The axis of evil, China, Russia, North Korea, Iran and now coming up fast on the inside lane America. You simply must elect Kamala or it's good night nurse.
Yes, Nigel B, these are some of the prime members of "Autocrats Inc." whom Anne Applebaum, described in her book by that name, and DJT is dead set on becoming P E # One of that club.
We are spiraling into uncharted crazy world unless drumpf is banished from public life. Without him it will just be crazy town America with all the twisted minds that he's left in his wake.
...as a long time comic book collector, they actually are. Like the megalomaniac villains portrayed in comics, they openly divulge in detail what their their plans are to the heroes if not the world (eg Project 2025). They rant and they rave how powerful they are, hurling lies about and insults at their rivals faster than bullets from an AR-15 with a bump stock.
Like those villains, they feel they are larger than life. and god's gift to humankind when in fact they are insecure and full of themselves, hiding behind their massive egos. and
displays of of bravado.
Indeed they are both "comical" and "tragic" at the same time.
Besides all the republican crackpots around, we have Corporate Media reporting these lies as truth. Then there is SCOTUS…
That’s why it’s so important that we win the election. Everyone needs to keep working towards that goal.
It’s not time to sit idly by and be a poll watcher.
When you vote, be sure to vote BLUE up and down the ballot. We need a majority in the House and Senate. It is only then that things can start to change. don-old and his cronies can be prosecuted for their crimes. More justices can be added to SCOTUS. Since they can’t police themselves maybe new laws can enact some disciplinary measures.
Even a win, won’t get rid of the crackpots. Just maybe new republican leadership can start to make a difference.
With a majority, PLEASE add Magna Carta (from King John in 1215) to the Constitution so that it clearly says what the Founders knew they inherited from British law
=> no one is above the law! <=
even the King (President)!
Yes, it might never pass the States, but it would certainly get Americans rethinking their politics.
How could SCOTUS even remotely think they should reverse 900 years of history by giving the President absolute power, above the law!!?
No defendant should be judged or be party to a case judged by a judge hand picked by the defendant. we need to take "conflicts of interest". especially in government, vastly more seriously. Science shows that bias operates even when unconscious, and we need to minimize that risk for people who accept grave public responsibility. Naturally a lot of aspirants to positions of power prefer regal impunity; but justice can't risk it. If you you can't curb your self-serving appetites, stay the hell out of the kitchen.
This certainly applies to Loose Cannon, Aileen Cannon, Trump-appointed "judge," overseeing and criminally throwing out the stolen documents case against Trump in Florida! Maybe with some great luck, she and Trump will BOTH be wiped out in one of the continuing deadly hurricanes!
Lorne, I don't include the Magna Carta in the list. The Magna Carta was simply a bitch list by the barons. The people were still serfs. It is as if, the billionaires got together and wrote a constitution for themselves, and resigned the rest of us to serfs.
Wait. Didn't our own constitution empower only property owning males, maybe the Magna Carta is part of our heritage. It took three amendments, 15th, 17th, 19th, to finally make this country a democracy.
No nation has a perfect democracy, and we as a species have a long way to go. That said, The Magna Carta was a step toward decentralization of power, and that was a step in the right direction even if universal rights were not the motive. The same can be said of our Constitution, which when approached in good faith, bequeathed a substantial foundation for long term social justice.
Contrary to the claims of "originalists" who seem to invest the authority of social contract in the persons of the framers, the Constitutions is a codification of principles that favor just outcomes. The framers were wise enough to realize the formula would become the property of each succeeding generation, to be applied by the living in evolving circumstances. They kept the language generalized, and to a fair degree, discretionary, such as "training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress" or " other high Crimes and Misdemeanors"; and they made the body revisable. The founders were hypocrites in many respects, but they still passed along a thing of great value, IF we can put it to use in good faith.
Agreed , the Magna Carta was a stepping stone towards decentralization of power, one of many. off the top of my head is the baron's revolt which forced Longshanks to adopt the policy of fee simple, allowing the barons to retain their titles and lands so long as they pledged fealty, obeyed his laws, and contributed to the defense of the realm, then there was the third charter (1619) of the London Company of Virginia, which bestowed self governance on the enterprise, until the charter was revoked in 1624 making it a crown colony.
Stepping stones, like the 15th, 17th,19th Amendment and if we survive this election, we aren't done yet.
Good observation William, that freedoms arrive slowly, even with a Revolution.
Magna Carta did not free the serfs, but it did set in place a precedent where the billionaires (barons identified as Lords) were ‘hoist by their own petard’ - no one was above the law: serf, noble, King.
An elder told me that his father had studied the politics of the Magna Carta era, and concluded that King John had tricked his barons into signing. He did it to protect serfs from abusive barons.
True? Untrue? It’s still a fundamental principle protecting people who have inherited & adapted British Justice legal systems.
Or just choose to obscure it. "Reaganomics" was bought and paid for. It really feudalism lite (Government of, by and for the People is a pathetic failure and the wealthiest amomg us are our natural leaders and true benefactors. Democracy (presumably) just gets in the way.
Most polls, especially ones that are popular, are worth nothing because they are not truly random and the questions are not done in an unbiased way. According to the pol sci guy Krosnik at Stanford.
This presidential election is the future for America. The GOP knows that they will never win the popular vote because they have been running on being anti establishment. When we elect politicians we expect them to work together like a team! Today we have the opposite. Our Congress is in a state of chaos because the MAGA CULT has lost their minds! Instead of helping President Biden by working together with the Democrats to make sure our country is safe and secure and prosperous for the future, the MAGA REPUBLICANS have been pushing disinformation. Like the lies about hurricane relief or the lies about whether or not Trump lost the 2020 election! They are a gang of liars!!
Keith: There is the greed factor, too. Many of these "representatives" do not know, or care that they are supposed to be working for their constituents. They want to privatize parts of government for their sponsors/donors. Money drives the entire system. Because of Citizens United, ethics and the Common Good are not even considered. They rave about "win /win" deals as the public are being screwed.
Keith, the Maga Cult in Congress, hasn't lost their minds. They know precisely what they're doing. They must think, "If I can't beat'em, join'em. I can lie and say crazy things to get the money I need from the wealthy to stay in office. Just vote the way the wealthy want me to vote. What else can I do to make this much money, have health insurance this good, and have a pension that pays so well? I'll take care of myself and my own family."
I’ve seen an opinion that puts part of the blame on the demise of small local media and newspapers. People don’t get to know the candidates are loonies and therefore unable stop them getting voted in
That's part of it, but you're coming from a rational perspective. How did the GOP become the party of cranks, crackpots and crazies? Very simple. The base is angry and it wants crazy.
Listening to Rush Limbaugh was instructive. People who called in would repeatedly say words to the effect "I've done everything right. I'm a white Christian who goes to church on Sundays, pays his taxes, and raises a family. I have to struggle to work two jobs. I wasn't brought up like this. I tried voting Democrat but nothing good came out of it."
You're exactly right, Michael. Around here, the worst was that when the jobs went overseas, jobless or underemployed parents were blamed for not taking their children to a dentist, wearing worn-out clothes and shoes, and being slow to get school physicals and paying for school supplies and school start fees. The Department of Children and Family Services placed children in foster care, where the system paid foster parents to care for their children rather than supplementing the parents' incomes to care for their children. Poverty was called "child negligence," and educators were all in on blaming the parents. When professionals were made "mandated reporters" and lost their licenses to practice if they came in contact with a child who the DCFS determined was "abused by neglect," they lost their licenses to practice. Parents lived in fear of the State, and many lost everything they owned to pay for attorneys to get their children back. The continual threat from the State is why many voters and subsequent generations want small government and the abolishment of the administrative state. It amazes me that the Democrats don't see that. Hillary's "It Takes a Village" struck terror in the hearts of many parents. That trauma and anger were passed down to subsequent generations. Employment-based insurance caused workers to lose their healthcare along with their jobs and placed a burden on emergency room care that failed to meet the community's healthcare needs. People whose incomes were too high to get food stamps and Medicaid, yet too low to pay for health insurance, or denied health insurance due to preexisting conditions of themselves or their children lived in a nightmare. "Do everything right, but the system doesn't work." Are Harris and Walz listening? Is the system too far gone for them to make a difference?
Many wonder, "Does it even matter if I vote?" Somebody told me the other day that they wondered if nobody showed up to vote, would the politicians be worried about what was about to happen and be afraid?
Gloria J. Maloney, thanks for writing about some children being taken away for parental neglect when it was really poverty not neglect. I wonder if this is more prevalent in red states and jurisdictions because it is their governmental policies of being against minimum wage, federally subsidized medicaid, and unions, etc. that keep people in poverty.
Good public education and family-friendly childcare, work, minimum wage, and healthcare policies will lift people out of generational poverty. We have seen these policies work unlike trickle down theory. America will never be free and prosperous if we leave 20% in extreme poverty with a lack of civic and other education leading to a shared identity as a strong and compassionate society. United we stand, divided we fall.
Gloria, you have made valid points. On your finishing point, let me say that enough uncommitted voters need to be swayed to vote Democratic, to stave off the ruin of their private lives by trumpian insanity, in the next few weeks. The Dems must address the reversal of poverty overall, expanded health care regardless of income, improved public education, and keeping children safe in their own homes. It has been demonstrated by non-partisan investigating groups that these issues have been addressed far more effectively during Democratic-led administrations than during Republican ones over the last 65 years. The trouble is that Republicans have disrupted much of the progress made by Dems, who have not been effective in cleaning up the Repubs' mess.
And their solution was Gloria, To vote against their own self interests, time and again? To vote for people who want to control their lives, their bodies, who are funded by billionaires and corporations.
That doesn't speak well for the intelligence and perception of the people does it?
Why does it strike terror in the hearts of many people, that it takes a village?
It does, education requires teachers, janitors, people who pay takes, buses and bus drivers, health care requires medical professionals,
I don't know anyone who was terrorized by "It takes a village"
They were terrorized by "It Takes a Village" because the people in the village were turned against each other after they made everyone who came into contact with children Mandated Reporters and threatened to take away their professional licenses or employment if a parent was later found to be an abusive or neglectful parent. Administrative law rather than a court of law requiring evidence without a reasonable doubt was used to take children, which was done by opinions of patronage employees of DCFS with little education and no common sense. Anyone politically active or even thinking about organizing their place of work with a union could be targeted. Thoughts of anything other than getting children returned and keeping them away from the child "protective" services were gone. Reputations were ruined by stacks of paperwork that nobody could wade through or defend against. It was the Gestapo on steroids. I'll never be the same, nor will the other parents and children who lived "the horror."
Yours is the first I've heard of the slant on it Takes a village. I do believe the DCFS situation predates Hillary's "it takes a village book", and I don't think that is what she meant. As you know I am no fan of Hillary's, just the opposite, but I try to keep things in the proper perspective.
You know that you and I agree on so many things, and I am not your adversary, far from it, but in this case Gloria. It seems that you have a very personal investment.
Now I do agree that DCFS over reaches, but I've seen it do good, rescuing children from abusive parents. I am thinking now of the children that were kept in the basement, and could not read or even speak.
That is all you heard about. They did rescue some abused children, but overall, they did much more harm than good. You didn't hear from the people who feared the "takes a village" concept because they were the mudsill, waste people with no voice, not even (especially) the local newspaper.
Whether it was planned or not, we used to be a Democratic, pro-union community, and now we only have two Democrats on the ballot, President and auditor.
Gloria J. Maloney, I am so sorry you and so many children and parents suffered and are suffering. Thank you for sharing and helping me understand people better and how good policy and laws can be twisted by some bad people to feed their need to judge, avenge, and punish. I never knew of this and I can understand people's distrust better. May you be blessed, Gloria.
Gloria, I am sorry to learn about this horrendous experience. I hope that you share your knowledge with organization dedicated to the protection of children.
I'm sorry for the extreme poverty some people suffered in the richest country in the world. We have to do better! If trickle down economic theory had ANY merit, the plight of ignored and disadvantaged Americans would have improved by now. Our continuing problem is due to 1) lack of free quality public education or job training through age 22, 2) lack of allegiance to and focus on the whole truth about our society and our government, and 3) failure to prioritize the common good of people over private profit. Don't worry about voter turnout, most, Americans have realized our mistake in allowing ourselves to be distracted from our duty of self-governing. Those who believe that our actions today affect whether or not our children will live under a democracy that can improve itself or something far more negative and far less free or fair will somehow manage to vote. Donald Trump is not a compassionate man, he is a selfish, deceitful, and greedy man proclaiming "I alone can fix it" and "I will be your voice" and "your retribution." He is right about one thing and one thing only: Americans must fight in the sense of thinking hard and working hard together to achieve positive change. If we want a sane, balanced and compassionate future, we must work to keep the wealthy doms in our society from dominating. Our founders intended that the people should self-govern. The doms are ready to take the reins and install someone selfisf, power hungry, and very comfortable with lying who will rule for their benefit while we are still trying to figure out who the enemy is and how to fight them. The way to fight them is with the rule of law. Our Constitution is written to protect us from their abuses, and we better exercise our rights. No one is above the law, and Presidents are not Kings who can pardon themselves.
This is a serious matter, that what matters is not just the size of government but having it in the right places doing good and not harm - by helping poorer parents, not hindering them. There need to be structures within the Democratic party, channels set up for ordinary people to enable real problems to be brought to the ears of the top brass with a real chance of affecting policy. Even a 'big block of cheese day' (West Wing, Season 1, Episode 5) within the party would be better than nothing.
I like what you're saying here, Lucy. It feels more and more like the level of trust in the "mainsteam" media is eroding while media is also consolidating. So there are fewer organizations and we're told we can't trust them because they're large and have an agenda. I think it would be hard to argue that about our old-school local papers. That creates a breeding ground for conspiracy theories because when you don't know what you CAN believe, you turn to what you WANT to believe and there are people that will feed on that. What I don't know is how to fix it... I wish there were something akin to the bookshop.org model for local news media.
Here in east PA small papers were bought & closed by hedge funds/ equity investors.Big lobbyists are supporting the consolidation/ along with chat sites(I get NPR& GROUND NEWS)-books & education are underfunded. I agree heartily,this is a defining TIME,respectfully
I lived in rural and small town south. I lived with m\ygrandparents in a shotgun (slave) cabin house owned by my Southern Baptist Uncle that lived next door.
Vote liars and cheats out! Look at what they DO not what they SAY! If makes no difference what they say if they fail to represent the will and the common good of the people. Why didn't we get a border bill passed in 2023? Because of Donald Trump. Vote them out if they are lining their own pockets by doing the bidding of the greedy oligarchs, the MAGA cultists, or power-hungry crackpots or in the case of Donald Trump - all of the above.
This issue has been one of my most serious concerns about this presidential race. We can’t reach the undecided voters effectively any longer. Starting with the crazy story about the inauguration crowd size in 2017, Trump and his lackeys and Steve Bannon through Breitbart have flooded the media with lies and conspiracy theories which have led to the destruction of any ability to convey the real news. The media has capitulated to the lies and reports them with too much legitimacy. Heather Cox Richardson in the piece I have posted below (please click on the link - subscribe to her writings if you wish) discusses how this has been a carefully constructed scheme to confuse the people and create a frustration that welcomes an authoritarian regime to sort it all out for them. We are at that point now where the undecided voters cannot be reached with accurate information about the candidates despite huge efforts by Harris/Walz to present their platform. Why do these people want to do this to America?! Heather Cox Richardson has captured this concern succinctly this morning:
The answer to your question is maybe, but it all depends on there being enough willing people to push back against the current thing that is masquerading as the GOP.
Sadly enough I think I can count the number of “old guard” Republicans with any influence on one hand.
I have some difficulty in understanding why many Republicans who can't stand Trump can't bring themselves to vote for Harris. A question of personal identity I guess. A refusal to fully recognize how their options have changed.
Old guard conservatives believe in the importance of balancing our national budget. They know that staying in crippling debt forever is a form of slavery. Because they have been stuck being dominated by old guard industries, they can't see the way to a brighter future.
Americans must become much smarter anout public investments to improve our future. Harris and Waltz need to speak to conservatives especially those living in midwestern wind and southern solar corridors about our opportunity to make America wealthy and strong again right now through developing green sustainable energy, energy storage, and clean hydrogen fuel.
Wealthy countries invest in educating their people and in developing money-saving, wealth-creating new technologies and manufacturing jobs to pay off public debt the right way - through education, innovation, and new wealth creation. Austerity programs should only be engaged in voluntarily by strong, free people who see the wisdom of using part or all of their taxes to build a strong, secure, healthy future not only for ourselves but for generations of Americans.
Right now, if we are smart, we can build public infrastructure designed to make sure that both we and future generations of Americans will live in a prosperous, healthy, and compassionate democracy.
Yes, the fanatical generational American Christian Nationalists have been around for centuries.
All of their movements, the labels being Jim Crow, Prohibitionists, Silent Majority, Moral Majority, Branch Davidians, QAnon, and MAGA, et al, are reincarnations of the same old 16th century Reformation and its King James Bible that reinvented Jesus Christ from a real life, liberal-minded, dark skinned, Middle Eastern Jewish carpenter, who inspired people to feed the poor, take care of the sick, and harbor the underprivileged (re: Mary Magdalene, the prostitute) to a fictional blue-eyed, white-skinned conservative that empowers followers to embrace money, power, and violence, to protect their God-fearing white supremacy.
The good news is for the first time, demographics are working against them and they are fast becoming a minority in America and, as a result, are freaking out. Yes, it might get ugly when Trump, their latest false prophet, loses the election bigly, but that will soon also pass…until their next reincarnation, and the newest mess yet to be determined.
Whatever the label, historically their movements are always unsustainable.
If Jesus of Nazareth was at the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates, I believe He would have pointed to Harris and Walz and said, “They’re the only ones up there that get what I was actually all about.”
Personally I am coming round to the view that Trump and the other ‘extreme’ republicans are the ‘dead cat’ themselves. But what are their antics distracting us from I wonder?
It’ll be the corporates / billionaires and their well funded lobby groups / PACs who are busy weakening regulations, changing tax laws, installing compliant officials at ALL levels in ALL administrations - federal, state and district. Basically the Republican corporate backers are installing a deep state that favours their short term business practices.
LBJ's deadcat strategy was pulling his dog by the ears to not answer questions about was the US in Laos. Was it Laos? Where ever we lied about and said we were not.
Superpacs are rushing money into Maine to convince the voters Superpacs are good for them. Oh, yeah.
And then Superpacs pack the legislature to shut down the ballot initiative initiative process altogether like they are trying to do here in Missouri and other states.
With each freedom obstructed or taken away it becomes harder to retain the freedoms we have. That is why we must fight hard for each freedom.
No they want. The loony bin nut jobs have to fail. Trump has to lose and then follows an education revamp. Until we make education a priority and get civics and basic common sense back into the classroom along with teaching skills we will not see this change. Ignorance is our problem.
Professor Reich: as odious as i find the views and opinions of mitt romney and liz cheney, they at least want America to survive, unlike the gun waving cranks, freaks and weirdos.
i do think that most people don't care what these GOP thugs are espousing, either because they don't believe these people are this nutty, or because they have no reputable and respectable local news media to rub their noses in these people's lies and to connect the dots so they understand that these local thugs plan to harm them, their children and their pets. many people have no capacity to think critically about the issues we all are confronted by, or believe that whinging and complaining about existing policies as being "critical thinking".
and i am convinced that "black nazis" like robinson simply want lots of power and white voters are happy to give it to him as long as he remains their mannequin, with a rich white man's hand up his ass, that repeats the lies that they have pre-approved.
this country is deeply broken and the reason is the baby boomers sat around on their behinds, proclaiming that their collective wealth is a direct result of their superiority, whilst remaining unengaged in politics and every other thing that affects the lives of anyone who is different from them.
I beg to differ. My local and regional Democratic clubs and LWV chapters are full of middle class baby boomers who are devoting their time and money to support democracy.
She paints with a might broad brush doesn't she? There are a host of reasons why we are in a mess, some wealthy baby boomers not doing enough, which I can agree with, is only a part of it. I think this is what they call "scapegoating" a whole generation.
Tell me Kathy. Since about 47-48% of America are Trump Humping MAGAts,
What is the demographic of the majority of the constitutency. I'm 85, and it was my generation and the boomers that listened to and empowered Rush and Fox, that essentially created the fascist right, and in fact many a peace loving hippy is now a die hard Trump humper.
The Cleveland Heights vote in 2020 was about 85% for Biden. I rarely run into a republican here.
Cleveland Heights borders on Cleveland's east side and the city of East Cleveland, two very challenged cities with low voter registration and turnout. The local and regional Democratic organizations are very focused on voter registration and voter outreach throughout Cuyahoga County. The League of Women Voters of Greater Cleveland and its chapters, which are nonpartisan, are also working hard on voter registration and voter education regarding the upcoming anti-gerrymandering ballot issue and voter rights and requirements. Most of the active members of these organizations appear to me to be of retirement age or older.
According to the 2020 census, Cleveland Heights has a population of about 59,000, 42% of which have a BA or higher, and 18.5% of which are over 65. The median household income is about $59,000, but 18% of families are below the poverty line. Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Institutes of Art and Music are just down the hill, and Cleveland State is a short drive west. See Wikipedia for additional demographic data.
The fear, anger, angst, resentment of the gun waving cranks, freaks and weirdos are what the ruling class use to gain total power, once power has been obtained they turn on those that brought them to power. That is what happened to the Sturmabeitlung and Ernst Röhm
So how do we stop this? It only seems to be getting worse. And that logic and reason have the opposite of their intended effects. Also, why do we need a new Republican Party? Why not a new party altogether? And finally, I highly blame FOX “news”. They shouldn’t be allowed in the public sphere. Dangerous misinformation is not free speech. It is a crime.
Donate to groups working to inform and GOTV Latinos in the swing states. If you and others think someone else will, that is how the con man will win. It's that simple. The Latinos in the swing states are critical to Harris campaign and her support has declined over the recent past.
The axis of evil, China, Russia, North Korea, Iran and now coming up fast on the inside lane America. You simply must elect Kamala or it's good night nurse.
Yes, Nigel B, these are some of the prime members of "Autocrats Inc." whom Anne Applebaum, described in her book by that name, and DJT is dead set on becoming P E # One of that club.
We are spiraling into uncharted crazy world unless drumpf is banished from public life. Without him it will just be crazy town America with all the twisted minds that he's left in his wake.
and he is just the start of what needs to be done
Agree
The "axis of evil" runs straight through our Red States. After Trump, America will never be great again.
Calling them axis of evil as if they're some comic book villains.
...as a long time comic book collector, they actually are. Like the megalomaniac villains portrayed in comics, they openly divulge in detail what their their plans are to the heroes if not the world (eg Project 2025). They rant and they rave how powerful they are, hurling lies about and insults at their rivals faster than bullets from an AR-15 with a bump stock.
Like those villains, they feel they are larger than life. and god's gift to humankind when in fact they are insecure and full of themselves, hiding behind their massive egos. and
displays of of bravado.
Indeed they are both "comical" and "tragic" at the same time.
Besides all the republican crackpots around, we have Corporate Media reporting these lies as truth. Then there is SCOTUS…
That’s why it’s so important that we win the election. Everyone needs to keep working towards that goal.
It’s not time to sit idly by and be a poll watcher.
When you vote, be sure to vote BLUE up and down the ballot. We need a majority in the House and Senate. It is only then that things can start to change. don-old and his cronies can be prosecuted for their crimes. More justices can be added to SCOTUS. Since they can’t police themselves maybe new laws can enact some disciplinary measures.
Even a win, won’t get rid of the crackpots. Just maybe new republican leadership can start to make a difference.
With a majority, PLEASE add Magna Carta (from King John in 1215) to the Constitution so that it clearly says what the Founders knew they inherited from British law
=> no one is above the law! <=
even the King (President)!
Yes, it might never pass the States, but it would certainly get Americans rethinking their politics.
How could SCOTUS even remotely think they should reverse 900 years of history by giving the President absolute power, above the law!!?
We need an amendment declaring:
-no man is above the law (scrap potus immunity)
-no man may be a judge in his own case (scrap self-pardoning)
No defendant should be judged or be party to a case judged by a judge hand picked by the defendant. we need to take "conflicts of interest". especially in government, vastly more seriously. Science shows that bias operates even when unconscious, and we need to minimize that risk for people who accept grave public responsibility. Naturally a lot of aspirants to positions of power prefer regal impunity; but justice can't risk it. If you you can't curb your self-serving appetites, stay the hell out of the kitchen.
This certainly applies to Loose Cannon, Aileen Cannon, Trump-appointed "judge," overseeing and criminally throwing out the stolen documents case against Trump in Florida! Maybe with some great luck, she and Trump will BOTH be wiped out in one of the continuing deadly hurricanes!
Lorne, I don't include the Magna Carta in the list. The Magna Carta was simply a bitch list by the barons. The people were still serfs. It is as if, the billionaires got together and wrote a constitution for themselves, and resigned the rest of us to serfs.
Wait. Didn't our own constitution empower only property owning males, maybe the Magna Carta is part of our heritage. It took three amendments, 15th, 17th, 19th, to finally make this country a democracy.
No nation has a perfect democracy, and we as a species have a long way to go. That said, The Magna Carta was a step toward decentralization of power, and that was a step in the right direction even if universal rights were not the motive. The same can be said of our Constitution, which when approached in good faith, bequeathed a substantial foundation for long term social justice.
Contrary to the claims of "originalists" who seem to invest the authority of social contract in the persons of the framers, the Constitutions is a codification of principles that favor just outcomes. The framers were wise enough to realize the formula would become the property of each succeeding generation, to be applied by the living in evolving circumstances. They kept the language generalized, and to a fair degree, discretionary, such as "training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress" or " other high Crimes and Misdemeanors"; and they made the body revisable. The founders were hypocrites in many respects, but they still passed along a thing of great value, IF we can put it to use in good faith.
Agreed , the Magna Carta was a stepping stone towards decentralization of power, one of many. off the top of my head is the baron's revolt which forced Longshanks to adopt the policy of fee simple, allowing the barons to retain their titles and lands so long as they pledged fealty, obeyed his laws, and contributed to the defense of the realm, then there was the third charter (1619) of the London Company of Virginia, which bestowed self governance on the enterprise, until the charter was revoked in 1624 making it a crown colony.
Stepping stones, like the 15th, 17th,19th Amendment and if we survive this election, we aren't done yet.
Good observation William, that freedoms arrive slowly, even with a Revolution.
Magna Carta did not free the serfs, but it did set in place a precedent where the billionaires (barons identified as Lords) were ‘hoist by their own petard’ - no one was above the law: serf, noble, King.
An elder told me that his father had studied the politics of the Magna Carta era, and concluded that King John had tricked his barons into signing. He did it to protect serfs from abusive barons.
True? Untrue? It’s still a fundamental principle protecting people who have inherited & adapted British Justice legal systems.
Looks like some of the SC justices missed that bit of history.
Or just choose to obscure it. "Reaganomics" was bought and paid for. It really feudalism lite (Government of, by and for the People is a pathetic failure and the wealthiest amomg us are our natural leaders and true benefactors. Democracy (presumably) just gets in the way.
If any. The "good old days" were not so good, especially in the days of unaccountable autocrats.
❤Reich❤:"The only way forward is with an entirely new Republican Party that rejects and detoxifies the old one and puts an end to this doom loop. "
Criminalize GULLIBILITY!!!😁😁😁
how will the citizens hit by hurricane helene vote next month? polling sites? mail??
More important: . . . were official Voter Lists destroyed in the hurricane?
Most polls, especially ones that are popular, are worth nothing because they are not truly random and the questions are not done in an unbiased way. According to the pol sci guy Krosnik at Stanford.
This presidential election is the future for America. The GOP knows that they will never win the popular vote because they have been running on being anti establishment. When we elect politicians we expect them to work together like a team! Today we have the opposite. Our Congress is in a state of chaos because the MAGA CULT has lost their minds! Instead of helping President Biden by working together with the Democrats to make sure our country is safe and secure and prosperous for the future, the MAGA REPUBLICANS have been pushing disinformation. Like the lies about hurricane relief or the lies about whether or not Trump lost the 2020 election! They are a gang of liars!!
Keith: There is the greed factor, too. Many of these "representatives" do not know, or care that they are supposed to be working for their constituents. They want to privatize parts of government for their sponsors/donors. Money drives the entire system. Because of Citizens United, ethics and the Common Good are not even considered. They rave about "win /win" deals as the public are being screwed.
re: "The GOP knows that they will never win the popular vote".
They're gaming the Electoral College.
Keith, the Maga Cult in Congress, hasn't lost their minds. They know precisely what they're doing. They must think, "If I can't beat'em, join'em. I can lie and say crazy things to get the money I need from the wealthy to stay in office. Just vote the way the wealthy want me to vote. What else can I do to make this much money, have health insurance this good, and have a pension that pays so well? I'll take care of myself and my own family."
I’ve seen an opinion that puts part of the blame on the demise of small local media and newspapers. People don’t get to know the candidates are loonies and therefore unable stop them getting voted in
That's part of it, but you're coming from a rational perspective. How did the GOP become the party of cranks, crackpots and crazies? Very simple. The base is angry and it wants crazy.
Listening to Rush Limbaugh was instructive. People who called in would repeatedly say words to the effect "I've done everything right. I'm a white Christian who goes to church on Sundays, pays his taxes, and raises a family. I have to struggle to work two jobs. I wasn't brought up like this. I tried voting Democrat but nothing good came out of it."
Are you listening Bill, Barack and Hillary?
You're exactly right, Michael. Around here, the worst was that when the jobs went overseas, jobless or underemployed parents were blamed for not taking their children to a dentist, wearing worn-out clothes and shoes, and being slow to get school physicals and paying for school supplies and school start fees. The Department of Children and Family Services placed children in foster care, where the system paid foster parents to care for their children rather than supplementing the parents' incomes to care for their children. Poverty was called "child negligence," and educators were all in on blaming the parents. When professionals were made "mandated reporters" and lost their licenses to practice if they came in contact with a child who the DCFS determined was "abused by neglect," they lost their licenses to practice. Parents lived in fear of the State, and many lost everything they owned to pay for attorneys to get their children back. The continual threat from the State is why many voters and subsequent generations want small government and the abolishment of the administrative state. It amazes me that the Democrats don't see that. Hillary's "It Takes a Village" struck terror in the hearts of many parents. That trauma and anger were passed down to subsequent generations. Employment-based insurance caused workers to lose their healthcare along with their jobs and placed a burden on emergency room care that failed to meet the community's healthcare needs. People whose incomes were too high to get food stamps and Medicaid, yet too low to pay for health insurance, or denied health insurance due to preexisting conditions of themselves or their children lived in a nightmare. "Do everything right, but the system doesn't work." Are Harris and Walz listening? Is the system too far gone for them to make a difference?
Many wonder, "Does it even matter if I vote?" Somebody told me the other day that they wondered if nobody showed up to vote, would the politicians be worried about what was about to happen and be afraid?
Gloria J. Maloney, thanks for writing about some children being taken away for parental neglect when it was really poverty not neglect. I wonder if this is more prevalent in red states and jurisdictions because it is their governmental policies of being against minimum wage, federally subsidized medicaid, and unions, etc. that keep people in poverty.
Good public education and family-friendly childcare, work, minimum wage, and healthcare policies will lift people out of generational poverty. We have seen these policies work unlike trickle down theory. America will never be free and prosperous if we leave 20% in extreme poverty with a lack of civic and other education leading to a shared identity as a strong and compassionate society. United we stand, divided we fall.
Gloria, you have made valid points. On your finishing point, let me say that enough uncommitted voters need to be swayed to vote Democratic, to stave off the ruin of their private lives by trumpian insanity, in the next few weeks. The Dems must address the reversal of poverty overall, expanded health care regardless of income, improved public education, and keeping children safe in their own homes. It has been demonstrated by non-partisan investigating groups that these issues have been addressed far more effectively during Democratic-led administrations than during Republican ones over the last 65 years. The trouble is that Republicans have disrupted much of the progress made by Dems, who have not been effective in cleaning up the Repubs' mess.
And their solution was Gloria, To vote against their own self interests, time and again? To vote for people who want to control their lives, their bodies, who are funded by billionaires and corporations.
That doesn't speak well for the intelligence and perception of the people does it?
Why does it strike terror in the hearts of many people, that it takes a village?
It does, education requires teachers, janitors, people who pay takes, buses and bus drivers, health care requires medical professionals,
I don't know anyone who was terrorized by "It takes a village"
They were terrorized by "It Takes a Village" because the people in the village were turned against each other after they made everyone who came into contact with children Mandated Reporters and threatened to take away their professional licenses or employment if a parent was later found to be an abusive or neglectful parent. Administrative law rather than a court of law requiring evidence without a reasonable doubt was used to take children, which was done by opinions of patronage employees of DCFS with little education and no common sense. Anyone politically active or even thinking about organizing their place of work with a union could be targeted. Thoughts of anything other than getting children returned and keeping them away from the child "protective" services were gone. Reputations were ruined by stacks of paperwork that nobody could wade through or defend against. It was the Gestapo on steroids. I'll never be the same, nor will the other parents and children who lived "the horror."
Yours is the first I've heard of the slant on it Takes a village. I do believe the DCFS situation predates Hillary's "it takes a village book", and I don't think that is what she meant. As you know I am no fan of Hillary's, just the opposite, but I try to keep things in the proper perspective.
You know that you and I agree on so many things, and I am not your adversary, far from it, but in this case Gloria. It seems that you have a very personal investment.
Now I do agree that DCFS over reaches, but I've seen it do good, rescuing children from abusive parents. I am thinking now of the children that were kept in the basement, and could not read or even speak.
That is all you heard about. They did rescue some abused children, but overall, they did much more harm than good. You didn't hear from the people who feared the "takes a village" concept because they were the mudsill, waste people with no voice, not even (especially) the local newspaper.
Whether it was planned or not, we used to be a Democratic, pro-union community, and now we only have two Democrats on the ballot, President and auditor.
Gloria J. Maloney, I am so sorry you and so many children and parents suffered and are suffering. Thank you for sharing and helping me understand people better and how good policy and laws can be twisted by some bad people to feed their need to judge, avenge, and punish. I never knew of this and I can understand people's distrust better. May you be blessed, Gloria.
Gloria, I am sorry to learn about this horrendous experience. I hope that you share your knowledge with organization dedicated to the protection of children.
I'm sorry for the extreme poverty some people suffered in the richest country in the world. We have to do better! If trickle down economic theory had ANY merit, the plight of ignored and disadvantaged Americans would have improved by now. Our continuing problem is due to 1) lack of free quality public education or job training through age 22, 2) lack of allegiance to and focus on the whole truth about our society and our government, and 3) failure to prioritize the common good of people over private profit. Don't worry about voter turnout, most, Americans have realized our mistake in allowing ourselves to be distracted from our duty of self-governing. Those who believe that our actions today affect whether or not our children will live under a democracy that can improve itself or something far more negative and far less free or fair will somehow manage to vote. Donald Trump is not a compassionate man, he is a selfish, deceitful, and greedy man proclaiming "I alone can fix it" and "I will be your voice" and "your retribution." He is right about one thing and one thing only: Americans must fight in the sense of thinking hard and working hard together to achieve positive change. If we want a sane, balanced and compassionate future, we must work to keep the wealthy doms in our society from dominating. Our founders intended that the people should self-govern. The doms are ready to take the reins and install someone selfisf, power hungry, and very comfortable with lying who will rule for their benefit while we are still trying to figure out who the enemy is and how to fight them. The way to fight them is with the rule of law. Our Constitution is written to protect us from their abuses, and we better exercise our rights. No one is above the law, and Presidents are not Kings who can pardon themselves.
The Founders created a country. The Republicans want to devolve it into a tribe.
Good points - this was/ IS a long slog.We must adapt & remove the blinders and gloves,thanks respectfully
This is a serious matter, that what matters is not just the size of government but having it in the right places doing good and not harm - by helping poorer parents, not hindering them. There need to be structures within the Democratic party, channels set up for ordinary people to enable real problems to be brought to the ears of the top brass with a real chance of affecting policy. Even a 'big block of cheese day' (West Wing, Season 1, Episode 5) within the party would be better than nothing.
True enough Michael, and then like sheep led to the slaughter, the dolts vote against their own self interests.
You'd be angry at Dems too if you listened to FOX news all the time, along with some legitimate reasons to be angry, at someone. Anyone.
I like what you're saying here, Lucy. It feels more and more like the level of trust in the "mainsteam" media is eroding while media is also consolidating. So there are fewer organizations and we're told we can't trust them because they're large and have an agenda. I think it would be hard to argue that about our old-school local papers. That creates a breeding ground for conspiracy theories because when you don't know what you CAN believe, you turn to what you WANT to believe and there are people that will feed on that. What I don't know is how to fix it... I wish there were something akin to the bookshop.org model for local news media.
Here in east PA small papers were bought & closed by hedge funds/ equity investors.Big lobbyists are supporting the consolidation/ along with chat sites(I get NPR& GROUND NEWS)-books & education are underfunded. I agree heartily,this is a defining TIME,respectfully
Small local papers in the south and rural America are ultra conservative. Lucy.
Are they locally owned?
Yep, as far as I know.
Interesting
I lived in rural and small town south. I lived with m\ygrandparents in a shotgun (slave) cabin house owned by my Southern Baptist Uncle that lived next door.
Lots of stories.
That is part of the degradation to "conversation" among the people that is needed for democracy.
VOTE BLUE on a straight ticket to keep the lunatics from running the asylum!
MAKE LYING WRONG AGAIN
AND MAKE PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE WHEN THEY DO ...
Vote liars and cheats out! Look at what they DO not what they SAY! If makes no difference what they say if they fail to represent the will and the common good of the people. Why didn't we get a border bill passed in 2023? Because of Donald Trump. Vote them out if they are lining their own pockets by doing the bidding of the greedy oligarchs, the MAGA cultists, or power-hungry crackpots or in the case of Donald Trump - all of the above.
It's VERY FRUSTRATING when people tell you, in BOTH word and deed, WHO THEY ARE, and then many NEVER heed the warning!!!
ABSOLUTELY FRIGHTENING AND EXASPERATING...
This issue has been one of my most serious concerns about this presidential race. We can’t reach the undecided voters effectively any longer. Starting with the crazy story about the inauguration crowd size in 2017, Trump and his lackeys and Steve Bannon through Breitbart have flooded the media with lies and conspiracy theories which have led to the destruction of any ability to convey the real news. The media has capitulated to the lies and reports them with too much legitimacy. Heather Cox Richardson in the piece I have posted below (please click on the link - subscribe to her writings if you wish) discusses how this has been a carefully constructed scheme to confuse the people and create a frustration that welcomes an authoritarian regime to sort it all out for them. We are at that point now where the undecided voters cannot be reached with accurate information about the candidates despite huge efforts by Harris/Walz to present their platform. Why do these people want to do this to America?! Heather Cox Richardson has captured this concern succinctly this morning:
https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/october-6-2024?r=1iv017&utm_medium=ios
Why do they do this to America? Greed, territorial dominance drive, desire to rule, greed.
Heather's letter today needs to go viral. I shared a few hours ago..
Wow, Heather sure has a command of language to paint this picture so clearly! Thank you for sharing today!
Richard, thank for the reference.
AGREE~ ,Her books are inspiring also.My local papers are hedge fund owned-social media too.
NPR / GROUND NEWS help. Thanks respectfully
I recommend that everyone one reads Heather Cox Richardson's latest daily post.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/
Her brilliant, cool historical analysis every day keeps me sane.
Dems keep trying to reach each voter to have a conversation with them. Nothing wriong with that in itself.
But the Republicans operate better at scale, flooding media with misinformation.
Maybe more people will die at the DNC and they will devise the media strategy that is needed.
Does anyone here need more of the mass mailings you get from the Dems?
Hence Bannon statement- the Dems don't matter. Grab them by the media and that's the whole show. As one operative once opined to Nixon.
Yes, Steve. Unfortunately the media has consented to be complicit.
The answer to your question is maybe, but it all depends on there being enough willing people to push back against the current thing that is masquerading as the GOP.
Sadly enough I think I can count the number of “old guard” Republicans with any influence on one hand.
And they are all cowards.
I have some difficulty in understanding why many Republicans who can't stand Trump can't bring themselves to vote for Harris. A question of personal identity I guess. A refusal to fully recognize how their options have changed.
Old guard conservatives believe in the importance of balancing our national budget. They know that staying in crippling debt forever is a form of slavery. Because they have been stuck being dominated by old guard industries, they can't see the way to a brighter future.
Americans must become much smarter anout public investments to improve our future. Harris and Waltz need to speak to conservatives especially those living in midwestern wind and southern solar corridors about our opportunity to make America wealthy and strong again right now through developing green sustainable energy, energy storage, and clean hydrogen fuel.
Wealthy countries invest in educating their people and in developing money-saving, wealth-creating new technologies and manufacturing jobs to pay off public debt the right way - through education, innovation, and new wealth creation. Austerity programs should only be engaged in voluntarily by strong, free people who see the wisdom of using part or all of their taxes to build a strong, secure, healthy future not only for ourselves but for generations of Americans.
Right now, if we are smart, we can build public infrastructure designed to make sure that both we and future generations of Americans will live in a prosperous, healthy, and compassionate democracy.
The only light at the end of that tunnel is they’re not long for this world.
They have kids...
the insanity recapitulates
Thank you Professor Reich.
Yes, the fanatical generational American Christian Nationalists have been around for centuries.
All of their movements, the labels being Jim Crow, Prohibitionists, Silent Majority, Moral Majority, Branch Davidians, QAnon, and MAGA, et al, are reincarnations of the same old 16th century Reformation and its King James Bible that reinvented Jesus Christ from a real life, liberal-minded, dark skinned, Middle Eastern Jewish carpenter, who inspired people to feed the poor, take care of the sick, and harbor the underprivileged (re: Mary Magdalene, the prostitute) to a fictional blue-eyed, white-skinned conservative that empowers followers to embrace money, power, and violence, to protect their God-fearing white supremacy.
The good news is for the first time, demographics are working against them and they are fast becoming a minority in America and, as a result, are freaking out. Yes, it might get ugly when Trump, their latest false prophet, loses the election bigly, but that will soon also pass…until their next reincarnation, and the newest mess yet to be determined.
Whatever the label, historically their movements are always unsustainable.
If Jesus of Nazareth was at the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates, I believe He would have pointed to Harris and Walz and said, “They’re the only ones up there that get what I was actually all about.”
Hang in there, fellow Americans.
Beautifully summed up!
Personally I am coming round to the view that Trump and the other ‘extreme’ republicans are the ‘dead cat’ themselves. But what are their antics distracting us from I wonder?
It’ll be the corporates / billionaires and their well funded lobby groups / PACs who are busy weakening regulations, changing tax laws, installing compliant officials at ALL levels in ALL administrations - federal, state and district. Basically the Republican corporate backers are installing a deep state that favours their short term business practices.
And dead cat here refers to Crosby’s definition and has nothing to do with eating pets or childless women
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_cat_strategy
LBJ's deadcat strategy was pulling his dog by the ears to not answer questions about was the US in Laos. Was it Laos? Where ever we lied about and said we were not.
Good points ; EPA,banking,s.court,AI,big pharma,education,- alot needs work(immagration).
Plus our treaties/foreign policy□distraction we can't allow,thanks respectfully
If you care about the damage Superpacs are doing consider donating some to this effort to rein them in by passing a Maine ballot initiiative.
https://equalcitizens.us/against-super-pacs/
Superpacs are rushing money into Maine to convince the voters Superpacs are good for them. Oh, yeah.
And then Superpacs pack the legislature to shut down the ballot initiative initiative process altogether like they are trying to do here in Missouri and other states.
With each freedom obstructed or taken away it becomes harder to retain the freedoms we have. That is why we must fight hard for each freedom.
MAKE LYING WRONG AGAIN !!!!
No they want. The loony bin nut jobs have to fail. Trump has to lose and then follows an education revamp. Until we make education a priority and get civics and basic common sense back into the classroom along with teaching skills we will not see this change. Ignorance is our problem.
Quite right for centuries the ruling classes have kept their populations uneducated and ignorant in order to maintain their status!
Only if you and I make him lose.
And we will along with all women. He will not win!
Professor Reich: as odious as i find the views and opinions of mitt romney and liz cheney, they at least want America to survive, unlike the gun waving cranks, freaks and weirdos.
i do think that most people don't care what these GOP thugs are espousing, either because they don't believe these people are this nutty, or because they have no reputable and respectable local news media to rub their noses in these people's lies and to connect the dots so they understand that these local thugs plan to harm them, their children and their pets. many people have no capacity to think critically about the issues we all are confronted by, or believe that whinging and complaining about existing policies as being "critical thinking".
and i am convinced that "black nazis" like robinson simply want lots of power and white voters are happy to give it to him as long as he remains their mannequin, with a rich white man's hand up his ass, that repeats the lies that they have pre-approved.
this country is deeply broken and the reason is the baby boomers sat around on their behinds, proclaiming that their collective wealth is a direct result of their superiority, whilst remaining unengaged in politics and every other thing that affects the lives of anyone who is different from them.
I beg to differ. My local and regional Democratic clubs and LWV chapters are full of middle class baby boomers who are devoting their time and money to support democracy.
She paints with a might broad brush doesn't she? There are a host of reasons why we are in a mess, some wealthy baby boomers not doing enough, which I can agree with, is only a part of it. I think this is what they call "scapegoating" a whole generation.
Tell me Kathy. Since about 47-48% of America are Trump Humping MAGAts,
What is the demographic of the majority of the constitutency. I'm 85, and it was my generation and the boomers that listened to and empowered Rush and Fox, that essentially created the fascist right, and in fact many a peace loving hippy is now a die hard Trump humper.
The Cleveland Heights vote in 2020 was about 85% for Biden. I rarely run into a republican here.
Cleveland Heights borders on Cleveland's east side and the city of East Cleveland, two very challenged cities with low voter registration and turnout. The local and regional Democratic organizations are very focused on voter registration and voter outreach throughout Cuyahoga County. The League of Women Voters of Greater Cleveland and its chapters, which are nonpartisan, are also working hard on voter registration and voter education regarding the upcoming anti-gerrymandering ballot issue and voter rights and requirements. Most of the active members of these organizations appear to me to be of retirement age or older.
According to the 2020 census, Cleveland Heights has a population of about 59,000, 42% of which have a BA or higher, and 18.5% of which are over 65. The median household income is about $59,000, but 18% of families are below the poverty line. Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Institutes of Art and Music are just down the hill, and Cleveland State is a short drive west. See Wikipedia for additional demographic data.
Pretty much like here in easternPA. ; I agree🟪📚↩️↪️🔭💠thanks
Thank you!
I am listening to NPR- stating 10% of congress are RETIRING > the damage to repair , will last
for years. Confidence in gov.(full stop) IS VERY LOW.To me this is sad.📶↗️💠🔎
Many a peace living hippy is now a die hard Trump fan. Really? Are you speaking from experience?
Yes, William, and it was easily done.
The fear, anger, angst, resentment of the gun waving cranks, freaks and weirdos are what the ruling class use to gain total power, once power has been obtained they turn on those that brought them to power. That is what happened to the Sturmabeitlung and Ernst Röhm
Right on👏🏻
“…or believe that whinging and complaining about existing policies as being "critical thinking".
So how do we stop this? It only seems to be getting worse. And that logic and reason have the opposite of their intended effects. Also, why do we need a new Republican Party? Why not a new party altogether? And finally, I highly blame FOX “news”. They shouldn’t be allowed in the public sphere. Dangerous misinformation is not free speech. It is a crime.
Donate to groups working to inform and GOTV Latinos in the swing states. If you and others think someone else will, that is how the con man will win. It's that simple. The Latinos in the swing states are critical to Harris campaign and her support has declined over the recent past.
https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/9c3d8203516142d4be6bb1bc207c707f-poder-nc-action-raleigh
https://votolatino.org/
https://kentuckylantern.com/2024/08/21/harris-campaign-launches-bilingual-whatsapp-channel-to-draw-latino-voters-in-swing-states/
P.S. there is a hell of a mess in aisle 3. All hands on deck,