This subject frightens Mr. Trump because it's a problem he has no understanding of. The rich don't care about the price of everyday commodities the rest of us have to struggle to obtain. Trump constantly bitches about the economy he inherited from President Biden. What about the disaster Biden was gifted by Trump. Biden's entire term in office was dedicated in an effort to fix the mess Trump made of this country, and his ignorance surrounding the Covid virus. Biden should be given an award considering what he accomplished after the toilet Donnie left behind was flushed.
So right. But trump is not going to credit Biden with anything! We know trump made a mess in the first four years and Biden managed to fix so much of it. Now, trump is creating an even bigger mess, and messing with the world stage also, and the Republicans are finally starting to see what he is doing! He needs to be removed. We can't have another three years of what he has done in just one year! His actions at press conferences, singling out female reporters with disgusting name calling, his attempts at speeches that end up being brags about how great he is doing, in his opinion only! Pardoning a top drug smuggler while supposedly fighting drug smuggling? That must have been a purchase we will never know about!
He literally has destroyed so much in the past year!!! I am terrified to consider what DOGE teen geeks and others have been doing w/the SS database!! Someone really needs to be investigating that before all seniors and people w/disabilities are left w/o a bankrupt SS and Medicare.
I also worry about what they are doing with the SS information. They were handed our information like it was candy! Why was it allowed? Who should have stopped it? Trump gave Musk and the musketeers full access to our private information. We may find out what they did with it one day, but then it will be too late! Trump hates SS because he can't (or couldn't get) access to all that money! They raided SS funds a few years ago and I am sure trump would LOVE to do that again. I can't help but wonder where all the money from the tariffs is going and where the money (that is buying the pardons) is going. Trump is enriching himself through the office of the President and I thought we had the emoluments clause to prevent that! But trump has appointed the people that are supposed to oversee him? The GOP Congress are just bootlickers. that won't lift a finger to stop trump. I hope that the midterms are allowed to go on. I can just see trump trying to stop our elections next!
I had a strange thing happen in my bank checking account: Unauthorized Medicare Premium Collection Cent biller had been added to my bank account payee list. I was shocked that anyone but myself, could add payee's to my list of bill payers. I deleted it from my payee list. Plus, my Medicare is paid through my Social Security, Not through my bank account. I've reached out to both, my bank & Medicare, but have not heard from either, since 12/5/25. The only thing I can think of is DOGE has EVERYTHING and that bank account is where I have my Fed tax return deposited .
Agreed. But Biden similarly insisted to Americans whose costs were climbing that the economy was in great shape (it was for rich people like him and the corporations who fund the Democratic leadership as well as the Republicans, and for them it still is--but not for us). And kept us locked into a genocidal war, rolling out the red carpet for a man charged with crimes against humanity. And didn't do much to batten down the hatches, especially against climate change, for as increasingly probable handover to Trump. Let's be realistic: we can at least agree with Trumpers that change must come.
One of the advantages of being old (in my 80’s) you learn that everything goes in cycles. When my nephew graduated from college and went to work for a large developer, his father sat him down and told him to be prepared for downturns. We were raised in the military (40’s thru 50’s). Money was tight, I wore his hand me downs for play, you had small closets because clothes were expensive as were appliances (not everyone had a tv) as was many things. My first lesson in economics was when the candy store raised the price of malted milk balls from 3 for a penny to 2 for penny. As my grandmother who went thru the Depression told us, it’s hard to go down and lower the standard of living but it is the tough, creative smart people who do not wallow in self pity that make it.
I recently read my Grandmother's 1940 diary. She lived in a major Great Lakes port city in a middle-class neighborhood. I was surprised when she casually mentioned churning her own butter and cottage cheese. They had a large backyard garden and canned their own produce: their garden preserves filled a large cupboard in the cellar. Winter evenings at home were spent mending clothes or knitting sweaters or baby clothes or quilting. One of the great lessons Grandpa imparted was: "You don't need that." (What freedom! Not to feel compelled to buy a lot of stuff that one can do without.)
What a nice scene to imagine. I have friends in the country who still do all those things. I don't have the skills--my mother didn't want me to be a Good Wife. I think I could have managed to avoid that fate on my own, though I may be wrong. Still, I wish I knew how to knit and manage a vegetable garden and make a quilt and chop wood. People used to be, still are in the country, so competent.
We could learn a lot from how our parents, grandparents, even great grandparents survived and even thrived. I still keep a garden as do my sons. My aunt became first woman executive at HA Trust. As a young working woman in the 30’s money was tight. She made all of her clothes. She sewed and found that knitting was a way to relax in the evening. It’s unfortunate that few keep journals. They are a valuable resource.
One hatch Biden needed to batten down (good phrase) was neutering the Sleazy Six on the Supreme Court by expanding the Court. 13 judicial districts, 13 Justices. The last time the federal judiciary was revamped was 1869.
I don't think the American public believed SCOTUS needed guardrails. But the MAGA 6 granting presidents partial immunity has gotten the public's attention. They now see the very real consequences of allowing Trump to commit any illegal action in office that he desires.
I agree, Robyn. I've been worried about SCOTUS, but I never dreamed it would betray the Const. But it did. Now it needs to be fixed by a Congress that believes in the Const. and guardrails.
Yes I used to think 13 would be too many, just judging from experience of working with >10 people v. <10. But I've changed my mind. More dissenters would be more, even if we didn't have a close balance.
I did too. But when I read that the Judiciary Act was last revised in 1869 -- when the US population was about 40M and there were 37 states -- I decided 13 wasn't as unwieldy as it sounded.
Having 1 justice from each of 13 jurisdictions makes it an easy decision imo. It needs to be an odd number, and it's equal representation. Complaints about politicizing are answered by saying a 160-yo law needs updating.
Mary, be that change! If you leave it to others chances are that you will never get what you want. Join others and organize. Beware of infiltrators and research organizations claiming to represent your interests.
I'm an activist with several organizations (e.g. Swing Blue, Sister District, Progressive Mass, Mothers Out Front, 350Mass, Third Act, Cambridge Residents Alliance...). Do I sound passive? Just curious--writing online is a medium with its own sound, not sure I've mastered it after 30 years!
Totally agree The word “Affordability” is as hard to grasp for him as he has defined "groceries" as "a beautiful term" and "a bag with different things in it," but also as "everything you eat". He has also described it as a simple, “old-fashioned word” and has sometimes used it to “signify every single item of grocery”, rather than just some items. He’s a blithering idiot born with a silver spoon in his mouth and shits out pellets that the MAGA crowd picks up as “nuggets” for them to buy all his crap.
Blithering idiot is right!! why isn't the news media playing more of the word salads he sprouts when he's speaking. Some of that stuff should be on billboards!! or in cartoon bubbles coming out of his mouth.
The tragic thing about human nature is a tendency by most people to WANT to believe something is true, rather than seek out the truth of it. This was articulated for me in an interview by the late Bill Moyers with filmmaker Errol Morris back in the 1980s. His film, the Thin Blue Line, helped to free an innocent man who was wrongly convicted and served over 12 years on Death Row in Texas.
Morris set out to make a completely different film and in the process "stumbled" upon this case -- and ended up saving a man's life. I have always been very concerned with the nature of Truth, especially since seeing that film when it came out.
Biden does not deserve an A+++++ (or any award) for his handling of the post-Trump mess, especially Covid. But it's not just Biden's fault. Our entire society mismanaged it. And then we come back and lie to each other about it. Face it; it's a sick society. btw: 400,000 died under Trump of Covid. Over twice that many died under Biden -- and we're STILL losing Americans to that virus. I'd give Biden a B-.
It must be noted that the scale and scope of Biden's legislative accomplishments was astonishing given that the Senate was tied 50/50. Many important bills need 60 votes to avoid a filibuster and allow passage of the bill. He had to persuade 10 Republicans to vote for his legislation. This means he governed using the principle of bipartisanship, no small task given the circumstances of the time. I'd go with a B+.
I give him credit for obeying the law (important!), and seeing to it that we continued to get free vaccines and Covid tests until the danger of the disease was reduced, and above all for not vetoing the Inflation Reduction Act [read Green New Deal], despite a lifelong alliance with the fossil fuel industry as native of PA and member of Congress from Delaware.
I have however disapproved of Biden all my life, with reason, and don't accept blame for national division as an informed person in her 70s who doesn't admire a "centrist" candidate chosen by Democratic leadership over more popular candidates. His decision to keep running when he was down to 5 hours a day at the office and suffering brain fog was irresponsible. Not wicked, arguably (unless you think genocide is a moral catastrophe), or insane, like His Orangeness, but not really a pillar of civic virtue.
You don’t think I support Trump do you? I’ve been working to defeat him and his pals and his “ideas” for 11 years (you can disapprove of more than one politician at a time 😆)! But I think younger people are going to stop the Democratic Party from nominating another elderly corporate Democrat in2028–they have a world and a democracy to save and they know it. Good luck to all of us!
The MAGAs, the neo(non) Christians, the Repubs, the billionaires, the politicians were all also once young people with ideals. They just weren't our ideals. And they worked for decades to get to their ideals into the action we have today.
How about this: Biden delivered immediate support for families hard-hit by the pandemic, including extending enhanced unemployment insurance benefits and eligibility for millions of Americans temporarily out of the workforce, lowering taxes for working Americans by increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit for 17 million workers, and providing $1,400 per-person checks for most Americans. I personally got "enhanced unemployment insurance" even though I'm a part time Uber driver (also in my eighties).
No disagreement, John. Imo no one person could possibly do everything that needed to be done, and Biden did a lot. The one thing nobody can ever get more of is time. 24 hours a day is all there is.
I just rate protecting democracy very high. Idk that he had to do much except get people on board to do the work. He appointed 1 good Justice and many good District and Circuit Judges. Imo Congress has been dysfunctional for so long I'm surprised when it does anything useful.
I understand this grade in some ways, but I wonder if maybe you haven't read enough (it's not easy in the US if you depend on the NYT or Washington Post--or have a job and a family!) about the crimes against humanity Biden insisted on enabling and arming in the Middle East. We're not safe in a world where "democratic" leaders engage in genocide and collective punishment, and engineer starvation, any more than we and above all our kids are safe in a world facing the climate change and mass extinctions Biden exacerbated by handing out drilling permits--even in the pristine Arctic--like candy. Sigh. Sorry to be a downer.
No problem, Mary. Lots of people agree with you, and I do too when it comes to enabling Bibi. But imo POTUS' primary concern is his (someday her?) own country. Again, there are only 24 hours in a day, and nobody can do everything.
I agree re: the POTUS job. But that was emphatically not Biden's view of it! Foreign policy was his passion and specialty. Well, we don't have to agree about Biden, water under the bridge. Let's just get some good-hearted, energetic young people to DC who aren't addicted to fossil fuels, Big Pharma, and/or military-industrial-complex donors. It's great how many now take no money from such sources, or PACs!
Biden had to deal with a new, highly infectious variant of Covid, and with a population tired of social distancing directives. Biden warned the public of the new virus and pleaded with people to maintain social distancing. Then came the July 4 holiday, and the infections skyrocketed soon after. Throughout all this time Republicans denounced social distancing and discouraged vaccination. So, Thomas, whether intentional or not, partial truths can be misleading.
I well remember that awful summer and all the outrage voiced about masks and mask-wearers. Absolutely no care for public safety on the part of so many USAnians.
I don’t think affordability is beyond his understanding. Trump cannot show weakness or fallibility. Affordability issues mean his policies have failed. He believes denial and alteration of reality is his best defense.
He defended that way even to the point of delusional thinking. You cannot understand Trump without getting his panoply of emotional and NP disorders.
It is worse than just malignant narcissism. He is very far gone with Frontotemperal Dementia, now severely affecting his frontal and temporal lobes of his brain. The frontal lobe affects among other things, his impulse control. The temporal lobes on the side of his brain affect memory. He is so far into his disease that it is diagnosable by physical symptoms of movement and speech. I would like to refer you to a neurology expert on The Gaslight Substack. The malignant narcissism is synergizing with the Frontal dementia by removing all self control guardrails on his paranoia and anger. Anger becomes rage in this scenario. The loss of short term memory has him confabulating stories which is fairly common with this type of dementia. He can't remember so his diseased mind makes up a story. This PHD expert I read says that Trump could actually pass a lie detector test about the stories and lies he tells because he also is never wrong about anything due to the malignant narcissism. The fact that Trump's speech is slurring, he often is seen swinging his stiff left leg to walk or climb stairs, he is now seen tipping forward with diagnostic pictures to compare are all there. We know that physical symptoms are usually only observable in late stages of dementia. Note as more evidence that after his poor performance at the rally in Pennsylvania, his handlers in the White House stated he was not traveling to anymore events outside the White House so he could concentrate on domestic policy. They would be sending out surrogates instead. He can no longer mentally function he is so impaired. There is a big cover-up by the senior members of his Staff like Stephen Miller and Vought, plus those staged Cabinet meetings in front of the cameras to try to what, reasure us he is working? He needs to be removed from Office immediately with Section 25. I don't know why they are using him like a puppet, except for power and greed. His brain is no longer functioning in much of any useful manner and Neurologists and Psychiatrists are trying hard right now to raise a five alarm fire alarm! Who is running the Country right now? The only focus his uninhibited brain is capable of now is rage and vengeance actually when he can focus at all. The power to focus is also located in the frontal lobe.
I'm beginning to wonder if he has enough sense left to be frightened. Or at least to recognize that he is.
He's striking out at anything he doesn't like. And since he only likes things that make him look good, he's striking out a lot. Let's keep it going. Maybe his head will explode.
We lived in LA and went to the fancy grocery store where usually the servants of the wealthy shopped. One day A mom and her 12 yr old daughter must have went out on a lark and went to the store themselves You could see that they were giddy with excitement at this novelty of purchasing their own food. When they got in line they were baffled at how the belt worked moving the food up to the cashier. The girl put a small tube of lip gloss on the belt and the cashier said "Do you want to keep that?" meaning do you want to put it in your pocket instead of it being put in a bag and this flummoxed the girl and it took her about three minutes to figure out how to take it off of the moving belt. I am not being racist here, they were not immigrants, they were very wealthy white people, and we followed them out of the store and saw that their driver was waiting in a rolls for them. It must have been a real lark to buy your own food at a GROCERY store and the teen girl was just beyond herself that her round little lip gloss was rolling along on the belt.... so they were not regular shoppers, you know? They usually just told their servants what they wanted and it magically appeared. These sorts of people have no idea what it means for regular folks to go to a grocery store and have to pick and choose what they can and can't afford to take home for their family or their holiday meal. This is their downfall, I think. How many great societies in the history of our world have become top heavy with rich people like this who are totally impractical and have no idea how the real world works for the rest of us imps.
Good story, Solitaire Miles. Such children often grow up clueless, self-centered, possessive, and arrogant. Wealth is power and power corrupts. Power also generates and perpetuates wealth, creating thereby a vicious circle that only violence can break. Smart parents send their kids to poor countries to teach them something about the real world.
I will never promote violence, I am a non violent person and I do not believe that fighting or war ever solves anything. Any student of history recognizes that violence and war are only ways that the rich manipulate the masses to get more money out of them. Wars make more money than peace time, are you a Russian Victor? Are you trying to get us riled up here so that the Russians can steal our money and land? My parents never had to send me to a "poor country" to teach me good morals and to learn about the world. All I had to do was go to school and to church and I know everything I need to know about global wealth manipulation and how warmongers and antichrists like Putin are trying to rope all of the wealth of America.
Calm down, Solitaire. I was not advocating violence. I was mentioning the historical fact that oligarchies and aristocracies are usually overthrown by violent means. As to Russians, why would they want to steal our land? Theirs' is the largest country in the world, and most of them are Christian and conservative. Putin has used their conservatism to gain power, and Trump is imitating him. You were very lucky to have had good parents who sent you to good schools. You were also lucky in that your religious educations did not close your mind.
we were taught humility and service at our church, and we were a lower middle class parish in a steel mill town near Pittsburgh PA. Most of our parish were polish and Irish immigrants, who were used as chattel by the Robber Barons. My Great Uncle Ludwig lost his arm in a vat of molten steel at a Carnegie steel mill before unions became a thing. We all grew up poor but the church took us and made us into loving, respectful and peace loving Americans God Bless America, the greatest melting pot.
You were fortunate, and your ancestors were wise in their decision to immigrate to the USA. I am sure they came to this country, because it guaranteed them security of property and person, including freedom of conscience, a rare thing in this world.
They came here very poor with no money and my great grandfather started working in the Carnegie steel mill as soon as he arrived. It took them several years to save enough money to BUILD their own home, and they did, with their own hands. My great grandmother laid the bricks for the driveway and when the Great Depression came she fed her children grass soup to keep them alive. They were all from lower working classes in Poland and we have their history back to the 1600's. Nobody gave them anything, they earned it all on their own and that is the wisdom that they passed down to me. My Great Grandmother raised me and she didn't pass away until I was 10. I am proud to come from working class stock, we are strong, careful and faithful and we will not be fooled by rich people trying to talk politics when they are really just wanting to churn people up to fight in their war machines and die for the rich mans wallet. I am not stupid enough to believe that violence is ever an option because it is what the spoiled rich offer the rest of us and it is a lie. I will never protest for a cause and I will never fight for a cause because it is all a game to see who can make the most money off of our blood.
Those were a cultural extreme, to be sure, but most people don't know how much of the "real world" works. For the people who go grocery shopping regularly, how many of them understand how the food on the shelves started out? Where does the water that magically appears from the tap come from? What happens to stuff you flush down the toilet? Why are those city people cutting up that beautiful tree by the utility pole? Why can't the city hire more humans to answer questions on the phone?
My father was a city boy and my mother was a country girl, so we were exposed to both farming/ranching and taking a bus or walking a couple of blocks to buy something when growing up. (Furthermore, my father was an engineer and my family was more exposed than most to concerns about municipal infrastructure, dredge operations, building construction, etc.) I wonder about people who grew up in subdivisions as the child of both parents who grew up in subdivisions, and at the same time I wonder how much of the world I myself am ignorant of.
I live on a farm now, in rural Indiana. I understand the life of hardship and the how and where things come from and go, and although I grew up in a city, my great grandmother who was from Poland kept a chicken coop in her back yard and a very large garden and she canned and put up food every autumn until she was 87. She lived to be 96 and her sister lived to be 104. The only food they ate was the food they made with their hands, not anything out of a box or can.
When I was 14 (an election year), I went with some friends to put up door hangers for the Republican candidate. When I got home, my mother said "I'm glad you had fun with your friends, and you have lots of time to learn about politics -- I hope you do before you're 21."
Professor Reich and colleagues: i just want to share this independent documentary film about the life of scientist Dr. Lonnie Thompson, who is an intrepid explorer and climate scientist who is at the forefront of documenting climate change. It is free of charge (if it isn't free, set your VPN to USA and your problems will be solved). it is a beautifully filmed, intellectually and emotionally satisfying film about how one man worked tirelessly to show his colleagues and the public that glaciers are melting and disappearing, and climate change is terrifyingly real, and it documents the very real dangers of field science faced by scientists who are at the frontlines of this battle to show you all the truth and how we learned it. This documentary is called “Canary” and it is free for just a couple weeks. so of course, i absolutely HAD TO SHARE IT WITH YOU and your families:
Thanks for the link, as I received my PhD in meteorology. As of a few seconds ago the link still worked (from the US). Hope to watch before it vanishes, up on another tab.
Bollox. It was really interesting until about 0:55. I watched the climate graph and started thinking “oh, eff. They’re not STILL pushing this rubbish about the Hockey Stick, are they?
And then Michael “Lysenko” Mann appeared and I stopped watching.
“Lysenko” is to Climate Alchemy what “Vysh” James is to the “legal” system.
Pity, in a way. I really didn’t think someone like Lonnie Thompson, who initially comes across as a really serious scientist, could have an ignorant side like that.
Even if we accept your premise, at least I’m talking gibberish in a field far removed from my own. But “Lysenko” is supposed to do this stuff professionally.
If you are interested in exploring free links on climate sustainability, my friend and I developed this website available to anyone interested in learning about how climate change and sustainability is everyone’s issue. https://www.eco-english.org
I so enjoyed the Coffee Klatch today! Thank you to the two visitors and Professor Reich and Heather Lofthouse! It was so exciting to hear that finally the republicans in Congress are telling the orange bloviating buffoon they have had enough. I am still very skeptical because it seems every time we have great news - BAM! - it is followed by really bad news! Sure, we have had almost a year of horribleness, but now, maybe we can begin to move forward and continue to work on getting more democrats elected so they can stop the idiot's worst fantasies! More and more people that were immersed in the maga cult are waking up and getting out, and I have a big thank you to Rich Logis from 'Leaving Maga' for his hard work in that effort. As good as everything sounds about what is happening right now, we simply cannot become complacent right now. I feel we must double down on our efforts and be prepared for the lashing out and horrific stuff the orange smear is going to throw at all of us until the midterms. We must campaign hard for the candidates we want in Congress and never let up until the nincompoop has been stymied by Congress and spends the rest of his term as a lame duck. Keep fighting, America! Stay strong and stay safe!
I agree! GREAT klatch today! I am feeling more hopeful than I could imagine. I agree with Robert Reich too, when he said that we Americans needed to go through this horrible, lawless time in order to expose the rot that has been destroying democracy for decades. We couldn't see how deep it went, or who was responsible, until tRump's hubris and narcissism put it on display - with spotlights! Nothing can be fixed until we see what's broken. We have all been complacent for too long, trusting guardrails that turned out to be an illusion. The Constitution only works if we abide by it, and don't fill it with more holes than Swiss cheese.
Paula, we are going through an APOCALYPSE as originally defined by the ancient Greeks; For ancient Greeks an apocalypse was " A revealing of truth, a lifting of a veil, often with a sense of revelation." All of the terrible stuff we are witnessing and experiencing now was present, but not yet uncovered. Now the underbelly of the politicians and the billionaires is exposed and we are surprised because we did not see it before. It was permitted to exist because of the flaws of a democracy destroyed by the ambition and greed that accompanies capitalism.
Can we go back to the was it was? How long has it been since our democracy was first undermined and now destroyed? There is no simple solution. Now is the time for creating a more progressive form of economy and democratic governance. I believe that Economic Democracy based on Neo-Humanism holds the key to our future. What is Neo-Humanism? Click on the link below; you will not be disappointed.
Well, rampant capitalism has metamorphosed into rampant protectionism, in the auto industry at least, when $15,000 Chinese cars which are the equivalent of $50,000 American cars are tarifed at 125%.
The "unitary presidency" in a time of peace is blatantly unconstitutional. This is why Trump[ declared the fake drug war. He is scapegoating migrants, non-whites, Biden to distract us from his quest to change the Constitution. He is doing this with the support of Republican elites intent on entrenching the plutocracy.
We’re the richest nation in the history of the planet. Our healthcare, nutrition, education, housing, wages, and civil rights should be the envy of the world. Instead, half a million households lack running water. For the cost of the gilded ballroom, the entire Navajo reservation could have running water with 100 M leftover. https://www.nature.com/articles/s44284-024-00180-z. https://www.navajowaterproject.org/
Wealth begets wealth while poverty perpetuates itself. It's an old story. We the people could change this story, but, for some strange reason, some of us keep voting for the rich in the hope that they will be kind to them.
Between laughing off the economic stresses suffered by most of us, impending Epstein evidence, snatching tankers to start wars, and the total destruction of governmental functions, the dots have been pushed so close together that even the most oblivious #Trumplodyte can't help but connect them.
The key here though is for House Republicans to see that their reelection is getting less likely by the day. And their one shot at reelection isn't as a Republican, it's as an independent, patriotically caucusing with Democrats to unleash a #BlueHouseOversightRampage.
If just three do it, they can #FlipTheHouse2025AndBeHeroesForever. They'll be reelected forever if they can stop this kleptocratic #RepubloFascism in its tracks this winter.
You should talk more about what Democrats need to stand for - what message do they take into the midterms. I think just running against Trump is not sufficient. There is a chance for a Midterm tsunami - but just invoking Trump’s failures and excesses isn’t going to be enough to fuel it.
This is a great point, Bradley. I hope Dem candidates will follow Mamdani's lead and give voters a reason to vote FOR them, not just against Republicans.
I agree. One problem I see is that we need to soft pedal the trigger issues - abortion, sexual identity, and to some degree immigration. We can’t let Republicans make these the defining issues. We have to hammer on the economy and the unfairness created by Trump pandering to billionaires. Foreign policy needs to be carefully crafted. If we want to say Trump is too cozy with Putin, Xi, Orban, etc. we have to make it clear how and why that affects Joe Sixpack - so to speak.
I have to disagree with you a bit on immigration, Bradley.
I'm in Chicago, and imo it's better to say "We don't want people breaking laws to live here, but the system encouraged it for years, and destroying lives and laws isn't a solution. ICE operates too much outside our laws; that must stop too."
I'm not breathing a big sigh of relief that the Sleazy Six are separating, but it's good to know that a couple of them retain some dim memory of the rule of law.
I sure do. It shocked my socks off, truth be told. As I recall, he later said he thought it was his biggest mistake. Alzheimer's does strange things...
I totally agree - I should have been more clear. We need to emphasize that ICE is not detaining the “worst of the worst.” We should appeal to people’s humanity and show the families being destroyed and emphasize the 70% of detainees with no criminal record. We also need to repeatedly make clear that illegals receive only emergency care for life-threatening issues, AS REQUIRED UNDER Federal law. I’m yelling because that’s a vital message. We should also emphasize their contributions in taxes, rents,etc.
His policies are making things worse. My grocery bill just by itself has gone up to $3,157 to date. They say $1,200 this year for families for everything. That is such a farce.
Professor Reich and HEATHER!!! yes, please, another watch-along! i missed your previous one because it was 0200 here and i was exhausted (middle-of-the-night anxiety attacks and panic attacks). i'd also love to watch-along everything with you and the rest of the gang! and bob's classes, yes, absolutely! those too!
To this day, it is beyond my understanding how voters (particularly republican voters) continue to fall for the canard that a "business" person is best to lead in a high-ranking executive government position.
Trump had a least six business bankruptcies, so how in the world did his cultist think he would do any better as president, twice?
A businessperson is ultimately concerned with expanding revenue, not human, social welfare (at least not in modern, hyper-driven, take-no-prisoners, capitalist America.
So, voting for a republican (or even a corporate democrat) is the absolute antithesis of healthy social well-being.
In talking with my friends regularly, we all complain about the insanity of price increases, ranging from groceries, medicine, insurance, rent, electricity; just basically all of life's necessities.
And the country still has three more years of this mania.
In the end, I'm sick and tired of hearing about the ills of the white working class, because (unless you're wealthy) we've all been severely shafted since "1975".
As Bernie Sanders reported on March 4, 2025, in a new report from the nonpartisan Rand Corporation, "nearly$80 trillion in wealth in the United States has been redistributed from the bottom 90 percent of Americans to the top 1% over the past 50 years.
For Trump and his voracious class, placing the blame on immigrants for various social crimes is much preferred to having his class exposed as the true villains of our country's degradation.
I have a lot of personal ambivalence in these times. Quietly wishing for a crumbling economy while knowing many could suffer. In this scenario the low cost at the gas pumps (which should make me happy) causes me great concern. It seems to provide Trump an opportunity to change the “affordability “ narrative in his favor.
If you voted for Republicans in the past you voted for tax cuts to the rich. Now, if you vote for Republicans you will be voting for terminating democracy.
"how voters (particularly republican voters) continue to fall for the canard that a "business" person is best to lead in a high-ranking executive government position."
Beware!!! Trump is not a thinking man He operates on feral instinct and a feral animal is extremely dangerous when trapped. He has no limits and will do anything to amass wealth and power and protect himself and his ill-gotten gains. Republicans must win the midterms to keep control of the House and Senate for Trump to save himself and complete his authoritarian takeover. He will do anything and everything, legal and illegal,to corrupt the midterms.
And Trump supporters smile and nod and point to the low gasoline prices while they pay 41% more for their morning coffee and turkey or ham for the holidays are added to their credit card debt. Hopefully there is light at the end of the tunnel, but the tunnel is inconceivably long with dangerous twists and turns.
Our turkey was 77.00. We like to support local businesses but the pies were 40.00 each. Pumpkin, apple, and French silk plus the turkey were more than 200.00.
I've been driving EVs since 2014, and I'm struck by my siblings making comments on the prices on the giant gasoline station signs that I've been ignoring for over ten years.
Maybe we could post the prices of groceries on giant public signs to counteract the influence of the highly volative price of gasoline.
[And thank you for using the term "gasoline" instead of "gas" in the discussion. We also need to spend more time talking about the rising price of natgas (or "fossil gas") that is sending utility prices through the roof due to federal policies.]
Long ago, Justin’s father demagogued a mild gas tax increase on his way to winning an election based on the theft of Alberta’s resources, and then brought in a much bigger tax increase.
Most people in North America NEED vehicles (I personally don’t, but unlike crazy cat ladies of both sexes, I accept that a lot of people do).
The Donald killing the self-indulgent rubbish baked into EVs is another factor.
Shout out to Vish Shankar for update on progressive democratic wins across the country.
Corruption feeding affordability is the democratic platform for messaging period. Bernie, Mamdani and countless others are the George Bailies taking on Mr. Potter. The everyday voter respects any message that walks them through connecting the dots of despair to restoring inalienable rights of every human being.
Just as politics cannot be separated from the economy, dubbed the political economy from your Wealth and Poverty class, corruption feeding stripping voters of consumer protection, worker protections and environmental protections and kitchen table issues all go together. Katie points out that Americans see the corruption in the media 24/7. Politicians who are brave enough to talk about the elephant in the room instead of lying there isn't on, win voters.
The discussion is fine, but it leaves out an entire major piece of the problem. There are limits to growth. The natural world, suffering immensely, continues to decline and corporations feed our consumption by stripping it of resources. Meanwhile we still burn fossil fuels, creating a climate catastrophe that continues to increase as you speak. Just look at the Pacific Northwest now. A few weeks later it will happen somewhere else. If you can't talk about consumption, energy and the environment, including climate change, then you are not talking about issues we have to deal with. It is time to include this in the Klatch. I do not wish to take away from the conversation you had, which is important. However, progressivism fails if it does not consider the ecological foundation of our lives.
Wayne, you are right, but climate change, and its underlying causes, is a long term problem. They need to be addressed, but people vote their immediate concerns, such as not having enough money to pay the rent. We can and must combine the short term with the long term by, for example, linking rising insurance and other prices to climate change. Since no immediate solution exists,, we must prioritize the immediate needs.
Affordability---
This subject frightens Mr. Trump because it's a problem he has no understanding of. The rich don't care about the price of everyday commodities the rest of us have to struggle to obtain. Trump constantly bitches about the economy he inherited from President Biden. What about the disaster Biden was gifted by Trump. Biden's entire term in office was dedicated in an effort to fix the mess Trump made of this country, and his ignorance surrounding the Covid virus. Biden should be given an award considering what he accomplished after the toilet Donnie left behind was flushed.
So right. But trump is not going to credit Biden with anything! We know trump made a mess in the first four years and Biden managed to fix so much of it. Now, trump is creating an even bigger mess, and messing with the world stage also, and the Republicans are finally starting to see what he is doing! He needs to be removed. We can't have another three years of what he has done in just one year! His actions at press conferences, singling out female reporters with disgusting name calling, his attempts at speeches that end up being brags about how great he is doing, in his opinion only! Pardoning a top drug smuggler while supposedly fighting drug smuggling? That must have been a purchase we will never know about!
He literally has destroyed so much in the past year!!! I am terrified to consider what DOGE teen geeks and others have been doing w/the SS database!! Someone really needs to be investigating that before all seniors and people w/disabilities are left w/o a bankrupt SS and Medicare.
One of these DOGE teen geeks is referred to by his colleagues as "Big Balls." Gives us an idea of whose shaping our futures, doesn't it?
I also worry about what they are doing with the SS information. They were handed our information like it was candy! Why was it allowed? Who should have stopped it? Trump gave Musk and the musketeers full access to our private information. We may find out what they did with it one day, but then it will be too late! Trump hates SS because he can't (or couldn't get) access to all that money! They raided SS funds a few years ago and I am sure trump would LOVE to do that again. I can't help but wonder where all the money from the tariffs is going and where the money (that is buying the pardons) is going. Trump is enriching himself through the office of the President and I thought we had the emoluments clause to prevent that! But trump has appointed the people that are supposed to oversee him? The GOP Congress are just bootlickers. that won't lift a finger to stop trump. I hope that the midterms are allowed to go on. I can just see trump trying to stop our elections next!
I had a strange thing happen in my bank checking account: Unauthorized Medicare Premium Collection Cent biller had been added to my bank account payee list. I was shocked that anyone but myself, could add payee's to my list of bill payers. I deleted it from my payee list. Plus, my Medicare is paid through my Social Security, Not through my bank account. I've reached out to both, my bank & Medicare, but have not heard from either, since 12/5/25. The only thing I can think of is DOGE has EVERYTHING and that bank account is where I have my Fed tax return deposited .
Agreed. But Biden similarly insisted to Americans whose costs were climbing that the economy was in great shape (it was for rich people like him and the corporations who fund the Democratic leadership as well as the Republicans, and for them it still is--but not for us). And kept us locked into a genocidal war, rolling out the red carpet for a man charged with crimes against humanity. And didn't do much to batten down the hatches, especially against climate change, for as increasingly probable handover to Trump. Let's be realistic: we can at least agree with Trumpers that change must come.
One of the advantages of being old (in my 80’s) you learn that everything goes in cycles. When my nephew graduated from college and went to work for a large developer, his father sat him down and told him to be prepared for downturns. We were raised in the military (40’s thru 50’s). Money was tight, I wore his hand me downs for play, you had small closets because clothes were expensive as were appliances (not everyone had a tv) as was many things. My first lesson in economics was when the candy store raised the price of malted milk balls from 3 for a penny to 2 for penny. As my grandmother who went thru the Depression told us, it’s hard to go down and lower the standard of living but it is the tough, creative smart people who do not wallow in self pity that make it.
I recently read my Grandmother's 1940 diary. She lived in a major Great Lakes port city in a middle-class neighborhood. I was surprised when she casually mentioned churning her own butter and cottage cheese. They had a large backyard garden and canned their own produce: their garden preserves filled a large cupboard in the cellar. Winter evenings at home were spent mending clothes or knitting sweaters or baby clothes or quilting. One of the great lessons Grandpa imparted was: "You don't need that." (What freedom! Not to feel compelled to buy a lot of stuff that one can do without.)
What a nice scene to imagine. I have friends in the country who still do all those things. I don't have the skills--my mother didn't want me to be a Good Wife. I think I could have managed to avoid that fate on my own, though I may be wrong. Still, I wish I knew how to knit and manage a vegetable garden and make a quilt and chop wood. People used to be, still are in the country, so competent.
We could learn a lot from how our parents, grandparents, even great grandparents survived and even thrived. I still keep a garden as do my sons. My aunt became first woman executive at HA Trust. As a young working woman in the 30’s money was tight. She made all of her clothes. She sewed and found that knitting was a way to relax in the evening. It’s unfortunate that few keep journals. They are a valuable resource.
Agree, Mary.
One hatch Biden needed to batten down (good phrase) was neutering the Sleazy Six on the Supreme Court by expanding the Court. 13 judicial districts, 13 Justices. The last time the federal judiciary was revamped was 1869.
I don't think the American public believed SCOTUS needed guardrails. But the MAGA 6 granting presidents partial immunity has gotten the public's attention. They now see the very real consequences of allowing Trump to commit any illegal action in office that he desires.
I agree, Robyn. I've been worried about SCOTUS, but I never dreamed it would betray the Const. But it did. Now it needs to be fixed by a Congress that believes in the Const. and guardrails.
The Constitution needs to be revamped. It is getting long in the tooth after 250 years.
That could never happen. Biden is too much of a institutionalist.
Exactly, Kathleen. The next president needs to have vision as well as being someone who can restore dignity to the office and security to citizens.
Yes I used to think 13 would be too many, just judging from experience of working with >10 people v. <10. But I've changed my mind. More dissenters would be more, even if we didn't have a close balance.
I did too. But when I read that the Judiciary Act was last revised in 1869 -- when the US population was about 40M and there were 37 states -- I decided 13 wasn't as unwieldy as it sounded.
Having 1 justice from each of 13 jurisdictions makes it an easy decision imo. It needs to be an odd number, and it's equal representation. Complaints about politicizing are answered by saying a 160-yo law needs updating.
Sold!
The Gaza Palestinian tragedy was why I didn't give him an A.
Mary, be that change! If you leave it to others chances are that you will never get what you want. Join others and organize. Beware of infiltrators and research organizations claiming to represent your interests.
I'm an activist with several organizations (e.g. Swing Blue, Sister District, Progressive Mass, Mothers Out Front, 350Mass, Third Act, Cambridge Residents Alliance...). Do I sound passive? Just curious--writing online is a medium with its own sound, not sure I've mastered it after 30 years!
Good for you, Mary. I wish more of our citizens were as involved.
A lot more are than ever before!
Imagine if most Americans were as informed and active as you are. Trump would have never happened.
PS: I use Ballotpedia to keep informed about political candidates. And I regularly donate to Ballotpedia as well as progressive candidates.
„But trump is not going to credit the Ferret-wielded Autopen with anything!”
Quite right too. The Donald’s not nearly harsh enough.
100% agree!
Totally agree The word “Affordability” is as hard to grasp for him as he has defined "groceries" as "a beautiful term" and "a bag with different things in it," but also as "everything you eat". He has also described it as a simple, “old-fashioned word” and has sometimes used it to “signify every single item of grocery”, rather than just some items. He’s a blithering idiot born with a silver spoon in his mouth and shits out pellets that the MAGA crowd picks up as “nuggets” for them to buy all his crap.
Blithering idiot is right!! why isn't the news media playing more of the word salads he sprouts when he's speaking. Some of that stuff should be on billboards!! or in cartoon bubbles coming out of his mouth.
Why isn't media playing his word salads (more groceries)? Because they've sold their souls.
Colbert does it!
Billboards with cartoon bubbles sounds like a great idea.. a road show on any interstate.. LOLOL
Entitlement. Their world is not the world of most humans.
Joanne--They subjugate the people beneath them to do their bidding.
True dat!
The tragic thing about human nature is a tendency by most people to WANT to believe something is true, rather than seek out the truth of it. This was articulated for me in an interview by the late Bill Moyers with filmmaker Errol Morris back in the 1980s. His film, the Thin Blue Line, helped to free an innocent man who was wrongly convicted and served over 12 years on Death Row in Texas.
Morris set out to make a completely different film and in the process "stumbled" upon this case -- and ended up saving a man's life. I have always been very concerned with the nature of Truth, especially since seeing that film when it came out.
Biden does not deserve an A+++++ (or any award) for his handling of the post-Trump mess, especially Covid. But it's not just Biden's fault. Our entire society mismanaged it. And then we come back and lie to each other about it. Face it; it's a sick society. btw: 400,000 died under Trump of Covid. Over twice that many died under Biden -- and we're STILL losing Americans to that virus. I'd give Biden a B-.
It must be noted that the scale and scope of Biden's legislative accomplishments was astonishing given that the Senate was tied 50/50. Many important bills need 60 votes to avoid a filibuster and allow passage of the bill. He had to persuade 10 Republicans to vote for his legislation. This means he governed using the principle of bipartisanship, no small task given the circumstances of the time. I'd go with a B+.
It does seem that several of the above comments do not want to give Biden credit for anything. This is how we are kept divided. Wrong comparisons.
I give him credit for obeying the law (important!), and seeing to it that we continued to get free vaccines and Covid tests until the danger of the disease was reduced, and above all for not vetoing the Inflation Reduction Act [read Green New Deal], despite a lifelong alliance with the fossil fuel industry as native of PA and member of Congress from Delaware.
I have however disapproved of Biden all my life, with reason, and don't accept blame for national division as an informed person in her 70s who doesn't admire a "centrist" candidate chosen by Democratic leadership over more popular candidates. His decision to keep running when he was down to 5 hours a day at the office and suffering brain fog was irresponsible. Not wicked, arguably (unless you think genocide is a moral catastrophe), or insane, like His Orangeness, but not really a pillar of civic virtue.
I appreciate your thoughtful reply. So, now we have the alternative. I think I still prefer Biden and I'm a 70s person also.
You don’t think I support Trump do you? I’ve been working to defeat him and his pals and his “ideas” for 11 years (you can disapprove of more than one politician at a time 😆)! But I think younger people are going to stop the Democratic Party from nominating another elderly corporate Democrat in2028–they have a world and a democracy to save and they know it. Good luck to all of us!
“It does seem that several of the above comments do not want to give Biden credit for anything.”
As a non-sentient corpse, he didn’t deserve any, and the Ferret-wielded Autopen far less.
The MAGAs, the neo(non) Christians, the Repubs, the billionaires, the politicians were all also once young people with ideals. They just weren't our ideals. And they worked for decades to get to their ideals into the action we have today.
Good call. The "Temporary suspension," I mean.
B+ is what I've been thinking too, Cindy. And, given the job he had to do, B+ is darned good.
Pres. Biden was never on the A list, but that's ok. I'm grateful for the respite he gave us.
How about this: Biden delivered immediate support for families hard-hit by the pandemic, including extending enhanced unemployment insurance benefits and eligibility for millions of Americans temporarily out of the workforce, lowering taxes for working Americans by increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit for 17 million workers, and providing $1,400 per-person checks for most Americans. I personally got "enhanced unemployment insurance" even though I'm a part time Uber driver (also in my eighties).
No disagreement, John. Imo no one person could possibly do everything that needed to be done, and Biden did a lot. The one thing nobody can ever get more of is time. 24 hours a day is all there is.
I just rate protecting democracy very high. Idk that he had to do much except get people on board to do the work. He appointed 1 good Justice and many good District and Circuit Judges. Imo Congress has been dysfunctional for so long I'm surprised when it does anything useful.
I understand this grade in some ways, but I wonder if maybe you haven't read enough (it's not easy in the US if you depend on the NYT or Washington Post--or have a job and a family!) about the crimes against humanity Biden insisted on enabling and arming in the Middle East. We're not safe in a world where "democratic" leaders engage in genocide and collective punishment, and engineer starvation, any more than we and above all our kids are safe in a world facing the climate change and mass extinctions Biden exacerbated by handing out drilling permits--even in the pristine Arctic--like candy. Sigh. Sorry to be a downer.
No problem, Mary. Lots of people agree with you, and I do too when it comes to enabling Bibi. But imo POTUS' primary concern is his (someday her?) own country. Again, there are only 24 hours in a day, and nobody can do everything.
I agree re: the POTUS job. But that was emphatically not Biden's view of it! Foreign policy was his passion and specialty. Well, we don't have to agree about Biden, water under the bridge. Let's just get some good-hearted, energetic young people to DC who aren't addicted to fossil fuels, Big Pharma, and/or military-industrial-complex donors. It's great how many now take no money from such sources, or PACs!
Yes, in the middle of a pandemic, too.
50/50 means de facto Demshevik majority, considering all the bollox about “reaching across the aisle” and “collegiality”.
Biden had to deal with a new, highly infectious variant of Covid, and with a population tired of social distancing directives. Biden warned the public of the new virus and pleaded with people to maintain social distancing. Then came the July 4 holiday, and the infections skyrocketed soon after. Throughout all this time Republicans denounced social distancing and discouraged vaccination. So, Thomas, whether intentional or not, partial truths can be misleading.
I well remember that awful summer and all the outrage voiced about masks and mask-wearers. Absolutely no care for public safety on the part of so many USAnians.
Just so long as loyal patriots are able to afford and display their greatest needs of all - patriot products!
https://youtu.be/sIYpOyn48Yo?si=21tXYST0uEdhArJF 🤪🤣🤣🤣🤣
(Was that treason ‽)
18 +97 doesn't equal 102.
There will be a context. There was a time when 418+905 = 155 made perfect sense.
Donald, I've looked at the comments, and I can't find 18 + 97. What do you mean?
PS. I agree that 18 + 97 ≠ 102.
I don’t think affordability is beyond his understanding. Trump cannot show weakness or fallibility. Affordability issues mean his policies have failed. He believes denial and alteration of reality is his best defense.
He defended that way even to the point of delusional thinking. You cannot understand Trump without getting his panoply of emotional and NP disorders.
It is worse than just malignant narcissism. He is very far gone with Frontotemperal Dementia, now severely affecting his frontal and temporal lobes of his brain. The frontal lobe affects among other things, his impulse control. The temporal lobes on the side of his brain affect memory. He is so far into his disease that it is diagnosable by physical symptoms of movement and speech. I would like to refer you to a neurology expert on The Gaslight Substack. The malignant narcissism is synergizing with the Frontal dementia by removing all self control guardrails on his paranoia and anger. Anger becomes rage in this scenario. The loss of short term memory has him confabulating stories which is fairly common with this type of dementia. He can't remember so his diseased mind makes up a story. This PHD expert I read says that Trump could actually pass a lie detector test about the stories and lies he tells because he also is never wrong about anything due to the malignant narcissism. The fact that Trump's speech is slurring, he often is seen swinging his stiff left leg to walk or climb stairs, he is now seen tipping forward with diagnostic pictures to compare are all there. We know that physical symptoms are usually only observable in late stages of dementia. Note as more evidence that after his poor performance at the rally in Pennsylvania, his handlers in the White House stated he was not traveling to anymore events outside the White House so he could concentrate on domestic policy. They would be sending out surrogates instead. He can no longer mentally function he is so impaired. There is a big cover-up by the senior members of his Staff like Stephen Miller and Vought, plus those staged Cabinet meetings in front of the cameras to try to what, reasure us he is working? He needs to be removed from Office immediately with Section 25. I don't know why they are using him like a puppet, except for power and greed. His brain is no longer functioning in much of any useful manner and Neurologists and Psychiatrists are trying hard right now to raise a five alarm fire alarm! Who is running the Country right now? The only focus his uninhibited brain is capable of now is rage and vengeance actually when he can focus at all. The power to focus is also located in the frontal lobe.
Donald.....I agree!!!
I'm beginning to wonder if he has enough sense left to be frightened. Or at least to recognize that he is.
He's striking out at anything he doesn't like. And since he only likes things that make him look good, he's striking out a lot. Let's keep it going. Maybe his head will explode.
I think he's experiencing desperation. His actions show that now. It's dangerous.
We lived in LA and went to the fancy grocery store where usually the servants of the wealthy shopped. One day A mom and her 12 yr old daughter must have went out on a lark and went to the store themselves You could see that they were giddy with excitement at this novelty of purchasing their own food. When they got in line they were baffled at how the belt worked moving the food up to the cashier. The girl put a small tube of lip gloss on the belt and the cashier said "Do you want to keep that?" meaning do you want to put it in your pocket instead of it being put in a bag and this flummoxed the girl and it took her about three minutes to figure out how to take it off of the moving belt. I am not being racist here, they were not immigrants, they were very wealthy white people, and we followed them out of the store and saw that their driver was waiting in a rolls for them. It must have been a real lark to buy your own food at a GROCERY store and the teen girl was just beyond herself that her round little lip gloss was rolling along on the belt.... so they were not regular shoppers, you know? They usually just told their servants what they wanted and it magically appeared. These sorts of people have no idea what it means for regular folks to go to a grocery store and have to pick and choose what they can and can't afford to take home for their family or their holiday meal. This is their downfall, I think. How many great societies in the history of our world have become top heavy with rich people like this who are totally impractical and have no idea how the real world works for the rest of us imps.
Good story, Solitaire Miles. Such children often grow up clueless, self-centered, possessive, and arrogant. Wealth is power and power corrupts. Power also generates and perpetuates wealth, creating thereby a vicious circle that only violence can break. Smart parents send their kids to poor countries to teach them something about the real world.
I will never promote violence, I am a non violent person and I do not believe that fighting or war ever solves anything. Any student of history recognizes that violence and war are only ways that the rich manipulate the masses to get more money out of them. Wars make more money than peace time, are you a Russian Victor? Are you trying to get us riled up here so that the Russians can steal our money and land? My parents never had to send me to a "poor country" to teach me good morals and to learn about the world. All I had to do was go to school and to church and I know everything I need to know about global wealth manipulation and how warmongers and antichrists like Putin are trying to rope all of the wealth of America.
Calm down, Solitaire. I was not advocating violence. I was mentioning the historical fact that oligarchies and aristocracies are usually overthrown by violent means. As to Russians, why would they want to steal our land? Theirs' is the largest country in the world, and most of them are Christian and conservative. Putin has used their conservatism to gain power, and Trump is imitating him. You were very lucky to have had good parents who sent you to good schools. You were also lucky in that your religious educations did not close your mind.
we were taught humility and service at our church, and we were a lower middle class parish in a steel mill town near Pittsburgh PA. Most of our parish were polish and Irish immigrants, who were used as chattel by the Robber Barons. My Great Uncle Ludwig lost his arm in a vat of molten steel at a Carnegie steel mill before unions became a thing. We all grew up poor but the church took us and made us into loving, respectful and peace loving Americans God Bless America, the greatest melting pot.
You were fortunate, and your ancestors were wise in their decision to immigrate to the USA. I am sure they came to this country, because it guaranteed them security of property and person, including freedom of conscience, a rare thing in this world.
They came here very poor with no money and my great grandfather started working in the Carnegie steel mill as soon as he arrived. It took them several years to save enough money to BUILD their own home, and they did, with their own hands. My great grandmother laid the bricks for the driveway and when the Great Depression came she fed her children grass soup to keep them alive. They were all from lower working classes in Poland and we have their history back to the 1600's. Nobody gave them anything, they earned it all on their own and that is the wisdom that they passed down to me. My Great Grandmother raised me and she didn't pass away until I was 10. I am proud to come from working class stock, we are strong, careful and faithful and we will not be fooled by rich people trying to talk politics when they are really just wanting to churn people up to fight in their war machines and die for the rich mans wallet. I am not stupid enough to believe that violence is ever an option because it is what the spoiled rich offer the rest of us and it is a lie. I will never protest for a cause and I will never fight for a cause because it is all a game to see who can make the most money off of our blood.
Those were a cultural extreme, to be sure, but most people don't know how much of the "real world" works. For the people who go grocery shopping regularly, how many of them understand how the food on the shelves started out? Where does the water that magically appears from the tap come from? What happens to stuff you flush down the toilet? Why are those city people cutting up that beautiful tree by the utility pole? Why can't the city hire more humans to answer questions on the phone?
My father was a city boy and my mother was a country girl, so we were exposed to both farming/ranching and taking a bus or walking a couple of blocks to buy something when growing up. (Furthermore, my father was an engineer and my family was more exposed than most to concerns about municipal infrastructure, dredge operations, building construction, etc.) I wonder about people who grew up in subdivisions as the child of both parents who grew up in subdivisions, and at the same time I wonder how much of the world I myself am ignorant of.
I live on a farm now, in rural Indiana. I understand the life of hardship and the how and where things come from and go, and although I grew up in a city, my great grandmother who was from Poland kept a chicken coop in her back yard and a very large garden and she canned and put up food every autumn until she was 87. She lived to be 96 and her sister lived to be 104. The only food they ate was the food they made with their hands, not anything out of a box or can.
I always thought the Republican Party was revolting.
My mother always told me NOT to vote Republican. She was wise beyond her years and I listened!
When I was 14 (an election year), I went with some friends to put up door hangers for the Republican candidate. When I got home, my mother said "I'm glad you had fun with your friends, and you have lots of time to learn about politics -- I hope you do before you're 21."
😂
Mike , certainly the MAGAs are.
Good one 👍
Professor Reich and colleagues: i just want to share this independent documentary film about the life of scientist Dr. Lonnie Thompson, who is an intrepid explorer and climate scientist who is at the forefront of documenting climate change. It is free of charge (if it isn't free, set your VPN to USA and your problems will be solved). it is a beautifully filmed, intellectually and emotionally satisfying film about how one man worked tirelessly to show his colleagues and the public that glaciers are melting and disappearing, and climate change is terrifyingly real, and it documents the very real dangers of field science faced by scientists who are at the frontlines of this battle to show you all the truth and how we learned it. This documentary is called “Canary” and it is free for just a couple weeks. so of course, i absolutely HAD TO SHARE IT WITH YOU and your families:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52IHWl2dHNU
Thanks for the link, as I received my PhD in meteorology. As of a few seconds ago the link still worked (from the US). Hope to watch before it vanishes, up on another tab.
Will watch it thank you
Mr. Oil Man start your machines...
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NpIq-MOqeLM
Thank you
I will watch it! These people are my heroes. Glad to see REI involved.
Science, adventure, and the human spirit! Love it!
Bollox. It was really interesting until about 0:55. I watched the climate graph and started thinking “oh, eff. They’re not STILL pushing this rubbish about the Hockey Stick, are they?
And then Michael “Lysenko” Mann appeared and I stopped watching.
“Lysenko” is to Climate Alchemy what “Vysh” James is to the “legal” system.
Pity, in a way. I really didn’t think someone like Lonnie Thompson, who initially comes across as a really serious scientist, could have an ignorant side like that.
Your PhD in Slavic languages does not make you an expert in anything but gibberish and you have proven it again.
Even if we accept your premise, at least I’m talking gibberish in a field far removed from my own. But “Lysenko” is supposed to do this stuff professionally.
Thank you!
If you are interested in exploring free links on climate sustainability, my friend and I developed this website available to anyone interested in learning about how climate change and sustainability is everyone’s issue. https://www.eco-english.org
A quick look at your site shows no link to “Lysenko”. Hope a more extensive look would reveal the same.
👍Thx, Grrl.
I so enjoyed the Coffee Klatch today! Thank you to the two visitors and Professor Reich and Heather Lofthouse! It was so exciting to hear that finally the republicans in Congress are telling the orange bloviating buffoon they have had enough. I am still very skeptical because it seems every time we have great news - BAM! - it is followed by really bad news! Sure, we have had almost a year of horribleness, but now, maybe we can begin to move forward and continue to work on getting more democrats elected so they can stop the idiot's worst fantasies! More and more people that were immersed in the maga cult are waking up and getting out, and I have a big thank you to Rich Logis from 'Leaving Maga' for his hard work in that effort. As good as everything sounds about what is happening right now, we simply cannot become complacent right now. I feel we must double down on our efforts and be prepared for the lashing out and horrific stuff the orange smear is going to throw at all of us until the midterms. We must campaign hard for the candidates we want in Congress and never let up until the nincompoop has been stymied by Congress and spends the rest of his term as a lame duck. Keep fighting, America! Stay strong and stay safe!
I agree! GREAT klatch today! I am feeling more hopeful than I could imagine. I agree with Robert Reich too, when he said that we Americans needed to go through this horrible, lawless time in order to expose the rot that has been destroying democracy for decades. We couldn't see how deep it went, or who was responsible, until tRump's hubris and narcissism put it on display - with spotlights! Nothing can be fixed until we see what's broken. We have all been complacent for too long, trusting guardrails that turned out to be an illusion. The Constitution only works if we abide by it, and don't fill it with more holes than Swiss cheese.
Paula, we are going through an APOCALYPSE as originally defined by the ancient Greeks; For ancient Greeks an apocalypse was " A revealing of truth, a lifting of a veil, often with a sense of revelation." All of the terrible stuff we are witnessing and experiencing now was present, but not yet uncovered. Now the underbelly of the politicians and the billionaires is exposed and we are surprised because we did not see it before. It was permitted to exist because of the flaws of a democracy destroyed by the ambition and greed that accompanies capitalism.
Can we go back to the was it was? How long has it been since our democracy was first undermined and now destroyed? There is no simple solution. Now is the time for creating a more progressive form of economy and democratic governance. I believe that Economic Democracy based on Neo-Humanism holds the key to our future. What is Neo-Humanism? Click on the link below; you will not be disappointed.
https://crisistransition.substack.com/p/neohumanism-foundation-for-a-new?utm_campaign=posts-open-in-app&triedRedirect=true
Our "democracy" was undermined in 1789.
1. The 3/5's compromise.
2. The Electoral College.
One undermines directly; the beliefs engendered by the other do indirectly.
Add rampant capitalism, and it's a long, hard uphill climb. So there's no time to waste.
Well, rampant capitalism has metamorphosed into rampant protectionism, in the auto industry at least, when $15,000 Chinese cars which are the equivalent of $50,000 American cars are tarifed at 125%.
Well said and I agree with you 100%, Paula!
The "unitary presidency" in a time of peace is blatantly unconstitutional. This is why Trump[ declared the fake drug war. He is scapegoating migrants, non-whites, Biden to distract us from his quest to change the Constitution. He is doing this with the support of Republican elites intent on entrenching the plutocracy.
We’re the richest nation in the history of the planet. Our healthcare, nutrition, education, housing, wages, and civil rights should be the envy of the world. Instead, half a million households lack running water. For the cost of the gilded ballroom, the entire Navajo reservation could have running water with 100 M leftover. https://www.nature.com/articles/s44284-024-00180-z. https://www.navajowaterproject.org/
We're "the richest nation in the history of the nation" for some. Unfortunately, most of that wealth is only in a few hands.
Wealth begets wealth while poverty perpetuates itself. It's an old story. We the people could change this story, but, for some strange reason, some of us keep voting for the rich in the hope that they will be kind to them.
Between laughing off the economic stresses suffered by most of us, impending Epstein evidence, snatching tankers to start wars, and the total destruction of governmental functions, the dots have been pushed so close together that even the most oblivious #Trumplodyte can't help but connect them.
The key here though is for House Republicans to see that their reelection is getting less likely by the day. And their one shot at reelection isn't as a Republican, it's as an independent, patriotically caucusing with Democrats to unleash a #BlueHouseOversightRampage.
If just three do it, they can #FlipTheHouse2025AndBeHeroesForever. They'll be reelected forever if they can stop this kleptocratic #RepubloFascism in its tracks this winter.
Excellent idea! If I had any republican representatives (I'm in Massachusetts), I'd contact them with this.
You should talk more about what Democrats need to stand for - what message do they take into the midterms. I think just running against Trump is not sufficient. There is a chance for a Midterm tsunami - but just invoking Trump’s failures and excesses isn’t going to be enough to fuel it.
This is a great point, Bradley. I hope Dem candidates will follow Mamdani's lead and give voters a reason to vote FOR them, not just against Republicans.
I agree. One problem I see is that we need to soft pedal the trigger issues - abortion, sexual identity, and to some degree immigration. We can’t let Republicans make these the defining issues. We have to hammer on the economy and the unfairness created by Trump pandering to billionaires. Foreign policy needs to be carefully crafted. If we want to say Trump is too cozy with Putin, Xi, Orban, etc. we have to make it clear how and why that affects Joe Sixpack - so to speak.
I have to disagree with you a bit on immigration, Bradley.
I'm in Chicago, and imo it's better to say "We don't want people breaking laws to live here, but the system encouraged it for years, and destroying lives and laws isn't a solution. ICE operates too much outside our laws; that must stop too."
Or something better written lol.
Hey - congrats on the SCOTUS decision.
Thank sweet freakin' Jesus! It's about time.
I'm not breathing a big sigh of relief that the Sleazy Six are separating, but it's good to know that a couple of them retain some dim memory of the rule of law.
Remember when Reagan granted amnesty but for "absolutely the last time."
I sure do. It shocked my socks off, truth be told. As I recall, he later said he thought it was his biggest mistake. Alzheimer's does strange things...
I totally agree - I should have been more clear. We need to emphasize that ICE is not detaining the “worst of the worst.” We should appeal to people’s humanity and show the families being destroyed and emphasize the 70% of detainees with no criminal record. We also need to repeatedly make clear that illegals receive only emergency care for life-threatening issues, AS REQUIRED UNDER Federal law. I’m yelling because that’s a vital message. We should also emphasize their contributions in taxes, rents,etc.
Some things are worth yelling about. 😊
Yes you're right. Get rid of tariffs.
Wonderful interview
Democrats are too complacent. They were lucky on these last elections.
His policies are making things worse. My grocery bill just by itself has gone up to $3,157 to date. They say $1,200 this year for families for everything. That is such a farce.
Republicans are spineless still
Professor Reich and HEATHER!!! yes, please, another watch-along! i missed your previous one because it was 0200 here and i was exhausted (middle-of-the-night anxiety attacks and panic attacks). i'd also love to watch-along everything with you and the rest of the gang! and bob's classes, yes, absolutely! those too!
To this day, it is beyond my understanding how voters (particularly republican voters) continue to fall for the canard that a "business" person is best to lead in a high-ranking executive government position.
Trump had a least six business bankruptcies, so how in the world did his cultist think he would do any better as president, twice?
A businessperson is ultimately concerned with expanding revenue, not human, social welfare (at least not in modern, hyper-driven, take-no-prisoners, capitalist America.
So, voting for a republican (or even a corporate democrat) is the absolute antithesis of healthy social well-being.
In talking with my friends regularly, we all complain about the insanity of price increases, ranging from groceries, medicine, insurance, rent, electricity; just basically all of life's necessities.
And the country still has three more years of this mania.
In the end, I'm sick and tired of hearing about the ills of the white working class, because (unless you're wealthy) we've all been severely shafted since "1975".
As Bernie Sanders reported on March 4, 2025, in a new report from the nonpartisan Rand Corporation, "nearly$80 trillion in wealth in the United States has been redistributed from the bottom 90 percent of Americans to the top 1% over the past 50 years.
For Trump and his voracious class, placing the blame on immigrants for various social crimes is much preferred to having his class exposed as the true villains of our country's degradation.
I have a lot of personal ambivalence in these times. Quietly wishing for a crumbling economy while knowing many could suffer. In this scenario the low cost at the gas pumps (which should make me happy) causes me great concern. It seems to provide Trump an opportunity to change the “affordability “ narrative in his favor.
How many Trump voters know about Trump's bankruptcies: A few dozen?
How many Trump voters know he was a brilliant businessman from *The Apprentice*: An electoral gazillion.
If you voted for Republicans in the past you voted for tax cuts to the rich. Now, if you vote for Republicans you will be voting for terminating democracy.
"how voters (particularly republican voters) continue to fall for the canard that a "business" person is best to lead in a high-ranking executive government position."
because they are not as well informed as you are. They don't read and they get all their information from advertisements.
Stop using big, ten dollar words like “affordability”. Call it “high prices.”
"Affordability" is $13.50 now.
I think everyone gets the idea of affordability
Beware!!! Trump is not a thinking man He operates on feral instinct and a feral animal is extremely dangerous when trapped. He has no limits and will do anything to amass wealth and power and protect himself and his ill-gotten gains. Republicans must win the midterms to keep control of the House and Senate for Trump to save himself and complete his authoritarian takeover. He will do anything and everything, legal and illegal,to corrupt the midterms.
As he grows even less coherent, we have to challenge the notion that Trump is himself composing and posting on his Truth Social account.
His appointed lackeys are on irrational power trips of their own.
Keep repeating it, Urban. Tell your Cong. Reps too (hoping some are Dems or at least anti-Trump Republicans).
And Trump supporters smile and nod and point to the low gasoline prices while they pay 41% more for their morning coffee and turkey or ham for the holidays are added to their credit card debt. Hopefully there is light at the end of the tunnel, but the tunnel is inconceivably long with dangerous twists and turns.
Our turkey was 77.00. We like to support local businesses but the pies were 40.00 each. Pumpkin, apple, and French silk plus the turkey were more than 200.00.
The average turkey of 15 to 20 lbs went for under $35 in most places.
How much is your car payment?
I've been driving EVs since 2014, and I'm struck by my siblings making comments on the prices on the giant gasoline station signs that I've been ignoring for over ten years.
Maybe we could post the prices of groceries on giant public signs to counteract the influence of the highly volative price of gasoline.
[And thank you for using the term "gasoline" instead of "gas" in the discussion. We also need to spend more time talking about the rising price of natgas (or "fossil gas") that is sending utility prices through the roof due to federal policies.]
“the low gasoline prices”
Don’t knock low gas prices as a powerful factor.
Long ago, Justin’s father demagogued a mild gas tax increase on his way to winning an election based on the theft of Alberta’s resources, and then brought in a much bigger tax increase.
Most people in North America NEED vehicles (I personally don’t, but unlike crazy cat ladies of both sexes, I accept that a lot of people do).
The Donald killing the self-indulgent rubbish baked into EVs is another factor.
Professor Reich,
Shout out to Vish Shankar for update on progressive democratic wins across the country.
Corruption feeding affordability is the democratic platform for messaging period. Bernie, Mamdani and countless others are the George Bailies taking on Mr. Potter. The everyday voter respects any message that walks them through connecting the dots of despair to restoring inalienable rights of every human being.
Just as politics cannot be separated from the economy, dubbed the political economy from your Wealth and Poverty class, corruption feeding stripping voters of consumer protection, worker protections and environmental protections and kitchen table issues all go together. Katie points out that Americans see the corruption in the media 24/7. Politicians who are brave enough to talk about the elephant in the room instead of lying there isn't on, win voters.
Thank you Abbie!
The discussion is fine, but it leaves out an entire major piece of the problem. There are limits to growth. The natural world, suffering immensely, continues to decline and corporations feed our consumption by stripping it of resources. Meanwhile we still burn fossil fuels, creating a climate catastrophe that continues to increase as you speak. Just look at the Pacific Northwest now. A few weeks later it will happen somewhere else. If you can't talk about consumption, energy and the environment, including climate change, then you are not talking about issues we have to deal with. It is time to include this in the Klatch. I do not wish to take away from the conversation you had, which is important. However, progressivism fails if it does not consider the ecological foundation of our lives.
Wayne, you are right, but climate change, and its underlying causes, is a long term problem. They need to be addressed, but people vote their immediate concerns, such as not having enough money to pay the rent. We can and must combine the short term with the long term by, for example, linking rising insurance and other prices to climate change. Since no immediate solution exists,, we must prioritize the immediate needs.
Many thanks to Robert Reich, Heather Lofthouse, Katie Milne, and Vishal Shankar! I love these conversations! ❤