of us to get the Covid "vaccines" in order to travel or keep our jobs. If you have been following the Davos meeting, you would think that we could use some protection against a repeat of the Covid debacle where we are all forced to take an untested and experimental vaccine in the next pandemic.
Paul, I am confused. Do you not think it is the governments responsibility to require vaccinations in order to keep people as safe as possible? Do you think typhoid Mary should have been allowed to continue to spread disease? Would you like to see our children in iron lungs, crippled, or dead from polio? Are you opposed to school vaccination requirements so people can be safe? Was it such a horrible thing that the government required you to get a covid vaccine so you and your coworkers could be protected from a deadly disease?. We still haven’t seen the deaths and disability that long covid will bring. Dis you know that being vaccinated can help prevent long covid for many?
As a nurse, I have seen too many deaths of patients and coworkers because people balked at masking, social distancing , amd vaccines. New Zealand had one of the best outcomes because they embraced public health practices like the ones mentioned that have been proven to work. I hope you will educate yourself on the real dangers of covid and realize that masking and getting a vaccine are because this government does care. Trump’s ignorance and policies caused a 40% increase in deaths. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/10/us-coronavirus-response-donald-trump-health-policy. Please care about the health of of your fellow living beings, and if you can’t then please care about your own health. and stop pushing misinformation.
Paul, this just in, many who believed the lies about measles causing autism have not vaccinated their children against measles. Now we are seeing the death and disability from measles rise. People who do not understand these diseases and how vaccines work should not be spreading misinformation, It costs lives, and suffering and guilt for the families left behind.
Would you be so mistrusting of the advice from your plumber, electrician, or barber? Then why are you so doubtful of the real public health experts? Trump gave credence to a doctor that believed in demon sperm and hydroxychloroquine .
Hydroxychloroquine , a medication that treats malaria which is a parasite not a virus, as you remember was not only pushed by Trump and DeSantis, but they spent taxpayer money stockpiling it. a new study estimates 17000 deaths caused by improper use of this drug.
Paul, the vaccines were tested and have proven to be highly effective, and with minimal side effects. So why do you spread lies? Is it to cover up the fact that Trump's incompetence caused the needless deaths of thousands?
From what I have read it is misleading to say the Covid vaccines were untested and experimental. The mRNA vaccines had been in development since the 1970's, making the time required to develop one specifically for Covid much shorter than the time required for traditional vaccines.
BS. If not for many Americans getting their COVID vaccines many of us would still be sick and dying in tents and warehouses. They had done a lot of research for years since COVID mutated from a previous virus. Also the technology for a non-live virus shot made it safer. NIH and other researches in the world have spent many years on viruses before it was COVID19.
Not at all Michael. The corporate media and it's wags, even the DNC keeps trying to convince us (and themselves) that it is all about the economy, when in fact out of Trumps own mouth it is the culture war. Race, religion, women, LGBT, that is his whole gig and we are being told over and again it is about the economy.
And in doing so, they are literally SHITTING on the graves of all of those true patriots in Arlington National Cemetery (and elsewhere), especially the ones who died fighting the VERY SAME FASCISM which they are now demanding we ALL be put under the bootheels of, in the form of their putrid orange fuehrer's scummy, EVIL, regime!!
I have to believe there are veterans who decline to publicly comment on their lack of support. They have been trained to assess threats and act accordingly.
Speaking as a vet, a retired officer. We aren't trained to assess threats, We are trained to react. By the time we assess anything it is too late, we are dead.
Yes. Trump’s words come from a man who dodged the draft five times, with alleged bone spurs in his foot. I was 4F because of polio. But a good friend of mine, who did two tours in Vietnam as a waist gunner in helicopter evacuation saw it all and has no time for such bullshit. And let us not forget, when Trump stole all those classified documents and then failed to securely store them, he not only put this nations national security at risk, but he also put the lives of every man and woman who wears the uniform at great risk. That is what EVERYONE needs to be reminded of.
Many people don’t understand what it means that Trump has no ideology. I too often forget that there are many for whom English is a second language. His closest friends say thatTrump has no personal philosophy nor guiding principles, other than self enrichment. Trump would betray this country in a heartbeat if he stood to make money.
Trump screwed over so many American banks that they were no longer willing to do business him. No biggie! His good buddy Putin introduced Trump introduced him to Deutsche Bank. That would be fine if Deutsche Bank did not launder money for Russian gangsters and oligarchs.
Ironically, in the days of yore, Trump’s progeny boasted in public that they had “all the money they needed from the Russians.” I will never understand why Trump has suffered no consequences considering the amount of Russian influence in the 2016 election.
John, - 'Dodging' the draft was seen as honourable during the Vietnam War. If I had been an American at conscription age, I would have been a 'draft dodger', too. Who in their right mind would fight for governments that are committed to 'eternal warfare' - the sort that George Orwell describes in "1984"?
As for the stolen documents, how many recent U.S. Presidents have 'borrowed' classified documents in order to furnish their private libraries? Who knows?
"last October, 41 percent of pro-Trump Americans agreed with the statement that “because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.” (That view was shared by 22 percent of independents and 13 percent of Democrats.)
This is a shocking statement— not even all Democrats support democracy!
Those 13% of Democrats are patriots - like us - who don’t want the MAGAs to win and ruin our country. It isn’t only Republicans who own guns or serve in the military.
Will you go quietly into the MAGA night?
I personally think we have to do whatever we can to convince, to encourage voting, to act in accordance with the law etc. And am considering leaving the country. Others are “stay and fight” types. The fact remains that this will be a perilous year.
I hope you are aware that Biden recently said "Political violence is never, ever acceptable in the United States’ political system, never, never, never."
Once you once you espouse violence, you have kicked democracy in the face. MLK knew that violence would not get him to his goal.
What is my ultimate weapon to save democracy? A million people camp nonviolently on the mall until Congress condemns whatever **** trump is trying to pull. I will be there.
I spent half of my life as a resident of Washington DC.
We wouldn't be sitting ducks on the mall. There would be three forces protecting us, the Park police, the DC police, and the DC National Guard. I have no doubt they would set up a perimeter around the Million Democracy Demonstration, and make sure no one was carrying metal into the crowd.
DC police forces are very progressive— when Trump wanted to brutalize the BLM demonstration in Lafayette Square, he had to bring in a collection of thugs who were not from DC.
If you use violence to defend democracy, you are not defending democracy.
I was at the Women’s March in January 2017. The cops were awesome. Helpful. Kind. Totally professional. DC is actually extremely liberal. All the hotels, all the restaurants, bars, and private homes with signs of support in they’d windows or their front lawns were enthusiastically supportive of us being there and protesting that POS. Too bad it didn’t do a damn thing but it was interesting to see in person just how liberal DC truly us. No wonder the scumbag Republicans don’t want it to be a state. It is bright BLUE.
Pacifism is great and honorable, but it is not for EVERYONE.
Once you are a DEAD martyr for the cause, from/by the trigger finger of the hand of the MAGAt NAZIS, you can no longer fight for said democracy, although yes, you can (and hopefully will) inspire many others to keep fighting the great fight.
IF it gets to the point of them trying to march us into their death camps, I will NOT go passively, and I most certainly WILL use 'violence' to stop them (again, I am NOT a pacifist!).
It may ultimately be futile, and I will wind up in a mass grave anyway, but at least I will have taken out some of them, which is that many less of them for the other surviving freedom and democracy lovers to fight. ;)
Some civil rights nonviolent protesters were killed, but most were not, and the country was changed. If you don't like Biden, how about Jesus: “Anyone who takes the sword will die by the sword.” Matthew 26:52
Biden and Jesus are wise men. Anyone who thinks violence works in the long run or even the short run is not a wise person.
Kathleen, they are saying that we need to be able to defend ourselves if attacked. That may necessitate violence. We can't always be lambs. That's how our country was created, by fighting.
Do you know that before the American Revolution there were several wars fought between colonies over land boundaries? The important moments in American history came when we traded in violence for democratic methods of problem solving.
Those wars included Maryland versus Virginia, Connecticut versus Pennsylvania, and New York versus Vermont. There was almost a war between Pennsylvania and Virginia.
And we wouldn't be sitting ducks on the mall. There would be three forces protecting us, the Park police, the DC police, and the DC National Guard. I have no doubt they would set up a perimeter around the Million Democracy Demonstration, and make sure no one was carrying metal into the crowd.
DC police forces are very progressive— when Trump wanted to brutalize the BLM demonstration in Lafayette Square, he had to bring in a collection of thugs who were not from DC.
I considered the Revolution a pretty important moment and that was certainly violent. I doubt any police force is progressive. They may be ordered to protect. If trump became president, he'd use the military against us and the police would fall in line. Read the history of Germany.
Kathleen Weber: You really have a lot of faith. I no longer trust that the police anywhere will protect me, or the military protect me for that matter. The last time I called 911 for help, I was asked if I knew the name of the person threatening me; I did not; therefore, the police did nothing. Just where were these wonderful police when the Capital was attacked? People including me are scared and for good reason. I grew up with people who escaped Europe; I heard their stories. Every time Trump and his soldiers say something, I think of these people and what they went through, and I think about buying a gun and becoming very good at using it.
I am a retired officer, and I tell you emphatically Kathleen, that the military and that includes para military like cops, follow orders, without question., and that is in their oath of enlistment.
As Lord Tennyson wrote in the Charge of the Light Brigade "Our is not to question why, ours is to do or die"
FYI, MLK's non violence achieved nothing, but what did was the violent reaction ot his assassination.
Mahatma Ghandi's non violence did not drive the Brits out of India, it was the "ghosts" of Subhas Chandra Bose and the Indian National Army.
This is where you google.
Change did not come to LA, until after the Rodney King and Watts Riots.
The establishment, the powers that be, encourage and sanction non violence, like the Occupy movement, because it is a pressure relief valve, what they fear is the demonstrations getting out of hand, because then it destroys property, money but only then does change take place.
What has the Million Women March achieved? The Occupy Wall Street movement? The Occupy Movement? The BLM marches?
The turning point in the civil rights movement came with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. MLK died in 1968, So get your facts straight.
I am not claiming that every demonstration is effective. The demonstrations you name were Isolated events that I knew would be ineffective Because they were isolated.
MLK and SNCC continued a series of demonstrations beginning with the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 through the March on Washington in 1963. These were strong organizations of committed people and they just didn't quit.
I think if Trump gets outrageous in a second term, there can be a similar disciplined nonviolent response. I am not planning to go to the mall for a day—I am planning to go there for 6 months.
The riots quickly revived the bill.[37][38][26][39] On April 5, Johnson wrote a letter to the United States House of Representatives urging passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which included the Fair Housing Act.[30] The Rules Committee, "jolted by the repeated civil disturbances virtually outside its door," finally ended its hearings on April 8.[40] With newly urgent attention from White House legislative director Joseph Califano and Speaker of the House John McCormack, the bill—which was previously stalled that year—passed the House by a wide margin on April 10.[24]
Hypothetically, what would you anticipate a future President Trump would do to "ruin the country"? I can't think of anything, but I can cite some things the Biden Administration has done that are pretty bad: 1 - sent to prison hundreds of 6 January attendees who committed no violent acts - think Jacob Chansley sent away for almost 4 years; 2 - open borders admitting millions of illegals to flood our social safety nets; 3 - implemented in our military "diversity, equity and inclusion" while ditching the merit system; 4 - utilized the FBI and DOJ (and the intelligence agencies) for political purposes against political foes; 5 - pushed electric vehicles (and the rest of the Green agenda) on the American public which doesn't really want them; 6 - stopped energy projects such as the Keystone Pipeline and federal drilling leases; 7 - started 2 proxy wars (Ukraine and Gaza) and appears to have begun another in Yemen, all without Congressional approval -- I could go on, but I think I have cited enough things to demonstrate that President Biden has not been good for the country in many respects.
Maybe you should learn some facts. Jacob Chansley pleaded guilty and he's got early release. He is no longer in prison. The republicans refuse to give Biden the funds he needs to administer the border. They don't want that issue resolved. The merit system has not been ditched. It's just changed to give equal opportuinity to everyone, not just white males. There's no proof the FBI and DOJ have been used politically. Stop watching Fox. I guess you don't believe in climate change. There ae good reasons for stopping Keystone but we still produce more oil than any other nation. Biden didn't start the wars. Putin started a war and Hamas with the help of Netanyahu started the other. All your points are easliy debunked if you believe in reality.
So chansley was not sentenced to almost 4 years? He should not have been charged with anything, based upon the video I have seen. Face it, hundreds of people are in prison who did nothing violent on 6 January.
Give yourself a chance and listen to diffirent contrary news sources. If after a while you don't find them credible, okay. But you;re not being fair to yourself. And yes i do listen to rightwing sources.
They were all informed by their 'dear leader' Vlad The DESPOT that IF they did not inflict enough disinformation, and discord in order to result in his pal orange SHITler winning this election, and thereafter becoming a 'mini-POOtin' who will obliterate NATO, and hand him Ukraine on a gaudy gold SCUMp platter, that they will die, horribly and painfully.
Maybe that is why all of these effing FSB trolls are all soooo 'motivated'?!?
Paul, OK, I’ll give you your opinion. No President is perfect even if I don’t see the facts that back up your opinion. Now I am asking you to tell me anything that you think Trump did that was bad for the country?
OK - I wish President Trump had shut down Dr. Anthony Fauci who led the push for the long-term lock downs, forced vaccinations - which led to business bankruptcies, missed medical treatments, suicides, etc. The pandemic was terribly hard on the country, but it need not have been so hard had President Trump resisted following Fauci's advice. Ron DeSantis did a better job of resisting Dr. Fauci.
Hope for the best prepare for the worst and never give an inch. When facism is spreeding globally there isn't anywhere to run it has to be faced down where it exists. But it can be done peacefully if Ghandi beat the British empire peacefully than we can beat some idiots that cosplay Nazi.
It is a shocking statement, but look at the underlying assumption of the question: things have gotten so far off track. Such questions prompt respondents to answer without fully considering the implications of their acceptance of the premise. We have seen violence and grave threats of violence connected to TFT (the former tyrant) speech and calls for fighting. Think of those caught and convicted in Michigan who plotted to assassinate Gov. Whitmer. Sadly, the very question reinforces the idea that violence is an option.
Or is the violence they (13%) propose in self defense of the murderous GOP group? I can't image them wanting to tear the country apart for the demigod. Dr. Reich's message strikes fear in my heart. What would our new Brown Shirt's world look like? The ones that don't die in the process will be so sad and apologetic. Sad and scary.
That's one of those giant questions that would take a lifetime of historical research to answer fully. We are in the process of finding out whether the United States will succeed as a democracy.
It’s his personal opinion, which my family beginning in the war of 1812 has fought to protect for every red blooded American to have in every American major engagement. My 5x great grandfather is Captain Louis Durant. We have lost family in many of these engagements. I am not saying that you have to like or even listen to others opinions but it is their right as Americans to be able to form and even express their opinion, just as it is yours. Look at how Russia and other eastern countries have dealt with those who have a different opinion than that of their governments.
If you enlist to defend your country -- that's your patriotic duty. If you join violent groups like the KKK, Proud Boys, 3%ers, ets, you do so AT YOUR PERIL.
In what way have the Proud Boys been violent? And what has the KKK done violently in the last 20 years? Nothing. You have no doubt heard of Antifa and BLM, who have hurt a lot of people in their riots. You do know that everyone who died on 6 January were demonstrators, like Ashley Babbit.
Oh how I wish that one of (their fantasy!) 'Soros globalist funded Jewish space lasers' would focus it's beam on that effing FSB troll farm in good ol' St. Petes already, and TOTALLY take it out, permanently!
If you're going to insult me, we will not be having a conversation. I read the piece you sent and only saw reference to Proud Boy violence on 6 January, which hardly can be said to be representative of normal operations of the group, unlike Antifa and BLM or, years ago, the KKK. As you know, the cops were firing rubber bullets and tear gas into a peaceful crowd, which I'll bet really pissed people off. The sentences meted out, for the most part, have been ridiculous and way out of proportion to what happened. The piece you cited said 6 January was an "insurrection", which isn't true -- the FBI found no evidence of an insurrection, per se. Instead, it was a riot.
Linda - a "belief" and a "practice" is not a violent act or acts. Acts may be violent, of course. I read the Rolling Stone piece you referred me to and I did not find any references in it to instances of violent acts perpetrated by the Proud Boys -- or the Oath Keepers for that matter, except a reference to on incident where a woman was killed in Charlottsville. But, then there's Ashley Babbitt, shot and killed on 6 January by the cops, while unarmed. Yes, Proud Boys were at the Capitol on 6 January, and some have gone to prison, mainly for non-violent entering of the Capitol building, like hundreds of other Americans -- the charge they have been convicted of is something like "obstructing a federal proceeding". Imagine that -- getting sent to prison for wandering around the Capitol building, after being invited in by the Capitol Police?! This is now going before the SCOTUS and hopefully the SCOTUS will bring some justice to how these cases have been handled. I think the DOJ has way over-reacted to 6 January. If you want to talk about fascism, this is an example.
One can be correct in one comment/ thought process and dead wrong in another, eh Paul!? Virginia killing of gal was KKK, white supremacy group. Proud Boys initiated and fueled a US insurrection in the US transfer of legitimate power, led by a fascist. The ways Black & brown folk have been harmed by US policing with its underlying white supremacy bias are ubiquitous. Bannon et.al. yell ', BLM',antifa', to distract. The news reporters of most major US newspapers understood the real issues but refused to honestly report. They are owned by Richy Rich who love the distraction and chaos from the issues of 1% agin the rest of us.
Please clarify what opinion and whose expression is protected. I assume death threats aren’t an “opinion” that is protected, right? Swatting isn’t an opinion. Is encouraging violence by others protected speech? I doubt you meant threats and incitement are what your family fought for. What did you mean?
I meant if Trump says negative things about the military they are protected. It would be like you saying that you don’t like your governor etc. that is protected. You don’t have to like things or think that you have a stellar official etc. As long as it’s just words and not meant to incite violence, as defined by the US Supreme courts case rulings, you are free to think, or say whatever you or any other American chooses to. I or anyone else also has the right to choose not to agree or even listen to what you think or say.
This view destroys human community. You have succeeded in your aim. Trash us so you can threaten, bully, intimidate, and kill at will, like Trumpty brags. The US is now in your image. Your views have trashed my country. That is not freedom. Your 'freedom' ends at my nose and ALL freedoms are accompanied by RESPONSIBILITY! Ever hear of that? We are sickened by your incessant bullying and will stand no more or this distortion!
Yes by that current government who my family had fought for, bleed for, and some of my family had died for. That government or their predecessors. That government that was slowly taking all my family’s possessions and lands. That government that was making my family’s daily life harder and harder in many aspects of their lives. That forced my family to walk and go by wagon on the trail of tears the year that the Mississippi River froze. Estimates that I have seen put the number of Choctaws who died on the Trail of Tears around 30%. You mean that government. I guess the saying must have meant a lot back then, which states: The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Part of the anger in this country is because the Democrats have moved away from representing the needs of large numbers of Americans - yes, jobs, wages are up and health costs and fuel costs are down. But not enough AND not for long enough. We need to elect Democrats, but we need Democrats to loudly and seriously commit to helping more Americans live with dignity and pride.
And then, they will blame their cost-cutting on "the mess left by the Demoncrats" even though the Dems are doing their utmost (keeping in mind that they are greatly hampered by the arseh*le "Fweedumb" caucus) to clean the Augean stable created and left by the Repubbies to begin with.
tRump would do a lot more than cut benefits. He wants to build concentration camps for migrants. Not unlikely that he would have them for anyone with whom he disagrees. Look at Kim Jong Un. his 'beloved'; Prisoners R us!
@Laurie. I have written at length about fools who vote for Trump thinking that he will come after other people but somehow will not come after them. Any Hispanic who votes for Trump should understand that when his Brown Shirts are raiding businesses for "illegals" they will make many many "mistakes" and throw many legal immigrants with brown skin into the same concentration camps. Blacks should understand that when the men in the white hoods visit their church they will string up Republicans along with Democrats, if they have black skin. Jews should understand that that when the really radical loonies are fully enabled, they will go after Jews because of their crazy "replacement theory." Folks, if you make that bed you will sleep in it too...
The MAGAtNAZIS are soooo effing programmed and brainwashed (what minuscule cerebral cortex they collectively possess to BE brainwashed that is!) into that cult-religion that they vote contrary to them even staying ALIVE at this point!
David Sambora ; The Supreme Court , which has been taking bribes ; decided Citizen's United ; not the voters ; "we" did not enable them! the billionaire class got their 'foot in the door' using money as corruption, which has harmed the Common Good! Now they have more power than is good for our ability to have self rule in Democracy, if they don't follow the rule of law in our Constitution, which is a violation of Their oaths!
Couldn't agree more. The DNC cannot be absolved for its role in this mess. Biden might win in November, there again he might not. If he loses, future historians will look back with amazement that the only politician who could have swept to victory in 2016 and in 2020 - someone who would have dispensed with Trump, someone who would have drawn many of the now-MAGA supporters - was Sanders, who was twice sandbagged by the DNC.
Get a little pragmatism into the mix here. THIS IS THE YEAR WE ARE WORKING WITH — we don’t have the luxury of allowing the Heritage Foundation’s plan for Project 2025 to take effect. We have to prevent a Republican win this time … AND, as the. R’s have done for the past fifty years, we need our own plan to make the Democratic Party — or any iteration we think will be better — work for us instead of oligarchs.
But you lose track of the current threat — the fascist-led Republican Party — and you lose the entire struggle for decades and maybe forever.
READ what they want to do, and see if you think we can recover from that!
[Hint: they plan to fire the very sort of people who prevented Donald from taking over the Congress on Jan. 6. There will be few in government on our side “next time,” if we let them win this year.]
I, too, want deep shifts, and altered priorities in the Democratic Party, but to hammer on the need for ‘new leadership,’ without a functional plan to defeat Republicans THIS YEAR, is defeatist. Keep a Democrat in the White House and don’t disappear after November. Let’s keep working for a better Democratic or Progressive party ..
I worry about harping on “needing change and new leadership” while our backs are to the wall. Do you have a plan for affecting change in the Democratic party without throwing this year’s election to the wolves, Michael? Who do you want to see in office in 2025? Realistically?
“Idealism without pragmatism is impotent. Pragmatism without idealism is meaningless. The key to effective leadership is pragmatic idealism.” - Richard M. Nixon Well Bing ai was trying its best for a quote.
Michael, Agree with your sentiment on Bernie, but Pat OBrien’s statement is overriding at this time and place. As for Newsom, he doesn’t even have a full faithful among California Democrats (of which I am one). Some of his policies are good, some are misguided; at best he’s an opportunist. I will give him credit for the photo of his political idol, RFK (the father, not wacko jr.) that he hung in his office.
I agree. I’m a Californian too and I see him as a mixed bag. It’s too bad we don’t have someone who’s as visible as he is who would be a great candidate and president. Bernie and Elizabeth Warren are the only ones and they’re tio old.
Is Elizabeth as old as Bernie? I'd vote for her, too, but I'm afraid she has less "charisma" than Joe B. I hate that charisma is a factor. I personally think she would be great.
These are the same people who either refused to vote and sat home, or they wasted their votes on vanity candidates.
These people thought they were burning the Democratic Party pay because they didn’t get their way. They also were very aware that abortion rights were hanging by a thread.
I heard multiple times they didn’t care about abortion. Bernie’s victimhood (and theirs) was far more important than women’s lives. (And democracy.) That is how they can so cavalierly throw out that “Biden may win. He may not.”
Remember that the people with the least the lose are white men.
Talking about finding the people who are NOT sold on Trump and are wishy-washy about Biden. Reaching them with rational thought, accomplishments, prognoses. Not trying to make nice with rabid conservatives, because they've been seriously inoculated against cooperation and compromise.
Over time, maybe this can be turned around, but at this point, considering opposing views and the possibility of compromise are all but completely abandoned among the Far Right.
Of course, we all must vote for Biden in November, however, if Haley is the nominee for the Republicans, I may vote for her. She might be a good president.
It's highly unlikely that Haley will be the nominee this time around, but please be aware that she is as dangerous as Trump, though much more polished and wise. Her intention is to totally implement Project 2025 (just look at who is supporting her). That alone should give us all pause.
She will NOT be a good president. You put a Republican in the White House, you get the Heritage Foundation in charge. And you get Project 2025. THEY are the ones who orchestrated with McConnell to skew the Supreme Court and so many lower courts while Donnie was in office. They have a plan for how to take over permanently, including our entire judiciary, if they get another chance.
Haley is a sheep in wolf’s clothing pretending not to side with the wolves … She sides with the wolves.
Haley lives in the Deep South. She is East Indian by heredity which means she is very comfortable with the Caste system, which fits well into Southern Confederacy and white supremacy. She is a grave danger.
You must be kidding. She supports most of the MAGA agenda. She's a political animal. She wants to cut social security and medicare. Please, check what she supports. It's the opposite of what's good for our country.
She isn't stupid. She wouldn't start WW3 which Biden may be doing by backing the Israeli war on Arabs. I don't agree with her rhetoric which is the GOP mantra, but I'm not sure that it is just to get elected.
She only sounds good to you because you’ve heard trump for so long that, in comparison, she sounds moderate. The right wing organizations will be a major influence on her.
I am from Vermont, too. I’ve met Bernie. My dad is a retired journalist who knew Bernie and Patrick Leahy and Howard Dean on a first name basis. I’m all for Progressive ideals to rise higher in our country’s field of vision {though not EVERY Progressive idea — I’m not a knee-jerk supporter of ideology. I support specific policies based on my understanding of them.]
I think Bernie would have made a fine president.
That will NOT stop me from voting for Biden this year, to keep Republicans out of the White House.
BERNIE tells you the same thing. He even encouraged pepole to vote for Hillary. Get real and stop damaging the effort to hold back the barbarians. We don’t need a Trojan horse in the mix. We have a huge task in front of us without that.
I cringe every time Donald Trump and the Republicans are referred to as "fascists". If this keeps up we will have an assassination. So, I think you should stop it.
But they are fascists and they are trying to terrorize the rest of the country. So they are also terrorists. They need to stop promoting violence and intimidation.
I cringe every time your putrid orange fuehrer says he wants to build concentration camps and fill them up, and his MAGAt NAZI, adoring, Nuremberg Rally type brown shirt crowds at his effing BUND meetings cheer and chant wildly for their evil scum SHITler, when he states such! ;)
Guess who else he wants to put into those death camps as well?
Paul, Trump may not be a fascist, but he certainly is a hate-monger. Fascists are those who want him to unify the country to fight against their imaginary conspiracies.
Victor - I would say there are a lot of non-imaginary conspiracies that I would like Mr. Trump to fix. I have already mentioned them, so I won't repeat, except to cite the DOJ and FBI, which need a lot of work. Bj
Yes, Bernie was the answer, but here we are. As I've said before, we need a dynamic leader to come forward who is young and can stand up to the machine in DC!
Would Bernie have been more successful than Biden in dealing with Manchisema and the intransigent Repug’s in Congress. I don’t believe so. Bernie has a large and devoted following, but once the Repugs start foaming at the mouth about Communism, Bernie is sunk.
There is also their (NOT so 'veiled' anymore!) blatant ANTI-SEMITISM, which when combined with the 'RADICAL socialist commie' label they would (and DO) pin on him, would have made him totally unelectable, despite how 'popular' he seemed to be with the working class 'on both sides', sadly (I like Bernie!).
Bernie couldn’t win a primary, but he was going to win the election? Someone needs to stop smoking the wacky tobacky. Look at Bernie’s record. He hasn’t passed a significant piece of legislation since he went to Congress. I know because supported him. UNTIL I saw his record of Congressional achievements. (Or lack thereof.)
Please don’t throw the conspiracy theories that Bernie’s triumph was stolen or that the primary was rigged. He lost. Get over it & move on.
And it was the sandbagging of Sanders that gave us Trump as he had support from the working class of both political parties.
Biden stated that he was "just a bridge to the next generation" but his ego got in the way, actually believing that he alone can beat Trump, even with his cratering poll numbers among Democrats who want someone else. Dean Phillips (congressman from Minnesota) stating the danger to democracy tried to get other Democrats such as Gretchen Whitmer to primary Biden but there were no takers. Seem they believe in coronations rather than choice. BTW, I recall when some were outraged when it was thought that Sanders was going to primary Obama. That puzzled me. Shouldn't there be other candidates fighting for the position, stating their vision for this country and making it a race deserving of the office? Really weird in a country that supposedly rejected the monarchy.
With no takers, Dean Phillips, congressman from Minnesota, although he admires Biden and supported him, has stepped into the race and this family will support him. Of course the MSM refuses to cover him and Biden refuses to debate him. If Trump wins, I will fully blame the DNC for not seeing the danger of running a man who appears ancient (not a knock on being ancient) and not as sharp as he once was which occurs naturally with aging. I should know. I'm 84 but I'm not running for arguably the most powerful political position in the world. I will also blame Biden for not doing what he said he would which was to make way for youth.
The DNC refuses to acknowledge the danger of allowing Biden to run with the threat of the death of democracy with Trump if he wins. His MAGA base is a cult of personality and nothing will convince them that Trump is not the return of Jesus. It is on the DNC to make sure that our candidate has the energy and fight to bring back apathetic voters and give us a fighting chance against him and his thugs.
The time for grooming a younger candidate has, I think, passed for this election. Actually, had the orange menace not persisted and our judicial system been swifter, I think Biden would have been mentoring his successor. I love Bernie, but think he actually is better working on his policies from the inside rather than in charge. Too many people see him as just too extreme.
He disagree that he needs grooming. He is a 3-term Minnesota congressman. Seeing the danger to democracy with Biden's low polls and the great chance of him losing to Trump, he attempted to get other well-known democrats such as Gretchen Whitmer to primary Biden but they all refused. And so he had the courage to take it on himself, as a last resort. I admire him and will continue to support him. It is telling that 70% of Democrats want someone other than Biden who abandoned his stated plan to be "just a bridge to the next generation". My opinion of Bernie differs in that he was never extreme. He spoke to the needs of the American worker who needs affordable health care, living wage, and so much more. Nothing extreme about this which every other industrialized country provides its people.
Along Dean Phillips, my concern is that there is no enthusiastic support for Biden and even with the threat of Trump, this lack of enthusiasm could lead to a nightmarish future with Trump once more in the White House.
Agreed regarding the DNC. I have always wondered who really runs the DNC, because it certainly is not driven by the common party members' votes. The Republican Party is much more democratic than the so-called Democratic Party. Most recently, RFK Jr. has had to run as an independent b/c the Democratic Party will not allow him to run in their primaries. At least they let Bernie Sanders run in their primaries, although it didn't do him any good.
I assume Democrats would need full control of the WH, House and Senate to be able to enact that agenda, right? Despite not having that, Biden has done pretty damn well with significant policy and funding for non-oligarchs. I’m angry about the shredding of the safety net, the increasing monopolization of corporations, the courts chipping away at government oversight. But it’s pretty clear who’s behind this - and it ain’t Democrats. Republican lies have created a false narrative and permission for aggression, bigotry and hate.
Yep BLM is definitely Republican since they burned and terrorized cities across America. There are fringe elements on both sides of the aisle. Words that incite violence you say. How about when Democratic Senators called everyone that voted for Trump a traitor and said that our children should be in reeducation camps. Now I don’t care who others vote for, it’s their right to vote for whoever they want including Mickey Mouse if they want to write that on the ballot. My family has fought in every major US conflict since the war of 1812. My brother did three tours in the army in Iraq and Afghanistan and watched his best friend be blown apart by an Iranian mortar for this country. Yet Democrats call us traitors and threaten to take our children away. Who the H*ll do democrats think they are. Try to take my kids away Dems, I dare you too!! My door is there for your protection not mine!!!
The ONE thing that will never persuade a trumpster is the fact/truth. I don’t understand it, but that they belong to a cult and deprogramming requires the assistance of mental health professionals.
I am not an historian; i am a very amateur (extremely amateur) historian. (Did i mention I have no credentials in history?) I had to do a history crash course before I started law school.
All sincere disclaimers aside...
I would love to know how the Allies managed to denazify Germany. Even still, there are die hard Holocaust deniers and Hitler supporters. (That trend is on the rise thanks to the rise of fascism and authoritarianism).
Once Trump is gone, we will face the true threat: his supporters. Trump is only a symptom. Racism, antisemitism and other forms of hate have hidden behind the First Amendment for too long.
When the country decided pedophiles do not have a right to possess child pornography, things changed substantially. It’s past time that we recognize a similar exception for hate speech, which should not be protected either. Europe had a front row seat on Mussolini and Hitler and they don’t ever want fascism again. Americans are like moths to a flame when it comes to thugs & authoritarian dictators.
IF so, then please 'educate' me with your vast (self-admitted) "extremely amateur" historical knowledge.
YES, all of the racism, white supremacy, ANTI-SEMITISM, misogyny, xenophobia, etc., etc. was present in this country long LONG before SCUMp, and will still be there long long AFTER he is gone (maybe even worse yet, since they all feel compelled to avenge/get retribution for their lost 'god-savior').
But along with the putrid orange despot giving them all 'right', and a loud screaming grating 'voice', those mentioned 'media outlets'<-LOFL! did help to promote and exacerbate all of the above, 1000 fold over if they did not exist. ;)
I’ve been voting Democratic for 55 years ever since I was first eligible to vote in 1969.
You had to be 21 to legally vote then.
I hear several Democratic voter groups are unhappy with President Biden. Young voters. Hispanic voters. Black voters.
I belong to the Black voter group.
At one time I felt Black voters were taken for granted by the Democratic Party.
We reflexively voted for Democrats even when we got little to nothing in return.
I flirted with the idea of voting Republican or for a third party but couldn’t find the right candidate.
The lesser of the two evils of being taken for granted was always Democrats.
As I’ve aged out of naivety I understand we never get everything we want when we vote for candidates making promises they know they can’t keep.
Politicians convince US they’re the proverbial one man show in city hall, the state legislature, Congress or the White House.
Our lack of civics education has led US to believe one person passes legislation; one man in the Oval Office controls the prices of food and gas.
Guess it’s too complicated, or too honest, to tell voters legislating and governing are group activities.
They require many people working to get things done. Politics is cooperation one oh one.
Trump’s believers think he can wave his magic MAGA wand and control the southern border, end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours, keep oil prices nice and low, inflation low and the economy zinging along without interruption.
MAGA-cle thinking it’s called.
Trump is a fraud. Trumpism is a fantasy.
The only reality about Trump is his ability to fuck shit up for all of US as he pursues his Vendetta Tour ‘24.
Democrats have a very stark choice.
We can bitch and complain about Biden not giving US all of what we want or need.
We can vote for a third party candidate, or stay home in November which will get US Trump and 4 years of terror and heartache.
Or we can vote knowing even a little from Biden- and remember he doesn’t make laws- is preferable to the heap of hell we’re going to get if Donald Trump is elected. He. Will. Be. The. Law.
@John Perry. I may sound trite, but I agree with you exactly. I wrote more at length about those who are among the MAGA-persecuted groups who will vote for Trump; they make that bed and they will sleep in it. When the white-hooded men show up at your church door they are not going to ask who you voted for. When the vigilantes start rounding up "illegals" they aren't going to check your papers before they throw you in the detention center. When the "purity" committees start persecuting Jews because of their "replacement" myth they are not going to discern which Jews voted for Trump. People are seriously naive, as you and I both were once upon a time, but we can't remain quiet and let people make those mistakes.
NOT just '4 years of terror and heartache', but for as long as he lives (and then his installed progeny live) terror, fascism, and yes, eventually even genocide.
The malcontent with Biden protest or no voters had better be really REALLY careful this time, for their lives may be not just exponentially worse off under SCUMp's dictatorial thumb, but even be OVER with his despotic rule.
One cannot protest for slaughtered Gaza Palestinians, relief of student debt, against rampant corporatism, and fossil fuel companies when one is six feet under ground, can they?!?
Benjamin R. Stockton ; Republicans have moved away from representing the needs of their constituents, too. Bribery is legal and money is speech. How else would it happen with these un -democratic laws?
@Paul. Absolutely. Talking heads on TV, even the ones that presumably mean well, spend too much time building up divisions between people. Very good, hard working, honest people get a little offended when they are described on nightly news as less educated or less interested in politics. Democrats need to make stronger, clearer statement of inclusiveness!
Of course, help like that is called Socialism. If we can help people stop wasting their money buying stuff they can't really afford, then they might have a savings for emergencies. Trump isn't giving them anything, but he still gets their support. Weird.
@Gordon. We have had a balance since FDR between providing social safety nets for distresses people while maintaining the lowest tax rates among Western countries and providing a powerhouse of entrepreneurial advances, the best higher education, high quality infrastructure. Not that we can't do better, but just to point out It's not socialism buddy; it is well regulated capitalism as Adam Smith recommended. In fact, we have loosened up too much, as Dr. Reich points out, and we need to do a little better job of regulating monopolies, use of money in politics and climate damage.
Well, it is a sort of Bernie Sanders' Socialism - the collective working for the common good. And you are so right about how well it all worked on the past. Politicians didn't spend wastefully, and big corporations (A.T. &T., for example) paid a lot of taxes (big collection base), and social ethics, were better. Short term profit taking and oligarchy has (is) taking it's toll.
@Susan. That's one reason we need to elect more Democrats - then the regular order of Congress can proceed and the country can be governed. A second reason to elect more Democrats to Congress is that just in case somehow that tangerine twatwaddle gets re-elected, a Democratic House can impeach and a Democratic Senate can convict.
It would be difficult not to draw a comparison between Trump's MAGA goon squad and Hitlers Brown shirts. Both represented deployable groups that did the bidding of a tyrannical ruler who had no business leading anything..
Someone--The brown shirts carried out the wishes of their Fuhrer. However, Hitler's inner circle was the core of the movement's true evil. Similarly, Trump sought the strength he was obviously missing in his fellow conspirators like Jones, Bannon, and Stone who are as despicable as they come. Birds of a feather, sort of like Hess, Himmler and Goring. They are little more than old cow pies in an abandoned pasture.
People do need to BELIEVE you, Donald. They have the idea we can come back from another Trump. We can’t.
Donnie only failed this last time because we had true constitutional champions in jobs all through the government. The R’s want a purge next time, and that will be the end of it….. Anyone who thinks “It can’t happen here…” — GET REAL!
Our country has been so politically stable for so very long it is simply beyond the experience and imagination of too many to believe it can happen here, or to have an appreciation of what it would mean to their lives. Complacency is another challenge.
Pat--The only reason Trump didn't run the gambit with all the destructive forces at his deposal was his desire to be reelected. This desire softened his resolve at the time, but with that being said if he gets back in, there will be no stopping him, and yes "Bill" he won't ever leave while he still lives.
All those phone calls and meetings with Putin where there were no notes or listeners... Putin’s been schooling Trump well. Now that Trump’s no longer President, does anyone listen in? How many government documents purchased his ongoing tutoring?
Marge--Putin knows Trump's ego is his weakness. The Russian bear plays into Trumps plans by not ridiculing him like all the other world leaders. He is leaving the door open.
His boyfriend POOtie needs his useful idiot 'ASSet' puppet SCUMp DESPERATELY, in order to violently 'appropriate' Ukraine, and get rid of NATO so that he can do whatever TF he pleases in Eastern Europe (and eventually WESTERN Europe, with Orban's and others' help!).
WHY do you think that Vlad The Shithead's FSB troll bots are so hot and heavy on here and other sites, trying like the effing devil to get the SHITler installed back into power, permanently/!?!
I just can't understand the logic DeSantis offers by endorsing Trump over Haley. However, if I think ahead to 2028 when DeSantis will again attempt to go after the White House, he will need the support of Trump's MAGA stooges. If he endorsed Haley, that group of languishing fools might not support him in his future run for the Presidency. So what does the fool do? He spits in the face of our country and sides with Trump, all for the idea of their future support. DeSantis is an idiot and he can't be trusted, well let's face it, none of the members of that party can be. So DeSantis supported Trump because he wants that group's support in 2028. The hell with the country seems to be his attitude. Suck up to Trump and his followers will vote for his way in the future. But what DeSantis isn't taking into consideration is Trump will most likely do away with elections altogether and just run with the idea of being our first "Dictator." If DeSantis would have endorsed Haley things might have turned out differently. His weakness is showing. He just committed political suside because he chose to support a man with absolutely no character all because he thought votes were more valuable than his own honor.
I admire your glass half full optimism in even believing that there will be an election in 2028, EVEN IF the orange SHITler, once he is installed into power by all of the evil scum of this land next year, DIES in office.
SCUMp will then just 'anoint' one of his (S)Hitler Jugend progeny to take over, a la his 'lover' Lil' Kimmie (oh wait, he assassinated his very own brother(?) to get into power, didn't he, oh well).
no. old cow pies in an abandoned pasture build soil. Little Donny Shitler and his sycophantic sociopath followers are merely sick human beings. They don’t build anything but their own delusions of grandeur.
Sorry. I know. I like cow pies in an old pasture metaphor, but I think the soil biota would be offended by the comparison with Little Shitler and his ilk.
Don, don't insult cow pies! They don't stink and, when burned, the keep the mosquitoes away. Trump and his inner circle are festering abscess in our body politic--and they stink to high heaven!.
Hope for the best prepare for the worst and never give an inch. When facism is spreeding globally there isn't anywhere to run it has to be faced down where it exists. But it can be done peacefully if Ghandi beat the British empire peacefully than we can beat some idiots that cosplay Nazi.
Paul--All the people stupid enough to commit any type of an assassination are all Trump supporters. I don't advocate any form of violence, but I do promote awareness.
I think your words could incite some people to violence -- and you are just one guy, but all the pundits on TV are saying the same things about Trump and MAGA Republicans. Was the guy who attempted to murder Steve Scalise a Trump supporter? I think you would better promote awareness by sticking to the issues.
Paul--The people for the most part don't understand the issues, and if you think my thoughts encourage violence, I understand your thinking surrounding Steve Scalise, and I'll raise you Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul; and all the other Republican fools that feel violence is their only way to be heard. Your views of what I say are in error.
Paul--I coached a baseball team for a decade, what I said to them in order to get my team mentally up for a game, at times pushed the envelope but none of what I had to say actually was said in an attempt to incite violence. It was more on the line of a motivational thing than anything else.
He cites the ONE solitary example of a liberal going after a rightwinger, when all of the FBI's, DoJ's, Anti-Defamation League's, and Southern Poverty Law Center's stats prove that it is violent threats from that extremist far rightwing which is the major domestic threat nowadays!
NOT his fantasy boogieman AntiFAAAHHHH (as his putrid orange fuehrer would say), or any other leftist/socialist source or group.
Next we will hear the Q'aNAZI conspiracy theory ANTI-SEMITIC BULLSHIT about 'The Rothschilds' and Soros' Jewish space lasers' from him as a 'violent threat'!
You're saying that Paul Pelosi was attacked by a MAGA Republican?! This says the attacker was a Canadian who is a Green Party supporter: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/28/paul-pelosi-nancy-pelosi-attack-david-depape I would say he was a nut. Anyway, I wish saying Donald Trump is the next Hitler would stop, but it's being repeated by the mainstream media all over the place. This could well lead some nut to try to assassinate Donald Trump, which I'm sure would make a lot of people happy.
Paul--His death is something we don't want but his absence from politics would be a dream. Nancy's husband might have been attacked by a Canadian, but Trump's violent narratives may have prompted the guy to act.
Mr. Trump should have been arrested on January 7 after the whole world saw him on TV asking his followers for an insurrection. Unfortunately, it proved that our fragile judicial system needs reform. Trump should be in jail already, but now we have the significant possibility of his coming back, and the world order will change.
Oh come on. You darn well that Trump chooses words short of a direct threat of an insurrection. It’s the information available to the public that clearly indicates attempts on multiple fronts to subvert the election he lost. The words from his own people who worked in the justice department for one. They were there, you weren’t!
"We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore," Trump said.
He was angry that the metal detectors hadn’t been removed. He wanted the capital rioters armed to the teeth. He even commented that the rioters weren’t there to shoot HIM.
One does not need a crystal ball to read between the lines & understand Trump’s intent. As long as they weren’t there to shoot him, if others were shot it was fine by him.
How do you know these things? I follow Trump closely and what you say is news to me. And, I never heard of metal detectors being used on the Mall since there is open access. Detectors would only be used where access is controlled and it would be up to the Secret Service to handle security — and Trump would have no say. Right?
When everyone on the PLANET knows who is responsible, for these violent threats, and the cost of increased security, WHY isn't Trump charged? Is the law really that obtuse?
If they were a brown and black mob law enforcement wouldn’t have had any trouble keeping up. They were white bubbas carrying Trump signs and signs talking about Jesus. The fact that law enforcement for the most part agreed with them was very likely a factor! After all, there are photos of cops posing with the rioters taking selfies!!!
China has always been a totalitarian country. The US has never been a totalitarian country. That makes me wonder if comparing the two is very productive.
That is true, but we would need surveillance to know what the Trump robots are doing, and how they are going to strike. China has 4x the people of the US, and they don't all agree. Keeping the peace is going to be difficult.
It seems most people are not aware that many members of Congress do not vote their conscience because of real and implied threats of violence to them and their families.
Think about that: congress members' votes are being changed by the threat of harm 5o themselves or their families.
How to remove this threat?
Vote Democrats into office as if your life depends on it!
People elect politicians to be responsible and to be fearless and to fight for what is right. If you fear to vote for what is right then you should not be a senator, a congressman or a Supreme Court Judge.
Trump needs to disappear. Take his phone, black bag him & let him live out his days in Gitmo or any black site. He is a clear & present danger to the country & needs to be dealt with
Disappearing him isn't going to be a solution. It's been tried and proven ineffective time and time again. History should guide us so we may evolve...but doesn't.
He and his out of control law breaking followers need to be secured in a safe place more rapidly... if they broke the law, (which those that have... know they have). The government needs to come up with a more rapid response/methodology to the reality of "acts and threats of aggression towards any thing, anyone and everyone...from anything and anyone".
Words such as coercion, manipulation, extortion and the like come to mind as actionable offenses when applied properly. At some point the "freedom of speech" has to be tied to a level of civility, permitted guidelines, wherein disagreements can be negotiated and compromises agreed upon and evaluated by qualified individuals. Any act of aggression needs to be addressed immediately and that aggressive person or persons needs to be secured in a "safe place, in a safe manner, for assessment and provided with the opportunity to learn more about what is expected of them and why?
All persons/individuals should have the right to privacy, freedom of speech and a peaceful non threatening environment. Tough to do when 1%, due mostly to greed, control almost 90% of the resources/assets/power, and thusly, make to rules to suit their needs.
The rules have to be adjusted for this causal reality as it is wholly unfair and one of the main the reasons why we have our present day situation. The government may or may not have the power to do so... but doesn't... and that is a large part of the problem. People need qualified and trusted leadership that presents unified goals that genuinely affect most peoples lives. Ex. Being the first to put a man on the moon. Saving a country from the concept of fascism or oligarchical rule and its consequences is beyond MAGA's comprehension as they were never taught about such things in school. You do what you know and understand and are taught to understand. Without any knowledge of the planet Mars and its environment you wouldn't do so well if you decided one day that might be a good place to vacation because the views would be spectacular.
Trump and MAGA is just a consequence of a lack of effective governance...just as Hitler and his brown shirts. In a few short years they were responsible for millions of deaths, hundreds of trillions of dollars of expense and hundreds of trillions of dollars of damage, some major advances in technology mostly related to warfare resulting in better and more efficient ways to kill people. A really good investment of time, energy and resources.
To make a great omelette you have to break some eggs...not peoples heads. Eggs are more expendable and designed to be broken for our survival...heads...not so much.
If people want to play the game of Democracy and have the right to free speech they need to play by the rules. They also need to be properly educated as to the rules, at a young age and later at a certain age given the option to decide for themselves as to where they want to live and whether or not they like those rules.
The human race obviously isn't ready yet for that kind of structured program as evidenced by the worldly events of illogical self destruction that surrounds us on a minute by minute basis.
That kind of thing would be giving him a dose of his own medicine! Moral people won’t really do that to him, but it’s fun to think he could suffer the same things he wishes on others.
These men who were handed power, were appointed solely to turn over established law governing reproductive rights for women. That decision was made from people who were appointed to a lifetime position which is supposed to be non political. Also, the right wing faction of SCOTUS has been taking bribes and orders from a fundamentalist and wealthy religious group (when the majority of the people in the US are not Christian fundamentalists) which is straight from a fascist playbook. I shouldn’t need to explain the obvious.
The SCOTUS merely turned the regulation of abortion back to the states, which is where it belongs, since the US Constitution does not address it and never did.
If that’s the case, we don’t need a SCOTUS. That wasn’t their ruling, and it has been law for 50 years based on civil rights and individual rights..Our population has shrunk and it will only grow poverty wage workers if we allow immigrants in the country, And if we force poor women (yes wealthy women can afford to hire private jets and doctors to perform whatever medical procedure they want) to give birth or die trying. The states have taken it on themselves to choose sides, and now Colorado and 17 other states are set on removing Trump from the ballot. We shall see what SCOTUS has to say about that repercussion. It’s a sinister move as most GOP political issues are.
My reading tells me that those who have accepted bribes are Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. That's the reporting I'm getting from the Wapo, the New York Times., and Rachel Maddow. Permit me to not be impressed by the Ohio Capitol Journal.
So Let’s assume you think there is no issue with bribery. In fact, the broad outlines of the nexus between corporate cash, political influence and the federal judiciary have long been common knowledge within ruling class and corporate media circles. It has simply been concealed from the general public.
Now, under conditions of an unpopular war in Europe, a general breakdown of the political system to the point of an attempted coup by the former president, financial crisis, soaring inflation and a growing rebellion by the working class in the US and internationally, sections of the ruling class are reacting with nervousness to the discrediting of the Supreme Court.
The New York Times recently bemoaned the fact that public confidence in the institution upheld as the epitome of “the rule of law” has hit a record low of 25 percent, according to polls. It is competing with the presidency and Congress in the speed with which it is discredited in the eyes of the population.
But the Biden administration and the Democratic Party have no appetite for demanding the resignation or impeachment of Thomas. They fear weakening Republican support for the US-led proxy war in Ukraine against Russia, the central concern of the Biden administration, as well as the risk of lifting the lid on the corrupt practices of “liberal” as well as right-wing justices..
What has been exposed on the high court is the existence of a permanent conspiracy against the democratic and social rights of the working class in the form of an unelected body whose members enjoy lifetime appointments. It is, in fact, a concentrated expression of the character of all institutions of the capitalist state, which are instruments of ruling class domination. They cannot be “reformed,” but must be overthrown and replaced by democratic organs of working class power.
Depends how you define bribes. That’s the point of the article. How does WAPO and NYT define it? Are they using a strict definition of official acts to count these gifts as bribes? Frankly, the Supremes shouldn’t accept more than a cup of coffee from anyone who has or is likely to have business before the court. That was the rule when I worked for state and local government while managing grants and contracts.
Kathleen Weber, you contribute nothing. The article says it’s a bit more common than what you got from it. RBG and Gorsuch took favors. Kavanaugh made promises for his special treatment and ACB is a shill to furthest extent. Rogers has a corrupted Wall Street marriage and Jinny Thomas is a seditionist.
1) The Citizens United decision that gave corporations “personhood” and unleashed massive corporate donations to the American Nazi party.
2) Overturning New York’s century-old concealed carry gun law.
3) Overturning Roe V Wade returning women to the 16th Century with Alito’s homunculus theory of conception.
4) Gutting the Voting Rights Act by releasing racist state governments from federal oversight when they try to change voting rules to disenfranchise minorities and Democratic voters
5) Gutting the Voting Rights Act
6) Gutting the Voting Rights Act
7) Gutting the Voting Rights Act
8) Declaring themselves above the law--absolutely immune from normal ethics rules that apply to courts and judges
9) flagrantly taking bribes from billionaires whose interests come before the court
10) consorting with insurrectionists (Ginny Thomas)
It is being done in step-wise fashion. So you don’t think the Jim Crow laws were a form of violent control of society? The current Supreme Court seems to think that Corporate and Christian Right hegemony, enabled step by step, will restore them and their billionaire buddies to the kind of power Southern White Cops (KKK) had over people in the days after Reconstruction.
First they grant corps personhood. Then they gut the Voting Rights Act. Then they overturn 100 years of precedent in NY’s gun laws, to signal to the violent Christian Right that it's ok for vigilantes to walk among us armed to the teeth. Then they take bodily autonomy away from women, and allow cynical Christian Right state governments to literally kill women who need abortions for medical reasons, as women always have and always will, and to jail women who have miscarriages, in which as many as 1 in 4 pregnancies result. If this is not state sponsored violence, I don’t know what is. And I hate to say this, but are you a troll? Or an AI bot that really doesn’t understand?
I asked you a question asking you to give clarifying examples for a vague assertion. If you think everyone who asks you for clarification is a troll, you will meet many, many trolls in your life.
What are you arguing anyway. Trump and his gulag have been extremely violent and promote violence. Milley and Esperanto both said that Trump wanted armed resistance to protesters when he walked to the church and held the Bible upside down for a photo shoot. He encouraged the fascists to storm the capital and to “beat the hell” out of protesters and the press.
With regard to the Lafayette Square incident , that was a special goon squad brought in, not the DC cops or the park police. Why are you arguing? I guess it's pretty much for the same reason that I'm arguing— we disagree about a lot and I think you are playing loose with the facts a lot of the time.
People seem to think that Trump is going to be able to get some kind of police or military force to shoot down civilian demonstrators in mass quantities. It didn't happen in his first administration, and I don't see it happening in his second, especially hundreds of thousands of people on the mall in Washington DC.
Once again I say..what in the hell is wrong with Americans? Veterans support Trump when he mocked them and told his people don't ever bring one of them (disabled veteran) to my rallies..WHY? Young people support him as they still live at home and suck off their parents who have what they have because of democracy..WHY?...your "gun loving Americans" support him when co-workers and kids are being killed...WHY? Republicans in Congress stand behind him even tho they all ran for cover on January 6th, 2021, do whatever Trump wants since they are constantly kissing his ASS...WHY???? Guess they all think living under a DICTATOR will be the answer to all their problems and life will be Great....got news for you.."AMERICA will become a LIVING HELL"...as stated that the hell is wrong with Americans???? People use the common sense God give you and realize that Trump is the DEVIL!!!!
They are soooo lazy and/or complacently brain dead DUMB that they believe that their 'big daddy' DESPOT will 'take care of all of those scary, bad, libtard socialist others' for them, while they live their proverbial 'Life of Riley'. LOFL!
They have NEGATIVE intellect, as in; if any form or inkling trace of intellect ever entered their vapid, empty, desolate collective cerebral cortexes, it would immediately be sucked into a vacuous black hole of idiocy.
So the main difference between what led up to January 6th and what lies ahead is that Joe Biden, not Donald Trump is in the White House. I have to assume Biden has the requisite authority to quell any and all political violence in the coming year. I hope and pray I’m not wrong.
I'm British, & live in England, but I am SO afraid for America now.Please continue to write these pieces, the world needs to hear the truth. Thank you.
If the republicans had the balls to do the right thing back when he became president then we probably wouldn’t be here now. Had they had the balls to show him that what he was doing/saying was wrong then maybe we wouldn’t be in this predicament now. Had they had the balls to impeach him then we definitely wouldn’t be in fear now. But no, they only thought of themselves and their own personal safety instead of the safety and well-being of their constituents. They only thought about the power, money and future c-suite jobs that they could get instead of the pain they have put Americans in. Why none of them are in prison for their digressions and still in powerful positions is something I still can’t understand. Stone should be charged with threatening members of congress and not walking free. It was not an expression of free speech but it was definitely a threat to kill. I am tired of reading about tfg, generalized threats to America and all death threats but not about convictions. Funny how the judge in Florida isn’t getting the same treatment as the other people - oh wait, that’s right, because she is slow walking the trial and he isn’t calling her out. I wish no harm on anyone but I do wish for all of these threats to be dealt with properly the legal way (and quickly). The current senate needs to put through as many judges as possible while we still have time.
And what’s with Steve Bannon, walking free to spew his vile disinformation MONTHS after he was indicted. What indicted criminal do you know who is free to keep criming while the lawyers argue over procedural BS?
Sally - Only criminals who apparently can afford a really good attorney. There are countless people who are sitting in jail and have yet to be charged.
I’m a 57 year old man that has worked paid taxes for 43 years. Today I sit here without a bank account or credit card. I live with my 85 year old mother. If Trump gets elected it’s because us citizens who have worked our lives away for nothing. Trump is a Molotov cocktail we can throw in the middle of our government that destroyed us. That’s why the truth people.
Both political parties represent big money and corporate power. That is also true. But Trump is completely insincere about helping people. Violence won’t change anything important either. Vote Democrats into Congress and demand that they work to help real people with real problems!
@ John. I read your comments and replies. Forgive me if I take your case as an example. Your honesty is refreshing- you didn’t say Trump is great; no, you said (correctly in my view) that the political system in this country has not worked for you. Democrats need to learn to HEAR what you are saying. But I will say a vote for Trump is a wasted vote. We need Democrats in Congress and we need them to seriously work for the people!
Well that’s pretty selfish, because the people who Faux news endorses are always criminals. Look at our Economy under every Republican Admin. They leave us financially drained while the wealthy get fatter.
So, you want to burn it down, with you and everyone you care about caught in the middle of the fire and destroyed…
Now, there’s a solution for you.
We actually need to pull together to fix our world, not destroy it out of pique.
As you state your age, I note you are in the generation that has been shafted by the REPUBLICAN fifty-year plan to undo FDR’s New Deal and put oligarchs back in power, the way they were before they caused The Great Depression.
You think going back THERE is a good idea? The Republicans want to return to The Gilded Age when rich industrialists called all the shots, and everybody else was a peon.
And, though he was a Democrat, Clinton went along with too much of the oligarch’s plan. His administration was way to supportive of the finance community and Wall Street, and not people on American Main Streets.
BUT Biden is not like Clinton. I have issues with Biden’s policies in some foreign theaters, but I applaud him for restoring American prestige in so many places where Trump made us look asinine. Biden IS a mixed bag.
But we could work with him and influence him. We need to get more people in office who support our whole society, not just oligarchs.
That’s not gonna happen if all you want to do is help Steve Bannon get what he wants. He wants to “blow it all up.” Congratulations for going to the other side …
🤦🏽♀️Who do you think will take over if you "burn it all down" and cause unimaginable chaos, terror and suffering for millions of people? The wealthy elites and their strongmen enforcers are perfectly positioned to take over. You will be doing EXACTLY what they want. If you are seeking to live in a Mad Max dystopia, "burning it all down" will do it.
White men have had their cake handed to them, and are still pissed off when they are left in the dust, but keep voting for the very people who have zero respect for their working class. Women have plenty to be pissed about, but we aren’t shooting up schools and plotting to overthrow the government.
Trumbull, blame the billionaires and corporations for your problems. They are the ones that buy the politicians to make law changes for their benefit. They are trying to destroy the safety net for seniors. They won't stop until we become slaves.
Maybe start by doing something constructive. You first blame pacifists for riots and then you want to join the “burn it all down” crowd. Maybe stop voting for neocons and liars who lead you down the path of chaos. We have all worked hard and for a lifetime, in order to make the the wealthy richer. If we join arms and work to form a more perfect Union, we won’t be so alone and might even get some equality. Democrats have always tried to work for laws to help protect jobs and the rights of people, not the rights of the corporations.
Well, none of those safety nets helped me. NONE. And I’ve voted democratic my whole life. Now I have an opportunity to burn it all down and we can start over and fix this failed American experiment.
John sorry for your hardships! Please recognize the extent to which Republican administration's contributed to these very circumstances while Democratic administration's seek to undo their impact & work to ensure the rights & safety of all the people. The current administration has made incredible headway in spite of every obstacle created by GOP mission to instill chaos with trumped up issues vs addressing the real needs of our countrymen. The answer isn't to burn it all down, but to keep informing the masses & encouraging participation of all the people in this grand experiment (both here & abroad).
Traci said, "keep informing the masses & encouraging participation of all the people in this grand experiment."
Sounds good but hasn't worked during my life. According to Wikipedia, there have been eleven recessions during my lifetime, since 1950. Every recessions allows the wealthiest to grab a bigger piece of the pie while everyone under them are forced to sell at fire sale prices or be foreclosed on. We don't have a democracy now anymore than the Romans did. We have an oligarchy with "bread and circus" for the population.
A difference is that we have the illusion of having a chance to change things for the better every four years.
Gloria we have made huge strides in this country since it's inception. Is it fully realized, no. Does $ & power i.e., oligarchy continue to exert their influence in their own best interests, yes. Is giving up or ignoring the progress we've made, the importance of our freedoms & value of democracy the answer? I would say a resounding no! Apathy & lack of voter participation is what "they" want & where our true power & hope lie. I encourage you to find ways to contribute to stoking these flames vs dousing them.
Your anger is justified but your solution is exactly what the anti-democratic oligarchs and strongmen want. Pay attention to their plans. Project 2025 includes plans to demolish Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid; privatize education to privilege the rich; control the courts; abolish government regulation of clean water, air, corporate accountability, etc etc. You may think nothing could be worse than what we have now. I assure you, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
John, I live near NYC, and have been reading news of trump ever since his father, Fred, gave him millions and let him loose on New York. What he has done since was despicable, on the edge of illegal, and outright inhuman. I can think of examples, if you like. But he has always been only for himself, and ready to misdirect, lie to, and confuse anyone willing to invest their money.
This is not the man whose basket you want to put your eggs in.
I wonder if your problems may be effected by the state you live in. Many benefits available are controlled by the state. In NY state, I keep my head above water through $10k a year from Social Security, way below the poverty line! But due to my income, and my health, I receive SNAP (Food Stamps), subsidized housing through HUD. Plus Medicaid, Medicare, free internet and cell phone, help with other expenses, and a medical insurance policy that gives me over $200 a month for over the counter medical supplies and food.
I don't know your situation at all, but some of that is available everywhere, just not advertised well! I put a lot of time and phone calls into getting these benefits, but it's worth the effort! Of course, I can't afford a car in an area where it's a necessity. The bus system is awful, but I get around, partly with free Medical Transportation. Owning property, a house, gold bars, any valuable stuff, affects benefits, but here, it's all on a sliding scale. Your own home gets you a whole different set of benefits, too. Your Mom should be a source of different benefits as well, and if you are her caretaker, that's useful too.
I'm 66, got here real quick, somehow! Being a "Senior" is another bracket as well, and I think I was allowed to call myself that at 60. I already had disabilities, from busting my hump in local service industry jobs. I love helping the neighborhood out that way, but very long days, half pay off the books, and no insurance or any benefits, is not a wise career decision!
That all said, I wish you a fortunate future, safe, healthy, and in the black! Don't forget, the Republicans are the ones who want to end Social Security, Medicaid, and anything we get for free (by paying taxes!)
I couldn’t agree more with you more Sam Trump is a monster. But in a two party system where both parties are against the people, what do you do? Answer; start over.
Yes, but you don’t start over with Trump. That’s what the Germans did with Hitler, the whole premise of this post to begin with, and there did that get them?
Hearing a person and recognizing their description of their own situaiton is not the same as agreeing with their estimation of “cause and effect.”
Someone in their fifties or early sixties was SHAFTED by the Reagan years … the changes that Crap Head helped to enact have hurt me, too, but people coming of age in the 1980s had no prior age of reference through which to see their economic lives.
Before Saint Reagan, we had “stakeholder capitalists and corpororations” that considered the needs of employees and municipalities as well as shareholders. Then the Reaganites said no more stakeholders. They cut taxes on themselves, and they said business answers only to investors — everybody else, sucks being you.
THAT WAS A REPUBLICAN STANCE.
Sadly, Slick Willy Clinton had too many of those types in his administration but he was not like the typical Democrat up to that point.
I WANT THE DEMOCRATS BACK who championed fair taxation, a living wage, who resisted off-shoring manufacturing jobs and supply chains, who did NOT try to convince us “greed is good.”
We had those Dems in the past and I THINK.Biden could be one again. I’m watching him, and some of what he is doing is just that …
Deciding to throw over a system —that is what the Republican WANT. They want us so fed up we trash it all,so they can march into a void and install themselves as the “owner” class.
Revolutions create chaos. Chaos is not a good precursor to functional democracies. Revolutions rarely deliver what they promise. If the brand new United States did not have George Washington, we likely would have gotten a new KING, maybe with a bunch of advisor, but a KING nonetheless. That was a fluke. George actually look a whole lot more like the Reign of Terror in France, and the rise of Napoleon.
Isn't "start over" actually a reason to vote for a third party? (Why assume that burning it all down - and voting otherwise - would lead to anything other than the very same two-party system?)
Trumbull, Are you a bot or a MAGA plant? Or just really stupid? We have to stop a potential dictator aka Trump, in November and then focus on getting corporate money out of control of the Democratic Party. If we don’t stop the dictator we will not have any space to organize.
WON’T HAPPEN … They have a plan to cement the power of corporate-oriented Republican policies permanently. They will sideline you and let you burn up with the rest of the peons in the fire you want to start.
Even our CLIMATE will not survice a Drill-Drill-Drill president.
Are you TRYING to help them drive the final nail in the democratic coffin?
Anyone who elects a "Bedtime For Bonzo", ignoramus, F actor into the most powerful position on this planet DESERVES what they get!
Ditto (as the scum followers of the bloviated POS LImburger would say) for those who installed a rancid, lying criminal, shitty reality TV show, megalomaniacal sack of orange feces into power.
Sadly, we ALL suffer for they imbecilic mistakes, not just the brain dead fascists. :(
If you 'think' that you have it bad NOW, just wait until that 'bomb' you throw blows up into a full-on fascist REGIME (and it WILL, with the the SHITler in full unfettered control, just as he promised, right from 'day one'!!)!
MANY will be out on the streets DYING as a result of that putrid orange sack of shit being installed into power, for LIFE!
YOU'RE 'nuts' if you are one of the ones who 'think' that "It cannot happen here!".
Many of the 'good people' in 1930s Germany thought the very same thing.
But yeah, I am the one who is "nuts" for thinking that if you throw your nihilistic SCUMp SHITler 'bomb' at our (admittedly; very corrupted, most times asinine, extremely imperfect) government that there actually will NOT be any 'the other side' to come out on with any semblance of a democratic republic, at all.
Faux news is most responsible for so many Americans believing the election was stolen. Indeed, the politician who made the accusation is responsible for statements. However, it is the job of media to fact check and report the truth. Consumers should boycott all companies buying commercial time on news programs that misinform viewers with stolen election distortions and lies.
Every brand and product is not necessary. The big name brands are most important. Just two companies made a major statement to Musk and impact on X.
It would be nice to know who is supporting misinformation and lies that are destabilizing our democracy and instigation insurrection by purchasing commercial airtime. You would think companies like GM and Ford have a vested interest that the American society is not torn apart with anti-government lies.
Sad that so many elected Republicans succumbed to threats and did not have the courage to uphold their oath to defend the Constitution. Their fecklessness makes it easier for intimidation to work this next time around. Dig in your heels elected politicians. Validate your oath of office.
Mr. Reich, never apologize for long Substacks. We all love reading your work no matter how long they are.
But let’s not keep amplifying the evil message. There is a growing audience for this and while we’re calling them out we are also feeding them and making them feel powerful and confident that they are succeeding.
How do we combat the evil without saying we see you and see what you’re doing and we are afraid that there are so many of you?
I suggest that we remind the brownshirts of what became of them. Of how many died meaninglessly for the Fuhrer and Mussolini and Stalin. They ended up being the big losers.
We should not convey fear of Trump’s thugs, but we should definitely point this stuff out, plainly, through media outlets that will be consumed by people in the Trump Bubble.
Hopefully that twisted Trump bubble will begin to burst. It's beyond outrageous that he's allowed to continue with his threats while out on bail without any consequences. Rep. Swalwell stated recently that his kids can't even play in their front yard anymore. In the meantime, one of the brown shirt, goon squad leaders Roger Stone also remains free and continues to echo the mango madman's dangerous evil messages. Where the hell is the justice when we need it the most?
You are so right, Rick. When i look at Roger Stone, i see an evil fiend just by looking at his creepy face, especially when he wears those goofy goggles on his fiendish face. It's truly appalling that this thing called Roger Stone isn't in a maximum security prison now in solitary confinement.
Wonder how many people he killed who didn't do as he wanted? He seems like a pshycopath when he talks. Like Trump he is like a cartoon character...a bad one in a movie. His power gone to his head.
Like Trump Stone has lived a whole life of crime with impunity. Are you old enough to remember Nixon's "dirty tricks"? Stone was a big part of it.
Hmmm, Judith, i haven't thought about that. There is no telling how many people he has murdered. Stone is a perfect example of a psychopath, and TFG is a close second to him. TFG is a sexual predator and i read an article a while back that he used to peek in at little girls in one of those pageant things to watch them undress.. To me, that is about sick as it gets.
Not so minor problem; there ain't no law against wishing someone were dead out loud and taking positive steps to to convert the wish to a fact! Then you get the free vacation.
That brings up Judith Stevens' question below. If the answer is 1 or more Roger Stone definitely qualifies for vacation time - - - but although he may be "like" a cartoon character he most certainly is not one and deserves suitable attention in the future.
Yes he certainly is a "villain". And very open about it. Trump's mob now talks like Mafia.
This kind of violence is mob violence, organized crime type violence.
I am an American... non -violent, against the ownership of guns except for our police who owe their jobs to us, against vitriol and hate speech. For “choice” of freedom of religion and of personal decisions concerning private serious decisions women make concerning having children.
If I were to say things in public the ugly american Rump says I would feel overwhelming shame .I am for treatment of mental health issues done so with kindness and compassion.
I demand , as a serious defender of choice , that those who make public threats against another be held accountable in a serious and permanent way. Nothing on social media is private. Regulate the companies who feel no regard for sanity under their freedom to dump garbage on all of us through their so called business. Make them pay the price of fear! A huge fine would work.... I am talking a HUGE fine... one they totally understand as “business” as usual. Let them feel the pinch of non-existence.... broke, incriminated, out of work! Shame in the most visceral way... prison for life.... their life, not ours!
Folk forget their Freedom ends at my nose. And, freedom entails responsibility- also ,too often forgotten. The vulgar, vile, threatening patterns we are now living in the US are destroying our sense of community. This is a distortion of freedom and our systems are failing to call it out. I agree with you.
Voting is our superpower!
People who feel threatened into public support of tRump have the opportunity, in the privacy of the voting booth, to vote their conscience. Look at what happened to Roe in Kansas and Ohio. Women married to rabid MAGAs made their voices heard.
Agree with you, Vicki, that freedom entails responsibility!
I volunteer with Activate America, writing stacks of postcards to get out the vote. Strongly encourage others to get involved.
As for community, there's a huge Silent Majority who are just waiting to vote the bums out. The vile, vulgars get the most press, but they're the minority.
Jean, i think an appropriate fine would be, one billion US dollars for the damage already done to our nation. No, make that one trillion dollars.
Good afternoon Jean,
For what it's worth, most states do have criminal statutes against making credible threats to harm another person. The legal definition of "credible" varies and can be hard to prove, but such statutes do exist. For example, I (and maybe you) would prefer Trump were not around, and we may have said so in public, but if we take no positive steps to accomplish that end, i.e. to convert our wish to a "credible threat" (by hiring an assassin?) it remains just a wish and not a prosecutable threat.
I hope that helps - it shouldn't change one bit the opinion you or I hold for DJT - it's just that neither of us care to spend the rest of our lives in jail, but we would like to exercise our First Amendment Right to tell people what we think about him!
Alex Jones got a taste of that recently for airing his cruel lies that kids and teachers really didn’t die at Sandy Hook Elementary, piling unimaginable pain upon the unspeakable agony of the families of those murdered children and teachers. He’s still fighting it in court, but there is a judgment against him and he’s less free to peddle his lies. The Proud Boys also may have been sued out of existence. The legal process can be glacially slow, but sometimes justice does get served.
What media outlets are those? Trump consumers are not going to read Robert Reich's Substack, or watch CNN, MSNBC, or any other "fake news" outlets. On the other hand, Fox, NewsMax, and OAN certainly aren't going to say anything on air comparing Trump's vigilantes to Brownshirts.
Ah, you ask the hard questions!
Thanks, DK. What is needed, in my opinion, is a fundamental shift of paradigm. Let's remember FDR's quote "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." In other words, let us do the progressive work centred on political and economic justice despite the "brownshirts" threats. In essence, this takes spiritual courage, but it is essential to maintaining a democracy.
It also takes physical courage. You, in 1/3 of the US have made accidental pregnancy or intentional pregnancy a gamut to be walked, unto death. But, the Repug Senate cowards, never able in 150 years to rid us of white supremacy structures, have admitted instead of speaking out, banding together, asking for state or federal protection ran away from their desired JOB for VOTERS . This is NOT ok. The underlying US structures are so compromised, corruption reigns. I remember my US when we did not get shot in grocery stores, school or churches. The Baby Boomers must undo what we have created. It will take what East Germany just did, hundreds and thousands of us in our locales in peaceful nonviolent protest. Truly, our brown shirts are active and here.
I did NOT create this and I will not let anyone make a blanket condemnation of people born at a certain time in history. Not only is it unfair to those of us who’ve been actively trying our entire adult lives to make this world better than we found it, but it invites condemnation and even violence against older people. Please stop. We all, at every age, have to look at our own lives and figure out how we’re contributing to social problems and then try to do better. It’s not the responsibility of “Boomers” to fix the problems we also inherited or don’t have much control over.
You must have little experience with historical context. This is exactly what Baby Boomers have created, with or without you and I. I feel as you stated myself, as a road not often taken person myself. But, this has been created in our time and in our context. Without claiming it, there is little motivation to fix it.
My entire life has been about trying to fix it, no motivation required! No, I will not take responsibility for things that were not in my control. You are welcome to blame yourself if that motivates you, but you don’t have the right to blame an entire group of people for the sins of the oligarchs who brought us to this place.
This is very true DK. I keep thinking about the foolish adoration of the orange jesus and how he will violently treat his followers at the slightest criticism.
DK - I recall a wonderful Governor that we had out here in the West named Tom McCall. McCall was a visionary and he created a wonderful legacy for Oregonians including making all our beautiful beaches accessible and public. He got people jazzed up - and t focused on the future. It was easy to trust him. He was both genuine and direct... It was a tense time in Oregon and I remember he changed the narrative... declaring that "People are motivated to vote - when you talk about what you are for - rather than what you're against." He helped Inspire people - and excited people by talking about what we could do, what we wanted to protect, what people could create, and talked about a vision that felt safe, beautiful, and special. He inspired a renaissance in how we regarded our Oregon and led a whole generation to feel renewed energy and commitment to protect it.
That's a fine idea, DK, but remind any of them of their fate in following their Orange Fuhrer and ask if they would die for him would only result in a full throated scream of 'Jawohl!' (Yes, indeed!).
I believe they're paper tigers. If they get really threatened they will (most of them) run and hide. It's easy to say hell yeah when you're safe.
If only… Hate is a powerful motivator. They follow Trump because he hates those they hate. He says the quiet part out loud.
Hitler sold the German people a pack of lies: That they were “victims” of predatory Jews. That Germany lost WWI bc the Jews betrayed them. Easily disproven, but people still fell for it.
A frightening percentage of Republicans, armed to the teeth, now support violence as the way to “get the country back.” The Heritage Foundation’s transition plan, Project 2025, is all set to go if Trump is re-elected. Trump fires all civil servants, replacing them with hand picked loyalists. It’s a blueprint for authoritarianism.
We are on our own. 80 years ago, the Allies landed at Normandy & saved democracy. We have 1 shot.
Agreed. I am reading about North Korea and the thought comes to mind "when has ANY dictatorship ever truly succeeded?" It's all so easy to fall for a pack of lies. I am still looking for a dictatorship that ever worked out for the people. It worked out great for the dictator - until it didn't. We cannot, absolutely must not, let this guy take the reins again. We could easily go down a very bad road.
The SHITler 1.0's SA brown shirts DIED due to, and at the very behest/ORDERS of their evil POS Fuehrer.
These current, dumber than a rock, MAGAt NAZIS are way too brain dead to realize that they too will be thrown under the bus by their worshiped, adored, and deified SHITler 2.0.
They may not wear brown colored shirts, and have visible swastika armbands, but the SCUMp's evil, murderous SA is just as blood oath loyal and dangerous.
WHAT (and when) will be THEIR 'Kristallnacht'??
The POS 'Proud'<-LOFL! Boyz DO wear black shirts, just like IL DOUCHEBAG Mussolini's Camicie Nere did, and I guess that's why.
@David. Shitler. I like that!
Yes, but only after many lost their lives and/or were tortured, not to mention the horrendous destruction across the world.
DK Brooklyn ; It is a fact that those who threaten our Democracy and follow Donald J Trump are the minority, I'm not saying that they are not a threat. terrorism is cowardly, and dangerous. But they are not succeeding, except to show voters who they really are. Why would voters support dangerous extremists? Why would anyone believe the lie that "there are so many of you?" The brown shirts 'reminder ' will not be repeated in the media that most MAGAs consume. We can only hope that the Justice department works this time!
And our Brown Shirts don't give a hoot. They're willing to die for bastard just like the brown shirts of Hitler were willing to die for Hitler.
Professor Reich, thank you for today’s excellent historical summary essay on the present state of violence of the quisling GOP.
Brown shirts they are.
•••••••🇺🇸 VOTE BLUE 🇺🇸•••••••
IT MAY BE YOUR LAST CHANCE
…and it’s worth the Patriotic risk.
Yes, I totally agree Keith.
Agreed!!! I ADORE hearing the cute chatbot speak his words! It could be 60 minutes and I would be pleased.
Patriotic Americans, please do not forget all the military men and women who have fought and died to protect our freedoms! MAGA, AKA the Grand Oligarch Party, has no respect for the fact that these Americans gave their lives to protect our Democracy and our country.
Trump has called the U.S. military weak because it is “woke.” He has called its LEADERS, “some of the dumbest people I’ve ever met in my life.” He has defamed John McCain over and over!
If you really think you have it terrible here in America please watch “Beyond Utopia” on PBS for a crushing dose of what it could be like if Trump or one of his disciples becomes president!
I wish every American would take the time to watch this true story of a North Korean family and what they went through to escape from the dictatorship of North Korea.
He calls veterans suckers and losers. He stole from Kids with cancer and disabled veterans.
The Catfood commission would cut VA benefits.
Still 80% of veterans support him.
I was in Vietnam while cowardly Cadet Bone Spurs was dancing the night away. And he’s still criticizing now deceased war hero John McCain because he, Trump, doesn’t like those heroes who, like McCain, got captured. He won’t go to jail soon enough.
I'm one of the 20% that don't. And I don't believe 80% is accurate. Still, it boggles the mind that there are veterans who are okay with the orange traitor.
I would like to see the support for the 80% Vet support you claim.
About nine-in-ten Republican veterans approve of Trump as commander in chief. 2019. Pew. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2019/07/10/trump-draws-stronger-support-from-veterans-than-from-the-public-on-leadership-of-u-s-military/
That number is down, but bot much.
Active duty are more Democratic.
That was a poll from 2019. So much has happened since then. Is there anything more recent? My search didn't turn up anything newer than 2020. I can't believe that many veterans are that clueless. I hope not.
I've been working in a Dem vets group. We need to turn the vets organizations -- the American Legion, VFW, DAV, Am Vets. Need to campaign at VA.
Just to give you an idea, several VA counselors who are 100% disabled, probably PTSD themselves, are MAGA campaign workers. Probably violate the Hatch Act. Lots of MAGA money spread around to vets.
And they probably have Fox playing on all the TVs in the VA and VA hospitals. When trump was in office, I read they had it playing in all the mess halls.
I don't think that would be a good idea. Since the groups you mention are no doubt tax exempt 501c3 organizations, they must not be turned into partisan political action groups -- or, they could lose their tax exempt status.
Hitler organized his far right groups from disgruntled WWI veterans; A similar movement, I think after WW I depression era America with Army vets. I am just wondering about how we may be facing a similar time.
A guy I served with back in the '70's recently tried to reconnect. I looked at his Facebook page, and wanted to cry. We were best friends, did everything together, but his posts were all about trump and MAGA. Not sure I'll ever get over seeing that.
I will be visiting a cousin I haven't seen since 1956. He lives in Missouri.
Terry, - I don't mean to be offensive; I understsand your concern and share it. But I do think Democrat-leaning voters have been so busy formulating invectives against Trump to notice how popular Trump really is - and how desperately necessary it is for the Democratic Party to make an immediate and radical turn from incremental economic improvements - hardly noticed by the groups you need to reach - to an announcement of a New Deal-style policy that specifically target the voters who are hurting, financially and psychologically: the unemployed, the under-employed, the under-paid, the zero-hours contract workers, and those who are simply fed up with a corrupt election system.
Me,too,Terry
And don't forget the police, many of whom openly support and socialize with militia groups like the "Proud" Boys. A few years ago this group was especially active in Salem, Oregon and several local police were seen drinking beer with them and in a few other instances when they in close proximity (usually they simply observed their antics from afar), exchanging symbolic hand gestures. It is very important for us to realize that the police are not on our side.
Thank you Daniel, I suggest you should have stated your original comment with this clarification.
Vets supporting Trump should have their veteran status revoked and be arrested for being traitors to the Constitution they once swore to defend.
Roger, they have legitimate grievances.
Active duty are more democratic in general or with respect to the above figure?
I HOPE that last sentence is CORRECT, Daniel!!
For all of our sakes. ;)
But that statistic is for only Republican vets, so your post wass misleading. What is the statistic for Democratic vets? I assume the reverse.
Do you have any stats for the percentage of vets that are Republican and the percentage that are Democrats.
I just looked this up. It seems that it’s impossible to get official statistics, but military people on Quora have said that while members of the military tend to be conservative, pro-Trump feeling has decreased significantly because of diversity and because of the things he’s said and done. There are official demographics about active duty and veteran members but there’s nothing about political affiliation in them.
Considering we have been in so many wars I bet the number of vets is pretty high. A relative of mine who was in the Air Force for his career is a Trump fan as a vet. I can't get to him. Trump called the military losers. Selective listening?
100% of my father and his friends- Korean War vets, and their wives. 100% of the Vietnam vets I know. 50% of Afghanistan vets… it’s a mystery how they love their abuser- they’re all better men than Trump (I’ve told them to their faces. No longer on my feeds- I want to try to hold onto the shred of respect I have for them for the sake of my friendship with their spouses. I don’t bring up politics with them- but they keep me at an arm’s length for sure.)
Sounds like a giant case of Stockholm Syndrome where the “captured” start identifying with their abuser.
Peer pressure.
I wonder that the kind of wars we are now fighting are leaving folk faithless. The injuries are often invisible and psych in the US has been degraded to homelessness.
As their SCUMp SHITler is whipping the crap out of them; "THANK YOU SIR, MAY I HAVE ANOTHER?!"
Nationalism is a powerful, irrational force. Vietnam war protesters discredited themselves by burning and dishonoring the US flag. We may be living with some lingering consequences of this foolishness.
Not all get VA disability Those who do need to know about the Catfood commission.
All should know he stole from disabled vets, Called us losers and suckers.
"Trump hates dogs" is effective.
I was totally against the war, but I still did not even burn my draft card (STILL have it, in fact), let alone the flag of our nation. ;)
Please someone explain how 80% of veterans can support someone whio has made comments that TFD has said. The threat that RR has presented is real and the parallels to Nazi Germany are such that every and anyone who is interested in preserving our Democracy should figure out what more we can do to assure that TFG does not gain any more power. He should be imprisoned for a long long time held incommunicado. We are sick of the coverage of his stupid comments. His supporters need to be called out for what they are and what they are doing. Law enforcement needs to track down those who are threatening officials and lock them up.
Veterans as a group are not only more isolated than most, they are generally quite rigid in their thinking and unlikely to change.
I agree, it’s not visible as far as I am concerned
Which demonstrates that their true perceived needs are economic.
NO IT DOESN'T.
Recently spotted bumper sticker in my town:
"It is the duty of a patriot to protect its citizens from its government."
COMPLETE misunderstanding of government "... by and for the people!"
But, governments are not always "by and for the people"! Right? Focus on how recently the government handled the Covid response, forcing many of us to get the Covid "vaccines" in order to travel or keep our jobs. If you have been following the Davos meeting, you would think that we could use some protection against a repeat of the Covid debacle where we are all forced to take an untested and experimental vaccine in the next pandemic.
Paul, I am confused. Do you not think it is the governments responsibility to require vaccinations in order to keep people as safe as possible? Do you think typhoid Mary should have been allowed to continue to spread disease? Would you like to see our children in iron lungs, crippled, or dead from polio? Are you opposed to school vaccination requirements so people can be safe? Was it such a horrible thing that the government required you to get a covid vaccine so you and your coworkers could be protected from a deadly disease?. We still haven’t seen the deaths and disability that long covid will bring. Dis you know that being vaccinated can help prevent long covid for many?
https://erictopol.substack.com/p/lighting-up-long-covid?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=587835&post_id=140823975&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=f14pb&utm_medium=email
As a nurse, I have seen too many deaths of patients and coworkers because people balked at masking, social distancing , amd vaccines. New Zealand had one of the best outcomes because they embraced public health practices like the ones mentioned that have been proven to work. I hope you will educate yourself on the real dangers of covid and realize that masking and getting a vaccine are because this government does care. Trump’s ignorance and policies caused a 40% increase in deaths. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/10/us-coronavirus-response-donald-trump-health-policy. Please care about the health of of your fellow living beings, and if you can’t then please care about your own health. and stop pushing misinformation.
Paul, this just in, many who believed the lies about measles causing autism have not vaccinated their children against measles. Now we are seeing the death and disability from measles rise. People who do not understand these diseases and how vaccines work should not be spreading misinformation, It costs lives, and suffering and guilt for the families left behind.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/1/20/2218390/-Vaccine-denial-Measles-is-back-hospitalizations-encephalitis-and-deaths-expected-to-rise?detail=emaildkre&pm_source=DKRE&pm_medium=email
Would you be so mistrusting of the advice from your plumber, electrician, or barber? Then why are you so doubtful of the real public health experts? Trump gave credence to a doctor that believed in demon sperm and hydroxychloroquine .
https://www.thedailybeast.com/stella-immanuel-trumps-new-covid-doctor-believes-in-alien-dna-demon-sperm-and-hydroxychloroquine
Hydroxychloroquine , a medication that treats malaria which is a parasite not a virus, as you remember was not only pushed by Trump and DeSantis, but they spent taxpayer money stockpiling it. a new study estimates 17000 deaths caused by improper use of this drug.
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4389800-hydroxychloroquine-deaths-study/. Please get your information from reliable credible sources, not politicians who do not have your best interests at heart.
Paul, the vaccines were tested and have proven to be highly effective, and with minimal side effects. So why do you spread lies? Is it to cover up the fact that Trump's incompetence caused the needless deaths of thousands?
From what I have read it is misleading to say the Covid vaccines were untested and experimental. The mRNA vaccines had been in development since the 1970's, making the time required to develop one specifically for Covid much shorter than the time required for traditional vaccines.
The gov't forced vaccination to save lives, including those of self-centered idiots.
BS. If not for many Americans getting their COVID vaccines many of us would still be sick and dying in tents and warehouses. They had done a lot of research for years since COVID mutated from a previous virus. Also the technology for a non-live virus shot made it safer. NIH and other researches in the world have spent many years on viruses before it was COVID19.
I would agree with that sticker if it implied/stated from a; despotic, fascist, totalitarian, SHITlerian REGIME 'government'. ;) :)
I said "perceived."
STILL WRONG. 1. Hate. 2. Collective racial subconscious. 3. Peer pressure.
Not at all Michael. The corporate media and it's wags, even the DNC keeps trying to convince us (and themselves) that it is all about the economy, when in fact out of Trumps own mouth it is the culture war. Race, religion, women, LGBT, that is his whole gig and we are being told over and again it is about the economy.
Bull shit.
And in doing so, they are literally SHITTING on the graves of all of those true patriots in Arlington National Cemetery (and elsewhere), especially the ones who died fighting the VERY SAME FASCISM which they are now demanding we ALL be put under the bootheels of, in the form of their putrid orange fuehrer's scummy, EVIL, regime!!
Only 57% of all veterans supported him. According to the PEW poll.
Even if that's true, it's still over 50%.
I have to believe there are veterans who decline to publicly comment on their lack of support. They have been trained to assess threats and act accordingly.
My family member a career vet likes Trump but still got his COVID shots. Trump got his.
Speaking as a vet, a retired officer. We aren't trained to assess threats, We are trained to react. By the time we assess anything it is too late, we are dead.
Read the whole article.
Only Steve? Only? 57% is a majority.
%
ONLY!
Language is easy to distort to make polls say whatever you want.
Yes. Trump’s words come from a man who dodged the draft five times, with alleged bone spurs in his foot. I was 4F because of polio. But a good friend of mine, who did two tours in Vietnam as a waist gunner in helicopter evacuation saw it all and has no time for such bullshit. And let us not forget, when Trump stole all those classified documents and then failed to securely store them, he not only put this nations national security at risk, but he also put the lives of every man and woman who wears the uniform at great risk. That is what EVERYONE needs to be reminded of.
He not only stored them improperly but also showed them to foreign nationals.
He probably sold copies, too.
Many people don’t understand what it means that Trump has no ideology. I too often forget that there are many for whom English is a second language. His closest friends say thatTrump has no personal philosophy nor guiding principles, other than self enrichment. Trump would betray this country in a heartbeat if he stood to make money.
Trump screwed over so many American banks that they were no longer willing to do business him. No biggie! His good buddy Putin introduced Trump introduced him to Deutsche Bank. That would be fine if Deutsche Bank did not launder money for Russian gangsters and oligarchs.
Ironically, in the days of yore, Trump’s progeny boasted in public that they had “all the money they needed from the Russians.” I will never understand why Trump has suffered no consequences considering the amount of Russian influence in the 2016 election.
Well said, Sue. I wholeheartedly agree.
THANK YOU!!
John, - 'Dodging' the draft was seen as honourable during the Vietnam War. If I had been an American at conscription age, I would have been a 'draft dodger', too. Who in their right mind would fight for governments that are committed to 'eternal warfare' - the sort that George Orwell describes in "1984"?
As for the stolen documents, how many recent U.S. Presidents have 'borrowed' classified documents in order to furnish their private libraries? Who knows?
Yeah Gunnar, but Trump also said soldiers, and John McCain specifically, were suckers & losers. That’s just one of hundreds of unacceptable statements
Trump has made.
"last October, 41 percent of pro-Trump Americans agreed with the statement that “because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.” (That view was shared by 22 percent of independents and 13 percent of Democrats.)
This is a shocking statement— not even all Democrats support democracy!
Those 13% of Democrats are patriots - like us - who don’t want the MAGAs to win and ruin our country. It isn’t only Republicans who own guns or serve in the military.
Will you go quietly into the MAGA night?
I personally think we have to do whatever we can to convince, to encourage voting, to act in accordance with the law etc. And am considering leaving the country. Others are “stay and fight” types. The fact remains that this will be a perilous year.
I hope you are aware that Biden recently said "Political violence is never, ever acceptable in the United States’ political system, never, never, never."
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/marking-jan-6-anniversary-biden-warns-political-violence-poses-grave-threat-to-democracy
Once you once you espouse violence, you have kicked democracy in the face. MLK knew that violence would not get him to his goal.
What is my ultimate weapon to save democracy? A million people camp nonviolently on the mall until Congress condemns whatever **** trump is trying to pull. I will be there.
A million people engaged in civil disobedience will be mowed down by several hundred fascists armed with AR15s.
I spent half of my life as a resident of Washington DC.
We wouldn't be sitting ducks on the mall. There would be three forces protecting us, the Park police, the DC police, and the DC National Guard. I have no doubt they would set up a perimeter around the Million Democracy Demonstration, and make sure no one was carrying metal into the crowd.
DC police forces are very progressive— when Trump wanted to brutalize the BLM demonstration in Lafayette Square, he had to bring in a collection of thugs who were not from DC.
If you use violence to defend democracy, you are not defending democracy.
I was at the Women’s March in January 2017. The cops were awesome. Helpful. Kind. Totally professional. DC is actually extremely liberal. All the hotels, all the restaurants, bars, and private homes with signs of support in they’d windows or their front lawns were enthusiastically supportive of us being there and protesting that POS. Too bad it didn’t do a damn thing but it was interesting to see in person just how liberal DC truly us. No wonder the scumbag Republicans don’t want it to be a state. It is bright BLUE.
Pacifism is great and honorable, but it is not for EVERYONE.
Once you are a DEAD martyr for the cause, from/by the trigger finger of the hand of the MAGAt NAZIS, you can no longer fight for said democracy, although yes, you can (and hopefully will) inspire many others to keep fighting the great fight.
IF it gets to the point of them trying to march us into their death camps, I will NOT go passively, and I most certainly WILL use 'violence' to stop them (again, I am NOT a pacifist!).
It may ultimately be futile, and I will wind up in a mass grave anyway, but at least I will have taken out some of them, which is that many less of them for the other surviving freedom and democracy lovers to fight. ;)
Some civil rights nonviolent protesters were killed, but most were not, and the country was changed. If you don't like Biden, how about Jesus: “Anyone who takes the sword will die by the sword.” Matthew 26:52
Biden and Jesus are wise men. Anyone who thinks violence works in the long run or even the short run is not a wise person.
Kathleen, they are saying that we need to be able to defend ourselves if attacked. That may necessitate violence. We can't always be lambs. That's how our country was created, by fighting.
Do you know that before the American Revolution there were several wars fought between colonies over land boundaries? The important moments in American history came when we traded in violence for democratic methods of problem solving.
Those wars included Maryland versus Virginia, Connecticut versus Pennsylvania, and New York versus Vermont. There was almost a war between Pennsylvania and Virginia.
And we wouldn't be sitting ducks on the mall. There would be three forces protecting us, the Park police, the DC police, and the DC National Guard. I have no doubt they would set up a perimeter around the Million Democracy Demonstration, and make sure no one was carrying metal into the crowd.
DC police forces are very progressive— when Trump wanted to brutalize the BLM demonstration in Lafayette Square, he had to bring in a collection of thugs who were not from DC.
I considered the Revolution a pretty important moment and that was certainly violent. I doubt any police force is progressive. They may be ordered to protect. If trump became president, he'd use the military against us and the police would fall in line. Read the history of Germany.
Kathleen Weber: You really have a lot of faith. I no longer trust that the police anywhere will protect me, or the military protect me for that matter. The last time I called 911 for help, I was asked if I knew the name of the person threatening me; I did not; therefore, the police did nothing. Just where were these wonderful police when the Capital was attacked? People including me are scared and for good reason. I grew up with people who escaped Europe; I heard their stories. Every time Trump and his soldiers say something, I think of these people and what they went through, and I think about buying a gun and becoming very good at using it.
I am a retired officer, and I tell you emphatically Kathleen, that the military and that includes para military like cops, follow orders, without question., and that is in their oath of enlistment.
As Lord Tennyson wrote in the Charge of the Light Brigade "Our is not to question why, ours is to do or die"
Violence in self defense is survival.
FYI, MLK's non violence achieved nothing, but what did was the violent reaction ot his assassination.
Mahatma Ghandi's non violence did not drive the Brits out of India, it was the "ghosts" of Subhas Chandra Bose and the Indian National Army.
This is where you google.
Change did not come to LA, until after the Rodney King and Watts Riots.
The establishment, the powers that be, encourage and sanction non violence, like the Occupy movement, because it is a pressure relief valve, what they fear is the demonstrations getting out of hand, because then it destroys property, money but only then does change take place.
What has the Million Women March achieved? The Occupy Wall Street movement? The Occupy Movement? The BLM marches?
The turning point in the civil rights movement came with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. MLK died in 1968, So get your facts straight.
I am not claiming that every demonstration is effective. The demonstrations you name were Isolated events that I knew would be ineffective Because they were isolated.
MLK and SNCC continued a series of demonstrations beginning with the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 through the March on Washington in 1963. These were strong organizations of committed people and they just didn't quit.
I think if Trump gets outrageous in a second term, there can be a similar disciplined nonviolent response. I am not planning to go to the mall for a day—I am planning to go there for 6 months.
The Civil rights act and the Voting rights act were legislative initiatives. Legislation without enforcement means nothing.
I know the history , I am 85 and lived through it.
Kathleen
Those laws did nothing, and have done nothing to affect policing.
Cops still see the badge as a hunting license for two legged game, especially if it is black.
The Watts riot forced changes, albeit minor in the LA Law enforcement.
The MLK riots aka Holy Week Uprising led to passage of the Civil rights Act of 1968 and the Fair Housing Act.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_assassination_riots#:~:text=The%20King%20assassination%20riots%2C%20also,%2C%20Chicago%2C%20and%20Kansas%20City.
Who is it, precisely, that needs to get it's facts straight?
MLK was assassinated Apr 4, 1968
Followed by Riots throughout the nation
The riots quickly revived the bill.[37][38][26][39] On April 5, Johnson wrote a letter to the United States House of Representatives urging passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which included the Fair Housing Act.[30] The Rules Committee, "jolted by the repeated civil disturbances virtually outside its door," finally ended its hearings on April 8.[40] With newly urgent attention from White House legislative director Joseph Califano and Speaker of the House John McCormack, the bill—which was previously stalled that year—passed the House by a wide margin on April 10.[24]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_assassination_riots
Hypothetically, what would you anticipate a future President Trump would do to "ruin the country"? I can't think of anything, but I can cite some things the Biden Administration has done that are pretty bad: 1 - sent to prison hundreds of 6 January attendees who committed no violent acts - think Jacob Chansley sent away for almost 4 years; 2 - open borders admitting millions of illegals to flood our social safety nets; 3 - implemented in our military "diversity, equity and inclusion" while ditching the merit system; 4 - utilized the FBI and DOJ (and the intelligence agencies) for political purposes against political foes; 5 - pushed electric vehicles (and the rest of the Green agenda) on the American public which doesn't really want them; 6 - stopped energy projects such as the Keystone Pipeline and federal drilling leases; 7 - started 2 proxy wars (Ukraine and Gaza) and appears to have begun another in Yemen, all without Congressional approval -- I could go on, but I think I have cited enough things to demonstrate that President Biden has not been good for the country in many respects.
Maybe you should learn some facts. Jacob Chansley pleaded guilty and he's got early release. He is no longer in prison. The republicans refuse to give Biden the funds he needs to administer the border. They don't want that issue resolved. The merit system has not been ditched. It's just changed to give equal opportuinity to everyone, not just white males. There's no proof the FBI and DOJ have been used politically. Stop watching Fox. I guess you don't believe in climate change. There ae good reasons for stopping Keystone but we still produce more oil than any other nation. Biden didn't start the wars. Putin started a war and Hamas with the help of Netanyahu started the other. All your points are easliy debunked if you believe in reality.
So chansley was not sentenced to almost 4 years? He should not have been charged with anything, based upon the video I have seen. Face it, hundreds of people are in prison who did nothing violent on 6 January.
He pled guilty. He knew he committed crimes. You just haven't accepted it because fox tells you differently.
Give yourself a chance and listen to diffirent contrary news sources. If after a while you don't find them credible, okay. But you;re not being fair to yourself. And yes i do listen to rightwing sources.
Be gone troll.
Warning to all:
Don't waster your time with right wing or Putinesque trolls. Facts are irrelevant there purpose is to disrupt and confuse the simple minded.
All of your statements are false - stop going on the truth social page - your mind is melted
troll!
A POOtie troll at that! That fascist POS and his scummy FSB troll farms are starting EARLY this go-round. ;)
From whence to you post Paul, St Peterburg troll farm or Moscow.?
That's a really constructive remark, Lee. Bj
Thank you. I thought so as well.
They were all informed by their 'dear leader' Vlad The DESPOT that IF they did not inflict enough disinformation, and discord in order to result in his pal orange SHITler winning this election, and thereafter becoming a 'mini-POOtin' who will obliterate NATO, and hand him Ukraine on a gaudy gold SCUMp platter, that they will die, horribly and painfully.
Maybe that is why all of these effing FSB trolls are all soooo 'motivated'?!?
Paul, OK, I’ll give you your opinion. No President is perfect even if I don’t see the facts that back up your opinion. Now I am asking you to tell me anything that you think Trump did that was bad for the country?
OK - I wish President Trump had shut down Dr. Anthony Fauci who led the push for the long-term lock downs, forced vaccinations - which led to business bankruptcies, missed medical treatments, suicides, etc. The pandemic was terribly hard on the country, but it need not have been so hard had President Trump resisted following Fauci's advice. Ron DeSantis did a better job of resisting Dr. Fauci.
@Paul Bjarnason, It has been reported that Trump regularly shits his pants. Are you standing behind a pants shitter?
I hadn’t seen those reports. If true, I guess so.
Hope for the best prepare for the worst and never give an inch. When facism is spreeding globally there isn't anywhere to run it has to be faced down where it exists. But it can be done peacefully if Ghandi beat the British empire peacefully than we can beat some idiots that cosplay Nazi.
It is a shocking statement, but look at the underlying assumption of the question: things have gotten so far off track. Such questions prompt respondents to answer without fully considering the implications of their acceptance of the premise. We have seen violence and grave threats of violence connected to TFT (the former tyrant) speech and calls for fighting. Think of those caught and convicted in Michigan who plotted to assassinate Gov. Whitmer. Sadly, the very question reinforces the idea that violence is an option.
They may be far left Democrats like some were in the sixties.
Even some Democrats drank the Koolaid!
Or is the violence they (13%) propose in self defense of the murderous GOP group? I can't image them wanting to tear the country apart for the demigod. Dr. Reich's message strikes fear in my heart. What would our new Brown Shirt's world look like? The ones that don't die in the process will be so sad and apologetic. Sad and scary.
What Kool aid would that be Margaret?
Kathleen, - Well, to what extent is the U.S. a one-man-one-vote democracy when Big Business gets to finance the two big parties' electioneering?
That's one of those giant questions that would take a lifetime of historical research to answer fully. We are in the process of finding out whether the United States will succeed as a democracy.
I haven't met any.
Thank you! Beyond Utopia is a terrible reminder of what Dictstors do to regular Citizens. This was heartwrenching to watch.
I said to my wife, “I can’t believe that the human race allows other humans to be treated like animals. It’s a shame!
It’s his personal opinion, which my family beginning in the war of 1812 has fought to protect for every red blooded American to have in every American major engagement. My 5x great grandfather is Captain Louis Durant. We have lost family in many of these engagements. I am not saying that you have to like or even listen to others opinions but it is their right as Americans to be able to form and even express their opinion, just as it is yours. Look at how Russia and other eastern countries have dealt with those who have a different opinion than that of their governments.
If you enlist to defend your country -- that's your patriotic duty. If you join violent groups like the KKK, Proud Boys, 3%ers, ets, you do so AT YOUR PERIL.
Putin supported Trump in 2016, 2020 and now.
They say you need to cut off the head of the snake. Who is the head of this snake? Does it have multiple heads?
Yes, this deadly Hydra does have too many heads to attempt its destruction. Trying to do so would become a global game of Whack-a-Mole.
IMHO if Trump and the Fascists are seen as clowns!
#trump stinks
Donald Trump has syphilis? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAqqhmtW42k
In what way have the Proud Boys been violent? And what has the KKK done violently in the last 20 years? Nothing. You have no doubt heard of Antifa and BLM, who have hurt a lot of people in their riots. You do know that everyone who died on 6 January were demonstrators, like Ashley Babbit.
Stop watching fox.
@ Bijarnasson https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/proud-boys-0
KKKers pop up . E.G. https://www.ushmm.org/information/press/press-releases/museum-statement-on-kansas-city-shootings
You drink their Kool Aid.
He IS the Kool Aid!
Oh how I wish that one of (their fantasy!) 'Soros globalist funded Jewish space lasers' would focus it's beam on that effing FSB troll farm in good ol' St. Petes already, and TOTALLY take it out, permanently!
If you're going to insult me, we will not be having a conversation. I read the piece you sent and only saw reference to Proud Boy violence on 6 January, which hardly can be said to be representative of normal operations of the group, unlike Antifa and BLM or, years ago, the KKK. As you know, the cops were firing rubber bullets and tear gas into a peaceful crowd, which I'll bet really pissed people off. The sentences meted out, for the most part, have been ridiculous and way out of proportion to what happened. The piece you cited said 6 January was an "insurrection", which isn't true -- the FBI found no evidence of an insurrection, per se. Instead, it was a riot.
I live in Miami. Lots of Proud Boy interference, threats. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_activities_involving_the_Proud_Boys
https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/florida-proud-boy-sentenced-felony-charges-assaulting-police-officers-during-jan-6
Many of the serial killers have had kkk connections, including the guy who killed 11 Jews in Pittsburgh, the Buffalo shooter and others. Groups like the Bugaloo Boys have been convicted, also. .https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/06/17/trump-warns-leftist-violence-dangerous-threat-emerges-right-wing-boogaloo-movement/
It is a fact that many of those incidents you've been talking about were incited by right wing organizations, including in Minneapolis and Portland. https://abcnews.go.com/US/man-helped-ignite-george-floyd-riots-identified-white/story?id=72051536
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wing-protesters-clash-anti-fascists-portland-march-violent/story?id=64043549
In case you missed it, approximately 600 admitted, plead guilty or were convicted of insurrection. https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/capitol-breach-cases
I think you've been brainwashed.
Paul, in what ways have Proud boys been violent? Their very core beliefs and practices are violent. please read this article and then google others and then see if you still can ask that question, https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/all-american-extremism-guide-1361035/
Linda - a "belief" and a "practice" is not a violent act or acts. Acts may be violent, of course. I read the Rolling Stone piece you referred me to and I did not find any references in it to instances of violent acts perpetrated by the Proud Boys -- or the Oath Keepers for that matter, except a reference to on incident where a woman was killed in Charlottsville. But, then there's Ashley Babbitt, shot and killed on 6 January by the cops, while unarmed. Yes, Proud Boys were at the Capitol on 6 January, and some have gone to prison, mainly for non-violent entering of the Capitol building, like hundreds of other Americans -- the charge they have been convicted of is something like "obstructing a federal proceeding". Imagine that -- getting sent to prison for wandering around the Capitol building, after being invited in by the Capitol Police?! This is now going before the SCOTUS and hopefully the SCOTUS will bring some justice to how these cases have been handled. I think the DOJ has way over-reacted to 6 January. If you want to talk about fascism, this is an example.
One can be correct in one comment/ thought process and dead wrong in another, eh Paul!? Virginia killing of gal was KKK, white supremacy group. Proud Boys initiated and fueled a US insurrection in the US transfer of legitimate power, led by a fascist. The ways Black & brown folk have been harmed by US policing with its underlying white supremacy bias are ubiquitous. Bannon et.al. yell ', BLM',antifa', to distract. The news reporters of most major US newspapers understood the real issues but refused to honestly report. They are owned by Richy Rich who love the distraction and chaos from the issues of 1% agin the rest of us.
Please clarify what opinion and whose expression is protected. I assume death threats aren’t an “opinion” that is protected, right? Swatting isn’t an opinion. Is encouraging violence by others protected speech? I doubt you meant threats and incitement are what your family fought for. What did you mean?
I meant if Trump says negative things about the military they are protected. It would be like you saying that you don’t like your governor etc. that is protected. You don’t have to like things or think that you have a stellar official etc. As long as it’s just words and not meant to incite violence, as defined by the US Supreme courts case rulings, you are free to think, or say whatever you or any other American chooses to. I or anyone else also has the right to choose not to agree or even listen to what you think or say.
This view destroys human community. You have succeeded in your aim. Trash us so you can threaten, bully, intimidate, and kill at will, like Trumpty brags. The US is now in your image. Your views have trashed my country. That is not freedom. Your 'freedom' ends at my nose and ALL freedoms are accompanied by RESPONSIBILITY! Ever hear of that? We are sickened by your incessant bullying and will stand no more or this distortion!
Durant's descendants fought for the Confederacy.
Yes by that current government who my family had fought for, bleed for, and some of my family had died for. That government or their predecessors. That government that was slowly taking all my family’s possessions and lands. That government that was making my family’s daily life harder and harder in many aspects of their lives. That forced my family to walk and go by wagon on the trail of tears the year that the Mississippi River froze. Estimates that I have seen put the number of Choctaws who died on the Trail of Tears around 30%. You mean that government. I guess the saying must have meant a lot back then, which states: The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
That was a great post, Keith. I am going to watch that program myself. I have about watched all of those Hitler documentaries many times over.
https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/beyond-utopia/
Thank you Steve
Every American should watch that true story
A Personal Coward and Lier are best depictions of Trumpet 🎺 rapist Tratior and Would Be REX trumpet 🎺 ( King trumpet 🎺)
George Washington and the Founding Father Were Fearful of Such Individuals with Royal ambitions...
Will the Masons Save Our Democracy???
Will we save our Democracy from becoming a REX disaster???
Remember : Dread Scott...
Part of the anger in this country is because the Democrats have moved away from representing the needs of large numbers of Americans - yes, jobs, wages are up and health costs and fuel costs are down. But not enough AND not for long enough. We need to elect Democrats, but we need Democrats to loudly and seriously commit to helping more Americans live with dignity and pride.
Democrats need a larger majority to get their entire platform implemented.
That they've accomplished as much as they have without a full majority is a credit to their ability to work well with Republicans and Indepndents
@Mary K. I believe you are exactly right!
@ Benjamin. IMHO 90% of MAGATS vote contrary to their economic and physical health. Republicans would cut benefits.
And then, they will blame their cost-cutting on "the mess left by the Demoncrats" even though the Dems are doing their utmost (keeping in mind that they are greatly hampered by the arseh*le "Fweedumb" caucus) to clean the Augean stable created and left by the Repubbies to begin with.
90 % of MAGA are ill informed due to truth social and/or uneducated
@Daniel and TL. John Trumbull expresses why. It’s understandable even though I think a protest vote is wrong and Trump would cut benefits.
tRump would do a lot more than cut benefits. He wants to build concentration camps for migrants. Not unlikely that he would have them for anyone with whom he disagrees. Look at Kim Jong Un. his 'beloved'; Prisoners R us!
@Laurie. I have written at length about fools who vote for Trump thinking that he will come after other people but somehow will not come after them. Any Hispanic who votes for Trump should understand that when his Brown Shirts are raiding businesses for "illegals" they will make many many "mistakes" and throw many legal immigrants with brown skin into the same concentration camps. Blacks should understand that when the men in the white hoods visit their church they will string up Republicans along with Democrats, if they have black skin. Jews should understand that that when the really radical loonies are fully enabled, they will go after Jews because of their crazy "replacement theory." Folks, if you make that bed you will sleep in it too...
I don't think he's credible. He may need a social worker.
@Daniel. I’m sensitive to what you are saying. You are probably right. But that doesn’t explain why there are millions of them…
The MAGAtNAZIS are soooo effing programmed and brainwashed (what minuscule cerebral cortex they collectively possess to BE brainwashed that is!) into that cult-religion that they vote contrary to them even staying ALIVE at this point!
(i.e.; "I vill DIE for mein FUEHRER!!")
That's BECAUSE we have enabled a billionaire class to purchase influence
that actively erodes any support of a Common Good!
Yes! Citizens United was the worst Supreme Court decision in the last 30 years, until next month if they rule in Drumps favor.
I agree with you exactly!
Check this out. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/652d98fc798aeb069ceee397/t/65a6a186bb0b007ae861f7ec/1705419146513/2024+Report.pdf
I saw that and loved it. No we need politicians with the courage to actually tax them!
As has been stated often, we don't have a democracy. We have an auction.
David Sambora ; The Supreme Court , which has been taking bribes ; decided Citizen's United ; not the voters ; "we" did not enable them! the billionaire class got their 'foot in the door' using money as corruption, which has harmed the Common Good! Now they have more power than is good for our ability to have self rule in Democracy, if they don't follow the rule of law in our Constitution, which is a violation of Their oaths!
Couldn't agree more. The DNC cannot be absolved for its role in this mess. Biden might win in November, there again he might not. If he loses, future historians will look back with amazement that the only politician who could have swept to victory in 2016 and in 2020 - someone who would have dispensed with Trump, someone who would have drawn many of the now-MAGA supporters - was Sanders, who was twice sandbagged by the DNC.
Time for new leadership.
Get a little pragmatism into the mix here. THIS IS THE YEAR WE ARE WORKING WITH — we don’t have the luxury of allowing the Heritage Foundation’s plan for Project 2025 to take effect. We have to prevent a Republican win this time … AND, as the. R’s have done for the past fifty years, we need our own plan to make the Democratic Party — or any iteration we think will be better — work for us instead of oligarchs.
But you lose track of the current threat — the fascist-led Republican Party — and you lose the entire struggle for decades and maybe forever.
READ what they want to do, and see if you think we can recover from that!
[Hint: they plan to fire the very sort of people who prevented Donald from taking over the Congress on Jan. 6. There will be few in government on our side “next time,” if we let them win this year.]
I, too, want deep shifts, and altered priorities in the Democratic Party, but to hammer on the need for ‘new leadership,’ without a functional plan to defeat Republicans THIS YEAR, is defeatist. Keep a Democrat in the White House and don’t disappear after November. Let’s keep working for a better Democratic or Progressive party ..
I worry about harping on “needing change and new leadership” while our backs are to the wall. Do you have a plan for affecting change in the Democratic party without throwing this year’s election to the wolves, Michael? Who do you want to see in office in 2025? Realistically?
So, ... a majority of the GOP in congress, house & senate, have failed in living up to their oath of office? Letting fear rule!
What would have happened if they had just not voted? Could they have abstained? Or been absent? I guess the MAGAs would have come for them anyway.
So sad, but so true
Thanks Pat.
“Idealism without pragmatism is impotent. Pragmatism without idealism is meaningless. The key to effective leadership is pragmatic idealism.” - Richard M. Nixon Well Bing ai was trying its best for a quote.
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. The quotation is not wrong.
We need to start using “Enablement Act of 2025” to describe the Project 2025.
Destroy Democracy 2025.
Yes, just like the one used in 1933 Germany.
Gavin Newsom
You must know that's not realistic right ? Don't believe me. Ask around.
Michael, Agree with your sentiment on Bernie, but Pat OBrien’s statement is overriding at this time and place. As for Newsom, he doesn’t even have a full faithful among California Democrats (of which I am one). Some of his policies are good, some are misguided; at best he’s an opportunist. I will give him credit for the photo of his political idol, RFK (the father, not wacko jr.) that he hung in his office.
I agree. I’m a Californian too and I see him as a mixed bag. It’s too bad we don’t have someone who’s as visible as he is who would be a great candidate and president. Bernie and Elizabeth Warren are the only ones and they’re tio old.
Is Elizabeth as old as Bernie? I'd vote for her, too, but I'm afraid she has less "charisma" than Joe B. I hate that charisma is a factor. I personally think she would be great.
Gov Newsom is handsome, but that's about it.
These are the same people who either refused to vote and sat home, or they wasted their votes on vanity candidates.
These people thought they were burning the Democratic Party pay because they didn’t get their way. They also were very aware that abortion rights were hanging by a thread.
I heard multiple times they didn’t care about abortion. Bernie’s victimhood (and theirs) was far more important than women’s lives. (And democracy.) That is how they can so cavalierly throw out that “Biden may win. He may not.”
Remember that the people with the least the lose are white men.
You're talking about using diplomacy to form consensus - all bets are off if the bullets start flying.
Talking about finding the people who are NOT sold on Trump and are wishy-washy about Biden. Reaching them with rational thought, accomplishments, prognoses. Not trying to make nice with rabid conservatives, because they've been seriously inoculated against cooperation and compromise.
Your last sentence! This has been our undoing.
Over time, maybe this can be turned around, but at this point, considering opposing views and the possibility of compromise are all but completely abandoned among the Far Right.
Of course, we all must vote for Biden in November, however, if Haley is the nominee for the Republicans, I may vote for her. She might be a good president.
It's highly unlikely that Haley will be the nominee this time around, but please be aware that she is as dangerous as Trump, though much more polished and wise. Her intention is to totally implement Project 2025 (just look at who is supporting her). That alone should give us all pause.
Agree 100%. She is cunning and committed to the same policies as DT
She will NOT be a good president. You put a Republican in the White House, you get the Heritage Foundation in charge. And you get Project 2025. THEY are the ones who orchestrated with McConnell to skew the Supreme Court and so many lower courts while Donnie was in office. They have a plan for how to take over permanently, including our entire judiciary, if they get another chance.
Haley is a sheep in wolf’s clothing pretending not to side with the wolves … She sides with the wolves.
Haley lives in the Deep South. She is East Indian by heredity which means she is very comfortable with the Caste system, which fits well into Southern Confederacy and white supremacy. She is a grave danger.
Maybe you are right, but maybe she has the guts to defy the mobsters. I'll think about it.
Not hardly - she can’t even say “ slavery”
Really? She wants to make cuts in Social Security and Medicare.
You must be kidding. She supports most of the MAGA agenda. She's a political animal. She wants to cut social security and medicare. Please, check what she supports. It's the opposite of what's good for our country.
Nancy Haley? as Trump likes to call her - or is it Nikki Pelosey?
Soon it will be Hillary or Melania!
As a South Carolina resident, I must refute that. She is no better than the other flippers in our state, Graham, Mace, Scott.
Good to know. Thanks!
I can't tell if you're pulling my leg or not.
In what way would she “might be a good president”?
She isn't stupid. She wouldn't start WW3 which Biden may be doing by backing the Israeli war on Arabs. I don't agree with her rhetoric which is the GOP mantra, but I'm not sure that it is just to get elected.
She only sounds good to you because you’ve heard trump for so long that, in comparison, she sounds moderate. The right wing organizations will be a major influence on her.
She'd fully support Israel, as would trump.
You are so right. I am from Vermont and we were shocked at what the DNC did to Bernie
I am from Vermont, too. I’ve met Bernie. My dad is a retired journalist who knew Bernie and Patrick Leahy and Howard Dean on a first name basis. I’m all for Progressive ideals to rise higher in our country’s field of vision {though not EVERY Progressive idea — I’m not a knee-jerk supporter of ideology. I support specific policies based on my understanding of them.]
I think Bernie would have made a fine president.
That will NOT stop me from voting for Biden this year, to keep Republicans out of the White House.
BERNIE tells you the same thing. He even encouraged pepole to vote for Hillary. Get real and stop damaging the effort to hold back the barbarians. We don’t need a Trojan horse in the mix. We have a huge task in front of us without that.
Only two choices,
Democracy or Fascism.
PRECISELY!!
Exactly!!!!
I cringe every time Donald Trump and the Republicans are referred to as "fascists". If this keeps up we will have an assassination. So, I think you should stop it.
When something quacks and has webbed feet it might be a duck.
"The Republicans." Most of the intellectuals are anti-never-Trumpers.
But they are fascists and they are trying to terrorize the rest of the country. So they are also terrorists. They need to stop promoting violence and intimidation.
I cringe every time your putrid orange fuehrer says he wants to build concentration camps and fill them up, and his MAGAt NAZI, adoring, Nuremberg Rally type brown shirt crowds at his effing BUND meetings cheer and chant wildly for their evil scum SHITler, when he states such! ;)
Guess who else he wants to put into those death camps as well?
Paul, Trump may not be a fascist, but he certainly is a hate-monger. Fascists are those who want him to unify the country to fight against their imaginary conspiracies.
Victor - I would say there are a lot of non-imaginary conspiracies that I would like Mr. Trump to fix. I have already mentioned them, so I won't repeat, except to cite the DOJ and FBI, which need a lot of work. Bj
Yes, Bernie was the answer, but here we are. As I've said before, we need a dynamic leader to come forward who is young and can stand up to the machine in DC!
Would Bernie have been more successful than Biden in dealing with Manchisema and the intransigent Repug’s in Congress. I don’t believe so. Bernie has a large and devoted following, but once the Repugs start foaming at the mouth about Communism, Bernie is sunk.
There is also their (NOT so 'veiled' anymore!) blatant ANTI-SEMITISM, which when combined with the 'RADICAL socialist commie' label they would (and DO) pin on him, would have made him totally unelectable, despite how 'popular' he seemed to be with the working class 'on both sides', sadly (I like Bernie!).
The US structures are fouled.
Bernie couldn’t win a primary, but he was going to win the election? Someone needs to stop smoking the wacky tobacky. Look at Bernie’s record. He hasn’t passed a significant piece of legislation since he went to Congress. I know because supported him. UNTIL I saw his record of Congressional achievements. (Or lack thereof.)
Please don’t throw the conspiracy theories that Bernie’s triumph was stolen or that the primary was rigged. He lost. Get over it & move on.
Wishful thinking. Bernie had no chance on the national stage. And besides that, he’s old too.
And it was the sandbagging of Sanders that gave us Trump as he had support from the working class of both political parties.
Biden stated that he was "just a bridge to the next generation" but his ego got in the way, actually believing that he alone can beat Trump, even with his cratering poll numbers among Democrats who want someone else. Dean Phillips (congressman from Minnesota) stating the danger to democracy tried to get other Democrats such as Gretchen Whitmer to primary Biden but there were no takers. Seem they believe in coronations rather than choice. BTW, I recall when some were outraged when it was thought that Sanders was going to primary Obama. That puzzled me. Shouldn't there be other candidates fighting for the position, stating their vision for this country and making it a race deserving of the office? Really weird in a country that supposedly rejected the monarchy.
With no takers, Dean Phillips, congressman from Minnesota, although he admires Biden and supported him, has stepped into the race and this family will support him. Of course the MSM refuses to cover him and Biden refuses to debate him. If Trump wins, I will fully blame the DNC for not seeing the danger of running a man who appears ancient (not a knock on being ancient) and not as sharp as he once was which occurs naturally with aging. I should know. I'm 84 but I'm not running for arguably the most powerful political position in the world. I will also blame Biden for not doing what he said he would which was to make way for youth.
The DNC refuses to acknowledge the danger of allowing Biden to run with the threat of the death of democracy with Trump if he wins. His MAGA base is a cult of personality and nothing will convince them that Trump is not the return of Jesus. It is on the DNC to make sure that our candidate has the energy and fight to bring back apathetic voters and give us a fighting chance against him and his thugs.
The time for grooming a younger candidate has, I think, passed for this election. Actually, had the orange menace not persisted and our judicial system been swifter, I think Biden would have been mentoring his successor. I love Bernie, but think he actually is better working on his policies from the inside rather than in charge. Too many people see him as just too extreme.
He disagree that he needs grooming. He is a 3-term Minnesota congressman. Seeing the danger to democracy with Biden's low polls and the great chance of him losing to Trump, he attempted to get other well-known democrats such as Gretchen Whitmer to primary Biden but they all refused. And so he had the courage to take it on himself, as a last resort. I admire him and will continue to support him. It is telling that 70% of Democrats want someone other than Biden who abandoned his stated plan to be "just a bridge to the next generation". My opinion of Bernie differs in that he was never extreme. He spoke to the needs of the American worker who needs affordable health care, living wage, and so much more. Nothing extreme about this which every other industrialized country provides its people.
Along Dean Phillips, my concern is that there is no enthusiastic support for Biden and even with the threat of Trump, this lack of enthusiasm could lead to a nightmarish future with Trump once more in the White House.
Agreed regarding the DNC. I have always wondered who really runs the DNC, because it certainly is not driven by the common party members' votes. The Republican Party is much more democratic than the so-called Democratic Party. Most recently, RFK Jr. has had to run as an independent b/c the Democratic Party will not allow him to run in their primaries. At least they let Bernie Sanders run in their primaries, although it didn't do him any good.
I assume Democrats would need full control of the WH, House and Senate to be able to enact that agenda, right? Despite not having that, Biden has done pretty damn well with significant policy and funding for non-oligarchs. I’m angry about the shredding of the safety net, the increasing monopolization of corporations, the courts chipping away at government oversight. But it’s pretty clear who’s behind this - and it ain’t Democrats. Republican lies have created a false narrative and permission for aggression, bigotry and hate.
@Marge. I agree exactly!
Yep BLM is definitely Republican since they burned and terrorized cities across America. There are fringe elements on both sides of the aisle. Words that incite violence you say. How about when Democratic Senators called everyone that voted for Trump a traitor and said that our children should be in reeducation camps. Now I don’t care who others vote for, it’s their right to vote for whoever they want including Mickey Mouse if they want to write that on the ballot. My family has fought in every major US conflict since the war of 1812. My brother did three tours in the army in Iraq and Afghanistan and watched his best friend be blown apart by an Iranian mortar for this country. Yet Democrats call us traitors and threaten to take our children away. Who the H*ll do democrats think they are. Try to take my kids away Dems, I dare you too!! My door is there for your protection not mine!!!
Please cite your source for taking away Republicans’ children and sending them to reeducation camps. That sounds like a fabrication.
The ONE thing that will never persuade a trumpster is the fact/truth. I don’t understand it, but that they belong to a cult and deprogramming requires the assistance of mental health professionals.
I am not an historian; i am a very amateur (extremely amateur) historian. (Did i mention I have no credentials in history?) I had to do a history crash course before I started law school.
All sincere disclaimers aside...
I would love to know how the Allies managed to denazify Germany. Even still, there are die hard Holocaust deniers and Hitler supporters. (That trend is on the rise thanks to the rise of fascism and authoritarianism).
Once Trump is gone, we will face the true threat: his supporters. Trump is only a symptom. Racism, antisemitism and other forms of hate have hidden behind the First Amendment for too long.
When the country decided pedophiles do not have a right to possess child pornography, things changed substantially. It’s past time that we recognize a similar exception for hate speech, which should not be protected either. Europe had a front row seat on Mussolini and Hitler and they don’t ever want fascism again. Americans are like moths to a flame when it comes to thugs & authoritarian dictators.
Goebbels Nooz, OAN propaganda TOTAL BULLSHIT!
Too bad you know nothing about those topics.
Was this a reply to me?
IF so, then please 'educate' me with your vast (self-admitted) "extremely amateur" historical knowledge.
YES, all of the racism, white supremacy, ANTI-SEMITISM, misogyny, xenophobia, etc., etc. was present in this country long LONG before SCUMp, and will still be there long long AFTER he is gone (maybe even worse yet, since they all feel compelled to avenge/get retribution for their lost 'god-savior').
But along with the putrid orange despot giving them all 'right', and a loud screaming grating 'voice', those mentioned 'media outlets'<-LOFL! did help to promote and exacerbate all of the above, 1000 fold over if they did not exist. ;)
I’ve been voting Democratic for 55 years ever since I was first eligible to vote in 1969.
You had to be 21 to legally vote then.
I hear several Democratic voter groups are unhappy with President Biden. Young voters. Hispanic voters. Black voters.
I belong to the Black voter group.
At one time I felt Black voters were taken for granted by the Democratic Party.
We reflexively voted for Democrats even when we got little to nothing in return.
I flirted with the idea of voting Republican or for a third party but couldn’t find the right candidate.
The lesser of the two evils of being taken for granted was always Democrats.
As I’ve aged out of naivety I understand we never get everything we want when we vote for candidates making promises they know they can’t keep.
Politicians convince US they’re the proverbial one man show in city hall, the state legislature, Congress or the White House.
Our lack of civics education has led US to believe one person passes legislation; one man in the Oval Office controls the prices of food and gas.
Guess it’s too complicated, or too honest, to tell voters legislating and governing are group activities.
They require many people working to get things done. Politics is cooperation one oh one.
Trump’s believers think he can wave his magic MAGA wand and control the southern border, end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours, keep oil prices nice and low, inflation low and the economy zinging along without interruption.
MAGA-cle thinking it’s called.
Trump is a fraud. Trumpism is a fantasy.
The only reality about Trump is his ability to fuck shit up for all of US as he pursues his Vendetta Tour ‘24.
Democrats have a very stark choice.
We can bitch and complain about Biden not giving US all of what we want or need.
We can vote for a third party candidate, or stay home in November which will get US Trump and 4 years of terror and heartache.
Or we can vote knowing even a little from Biden- and remember he doesn’t make laws- is preferable to the heap of hell we’re going to get if Donald Trump is elected. He. Will. Be. The. Law.
@John Perry. I may sound trite, but I agree with you exactly. I wrote more at length about those who are among the MAGA-persecuted groups who will vote for Trump; they make that bed and they will sleep in it. When the white-hooded men show up at your church door they are not going to ask who you voted for. When the vigilantes start rounding up "illegals" they aren't going to check your papers before they throw you in the detention center. When the "purity" committees start persecuting Jews because of their "replacement" myth they are not going to discern which Jews voted for Trump. People are seriously naive, as you and I both were once upon a time, but we can't remain quiet and let people make those mistakes.
NOT just '4 years of terror and heartache', but for as long as he lives (and then his installed progeny live) terror, fascism, and yes, eventually even genocide.
The malcontent with Biden protest or no voters had better be really REALLY careful this time, for their lives may be not just exponentially worse off under SCUMp's dictatorial thumb, but even be OVER with his despotic rule.
One cannot protest for slaughtered Gaza Palestinians, relief of student debt, against rampant corporatism, and fossil fuel companies when one is six feet under ground, can they?!?
I have to save this. So well stated. “Politics is cooperation one o one.”
Benjamin R. Stockton ; Republicans have moved away from representing the needs of their constituents, too. Bribery is legal and money is speech. How else would it happen with these un -democratic laws?
And Democrats need to include people with less formal education under the umbrella of representation as equal citizens.
@Paul. Absolutely. Talking heads on TV, even the ones that presumably mean well, spend too much time building up divisions between people. Very good, hard working, honest people get a little offended when they are described on nightly news as less educated or less interested in politics. Democrats need to make stronger, clearer statement of inclusiveness!
Yeah, and we need the Republicans to stop blocking the Democrats from doing good work.
Citizens United affects them all at the trough of corporate re-election. It must be repealed. The Dems have had the power and don't use it for us.
Of course, help like that is called Socialism. If we can help people stop wasting their money buying stuff they can't really afford, then they might have a savings for emergencies. Trump isn't giving them anything, but he still gets their support. Weird.
@Gordon. We have had a balance since FDR between providing social safety nets for distresses people while maintaining the lowest tax rates among Western countries and providing a powerhouse of entrepreneurial advances, the best higher education, high quality infrastructure. Not that we can't do better, but just to point out It's not socialism buddy; it is well regulated capitalism as Adam Smith recommended. In fact, we have loosened up too much, as Dr. Reich points out, and we need to do a little better job of regulating monopolies, use of money in politics and climate damage.
Well, it is a sort of Bernie Sanders' Socialism - the collective working for the common good. And you are so right about how well it all worked on the past. Politicians didn't spend wastefully, and big corporations (A.T. &T., for example) paid a lot of taxes (big collection base), and social ethics, were better. Short term profit taking and oligarchy has (is) taking it's toll.
We are on agreement there!
Democrats don’t have a majority in house and you need 2/3 vote in senate to get out of discussion and vote on bills - that’s why nothing gets done.
@Susan. That's one reason we need to elect more Democrats - then the regular order of Congress can proceed and the country can be governed. A second reason to elect more Democrats to Congress is that just in case somehow that tangerine twatwaddle gets re-elected, a Democratic House can impeach and a Democratic Senate can convict.
I like the sound of that.
Absolutely
Thank you!
Benjamn R. Stockton, we need the Republicans to stop blocking the Democrats from doing good work.
It would be difficult not to draw a comparison between Trump's MAGA goon squad and Hitlers Brown shirts. Both represented deployable groups that did the bidding of a tyrannical ruler who had no business leading anything..
Someone--The brown shirts carried out the wishes of their Fuhrer. However, Hitler's inner circle was the core of the movement's true evil. Similarly, Trump sought the strength he was obviously missing in his fellow conspirators like Jones, Bannon, and Stone who are as despicable as they come. Birds of a feather, sort of like Hess, Himmler and Goring. They are little more than old cow pies in an abandoned pasture.
All Trump is missing is the "Night of the Long Knives," and if that fool gets elected back into the white house, believe me it's coming.
People do need to BELIEVE you, Donald. They have the idea we can come back from another Trump. We can’t.
Donnie only failed this last time because we had true constitutional champions in jobs all through the government. The R’s want a purge next time, and that will be the end of it….. Anyone who thinks “It can’t happen here…” — GET REAL!
Our country has been so politically stable for so very long it is simply beyond the experience and imagination of too many to believe it can happen here, or to have an appreciation of what it would mean to their lives. Complacency is another challenge.
So, so, SO true!
Pat--The only reason Trump didn't run the gambit with all the destructive forces at his deposal was his desire to be reelected. This desire softened his resolve at the time, but with that being said if he gets back in, there will be no stopping him, and yes "Bill" he won't ever leave while he still lives.
This is the reality people must absorb now!
Pat--We can hope.
All those phone calls and meetings with Putin where there were no notes or listeners... Putin’s been schooling Trump well. Now that Trump’s no longer President, does anyone listen in? How many government documents purchased his ongoing tutoring?
Marge--Putin knows Trump's ego is his weakness. The Russian bear plays into Trumps plans by not ridiculing him like all the other world leaders. He is leaving the door open.
His boyfriend POOtie needs his useful idiot 'ASSet' puppet SCUMp DESPERATELY, in order to violently 'appropriate' Ukraine, and get rid of NATO so that he can do whatever TF he pleases in Eastern Europe (and eventually WESTERN Europe, with Orban's and others' help!).
WHY do you think that Vlad The Shithead's FSB troll bots are so hot and heavy on here and other sites, trying like the effing devil to get the SHITler installed back into power, permanently/!?!
The 4th Reich is only an election a way.
Who is the head of his brown shirts/SA who will get it, just like Rohm did, perhaps Fuentes??
It appears you are trying to incite violence. Maybe you should, instead, just discuss issues, so that you don't encourage assassinations.
What are you referring to?
Paul--What would Jesus do?
Roger--How odd, I was under the impression that's where it came from.
Roger, please spare the pig!
Roger Stone can play Ernst Rohm.
Hopefully that evil criminal shithead will go the same way that ol' Ernst did. ;)
LOL
DeSantis--
Donald Hodgins <silencenotbad@gmail.com>
8:33 AM (0 minutes ago)
I just can't understand the logic DeSantis offers by endorsing Trump over Haley. However, if I think ahead to 2028 when DeSantis will again attempt to go after the White House, he will need the support of Trump's MAGA stooges. If he endorsed Haley, that group of languishing fools might not support him in his future run for the Presidency. So what does the fool do? He spits in the face of our country and sides with Trump, all for the idea of their future support. DeSantis is an idiot and he can't be trusted, well let's face it, none of the members of that party can be. So DeSantis supported Trump because he wants that group's support in 2028. The hell with the country seems to be his attitude. Suck up to Trump and his followers will vote for his way in the future. But what DeSantis isn't taking into consideration is Trump will most likely do away with elections altogether and just run with the idea of being our first "Dictator." If DeSantis would have endorsed Haley things might have turned out differently. His weakness is showing. He just committed political suside because he chose to support a man with absolutely no character all because he thought votes were more valuable than his own honor.
I admire your glass half full optimism in even believing that there will be an election in 2028, EVEN IF the orange SHITler, once he is installed into power by all of the evil scum of this land next year, DIES in office.
SCUMp will then just 'anoint' one of his (S)Hitler Jugend progeny to take over, a la his 'lover' Lil' Kimmie (oh wait, he assassinated his very own brother(?) to get into power, didn't he, oh well).
Yes- the real slime that is moving Trumps mouth are Stone, Bannon and Jones
As well as that KAPO POS, 'Goebbels' Miller!
Susasn--You understand the theme of that movie.
no. old cow pies in an abandoned pasture build soil. Little Donny Shitler and his sycophantic sociopath followers are merely sick human beings. They don’t build anything but their own delusions of grandeur.
Sally--The cow pies were a simple metaphor.
Sorry. I know. I like cow pies in an old pasture metaphor, but I think the soil biota would be offended by the comparison with Little Shitler and his ilk.
And I like Shitler!
Gorden--It does have a nice ring to it.
Don, don't insult cow pies! They don't stink and, when burned, the keep the mosquitoes away. Trump and his inner circle are festering abscess in our body politic--and they stink to high heaven!.
Victor--Cow pies are the fuel of the plains. well, buffalo chips perhaps.
Victor--For the overly brave, there are contest to see how far a crazy person can throw or sale one of these things.
Hope for the best prepare for the worst and never give an inch. When facism is spreeding globally there isn't anywhere to run it has to be faced down where it exists. But it can be done peacefully if Ghandi beat the British empire peacefully than we can beat some idiots that cosplay Nazi.
Colin--We need someone to invent an "AI" scrubber.
It appears you are trying to incite violence. Maybe you should, instead, just discuss issues, so that you don't encourage assassinations.
Paul--All the people stupid enough to commit any type of an assassination are all Trump supporters. I don't advocate any form of violence, but I do promote awareness.
I think your words could incite some people to violence -- and you are just one guy, but all the pundits on TV are saying the same things about Trump and MAGA Republicans. Was the guy who attempted to murder Steve Scalise a Trump supporter? I think you would better promote awareness by sticking to the issues.
Paul--The people for the most part don't understand the issues, and if you think my thoughts encourage violence, I understand your thinking surrounding Steve Scalise, and I'll raise you Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul; and all the other Republican fools that feel violence is their only way to be heard. Your views of what I say are in error.
Paul--I coached a baseball team for a decade, what I said to them in order to get my team mentally up for a game, at times pushed the envelope but none of what I had to say actually was said in an attempt to incite violence. It was more on the line of a motivational thing than anything else.
He cites the ONE solitary example of a liberal going after a rightwinger, when all of the FBI's, DoJ's, Anti-Defamation League's, and Southern Poverty Law Center's stats prove that it is violent threats from that extremist far rightwing which is the major domestic threat nowadays!
NOT his fantasy boogieman AntiFAAAHHHH (as his putrid orange fuehrer would say), or any other leftist/socialist source or group.
Next we will hear the Q'aNAZI conspiracy theory ANTI-SEMITIC BULLSHIT about 'The Rothschilds' and Soros' Jewish space lasers' from him as a 'violent threat'!
You're saying that Paul Pelosi was attacked by a MAGA Republican?! This says the attacker was a Canadian who is a Green Party supporter: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/28/paul-pelosi-nancy-pelosi-attack-david-depape I would say he was a nut. Anyway, I wish saying Donald Trump is the next Hitler would stop, but it's being repeated by the mainstream media all over the place. This could well lead some nut to try to assassinate Donald Trump, which I'm sure would make a lot of people happy.
Paul--His death is something we don't want but his absence from politics would be a dream. Nancy's husband might have been attacked by a Canadian, but Trump's violent narratives may have prompted the guy to act.
trump is the one inciting violence and you obviously support him.
Mr. Trump should have been arrested on January 7 after the whole world saw him on TV asking his followers for an insurrection. Unfortunately, it proved that our fragile judicial system needs reform. Trump should be in jail already, but now we have the significant possibility of his coming back, and the world order will change.
Really, on or about 6 January you heard President Trump ask for an insurrection. What did he say to that effect?
Oh come on. You darn well that Trump chooses words short of a direct threat of an insurrection. It’s the information available to the public that clearly indicates attempts on multiple fronts to subvert the election he lost. The words from his own people who worked in the justice department for one. They were there, you weren’t!
Did you read the article above?
There is one quote of many there.
Fight like hell, or you're not going to have a country, is one example.
Both and many more if you really look into it.
Lol
See: https://www.npr.org/2021/02/10/966396848/read-trumps-jan-6-speech-a-key-part-of-impeachment-trial
"We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore," Trump said.
He was angry that the metal detectors hadn’t been removed. He wanted the capital rioters armed to the teeth. He even commented that the rioters weren’t there to shoot HIM.
One does not need a crystal ball to read between the lines & understand Trump’s intent. As long as they weren’t there to shoot him, if others were shot it was fine by him.
How do you know these things? I follow Trump closely and what you say is news to me. And, I never heard of metal detectors being used on the Mall since there is open access. Detectors would only be used where access is controlled and it would be up to the Secret Service to handle security — and Trump would have no say. Right?
When everyone on the PLANET knows who is responsible, for these violent threats, and the cost of increased security, WHY isn't Trump charged? Is the law really that obtuse?
When thousands of people are making thousands of threats anonymously, how is law enforcement supposed to keep up?
It's kind of like the Klan wearing the hood—there's a lot of plausible deniability here.
Lots of perps have been identified. They need to put the cases together.
If they were a brown and black mob law enforcement wouldn’t have had any trouble keeping up. They were white bubbas carrying Trump signs and signs talking about Jesus. The fact that law enforcement for the most part agreed with them was very likely a factor! After all, there are photos of cops posing with the rioters taking selfies!!!
China used to have that problem.
China has always been a totalitarian country. The US has never been a totalitarian country. That makes me wonder if comparing the two is very productive.
That is true, but we would need surveillance to know what the Trump robots are doing, and how they are going to strike. China has 4x the people of the US, and they don't all agree. Keeping the peace is going to be difficult.
It seems most people are not aware that many members of Congress do not vote their conscience because of real and implied threats of violence to them and their families.
Think about that: congress members' votes are being changed by the threat of harm 5o themselves or their families.
How to remove this threat?
Vote Democrats into office as if your life depends on it!
People elect politicians to be responsible and to be fearless and to fight for what is right. If you fear to vote for what is right then you should not be a senator, a congressman or a Supreme Court Judge.
“how to remove the threats?”Track down and jail all threateners. That should be a DOJ and law enforcement priority.
Then the Democrat's will be threatened. Sad thing is that the NSA could track down these guys.
Trump needs to disappear. Take his phone, black bag him & let him live out his days in Gitmo or any black site. He is a clear & present danger to the country & needs to be dealt with
Disappearing him isn't going to be a solution. It's been tried and proven ineffective time and time again. History should guide us so we may evolve...but doesn't.
He and his out of control law breaking followers need to be secured in a safe place more rapidly... if they broke the law, (which those that have... know they have). The government needs to come up with a more rapid response/methodology to the reality of "acts and threats of aggression towards any thing, anyone and everyone...from anything and anyone".
Words such as coercion, manipulation, extortion and the like come to mind as actionable offenses when applied properly. At some point the "freedom of speech" has to be tied to a level of civility, permitted guidelines, wherein disagreements can be negotiated and compromises agreed upon and evaluated by qualified individuals. Any act of aggression needs to be addressed immediately and that aggressive person or persons needs to be secured in a "safe place, in a safe manner, for assessment and provided with the opportunity to learn more about what is expected of them and why?
All persons/individuals should have the right to privacy, freedom of speech and a peaceful non threatening environment. Tough to do when 1%, due mostly to greed, control almost 90% of the resources/assets/power, and thusly, make to rules to suit their needs.
The rules have to be adjusted for this causal reality as it is wholly unfair and one of the main the reasons why we have our present day situation. The government may or may not have the power to do so... but doesn't... and that is a large part of the problem. People need qualified and trusted leadership that presents unified goals that genuinely affect most peoples lives. Ex. Being the first to put a man on the moon. Saving a country from the concept of fascism or oligarchical rule and its consequences is beyond MAGA's comprehension as they were never taught about such things in school. You do what you know and understand and are taught to understand. Without any knowledge of the planet Mars and its environment you wouldn't do so well if you decided one day that might be a good place to vacation because the views would be spectacular.
Trump and MAGA is just a consequence of a lack of effective governance...just as Hitler and his brown shirts. In a few short years they were responsible for millions of deaths, hundreds of trillions of dollars of expense and hundreds of trillions of dollars of damage, some major advances in technology mostly related to warfare resulting in better and more efficient ways to kill people. A really good investment of time, energy and resources.
To make a great omelette you have to break some eggs...not peoples heads. Eggs are more expendable and designed to be broken for our survival...heads...not so much.
If people want to play the game of Democracy and have the right to free speech they need to play by the rules. They also need to be properly educated as to the rules, at a young age and later at a certain age given the option to decide for themselves as to where they want to live and whether or not they like those rules.
The human race obviously isn't ready yet for that kind of structured program as evidenced by the worldly events of illogical self destruction that surrounds us on a minute by minute basis.
The government needs to use its powers to stop and roll back the growth of intimidation.
Excellent post, Henry!
Thank You
That kind of thing would be giving him a dose of his own medicine! Moral people won’t really do that to him, but it’s fun to think he could suffer the same things he wishes on others.
I was going to say N. Korea, but he has pals there.
And yet, the Supreme Court and the wealthy class have stood behind this fascist behavior and endorsed the violence.
Would you like to share one specific example of how the Supreme Court has stood behind fascist behavior?
These men who were handed power, were appointed solely to turn over established law governing reproductive rights for women. That decision was made from people who were appointed to a lifetime position which is supposed to be non political. Also, the right wing faction of SCOTUS has been taking bribes and orders from a fundamentalist and wealthy religious group (when the majority of the people in the US are not Christian fundamentalists) which is straight from a fascist playbook. I shouldn’t need to explain the obvious.
The SCOTUS merely turned the regulation of abortion back to the states, which is where it belongs, since the US Constitution does not address it and never did.
If that’s the case, we don’t need a SCOTUS. That wasn’t their ruling, and it has been law for 50 years based on civil rights and individual rights..Our population has shrunk and it will only grow poverty wage workers if we allow immigrants in the country, And if we force poor women (yes wealthy women can afford to hire private jets and doctors to perform whatever medical procedure they want) to give birth or die trying. The states have taken it on themselves to choose sides, and now Colorado and 17 other states are set on removing Trump from the ballot. We shall see what SCOTUS has to say about that repercussion. It’s a sinister move as most GOP political issues are.
Your first example is valid. What a minority of the Scotus is doing is not relevant. When a majority are taking right wing bribes, let me know.
Are you willingly ignorant? Here you go. A free education. https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/04/26/u-s-supreme-court-justices-take-lavish-gifts-then-raise-the-bar-for-bribery-prosecutions/
My reading tells me that those who have accepted bribes are Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. That's the reporting I'm getting from the Wapo, the New York Times., and Rachel Maddow. Permit me to not be impressed by the Ohio Capitol Journal.
So Let’s assume you think there is no issue with bribery. In fact, the broad outlines of the nexus between corporate cash, political influence and the federal judiciary have long been common knowledge within ruling class and corporate media circles. It has simply been concealed from the general public.
Now, under conditions of an unpopular war in Europe, a general breakdown of the political system to the point of an attempted coup by the former president, financial crisis, soaring inflation and a growing rebellion by the working class in the US and internationally, sections of the ruling class are reacting with nervousness to the discrediting of the Supreme Court.
The New York Times recently bemoaned the fact that public confidence in the institution upheld as the epitome of “the rule of law” has hit a record low of 25 percent, according to polls. It is competing with the presidency and Congress in the speed with which it is discredited in the eyes of the population.
But the Biden administration and the Democratic Party have no appetite for demanding the resignation or impeachment of Thomas. They fear weakening Republican support for the US-led proxy war in Ukraine against Russia, the central concern of the Biden administration, as well as the risk of lifting the lid on the corrupt practices of “liberal” as well as right-wing justices..
What has been exposed on the high court is the existence of a permanent conspiracy against the democratic and social rights of the working class in the form of an unelected body whose members enjoy lifetime appointments. It is, in fact, a concentrated expression of the character of all institutions of the capitalist state, which are instruments of ruling class domination. They cannot be “reformed,” but must be overthrown and replaced by democratic organs of working class power.
Depends how you define bribes. That’s the point of the article. How does WAPO and NYT define it? Are they using a strict definition of official acts to count these gifts as bribes? Frankly, the Supremes shouldn’t accept more than a cup of coffee from anyone who has or is likely to have business before the court. That was the rule when I worked for state and local government while managing grants and contracts.
Kathleen Weber, you contribute nothing. The article says it’s a bit more common than what you got from it. RBG and Gorsuch took favors. Kavanaugh made promises for his special treatment and ACB is a shill to furthest extent. Rogers has a corrupted Wall Street marriage and Jinny Thomas is a seditionist.
You don't think all the junkets are bribes. All the right wing educational fully paid trips to luxury hotels? Your reading doesn't go deeply enough.
Hmmm, let’s see
1) The Citizens United decision that gave corporations “personhood” and unleashed massive corporate donations to the American Nazi party.
2) Overturning New York’s century-old concealed carry gun law.
3) Overturning Roe V Wade returning women to the 16th Century with Alito’s homunculus theory of conception.
4) Gutting the Voting Rights Act by releasing racist state governments from federal oversight when they try to change voting rules to disenfranchise minorities and Democratic voters
5) Gutting the Voting Rights Act
6) Gutting the Voting Rights Act
7) Gutting the Voting Rights Act
8) Declaring themselves above the law--absolutely immune from normal ethics rules that apply to courts and judges
9) flagrantly taking bribes from billionaires whose interests come before the court
10) consorting with insurrectionists (Ginny Thomas)
Got enough? There’s plenty more.
hmmm, let’s see...Citizens United decision granting personhood to corporations,
A bad decision a horrible decision, but I don't see how it supported fascism which is violent control of society. It's oligarchy, not fascism.
It is being done in step-wise fashion. So you don’t think the Jim Crow laws were a form of violent control of society? The current Supreme Court seems to think that Corporate and Christian Right hegemony, enabled step by step, will restore them and their billionaire buddies to the kind of power Southern White Cops (KKK) had over people in the days after Reconstruction.
First they grant corps personhood. Then they gut the Voting Rights Act. Then they overturn 100 years of precedent in NY’s gun laws, to signal to the violent Christian Right that it's ok for vigilantes to walk among us armed to the teeth. Then they take bodily autonomy away from women, and allow cynical Christian Right state governments to literally kill women who need abortions for medical reasons, as women always have and always will, and to jail women who have miscarriages, in which as many as 1 in 4 pregnancies result. If this is not state sponsored violence, I don’t know what is. And I hate to say this, but are you a troll? Or an AI bot that really doesn’t understand?
I asked you a question asking you to give clarifying examples for a vague assertion. If you think everyone who asks you for clarification is a troll, you will meet many, many trolls in your life.
I used to love trolls when I was a child. Not so much now.
What are you arguing anyway. Trump and his gulag have been extremely violent and promote violence. Milley and Esperanto both said that Trump wanted armed resistance to protesters when he walked to the church and held the Bible upside down for a photo shoot. He encouraged the fascists to storm the capital and to “beat the hell” out of protesters and the press.
With regard to the Lafayette Square incident , that was a special goon squad brought in, not the DC cops or the park police. Why are you arguing? I guess it's pretty much for the same reason that I'm arguing— we disagree about a lot and I think you are playing loose with the facts a lot of the time.
People seem to think that Trump is going to be able to get some kind of police or military force to shoot down civilian demonstrators in mass quantities. It didn't happen in his first administration, and I don't see it happening in his second, especially hundreds of thousands of people on the mall in Washington DC.
Once again I say..what in the hell is wrong with Americans? Veterans support Trump when he mocked them and told his people don't ever bring one of them (disabled veteran) to my rallies..WHY? Young people support him as they still live at home and suck off their parents who have what they have because of democracy..WHY?...your "gun loving Americans" support him when co-workers and kids are being killed...WHY? Republicans in Congress stand behind him even tho they all ran for cover on January 6th, 2021, do whatever Trump wants since they are constantly kissing his ASS...WHY???? Guess they all think living under a DICTATOR will be the answer to all their problems and life will be Great....got news for you.."AMERICA will become a LIVING HELL"...as stated that the hell is wrong with Americans???? People use the common sense God give you and realize that Trump is the DEVIL!!!!
They are soooo lazy and/or complacently brain dead DUMB that they believe that their 'big daddy' DESPOT will 'take care of all of those scary, bad, libtard socialist others' for them, while they live their proverbial 'Life of Riley'. LOFL!
They have NEGATIVE intellect, as in; if any form or inkling trace of intellect ever entered their vapid, empty, desolate collective cerebral cortexes, it would immediately be sucked into a vacuous black hole of idiocy.
They assume they will be part of the “in” crowd.
So the main difference between what led up to January 6th and what lies ahead is that Joe Biden, not Donald Trump is in the White House. I have to assume Biden has the requisite authority to quell any and all political violence in the coming year. I hope and pray I’m not wrong.
He has to rely on an incompetent/hostile FBI.
As well as a very squeamish and nebbish DoJ, sadly! :( :(
Hopefully General Honore
He is retired..
Russ still has a mouth and a wide following.
I'm British, & live in England, but I am SO afraid for America now.Please continue to write these pieces, the world needs to hear the truth. Thank you.
If the republicans had the balls to do the right thing back when he became president then we probably wouldn’t be here now. Had they had the balls to show him that what he was doing/saying was wrong then maybe we wouldn’t be in this predicament now. Had they had the balls to impeach him then we definitely wouldn’t be in fear now. But no, they only thought of themselves and their own personal safety instead of the safety and well-being of their constituents. They only thought about the power, money and future c-suite jobs that they could get instead of the pain they have put Americans in. Why none of them are in prison for their digressions and still in powerful positions is something I still can’t understand. Stone should be charged with threatening members of congress and not walking free. It was not an expression of free speech but it was definitely a threat to kill. I am tired of reading about tfg, generalized threats to America and all death threats but not about convictions. Funny how the judge in Florida isn’t getting the same treatment as the other people - oh wait, that’s right, because she is slow walking the trial and he isn’t calling her out. I wish no harm on anyone but I do wish for all of these threats to be dealt with properly the legal way (and quickly). The current senate needs to put through as many judges as possible while we still have time.
Those “balls” are not what they use when making decisions. It’s money and power which motivate their decisions.
Kathy - Yes. That and only running for office so you can use the campaign contributions for your legal troubles.
And what’s with Steve Bannon, walking free to spew his vile disinformation MONTHS after he was indicted. What indicted criminal do you know who is free to keep criming while the lawyers argue over procedural BS?
Sally - Only criminals who apparently can afford a really good attorney. There are countless people who are sitting in jail and have yet to be charged.
I’m a 57 year old man that has worked paid taxes for 43 years. Today I sit here without a bank account or credit card. I live with my 85 year old mother. If Trump gets elected it’s because us citizens who have worked our lives away for nothing. Trump is a Molotov cocktail we can throw in the middle of our government that destroyed us. That’s why the truth people.
Both political parties represent big money and corporate power. That is also true. But Trump is completely insincere about helping people. Violence won’t change anything important either. Vote Democrats into Congress and demand that they work to help real people with real problems!
See below
@ John. I read your comments and replies. Forgive me if I take your case as an example. Your honesty is refreshing- you didn’t say Trump is great; no, you said (correctly in my view) that the political system in this country has not worked for you. Democrats need to learn to HEAR what you are saying. But I will say a vote for Trump is a wasted vote. We need Democrats in Congress and we need them to seriously work for the people!
Well that’s pretty selfish, because the people who Faux news endorses are always criminals. Look at our Economy under every Republican Admin. They leave us financially drained while the wealthy get fatter.
The first Trump administration did not help you. Neither would a second. Look to yourself for your circumstances.
We have a safety net thanks to Democrats.
So, you want to burn it down, with you and everyone you care about caught in the middle of the fire and destroyed…
Now, there’s a solution for you.
We actually need to pull together to fix our world, not destroy it out of pique.
As you state your age, I note you are in the generation that has been shafted by the REPUBLICAN fifty-year plan to undo FDR’s New Deal and put oligarchs back in power, the way they were before they caused The Great Depression.
You think going back THERE is a good idea? The Republicans want to return to The Gilded Age when rich industrialists called all the shots, and everybody else was a peon.
And, though he was a Democrat, Clinton went along with too much of the oligarch’s plan. His administration was way to supportive of the finance community and Wall Street, and not people on American Main Streets.
BUT Biden is not like Clinton. I have issues with Biden’s policies in some foreign theaters, but I applaud him for restoring American prestige in so many places where Trump made us look asinine. Biden IS a mixed bag.
But we could work with him and influence him. We need to get more people in office who support our whole society, not just oligarchs.
That’s not gonna happen if all you want to do is help Steve Bannon get what he wants. He wants to “blow it all up.” Congratulations for going to the other side …
Not to mention that blowing it all up would make Putin happy.
YES, it’s his end game!!!
🤦🏽♀️Who do you think will take over if you "burn it all down" and cause unimaginable chaos, terror and suffering for millions of people? The wealthy elites and their strongmen enforcers are perfectly positioned to take over. You will be doing EXACTLY what they want. If you are seeking to live in a Mad Max dystopia, "burning it all down" will do it.
White men have had their cake handed to them, and are still pissed off when they are left in the dust, but keep voting for the very people who have zero respect for their working class. Women have plenty to be pissed about, but we aren’t shooting up schools and plotting to overthrow the government.
Trumbull, blame the billionaires and corporations for your problems. They are the ones that buy the politicians to make law changes for their benefit. They are trying to destroy the safety net for seniors. They won't stop until we become slaves.
Maybe start by doing something constructive. You first blame pacifists for riots and then you want to join the “burn it all down” crowd. Maybe stop voting for neocons and liars who lead you down the path of chaos. We have all worked hard and for a lifetime, in order to make the the wealthy richer. If we join arms and work to form a more perfect Union, we won’t be so alone and might even get some equality. Democrats have always tried to work for laws to help protect jobs and the rights of people, not the rights of the corporations.
Well, none of those safety nets helped me. NONE. And I’ve voted democratic my whole life. Now I have an opportunity to burn it all down and we can start over and fix this failed American experiment.
John sorry for your hardships! Please recognize the extent to which Republican administration's contributed to these very circumstances while Democratic administration's seek to undo their impact & work to ensure the rights & safety of all the people. The current administration has made incredible headway in spite of every obstacle created by GOP mission to instill chaos with trumped up issues vs addressing the real needs of our countrymen. The answer isn't to burn it all down, but to keep informing the masses & encouraging participation of all the people in this grand experiment (both here & abroad).
Traci said, "keep informing the masses & encouraging participation of all the people in this grand experiment."
Sounds good but hasn't worked during my life. According to Wikipedia, there have been eleven recessions during my lifetime, since 1950. Every recessions allows the wealthiest to grab a bigger piece of the pie while everyone under them are forced to sell at fire sale prices or be foreclosed on. We don't have a democracy now anymore than the Romans did. We have an oligarchy with "bread and circus" for the population.
A difference is that we have the illusion of having a chance to change things for the better every four years.
Gloria we have made huge strides in this country since it's inception. Is it fully realized, no. Does $ & power i.e., oligarchy continue to exert their influence in their own best interests, yes. Is giving up or ignoring the progress we've made, the importance of our freedoms & value of democracy the answer? I would say a resounding no! Apathy & lack of voter participation is what "they" want & where our true power & hope lie. I encourage you to find ways to contribute to stoking these flames vs dousing them.
Your anger is justified but your solution is exactly what the anti-democratic oligarchs and strongmen want. Pay attention to their plans. Project 2025 includes plans to demolish Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid; privatize education to privilege the rich; control the courts; abolish government regulation of clean water, air, corporate accountability, etc etc. You may think nothing could be worse than what we have now. I assure you, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
John, I live near NYC, and have been reading news of trump ever since his father, Fred, gave him millions and let him loose on New York. What he has done since was despicable, on the edge of illegal, and outright inhuman. I can think of examples, if you like. But he has always been only for himself, and ready to misdirect, lie to, and confuse anyone willing to invest their money.
This is not the man whose basket you want to put your eggs in.
I wonder if your problems may be effected by the state you live in. Many benefits available are controlled by the state. In NY state, I keep my head above water through $10k a year from Social Security, way below the poverty line! But due to my income, and my health, I receive SNAP (Food Stamps), subsidized housing through HUD. Plus Medicaid, Medicare, free internet and cell phone, help with other expenses, and a medical insurance policy that gives me over $200 a month for over the counter medical supplies and food.
I don't know your situation at all, but some of that is available everywhere, just not advertised well! I put a lot of time and phone calls into getting these benefits, but it's worth the effort! Of course, I can't afford a car in an area where it's a necessity. The bus system is awful, but I get around, partly with free Medical Transportation. Owning property, a house, gold bars, any valuable stuff, affects benefits, but here, it's all on a sliding scale. Your own home gets you a whole different set of benefits, too. Your Mom should be a source of different benefits as well, and if you are her caretaker, that's useful too.
I'm 66, got here real quick, somehow! Being a "Senior" is another bracket as well, and I think I was allowed to call myself that at 60. I already had disabilities, from busting my hump in local service industry jobs. I love helping the neighborhood out that way, but very long days, half pay off the books, and no insurance or any benefits, is not a wise career decision!
That all said, I wish you a fortunate future, safe, healthy, and in the black! Don't forget, the Republicans are the ones who want to end Social Security, Medicaid, and anything we get for free (by paying taxes!)
I couldn’t agree more with you more Sam Trump is a monster. But in a two party system where both parties are against the people, what do you do? Answer; start over.
You need a social worker.
Yes, but you don’t start over with Trump. That’s what the Germans did with Hitler, the whole premise of this post to begin with, and there did that get them?
Hearing a person and recognizing their description of their own situaiton is not the same as agreeing with their estimation of “cause and effect.”
Someone in their fifties or early sixties was SHAFTED by the Reagan years … the changes that Crap Head helped to enact have hurt me, too, but people coming of age in the 1980s had no prior age of reference through which to see their economic lives.
Before Saint Reagan, we had “stakeholder capitalists and corpororations” that considered the needs of employees and municipalities as well as shareholders. Then the Reaganites said no more stakeholders. They cut taxes on themselves, and they said business answers only to investors — everybody else, sucks being you.
THAT WAS A REPUBLICAN STANCE.
Sadly, Slick Willy Clinton had too many of those types in his administration but he was not like the typical Democrat up to that point.
I WANT THE DEMOCRATS BACK who championed fair taxation, a living wage, who resisted off-shoring manufacturing jobs and supply chains, who did NOT try to convince us “greed is good.”
We had those Dems in the past and I THINK.Biden could be one again. I’m watching him, and some of what he is doing is just that …
Deciding to throw over a system —that is what the Republican WANT. They want us so fed up we trash it all,so they can march into a void and install themselves as the “owner” class.
Revolutions create chaos. Chaos is not a good precursor to functional democracies. Revolutions rarely deliver what they promise. If the brand new United States did not have George Washington, we likely would have gotten a new KING, maybe with a bunch of advisor, but a KING nonetheless. That was a fluke. George actually look a whole lot more like the Reign of Terror in France, and the rise of Napoleon.
Be careful what you wish for.
Isn't "start over" actually a reason to vote for a third party? (Why assume that burning it all down - and voting otherwise - would lead to anything other than the very same two-party system?)
Trumbull, Are you a bot or a MAGA plant? Or just really stupid? We have to stop a potential dictator aka Trump, in November and then focus on getting corporate money out of control of the Democratic Party. If we don’t stop the dictator we will not have any space to organize.
WON’T HAPPEN … They have a plan to cement the power of corporate-oriented Republican policies permanently. They will sideline you and let you burn up with the rest of the peons in the fire you want to start.
Even our CLIMATE will not survice a Drill-Drill-Drill president.
Are you TRYING to help them drive the final nail in the democratic coffin?
The GOP will privatize Medicare and social security. That means the big money gets more of your money and you get less value.
True…..😖😖😖
😡
Mr Reich knows it’s failed too.
Who are you?
distinctions must be made John.
Believe me I am also someone who has never been rich or successful with women. But I can recognize a conman when I see one. Trump is a conman.
what is it that enables some people to so clearly see what Trump is, and others to not be able to see it ?
answer: a brain?
I was thinking of intelligence as an answer. But it seems like its more than that.
How many people like getting screwed over ?
Grievance (as the MSM pundits like to label it, in order to give them the excuse for their ignorant, racist fascism) besieged masochists, maybe?
And therein lies the sixty million dollar question.
Ray Gun Ronnie Reagan started that downward slide for people and the people have been voting these guys into office ever since.
Anyone who elects a "Bedtime For Bonzo", ignoramus, F actor into the most powerful position on this planet DESERVES what they get!
Ditto (as the scum followers of the bloviated POS LImburger would say) for those who installed a rancid, lying criminal, shitty reality TV show, megalomaniacal sack of orange feces into power.
Sadly, we ALL suffer for they imbecilic mistakes, not just the brain dead fascists. :(
If you 'think' that you have it bad NOW, just wait until that 'bomb' you throw blows up into a full-on fascist REGIME (and it WILL, with the the SHITler in full unfettered control, just as he promised, right from 'day one'!!)!
MANY will be out on the streets DYING as a result of that putrid orange sack of shit being installed into power, for LIFE!
Your nuts
YOU'RE 'nuts' if you are one of the ones who 'think' that "It cannot happen here!".
Many of the 'good people' in 1930s Germany thought the very same thing.
But yeah, I am the one who is "nuts" for thinking that if you throw your nihilistic SCUMp SHITler 'bomb' at our (admittedly; very corrupted, most times asinine, extremely imperfect) government that there actually will NOT be any 'the other side' to come out on with any semblance of a democratic republic, at all.
Yeah, OK.
Faux news is most responsible for so many Americans believing the election was stolen. Indeed, the politician who made the accusation is responsible for statements. However, it is the job of media to fact check and report the truth. Consumers should boycott all companies buying commercial time on news programs that misinform viewers with stolen election distortions and lies.
Sadly, the oligarchs are so diversified that it’s literally impossible to boycott every brand and product by every subsidiary.....
Every brand and product is not necessary. The big name brands are most important. Just two companies made a major statement to Musk and impact on X.
It would be nice to know who is supporting misinformation and lies that are destabilizing our democracy and instigation insurrection by purchasing commercial airtime. You would think companies like GM and Ford have a vested interest that the American society is not torn apart with anti-government lies.
Sad that so many elected Republicans succumbed to threats and did not have the courage to uphold their oath to defend the Constitution. Their fecklessness makes it easier for intimidation to work this next time around. Dig in your heels elected politicians. Validate your oath of office.
Maybe they wouldn’t be afraid if they chose to recall all the guns and weapons of war.
Yes!