That “emotional whiplash” description is perfect, Dr. Reich ….man this really does feel like we’re riding a democracy roller coaster where the highs are history-book big and the lows happen in a back room. What your piece does so well is hold both truths at once: the shutdown cave hurt real people, and yet it also exposed the old guard and made the Mamdanis, Katie Wilsons, and Starbucks baristas stand out even clearer. As a Black American, I’ve learned that power usually concedes in lurches, not straight lines; the backlash is ugly, but it’s also proof something moved. Thank you for naming the gut punch and the long arc in the same breath. It makes staying in the fight feel like sanity for once and not just stubbornness. www.xplisset.com
I agree that we are making progress. But I disagree that the Democrats "caved" to Republicans. It was a move that had to be made... to prevent even more suffering on Americans who have the least power, the least money, the least empathy. Trump made it clear that if states used any money to fund SNAP benefits, he would take financial retribution. It was time to end the standoff.
We could hold on longer because we have full bellies, warm beds, and a roof and four walls. But why make others suffer even a day longer? We still won because we got Grijalva sworn in, and we got more of the Epstein papers revealed. We also successfully showed that Trump doesn't care a bit for the people who elected him. The poorest are in Red States, and they stood to suffer the most. And they saw how Trump shit all over them while throwing a lavish party at Mar-A-Lago. I hope they remember it come election day.
Very true indeed. And the Dems still need to push for the ACA....those people need health care! Good Lord, who can pay thousands a month on minimum wage???
We will never get Medicare for All, at least in what little time I have left, because the US is a nation of selfish bastards who "don't want to pay for someone else's health care," and capitalist vultures who are making a ton of money off the current system.
David.....that's why the wealthy and companies need to pay their fair share of taxes! They should pay the same percentage the rest of us do! Too many tax loopholes that need to be reversed. And reverse Citizens United to get big money out of politics. There should be a cap on how much a person and companies can contribute to a campaign!!
The wealthy should pay a higher percentage. That's the point of having tax brackets with higher percentages as one's income increases. Getting there is the problem given the gimmicks that are available, plus the underfunding of the IRS. All the highest income folks should be audited annually. That's where the money is. There is no point in auditing low- and middle- income people. For most of us, our income is reportable on W-2s or 1099s.
I think that Trump handed us Medicare for All on a silver platter with his party at Mar-a-Largo at the same time as intentionally starving the poor, while taking away healthcare from millions. Americans aren't dumb! Tuesday's elections prove that. What elites don't recognize because they have never faced it themselves, that it is often impossible to give up all hope, when you are desperate like poor and working class people are in this country, and Trump sold himself so effectively as their last, best hope. Biden did all the right things for them, but couldn't effectively communicate that to most people. Medicare for All is coming sooner than you think. My Representive Debbie Dingell is co-sponsoring the bill Medicare for All, and is ready to introduce it as soon as we Democrats have the numbers to pass it.
Medicare doesn't cover everything. That means that people either buy a supplemental policy or Medicare Advantage plan. Either way, the insurance companies are still involved. That includes the strategy of not allowing certain procedures. Some Medicare Advantage plans are run by non-profit organizations, so there would be less greed there.
John Conyers introduced a bill in 2003. Bernie Sanders did in 2017. I wrote a blog post about how it will never be passed anytime soon. The short version is:
Congress has to pass M4A and it would require:
A sizeable House majority.
A filibuster-proof Senate majority (currently 67 members)
A Democratic president willing to sign it into law
A liberal enough Supreme Court to protect it from the inevitable lawsuits (we lost this advantage thanks to third party voters in 2016)
Buy-in from all of the health care system (physicians, patients, hospitals, DME manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies)
You can elect Jesus Christ Himself to the presidency and you still wouldn't get it done with the Congress we have now. Plus, ICE would have deported Him.
The reason Medicare for all won't work is because it is a covenant between the payers of the Medicare tax and the government that ensures Medicare will be available for those who pay the tax when they become eligible. Medicare A is financed by the Medicare tax. Medicare B is financed by Part B premiums and general tax revenues. To expand Medicare to all of us would require a change in its financing and reworking of this covenant. A more feasible solution is to establish a national insurance plan that is financed by premiums to compete with commercial plans.
Uh, M4A IS ...a national insurance plan that is financed by premiums" which are paid to the feds instead of commercial plans. Private insurers would probably continue as administrators, as they now do for self-insured companies. They could also sell supplemental plans, similar to the current "Medigap" plans; the French do this.
One of the many benefits is much lower overhead. The ACA mandated insurers spend 80-85% of premiums on care; the rest goes to overhead. Medicare's overhead is 1-5%, depending on who you ask. A single payor hopefully would get rid of plan and prescription ads; the latter costs $14B/year, which BigPharma writes off as "business expenses," robbing treasury of $1B.
Right, but it would be even better, Patricia Abraham, if everyone had 'single-payer' health-care coverage, similar to what is available to veterans in this country and available to everyone in the UK - although there could be some improvements made to the details involved in creating a new version of that type of system.
Health insurance companies in the US make their money purely by exploiting a completely dysfunctional system. They're parasites. They don't provide health services, reduce costs, or make people healthier. The "system" is an accident of history, with companies in WW2 offering health insurance to get around wartime wage controls.
And I am quite sure this problem is made much worse by the wealth and income imbalance, with wealthy individuals looking for any way to find something to put their money into that has good prospecdts for return on investment. Did this happen in real estate, too, with investment money now preventing many young people from buying houses by raising the whole real estate market (too much money available and not enough real estate supply to purchase)?
They are parasites. Insurance companies don't pay, the customers pay for care, plus paying for insurance insurance company operating costs and profits.
I posted the reason above. The reason Medicare for all won't work is because it is a covenant between the payers of the Medicare tax and the government that ensures Medicare will be available for those who pay the tax when they become eligible. Medicare A is financed by the Medicare tax. Medicare B is financed by Part B premiums and general tax revenues. To expand Medicare to all of us would require a change in its financing and reworking of this covenant. A more feasible solution is to establish a national insurance plan that is financed by premiums to compete with commercial plans.
David, other countries started from scratch to develop medical care insurance for all. Taiwan is an example. We are not going to undo what works reasonably well for the 50 million people on Medicare to risk a debacle. Instead, we will have incremental change. POTUS Obama considered and rejected a national insurance plan in favor of subsidies for commercial plans, some of which are for profit and publicly traded.
The push for Medicare for all is based on the false understanding that Medicare is more efficient. It is not. I worked as a Contractor Medical Director for Medicare involved with its policy and program integrity. Medicare loses about 7% of its money to fraudsters, despite its anti-fraud department enjoying the DOJ as its enforcer, vs. commercial insurance that must rely on the tort system to protect against fraud. The overhead cost of Medicare including fraud and DOJ support may be higher than the overhead cost of commercial plans.
Flu season is a concern this year, which makes this situation even more unfortunate. Australia had its worst flu season on record this year, which is a good indicator of how severe or not the seasonal flu will be. Here in the UK, it came earlier than usual (October), and hospitals are already struggling to cope. The Subclade K variant hasn’t helped with a pretty absent and mismanaged CDC.
If we were willing to mask, it would be different. The US loses more than 100 children to flu each year. Except during covid, when we lost 1. That gave immunocompromised children another season to grow stronger and healthier. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/03/02/children-flu-deaths/
It’s too soon to judge how things will go with this variant. All I know is, vaccinations may help, and the NHS is urging everyone to vaccinate this year, but so far the uptake has been lower than last year. Of course, the elderly and immunocompromised are most vulnerable, but they can receive free jabs (elderly, over 65—I scored this year, as will be ‘of age' in January). Unfortunately, in England, child poverty has skyrocketed over the past decade or so, no thanks to cruel government policies around child benefit caps. Scotland got rid of the cap this year, so child poverty rates have fallen). Anyway, masking helps, but not so many people do it since restrictions were lifted.
Yes Vivian. The Dems still need to push for the ACA AND also Medicaid! No one is mentioning Medicaid! We need universal health care for all in this country as well as free or affordable education.
Hospitals & clinics will close due to the debt from providing uncompensated care. Let's talk about universal care (Medicare for All) after the system collapses.
THANK YOU, Donna. I’m really getting weary of Robert’s continual description of the Dem’s choice to end this misery as a cave. It was a shrewd political move. The govt is open, and the Dems hold the upper hand, making hay out of our Marie Antionette president. And he’s not even giving the people any cake!
It would have been a shrewd move if all the Dems had gone along with it- the appearance was a renegade group that bucked the leadership, so still looks like a cave to me. Schumer needs to go. If the Dems had a meeting & knew their coalition was split, then they could have strategized to vote en masse to make their point.
Sometimes it takes a little time to reframe an action. At first I didn’t understand why they seemed to give up before their objective was realized. As it is turning out it has shown that they put the people’s needs above petty politics and has brought the whole Epstein thing down on his head just when the most people are paying attention.
Babydoc.....and the repugs said they will let a vote on the ACA mid December. Do you really think they will? And if they do, do you think it will pass? And if it passed trump will not sign it! He already said he would not!
Thanks for your comment, Pamela. I love your phrase "repugs". Here's what I think: the Dems have a made-in-heaven way to beat the repugs over the head, with cruelty to children and pregnant women (how's that for being "pro-life"?). SNAP covers expectant mothers as well as families. Trump alleges that his approval is high, everything is fine, BS, BS BS. I'm sure if an aide tries to let him know that doing anything to defund SNAP and discontinue ACA is suicidal politics, the aide will be sent packing. So if Trump is delusional enough (which I'm convinced he is) to end these programs, I think the congressional repugs may finally become fed up with him. Please realize that SNAP and ACA benefit far more people living in red states than blue. Small community hospitals in Kansas will close when Medicaid is ended, because most rural Kansans have Medicaid insurance. Likewise other red states like Iowa, etc etc. Trump has delusional ideas about all of this also - he thinks that the only people on SNAP and ACA are urban non-white people, which could't be further from the truth. But in this administration, truth is somewhat meaningless. The Dems are probably creating TV ads right now with a split screen - one side is the Great Gatsby party that Trump put on in FL and the other half is a closing prairie hospital or a crying child who is hungry (a white kid, of course). I think as stupid as they have been, especially the speaker of the house, they know that this is a losing position. Stay strong!
Thanks, Babydoc, I think you are "right-on" with what you say here! It reminds me of what a good friend of mine, Mike, told me that his grandfather had told him back in the 1960's, when we were teenagers, and that is that the USSR would eventually crumble under its own weight. And that is what, in effect, did happen (from what I've read about it) - Reagan just gave a little extra push at the end, but it was already crumbling. "Trump-land" is crumbling now - finally! It seems like it has taken a long time for "the sleeping giant" (as Robert put it a few days ago here on this site) to wake up. I think that we definitely need to give some extra pushing now, but the old snowball is on a downward trajectory, it seems to me...
Thanks for your reply, Frank. Before Reagan, I remember my dad saying the only way out of Watergate was for Nixon to commit suicide. Actually, the way that ended was even better. I agree with you that Trump is crumbling. I think the combination of his dementia, his innate psychiatric diagnoses and his inability to see the reality of life in America now will do him in in some way. However, I think his congestive heart failure may get him out of the way first. If that happens, we have to be on guard against Vance - he's got an innate evil that is equally bad as Trump's dementia.
Babydoc......thanks! I agree with you and pray you are right. I pray that the repugs will be shown the door next year! That We the People can save ACA, Medicaid and SNAP for the needy. (I live in Western Kentucky very red) so yes I know it's more white people than the minority who depend on these services.
a few times a month, i will ask folks as i go about my day, what they think of things like dumpster's parties, or his golfing, or his grifting, or any of a huge number of actions that last century would have gotten him tossed. i almost always get blank stares or "i hadn't heard that" or "fake news" or accusations of being a leftwinger. so of course "we" all see his imcompetence, excesses, lawlessness, and depravity, but most people are wilfully ignorant of it all.
Unfortunately they aren't getting the true picture from Faux News. They're going to be gobsmacked, if they aren't already, as the underpinnings of our economy crumble under this regime's policies.
Yes, Paul, willful ignorance it is. Hopefully the Supreme Court will finally tell Trump that truth matters, and that all his "emergencies" are fake emergencies, and that he is violating the Constitution.
Thank you! While the messaging of those who are accused of “caving” was poor - or delayed - it should be abundantly clear that Trump would never negotiate. (Epstein, Epstein, Epstein.) He does not care about the suffering of anyone. Many of us do.
As the shutdown dragged on, we heard a shift in news reports from the media - to acknowledging citizens’ realization their access to health care is at critical risk and their federal government will not help them with essential food subsidies in such a national emergency. Current events that had been focused on an endless news cycle of the regime’s other cruel, corrupt and unlawful activities no longer seemed as newsworthy as listening to the voices of our many vulnerable neighbors describing their fears and anxieties. When a handful of congress members threw in the towel, the finger remained pointed at those who had demonstrated that the wellness of our general citizenry simply doesn’t matter to them. Donna, I think a wake-up call was achieved with the duration of the shutdown, and I hope we are capable of applying what was learned to rebuild and strengthen our better selves as a democracy.
To strengthen our democracy we must stand up for the truth, and that, among other things, includes standing up to Trump's Bloated Billionaire Bill. Elon Musk called it "abominable." Schumer chose not to look into all its complexity, and instead limited himself to denouncing healthcare cuts. It was posturing designed to avoid a dangerous political crisis. Only the Supreme Court can spare us from this crisis--by telling Trump that his "emergencies" are fake, and that he has violated the Constitution.
It's a combo carnival ride for sure--both Democracy Roller Coaster and Turnip Tilt-a-Whirl. Optics aside, it may well be that the "cave" was the right thing to do. Epstein is Turnip's Achilles heel, and it's back at the forefront. My worry is that the ACA will be destroyed by default. Republican promises of a vote on the ACA are worth a bucket of warm spit. Millions of Americans will be left with a concept of a plan for their healthcare, and those who have insurance will foot the bill for their ER care.
donna said what i would've said,but better-i would only add that it's time to get the planes safely flying in time for the holidays and to get federal employees paid
"Trump made it clear that if states used any money to fund SNAP benefits, he would take financial retribution. It was time to end the standoff." This wasn't just an action to transfer money from the poor to the rich, which would be worthy of any description of Trump's foul behavior. Threatening states which augmented depleted SNAP benefits was the most foul, vicious behavior imaginable! This is certainly the embodiment of Orwell's comment: "If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stomping on a human face - forever." Well, guess what? There is a fair portion of the U.S. citizenship, some 300 million of us, who also have boots.
My first impulse was the feckless democrats have shown up again, but after listening to both sides I have decided to remain open minded and continue to recognize that the power comes from a united effort to fight the tyranny of Trump and others in his orbit. They want to destroy Democracy and that can’t happen.
I’m willing to suffer. Imagine the suffering military men suffered during world war 11 Being hungry at night is not suffering. Don’t mean to diminish hunger but really it is time remove the garbage from our government. Unbearable pain is waiting. Throw out the corporate Democrats while we are at it. Overturning citizens united and term limits is a good start. Join the rest of the civilized world by investing in free education and healthcare. Help people help themselves is not socialism. Instead of billionaires getting tax cuts. Like you have to be told I guess it’s your tax dollars.
"It was time...." Time is of the essence, and time will tell us whether Schumer had time it right. As we move on we must not yield to wishful thinking. There is no gain without pain.
I agree with you Donna Maurillo, about this "cave-in" not being a total "loss" for the people like us who want the unnecessary suffering of the average hard-working Americans to end. However, in the "horse-race" aspect of trying to figure the odds of how much this putting an end to the obscene, inhumane starving of folks helps or hurts which party or candidates, I am not qualified to say.
I live in IL and sent this email: Hello Senator Durbin, Your recent actions regarding the shutdown raise questions that deserve answers. Given that states lack the authority to recall US senators for interrogation, I hope that you will demonstrate accountability by voluntarily submitting to a deposition and polygraph. I’m concerned that you or your loved ones may have been subject to threats or intimidation. Thank you.
The real problem destroying America was created by the organized and funded attack on democracy by Republicans, corporations, and oligarchs launched by the Powell memo in 1971. The attack created the core problems in America, wealth inequality, affordability including the high cost of housing, and the lack of good jobs for the working class supported by the rigged political system, the rigged economy, and the weak legal system.
Democrats have sided with Republicans, corporations and oligarchs while ignoring the working class since Bill Clinton adopted neoliberalism in the 1990s as Professor Reich described in his new excellent book, Coming Up Short, and his other post.
Two new bold actions are needed now by a new generation of progressive populist Democrats who have a strong commitment to adopt new strategies required to solve core problems and stop the illegal felony criminal insurrection led by Trump and his administration that began on January 6, 2021, and continued into 2025 as planned in PROJECT 2025, with illegal felony criminal support of the insurrection from Republicans in Congress and the Supreme Court to install a lawless fascist autocracy.
The first action is legal adoption, implementation and enforcement of the proposed new law in 15 states controlled by Democrats modeled after the federal law against insurrection which is described in this post to take control of the House and the Supreme Court before the midterms.
PROJECT 2029 is a new turning point in politics and the economy for a new generation of progressive Democrats to get elected in 2028 by campaigning on solving core problems in America by committing to implement PROJECT 2029. Core problems are affordability caused by the high cost of living, housing, food, and healthcare, wealth inequality, and a lack of good paying jobs for the working class.
Voters in 2016 and 2024 elected Trump because they were dissatisfied with how the traditional Republicans and Democrats had run the federal government and for 60 years voters had been waiting for solutions to core problems which Trump falsely claimed he would deliver.
1964 Congressman Miller was Senator Barry Goldwater's running mate. They lost to President Lyndon Baines Johnson and Vice President Hubert Horatio Humphrey (Minnesota).
Thanks again RR for helping up to keep hope alive and to stay strong! We must celebrate our wins! Even to this lay person it feels like the bubble of this corrupt and cruel regime is starting to break!!
Thank you, what you and Dr. Reich describe tracks with how these political shifts often unfold, breakthroughs paired with backlash, both happening faster than anyone can process. The whiplash makes more sense when seen as part of a larger pattern, old power structures reacting as new voices and movements gain ground. That framing helps explain the tension of this moment and why the swings feel so sharp. It also points to where things may be heading, even if the route is uneven.
This is the emotional whiplash of progress—-highs that lift us, lows that remind us how fragile victory can be.
The old guard clings to compromise; the new generation insists on clarity and courage.
Executive cruelty—-flaunting ballrooms while denying food stamps, covering up Epstein ties while polls collapse…is the perfect symbol of retribution politics. But the real story is that people are fighting back, organizing, refusing to be silenced.
Tactical defeats sting, but they don’t define us. The trajectory has shifted, and the fight is ours to carry forward.
I think this reflects the tension so many of us are feeling. The swings make more sense when you see them as part of a larger transition, with older political habits colliding with a generation that isn’t willing to accept half-measures anymore. The contrasts you describe reveal both the ugliness of retribution politics and the growing power of collective action. The setbacks matter, but they sit alongside a deeper shift in who is shaping the future. What’s happening now feels less like a detour and more like the turbulence of real change.
I was thinking the Dems caved, too. But as I considered what transpired, I believe that both approaches were valid. Trying to hold out further victimized the most vulnerable among us, but made a strong point about the lack of regard that the American Fascist Party has for the citizenry. Ceding to the demands attempted to ease the distress of those reliant on government support, and I can’t judge them too harshly for that.
I totally agree. Those who stood up are the Dems who aren't running anymore. They're retiring. If any Dem with time still to serve, or with another election coming up, had taken that stand, they'd have been roasted. So, the ones who had nothing to lose stepped up and took the arrows.
I understand your point, but I still find it hard to shake the Neville Chamberlain-feel of it. We needed Churchill. The community was stepping up in the face of the shutdown crisis. We were stepping up and doing more to fill in those gaps with our needy neighbors. And it was causing inactive people to have to think about the situation, and question “why can’t we provide SNAP benefits that we have already paid for with our taxes and legislatively approved to be released incase of just such an emergency”? It wasn’t because of Dems. And who actually will protect my ability to afford healthcare? Trump and his ilk demonstrated daily that they care more about Gatsby-partying while people suffer. One more week, better messaging to prepare us, and with the Epstein Estate dropping their emails, we would have been in a much different -stronger- position.
He had LOTS of things to say to the rich overlords! Including the famous 'easier for a camel 🐫 to pass through the eye of a needle 🪡 than for a rich man to get into heaven', and the warning to greedy rich who don't share with the poor: 'You have already seen your reward'. But his most vehement criticism was for hypocrites. There's millions more of those! Some are both! If Judgement Day is a real thing, I would not want to be them. 👿🥵☠️
I'm an atheist who has read the Bible (which helped me become an atheist)... but I admire the Sermon on the Mount and the admonitions to care for the poor and sick, welcome the stranger, etc. In contrast, the current Christian right is all about the "prosperity gospel" - that is, God rewards the righteous with $ and if you're poor - well, I guess you deserve it. I don't know how they square these with Jesus's teachings but my guess is that they've just never actually read those teachings and have no idea....
I truly understand what you are saying. It’s an awful place to be in. NO ONE should be in this fix. I agree that the community was stepping up. I am also aware that not everyone who needs food can get to the food bank, that not every community has a food bank or a church with a food pantry. I cannot honestly say what my actions would be if faced with two very bad choices.
What I am personally doing is participating in civic engagement actions. And I pray, sincerely and honestly, that I am an instrument God uses for justice. I pray God will intervene in the hearts of those legislators for whom cruelty seems the default response. I pray for those who are experiencing hunger and fear about being insured. I do so not from a place of “if nothing else, I can pray”; rather, i pray from the perspective that “I pray, because prayer is powerful”. Prayer is a conduit to the Creator, where God provides reassurance, guidance, trust, faith that we don’t undertake this work alone. I don’t view it as God being the genie who grants three wishes. Rather, somehow (and here comes the churchy language about the “mystery” of God) prayer is the way of inviting God’s will “to earth as it is in heaven”. Crazy.
Caving is definitely the wrong term. The move was strategically planned and choreographed. VA's governor-elect Spanberger is former CIA, former Congress. She got on a Sunday morning talk show and said Virginians are hurting from the endless ShutDown and MAGA cruelty, and they elected her to help them. She said the ShutDown had to end. A VA Senator became one of the 8 Senate votes that same Sunday. And, immediately, the conversation changed to Trump's relationship with Pedophile Epstein.
Spanberger was a significant part of the prior Tuesday's Democratic success story. So was NJ's gov-elect Sherrill. I cannot imagine Sherrill sitting around a Thanksgiving table wishing she could delay vacating her House Seat, rather than staying in NJ. Dems needed MAGA-lackey Johnson to re-open the House, swear-in Grijalva and conduct some other important business before Sherril can vacate.
And, MTG had been repositioning herself to try to take Ossoff's Senate seat in 2026. The maneuver put MTG in a put-up or shut-up position.
A different topic, which definitely does not deserve a LIKE, is that one huge downside risk to losing Shutdown leverage for ACA subsidies is that MAGAs can posture that they'd be in favor of restoring some ACA subsidies if, and only if, abortion is completely excluded. And, posturing is especially important to MTG.
Interesting point. I haven’t even considered the strategies the American Fascist Party may try to in exchange for maintaining ACA.
I continue to be baffled by their hypocrisy:
1) block access to contraceptives and also be incensed when women have unplanned pregnancies;
2)claim to be right-to-life defenders but fail to ensure that ALL children, not just those of the “correct” skin color, economic status, religious & political affiliations, have access to quality food, education and healthcare; and
3) Right-to-life doesn’t mean abolishing the death penalty.
I am not as dismayed as I was initially by the Senate Dems’ strategy. There were significant gains over the plan proferred by Johnson. All the freshly-fired Federal workers reinstated. SNAP restored, with just enough disruption to highlight which party is shamelessly cruel. And the House forced back into activity, with the resulting Epstein email dump & a demand for transparency that simply can’t be stonewalled. The momentum is with us. Please highlight Jasmine Crockett’s call for states to not use Dominion voting machines. I am certain she is correct that the Repub plan is to use these to queer the midterms.
The other good reason to end it when they did: tRump's henchmen were on the brink of dismantling even more essential programs, and firing tens of thousands more government workers. They were about to declare a national emergency and declare Martial Law.
Blowing up boats, killing without justification, is just a warm up to shooting US citizens for daring to protest. They wanted to arrest people who had opened food banks! Any excuse will do.
Odd event---Today I was called a liar for telling the truth. If this misconception is inherent in the thoughts of the average Republican our endeavors of unifying this country will be akin to putting together a gig-saw puzzle with a shit load of pieces missing. Is the reality of our situation that difficult to ascertain, or is it that we are asking too much from those who wouldn't see the truth even if it was handed to them. We have come to grips with the idea of handling the Covid virus, but when it comes to controlling a dysfunctional menace who is currently attempting to dismantle our government, we see fit to install RFK Jr. to cure our ills. Life is indeed screwed up, our efforts are all directed toward finding a good "Phillips," which we must use to unscrew everything Mr. Trump has over tightened. The Epstein files will haunt us because of their secrecy. Are the truths hidden with its pages so destructive in nature that they are better off left buried? I still live by the premise that states; "Know the truth and the truth shall set you free." Even if they call me a liar.-
That is the 'quote' I had on my traveling protest sign this summer . . . in my Chatauqua (religiously founded late 19th century) community. I wasn't called a liar over my sign, but someone next to me was. I forget what she had on her sign . . . but it wasn't a lie!
My in-laws used to go to Chattaqua for around two weeks every couple of years. They loved the time they spent there, and felt spiritually enriched from it.
I keep hoping that somewhere, somehow there’s some nuance to why those Dems (+ 1 Ind.) caved to end the shutdown. That there’s some sort of master plan at work that most of us are unable to perceive.
I mean, how else to explain why, after the substantial victories last week that we experienced at every level—Governor, Mayor, Prop 50 in California, utility boards, local election victories of all types, why the Senate would fold when it seemed like they had the upper hand?
The Republicans genuinely don’t care if people starve. I think that’s what it came down to. Children, the elderly, people in the military, the working poor—these are the recipients of SNAP. Yet the Republicans make it seem like SNAP recipients are buying champagne and lobster with their $230/month food stamps for a family of 5.
When the increased premium notices begin hitting people’s inboxes in a few weeks, it won’t be the end of the ACA. People will remember who is responsible for this and it won’t be the Democrats. We’re not in charge. Not of one single branch of government.
No matter the words used to describe the emotional upheaval, whiplash, rollercoaster, they are all pointing in the direction of progress. Resistance is hard and most of the time progress is not linear. I’ll take it, even with the ups and downs. It’s the first time in a year that hope is beating out worry. The hardest is yet to come, but the people of America are showing up to the task.
I didn't experience it as a "cave." There were no good choices, only a choice between preserving people's healthcare or feeding them. The fight for more equitable healthcare is still a priority, but feeding the poor was a greater priority, IMO.
"No good choices" is a painful place to be. It reminds me of Bonhoeffer, an uncompromising pro-life passivist, who chose to participate in the officers' plot to kill Hitler. These moments are good for the prayer life, bad for psychological comfort and personal peace.
It was an abject capitulation because the Trump administration was on the verge of going to the Supreme Court to seek permission to continue not to use the emergency funds to feed people. Not only were they spared the dreadful optics of such an appeal but the restrictions on eligibility and tightening of the work requirement rules imposed by the OBBB (which also cut SNAP funding) came into force before the climbdown which means that many American families will continue to go hungry or to be completely dependent on foodbanks. Only last week Trump had removed tariffs on food imports because of the pressures on families.
They surrendered for very little in return - the promise of a Senate vote on the ACA subsidies next month with no commitment from Republican senators to vote for their continuation or even that the House will take it up. They've allowed a beleaguered Trump to claim " a very big victory" and still blame the Democrats for the fallout which continues at airports.
Politically, what you say makes long term sense. I usually choose long-term sustainability over short term gain; but I always choose people over politics. I suppose, from a holistic perspective, most of our conflicts end up in either a compromise or a war. Too many warriors, too few negotiators on both "sides" in American politics these days, IMO.
I see what mean, Carol, but the choices seem to be to fight or to surrender. The latter choice I think means greater harm to vulnerable people, not just Americans. There is no political centre in US politics any more - Trump and the Republicans have seen to that. Democrats who are happier partnering with the likes of Liz Cheney rather than Zohran Mamdani and Bernie Sanders in search for that illusory centre ground are going to be doomed to failure. That's just my opinion as an outsider (I live in the UK).
By the way, you are not EXACTLY an outsider. As an offspring of the British Empire, "America" has a lot of British culture in both its politics and mainstream culture. It was rumored that Tony Blair did not really want to support the Iraqi war, but what America got for paying more to support NATO than our allies was the deciding vote on policy, so Blair joined the rest of the "bullied and the bribed" on that ill-informed decision.
The Iranians are Muslim's, but they are not Semites like the Arab Muslims, they are Persians. Saddam Hussein was a horrible dictator, but he was also a boundary on the Iranians in the Middle East.
I wish my Nation's leadership had more respect for historical context.
Carol, to use your military metaphor it's never a good idea to surrender the high ground.
I am a scion of the British Empire, but as an Anglo-Indian with British citizenship I find myself with no strong attachment either to the country of my birth or the one in which I currently reside. There are millions like me who are an inadvertent and basically unwanted consequence of Empire. It's probably why I have a profound distaste for nationalism and consider it to be the ugly child of the collapse of colonial empires.
Benedict Anderson famously described nations as 'imagined communities'. We, like you, have our myths that hang round our necks like millstones. America was the original dumping ground for British criminals who were deported there and told to settle there permanently. After America gained independence, the Empire used Australia instead. Consider that in the context over the nonsense of the Great Replacement theory.
Blair once complained about what he called 'the imperial malaise', our obsession with our role in the world after the loss of Empire, yet his decision to follow Bush into Iraq was a symptom of this malaise and my country's desire to continue to play a role on the world stage. We left the European Union for much the same reasons.
Saddam Hussein was a brute who used chemical weapons not just the Iranians, with the connivance and support of the US, but also against his own people. Iran has no reason to be friendly towards your country. In 1953, the CIA with our own MI6 orchestrated a coup d'etat ousting a popular leader, Mohammad Mosaddegh, and replacing him with a tyrant.
I don't care what anyone says, IT'S TIME WE HANG TRUMP!! 86 47!!!! Stuff a great big hot dog up his ass and a great big double cheeseburg into his hideously "O"-shaped mouth and put him on display on the White House lawn for about a week! (And REPUGNANTS, DON'T YOU DARE PUT THE FLAGS AT HALF-STAFF!!!)
Knock on wood, I've had the strong feeling that #TheGreatUnraveling of kleptocratic #TrumpProject2025 #RepubloFascism is only months away.
Will it be triggered by our millions? By Epstein fallout that brings Trump's favorability ratings to the low 20s?
Or could it be triggered by only three or four fed-up House Republicans that see now as the perfect moment to declare as independent, #ConscientiousDEFECTORS willing to caucus with Democrats?
They could #FlipTheHouseFALL2025AndBeHeroesForever!
They'd unleash a #BlueHouseOversightRampage that could go all Freddy Krueger on the #ClownCarCabinet.
Or is the real deep state, the #BillionaireDonorCabal, getting ready to open the trap door under Trump so they can tidy up the oligarchy with a #VanceThielPresidency?
It's about to get messy, but hopefully in a really, really good way…
I didn’t think anyone could be worse than corrupt felon frump but Vance is and his younger corrupt Trump crime family, and his tech bros who put him in the White House, I can’t believe ALL of the inept, disqualified, disgusting cabinet sychopant secretaries, hateful Maga Mike Johnson, MAGA House and Senate GOP, the Roberts MAGA Six Justices who will still be in office!
Sandra.....I say impeach them all! Prosecute each and everyone of them and then prison! Especially trump should be in prison for the rest of his miserable life for all of his crimes and raping the country of millions! I would love to see him a broke and broken man in prison NOT club Fed!!!
The Sunday thought is - Progress. Sorry Robert, this is not progress in my book, this is one depressing, miserable mess of a country that we have. It is sickening to watch. Today, the USA looks like a failed empire with crazy people at the helm. Chances are not very good that it will ever come back as far as I can see.
I agree that our country "looks like a failed empire with crazy people at the helm," Richard. But we have to remember that those of us who recognize that this is the way it looks are the majority by far. To engage in skepticism and fear is not the way out of this miserable mess. We have to project the most positive outcome possible and believe in it, work towards it, and never give up. History has shown us that we can overcome (as we have done so before), that chances are very good that we will get our country back and make it even better, make it fail-proof as now we can so clearly see what needs to be fixed. The pain and sacrifices we the people have to endure are what make me profoundly sad. Joyce Vance's words, "We are in this together" brings me some comfort. I highly recommend her book: Giving Up Is Unforgivable: A Manual for Keeping a Democracy.
You make an effort to be involved with this community. So that says something about you. I'm sorry for whatever problems you are experiencing during this time of your life. And I am sending you love and light, hoping it might help some.
Thank you for being a decent person. This has been the most difficult part for me. Trump and the GOP are totally indecent. It is very depressing and I never dreamed it would end like this.
I was telling my husband last night that, really rather expectably, extremely good news and extremely bad news are characterizing this time. Our real gains, and their violent reactions and preemptive actions.
What I keep reminding myself of, apart from all the good news on so many levels and from so many sides, is the hollowness of Trump-Miller-Vought-Thiel over-reach. They are trying to seize gains they cannot keep as long as we fight back: that is their modus operandi. And they cannot hold what we do not cede because their resources are finite and dwindling. People are leaving them even more than. they are firing people for insufficient obedience.
Captain Distraction is panicking like a cornered rabid animal. He’s now ordering 15,000 troops to Venezuela. Trump knows his time has come to pay the price for his crimes and he’s going to do as much damage as possible on the way out.
Yes, Keith, he wants to have War powers in order to avoid elections, so he can stay in power indefinitely. It may actually get the attention of those who now think it is OK to "exterminate" the "infestations" of those they dehumanize, because it could affect THEM and their loved ones. Time for the 25th amendment, if it actually exists.
I know he's that heartless! But I do think some of his staff/handlers would stop him from causing nuclear Armageddon….the ones without underground luxury bunkers, anyway!
The more Democrats fight now, the better and more effective they will get at it, and the easier that fight will be with grassroots structures soon firmly in place nationwide.
ORGANIZE OVER THE COMMON GOOD DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM. JUST READ THE PLATFORM BULLET POINTS. ORGANIZE!!!!
ALLEGIANCE TO OUR PLATFORM AND THE CANDIDATE THAT PROMOTES OUR PLATFORM!
GOOGLE YOUR STATES DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM TO READ IT!
MAKE AMERICA GRATEFUL AGAIN!
The Democratic Platform IS the Preamble to Our Constitution
The Preamble
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
The Democratic Party should be the party of Interdependent voters..
Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth (Official Audio)
Thank you for this comment! This hopeful attitude is like balm for the soul. However, even as a European, I am upset about the eight traitors in the ranks of the Democrats. This contrasts with the Democrats' election victories and, even more so, the victories of the socialist wing. Bravo, there is still hope for better times.
And yes, no one over the age of 65 should be allowed to actively participate in politics. Younger and more liberal politicians should take over the offices, such as Mamdani, Wilson, and Co.
"Mentoring" is not running for office. Bernie has been the greatest agent for change and the real 'father of the revolution' the last 20 years, but he's too old to stay actively involved now. I hope he will continue to inspire and support our younger politicians for as long as he can.
I agree, and it's still good to have him as a Senator who can mentor young progressives. Look at the huge rallies he led with AOC. He does not have to hold a seat to be a valuable leader. But Bernie votes with integrity and is brave enough to push for things like single payer Healthcare. He pointed out that ACA was a handout to the medical insurance industry, and it was. We could do better. and Bernie can continue to lead the way. Essentially, it is up to him and his doctor and the voters to decide if he is finished in politics. Ageism has it's limitations. tell Rupert Murdoch or Chuck Grassley, who are older than Bernie that they have no value to their agendas. If you have a good leader, and they can still lead, It is "circular firing squad" thinking to ,make ironclad rules that shoot you in the foot. If you have a great leader, stick with him so the young can learn and we can all benefit.
That “emotional whiplash” description is perfect, Dr. Reich ….man this really does feel like we’re riding a democracy roller coaster where the highs are history-book big and the lows happen in a back room. What your piece does so well is hold both truths at once: the shutdown cave hurt real people, and yet it also exposed the old guard and made the Mamdanis, Katie Wilsons, and Starbucks baristas stand out even clearer. As a Black American, I’ve learned that power usually concedes in lurches, not straight lines; the backlash is ugly, but it’s also proof something moved. Thank you for naming the gut punch and the long arc in the same breath. It makes staying in the fight feel like sanity for once and not just stubbornness. www.xplisset.com
I agree that we are making progress. But I disagree that the Democrats "caved" to Republicans. It was a move that had to be made... to prevent even more suffering on Americans who have the least power, the least money, the least empathy. Trump made it clear that if states used any money to fund SNAP benefits, he would take financial retribution. It was time to end the standoff.
We could hold on longer because we have full bellies, warm beds, and a roof and four walls. But why make others suffer even a day longer? We still won because we got Grijalva sworn in, and we got more of the Epstein papers revealed. We also successfully showed that Trump doesn't care a bit for the people who elected him. The poorest are in Red States, and they stood to suffer the most. And they saw how Trump shit all over them while throwing a lavish party at Mar-A-Lago. I hope they remember it come election day.
Very true indeed. And the Dems still need to push for the ACA....those people need health care! Good Lord, who can pay thousands a month on minimum wage???
We really need Medicare for all under government care and let the insurance co.panies make their money off something else
We will never get Medicare for All, at least in what little time I have left, because the US is a nation of selfish bastards who "don't want to pay for someone else's health care," and capitalist vultures who are making a ton of money off the current system.
David.....that's why the wealthy and companies need to pay their fair share of taxes! They should pay the same percentage the rest of us do! Too many tax loopholes that need to be reversed. And reverse Citizens United to get big money out of politics. There should be a cap on how much a person and companies can contribute to a campaign!!
The wealthy should pay a higher percentage. That's the point of having tax brackets with higher percentages as one's income increases. Getting there is the problem given the gimmicks that are available, plus the underfunding of the IRS. All the highest income folks should be audited annually. That's where the money is. There is no point in auditing low- and middle- income people. For most of us, our income is reportable on W-2s or 1099s.
"that's why the wealthy and companies need to pay their fair share of taxes!"
True, but the limiting factor is Congress.
I think that Trump handed us Medicare for All on a silver platter with his party at Mar-a-Largo at the same time as intentionally starving the poor, while taking away healthcare from millions. Americans aren't dumb! Tuesday's elections prove that. What elites don't recognize because they have never faced it themselves, that it is often impossible to give up all hope, when you are desperate like poor and working class people are in this country, and Trump sold himself so effectively as their last, best hope. Biden did all the right things for them, but couldn't effectively communicate that to most people. Medicare for All is coming sooner than you think. My Representive Debbie Dingell is co-sponsoring the bill Medicare for All, and is ready to introduce it as soon as we Democrats have the numbers to pass it.
Medicare doesn't cover everything. That means that people either buy a supplemental policy or Medicare Advantage plan. Either way, the insurance companies are still involved. That includes the strategy of not allowing certain procedures. Some Medicare Advantage plans are run by non-profit organizations, so there would be less greed there.
John Conyers introduced a bill in 2003. Bernie Sanders did in 2017. I wrote a blog post about how it will never be passed anytime soon. The short version is:
Congress has to pass M4A and it would require:
A sizeable House majority.
A filibuster-proof Senate majority (currently 67 members)
A Democratic president willing to sign it into law
A liberal enough Supreme Court to protect it from the inevitable lawsuits (we lost this advantage thanks to third party voters in 2016)
Buy-in from all of the health care system (physicians, patients, hospitals, DME manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies)
You can elect Jesus Christ Himself to the presidency and you still wouldn't get it done with the Congress we have now. Plus, ICE would have deported Him.
The reason Medicare for all won't work is because it is a covenant between the payers of the Medicare tax and the government that ensures Medicare will be available for those who pay the tax when they become eligible. Medicare A is financed by the Medicare tax. Medicare B is financed by Part B premiums and general tax revenues. To expand Medicare to all of us would require a change in its financing and reworking of this covenant. A more feasible solution is to establish a national insurance plan that is financed by premiums to compete with commercial plans.
Uh, M4A IS ...a national insurance plan that is financed by premiums" which are paid to the feds instead of commercial plans. Private insurers would probably continue as administrators, as they now do for self-insured companies. They could also sell supplemental plans, similar to the current "Medigap" plans; the French do this.
One of the many benefits is much lower overhead. The ACA mandated insurers spend 80-85% of premiums on care; the rest goes to overhead. Medicare's overhead is 1-5%, depending on who you ask. A single payor hopefully would get rid of plan and prescription ads; the latter costs $14B/year, which BigPharma writes off as "business expenses," robbing treasury of $1B.
Right, but it would be even better, Patricia Abraham, if everyone had 'single-payer' health-care coverage, similar to what is available to veterans in this country and available to everyone in the UK - although there could be some improvements made to the details involved in creating a new version of that type of system.
I agree,
Health insurance companies in the US make their money purely by exploiting a completely dysfunctional system. They're parasites. They don't provide health services, reduce costs, or make people healthier. The "system" is an accident of history, with companies in WW2 offering health insurance to get around wartime wage controls.
And I am quite sure this problem is made much worse by the wealth and income imbalance, with wealthy individuals looking for any way to find something to put their money into that has good prospecdts for return on investment. Did this happen in real estate, too, with investment money now preventing many young people from buying houses by raising the whole real estate market (too much money available and not enough real estate supply to purchase)?
Of course health insurance companies do not provide medical care. They are payers, not providers.
They are parasites. Insurance companies don't pay, the customers pay for care, plus paying for insurance insurance company operating costs and profits.
I'd suggest we make that plan apply to all elected representatives and appointees as well.
Medicare for all will not work. A federal option might work. The outcome is the same.
Why won't it work (other than it will never get passed). 32 other countries do it.
I posted the reason above. The reason Medicare for all won't work is because it is a covenant between the payers of the Medicare tax and the government that ensures Medicare will be available for those who pay the tax when they become eligible. Medicare A is financed by the Medicare tax. Medicare B is financed by Part B premiums and general tax revenues. To expand Medicare to all of us would require a change in its financing and reworking of this covenant. A more feasible solution is to establish a national insurance plan that is financed by premiums to compete with commercial plans.
David, other countries started from scratch to develop medical care insurance for all. Taiwan is an example. We are not going to undo what works reasonably well for the 50 million people on Medicare to risk a debacle. Instead, we will have incremental change. POTUS Obama considered and rejected a national insurance plan in favor of subsidies for commercial plans, some of which are for profit and publicly traded.
The push for Medicare for all is based on the false understanding that Medicare is more efficient. It is not. I worked as a Contractor Medical Director for Medicare involved with its policy and program integrity. Medicare loses about 7% of its money to fraudsters, despite its anti-fraud department enjoying the DOJ as its enforcer, vs. commercial insurance that must rely on the tort system to protect against fraud. The overhead cost of Medicare including fraud and DOJ support may be higher than the overhead cost of commercial plans.
They can’t. Hospital emergency rooms will once again become the PCP for poor people.
Flu season is a concern this year, which makes this situation even more unfortunate. Australia had its worst flu season on record this year, which is a good indicator of how severe or not the seasonal flu will be. Here in the UK, it came earlier than usual (October), and hospitals are already struggling to cope. The Subclade K variant hasn’t helped with a pretty absent and mismanaged CDC.
https://time.com/7333660/subclade-k-flu-variant/
If we were willing to mask, it would be different. The US loses more than 100 children to flu each year. Except during covid, when we lost 1. That gave immunocompromised children another season to grow stronger and healthier. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/03/02/children-flu-deaths/
It’s too soon to judge how things will go with this variant. All I know is, vaccinations may help, and the NHS is urging everyone to vaccinate this year, but so far the uptake has been lower than last year. Of course, the elderly and immunocompromised are most vulnerable, but they can receive free jabs (elderly, over 65—I scored this year, as will be ‘of age' in January). Unfortunately, in England, child poverty has skyrocketed over the past decade or so, no thanks to cruel government policies around child benefit caps. Scotland got rid of the cap this year, so child poverty rates have fallen). Anyway, masking helps, but not so many people do it since restrictions were lifted.
thanks for the info,eskaveeda
🌻😊
Everyone should get their flu shot ever year!
Several in my family no longer believe in vaccines. They say that they have good immune systems.
hospitals will go out of business, and poor people will die. That's Trump's design.
It won’t be just poor people. Many will die, including those who are wealthy and think they’re invincible.
There will be preventable deaths. Just like covid. Meanwhile, SC executed another inmate by firing squad yesterday, as the civilized world watches in horror and disbelief. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/14/south-carolina-firing-squad-execution. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/08/south-carolina-firing-squad-execution
Wouldn’t universal health care be wonderful?!We could join the grown ups of the world?
Yes Vivian. The Dems still need to push for the ACA AND also Medicaid! No one is mentioning Medicaid! We need universal health care for all in this country as well as free or affordable education.
Hospitals & clinics will close due to the debt from providing uncompensated care. Let's talk about universal care (Medicare for All) after the system collapses.
THANK YOU, Donna. I’m really getting weary of Robert’s continual description of the Dem’s choice to end this misery as a cave. It was a shrewd political move. The govt is open, and the Dems hold the upper hand, making hay out of our Marie Antionette president. And he’s not even giving the people any cake!
It would have been a shrewd move if all the Dems had gone along with it- the appearance was a renegade group that bucked the leadership, so still looks like a cave to me. Schumer needs to go. If the Dems had a meeting & knew their coalition was split, then they could have strategized to vote en masse to make their point.
Sometimes it takes a little time to reframe an action. At first I didn’t understand why they seemed to give up before their objective was realized. As it is turning out it has shown that they put the people’s needs above petty politics and has brought the whole Epstein thing down on his head just when the most people are paying attention.
And, it’s now totally on the R’s to do something about the skyrocketing premiums… or not. If the vote goes nowhere they totally own it
Babydoc.....and the repugs said they will let a vote on the ACA mid December. Do you really think they will? And if they do, do you think it will pass? And if it passed trump will not sign it! He already said he would not!
Thanks for your comment, Pamela. I love your phrase "repugs". Here's what I think: the Dems have a made-in-heaven way to beat the repugs over the head, with cruelty to children and pregnant women (how's that for being "pro-life"?). SNAP covers expectant mothers as well as families. Trump alleges that his approval is high, everything is fine, BS, BS BS. I'm sure if an aide tries to let him know that doing anything to defund SNAP and discontinue ACA is suicidal politics, the aide will be sent packing. So if Trump is delusional enough (which I'm convinced he is) to end these programs, I think the congressional repugs may finally become fed up with him. Please realize that SNAP and ACA benefit far more people living in red states than blue. Small community hospitals in Kansas will close when Medicaid is ended, because most rural Kansans have Medicaid insurance. Likewise other red states like Iowa, etc etc. Trump has delusional ideas about all of this also - he thinks that the only people on SNAP and ACA are urban non-white people, which could't be further from the truth. But in this administration, truth is somewhat meaningless. The Dems are probably creating TV ads right now with a split screen - one side is the Great Gatsby party that Trump put on in FL and the other half is a closing prairie hospital or a crying child who is hungry (a white kid, of course). I think as stupid as they have been, especially the speaker of the house, they know that this is a losing position. Stay strong!
Thanks, Babydoc, I think you are "right-on" with what you say here! It reminds me of what a good friend of mine, Mike, told me that his grandfather had told him back in the 1960's, when we were teenagers, and that is that the USSR would eventually crumble under its own weight. And that is what, in effect, did happen (from what I've read about it) - Reagan just gave a little extra push at the end, but it was already crumbling. "Trump-land" is crumbling now - finally! It seems like it has taken a long time for "the sleeping giant" (as Robert put it a few days ago here on this site) to wake up. I think that we definitely need to give some extra pushing now, but the old snowball is on a downward trajectory, it seems to me...
Thanks for your reply, Frank. Before Reagan, I remember my dad saying the only way out of Watergate was for Nixon to commit suicide. Actually, the way that ended was even better. I agree with you that Trump is crumbling. I think the combination of his dementia, his innate psychiatric diagnoses and his inability to see the reality of life in America now will do him in in some way. However, I think his congestive heart failure may get him out of the way first. If that happens, we have to be on guard against Vance - he's got an innate evil that is equally bad as Trump's dementia.
Babydoc......thanks! I agree with you and pray you are right. I pray that the repugs will be shown the door next year! That We the People can save ACA, Medicaid and SNAP for the needy. (I live in Western Kentucky very red) so yes I know it's more white people than the minority who depend on these services.
Yes— and it will all be on their heads!
a few times a month, i will ask folks as i go about my day, what they think of things like dumpster's parties, or his golfing, or his grifting, or any of a huge number of actions that last century would have gotten him tossed. i almost always get blank stares or "i hadn't heard that" or "fake news" or accusations of being a leftwinger. so of course "we" all see his imcompetence, excesses, lawlessness, and depravity, but most people are wilfully ignorant of it all.
Unfortunately they aren't getting the true picture from Faux News. They're going to be gobsmacked, if they aren't already, as the underpinnings of our economy crumble under this regime's policies.
Yes, Paul, willful ignorance it is. Hopefully the Supreme Court will finally tell Trump that truth matters, and that all his "emergencies" are fake emergencies, and that he is violating the Constitution.
Thank you! While the messaging of those who are accused of “caving” was poor - or delayed - it should be abundantly clear that Trump would never negotiate. (Epstein, Epstein, Epstein.) He does not care about the suffering of anyone. Many of us do.
You are right, Martha. Trump will never negotiate--unless forced to. The force has to be overwhelming to be convincing.
Donna, agreed. The choice was difficult and hard to evade. The reasons were clear.
Point is that the Dem's tried to stop all damage the shut down was doing.
This will work out, hopefully positive; the electoral trends contribute...
As the shutdown dragged on, we heard a shift in news reports from the media - to acknowledging citizens’ realization their access to health care is at critical risk and their federal government will not help them with essential food subsidies in such a national emergency. Current events that had been focused on an endless news cycle of the regime’s other cruel, corrupt and unlawful activities no longer seemed as newsworthy as listening to the voices of our many vulnerable neighbors describing their fears and anxieties. When a handful of congress members threw in the towel, the finger remained pointed at those who had demonstrated that the wellness of our general citizenry simply doesn’t matter to them. Donna, I think a wake-up call was achieved with the duration of the shutdown, and I hope we are capable of applying what was learned to rebuild and strengthen our better selves as a democracy.
To strengthen our democracy we must stand up for the truth, and that, among other things, includes standing up to Trump's Bloated Billionaire Bill. Elon Musk called it "abominable." Schumer chose not to look into all its complexity, and instead limited himself to denouncing healthcare cuts. It was posturing designed to avoid a dangerous political crisis. Only the Supreme Court can spare us from this crisis--by telling Trump that his "emergencies" are fake, and that he has violated the Constitution.
It's a combo carnival ride for sure--both Democracy Roller Coaster and Turnip Tilt-a-Whirl. Optics aside, it may well be that the "cave" was the right thing to do. Epstein is Turnip's Achilles heel, and it's back at the forefront. My worry is that the ACA will be destroyed by default. Republican promises of a vote on the ACA are worth a bucket of warm spit. Millions of Americans will be left with a concept of a plan for their healthcare, and those who have insurance will foot the bill for their ER care.
We will remind the voters of Republicans and Trump actions next November and every month leading up to it.
I wouldn’t put money on Trump even being in the White House by next Noon.
donna said what i would've said,but better-i would only add that it's time to get the planes safely flying in time for the holidays and to get federal employees paid
"Trump made it clear that if states used any money to fund SNAP benefits, he would take financial retribution. It was time to end the standoff." This wasn't just an action to transfer money from the poor to the rich, which would be worthy of any description of Trump's foul behavior. Threatening states which augmented depleted SNAP benefits was the most foul, vicious behavior imaginable! This is certainly the embodiment of Orwell's comment: "If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stomping on a human face - forever." Well, guess what? There is a fair portion of the U.S. citizenship, some 300 million of us, who also have boots.
Donna, excellent comment.
My first impulse was the feckless democrats have shown up again, but after listening to both sides I have decided to remain open minded and continue to recognize that the power comes from a united effort to fight the tyranny of Trump and others in his orbit. They want to destroy Democracy and that can’t happen.
I’m willing to suffer. Imagine the suffering military men suffered during world war 11 Being hungry at night is not suffering. Don’t mean to diminish hunger but really it is time remove the garbage from our government. Unbearable pain is waiting. Throw out the corporate Democrats while we are at it. Overturning citizens united and term limits is a good start. Join the rest of the civilized world by investing in free education and healthcare. Help people help themselves is not socialism. Instead of billionaires getting tax cuts. Like you have to be told I guess it’s your tax dollars.
I was going to make a comment, but you already said everything I would have said, and more. I agree with you completely.
"It was time...." Time is of the essence, and time will tell us whether Schumer had time it right. As we move on we must not yield to wishful thinking. There is no gain without pain.
I agree with you Donna Maurillo, about this "cave-in" not being a total "loss" for the people like us who want the unnecessary suffering of the average hard-working Americans to end. However, in the "horse-race" aspect of trying to figure the odds of how much this putting an end to the obscene, inhumane starving of folks helps or hurts which party or candidates, I am not qualified to say.
I live in IL and sent this email: Hello Senator Durbin, Your recent actions regarding the shutdown raise questions that deserve answers. Given that states lack the authority to recall US senators for interrogation, I hope that you will demonstrate accountability by voluntarily submitting to a deposition and polygraph. I’m concerned that you or your loved ones may have been subject to threats or intimidation. Thank you.
The real problem destroying America was created by the organized and funded attack on democracy by Republicans, corporations, and oligarchs launched by the Powell memo in 1971. The attack created the core problems in America, wealth inequality, affordability including the high cost of housing, and the lack of good jobs for the working class supported by the rigged political system, the rigged economy, and the weak legal system.
Democrats have sided with Republicans, corporations and oligarchs while ignoring the working class since Bill Clinton adopted neoliberalism in the 1990s as Professor Reich described in his new excellent book, Coming Up Short, and his other post.
https://open.substack.com/pub/robertreich/p/the-tragic-history-of-neoliberalism?r=4tebj3&utm_medium=ios
Two new bold actions are needed now by a new generation of progressive populist Democrats who have a strong commitment to adopt new strategies required to solve core problems and stop the illegal felony criminal insurrection led by Trump and his administration that began on January 6, 2021, and continued into 2025 as planned in PROJECT 2025, with illegal felony criminal support of the insurrection from Republicans in Congress and the Supreme Court to install a lawless fascist autocracy.
The first action is legal adoption, implementation and enforcement of the proposed new law in 15 states controlled by Democrats modeled after the federal law against insurrection which is described in this post to take control of the House and the Supreme Court before the midterms.
https://williamlmiller.substack.com/p/how-to-stop-trump-republicans-and
The second action is campaigning in 2028 to implement PROJECT 2029 described in this POST #6.
https://williamlmiller.substack.com/p/post-6-project-2029-will-get-democrats
PROJECT 2029 is a new turning point in politics and the economy for a new generation of progressive Democrats to get elected in 2028 by campaigning on solving core problems in America by committing to implement PROJECT 2029. Core problems are affordability caused by the high cost of living, housing, food, and healthcare, wealth inequality, and a lack of good paying jobs for the working class.
Voters in 2016 and 2024 elected Trump because they were dissatisfied with how the traditional Republicans and Democrats had run the federal government and for 60 years voters had been waiting for solutions to core problems which Trump falsely claimed he would deliver.
Do you by any chance remember the Honorable William E Miller? He was a congressman from New York.
No sorry I don't
1964 Congressman Miller was Senator Barry Goldwater's running mate. They lost to President Lyndon Baines Johnson and Vice President Hubert Horatio Humphrey (Minnesota).
Don't you live in Illinois? As opposed to the Postal Service abbreviation? I live in Maryland and we have Senators Alsobrooks and Van Hollen. Thanks.
Keep them coming, Mr Xplisset. They pack a great punch, and I always learn something.
Exactly, Xplisset! Well said!
Thanks again RR for helping up to keep hope alive and to stay strong! We must celebrate our wins! Even to this lay person it feels like the bubble of this corrupt and cruel regime is starting to break!!
Thank you, what you and Dr. Reich describe tracks with how these political shifts often unfold, breakthroughs paired with backlash, both happening faster than anyone can process. The whiplash makes more sense when seen as part of a larger pattern, old power structures reacting as new voices and movements gain ground. That framing helps explain the tension of this moment and why the swings feel so sharp. It also points to where things may be heading, even if the route is uneven.
Not a black man, but we are on the same page
Haha, didn’t look at your name and just started reading down. Got to the end and I said to myself, I like this writer and it was you! Subscriber xo
Ha that one made me chuckle Deb lol
Beautifully expressed Xplisset!
This is the emotional whiplash of progress—-highs that lift us, lows that remind us how fragile victory can be.
The old guard clings to compromise; the new generation insists on clarity and courage.
Executive cruelty—-flaunting ballrooms while denying food stamps, covering up Epstein ties while polls collapse…is the perfect symbol of retribution politics. But the real story is that people are fighting back, organizing, refusing to be silenced.
Tactical defeats sting, but they don’t define us. The trajectory has shifted, and the fight is ours to carry forward.
—Johan
I think this reflects the tension so many of us are feeling. The swings make more sense when you see them as part of a larger transition, with older political habits colliding with a generation that isn’t willing to accept half-measures anymore. The contrasts you describe reveal both the ugliness of retribution politics and the growing power of collective action. The setbacks matter, but they sit alongside a deeper shift in who is shaping the future. What’s happening now feels less like a detour and more like the turbulence of real change.
Yes, and it reminds us respect both the older fighters and the young ones coming up. Let not start eating (trashing) our own.
Beautifully said. Thank you.🙏
“The old guard clings to compromise; the new generation insists on clarity and courage.”
Right on, Johan! 👏🏼 You nailed it, brother.
“Clarity and Courage” is the dem Party I want too!
Me, too.
Yes, well said. Gives me hope.
I was thinking the Dems caved, too. But as I considered what transpired, I believe that both approaches were valid. Trying to hold out further victimized the most vulnerable among us, but made a strong point about the lack of regard that the American Fascist Party has for the citizenry. Ceding to the demands attempted to ease the distress of those reliant on government support, and I can’t judge them too harshly for that.
I totally agree. Those who stood up are the Dems who aren't running anymore. They're retiring. If any Dem with time still to serve, or with another election coming up, had taken that stand, they'd have been roasted. So, the ones who had nothing to lose stepped up and took the arrows.
I understand your point, but I still find it hard to shake the Neville Chamberlain-feel of it. We needed Churchill. The community was stepping up in the face of the shutdown crisis. We were stepping up and doing more to fill in those gaps with our needy neighbors. And it was causing inactive people to have to think about the situation, and question “why can’t we provide SNAP benefits that we have already paid for with our taxes and legislatively approved to be released incase of just such an emergency”? It wasn’t because of Dems. And who actually will protect my ability to afford healthcare? Trump and his ilk demonstrated daily that they care more about Gatsby-partying while people suffer. One more week, better messaging to prepare us, and with the Epstein Estate dropping their emails, we would have been in a much different -stronger- position.
What did that loser from Nazareth say? “What you do unto the least of us, you do unto me”.
He had LOTS of things to say to the rich overlords! Including the famous 'easier for a camel 🐫 to pass through the eye of a needle 🪡 than for a rich man to get into heaven', and the warning to greedy rich who don't share with the poor: 'You have already seen your reward'. But his most vehement criticism was for hypocrites. There's millions more of those! Some are both! If Judgement Day is a real thing, I would not want to be them. 👿🥵☠️
I'm an atheist who has read the Bible (which helped me become an atheist)... but I admire the Sermon on the Mount and the admonitions to care for the poor and sick, welcome the stranger, etc. In contrast, the current Christian right is all about the "prosperity gospel" - that is, God rewards the righteous with $ and if you're poor - well, I guess you deserve it. I don't know how they square these with Jesus's teachings but my guess is that they've just never actually read those teachings and have no idea....
I truly understand what you are saying. It’s an awful place to be in. NO ONE should be in this fix. I agree that the community was stepping up. I am also aware that not everyone who needs food can get to the food bank, that not every community has a food bank or a church with a food pantry. I cannot honestly say what my actions would be if faced with two very bad choices.
What I am personally doing is participating in civic engagement actions. And I pray, sincerely and honestly, that I am an instrument God uses for justice. I pray God will intervene in the hearts of those legislators for whom cruelty seems the default response. I pray for those who are experiencing hunger and fear about being insured. I do so not from a place of “if nothing else, I can pray”; rather, i pray from the perspective that “I pray, because prayer is powerful”. Prayer is a conduit to the Creator, where God provides reassurance, guidance, trust, faith that we don’t undertake this work alone. I don’t view it as God being the genie who grants three wishes. Rather, somehow (and here comes the churchy language about the “mystery” of God) prayer is the way of inviting God’s will “to earth as it is in heaven”. Crazy.
I pray that myself each day. Stay Strong.
Thank you. You as well.
Caving is definitely the wrong term. The move was strategically planned and choreographed. VA's governor-elect Spanberger is former CIA, former Congress. She got on a Sunday morning talk show and said Virginians are hurting from the endless ShutDown and MAGA cruelty, and they elected her to help them. She said the ShutDown had to end. A VA Senator became one of the 8 Senate votes that same Sunday. And, immediately, the conversation changed to Trump's relationship with Pedophile Epstein.
Spanberger was a significant part of the prior Tuesday's Democratic success story. So was NJ's gov-elect Sherrill. I cannot imagine Sherrill sitting around a Thanksgiving table wishing she could delay vacating her House Seat, rather than staying in NJ. Dems needed MAGA-lackey Johnson to re-open the House, swear-in Grijalva and conduct some other important business before Sherril can vacate.
And, MTG had been repositioning herself to try to take Ossoff's Senate seat in 2026. The maneuver put MTG in a put-up or shut-up position.
A different topic, which definitely does not deserve a LIKE, is that one huge downside risk to losing Shutdown leverage for ACA subsidies is that MAGAs can posture that they'd be in favor of restoring some ACA subsidies if, and only if, abortion is completely excluded. And, posturing is especially important to MTG.
Interesting point. I haven’t even considered the strategies the American Fascist Party may try to in exchange for maintaining ACA.
I continue to be baffled by their hypocrisy:
1) block access to contraceptives and also be incensed when women have unplanned pregnancies;
2)claim to be right-to-life defenders but fail to ensure that ALL children, not just those of the “correct” skin color, economic status, religious & political affiliations, have access to quality food, education and healthcare; and
3) Right-to-life doesn’t mean abolishing the death penalty.
I am not as dismayed as I was initially by the Senate Dems’ strategy. There were significant gains over the plan proferred by Johnson. All the freshly-fired Federal workers reinstated. SNAP restored, with just enough disruption to highlight which party is shamelessly cruel. And the House forced back into activity, with the resulting Epstein email dump & a demand for transparency that simply can’t be stonewalled. The momentum is with us. Please highlight Jasmine Crockett’s call for states to not use Dominion voting machines. I am certain she is correct that the Repub plan is to use these to queer the midterms.
The other good reason to end it when they did: tRump's henchmen were on the brink of dismantling even more essential programs, and firing tens of thousands more government workers. They were about to declare a national emergency and declare Martial Law.
Blowing up boats, killing without justification, is just a warm up to shooting US citizens for daring to protest. They wanted to arrest people who had opened food banks! Any excuse will do.
Odd event---Today I was called a liar for telling the truth. If this misconception is inherent in the thoughts of the average Republican our endeavors of unifying this country will be akin to putting together a gig-saw puzzle with a shit load of pieces missing. Is the reality of our situation that difficult to ascertain, or is it that we are asking too much from those who wouldn't see the truth even if it was handed to them. We have come to grips with the idea of handling the Covid virus, but when it comes to controlling a dysfunctional menace who is currently attempting to dismantle our government, we see fit to install RFK Jr. to cure our ills. Life is indeed screwed up, our efforts are all directed toward finding a good "Phillips," which we must use to unscrew everything Mr. Trump has over tightened. The Epstein files will haunt us because of their secrecy. Are the truths hidden with its pages so destructive in nature that they are better off left buried? I still live by the premise that states; "Know the truth and the truth shall set you free." Even if they call me a liar.-
That is the 'quote' I had on my traveling protest sign this summer . . . in my Chatauqua (religiously founded late 19th century) community. I wasn't called a liar over my sign, but someone next to me was. I forget what she had on her sign . . . but it wasn't a lie!
My in-laws used to go to Chattaqua for around two weeks every couple of years. They loved the time they spent there, and felt spiritually enriched from it.
I keep hoping that somewhere, somehow there’s some nuance to why those Dems (+ 1 Ind.) caved to end the shutdown. That there’s some sort of master plan at work that most of us are unable to perceive.
I mean, how else to explain why, after the substantial victories last week that we experienced at every level—Governor, Mayor, Prop 50 in California, utility boards, local election victories of all types, why the Senate would fold when it seemed like they had the upper hand?
The Republicans genuinely don’t care if people starve. I think that’s what it came down to. Children, the elderly, people in the military, the working poor—these are the recipients of SNAP. Yet the Republicans make it seem like SNAP recipients are buying champagne and lobster with their $230/month food stamps for a family of 5.
When the increased premium notices begin hitting people’s inboxes in a few weeks, it won’t be the end of the ACA. People will remember who is responsible for this and it won’t be the Democrats. We’re not in charge. Not of one single branch of government.
Let them eat ballroom.
No matter the words used to describe the emotional upheaval, whiplash, rollercoaster, they are all pointing in the direction of progress. Resistance is hard and most of the time progress is not linear. I’ll take it, even with the ups and downs. It’s the first time in a year that hope is beating out worry. The hardest is yet to come, but the people of America are showing up to the task.
Well said.
I think Marjorie Taylor Greene found the brain John Fetterman lost.
Maureen.....LOL😹😹😹
I didn't experience it as a "cave." There were no good choices, only a choice between preserving people's healthcare or feeding them. The fight for more equitable healthcare is still a priority, but feeding the poor was a greater priority, IMO.
"No good choices" is a painful place to be. It reminds me of Bonhoeffer, an uncompromising pro-life passivist, who chose to participate in the officers' plot to kill Hitler. These moments are good for the prayer life, bad for psychological comfort and personal peace.
It was an abject capitulation because the Trump administration was on the verge of going to the Supreme Court to seek permission to continue not to use the emergency funds to feed people. Not only were they spared the dreadful optics of such an appeal but the restrictions on eligibility and tightening of the work requirement rules imposed by the OBBB (which also cut SNAP funding) came into force before the climbdown which means that many American families will continue to go hungry or to be completely dependent on foodbanks. Only last week Trump had removed tariffs on food imports because of the pressures on families.
They surrendered for very little in return - the promise of a Senate vote on the ACA subsidies next month with no commitment from Republican senators to vote for their continuation or even that the House will take it up. They've allowed a beleaguered Trump to claim " a very big victory" and still blame the Democrats for the fallout which continues at airports.
Politically, what you say makes long term sense. I usually choose long-term sustainability over short term gain; but I always choose people over politics. I suppose, from a holistic perspective, most of our conflicts end up in either a compromise or a war. Too many warriors, too few negotiators on both "sides" in American politics these days, IMO.
I see what mean, Carol, but the choices seem to be to fight or to surrender. The latter choice I think means greater harm to vulnerable people, not just Americans. There is no political centre in US politics any more - Trump and the Republicans have seen to that. Democrats who are happier partnering with the likes of Liz Cheney rather than Zohran Mamdani and Bernie Sanders in search for that illusory centre ground are going to be doomed to failure. That's just my opinion as an outsider (I live in the UK).
A strategic retreat is not a defeat. It is what is often necessary in a war, if one wants to live to fight another day.
By the way, you are not EXACTLY an outsider. As an offspring of the British Empire, "America" has a lot of British culture in both its politics and mainstream culture. It was rumored that Tony Blair did not really want to support the Iraqi war, but what America got for paying more to support NATO than our allies was the deciding vote on policy, so Blair joined the rest of the "bullied and the bribed" on that ill-informed decision.
The Iranians are Muslim's, but they are not Semites like the Arab Muslims, they are Persians. Saddam Hussein was a horrible dictator, but he was also a boundary on the Iranians in the Middle East.
I wish my Nation's leadership had more respect for historical context.
Carol, to use your military metaphor it's never a good idea to surrender the high ground.
I am a scion of the British Empire, but as an Anglo-Indian with British citizenship I find myself with no strong attachment either to the country of my birth or the one in which I currently reside. There are millions like me who are an inadvertent and basically unwanted consequence of Empire. It's probably why I have a profound distaste for nationalism and consider it to be the ugly child of the collapse of colonial empires.
Benedict Anderson famously described nations as 'imagined communities'. We, like you, have our myths that hang round our necks like millstones. America was the original dumping ground for British criminals who were deported there and told to settle there permanently. After America gained independence, the Empire used Australia instead. Consider that in the context over the nonsense of the Great Replacement theory.
Blair once complained about what he called 'the imperial malaise', our obsession with our role in the world after the loss of Empire, yet his decision to follow Bush into Iraq was a symptom of this malaise and my country's desire to continue to play a role on the world stage. We left the European Union for much the same reasons.
Saddam Hussein was a brute who used chemical weapons not just the Iranians, with the connivance and support of the US, but also against his own people. Iran has no reason to be friendly towards your country. In 1953, the CIA with our own MI6 orchestrated a coup d'etat ousting a popular leader, Mohammad Mosaddegh, and replacing him with a tyrant.
I don't care what anyone says, IT'S TIME WE HANG TRUMP!! 86 47!!!! Stuff a great big hot dog up his ass and a great big double cheeseburg into his hideously "O"-shaped mouth and put him on display on the White House lawn for about a week! (And REPUGNANTS, DON'T YOU DARE PUT THE FLAGS AT HALF-STAFF!!!)
Or, as Michael Wolff suggested to Epstein in one of those emails, let him hang himself.
Klare....sometimes you are as refreshing as a breath of cool fresh air, my dear lady !
Never stop being.you!🤗
Knock on wood, I've had the strong feeling that #TheGreatUnraveling of kleptocratic #TrumpProject2025 #RepubloFascism is only months away.
Will it be triggered by our millions? By Epstein fallout that brings Trump's favorability ratings to the low 20s?
Or could it be triggered by only three or four fed-up House Republicans that see now as the perfect moment to declare as independent, #ConscientiousDEFECTORS willing to caucus with Democrats?
They could #FlipTheHouseFALL2025AndBeHeroesForever!
They'd unleash a #BlueHouseOversightRampage that could go all Freddy Krueger on the #ClownCarCabinet.
Or is the real deep state, the #BillionaireDonorCabal, getting ready to open the trap door under Trump so they can tidy up the oligarchy with a #VanceThielPresidency?
It's about to get messy, but hopefully in a really, really good way…
I didn’t think anyone could be worse than corrupt felon frump but Vance is and his younger corrupt Trump crime family, and his tech bros who put him in the White House, I can’t believe ALL of the inept, disqualified, disgusting cabinet sychopant secretaries, hateful Maga Mike Johnson, MAGA House and Senate GOP, the Roberts MAGA Six Justices who will still be in office!
Sandra.....I say impeach them all! Prosecute each and everyone of them and then prison! Especially trump should be in prison for the rest of his miserable life for all of his crimes and raping the country of millions! I would love to see him a broke and broken man in prison NOT club Fed!!!
Defiance! Being daunted does no one any good.
The Sunday thought is - Progress. Sorry Robert, this is not progress in my book, this is one depressing, miserable mess of a country that we have. It is sickening to watch. Today, the USA looks like a failed empire with crazy people at the helm. Chances are not very good that it will ever come back as far as I can see.
“Chances are not very good that it will ever come back as far as I can see.”
My fear as well.
I agree that our country "looks like a failed empire with crazy people at the helm," Richard. But we have to remember that those of us who recognize that this is the way it looks are the majority by far. To engage in skepticism and fear is not the way out of this miserable mess. We have to project the most positive outcome possible and believe in it, work towards it, and never give up. History has shown us that we can overcome (as we have done so before), that chances are very good that we will get our country back and make it even better, make it fail-proof as now we can so clearly see what needs to be fixed. The pain and sacrifices we the people have to endure are what make me profoundly sad. Joyce Vance's words, "We are in this together" brings me some comfort. I highly recommend her book: Giving Up Is Unforgivable: A Manual for Keeping a Democracy.
Well, I am 87 and don't have much time left. You have at it and hope you are successful.
Well, I'm almost 80, and I realize I may not live to see the changes I visualize. But I still fervently believe they can happen.
I wish I had your optimism. At this age, seven years makes a big difference, like, it's down to one day at a time.
You make an effort to be involved with this community. So that says something about you. I'm sorry for whatever problems you are experiencing during this time of your life. And I am sending you love and light, hoping it might help some.
Thank you for being a decent person. This has been the most difficult part for me. Trump and the GOP are totally indecent. It is very depressing and I never dreamed it would end like this.
Hang on!
Why?
Good question, Richard. Don't you want to see Trump's end?
He is so evil and despicable that he will not end before I die. They will give him a BS off ramp and will cheat at golf for another 20 years.
I was telling my husband last night that, really rather expectably, extremely good news and extremely bad news are characterizing this time. Our real gains, and their violent reactions and preemptive actions.
What I keep reminding myself of, apart from all the good news on so many levels and from so many sides, is the hollowness of Trump-Miller-Vought-Thiel over-reach. They are trying to seize gains they cannot keep as long as we fight back: that is their modus operandi. And they cannot hold what we do not cede because their resources are finite and dwindling. People are leaving them even more than. they are firing people for insufficient obedience.
Captain Distraction is panicking like a cornered rabid animal. He’s now ordering 15,000 troops to Venezuela. Trump knows his time has come to pay the price for his crimes and he’s going to do as much damage as possible on the way out.
Yes, Keith, he wants to have War powers in order to avoid elections, so he can stay in power indefinitely. It may actually get the attention of those who now think it is OK to "exterminate" the "infestations" of those they dehumanize, because it could affect THEM and their loved ones. Time for the 25th amendment, if it actually exists.
I can easily see him going scorched and salted earth. "If I can't have it, nobody can."
I know he’s a dangerous narcissist but let’s hope he isn’t that heartless.
I know he's that heartless! But I do think some of his staff/handlers would stop him from causing nuclear Armageddon….the ones without underground luxury bunkers, anyway!
The more Democrats fight now, the better and more effective they will get at it, and the easier that fight will be with grassroots structures soon firmly in place nationwide.
Project 2026 If Brazil can do it, so can we!
Win the Senate and House, Impeach and Prosecute.
ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE!!!!!
ORGANIZE OVER THE COMMON GOOD DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM. JUST READ THE PLATFORM BULLET POINTS. ORGANIZE!!!!
ALLEGIANCE TO OUR PLATFORM AND THE CANDIDATE THAT PROMOTES OUR PLATFORM!
GOOGLE YOUR STATES DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM TO READ IT!
MAKE AMERICA GRATEFUL AGAIN!
The Democratic Platform IS the Preamble to Our Constitution
The Preamble
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
The Democratic Party should be the party of Interdependent voters..
Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth (Official Audio)
Thank you for this comment! This hopeful attitude is like balm for the soul. However, even as a European, I am upset about the eight traitors in the ranks of the Democrats. This contrasts with the Democrats' election victories and, even more so, the victories of the socialist wing. Bravo, there is still hope for better times.
And yes, no one over the age of 65 should be allowed to actively participate in politics. Younger and more liberal politicians should take over the offices, such as Mamdani, Wilson, and Co.
I disagree, because Senator Bernie Sanders has mentored and supported AOC and Mamdani, along with others who are the future.
"Mentoring" is not running for office. Bernie has been the greatest agent for change and the real 'father of the revolution' the last 20 years, but he's too old to stay actively involved now. I hope he will continue to inspire and support our younger politicians for as long as he can.
I agree, and it's still good to have him as a Senator who can mentor young progressives. Look at the huge rallies he led with AOC. He does not have to hold a seat to be a valuable leader. But Bernie votes with integrity and is brave enough to push for things like single payer Healthcare. He pointed out that ACA was a handout to the medical insurance industry, and it was. We could do better. and Bernie can continue to lead the way. Essentially, it is up to him and his doctor and the voters to decide if he is finished in politics. Ageism has it's limitations. tell Rupert Murdoch or Chuck Grassley, who are older than Bernie that they have no value to their agendas. If you have a good leader, and they can still lead, It is "circular firing squad" thinking to ,make ironclad rules that shoot you in the foot. If you have a great leader, stick with him so the young can learn and we can all benefit.
Paula, he was "knocking it out of the park" with the rallies he did with AOC. there was energy in those events.