In 1968, I didn't want to vote for Humphrey, due to his support for the Vietnam War as LBJ's VP, and I couldn't imagine enough people would be stupid enough to vote for Nixon for him to win, so I voted for Dick Gregory and went to bed pleased with myself. I wasn't so pleased with myself when I woke up to find that Nixon had won. I became more and more disgusted with myself as I watched his criminal behavior as POTUS.
I realized then that the US has baked into its very structure a 2 party system and that, like it or not, the President would be either a Democrat or a Republican, so, even if I disliked both candidates, I'd better hold my nose and vote for the lesser evil--and that voting 3rd party would only make it likelier that the greater evil would win.
I did that when I voted for Biden, assuming he'd be another neoliberal like the Clintons and Obama: the lesser evil. In 2024, I intend to vote FOR Biden because he's been a much better President than I expected and is trying to bring the Democratic Party back to the party of the people it was from FDR to LBJ.
That doesn't mean that I think he's the best possible POTUS, but he's the best one who can possibly win--and I won't even have to hold my nose to vote for him.
Biden is our best choice at this time in our country's history. He was not my first choice in the primary season in 2020, but he has done so much better than I would have expected, given all the fires he encountered when his administration started. He's a sane, decent person. He is not a crazy, stupid criminal.
Cornel West is mounting a vanity campaign. I respect Mr. West, but if he cares about the country, he will suspend his campaign. Joe Manchin is just looking to line his pockets and garner attention. If he were a Republican, he'd just be one of the crowd. People's little, tiny, and yes, petty reasons for their actions can have big consequences.
The tRump administration and the rise (again) of the far right bring into bold relief the fragility of our Constitution and our governing system. For Senate rules, allowing minority members to hold more sway is unconscionable, Tommy Tuberville and the filibuster being two examples. Don't even get me started on the corruption of the high court.
It's not the Senate that is broken, it's Tommy Tuberville that is broken! The Senate is faced with a long list of generals and admirals that require approval. Doing this with a "one-at-a-time" vote on each person would consume a huge amount of the Senate's valuable time. They get around this using the "unanimous consent" procedure. The list is put up for "unanimous consent". As long as no Senator objects, the whole list is approved. Since Tuberville objects and refuses to back down, they are stuck with "one-at-a-time" voting. Majority Leader Schumer doesn't
want this path. In the past, when a Senator would block a vote, it would be for short time as reason and compromise would prevail. Tuberville is an idiot who does not understand this!
Yes, using a consent calendar, any member may extract. Then the extracted item is voted. But the vote is not stopped indefinitely. The Senate rules do not fulfill our goal of a democratic republic. One Senator must not have the power to thwart all others.
Why would both the democrats and republicans together give enough power to one Senator to block how the military functions? Seems an absurd way to run Congress.
The Senate rules are crafted to frustrate the majority which is why it requires the consent of 60 Senators before a bill can be voted on. Similarly, Tuberville is taking advantage of a rule that allows a single senator to object to a nomination even if all the others support it. It's worse here in Pennsylvania where a few committee chairs can prevent a bill from even being voted on in committee much less be voted on by all our representatives.
Tubs has blocked the en masse approval of a block of promotions. Congress has the option of approving one candidate at a time. Why are they not doing that?
Keep in mind that Bunkerboy only has a mere 10% support in The United Shtaysh! [sic] In other words, registered insurrectionist Trumplicans make up only 25% of our voters and only 40% of THOSE TRUMPLICANS aren't sick of the morbidly obese loser.
Cornel West is mounting a Vanity Campaign, and it exposes him for the selfish egotist that he has always been. Joe Manchin is probably feeling a little “vulnerable” as his “popularity descends into higher and higher double digits.
So here’s the deal. How do those of us in the Democratic Party who might have preferred a more “Progressive candidate” to Joe Biden, but who have also come to see/believe that he has done a spectacular job at the 1st Phase of restructuring our Economy? And who also believe that he’s positioned us to be ready to take on the “Last Steep Hill that needs to be climbed” before we get to where we need to be .... get the Party to the place at which we need to be for next round of elections?
That last n“Steep Hill” would be our Tax Codes - State & Federal - that treat some classes of assets substantially differently than they do others. And then those codes allow some pretty shady financial maneuvering that allows the Uber Wealthy to borrow against their stock portfolios, and never pay taxes on the appreciated value of stocks they might otherwise have needed to sell in order to generate their “operating expenses.”
The President has begun the process of restructuring our Economy into a real 8-cylinder Engine capable of generating enough income to those who are working at jobs for which they should be receiving a higher salary or hourly wage .... in excess of what they have at the moment. They are better off than they were 3 1/2 years ago, but not where they either need to be or deserve to be.
Where we need to go to take our Economy on to the next level will involve both “higher salaries/hourly wages” for working people, and a tax code that is restructured to reward “Work” at least as much - if not more - than wealth. We have economic experts who are also humanists - there’s one of the Very Best on whose platform we are communicating.
What we need is the POLITICAL WILL. But I do believe that President Biden will BEAT Donald Trump, or whomever the GOP is forced to run in his stead if and when Trump ends up disqualified under the 14th Amendment. (I am not certain that Trump will be disqualified, and he isn’t - it will have been a Political decision made to avoid a Civil War.
And so “May We Live in Exciting Times,” and may we navigate our way safely to where we need to go. I do believe that Joe Biden is the right man to “Finish the Job” he began, and I think he deserves the chance to do so. I also think the Political Tides are beginning to turn.
Some of my optimism is based on Weak Signals. For example, I was very interested in what appears to be a rather interesting shift in Kyrsten Sinema’s political posture that is probably a little more than just concern over an opponent in the Senatorial election. . I have no confidence in her Ethics, but I have a fair amount of confidence in her ability to “Sniff Out the Direction in Which the Political Winds are Blowing.” If I didn’t know better, I would ponder whether the Leopard had considered a good scrubbing to Change Her Spots?”
And I have a LOT of confidence in the Women’s vote, the “Black” Vote & the Youth Vote. I think that the combination of these 3 will be “Enough.”
But what I do know is that GenZ is solidly Progressive. Women in this country are PISSED OFF, and many of them aren’t voting for any Misogynist Republican “White Boys” any time real soon, and that Black are gong to Save Us in Spite of Ourselves.
And I”ll just end by saying how INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL I AM FOR ALLIES on this Journey. None of us would be able to hold on as hard as we have done .... without each other ... and a few Wise Guides such as Robert Reich.
I had a typo that I would like to correct. "Black (women) are gong to Save Us in Spite of Ourselves. This is what I meant to say. And it’s not to disparage or underestimate Black men AT ALL, but rather to salute the role that Black women have played in our Nation’s history. And the role that I have watched them play more recently. Black women have hearts big enough to include all who need “saving,” and arms long enough to gather them up and keep them safe. My hat’s off to them ... and beyond what I’ve just corrected .... I don’t have words sufficient to express my gratitude and my respect/appreciation for the role they have played.
In re: God’s Ears ... She gave us Fani Willis. How could you doubt that “She’s Listening?”
And while there isn’t actually a Biblical quote ... “God helps those who help themselves” ... our shared experience pretty much suggests that when human beings create a situation in which “just one more little push” would take things to where they need to go” ... the chances that we’ll get the outcome we want if we “do the work” are seriously increased.
We’re going through an interesting time. I’m in my early 70’s and I literally can’t remember a time when there was so much overt Evil, Racism, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Greed, Grift, Lying, .... ugliness piled on top of more ugliness .... and yet what shines through the cracks is a potential Future that is ours ... not just for asking ... but for the taking if we do the work.
We’re in the dying days of “White Male Misogyny & Privilege, and some really AMAZING White Men have signed on to be a important part of the burial. We have a growing solidarity between Black Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans & Progressive White Americans. It’s not that we’ve become “Color Blind,” but rather more “Color Inclusive” - i.e. open to seeing/acknowledging what others “not exactly like us” can bring to the table in the Fight of Our Lives.
Democracy really is “On the Line,” and we are just beginning to “Let Go” of our comforting illusions of Racial, Ethnic, Religious, etc. Superiority and get a glimmer of what the More Complex and So Much Richer Tapestry could/would look like ... if we just did the work of opening our minds & our hearts.
America has pretended to be something that it really wasn’t just yet ... for at least a century. And the gap between “what we would like to be true, what we see in ourselves versus what others might see in us, etc. may not actually be growing ... but it's increasingly visible. And at least some of us have taken our courage and our humility in hand, and agreed to look into the Mirror of What the United States of America IS ... versus what she Could Be.
Donald Trump is our collective ID, the amalgamation of all of our “Less Lovely” abilities, beliefs, history, present, etc. What we have to remember is that when we “Look into the Mirror that Donald Trump and the MAGA goons have held up for our consideration,” we are not just seeing the Poster Child & Family of our Racism, Xenophobia, Greed, Cruelty, & Projection ... we are also seeing our “Homework Assignment.” Every time we see a MAGA Deplorable, we should look for a whisper in ourselves of what we find revolting in them. And then dive deep, and tear out the roots of our Judgments.
It’s difficult and painful work. But some of us are doing it, and the more of us that do it ... the faster we’ll get to where we need to be. And it does get a littler easier as we progress. We find it a little easier to “see that which is not really us,” easier to acknowledge it, and more willing to “let it go.” We see those we call “Saints” ... those that appear to be “always kind,” “always patient,” “always forgiving,” and we believe them to be “Other Than We Are.” And functionally, I suppose that at least in the present & the immediate future - they are. But "Seeing & Acknowledging are the 1st steps in “Becoming.” The next step is “Acceptance,” and then “Commitment.” And nobody said that the work was going to be easy.
But we have Teachers to whom we can look for both guidance & inspiration. Robert Reich is one of these, and while he would probably be horrified to be identified as such ... that’s a measure of the degree to which he really is such a Teacher. And as I typed this last sentence, I started to chuckle ... because that rueful acknowledgement of imperfection and reality is the first step in Changing the World.
And I can’t think of many better places than this one in which to find “Fellow Travelers.” We’re going to need them because it’s going to get worse before it gets better. We have a rather large contingent of those who are determined to assume NONE of the responsibility for their beliefs & their behavior ... and while I don’t believe that they constitute the Majority in this country .... they certainly are some of the most visible.
So ... what do I actually believe that we might get accomplished in the relatively near term? I wouldn’t have said this 3 months ago, but I will now - a Code of Ethics for the Supreme Court.
John Roberts is not a stupid man. Full Stop. He KNOWS that the credibility & validity of his Court - which is REALLY IMPORTANT to him - has taken some potentially fatal hits. “Clarence Thomas is NOT SORRY for What He Did - Only that he Got Caught. And ditto for his Sugar Daddy/Daddies. lllegitimate Power must be waged “in the Dark” to be allowed to continue to function. Sunlight really is the Best Disinfectant. And Harlan Crowe et al were put On Notice that “We See You.,” and so now Clarence has been separated from his checkbook. That’s gotta HURT because Thomas had grown very accustomed to “Living the Good Life.” And John Roberts had become a little too complacent & insufficiently cautious in the grift he allowed to continue.
And while I don’t believe for a single moment that Roberts plans for his Court have changed in the slightest - a Return to a Time when White Men Ran the World because they were the Superior Life Form - I do believe that “getting Badly Busted” has put a crimp in his Timeline?
And so Hugs, Fellow Travelers. None of us could “Do the Work” without one another. I’m grateful for everyone that reads Dr. Reich’s posts & comments. You give me Hope. And I try to remember that “the Darkest Hour is Just Before Dawn.” We’re there now, and we’re going to prevail. And I say that not just become “We’re Right,” but because we are more intelligent, more numerous, more diverse - i.e. we bring an amazing set of experiences, intelligence & creativity to the solutions to big problems. And we’re doing the work & fighting the fight for the right reasons & the right beneficiaries - the Birds, the Bees, the Animals, the Trees, the Water, the Sky & Each Other. And WE WILL WIN.
And I think I see just a Glimmer of a Possibility that we might FINALLY be willing to learn from our Native American Teachers from whom we have been so consistently unwilling to learn. They have so much to teach us about how to “Live More Lightly” upon the only “Home” we’ve yet been given. But Standing Rock and subsequent “solidarities” appear to me as though at least our “Young Ones” see the Wisdom in their “Old Ones,” and are willing to learn.
What? As compared to what the world would look like under the fat orange Putin puppet???
I believe the world is, indeed, a better place since Biden took office. What do YOU think it might look like if Trump actually had won in 2020???You think it might be a better place. I don't think you'd have much company in that camp, bud.
Do you remember when tRump started the tariff wars with China? Do you remember how Thrumpf coddled the Russians during their occupation of the Donbas and Crimea? Do you not recall the Russian election meddling on behalf of TFG (The Former Guy)? I think Biden has shown a steady measured response to the Putin-tater, yanking the rug out from under the dangerous moves he made into Ukraine.
We can't have potentates going around invading their neighbors without repercussion.
Biden also show good foreign policy in other areas, getting many frendly countries to join in a block to counter the degradation of democracy, and moving us and the world toward a stricter reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
Republican policy is pretty flimsy if it even exists at all. When you hear them talk, it's in generalities that make no sense, mixed with vituperation directed at "liberals" but without really saying how liberals have got it wrong. The party of the big corporations seems to have nothing to say on behalf of the working people. It's hard to imagine them getting anyone into public office by only attracting votes from the top 1%, so they accuse "others" of all kinds of things that are supposed to make us believe their party will bring us all closer to Jesus.
I care about people and ideals. I care about democracy and justice. If you care about money, or our lack of it, then the solution is to roll back the tax cuts Rs gave their buddies. We could also put a small tax on stock trades, often made by computers, thousands an hour. We have a revenue problem.
Biden is the best choice? Aside from the fact that Biden has been worse on many issues, he is clearly not cognitively fit for office. He’s obviously suffering from Dementia. He will not make it to the end of a second term, another SIX years, when he’ll be 88. He’ll be lucky to make to to election night. So a vote for Biden is realistically a vote for the unelected and unaccountable officials who really run the country at present, and ultimately a vote for Kamala Harris! That would be a disaster.
I think Cornel West is smart enough to know he can't win (or place, or show), that means he's a spoiler and I am disgusted with him right now. And RFK Jr. is a lunatic who I wish would just shut the bleep up.
have you ever listened to him or do you just read the "interpretations" given to you by the bought and paid for media. he is no lunatic but the people who make such accusations sure as hell are!
Sorry to inform you but RFK Jr is in fact a lunatic. I have a graduate degree in science and medicine. What RFK Jr spouts is pure nonsense. Believe him at your peril. And to the detriment of our country.
I wanted Bernie, I worked for his campaign. CW and RFK are spoilers because they are not running as Democrats, they will not be debating. They are spoilers. The US electorate is not very discerning and if your vote is going to RFK Jr., well I wish you wouldn't, you will be throwing away your vote and making it more possible for trump, or whichever evil R they put up to be elected.
I agree with you and will vote for Joe, even though I have some reservations about him. But it worries me that so much depends on Biden. What if something happens to him before the 2024 election? Death, scandal, physical or mental illness? Who is the Democratic Party backup candidate? I think we MUST put maximum effort on getting Trump off the 2024 ballot, either through the 14th Amendment or criminal conviction and jail (or him fleeing to another country).
Kamala Harris is grossly underappreciated. It's not just her skin color. Wall Street fears her, and Dems don't want to fan those fears. As California's attorney general she took on the banks and won big during the Enron scandal.
Thank You. I didn’t know this. And that’s probably largely because she’s been a “Good Vice President,” i.e. working in the back ground and not competing with the President for “visibility.”
Consider doing a write-up on exactly how she “took on the banks” during the Enron scandal - I’d love to read that?
If anybody has any thoughts, insights, and/or “Ah Hahs on “Humanizing” Kamala - I’d love to hear them? She’s obviously “wicked smart,” but she sometimes (often?) comes across as “What’s She’s Been,” i.e. a Prosecutor & ‘All about Just the Facts.’” We all know that powerful women are a “problem” for “insecure men,” and powerful, highly educated & competent Black women .... even more so. And while “those of us who hang out here” are less likely to be put off by a women who is incredibly intelligent, capable, & powerful ... my guess is that she leaves a disproportionate number of White Men with “Hands Dropped?” And yes, these probably wouldn’t have voted for her anyways, but short of plastering the airwaves with photos of “Kamala” holding babies or puppies - any thoughts on how to get past the 2-dimensional to a 3-dimensional view of her as the fully human woman we most likely know her to be?
In my view Biden has worked to suppress the visibility of other Democrats that he thinks might be competitors in the '24 primaries. He has hollowed out Democratic political leadership to just include Joe Biden. Inferiority complex?
I guess I'm not a big fan of this Vice Lombardi quote: “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” That's the GOP mentality. Biden has the primaries locked up, so there is plenty of time to for him to build inclusiveness and diversity leadership in the Party. One of my "brains and clarity" favorites is Pete Buttigieg, "ideology for the working person" Warren and Sanders. (Please, that's just me.)
The Party is loaded with smart attractive leaders that could help Biden and the Party in '24. "Anyone but Trump" may turn out to be a long shot with just Biden singing acapella, he's no Franky.
So you're saying you would be different. Yeah, me too. Everyone does things their own way. Criticizing Biden for doing it his way is a little crazy, if you realize everyone is different and that there is no perfect way to do things. Let Biden be Biden, OK?
Changing the tradition of New Hampshire is huge. Think about why that happened.
I know people have slowly been waking up, but the breaking news should now wake up a lot more.
5th circuit panel found they violated 1st amendment. This is huge! They have 10 days to have the Supreme court review the case.
I have been waiting for this day for a long time now. If anyone supports this administration after this, I don't know what to say. Everyone told people they were crazy. There is a reason that we have freedom of information. It isn't crazy.
Except that ANY Republican in the White House will be bad for the country. Look at Kevin McCarthy trying to hold it together by “working with” ie kowtowing to the ridiculous Un Freedom caucus. Republicans are too beholden to the christofascist MAGA far, far, far right. There is not a single one of those R’s standing on the debate platform that I would be comfortable handing the White House to.
We have a winner takes all system. Maybe we don't like that but it is our reality. There is no way Cornell West or RFK Jr. will become president. We must get behind the Dems because the alternative is absolutely terrible.
I have to ask, given US history, why is Joe Biden "so repulsive" and compared to whom?
Many in our country think Pres. Biden is a socialist, yes that's ridiculous but they do. Bernie was our best shot and unfortunately that didn't happen but it did cause some change. And Bernie has given full-throated support for Pres. B. Cornell West doesn't stand a prayer of getting elected. It's a big country and whoever runs must appeal to a lot of people with different ideas. Whether we like it or not.
Yes, but Trump has not been nominated yet. There are many months to go and many events to take place before the R's put him up there.
Democrats should not waste effort opposing him at this point, and instead work to blolster their best candidates and promote their great policies. The R's have none.
Kennedy all the way. It surprises me to not see support for him. The article was just another anti Trump rhetoric. But his point seems to be very clear. No one appears to be in support of Biden.
Yes. I don't really see a great support for him. I see a lot of hate for Trump or Republicans in general.
I'm very much enjoying the news on the 5th circuit decision. Been waiting for quite some time now. Of course, it isn't widespread news. Trump always dominates the headlines. Anyways, looking forward to the Supreme court reviewing the 1a violation. But will The White House really be held accountable?
I can't even fathom how an article is written that we need Biden at all costs, yet doesn't really say anything good about our admin. See where I am getting my opinion from?
I couldn't agree more! Can't wait to see what the Supreme court says on this censorship case. The White House doesn't have much longer for them to review it. It is a shame that the DOJ is corrupt though.
Yes. I had to read it from USA Today. WSJ won't let me read unless I create an account. Weird because I have read articles from them. I am so thankful this finally came! I didn't even find out until this morning. The mass media doesn't seem to be making it headlines. Go figure.
Were you told to think that? My goodness. A nazi, anti-vax event. What crap do you read?
Do your favorite outlets cover news on the censorship case? Or do they enjoy censoring America. Can't wait to see what the Supreme court says. But of course, the DOJ is corrupt, and The White House won't be held accountable.
Kennedy does not support nazis. And he is not an antivaxxer. You've been duped. Thanks to the censorship that totalitarians support. Your thinking has been done for you. Vaccine safety testing and unnecessarily pushing to vaccinate kids equates to antivax to mindless fools.
Ask yourself why stuff was censored. Really think about it.
Sadly, he's fallen in with too many conspiracy theories. Had he stayed with the environment, I'd have been more inclined towards him.
Maybe he should run as a Republican. he has drawn an unusual amount of support from Republicans, who have very positive views of the Democratic presidential hopeful. According to a recent New York Times/Siena College poll, 55 percent of Republicans have a favorable view of Kennedy, compared to only 28 percent of Democrats. Although Kennedy does resemble a more conventional Democrat on some issues like the environment, he vocally breaks from the consensus within his party on key issues like US support for Ukraine, in addition to his anti-vaccine statements. On these issues, his views resemble those of MAGA Republicans far more than mainstream Democrats.
The main funder of a pro-Kennedy super PAC is Timothy Mellon, a conservative billionaire who has been a strong supporter of Donald Trump. The New Republic recently reported that the Kennedy campaign has an elected GOP state representative on payroll in New Hampshire. Anna Chapman, a longtime Republican operative who has worked on a number of GOP campaigns, describes herself on social media as the South Carolina state coordinator for the Kennedy campaign. Chapman did not respond to a request for comment, nor did a spokesperson for the Kennedy campaign.
Further, at least one veteran Republican operative with high-level experience on multiple presidential campaigns received feelers about interest in working on the Kennedy campaign.
Is there a reason why a super PAC should not fund a campaign? Super Pacs never should have been allowed. Hillary got the most in super Pac money and still lost.
You think Kennedy is a conspiracy theorist because you were told to think that. The whole 'misinformation' is just not so.
I'm really enjoying the 5th circuit decision that the White House did in fact violate our first amendment. But of course, we are all crazy and far right nuts, right?
I don't think you have listened to Kennedy at all.
I'd like to add that if you paid attention to his works and his campaign you would know that the environment is a part of that. Not sure why you state "Had he stayed with the environment". I mean, he makes speeches that include the false stuff Democrats claim about helping the environment. You must have read one of his books about the climate crisis.
His campaign...priorities;
Honest government, reconciliation (heal the divide), environment, revitalization (the economy), peace, civil liberties, humanitarian crisis (the border).
Seems to me like he has America's priorities straight. Will American's listen? I don't see vaccinations as his platform. And, I still have never seen proof that he is anti-vax. I also don't see any conspiracies in his platform. I just see junk articles and media say that stuff. Try listening to his FULL interview on NewsNation. It is a few months old, but incredibly good. Might put some fears at ease. I thought that so called Democrats made fun of Republicans for being scared over nothing. I am definitely seeing that script flip big time.
And I don't understand concern over parties uniting or why it is some type of gotcha moment. I am thankful that Kennedy can bring people together over commonalities. The only thing I see standing in the way of leftists are false fears. I see nothing about his campaign that they disapprove of. A concern one should have over New Hampshire is the Democrats changing the tradition. We ALL now why that happened. Who cares about a GOP state rep on payroll in New Hampshire for Kennedy.
If you have any statements that are anti vax, please paste them here and I will find the truth for you.
As for Ukraine, I think people are really blinded by what is going on.
And I am not sure what Veteran you are talking about. The one I know of, is not a Republican. And he is volunteering.
I said " veteran Republican operative," not "veteran.." "Veteran" as an adjective means "experienced through long service or practice; having served for a long period"--it need have nothing to do with military service.
Why is Kennedy getting lots of donations from conservative Republicans?
I love when Kennedy says, when I was trying to get Mercury out of the fish, no one called me anti-fish. People are really missing out on this man. I just love Kennedy!
If you think Biden is prosecuting Trump, you forgot some civics lessons. The courts are a different branch of government in this country. Sure, Trump tried to influence what goes on in the courts, and his tRumplicans may think this is how it works. But we haven't descended into that kind of banana fascist system (yet).
trump has committed crimes-period. He did that before running for president, he did that while being president and he most certainly did that after he LOST the 2020 election. He must be held accountable---finally.
1968 was truly the year that proved your point. Years passed before I forgave my sweet aunt, who died this year at the age of 99, for the same mistake you made. I was 14, and I sure as hell was not excited about “serving my country” as a Vietnam “conflict” draftee.
I hope you escaped Vietnam; if you didn't, I apologize, as I apologize to all those who suffered because I and people like me did not vote for Humphrey.
I was young and naive; though I realized that the US Constitution had structured the electoral process so that a third-party candidate could not win, because no one I knew would have voted for Nixon, I made the foolish assumption that he could not get enough votes to win. It also never occurred to me that George Wallace would pull votes that might otherwise have gone to Humphrey.
Vietnam was not the only evil consequence of Nixon's being elected. He set the Republican Party on the road to what it has become: a racist, authoritarian party whose only goal is to win, no matter how. Had Nixon lost, I doubt we would have to worry about Trump today.
Yes, I escaped, as an accident of birth. The meat grinder didn’t require my body when it was ready for the abbatoir. Thousands were not so fortunate. History will be merciless to those misguided fools who empower a second Trump reign.
There may not even BE a 'history' to be recorded, or be 'merciless' to those who helped install him into power by ANY means, if the SHITler gets a lifetime regime. :(
In 1961 or 62, I found out about the American military "advisors"in Vietnam, and gave a speech against American military involvement there in my high school speech class (in conservative Ft. Wayne, Indiana). I was hooted down, and one student followed me after class to ask me if I really meant the things I'd said or was I just trying to get a rise out of people. I think this was the first time any of them ever heard of Vietnam. I've often wondered how many of them ended up there.
draft lottery?? How did that work?? I never asked as it was difficult for my Dad. He passed last year...after effects from Vietnam (Agent Orange). He signed up - wasn't drafted. I still didn't want to upset him and bring it up.
Kerry, maybe that's the approach we should take, that history will not be kind to those who supported a criminal Trump by voting for a third-party candidate.
People who support trump are into alternative facts, alternative history. I don't think that approach will work on third party voters either, they are low information voters.
Donna, I know we would have done so much less damage and destruction as well as loss of life in Vietnam and its neighboring countries had Nixon not been elected president. I still don't know what people saw in him. I get the "love" of George Wallace because huge numbers of white Americans had been getting racism through their mother's milk, but Nixon had nothing whatsoever to offer anyone and he proved it. He did get forced into approving the EPA and clean air and water acts, but not much else that was positive or that could not have been done better by Humphrey.
Seldom mentioned in the United States. Nixon said during his campaign in 1968 that he had a "secret plan" to end the War in Vietnam, just what our war-weary nation wanted to hear. Then, after he was elected, he said that to end the war "would result in a blood bath." So he went ahead to enable the continuing pointless slaughter. When the French fought and lost their colonial hold in Vietnam, America should have learned a lesson, but under presidents of both parties, America failed to do so. Hubris. Pride goeth before a fall. So much suffering for what, exactly?
The decision to fight in Vietnam goes back to the Eisenhower administration, and perhaps earlier. Ho Chi Minh tried to ask Truman for help to defeat the colonial French. LBJ could have ended our involvement in Vietnam.
I visited Vietnam about 20 years ago. The story our guide told us was they asked the USA for help which was refused so they turned to the Chinese. I met a few of the men who were soldiers during that time and they were young boys when they had to go to war. Our guide never recovered from his father death who was working with the USA had to be "reeducated" and died during that time. One x air force man with our group heard these stories and said we were fighting on the wrong side. Alot of good American lives lost during that time because of politics.
A lot of lives lost, period. And Vietnam really escalated America's drug problem. Returning vets told stories about the permissiveness of their leaders w/re to drugs. Likely it was about the only way some soldiers could mentally survive.
That was my experience and view too. Many of the vets came home with drug addiction and introduced it to my hometown. There were others that suffered with alcohol dependence. Some to drown out the rejection they received coming home, others to quiet the fears that fucked with their heads.
In 1968, I didn't want to vote for Humphrey, due to his support for the Vietnam War as LBJ's VP, and I couldn't imagine enough people would be stupid enough to vote for Nixon for him to win, so I voted for Dick Gregory and went to bed pleased with myself. I wasn't so pleased with myself when I woke up to find that Nixon had won. I became more and more disgusted with myself as I watched his criminal behavior as POTUS.
I realized then that the US has baked into its very structure a 2 party system and that, like it or not, the President would be either a Democrat or a Republican, so, even if I disliked both candidates, I'd better hold my nose and vote for the lesser evil--and that voting 3rd party would only make it likelier that the greater evil would win.
I did that when I voted for Biden, assuming he'd be another neoliberal like the Clintons and Obama: the lesser evil. In 2024, I intend to vote FOR Biden because he's been a much better President than I expected and is trying to bring the Democratic Party back to the party of the people it was from FDR to LBJ.
That doesn't mean that I think he's the best possible POTUS, but he's the best one who can possibly win--and I won't even have to hold my nose to vote for him.
Biden is our best choice at this time in our country's history. He was not my first choice in the primary season in 2020, but he has done so much better than I would have expected, given all the fires he encountered when his administration started. He's a sane, decent person. He is not a crazy, stupid criminal.
Cornel West is mounting a vanity campaign. I respect Mr. West, but if he cares about the country, he will suspend his campaign. Joe Manchin is just looking to line his pockets and garner attention. If he were a Republican, he'd just be one of the crowd. People's little, tiny, and yes, petty reasons for their actions can have big consequences.
The tRump administration and the rise (again) of the far right bring into bold relief the fragility of our Constitution and our governing system. For Senate rules, allowing minority members to hold more sway is unconscionable, Tommy Tuberville and the filibuster being two examples. Don't even get me started on the corruption of the high court.
What is broken in the Senate's procedures that gives one Senator, such as Tommy Tuberville, so much power?
It's not the Senate that is broken, it's Tommy Tuberville that is broken! The Senate is faced with a long list of generals and admirals that require approval. Doing this with a "one-at-a-time" vote on each person would consume a huge amount of the Senate's valuable time. They get around this using the "unanimous consent" procedure. The list is put up for "unanimous consent". As long as no Senator objects, the whole list is approved. Since Tuberville objects and refuses to back down, they are stuck with "one-at-a-time" voting. Majority Leader Schumer doesn't
want this path. In the past, when a Senator would block a vote, it would be for short time as reason and compromise would prevail. Tuberville is an idiot who does not understand this!
Yes, using a consent calendar, any member may extract. Then the extracted item is voted. But the vote is not stopped indefinitely. The Senate rules do not fulfill our goal of a democratic republic. One Senator must not have the power to thwart all others.
Wish he would return to coaching football. Never hire a carpenter to do your brain surgery.
Well, one thing, the SILENCE of the DEMOCRATS! Where the hell are they, where's Schumer, Jeffries ? Where's opposition by ANYONE OF ANY PARTY??!!!!
Why would both the democrats and republicans together give enough power to one Senator to block how the military functions? Seems an absurd way to run Congress.
I wrote to my MOC, Ami Bera asking why the Senate runs this way. Maybe he will find out and send me an explanation.
The Senate rules are crafted to frustrate the majority which is why it requires the consent of 60 Senators before a bill can be voted on. Similarly, Tuberville is taking advantage of a rule that allows a single senator to object to a nomination even if all the others support it. It's worse here in Pennsylvania where a few committee chairs can prevent a bill from even being voted on in committee much less be voted on by all our representatives.
Tubs has blocked the en masse approval of a block of promotions. Congress has the option of approving one candidate at a time. Why are they not doing that?
I can speculate- the democrats want Tuberville to look bad,
Keep in mind that Bunkerboy only has a mere 10% support in The United Shtaysh! [sic] In other words, registered insurrectionist Trumplicans make up only 25% of our voters and only 40% of THOSE TRUMPLICANS aren't sick of the morbidly obese loser.
That said, they are THE loudest, most vicious voting bloc! We Americans CANNOT be compliant and MUST vote. 100% of us!!
Those who vote in the primaries select the candidates for all of us.
Absolutely fucking not. This election is a joke and I'm staying out of it.
Cornel West is mounting a Vanity Campaign, and it exposes him for the selfish egotist that he has always been. Joe Manchin is probably feeling a little “vulnerable” as his “popularity descends into higher and higher double digits.
So here’s the deal. How do those of us in the Democratic Party who might have preferred a more “Progressive candidate” to Joe Biden, but who have also come to see/believe that he has done a spectacular job at the 1st Phase of restructuring our Economy? And who also believe that he’s positioned us to be ready to take on the “Last Steep Hill that needs to be climbed” before we get to where we need to be .... get the Party to the place at which we need to be for next round of elections?
That last n“Steep Hill” would be our Tax Codes - State & Federal - that treat some classes of assets substantially differently than they do others. And then those codes allow some pretty shady financial maneuvering that allows the Uber Wealthy to borrow against their stock portfolios, and never pay taxes on the appreciated value of stocks they might otherwise have needed to sell in order to generate their “operating expenses.”
The President has begun the process of restructuring our Economy into a real 8-cylinder Engine capable of generating enough income to those who are working at jobs for which they should be receiving a higher salary or hourly wage .... in excess of what they have at the moment. They are better off than they were 3 1/2 years ago, but not where they either need to be or deserve to be.
Where we need to go to take our Economy on to the next level will involve both “higher salaries/hourly wages” for working people, and a tax code that is restructured to reward “Work” at least as much - if not more - than wealth. We have economic experts who are also humanists - there’s one of the Very Best on whose platform we are communicating.
What we need is the POLITICAL WILL. But I do believe that President Biden will BEAT Donald Trump, or whomever the GOP is forced to run in his stead if and when Trump ends up disqualified under the 14th Amendment. (I am not certain that Trump will be disqualified, and he isn’t - it will have been a Political decision made to avoid a Civil War.
And so “May We Live in Exciting Times,” and may we navigate our way safely to where we need to go. I do believe that Joe Biden is the right man to “Finish the Job” he began, and I think he deserves the chance to do so. I also think the Political Tides are beginning to turn.
Some of my optimism is based on Weak Signals. For example, I was very interested in what appears to be a rather interesting shift in Kyrsten Sinema’s political posture that is probably a little more than just concern over an opponent in the Senatorial election. . I have no confidence in her Ethics, but I have a fair amount of confidence in her ability to “Sniff Out the Direction in Which the Political Winds are Blowing.” If I didn’t know better, I would ponder whether the Leopard had considered a good scrubbing to Change Her Spots?”
And I have a LOT of confidence in the Women’s vote, the “Black” Vote & the Youth Vote. I think that the combination of these 3 will be “Enough.”
But what I do know is that GenZ is solidly Progressive. Women in this country are PISSED OFF, and many of them aren’t voting for any Misogynist Republican “White Boys” any time real soon, and that Black are gong to Save Us in Spite of Ourselves.
And I”ll just end by saying how INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL I AM FOR ALLIES on this Journey. None of us would be able to hold on as hard as we have done .... without each other ... and a few Wise Guides such as Robert Reich.
I had a typo that I would like to correct. "Black (women) are gong to Save Us in Spite of Ourselves. This is what I meant to say. And it’s not to disparage or underestimate Black men AT ALL, but rather to salute the role that Black women have played in our Nation’s history. And the role that I have watched them play more recently. Black women have hearts big enough to include all who need “saving,” and arms long enough to gather them up and keep them safe. My hat’s off to them ... and beyond what I’ve just corrected .... I don’t have words sufficient to express my gratitude and my respect/appreciation for the role they have played.
I was typing too fast ... I meant to type the “Black Vote,” but you guys already knew that.
Your fingers to god’s ears.
In re: God’s Ears ... She gave us Fani Willis. How could you doubt that “She’s Listening?”
And while there isn’t actually a Biblical quote ... “God helps those who help themselves” ... our shared experience pretty much suggests that when human beings create a situation in which “just one more little push” would take things to where they need to go” ... the chances that we’ll get the outcome we want if we “do the work” are seriously increased.
We’re going through an interesting time. I’m in my early 70’s and I literally can’t remember a time when there was so much overt Evil, Racism, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Greed, Grift, Lying, .... ugliness piled on top of more ugliness .... and yet what shines through the cracks is a potential Future that is ours ... not just for asking ... but for the taking if we do the work.
We’re in the dying days of “White Male Misogyny & Privilege, and some really AMAZING White Men have signed on to be a important part of the burial. We have a growing solidarity between Black Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans & Progressive White Americans. It’s not that we’ve become “Color Blind,” but rather more “Color Inclusive” - i.e. open to seeing/acknowledging what others “not exactly like us” can bring to the table in the Fight of Our Lives.
Democracy really is “On the Line,” and we are just beginning to “Let Go” of our comforting illusions of Racial, Ethnic, Religious, etc. Superiority and get a glimmer of what the More Complex and So Much Richer Tapestry could/would look like ... if we just did the work of opening our minds & our hearts.
America has pretended to be something that it really wasn’t just yet ... for at least a century. And the gap between “what we would like to be true, what we see in ourselves versus what others might see in us, etc. may not actually be growing ... but it's increasingly visible. And at least some of us have taken our courage and our humility in hand, and agreed to look into the Mirror of What the United States of America IS ... versus what she Could Be.
Donald Trump is our collective ID, the amalgamation of all of our “Less Lovely” abilities, beliefs, history, present, etc. What we have to remember is that when we “Look into the Mirror that Donald Trump and the MAGA goons have held up for our consideration,” we are not just seeing the Poster Child & Family of our Racism, Xenophobia, Greed, Cruelty, & Projection ... we are also seeing our “Homework Assignment.” Every time we see a MAGA Deplorable, we should look for a whisper in ourselves of what we find revolting in them. And then dive deep, and tear out the roots of our Judgments.
It’s difficult and painful work. But some of us are doing it, and the more of us that do it ... the faster we’ll get to where we need to be. And it does get a littler easier as we progress. We find it a little easier to “see that which is not really us,” easier to acknowledge it, and more willing to “let it go.” We see those we call “Saints” ... those that appear to be “always kind,” “always patient,” “always forgiving,” and we believe them to be “Other Than We Are.” And functionally, I suppose that at least in the present & the immediate future - they are. But "Seeing & Acknowledging are the 1st steps in “Becoming.” The next step is “Acceptance,” and then “Commitment.” And nobody said that the work was going to be easy.
But we have Teachers to whom we can look for both guidance & inspiration. Robert Reich is one of these, and while he would probably be horrified to be identified as such ... that’s a measure of the degree to which he really is such a Teacher. And as I typed this last sentence, I started to chuckle ... because that rueful acknowledgement of imperfection and reality is the first step in Changing the World.
And I can’t think of many better places than this one in which to find “Fellow Travelers.” We’re going to need them because it’s going to get worse before it gets better. We have a rather large contingent of those who are determined to assume NONE of the responsibility for their beliefs & their behavior ... and while I don’t believe that they constitute the Majority in this country .... they certainly are some of the most visible.
So ... what do I actually believe that we might get accomplished in the relatively near term? I wouldn’t have said this 3 months ago, but I will now - a Code of Ethics for the Supreme Court.
John Roberts is not a stupid man. Full Stop. He KNOWS that the credibility & validity of his Court - which is REALLY IMPORTANT to him - has taken some potentially fatal hits. “Clarence Thomas is NOT SORRY for What He Did - Only that he Got Caught. And ditto for his Sugar Daddy/Daddies. lllegitimate Power must be waged “in the Dark” to be allowed to continue to function. Sunlight really is the Best Disinfectant. And Harlan Crowe et al were put On Notice that “We See You.,” and so now Clarence has been separated from his checkbook. That’s gotta HURT because Thomas had grown very accustomed to “Living the Good Life.” And John Roberts had become a little too complacent & insufficiently cautious in the grift he allowed to continue.
And while I don’t believe for a single moment that Roberts plans for his Court have changed in the slightest - a Return to a Time when White Men Ran the World because they were the Superior Life Form - I do believe that “getting Badly Busted” has put a crimp in his Timeline?
And so Hugs, Fellow Travelers. None of us could “Do the Work” without one another. I’m grateful for everyone that reads Dr. Reich’s posts & comments. You give me Hope. And I try to remember that “the Darkest Hour is Just Before Dawn.” We’re there now, and we’re going to prevail. And I say that not just become “We’re Right,” but because we are more intelligent, more numerous, more diverse - i.e. we bring an amazing set of experiences, intelligence & creativity to the solutions to big problems. And we’re doing the work & fighting the fight for the right reasons & the right beneficiaries - the Birds, the Bees, the Animals, the Trees, the Water, the Sky & Each Other. And WE WILL WIN.
And I think I see just a Glimmer of a Possibility that we might FINALLY be willing to learn from our Native American Teachers from whom we have been so consistently unwilling to learn. They have so much to teach us about how to “Live More Lightly” upon the only “Home” we’ve yet been given. But Standing Rock and subsequent “solidarities” appear to me as though at least our “Young Ones” see the Wisdom in their “Old Ones,” and are willing to learn.
What? As compared to what the world would look like under the fat orange Putin puppet???
I believe the world is, indeed, a better place since Biden took office. What do YOU think it might look like if Trump actually had won in 2020???You think it might be a better place. I don't think you'd have much company in that camp, bud.
Do you remember when tRump started the tariff wars with China? Do you remember how Thrumpf coddled the Russians during their occupation of the Donbas and Crimea? Do you not recall the Russian election meddling on behalf of TFG (The Former Guy)? I think Biden has shown a steady measured response to the Putin-tater, yanking the rug out from under the dangerous moves he made into Ukraine.
We can't have potentates going around invading their neighbors without repercussion.
Biden also show good foreign policy in other areas, getting many frendly countries to join in a block to counter the degradation of democracy, and moving us and the world toward a stricter reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
Republican policy is pretty flimsy if it even exists at all. When you hear them talk, it's in generalities that make no sense, mixed with vituperation directed at "liberals" but without really saying how liberals have got it wrong. The party of the big corporations seems to have nothing to say on behalf of the working people. It's hard to imagine them getting anyone into public office by only attracting votes from the top 1%, so they accuse "others" of all kinds of things that are supposed to make us believe their party will bring us all closer to Jesus.
Found the Russian troll!
I care about people and ideals. I care about democracy and justice. If you care about money, or our lack of it, then the solution is to roll back the tax cuts Rs gave their buddies. We could also put a small tax on stock trades, often made by computers, thousands an hour. We have a revenue problem.
Fear loses. Please deposit all complaints and criticisms in the round file where they will be immediately dealt with. Thank you.
KG=KGB
Biden is the best choice? Aside from the fact that Biden has been worse on many issues, he is clearly not cognitively fit for office. He’s obviously suffering from Dementia. He will not make it to the end of a second term, another SIX years, when he’ll be 88. He’ll be lucky to make to to election night. So a vote for Biden is realistically a vote for the unelected and unaccountable officials who really run the country at present, and ultimately a vote for Kamala Harris! That would be a disaster.
AMEN
I think Cornel West is smart enough to know he can't win (or place, or show), that means he's a spoiler and I am disgusted with him right now. And RFK Jr. is a lunatic who I wish would just shut the bleep up.
have you ever listened to him or do you just read the "interpretations" given to you by the bought and paid for media. he is no lunatic but the people who make such accusations sure as hell are!
Sorry to inform you but RFK Jr is in fact a lunatic. I have a graduate degree in science and medicine. What RFK Jr spouts is pure nonsense. Believe him at your peril. And to the detriment of our country.
I wanted Bernie, I worked for his campaign. CW and RFK are spoilers because they are not running as Democrats, they will not be debating. They are spoilers. The US electorate is not very discerning and if your vote is going to RFK Jr., well I wish you wouldn't, you will be throwing away your vote and making it more possible for trump, or whichever evil R they put up to be elected.
Wow! You really missed the point. Scary.
I agree with you and will vote for Joe, even though I have some reservations about him. But it worries me that so much depends on Biden. What if something happens to him before the 2024 election? Death, scandal, physical or mental illness? Who is the Democratic Party backup candidate? I think we MUST put maximum effort on getting Trump off the 2024 ballot, either through the 14th Amendment or criminal conviction and jail (or him fleeing to another country).
Kamala Harris is grossly underappreciated. It's not just her skin color. Wall Street fears her, and Dems don't want to fan those fears. As California's attorney general she took on the banks and won big during the Enron scandal.
Thank You. I didn’t know this. And that’s probably largely because she’s been a “Good Vice President,” i.e. working in the back ground and not competing with the President for “visibility.”
Consider doing a write-up on exactly how she “took on the banks” during the Enron scandal - I’d love to read that?
If anybody has any thoughts, insights, and/or “Ah Hahs on “Humanizing” Kamala - I’d love to hear them? She’s obviously “wicked smart,” but she sometimes (often?) comes across as “What’s She’s Been,” i.e. a Prosecutor & ‘All about Just the Facts.’” We all know that powerful women are a “problem” for “insecure men,” and powerful, highly educated & competent Black women .... even more so. And while “those of us who hang out here” are less likely to be put off by a women who is incredibly intelligent, capable, & powerful ... my guess is that she leaves a disproportionate number of White Men with “Hands Dropped?” And yes, these probably wouldn’t have voted for her anyways, but short of plastering the airwaves with photos of “Kamala” holding babies or puppies - any thoughts on how to get past the 2-dimensional to a 3-dimensional view of her as the fully human woman we most likely know her to be?
In my view Biden has worked to suppress the visibility of other Democrats that he thinks might be competitors in the '24 primaries. He has hollowed out Democratic political leadership to just include Joe Biden. Inferiority complex?
So you blame him for doing what he can to win?
I guess I'm not a big fan of this Vice Lombardi quote: “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” That's the GOP mentality. Biden has the primaries locked up, so there is plenty of time to for him to build inclusiveness and diversity leadership in the Party. One of my "brains and clarity" favorites is Pete Buttigieg, "ideology for the working person" Warren and Sanders. (Please, that's just me.)
The Party is loaded with smart attractive leaders that could help Biden and the Party in '24. "Anyone but Trump" may turn out to be a long shot with just Biden singing acapella, he's no Franky.
So you're saying you would be different. Yeah, me too. Everyone does things their own way. Criticizing Biden for doing it his way is a little crazy, if you realize everyone is different and that there is no perfect way to do things. Let Biden be Biden, OK?
Changing the tradition of New Hampshire is huge. Think about why that happened.
I know people have slowly been waking up, but the breaking news should now wake up a lot more.
5th circuit panel found they violated 1st amendment. This is huge! They have 10 days to have the Supreme court review the case.
I have been waiting for this day for a long time now. If anyone supports this administration after this, I don't know what to say. Everyone told people they were crazy. There is a reason that we have freedom of information. It isn't crazy.
Except that ANY Republican in the White House will be bad for the country. Look at Kevin McCarthy trying to hold it together by “working with” ie kowtowing to the ridiculous Un Freedom caucus. Republicans are too beholden to the christofascist MAGA far, far, far right. There is not a single one of those R’s standing on the debate platform that I would be comfortable handing the White House to.
Dems need to play hardball with these spoilers.
We have a winner takes all system. Maybe we don't like that but it is our reality. There is no way Cornell West or RFK Jr. will become president. We must get behind the Dems because the alternative is absolutely terrible.
Go ahead, let/help Trump win, and see what happens. Just sayin'.
I have to ask, given US history, why is Joe Biden "so repulsive" and compared to whom?
Many in our country think Pres. Biden is a socialist, yes that's ridiculous but they do. Bernie was our best shot and unfortunately that didn't happen but it did cause some change. And Bernie has given full-throated support for Pres. B. Cornell West doesn't stand a prayer of getting elected. It's a big country and whoever runs must appeal to a lot of people with different ideas. Whether we like it or not.
Yes, but Trump has not been nominated yet. There are many months to go and many events to take place before the R's put him up there.
Democrats should not waste effort opposing him at this point, and instead work to blolster their best candidates and promote their great policies. The R's have none.
Any one of those Rs that are running are terrible. I don't want any of them.
Kennedy all the way. It surprises me to not see support for him. The article was just another anti Trump rhetoric. But his point seems to be very clear. No one appears to be in support of Biden.
No one? Talk about hyperbole.
Yes. I don't really see a great support for him. I see a lot of hate for Trump or Republicans in general.
I'm very much enjoying the news on the 5th circuit decision. Been waiting for quite some time now. Of course, it isn't widespread news. Trump always dominates the headlines. Anyways, looking forward to the Supreme court reviewing the 1a violation. But will The White House really be held accountable?
I can't even fathom how an article is written that we need Biden at all costs, yet doesn't really say anything good about our admin. See where I am getting my opinion from?
But then who would the Democratic candidate face? They're all monsters, but some are less obviously so than Trump.
I couldn't agree more! Can't wait to see what the Supreme court says on this censorship case. The White House doesn't have much longer for them to review it. It is a shame that the DOJ is corrupt though.
Yes. I had to read it from USA Today. WSJ won't let me read unless I create an account. Weird because I have read articles from them. I am so thankful this finally came! I didn't even find out until this morning. The mass media doesn't seem to be making it headlines. Go figure.
Then why did he appear at a nazi, anti-vax event?
Were you told to think that? My goodness. A nazi, anti-vax event. What crap do you read?
Do your favorite outlets cover news on the censorship case? Or do they enjoy censoring America. Can't wait to see what the Supreme court says. But of course, the DOJ is corrupt, and The White House won't be held accountable.
Kennedy does not support nazis. And he is not an antivaxxer. You've been duped. Thanks to the censorship that totalitarians support. Your thinking has been done for you. Vaccine safety testing and unnecessarily pushing to vaccinate kids equates to antivax to mindless fools.
Ask yourself why stuff was censored. Really think about it.
Yes!
Sadly, he's fallen in with too many conspiracy theories. Had he stayed with the environment, I'd have been more inclined towards him.
Maybe he should run as a Republican. he has drawn an unusual amount of support from Republicans, who have very positive views of the Democratic presidential hopeful. According to a recent New York Times/Siena College poll, 55 percent of Republicans have a favorable view of Kennedy, compared to only 28 percent of Democrats. Although Kennedy does resemble a more conventional Democrat on some issues like the environment, he vocally breaks from the consensus within his party on key issues like US support for Ukraine, in addition to his anti-vaccine statements. On these issues, his views resemble those of MAGA Republicans far more than mainstream Democrats.
The main funder of a pro-Kennedy super PAC is Timothy Mellon, a conservative billionaire who has been a strong supporter of Donald Trump. The New Republic recently reported that the Kennedy campaign has an elected GOP state representative on payroll in New Hampshire. Anna Chapman, a longtime Republican operative who has worked on a number of GOP campaigns, describes herself on social media as the South Carolina state coordinator for the Kennedy campaign. Chapman did not respond to a request for comment, nor did a spokesperson for the Kennedy campaign.
Further, at least one veteran Republican operative with high-level experience on multiple presidential campaigns received feelers about interest in working on the Kennedy campaign.
Is there a reason why a super PAC should not fund a campaign? Super Pacs never should have been allowed. Hillary got the most in super Pac money and still lost.
You think Kennedy is a conspiracy theorist because you were told to think that. The whole 'misinformation' is just not so.
I'm really enjoying the 5th circuit decision that the White House did in fact violate our first amendment. But of course, we are all crazy and far right nuts, right?
I don't think you have listened to Kennedy at all.
A super PAC funded by Timothy Mellon, a conservative billionaire who has been a strong supporter of Donald Trump.
Now, why do you think a Trump supporter wants Kennedy to run?
Sure they're supporting RFK Jr. - he's a spoiler.
I'd like to add that if you paid attention to his works and his campaign you would know that the environment is a part of that. Not sure why you state "Had he stayed with the environment". I mean, he makes speeches that include the false stuff Democrats claim about helping the environment. You must have read one of his books about the climate crisis.
His campaign...priorities;
Honest government, reconciliation (heal the divide), environment, revitalization (the economy), peace, civil liberties, humanitarian crisis (the border).
Seems to me like he has America's priorities straight. Will American's listen? I don't see vaccinations as his platform. And, I still have never seen proof that he is anti-vax. I also don't see any conspiracies in his platform. I just see junk articles and media say that stuff. Try listening to his FULL interview on NewsNation. It is a few months old, but incredibly good. Might put some fears at ease. I thought that so called Democrats made fun of Republicans for being scared over nothing. I am definitely seeing that script flip big time.
And I don't understand concern over parties uniting or why it is some type of gotcha moment. I am thankful that Kennedy can bring people together over commonalities. The only thing I see standing in the way of leftists are false fears. I see nothing about his campaign that they disapprove of. A concern one should have over New Hampshire is the Democrats changing the tradition. We ALL now why that happened. Who cares about a GOP state rep on payroll in New Hampshire for Kennedy.
If you have any statements that are anti vax, please paste them here and I will find the truth for you.
As for Ukraine, I think people are really blinded by what is going on.
And I am not sure what Veteran you are talking about. The one I know of, is not a Republican. And he is volunteering.
I said " veteran Republican operative," not "veteran.." "Veteran" as an adjective means "experienced through long service or practice; having served for a long period"--it need have nothing to do with military service.
Why is Kennedy getting lots of donations from conservative Republicans?
I take it you're in favor of people's dying of Covid.
I love when Kennedy says, when I was trying to get Mercury out of the fish, no one called me anti-fish. People are really missing out on this man. I just love Kennedy!
Apparently, we have different viewpoints.
If you think Biden is prosecuting Trump, you forgot some civics lessons. The courts are a different branch of government in this country. Sure, Trump tried to influence what goes on in the courts, and his tRumplicans may think this is how it works. But we haven't descended into that kind of banana fascist system (yet).
trump has committed crimes-period. He did that before running for president, he did that while being president and he most certainly did that after he LOST the 2020 election. He must be held accountable---finally.
1968 was truly the year that proved your point. Years passed before I forgave my sweet aunt, who died this year at the age of 99, for the same mistake you made. I was 14, and I sure as hell was not excited about “serving my country” as a Vietnam “conflict” draftee.
I'm sorry for your loss.
I hope you escaped Vietnam; if you didn't, I apologize, as I apologize to all those who suffered because I and people like me did not vote for Humphrey.
I was young and naive; though I realized that the US Constitution had structured the electoral process so that a third-party candidate could not win, because no one I knew would have voted for Nixon, I made the foolish assumption that he could not get enough votes to win. It also never occurred to me that George Wallace would pull votes that might otherwise have gone to Humphrey.
Vietnam was not the only evil consequence of Nixon's being elected. He set the Republican Party on the road to what it has become: a racist, authoritarian party whose only goal is to win, no matter how. Had Nixon lost, I doubt we would have to worry about Trump today.
Yes, I escaped, as an accident of birth. The meat grinder didn’t require my body when it was ready for the abbatoir. Thousands were not so fortunate. History will be merciless to those misguided fools who empower a second Trump reign.
History may be "merciless" on the misguided but it will be pure Hell on those who have to live through another Trump presidency.
Climate destabilization is plenty enough reason to get rid of just about every R in politics today.
There may not even BE a 'history' to be recorded, or be 'merciless' to those who helped install him into power by ANY means, if the SHITler gets a lifetime regime. :(
I'm glad you escaped; I just wish everyone had.
In 1961 or 62, I found out about the American military "advisors"in Vietnam, and gave a speech against American military involvement there in my high school speech class (in conservative Ft. Wayne, Indiana). I was hooted down, and one student followed me after class to ask me if I really meant the things I'd said or was I just trying to get a rise out of people. I think this was the first time any of them ever heard of Vietnam. I've often wondered how many of them ended up there.
Do you mean "there"? If so, as the sentence before says, Vietnam.
Were you like me and born on a lucky day for the first draft lottery?
draft lottery?? How did that work?? I never asked as it was difficult for my Dad. He passed last year...after effects from Vietnam (Agent Orange). He signed up - wasn't drafted. I still didn't want to upset him and bring it up.
Kerry, maybe that's the approach we should take, that history will not be kind to those who supported a criminal Trump by voting for a third-party candidate.
People who support trump are into alternative facts, alternative history. I don't think that approach will work on third party voters either, they are low information voters.
Though it seems that some of us think we "escaped Vietnam." If we have a conscience, none of us "escaped." There is a powerhouse of an exhibit at the New Museum in New York on the Bowery https://www.newmuseum.org/exhibitions/view/tuan-andrew-nguyen-radiant-remembrance "Radiant Remembrance." Closing Sunday, September 17th. NYT review: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/10/arts/design/tuan-andrew-nguyen-new-museum-vietnam.html The horrors that we committed live on and on and on amongst the people of Vietnam.
Donna, I know we would have done so much less damage and destruction as well as loss of life in Vietnam and its neighboring countries had Nixon not been elected president. I still don't know what people saw in him. I get the "love" of George Wallace because huge numbers of white Americans had been getting racism through their mother's milk, but Nixon had nothing whatsoever to offer anyone and he proved it. He did get forced into approving the EPA and clean air and water acts, but not much else that was positive or that could not have been done better by Humphrey.
It is seldom mentioned that in addition to Watergate Nixon enabled genocide in Asia and Latin America.
You can say the same for many presidents.
Seldom mentioned in the United States. Nixon said during his campaign in 1968 that he had a "secret plan" to end the War in Vietnam, just what our war-weary nation wanted to hear. Then, after he was elected, he said that to end the war "would result in a blood bath." So he went ahead to enable the continuing pointless slaughter. When the French fought and lost their colonial hold in Vietnam, America should have learned a lesson, but under presidents of both parties, America failed to do so. Hubris. Pride goeth before a fall. So much suffering for what, exactly?
And among many in the US. You can't inflict horrors on others without damaging yourself.
The decision to fight in Vietnam goes back to the Eisenhower administration, and perhaps earlier. Ho Chi Minh tried to ask Truman for help to defeat the colonial French. LBJ could have ended our involvement in Vietnam.
I visited Vietnam about 20 years ago. The story our guide told us was they asked the USA for help which was refused so they turned to the Chinese. I met a few of the men who were soldiers during that time and they were young boys when they had to go to war. Our guide never recovered from his father death who was working with the USA had to be "reeducated" and died during that time. One x air force man with our group heard these stories and said we were fighting on the wrong side. Alot of good American lives lost during that time because of politics.
A lot of lives lost, period. And Vietnam really escalated America's drug problem. Returning vets told stories about the permissiveness of their leaders w/re to drugs. Likely it was about the only way some soldiers could mentally survive.
That was my experience and view too. Many of the vets came home with drug addiction and introduced it to my hometown. There were others that suffered with alcohol dependence. Some to drown out the rejection they received coming home, others to quiet the fears that fucked with their heads.
And fear of Communism. They wanted to repeat what the US had accomplished on the Korean peninsula.