Now that was pretty depressing. The best we can do is “remain civil” and not have an all out civil war? We need another Obama unifier - let’s hope he wasn’t the last (even if it takes a bit).
@DD Jackson. Fight. We can sweep. Turn red states purple. E.G. My red state -- Florida __ Trump won by 3,2 % in 2020, 1.2 % in 2016 . All we need to win is to flip 4% of Trump supporters.
We put abortion and marijuana in play on the ballot. 80% of all women oppose the current law. Millions of unregistered women trend heavily Democratic. Register Democrats -- save democracy.
Flipping republican voters is unlikely. Florida needs to get its infrequent Democratic voters to the polls. That could do it. And if abortion is on the ballot, that could do it, too.
Challenging as it is, I attempt to stay in the positive realm when I speak to voters. When they are hesitant, I ask if they would be willing to let me tell them why I am spending my precious time making calls to voters instead of sitting in my rocking chair and reading my book. Much of the time, they listen. Sometimes that brief conversation meaningfully gets the voter thinking about being a voter and thinking through some issues that are important to them. The main thing is to get them to vote, and to vote for Democrats.
I call people who are not registered. FT6. Trend Democratic. I usually find out what their occupation is. They want to hear what I have to say. Ballot won't be set until August. For women we call about abortion.
In 2020 when I cold called into Pa and North Carolina to a general population, I found a lot of people who didn't know they were entitled to benefits of some kind. I'd say in WPa, about 20% fit into the "don't slit your own throat" category. I am comfortable with veterans, old people like me. "Don't vote to sunset your SS and Medicare." Food stamps. VA benefits. Black Lung.
We are not at the GOTV stage. In my state our ballot won't be set until primary in August.
We also text -- 2 kinds and send postcards to unregistered folks. I text using 2 different methods.
FT6 has stats of the effectiveness in 2022. I am also involved in 2 groups - Focus for Democracy and Blue Tent that use stats to make recommendations to donors. I was in a program last night. Here's some rationale from Galvanize, one of their favorite groups, and partners with FT 6, and others.
Important work, Daniel. Thanks for doing it. I mostly call voters to engage them. Recently we got out the vote to local elections in Milwaukee City and County, heavily Democratic, but the goal was, as I understood, to have conversations with voters, set up the awareness that elections are now and will be this summer and November. Asking directly if they will vote for President Biden and Senator Tammy Baldwin. Creating momentum.
He even hates models ; He said " I Treat women like $#it" in an interview in 2021. One of his wives actually sued him for rape after he pulled her hair so savagely , in the act, that she was injured. She later recanted, pressured, no doubt, by threats.
Daniel, Oooo, I like your ideas. They could work. We saw what happened in the media when Kristi Noem reported on her killing of her dog for bad behavior, and her goat too (she didn't even cook it for dinner). DeSantis and his crew are flawed human beings. There have to be ways to point that out specifically to voters that could get them up and out on election day. Thanks for getting the word out!
Veterans for All Voters is also working on getting information to people. As an affiliate, Better Ballot NC works with them—and others, like League of Women Voters & Common Cause—to educate voters about electoral reform. They adopted a useful book: The Politics Industry. I’ve found it helpful when chatting with people who are more focused on specific issues, like guns or abortions, to talk about WHY we are so polarized: the geographic sort, partisan gerrymanders, and how the plurality/winner-take-all voting method incentivizes politicians to use awful campaign tactics.
And what can be done about it. I think it is critical for people like me (educated, worried, engaged, now an organizer) to feel hope that this whole slide toward autocracy + kleptocracy is not inevitable, so we can fight for what will truly make a difference long-term: electing Dems now AND demanding electoral reforms. For people like my Republican friends in the Villages & Orlando, I just hope to pierce the bubble of “My community is safe, healthy, and happy. Yes, we’re politically conservative, but also open to different views. The border is an important issue. Biden must be ousted!” At least I got an answer! This week, when I asked how his views have evolved. And years ago, when a conversation got heated. He thought Trump would be a better President b/c he was a businessman and I talked about how to make healthcare accessible and affordable.
We are putting together a Florida version of the DNC Coffeetalk. I've been involved since 2020. "Not suckers or losers" is highly effective. There's strength in numbers. I just looked up Veterans for All Voters. 501 c3/ Not a Democratic group. Try Vote Vets. . https://votevets.org/
Thank you SOOOOOO much for the rvat video, Daniel. It just now gave me a sliver, and i mean sliver, of a hope that we can elect Joe for another term, because that P.O.S. Trump seems to slide through everything that he's been charged with, ESPECIALLY instigating the insurrection of our countries US Capital on Jan. 6th 2021. I just don't get how he slithers through this stuff!!!!!
Floridian here. Know that we have a large, near majority of Blue voters in FL.
My county (home of MAL) remains Blue. FL went for Obama x2. Our problem is gerrymandering & GOP dirty tricks. Plz count on us to vote en masse for our Amendment 4 to restore women’s rights!
Florida Democrats can’t seem to get their act together. Why not? Dirty tricks in Florida have a long history especially where black voters are concerned. Why hasn’t that been dealt with? I realize many right-wing northerners move to Florida, and many people are leaving Florida because of over population and climate change impacts so it’s a very fluid situation. I would think that DeSatan making it into a fascist model for the other red states would motivate an aggressive response. Or is it already too late?
Richard, you're not wrong. And it's not too late. In 2020 I spent the last two weeks on an intensive daily phone bank team of a hundred of us calling into the Cape Canaveral area. We didn't win, but we increased the number of Democratic voters. We need everyone to do everything they can to get on the phones, write postcards, knock on doors. Together we can ferret out the infrequent voters, the people whose lives are too busy to remember to vote, folks who need a reminder that there is early voting and voting by mail, in anticipation of the inevitable event that prevents them from going in on election day. Slow and steady....
The reason it hasn’t been dealt with is because, once one of the major parties is in power, they are less incentivized to introduce & champion electoral reforms that would get us off this endless seesaw of the duopoly, which has devolved to its logical form: hyperpartisan gridlock combined with strong financial incentives to keep the system going.
Rose and Donna, I’m glad to hear you speak with strong intent! I lived in Orlando for 8 years; it’s where I met my husband. I was just on a call with a pro-voter, pro-democracy organizer in Florida named Daria. She’s with an organization called RMVF at https://www.rankmyvoteflorida.org/meet_the_team3.
Pro-democracy groups are trying to build relationships with allies to enact lasting reforms that would enable us to shut down some of those dirty tricks. We’re dealing with it full on here in North Carolina, too. GOP Supermajority in a state that is sort of evenly split between GOP/Dems/Unaffiliated. Unaffiliated are the largest and growing.
Over 80% of elections in the U.S. are not competitive. We have to change that, too, after we get out the blue vote in 2024.
DeSantis and Rick Scott have hijacked Florida. People are broken there. Books, free speech, voting rights. Deporting people with million dollar rides to Texas.
True, KnoxAnn, Florida is under siege. Experience tells us that things can change. (Rebecca Solnit's book, Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities). I look to Wisconsin which is on the precipice of flipping the state legislature to blue in November. I look to Ohio voters who last summer showed up to protect the continuation of majority rule on ballot initiatives, and in November enshrined reproductive healthcare in the state constitution. I could go on here, but instead, let's get on the phones to voters, participate in voter registration, sign up to be an "election protection volunteer" for Common Cause, write postcards for Activate America or Blue Wave Postcards, sign up with a campaign of a candidate whose election will add voice to democracy. . . .
A current average of polls puts him 8 points ahead.
Are you going to flip 400,000 votes in Florida?
While the situation is less drastic in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Arizona and Virginia, recent polls make it clear that Biden is underwater in all these swing states except for Wisconsin, where Biden is marginally ahead.
The hour is late. Biden has done an outstanding job of stabilizing the country after the chaos of Trump + Covid. He will go down well in history. BUT we need to turn the page.
First the polls are trending toward Biden and as Simon says, and as your broker will tell you, the trend is our friend. Second abortion will 1. increase turnout and 2 flip many women. Same with marijuana. Third, we will add maybe a million new voters who trend Democratic.
Statewide, whereas Democrats had conceded many races to Republicans, this year we have many horseraces. And hopefully Fladems, which was disfunctional will now be more effective.
I agree w much of what you’ve said but there is still DeSantis’ election police and although I’m not concerned about my own vote being recorded I worry about Dem counties that will be targeted: no mail in or limited, change in number of days and hours the precinct is open for voting vs just closing the precinct.
In 2020 we lost because of Miami Dade and Palm Beach counties. We should have a million vote lead coming from those counties. Maybe more. Won't be the same this year.
Statewide 3,533,149 are registered "no party." Half or more are women. HAVE to beak our way.
The unregistered are not interested either they don’t care or are just trying to survive. I think the problem started when Charlie Crist decided he didn’t want a second term as governor and all hell broke loose. He loses to Rubio for Senate, the governor’s seat is left open for someone w bags of money to buy it ( Scott) and then before you can say Citizens United the other senate seat belongs to Scott. Adam Putnam, The commissioner of Agriculture ( and former congressman) was lined up to be the next governor and considered a decent, respectable man w/o an extreme agenda but somehow DeSantis’ people got to trump and Putnam lost in the primary. Andrew Gillum, the mayor of Tallahassee who lost to DeSantis by less than .4% and was the only hope for a future competitive Dem candidate imploded after the election. And yet events like the Ziegler’s have no effect on the electorate. Books still being pulled, state Universities under the control of Repub cronies and even after multiple school shootings, easier access to guns w no need for permits.
RNC is recruiting armed poll watchers, their goal is 100,000 a perceptive and aware person would ignore them, but I fear that some will be intimidated.
Daniel, this is hopeful, but let's be clear: Should Trump win it will be the end of democracy in our country. Republicans have made it abundantly clear that they will rubber-stamp whatever he does. All he has to do is use the highly visible and dramatic border situation to declare a state of national emergency-- and that's it.
Anyone, including you and Michael can edit Wikipedia, so long as they can reference a "reliable secondary source", and reliable is in the eyes of the beholder, and is basically a published and publicly available source, Pravda will do.
Here is what I am afraid of The Muslim vote in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania numbers over 100,000 each state, Biden won those states by 10,000 votes each (rounding down)
Muslims have their asses in a twitch because of HAMAS. Wi has 11 electoral votes, Michigan 15, Pennsyltucky 19, those are the states that are going to elect Trump, if the Muslims follow through with their threat to sit out the election of vote third party, because Joe is not HAMAS friendly.
And as Ayman Mohyledin said on MSNBC it is Biden's fault for supporting Israel.
I disagree because everyone has a choice, but flipping the finger to Biden is shitting in your own mess kit, because Trump has already said that he is going to deport Muslims, even 2nd generation Muslims. Montana and Wyoming have plenty of spaces for internment camps.. like Ft Missoula, Montana and there are Tule Lake and Manzanar in California; Gila River and Poston in Arizona; Jerome and Rohwer in Arkansas, Minidoka in Idaho; Topaz in Utah; Heart Mountain in Wyoming; and Granada in Colorado.
Stick it to Biden is sticking it to themselves, Same with the youth Vote, especially young black males, who don't remember the past and the sacrficie of their elders.
They too are threatening to vote third party.
A vote for Cornell West, RFK jr, Jill Stein is a vote for Trump, freaking idiots.
If Trump wins may they all rot in the hell that they have created.
William, I agree with much of what you say, except for "a vote for Cornell West, RFK jr, Jill Stein is a vote for Trump, freaking idiots," because the available data shows that West and Stein are insignificant, and that RFK takes as many votes from Trump as he does from Biden. That said, any NOISE from these silly candidates, brain worm or not, is worrying, given the stakes.
IMHO, the best way to circumvent this predictable idiocy is to have a completely new candidate who can beat Trump in a landslide, and - you may push back on this, but then you would be wrong- the only such candidate is Sanders.
Michael Hutchinson ; most polls are media, (billionaire), owned . they want to influence voters with lies, and gamed, fake numbers."There are lies, damn lies and statistics!"
Victor K : Since you said it, go Google it, or something . All 'right' wing media low rate President Biden, and even 'liberal' or lefty news can give Short shrift. They mention his age, they repeat the lies about how he is somehow responsible for everything Netanyahu does, for many things. They don't mention his accomplishments as much.
True, since they know that Trump is unpopular with many voters they do all they can to undermine Biden, which, of course, benefits Trump. In the 1920s German conservatives supported Hitler, because of his anti-Communism. Today, Trump and his allies are telling American conservatives that he will protect them from "the new Marxism also known as "wokism." It's pure bs, but the Heritage Foundation is buying it.
I wish there was an Angry button! The extreme gerrymandering in NC by our R Legislature is forcibly turning our purple state red, even though the Ds outnumber the Rs. I do believe most of the polls are no longer effective in measuring how people will vote since my understanding is they still only call people. Do they get cell phone #s? Lots of other reasons too. I have read that Biden is moving up in the polls.
I will never understand how/why anyone will vote for this poor excuse of a human being. The irrational can't be rationalized. The problem is, it's no longer just TFP. He has spineless followers high in government now who will carry on after him.
I have also wondered how representative most polls are these days. I know that Gallup does it through email (because I get their polls) but for most of the others—I don’t think they’re as accurate as they used to be. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself to calm my anxiety.
I received a phone call on my land line this morning, asking me to do a short survey: Press 1 if I am a Democrat. Press 2 if I am a Republican. Alas, I am a Canadian, but I checked to make sure we hadn't been invaded by the US last night.
That’s all the older folks and Baby Boomers (many Trumpers) retiring to FL. It’s going to skew the numbers there for awhile. I’m staying in NYC or if the 🍊 wins in 2024 (my worst nightmare) I’m moving to Scotland 🏴
In 2020 Georgia, VA, NC were swing states, but they have Republican legislatures and have passed some voter suppression laws, and overridden a Democratic governor's veto, (GA has a Republican Governor, Virginia now does) They are no longer swing states. Democrats could still win the electoral vote though, but if that happens, the slate of fake electors will come out faster and more professional than in 2020.
Ditto for the currently red State of Ohio. With increasing help emanating from many local communities, I’m hopeful for more equitable governance in the Capitol of Columbus.
Irene - Ohio worries me because they refuse to do an emergency bill to put Biden on the ballot (even though they did it the last two elections) because they want to put bs in the bill to stop “illegals” from voting - which they already cannot do. Plus, even though the republicans used dark money and out of state money they now want to stop it because the democrats got help from outside groups to get our abortion bill and marijuana bill on the ballot. They are trying their darnedest to stop the ending gerrymandering bill from making it on the ballot now. Without Biden being on the ballot I fear for Sherrod Brown. My spouse will not move from Ohio nor from our very red county (afraid that I might of married a closet Republican <insert hand hitting surprise face here>). My oldest child is in the military and finally came back from a long time deployed to somewhere in Europe and had a choice to stay around the lower 48 but has elected to take a three year deployment elsewhere because of the politics in the states that they had a choice to go to. My youngest is currently living in Columbus because they find that the politics are more palatable so I get where you are coming from. I truly hope that we can keep the White House and the Senate as well as take back the House so we can actually get some things done. Especially the Senate putting through as many judges as possible since we have seen what some of the judges, put in their position from defendant trump, has gotten us. This has been one of the worst do-nothing House in a long time and I don’t understand why people would keep electing people who are not trying to make lives better but instead are trying to divide us. Long story short (too late) I completely understand where you are coming from.
Ohio can put citizen initiatives on the ballot, so that’s a reason to hope. Ballot referendums are a form of direct democracy that have been used effectively to “impose” the will of the voters on their representatives. We don’t have them in NC; it apparently requires an amendment to state Constitutions in states that have not established them. Here we have legislative referrals, but only for things the supermajority wants on the ballot. Back when the GOP was in the minority, Moore introduced legislation to establish citizens initiatives here. Now that he’s Speaker and the GOP has a supermajority, reforms are a no go until we can elect more Dems. Our hope right now is that the Dems have a much stronger ground game across the state in every county.
Docpatti - I feel your pain since it seems like some will do whatever they can to stay in power. Funny how they change the rules to suit their needs but cry foul when the shoe is on the other foot. I hope that your Dems running have a strong election so the people in your state can get true representation.
Appreciate your deeply personal expanded comments and concerns for fair governance in Ohio. I choose to remain hopeful despite all of the low-handed shenanigans by Republican leaders! Gotta get the Democrats & educated Independents out to VOTE in November!
This is a good starting place. The Democratic Party still needs a platform, still needs to stop catering to people that aren’t working for the interests of the common good, needs to promote candidates that are diverse, needs to stop pearl clutching, wringing their hands, and needs to bring working class/working people and rural America, back.
I doubt that marijuana is a big issue with voters. What’s driving voters leaning in one direction, is their perceived economic decline. Some real, some imagined. Perception is everything. As one who’s lived through a decade of stagnation, that retarded my earning potential, shit happens and you have to adjust your lifestyle and spending accordingly. In general, I don’t see that happening these days. It’s easier to whine instead of doing.
No. More attempts at "unity" are the last thing we need. What we need is to actually confront the fact that Republicans are genocidal theocrats who want to turn the whole country into a new Confederacy. There can't be any unity with that. They're the enemy. They need to be treated as such. They're already gearing up to go on a mass murder spree if their God king doesn't steal the election in November.
Pretending at "unity" let the Confederacy fester into the gangrenous wound we currently call the Republican party. We need to actually start cutting out the rot instead of pretending it won't kill us.
Oh no. Antivaxer. You mean the one that has been recalled because it causes blood clotting? You don’t need to respond at all. Just go ahead and get fucked. Pretend fauci told you to get fucked. Then, every six months get a booster fuck
Well considering you immediately resort to invective and personal attack tells me you're about as serious as a McDonald's happy meal, so thank you for saving me from your opinions. Antivaxxer. I'm surprised you don't call me a Nazi because I oppose israel. Isn't that what your lot do? Name call instead of conversate? Opposing junk science used to be considered intelligent. Now it's the baseline for liberal rage. Go get a mocha at Starbucks.
Dean, I disagree that “Republicans are genocidal.” The term Republican is an identity claim, to indicate party affiliation. Lots of people say they “are” a thing without thinking through or agreeing with specific behaviors. Lots of Catholics use birth control, for example. I looked at your feed; you appear to be a thoughtful human.
I’m lifelong unaffiliated and I’ve come to the conclusion that we must work hard to elect as many Dems as possible in 2024 because of how plurality voting works. But that isn’t enough; we then have to demand reforms. The GOP aims for minority rule; that particular political project WILL destroy American democracy, if we let it. The U.S. has gone quite a ways down the path toward autocracy & kleptocracy; evidence? Plenty: legislation passed directly in opposition to the known preferences of a majority of voters; SCOTUS appointments & rulings; complete gridlock in the House. First get them fighting, then put an authoritarian in place to tell the people “this is how it’s going to be.”
So it’s really important that we don’t stop organizing, even if there is a blue wave in 2024. It’s important because we need electoral reform so that our elections become more competitive, we have better & more variety of choices among candidates, and the incentives change so politicians don’t benefit from playing to an extremist base and get punished for bipartisan problem-solving.
Side note: my position on electing Dems in 2024 does not indicate support for the Israeli far right apartheid practices, not for the genocide of Palestinians, nor for the Biden administration’s complicity. Foreign policy toward Israel has been fairly stable since 1948, correct? Regardless of the party in power? To me, it is essential to critique the choices that Biden is making. But we have to strengthen our democratic system in order to effectively address the challenge of how to craft sensible & ethical foreign policy that doesn’t get switched up for political points when the other party gets the WH.
Yeah, I appreciate you offering your perspective, but I disagree entirely with your premise. Somehow you seem to neglect to mention the very real and very salient fact that the American political system is a duopoly controlled by corporate interests (see also: MI complex). So what you really have is a profit motivated corporate power base directing your "elected" officials and pummelling the electorate with endless propaganda about "sides." Meanwhile in the real world presidents of both parties with the approval of senators and congressmen from both parties--which is to say both sides of the duopoly--wage endless wars at the behest of their .mil friends. But you're saying if we just vote harder and control one wing of a deranged and deadly bird the problem will solve itself. Bollocks. Total disagree.
But I think you absolutely--perhaps accidentally--make my point when you refer to the consistency of American policy toward israel. It's been consistently *deadly* for the Palestinian population that's been under Israeli occupation for decades. How bipartisan to refer to our "friend and ally" israel. So I think that fact speaks volumes for what political parties actually stand for. Wedge issues play their part, for sure, but nothing will ever be done about them. There is no political solution to corruption. And that's what we face in the country: a corrupt and corrupting oligarchy.
I don’t think that you know what my premise is at this point. I said I’m organizing for electoral reform. What the heck do you think that is? Ranked choice voting is a concrete step to shift the conditions underpinning the duopoly. It fixes spoiler votes, for example, opening the path for alternative parties to emerge and get candidates elected. This offers a place for the “politically homeless” unaffiliated, who might have a party policy platform and candidates to believe in, if we were able to evolve past the current polarized duopoly and its associated toxic political tactics.
Don't bother with this one, he's one of the rare cases of horseshoe theory you'll find out in the wild. He doesn't actually care about Palestinians. He's just using them as a permission slip the same way evangelicals pretend to care about fetuses and use that as a permission slip to try and grab more control over the government and other people's lives.
I believe you adequately stated your premise, which involved voting for democrats and presenting that as a serious option for reforming a political system in which democrats only serve the same corporate interests as republicans. Audrey Lorde spoke to your premise far more succinctly than I have: you cannot dismantle the master's house using the master's tools.
The Politics Industry covers quite a bit of how what you are describing works. It also offers suggestions about specific things to change that would alter the current dynamics. What suggestions do you have for achieving the changes that you think are needed?
Republicans are the ones who have been gearing up for mass murder, jackass. Incidentally, they're also the ones openly embracing Holocaust deniers and open nazis. You can't heal a stab wound if you don't remove the knife, and the Republican party is that fucking knife.
Or, we can go back to being the 50 States, unified rather than united, similar to the EU, with free trade, and a sharing of a common defense force, but no strong central government.
Just as I don't want other states forcing their values on me, why should I force my views on them?
50 states is a recipe for disaster....like the Balkans. But rest assured, the drivers or Red State social issues will never rest until they have control of all Blue state populations as well. You can't run away from Bullies as they won't let you.
This is true. And, frankly, widespread gun ownership isn't a recipe for freedom, it's a recipe for a failed state. The modern word is littered with examples.
Well, you either stand up to them or kiss their ring. They don't give you much of a choice. PS, standing up to them doesn't necessarily require violence. Most are chicken-shit. (Sorry chickens) and most greatly over-estimate their own intelligence.
"All bullies are cowards." Looking for the person credited with first saying this, I found something else on Dictionary.com: Where did the word "bully" come from in America? - - - It comes from the Middle Dutch word boele, which means “lover.” At that time, bully was used in English to mean “sweetheart.” Its use then became more general, coming to mean “fine fellow,” and, eventually, the opposite: “swaggering coward.” Bully began to be used in this sense around the 1700s. - - - Might explain why Trump called Stormy "Honeybunch". Except Trump is definitely post 1700s.
Terry, I realize that, and that is exactly the point I was making! Thank you for confirming the obvious. Trump sees himself as a pre-1700s lover, and not the post-1700s creature he actually is.
It’s Very, Very important to remember that bullies are merely cowards all puffed up, filled with hot air. Puncture ‘em and like a big, fat balloon: Fizzle, fizzle, fiz, fi, f…flat on the ground. Do it soon, before they multiply, it’s much, much harder when they are ‘Multitude of Massed BS.’ It Can Be Done.
Let Mexico reclaim it. In fact if the Federal union is dissolved, Mexico is sure to reclaim the land lost with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and that means Texas, Ariz, NM, part of Utah and California.
The fact is that with a Trump victory, the "No strong central government" will almost immediately degenerate into an all-powerful central government that will move to crush all blue states' efforts to maintain civil rights and meet the legitimate needs of its people. And Trump and others of his ilk have threatened the use of that "defense force" against those who don't kiss the orange ass. There is no way a looser unified collection of states as at the time of the founding can succeed today. And the EU is a collection of sovereign nations with diverse languages and cultures, very unlike the United States There are clear areas, like enforcement of the Constitution, where the federal government needs to be strong, and the "States' Rights" anachronism needs to be relegated to a distant second priority.
You mean like Biden's government brutalizing student protestors and the passage of the "Antisemitism" Act? The EU and the US are the only nations who are against Palestinian statehood and continue to aid and abet in genocide, with Biden and the Democrats leading the way. The Democrats have created their own toxic mix of McCarthyism, Zionism and nationalism that you ignore because you are conditioned against the "other" side as they are conditioned against you. https://barryjkaufmando.substack.com/publish/posts/detail/144154580?referrer=%2Fpublish%2Fhome
I don't disagree with your assessment of the Biden administration's and many Democrats' stances on the atrocities committed by Israel, conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism, and the crackdown on student protests against these stances and the genocide in Gaza. I abhor the US and EU treating the Palestinians as non-people. In most past elections, I have been distressed by the lack of real choice between either Neo-lib party. The DNC is incompetent; for example, if they'd promoted Bernie Sanders as the Dem candidate in 2016, Trump would never have been elected. But in this current situation, in my opinion, "both-sidesism" and "whataboutism" are morally indefensible. For all its many faults, in this election the Democratic Party is not just "the lesser of two evils." For all their copious weaknesses, they represent the only hope of maintaining what many of us have seen as the vision of a nation committed to the too-long and far-too-slow struggle for the betterment of all. And if the Democrats take back control, ALL of us must not go back to the old patterns of complacency and need to FORCE them to re-regulate business and industry, especially the financial sector, overturn Dobbs, and even more importantly, Citizens United, pass strong voting rights legislation, pass a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for Supreme Court Justices, and the list goes on and on. But NONE of this will be possible if Trump and MAGA take over the White House and Congress. To fail to see this is to choose to be blind and ignorant.
John, I could not have said it better. As a lifelong unaffiliated voter, married to a former Republican who is now registered Democrat, you’ve laid the essentials out in plain English. I’m now a grassroots organizer for electoral reform, after spending most of my life ignoring “politics” while becoming educated and making a living as a single mom. All of your MUSTs are on my bucket list; I want my kids to live out their lives in a democracy.
It is NOT ENOUGH to elect Dems this election cycle. The GOP aims for minority rule; that particular political project WILL destroy American democracy, if we let it. And it’s gone quite far down the path; the evidence is in legislation passed directly in opposition to the known preferences of a majority of voters, among other things, like SCOTUS appointments & rulings.
So it’s really important that we don’t stop organizing, even if there is a blue wave in 2024.
Side note: my position on electing Dems in 2024 does not indicate support for the Israeli far right apartheid practices, not for the genocide of Palestinians, nor for the Biden administration’s complicity. Foreign policy toward Israel has been fairly stable since 1948, correct? Regardless of the party in power? To me, it is essential to critique the choices that Biden is making. But we have to strengthen our democratic system in order to effectively address the challenge of how to craft sensible & ethical foreign policy that doesn’t get switched up for political points when the other party gets the WH.
Succeed at what? Did you mean to say "Secede?" Possibly, but I think you would find, as Britain did with Brexit, that California is far more dependent on the other 49 states than you may imagine.
David, you have just described the current situation, the status quo, we are scraping clawing whatever leftovers the 1% doesn't grab. They need a controlled labor force, to maintain their lifestyle, and how does one control a labor force? You keep them at each others throats.
But David, the Red and Blue States would at least have democracy. If the Red States want to vote for plutocracy, that's their choice, but I no longer want to live in their world, where the best we can hope for is compromise as we lurch from one plutocrat to another. The Red States are never going to change.
Michael if the US dissolves itself, North America will be come prey, and incapable of defending itself, Russia will sweep Europe and China will sweep Asia. Mexico can reclaim lost territory. and the whole world will erupt in chaos, and what nukes still work will be fired.
Michael: Because a state is not its own country. We are the United States of America, until decided otherwise. It is not fair or just for discrimination to be “ legal” in one state but not another. And, I suspect your “ values” are really something else.
Without a strong central government, commerce will suffer, prices will rise, there will be tariff's, movement of industry, and no defense, no civil service, no federal parks, public lands will be sold off, at pennies, to developers, miners, lumber companies, oil companies,
Putin and Xi can walk right in, and will, welcomed in by right wing governors and legislatures. Maybe not Xi, but Xi will invade Taiwan and the rest of the Pacific. There will be no countervailing power to stop China, nor Russia.
Regressives are full of contradictions: they don’t want the government telling them what to do but they want the government telling others what to do. They want freedom for themselves but not for anyone not like them. They’re full of bluster but make most decisions out of fear…the list goes on.
The best solution to our mounting social problems is continued personal growth and healing on a mass scale.
I don’t think that will work, Michael. I was born in DC and have lived in Pennsylvania, CA, Virginia, Florida, Maryland, and North Carolina. I’ve worked in Kentucky, Ohio, Wisconsin, Chicago, NYC. Every place that I’ve been includes people who tend to enjoy change and variety, as well as many others who favor stability and tradition. They can live happily among one another.
The culture wars are largely manufactured. People who want a choice whether to get a vaccine or not call it “medical freedom.” Those who want IVF or abortion care also want “medical freedom.” We’re not talking in ways that identify our common interests; we are sorted into bubbles & singing to the choir.
People are sorting into red-blue states because the outrage industry makes a shitload of money keeping people pissed off, distrustful, and wary of one another.
And behind the scenes—and increasingly right out in front of us, the oligarchs who want to be “free” to exploit ordinary citizens AND the world’s resources are busy, busy, busy.
Live-and-let-live is a fine idea if all parties agree. The right-wingers don’t agree with that concept, and won’t stop their aggression until they conquer the other side. That’s, for me, the only justification for preventing a national divorce. Having internal national borders in North America, and hostile neighbors is a recipe for warfare. Review the Balkans and what it took to stop the eternal wars there, and how quickly they resumed when the Soviet Union dissolved.
Hakeem Jeffries has the ability, I do believe, to step into the office of President of the United States. I do wish Mr. Biden would do what is necessary to keep our country from turning into an "uncivil war." He is too old. Period. Dot. The end. He needs to lead the charge to elect a younger more effective leader like the esteemed Mr. Jeffries.
in support of my asserted claim of bias and incompetence, that well and fairly state my view of Judge Cannon's attempts to delay proceedings and dodge any appeal by confining herself to "paperless orders," rather than handing down formal rulings, as it has developed over the several months she has been in charge of this case: 23-80101-CR-CANNON
"Cannon, a Trump appointee who was selected last June to hear special counsel Jack Smith’s case against the former president, began her Tuesday by pushing back a key filing deadline for the defense team to lay out what classified information it would introduce at a trial. She then issued another ruling delaying a trial indefinitely."
"But if Cannon, a former federal prosecutor appointed in 2020, feels overwhelmed by the case and all the pre-trial motions she has yet to rule on, legal experts said she has only herself to blame. Brandon Von Grack, a former Justice Department lawyer who served on Bob Mueller's team, noted, for example, that it’s 'highly unusual' for a judge to hold three days of hearings on a defense motion aimed at defining the 'scope' of the prosecution’s legal team."
"Indeed, as The New York Times’ Alan Feuer wrote Tuesday, the delays are not merely a product of a complex case with an unusually high-profile defendant. 'Over and over,' he commented, 'Judge Cannon … has treated seriously arguments that many, if not most, federal judges would have rejected out of hand.'"
"But while liberal critics are quick to point out that Cannon is overseeing a case involving the man who gave her the job she has today, there is an alternative explanation for her behavior: she is also highly inexperienced. As Reuters previously reported, she made several elementary mistakes in a criminal trial she handled last year, such as apparently forgetting to swear in the prospective jury pool and barring the public from observing the selection process, forcing her to later restart the whole process."
"But Ty Cobb, who served as legal counsel for the Trump White House before becoming a critic of the former president, told CNN there’s no reason to choose between the two possible explanations for Cannon’s handling of the classified documents case. Why not both?"
In summary:
"Neil Katyal, former acting U.S. solicitor general, argued that the case is not nearly as complex as Cannon has made it out to be – and that Trump is being treated far differently than any other defendant accused of stealing classified documents, including material related to battle plans and nuclear weapons."
"'This decision, and the handling of this case, start to finish, have been atrocious,' Katyal said. 'This is not a hard case, it does not require the amount of delay that we’ve had. The case is pretty simple… a guy stole some documents, he hid them, when the government came and looked for them, he lied and hid them,' he continued. 'That’s it. It’s not rocket science. And yet this judge has slow-walked this thing to death.'"
Wow -- I have just sat here for a couple of hours reading a lot of this information, but I still have miles to go. If Cannon was reversed twice by the 11th District Court of Appeals, and possibly a third time by now (?), why in God's name is she still on this case? Yes, I can see that people need to file petitions with the court for this to happen, BUT WHY? Don't these higher courts have jurisdiction to REMOVE A JUDGE WHO IS DELIBERATELY, AND OBVIOUSLY, DOING EVERYTHING TO STALL THE PROCEEDINGS FOR AND IN FAVOR OF THE DEFENDANT??? Isn't that tantamount to some kind of crime in itself that would get the judge thrown off the bench? This case is a matter of espionage, the theft of highly classified national security documents in some cases!! Couldn't that land Cannon in COLLUSION with Trump, an actual AIDER and ABETTOR IN HIS CRIMES??? I would certainly think it would!
However, I think Biden is throwing the country a curved ball. Biden should have declared that he would be a one-term President. He did not. Furthermore, Biden selected a VP that “may” have to step into office but is not popular enough to win the big office. It is not that Harris is not equipped for the office, but she could not independently win the job. Biden knows that but snuck Harris into a spot knowing full well that she was turned down when she came out as a candidate prior to the selection by Democrats.
It is maddening what these facts are doing to our country. Now, there is a huge division on this decision! Few want Trump, however, this was not necessary to put voters thru in this country. Cannot blame anyone but Biden for this unnecessary battle! He is old and acting it. No comments need to be made about Trump. There is an immense chance that our country is going to lose its democracy due to a Trump victory! I resent this just because voters do not have the opportunity for a change, a younger, and capable candidate for Democrats.
This election may be more than over! Look what we could be stuck with plus lose!
I found this very depressing too and feel it was as if there are no voters in the Red States that can be supported so they turn their States Blue. I don’t understand why the Professor sounds like he has giving up on turning things around. The Red States worked hard and for a long time to get where they are. We can do the same to make the Blue candidates win.
I live in a Red State, and it is in competition for the title of "Most Corrupt" state in the country. We vote on issue after issue, those in power ignore the results and simply debate each issue after the vote and install what they want. It isn't about working hard, but about lying, cheating, and stealing. If Democrats follow that course to take power, we the people gain nothing but a different version of corruption.
You have Sherrod Brown, running statewide, who can uplift all the down ballot candidates. The Republican chair, former speaker of the Ohio house, others are in jail for bribery.
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ICC filed charges against Putin and published his crimes. MTG will likely file a motion to leave the ICC.
W left ICC after his Guantanamo policy of torture or turn a terrorist over, which became a bounty system of innocent Arabs picked up because "The State" suspects you. Like the reporter in Russia for 400+ days. Torture continues so you pick an old name who pissed you off, or stole your girlfriend. ICC found that to be criminal so W took his marbles and went home. The W GOP was nutty, but today they are nutless.
I found the cause of the rash of Eunuchs in DC, (see GOP House). An ancient species known as Maenads (sounds like "men had"...as in testicles) who worshipped Dionysus, the wine god. Maenads in their orgiastic peak have enormous strength and could cut cut open a man with their nails (see Orpheus).
They mated with humans but their genes were latent for 2 millennia and known as trailer genes. The women today with Maenad Trailer Genes felt their Rites were being threatened.
The Maenad Trailer Gene was aroused by Donnysays, who thinks he's a God, but, the MTGs will listen to whatever Donnysays says, even if it sounds like double talk. They cannot cut open a man at their peak, so they castrate the nearest hapless male, (see GOP House).
The 6 GOP SCOTUS members are Groomers, but modeled on the Feudal Revered Position, Groomer of the Stool. He carried the toilet and wiped the royal's ass clean. The new model finds them wiping their donors and owners'
A lgorithms of
S ycophantic
S ynopsis clean of any responsibility. Those 6 seek a
L ibertarian
A narcho-
S yndicalist
T heocratic version of the American Experiment.
They pledge allegiance to the flag of the
F eudal
A merican
R epublic of
C orporate
E ntities and to the F.A.R.C.E. for which it stands. One nation under
G eppetto's
O ligarchic
D isseminators on K Street, forever and ever a
S ycophantic
C thonic
A merican
M icturition aka trickle-down S.C.A.M.
You have to fight F.A.R.C.E. with farce. The MAGA-loons did pray for a savior and God sent The Most Christian Pussy-Grabbing POTUS in history! Who says God doesn't listen?
ICC has always stood for the commonly accepted standards of civil societies. The US representative at the foundation of this institution offered the most telling summary of today's Clusterfrackers in the GOP. Chris Hayes did an excellent piece about double standards, aka "Some animals are more than equal".
South Dakota lost 107 Covid patients per 100,000 South Dakotans.
Vermont lost 10 Covid patients per 100k, or a 1070% higher death rate for the Red State.
CDC told Red State Governors and the 90% of media held by 8 corporate donors that "80% of Covid deaths are 65 and over", aka on FICA, or Entitlement Outlays, on the GOP spreadsheets.. Eugenics of the useless members of Red State societies must be put down, like a South Dakota puppy.
ICC filed charges against Putin and published his crimes. MTG will likely file a motion to leave the ICC.
W left ICC after his Guantanamo policy of torture or turn a terrorist over, which became a bounty system of innocent Arabs picked up because "The State" suspects you. Like the reporter in Russia for 400+ days. Torture continues so you pick an old name who pissed you off, or stole your girlfriend. ICC found that to be criminal so W took his marbles and went home. The W GOP was nutty, but today they are nutless.
I found the cause of the rash of Eunuchs in DC, (see GOP House). An ancient species known as Maenads (sounds like "men had"...as in testicles) who worshipped Dionysus, the wine god. Maenads in their orgiastic peak have enormous strength and could cut cut open a man with their nails (see Orpheus).
They mated with humans but their genes were latent for 2 millennia and known as trailer genes. The women today with Maenad Trailer Genes felt their Rites were being threatened.
The Maenad Trailer Gene was aroused by Donnysays, who thinks he's a God, but, the MTGs will listen to whatever Donnysays says, even if it sounds like double talk. They cannot cut open a man at their peak, so they castrate the nearest hapless male, (see GOP House).
The 6 GOP SCOTUS members are Groomers, but modeled on the Feudal Revered Position, Groomer of the Stool. He carried the toilet and wiped the royal's ass clean. The new model finds them wiping their donors and owners'
A lgorithms of
S ycophantic
S ynopsis clean of any responsibility. Those 6 seek a
L ibertarian
A narcho-
S yndicalist
T heocratic version of the American Experiment.
They pledge allegiance to the flag of the
F eudal
A merican
R epublic of
C orporate
E ntities and to the F.A.R.C.E. for which it stands. One nation under
G eppetto's
O ligarchic
D isseminators on K Street, forever and ever a
S ycophantic
C thonic
A merican
M icturition aka trickle-down S.C.A.M.
You have to fight F.A.R.C.E. with farce. The MAGA-loons did pray for a savior and God sent The Most Christian Pussy-Grabbing POTUS in history! Who says God doesn't listen?
Douglas: he ICC can only investigate and prosecute “natural persons” who are over the age of 18. The ICC cannot investigate or prosecute governments, corporations, political parties, or rebel movements, but may investigate individuals who are members of groups.
Flipping the script somewhat, instead of a two-party system in death-throes or unhappy marriage, one that finds renewal in variety, embrace of the other.
D.D. Jackson ; I still wonder why President Obama bailed out the big banks, which gave their CEOs big retirement golden Parachutes, while the workers and the poor, lost jobs, homes and faced bankruptcy. He was not too 'civil' towards those who felt the brunt of that economic debacle! No charges brought against the "Too big to fail"! Sound familiar?
Laurie: Obama was and is a naif, he was controlled by his advisors and cabinet appointed by or rather "suggested" by Larry Summers, His Secretary of the Treasury was a wall street crony, Timothy Geithner, who I believe had worked for Goldman Sachs, and the Chairman of the Fed is picked from the Association of Primary Dealers in Government Securities.
Stupid, arrogant white men brought the world economy to the brink of ruin. Then they hired a colored man to clean up the mess. No wonder many Americans are so pissed! But now another group of stupid, arrogant white men are capitalizing on this anger to create an authoritarian, fossil fuel friendly oligarchy (not unlike Russia).
I used the word as a sarcasm referring to the way African Americans were treated until recently. Obama served dutifully his white patrons. Republicans are careful not to use such words as "colored," but when they attack "woke" they use it as a term of derision and condescension, mostly towards Blacks. I am sorry if I offended you.
JA ; i never said that Obama gave them golden parachutes! They got so much "help" that they (the board) ,could easily afford to lavish the golden parachutes.
Obama had to bail out the banks to prevent the world from descending into another great depression. Yes, he should have done more to help homeowners, and yes, our laws, as Professor Reich has noted, have hold fat cats accountable.
Inspire the rich! You have to show them how higher taxes will benefit their children and grand children, how their contributions will make a healthier society and better country over the long run. And honor the rich! Honor those who are team players in the larger sense of the word. Convince them! Convince them that their contributions will not be wasted on impossible quests and corrupt bureaucrats. Then, maybe then, will you succeed in taxing the rich.
Victor Kamendrowski ; the tax on the rich will be evident if they Don't figure out that extreme Inequality and neglecting the 'husbandry' of our world can lead to the scourge of blight: warfare, the cheapening of life, and eventually threats to profits. Philanthropy had its place when true Conservatism steered wealth inelligently: allowing education to improve the skills of workers. And the knowledge that allows discoveries and innovation.
“More than 4 in 10 voters believe that a second civil war is likely within the next five years, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted April 21-23.”
Thank you professor. I actually believe the Civil War never ended. We’ve been fighting the same battles since reconstruction, just in different formats: Jim Crow, civil rights, voting rights, control of the courts, etc…
That said, I believe the Confederate States of Dunces, I mean the Confederate States of America won the Civil war in 2000 (Bush v Gore), when conservatives solidified itself as a conservative court, and handed the election to Bush, based on the most corrupt and incomprehensible logic. Since then, they have been slowly eroding our rights, in favor of corporations (Citizens United), the rich, religious fanatics and gun owners. And they have been slowly eroding our separation of church and state; the foundation of our identity.
That said, when it comes to Rasmussen; they aren’t a scientific polling company. They ask questions in ways that get the desired outcome for conservatives, and their polling methods are extremely biased.
Not to mention, when it comes to voters, 4-10 voters may believe a second civil war is likely, but over 15% of American adults also believe in “Flat Earth Theory,” and 50% of Americans believe Trump isn’t a crook and the election was stolen; so there’s that.
So American’s opinions aren’t exactly a harbinger of things to come, and they are hardly ever right.
That said, are we really heading towards a civil war on the scale of 1860? Probably not, since our real war is about how “uncivil” our nation and attitudes about each other have become. Will there be violence ahead? Most likely, but not worse or on a scale, than the violence we’ve already experienced!in recent years.
And like it or not, we can’t just decouple from other states. Corporations, food supply, energy and Economics won’t allow it. It’s MAD; mutually assured destruction.
However, my real fear is the courts. Republicans have been slowly taking over the courts since the 1990’s, and they are winning. All of American will be subjugated to the White Nationalist Taliban agenda if Trump wins again, and the Federalist Society and Heritage Foundation fulfill their extreme measures and goals.
A Trump win, means the Federalist Society will own the courts, and the religious zealots will rule by judicial fiat; which means even if democrats retake the executive and legislative branches, republicans will tie up any major legislation for years to come; and then it’s game over.
A silent coup will have taken over this country without a single shot ever being fired. This alone should put the “fear of god” (no pun intended), in all of us.
Robert, While finding your comment mighty thoughtful, I take issue with one point. Contrary to your dismal prognosis were Democrats to control both the legislative and executive branches, I believe, were we to succeed in controlling both branches, we would rebalance the Court by expanding it. After all, considering in 1869 the Court was expanded to nine justices, one to oversee each of the nine U.S. Appellate Circuit Courts, it’s not much of a leap, considering today there are thirteen U.S. Appellate Courts, to argue for adding four additional justices. Further, I would note, because 49 Democratic Senators currently support filibuster reform and/or carve-outs, we must do all we can to hold all 49 seats and flip 1 Republican seat.
My point in writing was to amplify that holding the White House, retaking the House, holding our 49 Senators and adding one more could yield transformational outcomes that motivate me everyday to stay in the fight.
I agree that changing the court size would help solve the problem, but we would need at least 60 senators to change the court size. What are the chances in a divided country and Congress, we’ll ever reach that number?
Robert, As noted in my reply to you, were a Democratically-controlled Senate prepared to enact filibuster reform, which 48 supported in January, 2022 to bring the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act to the floor for debate and an up or down majority vote, the Senate, with just 2 more votes (Fetterman is the 49th), could do the same with expanding the Court.
Filibuster reform is a good start, but it only allows us to bring votes to the floor. You still need 60 senators and control of the house, so I’m still not sure what the point is.
I’m not disagreeing that we will continue the fight regardless. My point is you can’t count on senate reform to change the 60 vote threshold.
Robert, The point of filibuster reform, which nearly succeeded in January, 2022, is to eliminate the 60-vote threshold and allow, with a simple majority, for legislation to move to the floor for debate and an up or down majority vote.
You’re missing the point. Filibuster reform could help change the rules for certain types of legislation (reconciliation). However, changing the makeup of the court would still require 60 votes.
And even if you’re correct, which you aren’t, then what’s to stop republicans from doing the same when they retake office?
In which case, every four to eight years, a new administration would upend our democracy and reshape the country for another four to eight years. It would literally debilitate our government into perpetual dysfunction and paralysis.
Peggy, Thank you for your comment. My hope is that increasingly more people become increasingly more galvanized as they increasingly recognize not only how close we are to reforming the Court but also how close we are to reforming the country with increasingly more progressive policy.
Tom Amending the constitution to reform the court is a pipe dream, so long as conservatives have their court and can stop an amendment.
An amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds vote of both Houses of Congress, or, if two-thirds of the States request one, by a convention called for that purpose. The amendment must then be ratified by three-fourths of the State legislatures, or three-fourths of conventions called in each State for ratification.
Now how are you going to do that when Republicans control 28 State Legislatures?
Tom, MoveToAmend would require a two-thirds majority in each U.S. Chamber ratified by three-fourths of the States, an impossibility in the foreseeable (and possibly the distant) future. In contrast, if we retake the House, hold a Senate majority poised to reform the filibuster rule, and hold the White House, we only need a mere majority in both chambers to expand the Court.
I completely agree Barbara. It’s tempting to wallow in despair because I can barely recognize my country anymore. But like you, I try to focus on the possibility of the good we can do if Biden is reelected and we have a majority of Dems in both the House and Senate.
William, Because currently 49 Democratic Senators support filibuster reform and/or cut-outs, we need to flip only 1 seat to have the 50 required to change the filibuster rule, thus allowing legislation to move to the floor for debate and an up or down majority vote.
You are talking about the Nuclear Option, but that requires a majority leader with a spine, which Chuck Schumer lacks.
Barbara: In the modern Senate, this means that most measures now typically requires 60 votes to advance, unless a specific exception limiting the time for debate applies. Changing Rule XXII to eliminate the 60-vote threshold is made difficult by the rules themselves.
Yes. Absolutely agree with every single word. I have seen the erosion since Reagan was enshrined. He was a terrible governor & and an “installed president “ by the Kitchen Cabinet & William French Smith. The Courts are the enforcement of laws that are unjust.
Actually the courts can't enforce anything. They have to either call on civil or military authorities to do so. They can issue rulings but apparently according to Texas and several other Red states, they don't have to be followed. A bad precedent for the Court System if they can't do something about it.
True, they don’t have enforcement authority. However, once you start ignoring the courts rulings, then the rule of law no longer applies, and our institutions fall apart; exactly the outcome the anarchists and fascists want.
It’s a conundrum, and one that will tear the very fabric of this nation apart.
I agree, but easier said than done. Especially when the country as a whole has $38 trillion in debt. Plus Texas is the seventh largest economy in the world at $2.4 trillion, and the second largest economy in the country, behind California (fourth largest by GDP).
Yes of course. But if Texas is no longer subsidized by the US Military directly and the US taxpayer indirectly,... Texas is on a bit of a free ride don't you think?
They sentence people to prison, but it is the DOJ that actually puts them in prison. Remember, Trump had several aids that were found guilty, and Barr refused to defend the convictions on appeal. The cases were dropped.
In the past, presidents have refused to follow the SC rulings. See The Trail of Tears, when Andrew Jackson’s Native American Removal Order was overturned by the SC and Jackson ignored the ruling.
The point is a president could ignore the SC, and there’s nothing the SC can do because the federal police are part of the Executive branch…:)
Yes, but institutions usually outlast "he who has the power," and that gives peace and stability to a country. With Republican and Fake News Trump has already seriously undermined our institutions. When he becomes "dictator for one day" all he has to do is declare a national emergency.
Allow me to set the stage for what I am going to say.
As Hannah Ahrendt said, Dictators telegraph what they are going to do by accusing others of what they intend to do.
Thus Trump accused the Democrats of stealing the election, now he is claiming that if he loses then the election is rigged
If the Muslims, blacks and young folk a protesting sit on their hands as they threaten, he will be elected, then I can guarantee that on Jan 20th, or 21st there will be massive protest. He will use any protests as an excuse to claim martial law., and if there is none he has his people fake a protest, like they claimed Jan 6th was an antifa/BLM event.
He will invoke his Article II [powers to claim a National Emergency, and from there, a dictator, however he can't or shouldn't be able to mobilize the Pentagon that fast, first he will have to demote or transfer the present Chief of Staffs and Chairman, and appoint Generals willing to do his bidding, and there are careerists and even ideologues willing to step in, same with cabinet positions, since Congress needs to approve Military promotions and cabinet positions, he will do as he did last time, appoint acting cabinet members, like Acting Secretary of Defense, Acting Sec of Army, Navy, AF and the will then fire and hire temporary Generals.
There is a provision, that in times of emergency, which he can declare, the President can brevet an officer. During the civil war, a lieutenant of cavalry was brevetted to General, name of George Armstrong Custer, and he isn't the only one. The Surgeon General wears an Admirals uniform with stripes, but never served a day even as a private.
40 US Code chapter 35
§601. Positions of importance and responsibility: generals and lieutenant generals; admirals and vice admirals
(a) The President may designate positions of importance and responsibility to carry the grade of general or admiral or lieutenant general or vice admiral. The President may assign to any such position an officer of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Space Force who is serving on active duty in any grade above colonel or, in the case of an officer of the Navy, any grade above captain. An officer assigned to any such position has the grade specified for that position if he is appointed to that grade by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Except as provided in subsection (b), the appointment of an officer to a grade under this section for service in a position of importance and responsibility ends on the date of the termination of the assignment of the officer to that position.
All that Trump would have to do is declare a national emergency on day one (he already hinted that that is what he intends to do: "dictator for one day") and then rule by decree. Republicans will rubber stamp anything he does, and SCOTUS already is owned by the Federalist Society.
Yes, they are but not for the next forty years. If Trump wins and republicans retake the senate, then Thomas, Alito and Robert’s would be given huge paychecks to resign before the midterms and they would be replaced with new federalist society judges; giving them at least a six-three advantage for the next forty years. Plus, they’ll replace at least 200 district and circuit court judges.
And Trump will owe the Federalist Society BIGLY of reelected since it’s Cannon and the SC that delayed his trials until after the election. Add the Heritage Foundation to the mix, and now imagine what this nation has to look forward to in the new MAGA America: DYSTOPIA!!!!!…:)
I don't think a poll on this issue of civil war means much at all exept a barometer of people's unhappiness with politics.
We have a functioning executive branch, a dysfunctional legislative branch, a dysfunctional 4th estate (media) , and a judicial branch that I pray will come through but is mighttily challenged right now especially with the knuckleheads in the Supreme Court.I am concerned by the increasing challenge of climate change and how our society and government respond and whether it causes greater fracture.
The number of red states that have successfully passed ballot initiatives that amend their constitutions to include the right to have an abortion is growing quickly. This November, Florida and Arizona will be voting on just such amendments. When the US Supreme Court took away a right that has been settled law for 50 years, people get mad and band together, red and blue.
Heading for a break-up unlike any but USSR went through something similar BUT will be more VIOLENT as too many idiots have guns!The USA seems its full of idiots and a smaller & smaller as a proportion of sensible people!
When independent not politically aligned VOTERS seem to want to vote for TRUMP, the country seems to have more idiots than probably any other Nation
People relocating from Blue states to Red states are driving up real estate prices, and can afford cost of living increases. Likely, it will be even worse for the poor in the Red states as they loose their lands to those with more resources. One would hope the relocaters might bring Blue state ethical standards which are usually better than Red states but I recently read a summary that states as the income gap has widened, the ethical gaps have also widened. People feel more free to 'do what they want', even walking on others to get it. So, not only does Richy Rich exploit us , but we exploit each other more readily in this context of 45 years of de-evolution.
Good fences making good neighbours presupposes those neighbours are motivated by the common good. In a post war world of global hyper capitalism politics reflect the motives of wealthy bullies. Those who perceive any fence or legal regulation as a personal affront to their ‘earned’ right to grab any land or life anywhere they feel like.
Nowhere near 'enough' , after 50 years of deconstruction of 'US common good' in the context of daily multi species extinction, severe overpopulation, economic & environmental migrations , ice packs melting as humans sit in front of screens being 'entertained'. And, the band played on for Richy Rich!!
Vicki, there are two migrations. Elderly retired moving to warm states, and what corporations stayed in America, or foreign corporations that have assembly plants moved to southern and right to work states.
Now people who care about civil rights and personal freedom are moving back to blue states, meanwhile theocrats and racists are moving to places like Idaho.
The US of A isn't rotten Vicki. Just some of the people. All told I have no complaints, from the home of a single mother in a project, to a comfortable life. Then again I have made some good choices, that canceled out the very bad choices that I have made.
I am 85 and just came back from a visit with my PCP, I had my blood tested last week, five different tests, BP is 112/58, and test results for everything save my HbA1C is OK for a prediabetic., and my A1c is in a safe range 5.7 for a pre diabetic. Life is good, loving wife and helpmate, no problems, no worries. I am the wealthiest person on the planet. Nothing to fear, northing to be angry about either, however I am concerned for the future because I do have descendants, 42 of them.
Good for you, William. I am half a person in the US as are 51% of the population. I have watched everything I worked for be deconstructed in healthcare to moneycare for the few . I have seen standards of care be dissolved and checks and balances ignored, then eradicated. I have witnessed my society dumb down and go rotten value wise from everything I was taught and lived. I am disgusted, disheartened, and being present to Mother Earth's total destruction warrants feelings I can not describe in their grief. Human beings have proved incapable of ‘common good’ .
Yes, I experience this every day where I live. I can not have a conversation with a Trump supporter. It’s very frustrating. When you have Republicans listening to lies and conspiracy theories all the time, then a good portion of the public is not getting the truth and there in lies the problem. Two different information worlds. Not sure how you solve that problem or if it is solvable.
Jack, I live in a sea of red, too! Anytime trump supporters start regurgitating the lies they hear on right-wing media, I always ask for proof of what they are saying. I will point out the obvious lie but I don't turn it into a screaming match. If they get worked up, I simply tell them it seems we need to agree to disagree in the nicest way I can and that is when I end the conversation. Basically, all we can do is meet their lies with the truth even though they will NOT believe it! Vote Blue, America!!
Good for you! Mr. Reich encourages us to interact with people that we disagree with. I do all the time (my family are all MAGA). Don't lose your temper, no shouting or insults. Sometimes I am able to convince them that Fox News is not always right and Trump isn't as wonderful as they think. I find that most MAGA people (once you get away from politics and religion) are decent people not much different from the rest of us. My two cents...
I don't know anyone from the "Charlottesville" wing of the MAGA, and I hope never do! The MAGA I know want to send pizza to the ovens. I have tried on them the ideas you note (frequently) in your posts, and I have found that they respond well to them. Most have never heard of this stuff, thanks to the news media! They also respond well to Democratic plans to increase taxes on the rich. They detest the rich ripping them off as much as we do!
You are quite right, Tim! My friends and neighbors are very republican and are very nice. They are quick to help when needed, enjoy visiting with each other, and are very decent individuals. They have different political views than I do; however, it does not change the fact that we are friends.
Exactly the same here, Jack. I avoid having a conversation with a TUMP supporter also. They strike me as being ignorant and brainwashed and very delusional.
The first civil war has never truly ended at all. As long as there has been bigotry and excessive greed, it has remained, lingering just below the surface. Truly a sad state of affairs.
The Electorial College is Destroying the country of the USA . The Electorial College should be abolished ; Ranking Voting rounds and Mandatory voting will make us a country Again.
I agree on getting rid of the Electoral College...but ranked voting? Why don't we just get rid of the party affiliations first and impose term limits to 1 term, so those in Congress actually devote their time legislating and not fund-raising for their re-election?
I was referring to the presidency. Congress is another story. It takes time to learn the system and there is value in seniority; otherwise, Congress will be run by unelected staff.
I agree that the EC is an unnecessary roadblock to democracy and should be abolished. It is an old 200+ year artifact of the early founders of this country, rich white men/slaveholders who thought the rest of us were complete idiots with not enough brain cells to vote "properly"and therefore needed approved gatekeepers to control the votes. So, when have we ever had a true democracy if the wealthiest citizens among us have always called the shots? Citizens United and the Federalist Society are just newer euphemisms for the descendants of these vile people.
Canada is already a democracy, and I doubt we would be willing to give up our sovereignty, but it is quite likely that we would favorably entertain requests from the blue states to join the confederation.
Quebec is part of Canada. Whenever there has been a referendum on Quebec independence, the majority have voted to remain in Canada. It has been some years since the issue has even come up
Wow, this post by professor Reich describes my situation, exactly. My next door neighbor and his wife haven't spoken to us for 4 years now. His home is a mere 100 feet from mine. Every family on this 3 mile stretch of county road are DJT fanatics except for my family. I desperately need to sell out and move to a blue state, preferably in the New England area. I was wanting to move to New Brunswick, Canada, but i am tired of waiting for them to reply for my request for immigration there. Vermont or Maine sounds good to me, Maine shares their eastern border with New Brunswick, Canada and i wouldn't have to deal with that immigration BS by staying in the United States. The summer season is much more pleasant in New England than it is here in the Southeast. With my heart condition, hot and humid weather makes me violently ill and i have to stay in an air conditioned environment in the Summer here. Cold weather doesn't bother me much and i like snow.
I desperately want out of Georgia and away from Marge Traitor Goon and that a-hole governor, Brian Kemp SOB.
John, you'd better read up quickly on the state of politics in New Brunswick. The Premier would do very well as governor of Georgia and has made life difficult for trans kids. Because of Canada using the Westminster system, a premier with a majority government can do pretty much whatever they want. Meanwhile on the federal scene, the leader of the Conservative Party is doing his best to bring Trumpism to Canada and polls have him leading for an election that will be next year. Meanwhile, here in Ontario we have a Conservative premier who is busy wrecking everything in sight to enrich his cronies and supporters. He's the older brother of the infamous "Crack Mayor" of Toronto. At this point, moving from Georgia to anywhere in Canada would be an improvement, but you would find all the same issues. Just like American guns, a lot of bad American political ideas get smuggled across the border.
I once read a Op-Ed in the Washington Post that contained similar remarks with regard to Civil War being the inevitable demise of the United States because of all of the prejudices we have.
I'm spent twenty years in the U.S. Navy. I served in Vietnam and I have contributed much to my country's war efforts in ways I'm unable to say here. I will say there are people capable of using any excuse to tear our country apart!
Misconceptions of the facts have lead to acts of sedition and insurrection all over the world. As a Black American, I have experienced all there is to know about racism and those who would use race as a reason to Take Our Country Back! Just be sure that you are on the good side of that war.
I, for one, will not return to the era where I am again subjected to what my forefathers endeared! There are many more of us than they are of those wishing to be done with democracy!
I hope those believing that such a cause is noble realize that a man fighting for his freedom is as ferocious as a bull elephant on a rampage!
Thank you, Robert for your valuable information about New Brunswick. I had forgotten about what i saw on the ''Google Earth'' thing when i went down to street level on a rural highway in New Brunswick i noticed a damn U.S. confederate rebel flag flying in their front yard. I was both surprised and appalled by the sight of that. For some reason, i kind of got a vibe that New Brunswick possibly could be leaning toward the insanity of TUMP and his cult following.
I actually knew that Alberta and Saskatchewan has gotten caught up in the horrible American political ideas that bled through their borders with Montana and Idaho and North Dakota.
How much is that leader of the Conservative Party leading by in those polls??? I wonder out loud what is happening to people that get caught up in the so-called Conservative BS? From what i learned in my United States Government class when i was a in grade eleven in high school, TUMP and his followers are actually beyond, '' Conservative'' they are the farthest to the right as ''Reactionaries'' These idiots i live around are over the top with this TUMP crap. I had to get some plumbing supplies at a Home Depot store yesterday and i saw people with signs in their yards with Donald TUMP's mugshot on them, and ignorant idiot had cut the name, T R U M P in his grass in huge letters. I
am beyond sick of this place. In my office thing here at my home, i have the Canadian red and white maple leaf national desk flags flying in here. That's how fed up i am with what's going on here in the very troubled USA.
I have read that the TUMP thing is gaining traction in England now too.
Do you know if the state of politics in Nova Scotia is stable right now? I like Nova Scotia and Ontario also. I like that little city in British Columbia, ''Prince George'' at lot too..
I live in a paradise, climate wise, environmentally, socially, politically, economically, some minor disadvantages and it is blue. and in the contiguous 48, but I ain't tellin cause Im selfish, and don't want paradise spoiled,
Trump supporters act like that because they have been led to believe that they, as an ethnic group, and their wonderful Western civilization, are under attack, and that you are complicit. They have been bombarded with this kind of propaganda for well over a decade, and they are really scared and angry.
I am stuck in a Red State, too old to move across town, much less across the nation to Southern California. Used to be in the Blue tip of this red penisula, but it is now as red as a dogs penis. So, when the Ignorant, Racist, Misogynist, anti-LGBT, Bigots finally take total control as they have been whittling away at civil rights for years, I will be like the old, infirm victims of the Holocaust stuck in Germany in the late 1930s, just waiting for the DeathSantis goons to come throw me in the streets.
There is irony that I saw it coming in March of 2016 and gave warning as did many others, that fell on the deluded ears of the Rabid MAGAt Cultists (some relatives & former friends with whom I have cut off all contact). It is not my tragedy. I have had a long and good life, longer than most of my contemporaries. However, I fear for the young ppl; my grandsons and the many liberal young ppl still here in this once bastion of freedom in a Lockstep, White Christian* Nationalist State. (*Jesus the Christ never said any of the hateful shit that these ignorant asswipes spew).
Worse. they tend to be highly respected by those who do, for one reason or another "play by the rules," but really don't want to - the way it was in the early 20th century.
I'd like to share an alternative view about why there is an increasingly bitter division between "red and blue" That boils down to the desperation of the right wing facing the fact that it could no longer win fair elections, largely as the result of the emergence of a vote-armed multinational, multi-cultural population. The only road these increasingly right wing forces saw was white Christian ultra nationalism which we now see is on the road to replacing democracy with the American version of European fascism. In each political and social battle taking place, the fascist paradigm always concludes that more toxic racism and threat of violence is the only hope for seizing more power. Therefore , I do not see a quiet separation between red and blue. I think we are headed for more and more fascist violence. Whether that tips into open warfare and societal breakdowns depends on the resolution of the democratic forces to meet these attacks with stern justice. I believe that in the final analysis, the prevention of civil war will be determined by the US armed forces commitment to honor its oath to stop "all enemies of the US constitution, external and internal.
“Our major secret weapon is to deprive you of an enemy,” said Georgi Arbatov, director of the Soviet Academy of Sciences’ Institute for U.S and Canada Studies said in 1987.
The deep-seated need of many Americans for an enemy/adversary is at the root of this. There are many people who can't handle peace and cooperation -- and so the conditions are never even visualized as achievable.
Worth taking another look at Alan Watts' 1951 book, The Wisdom of Insecurity.
Starting decades ago, when I would return to the USA from staying in Japan or Europe, I always got the feeling I was leaving sanity for insanity. This was also somewhat true when flying from the Pacific Northwest to Detroit, back when Microsoft and Starbucks were in their infancy, and Boeing was the cream of US industrial firms.
There is peace under a world dictatorship, or one would think so,but a dictatorship needs a common enemy to keep the people distracted, when there is no enemy they fall in on themselves, as we are doing in America. That was a point in George Orwell's dystopian novel.
Putin will bring peace to Europe, when he forces it to submit.
Xi will bring peace to Asia when he forces it to submit.
Then Putin and Xi (or there successors, can force each other to submit.
I totally agree Paul. The division is created, fostered, maintained by the financial elite, the establishment, the oligarchs, the plutocrats whatever you call them. They maintain power by keeping us at each others throats. They are not inconvenienced by laws. Laws are made for us, not for them. The only time they run afoul of the law, is when they shit in the wrong mess kit, like Bernie Maddoff, or SBF.
Look at Trump. If that were us, we would have been buried in the prison cemetery, He not only has his cult in his right pocket, but the real powers, the money powers, the PTB in his left pocket, for they empty their piggy banks into his, almost on request.
IMO, what you're saying about the US military comes out of your imagination rather than actual experience. I served in the Navy, along with two siblings. In my experience, you could not be more wrong when you wrote "high percentage." It might be as high as 10 to 20 percent for the Navy -- and in that segment is a wide variation of how deeply those views are held.
Someone who is a hardcore racist or homophobe will be found out and filtered out. Christian nationalism has made inroads in some branches, but there are organizations to help deal with that too.
You and I disagree Thomas. I am a retired officer of 26 years and had been an enlisted team leader of a special ops outfit.
I do not hang my hat on help from the service. If you look at all armies everywhere, they follow orders, or else, it was the 101st Airborne that backed down the Arkansas National Guard when Little Rock high refused to integrate.
The military has run exercises to deal with domestic problems, and I helped write some of the plans.
If Trump is elected he will replace the Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces with cronies, if only by acting appointments.
What your stats fail to consider is that among the 10 to 20 percent who hold really strong right-wing views, how many would dishonor themselves by betraying their oath of enlistment?
That betrayal marks a GIANT step from merely holding right-wing views, and crosses the line to outright treason.
Trump has proven his contempt for the military, and his utter lack of loyalty to anything. This has not escaped the notice of those dedicated to serving our country.
Oath of enlistment for enlisted: I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed .. over me.
Pay attention: Obey the orders of the President and officers...
Failure to obey is grounds for court martial. Troops obey orders, that have done so for as long as there has been an army.
Now the officer ranks well I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State (Commonwealth, District, Territory) of ___ against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the Office of [grade] in the Army/Air National Guard of the State (Commonwealth, District, Territory) of ___ on which I am about to enter, so help me God.[3]
I am a regular commissioned officer, I am still bound by the UCMJ, if I committed treason I could be court martialed,
Lt Gen Michael Flynn is also a regular commissioned officer and could be court martialed for treason.
Now that the officer ranks are full of officers brainwashed by theocrats, like Col Martha McSally, what chance of the Pentagon refusing to obey Trump.
Lt Gen (Now Full General promoted by Biden) Charles Flynn, brother of traitor Mike, was manning the desk at the Pentagon on Jan 6th letting the phone ring off the hook, because he was part of the plan., and Biden twice rewarded him by appointing him Commander of Pacific Forces and promotion to four star.
So tell me about our loyal military. dude they follow orders, like all military.
Az, I agree, as a 26 year retired mustang, I spent most of my career in special ops, and I know that they are all right wingers, I've been retired for over 30 years and I wouldn't be surprised if they were Trump Humpers, they sure were in love with Donald Rumsfeld when he was Sec Def. Rummie fulfilled their wish list, gave them all of the toys and support that their hearts desire, and elevated them in stature.
After Operation Eagle Claw, the failed hostage rescue operation, our stature and support ballooned.
The enlisted corps is comprised mainly of boys from the south and midwest who have no employment opportunities other wise, and minorities who join for the same reason.
There has been and still is racial tension in the ranks.. The officer corps, well there are two routes to commissioning, the Academies which have been infected with Dominionism, and ROTC/Officer candidate school.
We need the common sense party. Some places are too far right and some can be too far left! What about those of us that just want to live our lives in peace ✌️ Sorry Robert but transgender women don’t belong in women’s sports if they have gone through puberty as a male. What about women’s rights and the fact that some disingenuous people will take advantage. The minute Democrats have control of the house and senate we should pass an abortion law. Totally unfair for poor women to have no local access to abortion!!!!! Abortion for the rich in red states😡🤬
Andrea, that is exactly what my sister said to me!! She wanted to start a common sense party and it would be filled with people who are sick and tired of the chaos and crap!! Those of us who simply want our country to quieten down and move forward peacefully!!
No, common sense does exist, like facts. Common sense - like you bring a fever down with a tepid bath, not a hot bath.
There are plenty of us out here with common sense, and a desire to do things for the common good. Ruthlessness, greed and corruption need to become taboo. Peer pressure works. Shame works.
Thank you, Elizabeth! These conversations are so very helpful to me for understanding and clarity! There are so many smart contributors like yourself. It's nice to understand different perspectives! When it comes to trump - sometimes I have tunnel vision because I truly cannot stand the orange man. Others on this feed keep me grounded and help me maintain my sanity!!
Andrea, you are painting with too broad a brush as regards transgendered women (and men)
There are males, that are built like women, and women built like men.
There are post SRS (sexual reassignment surgery) that did not develop like other males, and there are women who would put many a male to shame.
Both genders have testosterone, which is what really makes a male and female, other than genitalia.. Some women have an oversupply In women, testosterone is produced in various locations. One quarter of the hormone is produced in the ovary, a quarter is produced in the adrenal gland, and one half is produced in the peripheral tissues from the various precursors produced in the ovaries and adrenal gland. and are masculinized, some men don't have so much and are feminized.
You don't know any transgendered, so you speak out of ignorance and stereotypes
Bruce Jenner, I refuse to call him Katlyn, is an autogynephiliac, not transgendered, despite his surgeries, he has no respect for others including ciswomen.
Macho men, especially in the armed forces, have erected huge barriers for entry into many specialties, like special ops, by having impossible physical standards and requirements in training, to weed out women and men who don't fit their superman self image.
Women, because of their physique and biology, make better fighter pilots than men, and better swimmers than men. Women are able to tolerate pain and cold better than men., and they don't muscle up the way men do, but with training and practice they can hump a rucksack and gear like a male, and females have more endurance than a male.
Here is something that transphobes don't take into account, the effect of hormones on muscle mass and bone.
The transsexual has to undergo years of hormone therapy, estrogen for transwomen, testosterone of transmen, and estrogen diminishes muscle mass and bone mass as well.
A post surgery (SRS) transwoman, no longer has a source of testosterone (the gonads) and thus loses muscle mass and bone mass faster
Thus a post operative transwoman really doesn't have a physical advantage.
Now that all goes out the window for a pre op Transwoman., who has only been on hormone therapy a short time.
I don''t think that pre op Transwomen should compete, and on that we agree, but it is a different story for post op transpeople.
I lived in the Bay Area, and my social circle included just about every variety of the species you can thing of racial, mental, social, gendered, sexual, political.
It’s undeniably true that Republican-controlled “Red” states, almost across the board, have higher rates of:
Spousal abuse, Obesity, Smoking, Teen pregnancy, Sexually transmitted diseases, Abortion, Bankruptcies and poverty, Homicide and suicide, Infant mortality, Maternal mortality, Forcible rape, Robbery and aggravated assault, Dropouts from high school, Divorce, Contaminated air and water, Opiate addiction and deaths, Unskilled workers, Parasitic infections, Income and wealth inequality, Covid deaths and unvaccinated people, Federal subsidies to states (“Red State Welfare”), People on welfare, Child poverty, Homelessness, Spousal murder, Unemployment, Deaths from auto accidents, and People living on disability.
.
From "How Come Everything the Republican Party Stands for Involves Other People Dying?”
Trump will not be our President again. He is SCUM OF THE EARTH TRASH , absolutely disgusting and a worthless human being. Women will make sure he never sits in the Oval Office again. Ever!
He can't live forever - it must be close. The supporters might be damaged for life though. I don't think we can ever be as good as we used to be. Just the environmental damage alone is going to make it rough - the political sore might never heal either.
Now that was pretty depressing. The best we can do is “remain civil” and not have an all out civil war? We need another Obama unifier - let’s hope he wasn’t the last (even if it takes a bit).
@DD Jackson. Fight. We can sweep. Turn red states purple. E.G. My red state -- Florida __ Trump won by 3,2 % in 2020, 1.2 % in 2016 . All we need to win is to flip 4% of Trump supporters.
We put abortion and marijuana in play on the ballot. 80% of all women oppose the current law. Millions of unregistered women trend heavily Democratic. Register Democrats -- save democracy.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
IMHO Trump does not have the same market share he did in 2020.
https://rvat.org/
Flipping republican voters is unlikely. Florida needs to get its infrequent Democratic voters to the polls. That could do it. And if abortion is on the ballot, that could do it, too.
"Trump hates dogs" works,
Did you not see the video? https://rvat.org/
I'm in several projects. Veterans. "Not suckers or losers" Works, https://votevets.org/
SSI recipients. "Don't slit your own throat." Works.
I've got more.
Challenging as it is, I attempt to stay in the positive realm when I speak to voters. When they are hesitant, I ask if they would be willing to let me tell them why I am spending my precious time making calls to voters instead of sitting in my rocking chair and reading my book. Much of the time, they listen. Sometimes that brief conversation meaningfully gets the voter thinking about being a voter and thinking through some issues that are important to them. The main thing is to get them to vote, and to vote for Democrats.
I call people who are not registered. FT6. Trend Democratic. I usually find out what their occupation is. They want to hear what I have to say. Ballot won't be set until August. For women we call about abortion.
In 2020 when I cold called into Pa and North Carolina to a general population, I found a lot of people who didn't know they were entitled to benefits of some kind. I'd say in WPa, about 20% fit into the "don't slit your own throat" category. I am comfortable with veterans, old people like me. "Don't vote to sunset your SS and Medicare." Food stamps. VA benefits. Black Lung.
We are not at the GOTV stage. In my state our ballot won't be set until primary in August.
We also text -- 2 kinds and send postcards to unregistered folks. I text using 2 different methods.
FT6 has stats of the effectiveness in 2022. I am also involved in 2 groups - Focus for Democracy and Blue Tent that use stats to make recommendations to donors. I was in a program last night. Here's some rationale from Galvanize, one of their favorite groups, and partners with FT 6, and others.
https://playbook.galvanizeaction.org/
Stop the Coup. https://www.stopthecoup2025.org/unpacking-the-propaganda
Broken Truth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRSNNrAfv3s
The Day That Democracy Died https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ue5F57dZMU
Important work, Daniel. Thanks for doing it. I mostly call voters to engage them. Recently we got out the vote to local elections in Milwaukee City and County, heavily Democratic, but the goal was, as I understood, to have conversations with voters, set up the awareness that elections are now and will be this summer and November. Asking directly if they will vote for President Biden and Senator Tammy Baldwin. Creating momentum.
Also - Trump hates women that are not models
I don’t think he likes anyone, not just women. It seems everyone is some kind of target to be abused or manipulated.
He even hates models ; He said " I Treat women like $#it" in an interview in 2021. One of his wives actually sued him for rape after he pulled her hair so savagely , in the act, that she was injured. She later recanted, pressured, no doubt, by threats.
That was the wife that died from a “fall” down the stairs and was buried on a golf course.
Models is a euphemism. There are several photo's of "model" Melania still on the netz.
Except when he is grabbing them by the pussy, Donald prefers porn stars.
Rephrase- Trump hates women that can’t be controlled and arent beautiful by narcissistic standards
He will grab any woman he finds attractive, who looks like an easy mark.
Lest we forget, he also likes getting spanked.
He secretly hates models too.
tRump hates football too. Biden needs to do some ads with Taylor+Travis, Colin Kaepernick (sp?), etc.
Daniel, Oooo, I like your ideas. They could work. We saw what happened in the media when Kristi Noem reported on her killing of her dog for bad behavior, and her goat too (she didn't even cook it for dinner). DeSantis and his crew are flawed human beings. There have to be ways to point that out specifically to voters that could get them up and out on election day. Thanks for getting the word out!
Veterans for All Voters is also working on getting information to people. As an affiliate, Better Ballot NC works with them—and others, like League of Women Voters & Common Cause—to educate voters about electoral reform. They adopted a useful book: The Politics Industry. I’ve found it helpful when chatting with people who are more focused on specific issues, like guns or abortions, to talk about WHY we are so polarized: the geographic sort, partisan gerrymanders, and how the plurality/winner-take-all voting method incentivizes politicians to use awful campaign tactics.
And what can be done about it. I think it is critical for people like me (educated, worried, engaged, now an organizer) to feel hope that this whole slide toward autocracy + kleptocracy is not inevitable, so we can fight for what will truly make a difference long-term: electing Dems now AND demanding electoral reforms. For people like my Republican friends in the Villages & Orlando, I just hope to pierce the bubble of “My community is safe, healthy, and happy. Yes, we’re politically conservative, but also open to different views. The border is an important issue. Biden must be ousted!” At least I got an answer! This week, when I asked how his views have evolved. And years ago, when a conversation got heated. He thought Trump would be a better President b/c he was a businessman and I talked about how to make healthcare accessible and affordable.
We are putting together a Florida version of the DNC Coffeetalk. I've been involved since 2020. "Not suckers or losers" is highly effective. There's strength in numbers. I just looked up Veterans for All Voters. 501 c3/ Not a Democratic group. Try Vote Vets. . https://votevets.org/
Thank you SOOOOOO much for the rvat video, Daniel. It just now gave me a sliver, and i mean sliver, of a hope that we can elect Joe for another term, because that P.O.S. Trump seems to slide through everything that he's been charged with, ESPECIALLY instigating the insurrection of our countries US Capital on Jan. 6th 2021. I just don't get how he slithers through this stuff!!!!!
Floridian here. Know that we have a large, near majority of Blue voters in FL.
My county (home of MAL) remains Blue. FL went for Obama x2. Our problem is gerrymandering & GOP dirty tricks. Plz count on us to vote en masse for our Amendment 4 to restore women’s rights!
We will just keep at it, Rose, despite all the roadblocks. I am counting on you, and you can count on me!
💙
Florida Democrats can’t seem to get their act together. Why not? Dirty tricks in Florida have a long history especially where black voters are concerned. Why hasn’t that been dealt with? I realize many right-wing northerners move to Florida, and many people are leaving Florida because of over population and climate change impacts so it’s a very fluid situation. I would think that DeSatan making it into a fascist model for the other red states would motivate an aggressive response. Or is it already too late?
Richard, you're not wrong. And it's not too late. In 2020 I spent the last two weeks on an intensive daily phone bank team of a hundred of us calling into the Cape Canaveral area. We didn't win, but we increased the number of Democratic voters. We need everyone to do everything they can to get on the phones, write postcards, knock on doors. Together we can ferret out the infrequent voters, the people whose lives are too busy to remember to vote, folks who need a reminder that there is early voting and voting by mail, in anticipation of the inevitable event that prevents them from going in on election day. Slow and steady....
Not if you get off the couch!
The reason it hasn’t been dealt with is because, once one of the major parties is in power, they are less incentivized to introduce & champion electoral reforms that would get us off this endless seesaw of the duopoly, which has devolved to its logical form: hyperpartisan gridlock combined with strong financial incentives to keep the system going.
Rose and Donna, I’m glad to hear you speak with strong intent! I lived in Orlando for 8 years; it’s where I met my husband. I was just on a call with a pro-voter, pro-democracy organizer in Florida named Daria. She’s with an organization called RMVF at https://www.rankmyvoteflorida.org/meet_the_team3.
Pro-democracy groups are trying to build relationships with allies to enact lasting reforms that would enable us to shut down some of those dirty tricks. We’re dealing with it full on here in North Carolina, too. GOP Supermajority in a state that is sort of evenly split between GOP/Dems/Unaffiliated. Unaffiliated are the largest and growing.
Over 80% of elections in the U.S. are not competitive. We have to change that, too, after we get out the blue vote in 2024.
DeSantis and Rick Scott have hijacked Florida. People are broken there. Books, free speech, voting rights. Deporting people with million dollar rides to Texas.
True, KnoxAnn, Florida is under siege. Experience tells us that things can change. (Rebecca Solnit's book, Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities). I look to Wisconsin which is on the precipice of flipping the state legislature to blue in November. I look to Ohio voters who last summer showed up to protect the continuation of majority rule on ballot initiatives, and in November enshrined reproductive healthcare in the state constitution. I could go on here, but instead, let's get on the phones to voters, participate in voter registration, sign up to be an "election protection volunteer" for Common Cause, write postcards for Activate America or Blue Wave Postcards, sign up with a campaign of a candidate whose election will add voice to democracy. . . .
But Daniel, despite all of this, Trump has shown a steadily increasing lead over Biden in Florida in the last 3 years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_States_presidential_election_in_Florida
A current average of polls puts him 8 points ahead.
Are you going to flip 400,000 votes in Florida?
While the situation is less drastic in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Arizona and Virginia, recent polls make it clear that Biden is underwater in all these swing states except for Wisconsin, where Biden is marginally ahead.
The hour is late. Biden has done an outstanding job of stabilizing the country after the chaos of Trump + Covid. He will go down well in history. BUT we need to turn the page.
First the polls are trending toward Biden and as Simon says, and as your broker will tell you, the trend is our friend. Second abortion will 1. increase turnout and 2 flip many women. Same with marijuana. Third, we will add maybe a million new voters who trend Democratic.
Statewide, whereas Democrats had conceded many races to Republicans, this year we have many horseraces. And hopefully Fladems, which was disfunctional will now be more effective.
BTW I bet that wiki was written in Vladivostok.
I agree w much of what you’ve said but there is still DeSantis’ election police and although I’m not concerned about my own vote being recorded I worry about Dem counties that will be targeted: no mail in or limited, change in number of days and hours the precinct is open for voting vs just closing the precinct.
Always a problem.
In 2020 we lost because of Miami Dade and Palm Beach counties. We should have a million vote lead coming from those counties. Maybe more. Won't be the same this year.
Statewide 3,533,149 are registered "no party." Half or more are women. HAVE to beak our way.
The unregistered are not interested either they don’t care or are just trying to survive. I think the problem started when Charlie Crist decided he didn’t want a second term as governor and all hell broke loose. He loses to Rubio for Senate, the governor’s seat is left open for someone w bags of money to buy it ( Scott) and then before you can say Citizens United the other senate seat belongs to Scott. Adam Putnam, The commissioner of Agriculture ( and former congressman) was lined up to be the next governor and considered a decent, respectable man w/o an extreme agenda but somehow DeSantis’ people got to trump and Putnam lost in the primary. Andrew Gillum, the mayor of Tallahassee who lost to DeSantis by less than .4% and was the only hope for a future competitive Dem candidate imploded after the election. And yet events like the Ziegler’s have no effect on the electorate. Books still being pulled, state Universities under the control of Repub cronies and even after multiple school shootings, easier access to guns w no need for permits.
Thanks for the numbers, Daniel. Good to know.
RNC is recruiting armed poll watchers, their goal is 100,000 a perceptive and aware person would ignore them, but I fear that some will be intimidated.
How is that even legal?
Armed poll workers!!!! This is nuts
Daniel, this is hopeful, but let's be clear: Should Trump win it will be the end of democracy in our country. Republicans have made it abundantly clear that they will rubber-stamp whatever he does. All he has to do is use the highly visible and dramatic border situation to declare a state of national emergency-- and that's it.
Anyone, including you and Michael can edit Wikipedia, so long as they can reference a "reliable secondary source", and reliable is in the eyes of the beholder, and is basically a published and publicly available source, Pravda will do.
Here is what I am afraid of The Muslim vote in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania numbers over 100,000 each state, Biden won those states by 10,000 votes each (rounding down)
Muslims have their asses in a twitch because of HAMAS. Wi has 11 electoral votes, Michigan 15, Pennsyltucky 19, those are the states that are going to elect Trump, if the Muslims follow through with their threat to sit out the election of vote third party, because Joe is not HAMAS friendly.
And as Ayman Mohyledin said on MSNBC it is Biden's fault for supporting Israel.
I disagree because everyone has a choice, but flipping the finger to Biden is shitting in your own mess kit, because Trump has already said that he is going to deport Muslims, even 2nd generation Muslims. Montana and Wyoming have plenty of spaces for internment camps.. like Ft Missoula, Montana and there are Tule Lake and Manzanar in California; Gila River and Poston in Arizona; Jerome and Rohwer in Arkansas, Minidoka in Idaho; Topaz in Utah; Heart Mountain in Wyoming; and Granada in Colorado.
Stick it to Biden is sticking it to themselves, Same with the youth Vote, especially young black males, who don't remember the past and the sacrficie of their elders.
They too are threatening to vote third party.
A vote for Cornell West, RFK jr, Jill Stein is a vote for Trump, freaking idiots.
If Trump wins may they all rot in the hell that they have created.
William, I agree with much of what you say, except for "a vote for Cornell West, RFK jr, Jill Stein is a vote for Trump, freaking idiots," because the available data shows that West and Stein are insignificant, and that RFK takes as many votes from Trump as he does from Biden. That said, any NOISE from these silly candidates, brain worm or not, is worrying, given the stakes.
IMHO, the best way to circumvent this predictable idiocy is to have a completely new candidate who can beat Trump in a landslide, and - you may push back on this, but then you would be wrong- the only such candidate is Sanders.
Maybe Trump will quote you when starts deporting them.
Michael Hutchinson ; most polls are media, (billionaire), owned . they want to influence voters with lies, and gamed, fake numbers."There are lies, damn lies and statistics!"
An interesting point. However, the polls were right in early 2016 about Hillary v Trump. They were vindicated in November 2016.
I suggest caution. The DNC is once again engaged in the logic of the Ostrich.
I don't support the DNC.
Yea Laurie!
Be careful.
Only Fox News seeks to undermine Biden. Why?
Victor K : Since you said it, go Google it, or something . All 'right' wing media low rate President Biden, and even 'liberal' or lefty news can give Short shrift. They mention his age, they repeat the lies about how he is somehow responsible for everything Netanyahu does, for many things. They don't mention his accomplishments as much.
True, since they know that Trump is unpopular with many voters they do all they can to undermine Biden, which, of course, benefits Trump. In the 1920s German conservatives supported Hitler, because of his anti-Communism. Today, Trump and his allies are telling American conservatives that he will protect them from "the new Marxism also known as "wokism." It's pure bs, but the Heritage Foundation is buying it.
Because CNN hasn't managed to do it yet. They will.
I wish there was an Angry button! The extreme gerrymandering in NC by our R Legislature is forcibly turning our purple state red, even though the Ds outnumber the Rs. I do believe most of the polls are no longer effective in measuring how people will vote since my understanding is they still only call people. Do they get cell phone #s? Lots of other reasons too. I have read that Biden is moving up in the polls.
I will never understand how/why anyone will vote for this poor excuse of a human being. The irrational can't be rationalized. The problem is, it's no longer just TFP. He has spineless followers high in government now who will carry on after him.
I have also wondered how representative most polls are these days. I know that Gallup does it through email (because I get their polls) but for most of the others—I don’t think they’re as accurate as they used to be. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself to calm my anxiety.
I thought this article was interesting.
https://theweek.com/politics/2024-election-polls-accuracy
I received a phone call on my land line this morning, asking me to do a short survey: Press 1 if I am a Democrat. Press 2 if I am a Republican. Alas, I am a Canadian, but I checked to make sure we hadn't been invaded by the US last night.
:)
That’s all the older folks and Baby Boomers (many Trumpers) retiring to FL. It’s going to skew the numbers there for awhile. I’m staying in NYC or if the 🍊 wins in 2024 (my worst nightmare) I’m moving to Scotland 🏴
Biden will go down as the worst president is US history no matter what happens with the future of the country (or fall)
Not sure about AZ
Arizona has 10 electoral votes, Nevada had 6
In 2020 Georgia, VA, NC were swing states, but they have Republican legislatures and have passed some voter suppression laws, and overridden a Democratic governor's veto, (GA has a Republican Governor, Virginia now does) They are no longer swing states. Democrats could still win the electoral vote though, but if that happens, the slate of fake electors will come out faster and more professional than in 2020.
Florida -- 30!!!!!
N. Carolina ____ 16!!!!
Ohio______ 17!!!!
You and Hopium are the reason I am not ready to slit my wrists. I amnot prone to depression, in fact have no idea what is, but find myself closing in.
Your not alone. Not bothering with news helps!
Thanks.
Hopium is a very good IPA.
Ditto for the currently red State of Ohio. With increasing help emanating from many local communities, I’m hopeful for more equitable governance in the Capitol of Columbus.
Irene - Ohio worries me because they refuse to do an emergency bill to put Biden on the ballot (even though they did it the last two elections) because they want to put bs in the bill to stop “illegals” from voting - which they already cannot do. Plus, even though the republicans used dark money and out of state money they now want to stop it because the democrats got help from outside groups to get our abortion bill and marijuana bill on the ballot. They are trying their darnedest to stop the ending gerrymandering bill from making it on the ballot now. Without Biden being on the ballot I fear for Sherrod Brown. My spouse will not move from Ohio nor from our very red county (afraid that I might of married a closet Republican <insert hand hitting surprise face here>). My oldest child is in the military and finally came back from a long time deployed to somewhere in Europe and had a choice to stay around the lower 48 but has elected to take a three year deployment elsewhere because of the politics in the states that they had a choice to go to. My youngest is currently living in Columbus because they find that the politics are more palatable so I get where you are coming from. I truly hope that we can keep the White House and the Senate as well as take back the House so we can actually get some things done. Especially the Senate putting through as many judges as possible since we have seen what some of the judges, put in their position from defendant trump, has gotten us. This has been one of the worst do-nothing House in a long time and I don’t understand why people would keep electing people who are not trying to make lives better but instead are trying to divide us. Long story short (too late) I completely understand where you are coming from.
Ohio can put citizen initiatives on the ballot, so that’s a reason to hope. Ballot referendums are a form of direct democracy that have been used effectively to “impose” the will of the voters on their representatives. We don’t have them in NC; it apparently requires an amendment to state Constitutions in states that have not established them. Here we have legislative referrals, but only for things the supermajority wants on the ballot. Back when the GOP was in the minority, Moore introduced legislation to establish citizens initiatives here. Now that he’s Speaker and the GOP has a supermajority, reforms are a no go until we can elect more Dems. Our hope right now is that the Dems have a much stronger ground game across the state in every county.
Docpatti - I feel your pain since it seems like some will do whatever they can to stay in power. Funny how they change the rules to suit their needs but cry foul when the shoe is on the other foot. I hope that your Dems running have a strong election so the people in your state can get true representation.
Appreciate your deeply personal expanded comments and concerns for fair governance in Ohio. I choose to remain hopeful despite all of the low-handed shenanigans by Republican leaders! Gotta get the Democrats & educated Independents out to VOTE in November!
Irene - I will follow your lead and try to stay hopeful as well. Thank you for not giving up!
Agreed!
Per NYT;
Trump leads in five key states.
Read it and weep.
NYT Sienna is an outlier and the trend is our friend.
This is a good starting place. The Democratic Party still needs a platform, still needs to stop catering to people that aren’t working for the interests of the common good, needs to promote candidates that are diverse, needs to stop pearl clutching, wringing their hands, and needs to bring working class/working people and rural America, back.
Oh, wow, Daniel, thank you so much for this link to Republicans Against Trump. Very encouraging.
I doubt that marijuana is a big issue with voters. What’s driving voters leaning in one direction, is their perceived economic decline. Some real, some imagined. Perception is everything. As one who’s lived through a decade of stagnation, that retarded my earning potential, shit happens and you have to adjust your lifestyle and spending accordingly. In general, I don’t see that happening these days. It’s easier to whine instead of doing.
You obviously don't live in Florida. DNC has answers how to handle your perception. https://democrats.org/reach/
More than half the population are women and 80% object to the status quo. More than half of the unregistered are women.
We are not at the GOTV stage.
For most people, It's all about benefits.
Yes, and they are dead set against sharing their benefits with newcomers. They will vote for Trump.
Whose side are you on, Victor? https://rvat.org/
Your's
No. Thank god I am and always have been an upper Midwest boy!
No. More attempts at "unity" are the last thing we need. What we need is to actually confront the fact that Republicans are genocidal theocrats who want to turn the whole country into a new Confederacy. There can't be any unity with that. They're the enemy. They need to be treated as such. They're already gearing up to go on a mass murder spree if their God king doesn't steal the election in November.
Pretending at "unity" let the Confederacy fester into the gangrenous wound we currently call the Republican party. We need to actually start cutting out the rot instead of pretending it won't kill us.
Republicans are genocidal. Democrat president supporting actual genocide. Get fucked, liberals. You're part of the problem.
I was going to give you a semi serious response, but then I checked your history and found out you're an antivaxxer 😂
Lol, your opinions are automatically invalid.
Oh no. Antivaxer. You mean the one that has been recalled because it causes blood clotting? You don’t need to respond at all. Just go ahead and get fucked. Pretend fauci told you to get fucked. Then, every six months get a booster fuck
"Booster fucked." I'm dead 💀 Thanks for making my morning😂
Lol, your opinions don't matter antivaxxer. You willfully parted ways with reality a long time ago.😂
Well considering you immediately resort to invective and personal attack tells me you're about as serious as a McDonald's happy meal, so thank you for saving me from your opinions. Antivaxxer. I'm surprised you don't call me a Nazi because I oppose israel. Isn't that what your lot do? Name call instead of conversate? Opposing junk science used to be considered intelligent. Now it's the baseline for liberal rage. Go get a mocha at Starbucks.
You wouldn't know junk science if it bit you on the dick. Go get measles or something.😂
Maybe. Maybe not. But I know junk people when I see them. Hi!
Dean, I disagree that “Republicans are genocidal.” The term Republican is an identity claim, to indicate party affiliation. Lots of people say they “are” a thing without thinking through or agreeing with specific behaviors. Lots of Catholics use birth control, for example. I looked at your feed; you appear to be a thoughtful human.
I’m lifelong unaffiliated and I’ve come to the conclusion that we must work hard to elect as many Dems as possible in 2024 because of how plurality voting works. But that isn’t enough; we then have to demand reforms. The GOP aims for minority rule; that particular political project WILL destroy American democracy, if we let it. The U.S. has gone quite a ways down the path toward autocracy & kleptocracy; evidence? Plenty: legislation passed directly in opposition to the known preferences of a majority of voters; SCOTUS appointments & rulings; complete gridlock in the House. First get them fighting, then put an authoritarian in place to tell the people “this is how it’s going to be.”
So it’s really important that we don’t stop organizing, even if there is a blue wave in 2024. It’s important because we need electoral reform so that our elections become more competitive, we have better & more variety of choices among candidates, and the incentives change so politicians don’t benefit from playing to an extremist base and get punished for bipartisan problem-solving.
Side note: my position on electing Dems in 2024 does not indicate support for the Israeli far right apartheid practices, not for the genocide of Palestinians, nor for the Biden administration’s complicity. Foreign policy toward Israel has been fairly stable since 1948, correct? Regardless of the party in power? To me, it is essential to critique the choices that Biden is making. But we have to strengthen our democratic system in order to effectively address the challenge of how to craft sensible & ethical foreign policy that doesn’t get switched up for political points when the other party gets the WH.
Yeah, I appreciate you offering your perspective, but I disagree entirely with your premise. Somehow you seem to neglect to mention the very real and very salient fact that the American political system is a duopoly controlled by corporate interests (see also: MI complex). So what you really have is a profit motivated corporate power base directing your "elected" officials and pummelling the electorate with endless propaganda about "sides." Meanwhile in the real world presidents of both parties with the approval of senators and congressmen from both parties--which is to say both sides of the duopoly--wage endless wars at the behest of their .mil friends. But you're saying if we just vote harder and control one wing of a deranged and deadly bird the problem will solve itself. Bollocks. Total disagree.
But I think you absolutely--perhaps accidentally--make my point when you refer to the consistency of American policy toward israel. It's been consistently *deadly* for the Palestinian population that's been under Israeli occupation for decades. How bipartisan to refer to our "friend and ally" israel. So I think that fact speaks volumes for what political parties actually stand for. Wedge issues play their part, for sure, but nothing will ever be done about them. There is no political solution to corruption. And that's what we face in the country: a corrupt and corrupting oligarchy.
I don’t think that you know what my premise is at this point. I said I’m organizing for electoral reform. What the heck do you think that is? Ranked choice voting is a concrete step to shift the conditions underpinning the duopoly. It fixes spoiler votes, for example, opening the path for alternative parties to emerge and get candidates elected. This offers a place for the “politically homeless” unaffiliated, who might have a party policy platform and candidates to believe in, if we were able to evolve past the current polarized duopoly and its associated toxic political tactics.
Don't bother with this one, he's one of the rare cases of horseshoe theory you'll find out in the wild. He doesn't actually care about Palestinians. He's just using them as a permission slip the same way evangelicals pretend to care about fetuses and use that as a permission slip to try and grab more control over the government and other people's lives.
I believe you adequately stated your premise, which involved voting for democrats and presenting that as a serious option for reforming a political system in which democrats only serve the same corporate interests as republicans. Audrey Lorde spoke to your premise far more succinctly than I have: you cannot dismantle the master's house using the master's tools.
The Politics Industry covers quite a bit of how what you are describing works. It also offers suggestions about specific things to change that would alter the current dynamics. What suggestions do you have for achieving the changes that you think are needed?
Would you recommend some sort of camp system to which they can be sent? Perhaps on trains? GTFOH you totalitarian asshole.
Republicans are the ones who have been gearing up for mass murder, jackass. Incidentally, they're also the ones openly embracing Holocaust deniers and open nazis. You can't heal a stab wound if you don't remove the knife, and the Republican party is that fucking knife.
Or, we can go back to being the 50 States, unified rather than united, similar to the EU, with free trade, and a sharing of a common defense force, but no strong central government.
Just as I don't want other states forcing their values on me, why should I force my views on them?
50 states is a recipe for disaster....like the Balkans. But rest assured, the drivers or Red State social issues will never rest until they have control of all Blue state populations as well. You can't run away from Bullies as they won't let you.
This is true. And, frankly, widespread gun ownership isn't a recipe for freedom, it's a recipe for a failed state. The modern word is littered with examples.
But standing up to Bullies forces another outcome. That’s the language they understand.
Well, you either stand up to them or kiss their ring. They don't give you much of a choice. PS, standing up to them doesn't necessarily require violence. Most are chicken-shit. (Sorry chickens) and most greatly over-estimate their own intelligence.
"All bullies are cowards." Looking for the person credited with first saying this, I found something else on Dictionary.com: Where did the word "bully" come from in America? - - - It comes from the Middle Dutch word boele, which means “lover.” At that time, bully was used in English to mean “sweetheart.” Its use then became more general, coming to mean “fine fellow,” and, eventually, the opposite: “swaggering coward.” Bully began to be used in this sense around the 1700s. - - - Might explain why Trump called Stormy "Honeybunch". Except Trump is definitely post 1700s.
In case you're curious, Mary Trump said 'Honeybunch' was a Trump family term of endearment.
Terry, I realize that, and that is exactly the point I was making! Thank you for confirming the obvious. Trump sees himself as a pre-1700s lover, and not the post-1700s creature he actually is.
Interesting. Thanks fort returning us to the original. How out of shape it’s grown!
It’s Very, Very important to remember that bullies are merely cowards all puffed up, filled with hot air. Puncture ‘em and like a big, fat balloon: Fizzle, fizzle, fiz, fi, f…flat on the ground. Do it soon, before they multiply, it’s much, much harder when they are ‘Multitude of Massed BS.’ It Can Be Done.
Completely agree.
California doesn’t need any other state to support itself - we should just stop sending support ( tax dollars)
Are you suggesting secession? Wouldn't it be better economically if Texas left?
They're already not connected to the power Grid.
Yes - Texas needs to go
Let Mexico reclaim it. In fact if the Federal union is dissolved, Mexico is sure to reclaim the land lost with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and that means Texas, Ariz, NM, part of Utah and California.
Maybe we should expel Texas for violating human rights and common sense.
There's that phrase again, 'common sense' Again....whose ?
Not so fast, Susan. California imports vast amounts of water from other states.
Just the Colorado right?
The fact is that with a Trump victory, the "No strong central government" will almost immediately degenerate into an all-powerful central government that will move to crush all blue states' efforts to maintain civil rights and meet the legitimate needs of its people. And Trump and others of his ilk have threatened the use of that "defense force" against those who don't kiss the orange ass. There is no way a looser unified collection of states as at the time of the founding can succeed today. And the EU is a collection of sovereign nations with diverse languages and cultures, very unlike the United States There are clear areas, like enforcement of the Constitution, where the federal government needs to be strong, and the "States' Rights" anachronism needs to be relegated to a distant second priority.
You mean like Biden's government brutalizing student protestors and the passage of the "Antisemitism" Act? The EU and the US are the only nations who are against Palestinian statehood and continue to aid and abet in genocide, with Biden and the Democrats leading the way. The Democrats have created their own toxic mix of McCarthyism, Zionism and nationalism that you ignore because you are conditioned against the "other" side as they are conditioned against you. https://barryjkaufmando.substack.com/publish/posts/detail/144154580?referrer=%2Fpublish%2Fhome
I don't disagree with your assessment of the Biden administration's and many Democrats' stances on the atrocities committed by Israel, conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism, and the crackdown on student protests against these stances and the genocide in Gaza. I abhor the US and EU treating the Palestinians as non-people. In most past elections, I have been distressed by the lack of real choice between either Neo-lib party. The DNC is incompetent; for example, if they'd promoted Bernie Sanders as the Dem candidate in 2016, Trump would never have been elected. But in this current situation, in my opinion, "both-sidesism" and "whataboutism" are morally indefensible. For all its many faults, in this election the Democratic Party is not just "the lesser of two evils." For all their copious weaknesses, they represent the only hope of maintaining what many of us have seen as the vision of a nation committed to the too-long and far-too-slow struggle for the betterment of all. And if the Democrats take back control, ALL of us must not go back to the old patterns of complacency and need to FORCE them to re-regulate business and industry, especially the financial sector, overturn Dobbs, and even more importantly, Citizens United, pass strong voting rights legislation, pass a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for Supreme Court Justices, and the list goes on and on. But NONE of this will be possible if Trump and MAGA take over the White House and Congress. To fail to see this is to choose to be blind and ignorant.
John, I could not have said it better. As a lifelong unaffiliated voter, married to a former Republican who is now registered Democrat, you’ve laid the essentials out in plain English. I’m now a grassroots organizer for electoral reform, after spending most of my life ignoring “politics” while becoming educated and making a living as a single mom. All of your MUSTs are on my bucket list; I want my kids to live out their lives in a democracy.
It is NOT ENOUGH to elect Dems this election cycle. The GOP aims for minority rule; that particular political project WILL destroy American democracy, if we let it. And it’s gone quite far down the path; the evidence is in legislation passed directly in opposition to the known preferences of a majority of voters, among other things, like SCOTUS appointments & rulings.
So it’s really important that we don’t stop organizing, even if there is a blue wave in 2024.
Side note: my position on electing Dems in 2024 does not indicate support for the Israeli far right apartheid practices, not for the genocide of Palestinians, nor for the Biden administration’s complicity. Foreign policy toward Israel has been fairly stable since 1948, correct? Regardless of the party in power? To me, it is essential to critique the choices that Biden is making. But we have to strengthen our democratic system in order to effectively address the challenge of how to craft sensible & ethical foreign policy that doesn’t get switched up for political points when the other party gets the WH.
California will need to succeed - we don’t need the other 49 states
Actually its not California that should secede....its Texas.
Succeed at what? Did you mean to say "Secede?" Possibly, but I think you would find, as Britain did with Brexit, that California is far more dependent on the other 49 states than you may imagine.
Yes - you’re right on the typo - but no, Calif doesn’t need the other 49
How many $$ does California generate in taxes that go straight to red states.
Sounds a lot like a "New" Reconstruction!"
Unfortunately, these so-called "values" DENY basic human rights, access to
voting/healthcare/worker's rights, etc. etc. etc. AD NAUSEUM!
Believe it or not, YOU can maintain YOUR "values" and simultaneously allow a
central government help establish basic guidelines and initiatives that allow
people access to programs that foster inclusion!
If not, we're only left with EVERYONE scraping and clawing for whatever "leftovers"
the 1% might grant you...
David, you have just described the current situation, the status quo, we are scraping clawing whatever leftovers the 1% doesn't grab. They need a controlled labor force, to maintain their lifestyle, and how does one control a labor force? You keep them at each others throats.
YES!
And a FINE job at that, my friend!
But David, the Red and Blue States would at least have democracy. If the Red States want to vote for plutocracy, that's their choice, but I no longer want to live in their world, where the best we can hope for is compromise as we lurch from one plutocrat to another. The Red States are never going to change.
The red states already have changed a lot, but the old elites are still in power. Their support of Trump is their desperate attempt to cling to power.
Michael if the US dissolves itself, North America will be come prey, and incapable of defending itself, Russia will sweep Europe and China will sweep Asia. Mexico can reclaim lost territory. and the whole world will erupt in chaos, and what nukes still work will be fired.
I can appreciate your thought process Michael but, if the United "Whatever"
isn't strong enough to establish a baseline for common decency then we will
no longer be able to work for any semblance of equity and inclusion:
Dust off your Cowboy Hat and start hanging up pics of R.R. again, Hombre!
Michael: Because a state is not its own country. We are the United States of America, until decided otherwise. It is not fair or just for discrimination to be “ legal” in one state but not another. And, I suspect your “ values” are really something else.
California should keep all their tax revenues and not share with RED states
Without a strong central government, commerce will suffer, prices will rise, there will be tariff's, movement of industry, and no defense, no civil service, no federal parks, public lands will be sold off, at pennies, to developers, miners, lumber companies, oil companies,
Putin and Xi can walk right in, and will, welcomed in by right wing governors and legislatures. Maybe not Xi, but Xi will invade Taiwan and the rest of the Pacific. There will be no countervailing power to stop China, nor Russia.
Regressives are full of contradictions: they don’t want the government telling them what to do but they want the government telling others what to do. They want freedom for themselves but not for anyone not like them. They’re full of bluster but make most decisions out of fear…the list goes on.
The best solution to our mounting social problems is continued personal growth and healing on a mass scale.
I don’t think that will work, Michael. I was born in DC and have lived in Pennsylvania, CA, Virginia, Florida, Maryland, and North Carolina. I’ve worked in Kentucky, Ohio, Wisconsin, Chicago, NYC. Every place that I’ve been includes people who tend to enjoy change and variety, as well as many others who favor stability and tradition. They can live happily among one another.
The culture wars are largely manufactured. People who want a choice whether to get a vaccine or not call it “medical freedom.” Those who want IVF or abortion care also want “medical freedom.” We’re not talking in ways that identify our common interests; we are sorted into bubbles & singing to the choir.
People are sorting into red-blue states because the outrage industry makes a shitload of money keeping people pissed off, distrustful, and wary of one another.
And behind the scenes—and increasingly right out in front of us, the oligarchs who want to be “free” to exploit ordinary citizens AND the world’s resources are busy, busy, busy.
Michael, Xi and Putin would vote for you.
Live-and-let-live is a fine idea if all parties agree. The right-wingers don’t agree with that concept, and won’t stop their aggression until they conquer the other side. That’s, for me, the only justification for preventing a national divorce. Having internal national borders in North America, and hostile neighbors is a recipe for warfare. Review the Balkans and what it took to stop the eternal wars there, and how quickly they resumed when the Soviet Union dissolved.
Hakeem Jeffries has the ability, I do believe, to step into the office of President of the United States. I do wish Mr. Biden would do what is necessary to keep our country from turning into an "uncivil war." He is too old. Period. Dot. The end. He needs to lead the charge to elect a younger more effective leader like the esteemed Mr. Jeffries.
and there are others besides Jeffries.
A PUBLIC SERVICE DIGRESSION: (Not a reply)
- JUDGE AILEEN CANNON'S BIAS IS SHOWING (KIRSCHNER):
https://youtu.be/0MXVfiTa3KM?si=_WIWa7IYKeSKvsDB
============== INFO EXTRACTED FROM VIDEO ==============
THE LAW:
28 USC § 455: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/455
- SALON ARTICLE REFERENCED:
https://www.salon.com/2024/05/08/experts-cannons-bias-and-incompetence-threaten-case-as-she-sets-highly-unusual-schedule/
-------------------------------To file a complaint:
DISQUALIFICATION OF JUSTICE, JUDGE, OR MAGISTRATE JUDGE.
Go to: WWW.USCOURTS.GOV
From the menu at the top left of page, select:
MENU --> JUDGES & JUDGESHIPS --> JUDICIAL CONDUCT & DISABILITY --> FAQs FILING A JUDICIAL CONDUCT OR DISABILITY COMPLAINT AGAINST A FEDERAL
JUDICIAL CONDUCT & DISABILITY PAGE (worth a read):
https://www.uscourts.gov/judges-judgeships/judicial-conduct-disability
FAQ'S PAGE (also worth a read):
https://www.uscourts.gov/judges-judgeships/judicial-conduct-disability/faqs-filing-judicial-conduct-or-disability-complaint
SCROLL DOWN TO ITEM #4: HOW DO I FILE MY COMPLAINT and click:
CLICK THE DOWNLOAD LINK TO THE COMPLAINT FORM:
- COMPLAINT FORM (so you can get there directly):
https://www.uscourts.gov/forms/other-forms/complaint-judicial-misconduct-or-disability
NAME, ADD, PHONE, JUDGE (AILEEN CANNON), COURT (US DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA)
CHECK ITEM 3 YES
CASE NUMBER: 23-80101-CR-CANNON
PARTY OR LAWER QUESTION: CHECK "NEITHER"
SECTION 4, A BRIEF STATEMENT OF FACTS. (See sample below)
DECLARATION & SIGNATURE:
PRINT OUT AND MAIL TO:
THE CLERK'S OFFICE FOR THE 11TH CIRCUT COURT OF APPEALS
56 FORSYTH ST NW
ATLANTA, GA 30303
SAMPLE STATEMENT OF FACTS:
RE: The appearance of bias and incompetence on the part of Judge Aileen Cannon:
The following comments are selections are from the MAY 8, 2024 Salon article that can be found at:
https://www.salon.com/2024/05/08/experts-cannons-bias-and-incompetence-threaten-case-as-she-sets-highly-unusual-schedule/
in support of my asserted claim of bias and incompetence, that well and fairly state my view of Judge Cannon's attempts to delay proceedings and dodge any appeal by confining herself to "paperless orders," rather than handing down formal rulings, as it has developed over the several months she has been in charge of this case: 23-80101-CR-CANNON
"Cannon, a Trump appointee who was selected last June to hear special counsel Jack Smith’s case against the former president, began her Tuesday by pushing back a key filing deadline for the defense team to lay out what classified information it would introduce at a trial. She then issued another ruling delaying a trial indefinitely."
"But if Cannon, a former federal prosecutor appointed in 2020, feels overwhelmed by the case and all the pre-trial motions she has yet to rule on, legal experts said she has only herself to blame. Brandon Von Grack, a former Justice Department lawyer who served on Bob Mueller's team, noted, for example, that it’s 'highly unusual' for a judge to hold three days of hearings on a defense motion aimed at defining the 'scope' of the prosecution’s legal team."
"Indeed, as The New York Times’ Alan Feuer wrote Tuesday, the delays are not merely a product of a complex case with an unusually high-profile defendant. 'Over and over,' he commented, 'Judge Cannon … has treated seriously arguments that many, if not most, federal judges would have rejected out of hand.'"
"But while liberal critics are quick to point out that Cannon is overseeing a case involving the man who gave her the job she has today, there is an alternative explanation for her behavior: she is also highly inexperienced. As Reuters previously reported, she made several elementary mistakes in a criminal trial she handled last year, such as apparently forgetting to swear in the prospective jury pool and barring the public from observing the selection process, forcing her to later restart the whole process."
"But Ty Cobb, who served as legal counsel for the Trump White House before becoming a critic of the former president, told CNN there’s no reason to choose between the two possible explanations for Cannon’s handling of the classified documents case. Why not both?"
In summary:
"Neil Katyal, former acting U.S. solicitor general, argued that the case is not nearly as complex as Cannon has made it out to be – and that Trump is being treated far differently than any other defendant accused of stealing classified documents, including material related to battle plans and nuclear weapons."
"'This decision, and the handling of this case, start to finish, have been atrocious,' Katyal said. 'This is not a hard case, it does not require the amount of delay that we’ve had. The case is pretty simple… a guy stole some documents, he hid them, when the government came and looked for them, he lied and hid them,' he continued. 'That’s it. It’s not rocket science. And yet this judge has slow-walked this thing to death.'"
Wow -- I have just sat here for a couple of hours reading a lot of this information, but I still have miles to go. If Cannon was reversed twice by the 11th District Court of Appeals, and possibly a third time by now (?), why in God's name is she still on this case? Yes, I can see that people need to file petitions with the court for this to happen, BUT WHY? Don't these higher courts have jurisdiction to REMOVE A JUDGE WHO IS DELIBERATELY, AND OBVIOUSLY, DOING EVERYTHING TO STALL THE PROCEEDINGS FOR AND IN FAVOR OF THE DEFENDANT??? Isn't that tantamount to some kind of crime in itself that would get the judge thrown off the bench? This case is a matter of espionage, the theft of highly classified national security documents in some cases!! Couldn't that land Cannon in COLLUSION with Trump, an actual AIDER and ABETTOR IN HIS CRIMES??? I would certainly think it would!
Thank you, thank you for all this information!!!!!
Biden is the Unifier. He has always stood for that.
President Biden's IMMINENT second term will unify us! He'll have a trifecta, so he can focus on making ALL American's lives better.
I don't want to jinx it, but I foresee Medicare For All and SOON. It just makes economic sense.
I will be voting for Biden. Have no choice!
However, I think Biden is throwing the country a curved ball. Biden should have declared that he would be a one-term President. He did not. Furthermore, Biden selected a VP that “may” have to step into office but is not popular enough to win the big office. It is not that Harris is not equipped for the office, but she could not independently win the job. Biden knows that but snuck Harris into a spot knowing full well that she was turned down when she came out as a candidate prior to the selection by Democrats.
It is maddening what these facts are doing to our country. Now, there is a huge division on this decision! Few want Trump, however, this was not necessary to put voters thru in this country. Cannot blame anyone but Biden for this unnecessary battle! He is old and acting it. No comments need to be made about Trump. There is an immense chance that our country is going to lose its democracy due to a Trump victory! I resent this just because voters do not have the opportunity for a change, a younger, and capable candidate for Democrats.
This election may be more than over! Look what we could be stuck with plus lose!
I found this very depressing too and feel it was as if there are no voters in the Red States that can be supported so they turn their States Blue. I don’t understand why the Professor sounds like he has giving up on turning things around. The Red States worked hard and for a long time to get where they are. We can do the same to make the Blue candidates win.
I live in a Red State, and it is in competition for the title of "Most Corrupt" state in the country. We vote on issue after issue, those in power ignore the results and simply debate each issue after the vote and install what they want. It isn't about working hard, but about lying, cheating, and stealing. If Democrats follow that course to take power, we the people gain nothing but a different version of corruption.
What state?
Ohio, in a soundly Blue city.
You have Sherrod Brown, running statewide, who can uplift all the down ballot candidates. The Republican chair, former speaker of the Ohio house, others are in jail for bribery.
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ICC filed charges against Putin and published his crimes. MTG will likely file a motion to leave the ICC.
W left ICC after his Guantanamo policy of torture or turn a terrorist over, which became a bounty system of innocent Arabs picked up because "The State" suspects you. Like the reporter in Russia for 400+ days. Torture continues so you pick an old name who pissed you off, or stole your girlfriend. ICC found that to be criminal so W took his marbles and went home. The W GOP was nutty, but today they are nutless.
I found the cause of the rash of Eunuchs in DC, (see GOP House). An ancient species known as Maenads (sounds like "men had"...as in testicles) who worshipped Dionysus, the wine god. Maenads in their orgiastic peak have enormous strength and could cut cut open a man with their nails (see Orpheus).
They mated with humans but their genes were latent for 2 millennia and known as trailer genes. The women today with Maenad Trailer Genes felt their Rites were being threatened.
The Maenad Trailer Gene was aroused by Donnysays, who thinks he's a God, but, the MTGs will listen to whatever Donnysays says, even if it sounds like double talk. They cannot cut open a man at their peak, so they castrate the nearest hapless male, (see GOP House).
The 6 GOP SCOTUS members are Groomers, but modeled on the Feudal Revered Position, Groomer of the Stool. He carried the toilet and wiped the royal's ass clean. The new model finds them wiping their donors and owners'
A lgorithms of
S ycophantic
S ynopsis clean of any responsibility. Those 6 seek a
L ibertarian
A narcho-
S yndicalist
T heocratic version of the American Experiment.
They pledge allegiance to the flag of the
F eudal
A merican
R epublic of
C orporate
E ntities and to the F.A.R.C.E. for which it stands. One nation under
G eppetto's
O ligarchic
D isseminators on K Street, forever and ever a
S ycophantic
C thonic
A merican
M icturition aka trickle-down S.C.A.M.
You have to fight F.A.R.C.E. with farce. The MAGA-loons did pray for a savior and God sent The Most Christian Pussy-Grabbing POTUS in history! Who says God doesn't listen?
https://www.nybooks.com/.../jonathan-swift-genius.../
The Genius of Creative Destruction | Fintan O’Toole
NYBOOKS.COM
The Genius of Creative Destruction | Fintan O’Toole
ICC has always stood for the commonly accepted standards of civil societies. The US representative at the foundation of this institution offered the most telling summary of today's Clusterfrackers in the GOP. Chris Hayes did an excellent piece about double standards, aka "Some animals are more than equal".
South Dakota lost 107 Covid patients per 100,000 South Dakotans.
Vermont lost 10 Covid patients per 100k, or a 1070% higher death rate for the Red State.
CDC told Red State Governors and the 90% of media held by 8 corporate donors that "80% of Covid deaths are 65 and over", aka on FICA, or Entitlement Outlays, on the GOP spreadsheets.. Eugenics of the useless members of Red State societies must be put down, like a South Dakota puppy.
ICC filed charges against Putin and published his crimes. MTG will likely file a motion to leave the ICC.
W left ICC after his Guantanamo policy of torture or turn a terrorist over, which became a bounty system of innocent Arabs picked up because "The State" suspects you. Like the reporter in Russia for 400+ days. Torture continues so you pick an old name who pissed you off, or stole your girlfriend. ICC found that to be criminal so W took his marbles and went home. The W GOP was nutty, but today they are nutless.
I found the cause of the rash of Eunuchs in DC, (see GOP House). An ancient species known as Maenads (sounds like "men had"...as in testicles) who worshipped Dionysus, the wine god. Maenads in their orgiastic peak have enormous strength and could cut cut open a man with their nails (see Orpheus).
They mated with humans but their genes were latent for 2 millennia and known as trailer genes. The women today with Maenad Trailer Genes felt their Rites were being threatened.
The Maenad Trailer Gene was aroused by Donnysays, who thinks he's a God, but, the MTGs will listen to whatever Donnysays says, even if it sounds like double talk. They cannot cut open a man at their peak, so they castrate the nearest hapless male, (see GOP House).
The 6 GOP SCOTUS members are Groomers, but modeled on the Feudal Revered Position, Groomer of the Stool. He carried the toilet and wiped the royal's ass clean. The new model finds them wiping their donors and owners'
A lgorithms of
S ycophantic
S ynopsis clean of any responsibility. Those 6 seek a
L ibertarian
A narcho-
S yndicalist
T heocratic version of the American Experiment.
They pledge allegiance to the flag of the
F eudal
A merican
R epublic of
C orporate
E ntities and to the F.A.R.C.E. for which it stands. One nation under
G eppetto's
O ligarchic
D isseminators on K Street, forever and ever a
S ycophantic
C thonic
A merican
M icturition aka trickle-down S.C.A.M.
You have to fight F.A.R.C.E. with farce. The MAGA-loons did pray for a savior and God sent The Most Christian Pussy-Grabbing POTUS in history! Who says God doesn't listen?
https://www.nybooks.com/.../jonathan-swift-genius.../
The Genius of Creative Destruction | Fintan O’Toole
NYBOOKS.COM
The Genius of Creative Destruction | Fintan O’Toole
I didn't mean to double post, but I thought I was another thread, and there is no edit function.
What do you mean there is no edit function? Try clicking on the three dots to the right of one of your own posts.
Could the ICC file charges against Idaho for allowing the human sacrifice of children? https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/feb/19/protesters-calling-for-repeal-of-idahos-faith-heal/
Douglas: he ICC can only investigate and prosecute “natural persons” who are over the age of 18. The ICC cannot investigate or prosecute governments, corporations, political parties, or rebel movements, but may investigate individuals who are members of groups.
If Obama hadn't nailed Trump's hide to the wall at that 2015 Washington Press Corps banquet, we might not be going through this ..
Unifier? That’s friggon hilarious.
Flipping the script somewhat, instead of a two-party system in death-throes or unhappy marriage, one that finds renewal in variety, embrace of the other.
Another "Obama unifier?" Cause he was so good at killing people with drones?
Fucking retards.
Y’all fuckin dumb as shit
Yes it was!
D.D. Jackson ; I still wonder why President Obama bailed out the big banks, which gave their CEOs big retirement golden Parachutes, while the workers and the poor, lost jobs, homes and faced bankruptcy. He was not too 'civil' towards those who felt the brunt of that economic debacle! No charges brought against the "Too big to fail"! Sound familiar?
Laurie: Obama was and is a naif, he was controlled by his advisors and cabinet appointed by or rather "suggested" by Larry Summers, His Secretary of the Treasury was a wall street crony, Timothy Geithner, who I believe had worked for Goldman Sachs, and the Chairman of the Fed is picked from the Association of Primary Dealers in Government Securities.
Stupid, arrogant white men brought the world economy to the brink of ruin. Then they hired a colored man to clean up the mess. No wonder many Americans are so pissed! But now another group of stupid, arrogant white men are capitalizing on this anger to create an authoritarian, fossil fuel friendly oligarchy (not unlike Russia).
Kindly tell me what a “colored” man is?
You may mean a Black man or an African American?
Wake up and get up to date!
I used the word as a sarcasm referring to the way African Americans were treated until recently. Obama served dutifully his white patrons. Republicans are careful not to use such words as "colored," but when they attack "woke" they use it as a term of derision and condescension, mostly towards Blacks. I am sorry if I offended you.
JA, thank you for reminding me of how hurtful words can be.
The bank executives were not given parachutes by President Obama!
Their Boards made that possible by angling big retirement contracts!
JA ; i never said that Obama gave them golden parachutes! They got so much "help" that they (the board) ,could easily afford to lavish the golden parachutes.
Obama had to bail out the banks to prevent the world from descending into another great depression. Yes, he should have done more to help homeowners, and yes, our laws, as Professor Reich has noted, have hold fat cats accountable.
Need to Tax the rich, so they don't have so much money that they can wreak havoc, and cause inequality!
Inspire the rich! You have to show them how higher taxes will benefit their children and grand children, how their contributions will make a healthier society and better country over the long run. And honor the rich! Honor those who are team players in the larger sense of the word. Convince them! Convince them that their contributions will not be wasted on impossible quests and corrupt bureaucrats. Then, maybe then, will you succeed in taxing the rich.
Victor Kamendrowski ; the tax on the rich will be evident if they Don't figure out that extreme Inequality and neglecting the 'husbandry' of our world can lead to the scourge of blight: warfare, the cheapening of life, and eventually threats to profits. Philanthropy had its place when true Conservatism steered wealth inelligently: allowing education to improve the skills of workers. And the knowledge that allows discoveries and innovation.
“More than 4 in 10 voters believe that a second civil war is likely within the next five years, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll conducted April 21-23.”
Thank you professor. I actually believe the Civil War never ended. We’ve been fighting the same battles since reconstruction, just in different formats: Jim Crow, civil rights, voting rights, control of the courts, etc…
That said, I believe the Confederate States of Dunces, I mean the Confederate States of America won the Civil war in 2000 (Bush v Gore), when conservatives solidified itself as a conservative court, and handed the election to Bush, based on the most corrupt and incomprehensible logic. Since then, they have been slowly eroding our rights, in favor of corporations (Citizens United), the rich, religious fanatics and gun owners. And they have been slowly eroding our separation of church and state; the foundation of our identity.
That said, when it comes to Rasmussen; they aren’t a scientific polling company. They ask questions in ways that get the desired outcome for conservatives, and their polling methods are extremely biased.
Not to mention, when it comes to voters, 4-10 voters may believe a second civil war is likely, but over 15% of American adults also believe in “Flat Earth Theory,” and 50% of Americans believe Trump isn’t a crook and the election was stolen; so there’s that.
So American’s opinions aren’t exactly a harbinger of things to come, and they are hardly ever right.
That said, are we really heading towards a civil war on the scale of 1860? Probably not, since our real war is about how “uncivil” our nation and attitudes about each other have become. Will there be violence ahead? Most likely, but not worse or on a scale, than the violence we’ve already experienced!in recent years.
And like it or not, we can’t just decouple from other states. Corporations, food supply, energy and Economics won’t allow it. It’s MAD; mutually assured destruction.
However, my real fear is the courts. Republicans have been slowly taking over the courts since the 1990’s, and they are winning. All of American will be subjugated to the White Nationalist Taliban agenda if Trump wins again, and the Federalist Society and Heritage Foundation fulfill their extreme measures and goals.
A Trump win, means the Federalist Society will own the courts, and the religious zealots will rule by judicial fiat; which means even if democrats retake the executive and legislative branches, republicans will tie up any major legislation for years to come; and then it’s game over.
A silent coup will have taken over this country without a single shot ever being fired. This alone should put the “fear of god” (no pun intended), in all of us.
Good times…:)
Robert, While finding your comment mighty thoughtful, I take issue with one point. Contrary to your dismal prognosis were Democrats to control both the legislative and executive branches, I believe, were we to succeed in controlling both branches, we would rebalance the Court by expanding it. After all, considering in 1869 the Court was expanded to nine justices, one to oversee each of the nine U.S. Appellate Circuit Courts, it’s not much of a leap, considering today there are thirteen U.S. Appellate Courts, to argue for adding four additional justices. Further, I would note, because 49 Democratic Senators currently support filibuster reform and/or carve-outs, we must do all we can to hold all 49 seats and flip 1 Republican seat.
My point in writing was to amplify that holding the White House, retaking the House, holding our 49 Senators and adding one more could yield transformational outcomes that motivate me everyday to stay in the fight.
I agree that changing the court size would help solve the problem, but we would need at least 60 senators to change the court size. What are the chances in a divided country and Congress, we’ll ever reach that number?
Robert, As noted in my reply to you, were a Democratically-controlled Senate prepared to enact filibuster reform, which 48 supported in January, 2022 to bring the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act to the floor for debate and an up or down majority vote, the Senate, with just 2 more votes (Fetterman is the 49th), could do the same with expanding the Court.
Filibuster reform is a good start, but it only allows us to bring votes to the floor. You still need 60 senators and control of the house, so I’m still not sure what the point is.
I’m not disagreeing that we will continue the fight regardless. My point is you can’t count on senate reform to change the 60 vote threshold.
Robert, The point of filibuster reform, which nearly succeeded in January, 2022, is to eliminate the 60-vote threshold and allow, with a simple majority, for legislation to move to the floor for debate and an up or down majority vote.
You’re missing the point. Filibuster reform could help change the rules for certain types of legislation (reconciliation). However, changing the makeup of the court would still require 60 votes.
And even if you’re correct, which you aren’t, then what’s to stop republicans from doing the same when they retake office?
In which case, every four to eight years, a new administration would upend our democracy and reshape the country for another four to eight years. It would literally debilitate our government into perpetual dysfunction and paralysis.
Barbara I suggest that all RR members, and in fact all progressives get up to date on the filibuster and how to eliminate or work around it
Start here: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/what-is-the-senate-filibuster-and-what-would-it-take-to-eliminate-it/
It’d only take a simple majority vote in the Senate to get rid of the filibuster.
Barbara is right. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/filibuster-explained
Good idea, Barbara Jo!!
Peggy, Thank you for your comment. My hope is that increasingly more people become increasingly more galvanized as they increasingly recognize not only how close we are to reforming the Court but also how close we are to reforming the country with increasingly more progressive policy.
Tom Amending the constitution to reform the court is a pipe dream, so long as conservatives have their court and can stop an amendment.
An amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds vote of both Houses of Congress, or, if two-thirds of the States request one, by a convention called for that purpose. The amendment must then be ratified by three-fourths of the State legislatures, or three-fourths of conventions called in each State for ratification.
Now how are you going to do that when Republicans control 28 State Legislatures?
We will need to turn 10 states blue.
William is right!
Tom, MoveToAmend would require a two-thirds majority in each U.S. Chamber ratified by three-fourths of the States, an impossibility in the foreseeable (and possibly the distant) future. In contrast, if we retake the House, hold a Senate majority poised to reform the filibuster rule, and hold the White House, we only need a mere majority in both chambers to expand the Court.
I completely agree Barbara. It’s tempting to wallow in despair because I can barely recognize my country anymore. But like you, I try to focus on the possibility of the good we can do if Biden is reelected and we have a majority of Dems in both the House and Senate.
Thank you Barbara! Yes this is what we need. And full hearted believe that we will. This is the year of accountability. Roevember.
There is no such thing as "dictator for one day." If Trump wins he will declare a national emergency and rule by decree--the courts would not matter.
Victor, As mentioned in my comment, the progress I noted is premised on Democrats retaining the White House.
Barbara as it now stands we need to keep all 49 seats and flip 11, not one.
William, Because currently 49 Democratic Senators support filibuster reform and/or cut-outs, we need to flip only 1 seat to have the 50 required to change the filibuster rule, thus allowing legislation to move to the floor for debate and an up or down majority vote.
You are talking about the Nuclear Option, but that requires a majority leader with a spine, which Chuck Schumer lacks.
Barbara: In the modern Senate, this means that most measures now typically requires 60 votes to advance, unless a specific exception limiting the time for debate applies. Changing Rule XXII to eliminate the 60-vote threshold is made difficult by the rules themselves.
This link to wikipedia should help explain it all: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_option#:~:text=In%20the%20modern%20Senate%2C%20this,difficult%20by%20the%20rules%20themselves.
Yes. Absolutely agree with every single word. I have seen the erosion since Reagan was enshrined. He was a terrible governor & and an “installed president “ by the Kitchen Cabinet & William French Smith. The Courts are the enforcement of laws that are unjust.
Actually the courts can't enforce anything. They have to either call on civil or military authorities to do so. They can issue rulings but apparently according to Texas and several other Red states, they don't have to be followed. A bad precedent for the Court System if they can't do something about it.
True, they don’t have enforcement authority. However, once you start ignoring the courts rulings, then the rule of law no longer applies, and our institutions fall apart; exactly the outcome the anarchists and fascists want.
It’s a conundrum, and one that will tear the very fabric of this nation apart.
That would be Texas. At some point they either have to be brought back into the union....or asked to leave.
I truly wish Mexico would take Texas back... and FL float away...
I wouldn't wish Texas on anyone. And Florida will likely sink, not float.
I agree, but easier said than done. Especially when the country as a whole has $38 trillion in debt. Plus Texas is the seventh largest economy in the world at $2.4 trillion, and the second largest economy in the country, behind California (fourth largest by GDP).
Yes of course. But if Texas is no longer subsidized by the US Military directly and the US taxpayer indirectly,... Texas is on a bit of a free ride don't you think?
Gov Abbot in Texas is ignoring court rulings and the federal government and it is tearing that state apart!!
Agreed…:)
The court sentences people all the time. They send people to jail. The fine companies. Is that not enforcement?
Selective enforcement.
They sentence people to prison, but it is the DOJ that actually puts them in prison. Remember, Trump had several aids that were found guilty, and Barr refused to defend the convictions on appeal. The cases were dropped.
In the past, presidents have refused to follow the SC rulings. See The Trail of Tears, when Andrew Jackson’s Native American Removal Order was overturned by the SC and Jackson ignored the ruling.
The point is a president could ignore the SC, and there’s nothing the SC can do because the federal police are part of the Executive branch…:)
Courts put people in prison. Not the military with guns. What string is this thread?
The rule of law hmm. Germany under the NSDAP operated under the rule of law, as does Hungary today as does Russia, He who rules, makes the laws.
Institutions exist to serve he who has the power.
Yes, but institutions usually outlast "he who has the power," and that gives peace and stability to a country. With Republican and Fake News Trump has already seriously undermined our institutions. When he becomes "dictator for one day" all he has to do is declare a national emergency.
Allow me to set the stage for what I am going to say.
As Hannah Ahrendt said, Dictators telegraph what they are going to do by accusing others of what they intend to do.
Thus Trump accused the Democrats of stealing the election, now he is claiming that if he loses then the election is rigged
If the Muslims, blacks and young folk a protesting sit on their hands as they threaten, he will be elected, then I can guarantee that on Jan 20th, or 21st there will be massive protest. He will use any protests as an excuse to claim martial law., and if there is none he has his people fake a protest, like they claimed Jan 6th was an antifa/BLM event.
He will invoke his Article II [powers to claim a National Emergency, and from there, a dictator, however he can't or shouldn't be able to mobilize the Pentagon that fast, first he will have to demote or transfer the present Chief of Staffs and Chairman, and appoint Generals willing to do his bidding, and there are careerists and even ideologues willing to step in, same with cabinet positions, since Congress needs to approve Military promotions and cabinet positions, he will do as he did last time, appoint acting cabinet members, like Acting Secretary of Defense, Acting Sec of Army, Navy, AF and the will then fire and hire temporary Generals.
There is a provision, that in times of emergency, which he can declare, the President can brevet an officer. During the civil war, a lieutenant of cavalry was brevetted to General, name of George Armstrong Custer, and he isn't the only one. The Surgeon General wears an Admirals uniform with stripes, but never served a day even as a private.
40 US Code chapter 35
§601. Positions of importance and responsibility: generals and lieutenant generals; admirals and vice admirals
(a) The President may designate positions of importance and responsibility to carry the grade of general or admiral or lieutenant general or vice admiral. The President may assign to any such position an officer of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Space Force who is serving on active duty in any grade above colonel or, in the case of an officer of the Navy, any grade above captain. An officer assigned to any such position has the grade specified for that position if he is appointed to that grade by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Except as provided in subsection (b), the appointment of an officer to a grade under this section for service in a position of importance and responsibility ends on the date of the termination of the assignment of the officer to that position.
All that Trump would have to do is declare a national emergency on day one (he already hinted that that is what he intends to do: "dictator for one day") and then rule by decree. Republicans will rubber stamp anything he does, and SCOTUS already is owned by the Federalist Society.
Yes, they are but not for the next forty years. If Trump wins and republicans retake the senate, then Thomas, Alito and Robert’s would be given huge paychecks to resign before the midterms and they would be replaced with new federalist society judges; giving them at least a six-three advantage for the next forty years. Plus, they’ll replace at least 200 district and circuit court judges.
And Trump will owe the Federalist Society BIGLY of reelected since it’s Cannon and the SC that delayed his trials until after the election. Add the Heritage Foundation to the mix, and now imagine what this nation has to look forward to in the new MAGA America: DYSTOPIA!!!!!…:)
Sad, but true…:)
I don’t think these puny Red States can take over Calif- there are close to 40 million people here and they like their rights
I don't think a poll on this issue of civil war means much at all exept a barometer of people's unhappiness with politics.
We have a functioning executive branch, a dysfunctional legislative branch, a dysfunctional 4th estate (media) , and a judicial branch that I pray will come through but is mighttily challenged right now especially with the knuckleheads in the Supreme Court.I am concerned by the increasing challenge of climate change and how our society and government respond and whether it causes greater fracture.
Excellent points
The number of red states that have successfully passed ballot initiatives that amend their constitutions to include the right to have an abortion is growing quickly. This November, Florida and Arizona will be voting on just such amendments. When the US Supreme Court took away a right that has been settled law for 50 years, people get mad and band together, red and blue.
This is true. Roevember is coming!
Is this a spam link? Have you been hacked?
Heading for a break-up unlike any but USSR went through something similar BUT will be more VIOLENT as too many idiots have guns!The USA seems its full of idiots and a smaller & smaller as a proportion of sensible people!
When independent not politically aligned VOTERS seem to want to vote for TRUMP, the country seems to have more idiots than probably any other Nation
Strange as it may seem, security and prosperity breeds idiots.
Could not agree more but I think applies more to USA , maybe obesity and being Idiots have a correlation!
US scientists ought to investigate!🤣🤣🤣
People relocating from Blue states to Red states are driving up real estate prices, and can afford cost of living increases. Likely, it will be even worse for the poor in the Red states as they loose their lands to those with more resources. One would hope the relocaters might bring Blue state ethical standards which are usually better than Red states but I recently read a summary that states as the income gap has widened, the ethical gaps have also widened. People feel more free to 'do what they want', even walking on others to get it. So, not only does Richy Rich exploit us , but we exploit each other more readily in this context of 45 years of de-evolution.
Certainly the case in Montana.
Good fences making good neighbours presupposes those neighbours are motivated by the common good. In a post war world of global hyper capitalism politics reflect the motives of wealthy bullies. Those who perceive any fence or legal regulation as a personal affront to their ‘earned’ right to grab any land or life anywhere they feel like.
If only the “ common good” and “public health” hadn’t become the oxymorons they now are (especially in Red states)…
We are voting and we are blue. Not by a lot, but enough.
Nowhere near 'enough' , after 50 years of deconstruction of 'US common good' in the context of daily multi species extinction, severe overpopulation, economic & environmental migrations , ice packs melting as humans sit in front of screens being 'entertained'. And, the band played on for Richy Rich!!
Vicki, there are two migrations. Elderly retired moving to warm states, and what corporations stayed in America, or foreign corporations that have assembly plants moved to southern and right to work states.
Now people who care about civil rights and personal freedom are moving back to blue states, meanwhile theocrats and racists are moving to places like Idaho.
Thank you William! I know you are THE Expert! I am just a measaly 2/3 to 1/2 of a person in this rotten US of A!
The US of A isn't rotten Vicki. Just some of the people. All told I have no complaints, from the home of a single mother in a project, to a comfortable life. Then again I have made some good choices, that canceled out the very bad choices that I have made.
I am 85 and just came back from a visit with my PCP, I had my blood tested last week, five different tests, BP is 112/58, and test results for everything save my HbA1C is OK for a prediabetic., and my A1c is in a safe range 5.7 for a pre diabetic. Life is good, loving wife and helpmate, no problems, no worries. I am the wealthiest person on the planet. Nothing to fear, northing to be angry about either, however I am concerned for the future because I do have descendants, 42 of them.
Good for you, William. I am half a person in the US as are 51% of the population. I have watched everything I worked for be deconstructed in healthcare to moneycare for the few . I have seen standards of care be dissolved and checks and balances ignored, then eradicated. I have witnessed my society dumb down and go rotten value wise from everything I was taught and lived. I am disgusted, disheartened, and being present to Mother Earth's total destruction warrants feelings I can not describe in their grief. Human beings have proved incapable of ‘common good’ .
Yes, I experience this every day where I live. I can not have a conversation with a Trump supporter. It’s very frustrating. When you have Republicans listening to lies and conspiracy theories all the time, then a good portion of the public is not getting the truth and there in lies the problem. Two different information worlds. Not sure how you solve that problem or if it is solvable.
Jack, I live in a sea of red, too! Anytime trump supporters start regurgitating the lies they hear on right-wing media, I always ask for proof of what they are saying. I will point out the obvious lie but I don't turn it into a screaming match. If they get worked up, I simply tell them it seems we need to agree to disagree in the nicest way I can and that is when I end the conversation. Basically, all we can do is meet their lies with the truth even though they will NOT believe it! Vote Blue, America!!
Good for you! Mr. Reich encourages us to interact with people that we disagree with. I do all the time (my family are all MAGA). Don't lose your temper, no shouting or insults. Sometimes I am able to convince them that Fox News is not always right and Trump isn't as wonderful as they think. I find that most MAGA people (once you get away from politics and religion) are decent people not much different from the rest of us. My two cents...
Not the ones who want to send me to the ovens.
What do they do for a living? 90 % need benefits to survive. Vote to sunset their own benefits.
Trump hates dogs. Do they support staling from kids with cancer?
I don't know anyone from the "Charlottesville" wing of the MAGA, and I hope never do! The MAGA I know want to send pizza to the ovens. I have tried on them the ideas you note (frequently) in your posts, and I have found that they respond well to them. Most have never heard of this stuff, thanks to the news media! They also respond well to Democratic plans to increase taxes on the rich. They detest the rich ripping them off as much as we do!
You are quite right, Tim! My friends and neighbors are very republican and are very nice. They are quick to help when needed, enjoy visiting with each other, and are very decent individuals. They have different political views than I do; however, it does not change the fact that we are friends.
Exactly the same here, Jack. I avoid having a conversation with a TUMP supporter also. They strike me as being ignorant and brainwashed and very delusional.
maybe the problem is you?
Jack, sadly, you are right. Freedom without responsibility is unsustainable. The First Amendment is in great danger.
Bring back the fairness doctrine
The first civil war has never truly ended at all. As long as there has been bigotry and excessive greed, it has remained, lingering just below the surface. Truly a sad state of affairs.
I've banged-on about that for months.
I think Canada would welcome the blue states; in trade, Canada could give red America Alberta & Saskatchewan.
The Electorial College is Destroying the country of the USA . The Electorial College should be abolished ; Ranking Voting rounds and Mandatory voting will make us a country Again.
United we stand …A Chance decided we fall…
I agree on getting rid of the Electoral College...but ranked voting? Why don't we just get rid of the party affiliations first and impose term limits to 1 term, so those in Congress actually devote their time legislating and not fund-raising for their re-election?
The Founding Fathers tried forbidding parties, but it didn't work.
A six year term.
For both houses?
I was referring to the presidency. Congress is another story. It takes time to learn the system and there is value in seniority; otherwise, Congress will be run by unelected staff.
Thanks
I agree that the EC is an unnecessary roadblock to democracy and should be abolished. It is an old 200+ year artifact of the early founders of this country, rich white men/slaveholders who thought the rest of us were complete idiots with not enough brain cells to vote "properly"and therefore needed approved gatekeepers to control the votes. So, when have we ever had a true democracy if the wealthiest citizens among us have always called the shots? Citizens United and the Federalist Society are just newer euphemisms for the descendants of these vile people.
Ranked voting equals no winners. Only losers.
By your logic, Ireland is all losers?
Ranked voting means coalitions. Alignment. Compromise.
Maureen, that is an excellent idea!! I had read where Alberta and Saskatchewan tends to be like the red states here in the USA.
They are.
They're not contiguous. How do you deal with that?
All three blocks link to Canada. See above.
Are you suggesting we enlist Canada?
"enlist"?
Join with in some sort of Democracy pact.
Canada is already a democracy, and I doubt we would be willing to give up our sovereignty, but it is quite likely that we would favorably entertain requests from the blue states to join the confederation.
But what about Quebec?
What about it?
Does the US get it or do they head out on their own?
Quebec is part of Canada. Whenever there has been a referendum on Quebec independence, the majority have voted to remain in Canada. It has been some years since the issue has even come up
Maureen, I'm just continuing your joke of trading Provinces for States...
Wow, this post by professor Reich describes my situation, exactly. My next door neighbor and his wife haven't spoken to us for 4 years now. His home is a mere 100 feet from mine. Every family on this 3 mile stretch of county road are DJT fanatics except for my family. I desperately need to sell out and move to a blue state, preferably in the New England area. I was wanting to move to New Brunswick, Canada, but i am tired of waiting for them to reply for my request for immigration there. Vermont or Maine sounds good to me, Maine shares their eastern border with New Brunswick, Canada and i wouldn't have to deal with that immigration BS by staying in the United States. The summer season is much more pleasant in New England than it is here in the Southeast. With my heart condition, hot and humid weather makes me violently ill and i have to stay in an air conditioned environment in the Summer here. Cold weather doesn't bother me much and i like snow.
I desperately want out of Georgia and away from Marge Traitor Goon and that a-hole governor, Brian Kemp SOB.
John, you'd better read up quickly on the state of politics in New Brunswick. The Premier would do very well as governor of Georgia and has made life difficult for trans kids. Because of Canada using the Westminster system, a premier with a majority government can do pretty much whatever they want. Meanwhile on the federal scene, the leader of the Conservative Party is doing his best to bring Trumpism to Canada and polls have him leading for an election that will be next year. Meanwhile, here in Ontario we have a Conservative premier who is busy wrecking everything in sight to enrich his cronies and supporters. He's the older brother of the infamous "Crack Mayor" of Toronto. At this point, moving from Georgia to anywhere in Canada would be an improvement, but you would find all the same issues. Just like American guns, a lot of bad American political ideas get smuggled across the border.
I once read a Op-Ed in the Washington Post that contained similar remarks with regard to Civil War being the inevitable demise of the United States because of all of the prejudices we have.
I'm spent twenty years in the U.S. Navy. I served in Vietnam and I have contributed much to my country's war efforts in ways I'm unable to say here. I will say there are people capable of using any excuse to tear our country apart!
Misconceptions of the facts have lead to acts of sedition and insurrection all over the world. As a Black American, I have experienced all there is to know about racism and those who would use race as a reason to Take Our Country Back! Just be sure that you are on the good side of that war.
I, for one, will not return to the era where I am again subjected to what my forefathers endeared! There are many more of us than they are of those wishing to be done with democracy!
I hope those believing that such a cause is noble realize that a man fighting for his freedom is as ferocious as a bull elephant on a rampage!
That is all...
Do you have a recommendation?
Thank you, Robert for your valuable information about New Brunswick. I had forgotten about what i saw on the ''Google Earth'' thing when i went down to street level on a rural highway in New Brunswick i noticed a damn U.S. confederate rebel flag flying in their front yard. I was both surprised and appalled by the sight of that. For some reason, i kind of got a vibe that New Brunswick possibly could be leaning toward the insanity of TUMP and his cult following.
I actually knew that Alberta and Saskatchewan has gotten caught up in the horrible American political ideas that bled through their borders with Montana and Idaho and North Dakota.
How much is that leader of the Conservative Party leading by in those polls??? I wonder out loud what is happening to people that get caught up in the so-called Conservative BS? From what i learned in my United States Government class when i was a in grade eleven in high school, TUMP and his followers are actually beyond, '' Conservative'' they are the farthest to the right as ''Reactionaries'' These idiots i live around are over the top with this TUMP crap. I had to get some plumbing supplies at a Home Depot store yesterday and i saw people with signs in their yards with Donald TUMP's mugshot on them, and ignorant idiot had cut the name, T R U M P in his grass in huge letters. I
am beyond sick of this place. In my office thing here at my home, i have the Canadian red and white maple leaf national desk flags flying in here. That's how fed up i am with what's going on here in the very troubled USA.
I have read that the TUMP thing is gaining traction in England now too.
Do you know if the state of politics in Nova Scotia is stable right now? I like Nova Scotia and Ontario also. I like that little city in British Columbia, ''Prince George'' at lot too..
I live in a paradise, climate wise, environmentally, socially, politically, economically, some minor disadvantages and it is blue. and in the contiguous 48, but I ain't tellin cause Im selfish, and don't want paradise spoiled,
Trump supporters act like that because they have been led to believe that they, as an ethnic group, and their wonderful Western civilization, are under attack, and that you are complicit. They have been bombarded with this kind of propaganda for well over a decade, and they are really scared and angry.
I am stuck in a Red State, too old to move across town, much less across the nation to Southern California. Used to be in the Blue tip of this red penisula, but it is now as red as a dogs penis. So, when the Ignorant, Racist, Misogynist, anti-LGBT, Bigots finally take total control as they have been whittling away at civil rights for years, I will be like the old, infirm victims of the Holocaust stuck in Germany in the late 1930s, just waiting for the DeathSantis goons to come throw me in the streets.
There is irony that I saw it coming in March of 2016 and gave warning as did many others, that fell on the deluded ears of the Rabid MAGAt Cultists (some relatives & former friends with whom I have cut off all contact). It is not my tragedy. I have had a long and good life, longer than most of my contemporaries. However, I fear for the young ppl; my grandsons and the many liberal young ppl still here in this once bastion of freedom in a Lockstep, White Christian* Nationalist State. (*Jesus the Christ never said any of the hateful shit that these ignorant asswipes spew).
Aren’t Humans Wonderful? SARCASM
In the simplest of terms: There will always be people who do not want to play by the rules!
Worse. they tend to be highly respected by those who do, for one reason or another "play by the rules," but really don't want to - the way it was in the early 20th century.
better learn how to shoot, keith
this goes the way reich wants "rules" won't help you very much
I'd like to share an alternative view about why there is an increasingly bitter division between "red and blue" That boils down to the desperation of the right wing facing the fact that it could no longer win fair elections, largely as the result of the emergence of a vote-armed multinational, multi-cultural population. The only road these increasingly right wing forces saw was white Christian ultra nationalism which we now see is on the road to replacing democracy with the American version of European fascism. In each political and social battle taking place, the fascist paradigm always concludes that more toxic racism and threat of violence is the only hope for seizing more power. Therefore , I do not see a quiet separation between red and blue. I think we are headed for more and more fascist violence. Whether that tips into open warfare and societal breakdowns depends on the resolution of the democratic forces to meet these attacks with stern justice. I believe that in the final analysis, the prevention of civil war will be determined by the US armed forces commitment to honor its oath to stop "all enemies of the US constitution, external and internal.
“Our major secret weapon is to deprive you of an enemy,” said Georgi Arbatov, director of the Soviet Academy of Sciences’ Institute for U.S and Canada Studies said in 1987.
The deep-seated need of many Americans for an enemy/adversary is at the root of this. There are many people who can't handle peace and cooperation -- and so the conditions are never even visualized as achievable.
Worth taking another look at Alan Watts' 1951 book, The Wisdom of Insecurity.
Starting decades ago, when I would return to the USA from staying in Japan or Europe, I always got the feeling I was leaving sanity for insanity. This was also somewhat true when flying from the Pacific Northwest to Detroit, back when Microsoft and Starbucks were in their infancy, and Boeing was the cream of US industrial firms.
There is peace under a world dictatorship, or one would think so,but a dictatorship needs a common enemy to keep the people distracted, when there is no enemy they fall in on themselves, as we are doing in America. That was a point in George Orwell's dystopian novel.
Putin will bring peace to Europe, when he forces it to submit.
Xi will bring peace to Asia when he forces it to submit.
Then Putin and Xi (or there successors, can force each other to submit.
I totally agree Paul. The division is created, fostered, maintained by the financial elite, the establishment, the oligarchs, the plutocrats whatever you call them. They maintain power by keeping us at each others throats. They are not inconvenienced by laws. Laws are made for us, not for them. The only time they run afoul of the law, is when they shit in the wrong mess kit, like Bernie Maddoff, or SBF.
Look at Trump. If that were us, we would have been buried in the prison cemetery, He not only has his cult in his right pocket, but the real powers, the money powers, the PTB in his left pocket, for they empty their piggy banks into his, almost on request.
IMO, what you're saying about the US military comes out of your imagination rather than actual experience. I served in the Navy, along with two siblings. In my experience, you could not be more wrong when you wrote "high percentage." It might be as high as 10 to 20 percent for the Navy -- and in that segment is a wide variation of how deeply those views are held.
Someone who is a hardcore racist or homophobe will be found out and filtered out. Christian nationalism has made inroads in some branches, but there are organizations to help deal with that too.
You and I disagree Thomas. I am a retired officer of 26 years and had been an enlisted team leader of a special ops outfit.
I do not hang my hat on help from the service. If you look at all armies everywhere, they follow orders, or else, it was the 101st Airborne that backed down the Arkansas National Guard when Little Rock high refused to integrate.
The military has run exercises to deal with domestic problems, and I helped write some of the plans.
If Trump is elected he will replace the Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces with cronies, if only by acting appointments.
What your stats fail to consider is that among the 10 to 20 percent who hold really strong right-wing views, how many would dishonor themselves by betraying their oath of enlistment?
That betrayal marks a GIANT step from merely holding right-wing views, and crosses the line to outright treason.
Trump has proven his contempt for the military, and his utter lack of loyalty to anything. This has not escaped the notice of those dedicated to serving our country.
Oath of enlistment for enlisted: I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed .. over me.
Pay attention: Obey the orders of the President and officers...
Failure to obey is grounds for court martial. Troops obey orders, that have done so for as long as there has been an army.
Now the officer ranks well I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State (Commonwealth, District, Territory) of ___ against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the Office of [grade] in the Army/Air National Guard of the State (Commonwealth, District, Territory) of ___ on which I am about to enter, so help me God.[3]
I am a regular commissioned officer, I am still bound by the UCMJ, if I committed treason I could be court martialed,
Lt Gen Michael Flynn is also a regular commissioned officer and could be court martialed for treason.
Now that the officer ranks are full of officers brainwashed by theocrats, like Col Martha McSally, what chance of the Pentagon refusing to obey Trump.
Lt Gen (Now Full General promoted by Biden) Charles Flynn, brother of traitor Mike, was manning the desk at the Pentagon on Jan 6th letting the phone ring off the hook, because he was part of the plan., and Biden twice rewarded him by appointing him Commander of Pacific Forces and promotion to four star.
So tell me about our loyal military. dude they follow orders, like all military.
Az, I agree, as a 26 year retired mustang, I spent most of my career in special ops, and I know that they are all right wingers, I've been retired for over 30 years and I wouldn't be surprised if they were Trump Humpers, they sure were in love with Donald Rumsfeld when he was Sec Def. Rummie fulfilled their wish list, gave them all of the toys and support that their hearts desire, and elevated them in stature.
After Operation Eagle Claw, the failed hostage rescue operation, our stature and support ballooned.
The enlisted corps is comprised mainly of boys from the south and midwest who have no employment opportunities other wise, and minorities who join for the same reason.
There has been and still is racial tension in the ranks.. The officer corps, well there are two routes to commissioning, the Academies which have been infected with Dominionism, and ROTC/Officer candidate school.
I am suspicious of Academy graduates.
I take issue with one statement Az ,,and that is the military industrial machine.
It has nothing to do with the "machine", but it is a favorite talking point of the left
Both left and right have a penchant for simplifying the argument. And I am not a centrist either, I have no ideology, rather a shopping basket.
We need the common sense party. Some places are too far right and some can be too far left! What about those of us that just want to live our lives in peace ✌️ Sorry Robert but transgender women don’t belong in women’s sports if they have gone through puberty as a male. What about women’s rights and the fact that some disingenuous people will take advantage. The minute Democrats have control of the house and senate we should pass an abortion law. Totally unfair for poor women to have no local access to abortion!!!!! Abortion for the rich in red states😡🤬
I believe that’s the plan: to win back the House, keep/expand the Senate, and
re-elect President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. Then codify Abortion rights.
Pass the ERA!!!!!
Andrea, that is exactly what my sister said to me!! She wanted to start a common sense party and it would be filled with people who are sick and tired of the chaos and crap!! Those of us who simply want our country to quieten down and move forward peacefully!!
Whose Common Sense?
I don't think "common sense" really exists. One person's "common sense" is another's "crazypants notion."
Good point, Terry!
No, common sense does exist, like facts. Common sense - like you bring a fever down with a tepid bath, not a hot bath.
There are plenty of us out here with common sense, and a desire to do things for the common good. Ruthlessness, greed and corruption need to become taboo. Peer pressure works. Shame works.
Elizabeth, shame works on people capable of feeling shame. I do not thing trump is capable of feeling shame.
Oh, agreed, agreed. I’m thinking of the population in general, like “conspicuous consumption” back after the Gilded Age.
BTW I always like your comments Peggy, I watch for your contributions to the conversation. Smart person!
Thank you, Elizabeth! These conversations are so very helpful to me for understanding and clarity! There are so many smart contributors like yourself. It's nice to understand different perspectives! When it comes to trump - sometimes I have tunnel vision because I truly cannot stand the orange man. Others on this feed keep me grounded and help me maintain my sanity!!
Andrea, you are painting with too broad a brush as regards transgendered women (and men)
There are males, that are built like women, and women built like men.
There are post SRS (sexual reassignment surgery) that did not develop like other males, and there are women who would put many a male to shame.
Both genders have testosterone, which is what really makes a male and female, other than genitalia.. Some women have an oversupply In women, testosterone is produced in various locations. One quarter of the hormone is produced in the ovary, a quarter is produced in the adrenal gland, and one half is produced in the peripheral tissues from the various precursors produced in the ovaries and adrenal gland. and are masculinized, some men don't have so much and are feminized.
You don't know any transgendered, so you speak out of ignorance and stereotypes
Bruce Jenner, I refuse to call him Katlyn, is an autogynephiliac, not transgendered, despite his surgeries, he has no respect for others including ciswomen.
Macho men, especially in the armed forces, have erected huge barriers for entry into many specialties, like special ops, by having impossible physical standards and requirements in training, to weed out women and men who don't fit their superman self image.
Women, because of their physique and biology, make better fighter pilots than men, and better swimmers than men. Women are able to tolerate pain and cold better than men., and they don't muscle up the way men do, but with training and practice they can hump a rucksack and gear like a male, and females have more endurance than a male.
Here is something that transphobes don't take into account, the effect of hormones on muscle mass and bone.
The transsexual has to undergo years of hormone therapy, estrogen for transwomen, testosterone of transmen, and estrogen diminishes muscle mass and bone mass as well.
A post surgery (SRS) transwoman, no longer has a source of testosterone (the gonads) and thus loses muscle mass and bone mass faster
Thus a post operative transwoman really doesn't have a physical advantage.
Now that all goes out the window for a pre op Transwoman., who has only been on hormone therapy a short time.
I don''t think that pre op Transwomen should compete, and on that we agree, but it is a different story for post op transpeople.
I lived in the Bay Area, and my social circle included just about every variety of the species you can thing of racial, mental, social, gendered, sexual, political.
Makes me think of Marjorie Testosterone Green.
It’s undeniably true that Republican-controlled “Red” states, almost across the board, have higher rates of:
Spousal abuse, Obesity, Smoking, Teen pregnancy, Sexually transmitted diseases, Abortion, Bankruptcies and poverty, Homicide and suicide, Infant mortality, Maternal mortality, Forcible rape, Robbery and aggravated assault, Dropouts from high school, Divorce, Contaminated air and water, Opiate addiction and deaths, Unskilled workers, Parasitic infections, Income and wealth inequality, Covid deaths and unvaccinated people, Federal subsidies to states (“Red State Welfare”), People on welfare, Child poverty, Homelessness, Spousal murder, Unemployment, Deaths from auto accidents, and People living on disability.
.
From "How Come Everything the Republican Party Stands for Involves Other People Dying?”
https://hartmannreport.com/p/how-come-everything-the-republican-66c
The blame for all of this goes to the Congressional Leadership!
Curses to Mitch!
Damn that McConnell!
Trump will not be our President again. He is SCUM OF THE EARTH TRASH , absolutely disgusting and a worthless human being. Women will make sure he never sits in the Oval Office again. Ever!
He can't live forever - it must be close. The supporters might be damaged for life though. I don't think we can ever be as good as we used to be. Just the environmental damage alone is going to make it rough - the political sore might never heal either.