Tonight's White House Correspondent's Dinner, the economy, why Trump's Big Lie is believed by 85% of Republicans, and what I'm telling my graduating students
They don't believe: they pretend to believe the lie. They are ashamed to vote openly for a felon, traitor and fascist so this gives them an excuse: he is the real president, what the majority wanted Don't be fooled by GOP people's hypocritical lies
What are the Dems doing to get the results of their Jan. 6 investigations out in a way that even fifth graders can understand who did what and what that means? Hire an ad agency or even the Lincoln Republicans who trashed Trump and get them to turn out a meaningful, actionable and compelling report/video/comic book. No more 1,000-page inpenetrable, boring documents. Our population won't read it or get it! Get the truth out by gearing it to the masses.
Ending the coffee klatch on a happy note: This is anecdotal but I think I detect a change in attitude about Trump and the people who were once in his sway. I think non-Trumpers are way less shy in showing their dismay about his term in office, and they are less tolerant of people spouting off the right wing tropes. Democrats may well turn out the vote in November, and lots of former Trump supporters might stay home. Trump is an embarrassment to most people in this country!
President Biden noted at the recent White House Correspondents Gala: "This is the first time in six years that the White House Correspondents Dinner has been held. It was cancelled for four years by a horrible plague and, then, for two years by covid."
I loved swing dancing too. Too bad it was replaced by wiggling. On the other hand wiggling in place takes a lot less energy than swing, an advantage for us golden years hoofers.
About politics, the Republicans have a major advantage in that they have a cohesive simple mantra "Don't do unto others as you would insist others do unto you, and love thy status." It provides authoritative support (contriving that Trump really won the 2020 election) for the take-but- don't-give tendencies many of us harbor (proudly, or as a character flaw).
On the other hand the Democrats, by and large, concentrate on the needs of the community, and everyone in it. Egalitarian and proud of it. A much closer fit to the biblical mandate than my paraphrased renditions above. But a harder sell, thus needing better salespersons.
I think the left has to find powerful thick skinned orators, that can articulate the message clearly to all embers of the community. Obama is a good example of someone who could do that. Personally, I like Elizabeth Warren, Stacey Abrams, and Bernie Sanders, but there are certainly many others.
While the thousands of Democrat vs Republican campaign pissing contests are going on, the Party should have its best and most persuasive speakers spreading the main purposes and objectives, and explicitly articulate the differences between the parties positions. A little help from Madison Ave can't hurt.
Gosh. How can there be so many intelligent and thoughtful people in the Progressive Party yet they can't connect to the everyday working American? Why.. because you're trying to make your case with detailed analysis that only works for folks with the time, and/or the inclination, to make sense of the complex issues of our day. Darn it, GET TO THE POINT so the average Joe will understand that the Dems, and most Independents, DO really have a better vision that will benefit all Americans and not those who are always positioned to get the best advantages without having to try as hard.
And STOP using the word "Liberal!" I have never once met a so-called 'Liberal' who believed you should NOT have to work hard to get what you need and want in life! (of course, in every Party you have a very small fringe that will believe stuff that doesn't make sense yet get all the press)
Hi, Robert. I didn’t get this in my email as I should have and I still don’t know why. I had to hunt for it online. Your warning that we have to be alert to stop Trump is well taken. No, I don’t think the latest grads are the Last Generation. By the way, I’m sure they’ll marry and have kids; so much for the Last Generation stuff. However, your friend Michael Moore, as you know, is warning us that due to climate change we have to get busy NOW. But seeing ourselves or any of us as the Last Generation won’t get us there. I’m 76 and I guess I’m a Baby Boomer. I’m planning to live out my life as best I can. First, let’s kick that Trump can down the road and try to figure out what to do with Manchin/Sinema. All the Democrats, even the best ones, are getting blamed for what S & M (fits, doesn’t it?) have done. If we can just unload them . . .
Listened to Throughline on an NPR station this evening. A review of the Hyeck/Friedman view of economics, and of course included R.R.'s infamous statement. My snappy response to the assertion that government has no business deciding on Dos and Don't for the economy: is "If it wasn't for FDR's acts/decisions starting on 12/6/1941 we wouldn't be having this conversation in English."
Life is a musical comedy! Sing and dance! If you start making up songs about the days events and sing them spontaneously your cares will turn to laughter!
Robert, as I keep saying, I no longer get your emails although I’m a subscriber. Today I went to your Substack online and tried clicking on the Subscribe button and Choose a Plan. I promptly get a message that I already subscribe, and that I am getting an email to sign in from. I’ve now gotten this email several times, but every time I click on “Sign in to Robert Reich,” I land squarely back in the Subscribe/Choose a Plan page. There’s no way out and I don’t even see a Contact Us or Feedback button.
International Worker’s Day, May 1, was created in memory of the US labor movement for an eight-hour day and the wrongfully hanged activists blamed for the violence that occurred between police and demonstrators on May 4, 1884 at Haymarket Square in Chicago. Some Americans continue to make note of this day, as do many workers and their supporters in other countries.
American Labor Day is celebrated as a cook out holiday on the first Monday of September. It has little recognition as a celebration of workers unified in fulfilling their own interests as against those of business owners. Like most American legal holidays, it is more an opportunity to participate in consumerism than in solidarity. We have many reasons to use May Day as the day to recognize the value of employees and their rights to a say in working conditions.
We have lost track of who workers are. A person is a worker, an employee, because they work for someone other than themselves in order to pay their bills. It is a question of relative power, not income or credentials. If a person depends on compensation from work, even if they have some assets, that person is a worker. Only if the person has ownership in enough income producing assets that they do not need to work does their status change. Estimates are that 70% of employed Americans are workers and that 60% are in precarious occupations. Occupations that cause them to think that their compensation may become inadequate or that their job may no longer be available due to automation, offshoring or replacement by cheaper workers.
The majority of adult Americans are workers. They are often what we call the common people. Over the past 70s years the influence of the common people on the American political economic system has been purposely destroyed. The people, whose common characteristic is work, have been divided into separate identity groups and manipulated by political parties into focusing on separate interests while the rich have stolen the country’s resources and decision-making apparatus. The concentration of income and wealth is a well reported phenomenon. The concentration of political influence has not had such widespread attention, but is actually well known to academics who study such things.
The rich and their facilitators in business, academia, entertainment and the media reinforce distractions from the basic issue affecting the potential for democracy in the country – the lack of influence of the majority. At one time there were active movements in this country to strengthen the ideal of a government of, by and for the people. The labor unions, the populists and socialists among them. The common people no longer have a place in the US political system of power.
The legitimate tools of an active labor movement were rescinded by the Taft Hartley Act of 1947. Labor unions began their long descent into degradation at that time.
Populism, originally a movement in the United States to improve the lives of family farmers, in a largely agrarian country, grew into the people’s party and created a platform during their 1896 convention demanding an increase in the circulation of money, progressive taxation, nationalization of railroads, direct election of Senators and several things that were incorporated later into what became known as progressivism. Now, in great hypocrisy, academia and the liberal media have perverted the meaning populism, taken originally from the Latin - of the people, to mean, demagoguery, ignorance, and reactionism. They are seen as a threat to their credentialed betters. These same people, who know better, define the “Left” as having an identarian orientation. The political term “Left” came from the position of the French commoners who sat on the left side of their legislative body while on the right sat the clergy and the nobles. It was clearly a class designation.
As you can see the range of political possibilities for the common people continues to be restricted. The unions have no influence in either party or the government, populism is now fascism and the left no longer indicates any commitment to workers issues or interests. Conservatives have a perfect target for their demagogic manipulations. Liberals don’t see any interest in working class issues.
Even the color red has been taken from the old left and given to reactionaries. The same people as those who damned the labor activists in the Haymarket Riot, the New York Times, reportedly, with USA Today, began using the color red for Republicans. CBS soon followed. Now when you hear that a state is red, it is Alabama or Texas. Do you think the Democrats were not thrilled with this development? The Democratic Party Establishment wants no hint of socialism in its party and backed away from its commitment to labor activism beginning in the 70s. Symbols are important if there is interest in organizing people into a countervailing force against the aristocracy of wealth now ruling the country. Don’t let the reactionaries have the red.
There is hope in the ongoing commitment of the few old leftists who won’t give up and especially in the young people who in higher numbers see socialism as having value in our political system. Maybe the future holds promise, but we don’t have much time. The possibility of extreme destruction due to the impact of climate change and pollution on the world’s people is high. Only if the majority of the people are given a role in a broad and deep system of democracy will we succeed in creating a decent home for ourselves and others.
In support of radical democracy, and in memory of all of those who have worked and fought for the common people,
Wear red on May Day. Below are a few stanzas and the chorus of the old Social Democratic Party anthem.
It's easy for me to worry about all of the problems locally and around the world. It can weigh one down. I appreciate your perspective of 1968 troubles. And Trump is very scary, 85% of republicans can't really believe in the big lie. They just want to believe in it...but why. Trump is a scam, he's never helped the people in the middle of this country that do need the help.
They don't believe: they pretend to believe the lie. They are ashamed to vote openly for a felon, traitor and fascist so this gives them an excuse: he is the real president, what the majority wanted Don't be fooled by GOP people's hypocritical lies
Democrats have poor messaging skills.
Words I won't forget: "The last generation".
What are the Dems doing to get the results of their Jan. 6 investigations out in a way that even fifth graders can understand who did what and what that means? Hire an ad agency or even the Lincoln Republicans who trashed Trump and get them to turn out a meaningful, actionable and compelling report/video/comic book. No more 1,000-page inpenetrable, boring documents. Our population won't read it or get it! Get the truth out by gearing it to the masses.
Ending the coffee klatch on a happy note: This is anecdotal but I think I detect a change in attitude about Trump and the people who were once in his sway. I think non-Trumpers are way less shy in showing their dismay about his term in office, and they are less tolerant of people spouting off the right wing tropes. Democrats may well turn out the vote in November, and lots of former Trump supporters might stay home. Trump is an embarrassment to most people in this country!
President Biden noted at the recent White House Correspondents Gala: "This is the first time in six years that the White House Correspondents Dinner has been held. It was cancelled for four years by a horrible plague and, then, for two years by covid."
I loved swing dancing too. Too bad it was replaced by wiggling. On the other hand wiggling in place takes a lot less energy than swing, an advantage for us golden years hoofers.
About politics, the Republicans have a major advantage in that they have a cohesive simple mantra "Don't do unto others as you would insist others do unto you, and love thy status." It provides authoritative support (contriving that Trump really won the 2020 election) for the take-but- don't-give tendencies many of us harbor (proudly, or as a character flaw).
On the other hand the Democrats, by and large, concentrate on the needs of the community, and everyone in it. Egalitarian and proud of it. A much closer fit to the biblical mandate than my paraphrased renditions above. But a harder sell, thus needing better salespersons.
I think the left has to find powerful thick skinned orators, that can articulate the message clearly to all embers of the community. Obama is a good example of someone who could do that. Personally, I like Elizabeth Warren, Stacey Abrams, and Bernie Sanders, but there are certainly many others.
While the thousands of Democrat vs Republican campaign pissing contests are going on, the Party should have its best and most persuasive speakers spreading the main purposes and objectives, and explicitly articulate the differences between the parties positions. A little help from Madison Ave can't hurt.
Gosh. How can there be so many intelligent and thoughtful people in the Progressive Party yet they can't connect to the everyday working American? Why.. because you're trying to make your case with detailed analysis that only works for folks with the time, and/or the inclination, to make sense of the complex issues of our day. Darn it, GET TO THE POINT so the average Joe will understand that the Dems, and most Independents, DO really have a better vision that will benefit all Americans and not those who are always positioned to get the best advantages without having to try as hard.
And STOP using the word "Liberal!" I have never once met a so-called 'Liberal' who believed you should NOT have to work hard to get what you need and want in life! (of course, in every Party you have a very small fringe that will believe stuff that doesn't make sense yet get all the press)
Hi, Robert. I didn’t get this in my email as I should have and I still don’t know why. I had to hunt for it online. Your warning that we have to be alert to stop Trump is well taken. No, I don’t think the latest grads are the Last Generation. By the way, I’m sure they’ll marry and have kids; so much for the Last Generation stuff. However, your friend Michael Moore, as you know, is warning us that due to climate change we have to get busy NOW. But seeing ourselves or any of us as the Last Generation won’t get us there. I’m 76 and I guess I’m a Baby Boomer. I’m planning to live out my life as best I can. First, let’s kick that Trump can down the road and try to figure out what to do with Manchin/Sinema. All the Democrats, even the best ones, are getting blamed for what S & M (fits, doesn’t it?) have done. If we can just unload them . . .
Listened to Throughline on an NPR station this evening. A review of the Hyeck/Friedman view of economics, and of course included R.R.'s infamous statement. My snappy response to the assertion that government has no business deciding on Dos and Don't for the economy: is "If it wasn't for FDR's acts/decisions starting on 12/6/1941 we wouldn't be having this conversation in English."
Life is a musical comedy! Sing and dance! If you start making up songs about the days events and sing them spontaneously your cares will turn to laughter!
Thank you for the visit. Yes, swing dancing! "If I can't dance I don't want to be in your revolution," Emma Goldman.
Here is an interesting explanation of MAGA World's obsession with The Big Lie via the Dunning-Kruger Effect: https://cleantechnica.com/2022/04/27/lauren-boebert-electric-tanks-dunning-kruger/
Robert, as I keep saying, I no longer get your emails although I’m a subscriber. Today I went to your Substack online and tried clicking on the Subscribe button and Choose a Plan. I promptly get a message that I already subscribe, and that I am getting an email to sign in from. I’ve now gotten this email several times, but every time I click on “Sign in to Robert Reich,” I land squarely back in the Subscribe/Choose a Plan page. There’s no way out and I don’t even see a Contact Us or Feedback button.
Happy International Worker’s Day!!
International Worker’s Day, May 1, was created in memory of the US labor movement for an eight-hour day and the wrongfully hanged activists blamed for the violence that occurred between police and demonstrators on May 4, 1884 at Haymarket Square in Chicago. Some Americans continue to make note of this day, as do many workers and their supporters in other countries.
American Labor Day is celebrated as a cook out holiday on the first Monday of September. It has little recognition as a celebration of workers unified in fulfilling their own interests as against those of business owners. Like most American legal holidays, it is more an opportunity to participate in consumerism than in solidarity. We have many reasons to use May Day as the day to recognize the value of employees and their rights to a say in working conditions.
We have lost track of who workers are. A person is a worker, an employee, because they work for someone other than themselves in order to pay their bills. It is a question of relative power, not income or credentials. If a person depends on compensation from work, even if they have some assets, that person is a worker. Only if the person has ownership in enough income producing assets that they do not need to work does their status change. Estimates are that 70% of employed Americans are workers and that 60% are in precarious occupations. Occupations that cause them to think that their compensation may become inadequate or that their job may no longer be available due to automation, offshoring or replacement by cheaper workers.
The majority of adult Americans are workers. They are often what we call the common people. Over the past 70s years the influence of the common people on the American political economic system has been purposely destroyed. The people, whose common characteristic is work, have been divided into separate identity groups and manipulated by political parties into focusing on separate interests while the rich have stolen the country’s resources and decision-making apparatus. The concentration of income and wealth is a well reported phenomenon. The concentration of political influence has not had such widespread attention, but is actually well known to academics who study such things.
The rich and their facilitators in business, academia, entertainment and the media reinforce distractions from the basic issue affecting the potential for democracy in the country – the lack of influence of the majority. At one time there were active movements in this country to strengthen the ideal of a government of, by and for the people. The labor unions, the populists and socialists among them. The common people no longer have a place in the US political system of power.
The legitimate tools of an active labor movement were rescinded by the Taft Hartley Act of 1947. Labor unions began their long descent into degradation at that time.
Populism, originally a movement in the United States to improve the lives of family farmers, in a largely agrarian country, grew into the people’s party and created a platform during their 1896 convention demanding an increase in the circulation of money, progressive taxation, nationalization of railroads, direct election of Senators and several things that were incorporated later into what became known as progressivism. Now, in great hypocrisy, academia and the liberal media have perverted the meaning populism, taken originally from the Latin - of the people, to mean, demagoguery, ignorance, and reactionism. They are seen as a threat to their credentialed betters. These same people, who know better, define the “Left” as having an identarian orientation. The political term “Left” came from the position of the French commoners who sat on the left side of their legislative body while on the right sat the clergy and the nobles. It was clearly a class designation.
As you can see the range of political possibilities for the common people continues to be restricted. The unions have no influence in either party or the government, populism is now fascism and the left no longer indicates any commitment to workers issues or interests. Conservatives have a perfect target for their demagogic manipulations. Liberals don’t see any interest in working class issues.
Even the color red has been taken from the old left and given to reactionaries. The same people as those who damned the labor activists in the Haymarket Riot, the New York Times, reportedly, with USA Today, began using the color red for Republicans. CBS soon followed. Now when you hear that a state is red, it is Alabama or Texas. Do you think the Democrats were not thrilled with this development? The Democratic Party Establishment wants no hint of socialism in its party and backed away from its commitment to labor activism beginning in the 70s. Symbols are important if there is interest in organizing people into a countervailing force against the aristocracy of wealth now ruling the country. Don’t let the reactionaries have the red.
There is hope in the ongoing commitment of the few old leftists who won’t give up and especially in the young people who in higher numbers see socialism as having value in our political system. Maybe the future holds promise, but we don’t have much time. The possibility of extreme destruction due to the impact of climate change and pollution on the world’s people is high. Only if the majority of the people are given a role in a broad and deep system of democracy will we succeed in creating a decent home for ourselves and others.
In support of radical democracy, and in memory of all of those who have worked and fought for the common people,
Wear red on May Day. Below are a few stanzas and the chorus of the old Social Democratic Party anthem.
The Red Flag
Jim Connell of Ireland/England 1889
Billy Braggs version is on google
The people's flag is deepest red
It shrouded oft our martyred dead
And ere their limbs grew stiff and cold
Their hearts' blood dyed to every fold
Chorus
Then raise the scarlet standard high
Beneath its folds we'll live and die
Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer
We'll keep the red flag flying here
Fourth Stanza
It suits today the meek and base
Whose minds are fixed on wealth and place
To cringe beneath the rich man's frown
And haul that sacred emblem down
Stand together on International Workers Day.
Pat
It's easy for me to worry about all of the problems locally and around the world. It can weigh one down. I appreciate your perspective of 1968 troubles. And Trump is very scary, 85% of republicans can't really believe in the big lie. They just want to believe in it...but why. Trump is a scam, he's never helped the people in the middle of this country that do need the help.