529 Comments

This monster can never see the inside of power ever again!

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he very well may. look at his current machinations of not complying with basics to ensure peaceful transfer of power. he is behaving like a ruler in exile preparing his return

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He has never stopped 'ruling ' our country from the "back seat'. Look at how Congress is filled with his election denying sycophants: traitors who supported the attack on the People's House, and he stacked the Supreme Court to prevent the rule of law specifically, the 14th amendment section 3 disqualification clause from being enforced. He has been dictating to them right along. Interfering with our aid to Ukraine, and unfairly using the courts to prosecute the son of our President. And others. He openly defies the law and threatens all of US 🇺🇸. Anyone who has betrayed our country by violating their oath of office, to support the Constitution and the rule of law. while denigrating military on active duty, or those who have been injured or captured and imprisoned , is unfit to hold office or any seat in government in this country.

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That's why we need an Attorney General like Jack Smith, rather than a timid Merrick Garland.

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nk You : Merrick Garland never should have been attorney General He is gutless. He is trying to protect his ability to make big money after he leaves office. Jack Smith should be attorney General.

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One good thing: Garland appointed Smith as Special Counsel in order to shackle drumpf. This issue of prosecuting drumpf should have been accomplished years ago, but for him and his sleazy lawyers blocking it at every turn.

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Jack Smith would make a very powerful Attorney General. If and when he does become AG, I hope that his office rounds up and prosecutes all of Trump‘s corrupt lawyers and judges (both federal and on the SC) who have enabled defiance of the law or twisted it in their own favor. It would be a gargantuan task, but well worth the effort if we are to save democracy.

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Blocked for Trump with the full help of the six weak justices on the SC! They owed Trump this for THEIR appointments! Life-time benefits and privileges? The suckers are the poor powerless tax payers!

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Dan, I believe he is also a republican of the federalist society persuasion. gee, conflict of interest? if it isn't, it's out of character for repugnant office holders.

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Bill Miller: For the time being. And the foreseeable future , Jack Smith will most likely, be busy prosecuting the one man crime wave.

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Yes, but if he ascends to the office of AG, he will have the resources andaccess to much bigger fish to fry.

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Ilene Winn -Lederer ; True ; But I would like to see Jack Smith, who is thoroughly familiar with the complicated mess of criminality wrought by tRUMP. see the case prosecuted to the very end.

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I might settle for that! :-)

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Bill Miller : Attorney Merrick Garland is also a conservative Republican, and if there was any partisan influence that he was so worried about "showing" as an Attorney General "under" President Biden, he might have thought about what it looked like when he did little to nothing about Jan 6th. for months ; years!

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RIGHT

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I agree. I have said over and over again and have waited for the media to call it out but I thought that running a "Shadow" government in this country was against the law. Once it was revealed that tRumpy has had at least 7 phone calls w putin since leaving office. WHY isn't our News media screaming about this???? tRumpy has been running a Shadow Government since day 1 and needs to be stopped.

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It seems that the monopoly media are not concerned with the destruction of democracy in this country and the world.

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Eloquently reasoned, Ms Blair!

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He even denigrated our deceased military in Arlington National Cemetery with his thumbs up photo op.

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Brava, Laurie, you are right on all points.

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Dear Laurie Fantastic Thank You

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Bravo! Well said, Laurie!

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I have noticed since he refused to accept Biden won the election, a “shadow goverment” lead from Mar a Lago. Noticed how many dignitaries when visiting the US went to kiss the ring. He controls Congress as it’s filled with insurrectionists and those in the Senate as well. Netanyahu refused to meet with Kamala Harris as well as PM Keir Starmer-to my horror as I lived there 25 years plus and still a resident with only child living there-. Netanyahu as well as Putin are making sure their stooge gets back to the Oval. Both benefit, one to stay out of jail, the war criminal to take Ukraine and from that point the rest of Europe. The US will become another Cuba instituting autocracy which brings devastating poverty to the 98%. Read On Freedom from Timothy Snyder. He explains point by point. Too depressing for words. I will be casting my vote on first day in person next week and hope for a miracle. Can anyone answer this question: what heinous act does Trump have to commit to convince the undecided that he’s doing Putin’s bid to destroy 245 years of democracy?

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Good question, Rusalka. I wish I could answer it. My fear is that they won't be able to see the truth until the worst has happened and they've lost everything. Be able to say "We told you this would happen!" will be small recompense.

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Exactly! Rough roads ahead!

Those screaming the loudest will be those unbelievers! “Why didn’t you tell me?”

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Rusalka - he can do anything he wants. Has always done so, buit now can wrap himself in the corrupt verdict of immunity. As does musk, though he's got the real money to back it up. remember that it takes corporate/oligarchic money to seed, nurture, and perpetuate fascism. A competent administration, by the way, would have denied bibi and orban visas to enter our country. orban is probably an errand boy carrying messages/ instructions back and forth.

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Do you think Orban, BiBi, and Putin all have copies of those stolen classified documents? Did Jared share them with the Saudis to get the immense pay off?

Think about it! Went right over the heads of OUR government, maybe?

NO actions taken or questions asked.

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JA - I definitely believe that drumpf and jared gave classified docs to at least the saudis, and probably putin. Only a fool or simpleton would think that $2billion wasn't payment for services rendered. Last i read, (tuesday) jared hadn't made a dime on his "investment fund". Oligarchs are apolitical in the sense that they go where/who will give them the best opportunity to rape, pillage, and loot in the best capitalist fashion. Usually they buy the politicians they need to get what they want. It has ever been thus. What we're seeing now is a spectacular display of absolute contempt for law, the constitution, and norms of behavior. Starting with the birther issue, a thinly disguised racist effort by drumpf, it has gotten monthly, if not weekly worse since he declared in 2016. Deplorables of all stripes have taken his example as "permission" to engage in the worst sorts of antisocial behavior. Now we have meteorologists getting death threats for creating hurricanes. unbelievable.

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But Paul, what is the answer to this dangerous curve in our country? Baffles me. By the day, it is getting worse every where you look or listen. People are becoming frightened and unable to see a clear answer for what the future holds. Yes, we can vote and show our Harris support, however, the numbers of Trump supporters is appalling. How have these people completely lost respect for our country, following a shadowy creep’s Plan 2025? Cannot find an answer.

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"Absolute power corrupts absolutely"!.

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I've said this from the beginning, JA. The fact that documents were still found at Mar-a-Lardo (sic) doesn't mean they weren't already copied and distributed to the highest bidders.

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You are so correct. Very suspicious Trump activity.

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Rusalka asked,” what heinous act does Trump have to commit to convince the undecided that he’s doing Putin’s bid to destroy 245 years of democracy?”

My answer: Trump write and sign a letter of confession, then blow his brains out.

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I really don't think that will work. That would just engender more conspiracy theories and disbelief of the facts. Heinous acts by Trump aren't going to do it. The variety of heinous acts he has already committed shows that.

What actually needs to happen is for the people who cling to him or lean toward to see an alternative. Many of them have backed themselves into an intellectual corner and they need a way out.

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Amen, amen, I say to that! The only problem is that Trump will never blow his own brains out, somebody is going to have to do it for him! Tomorrow could not be too soon!

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Threats on T's life help him at the ballot box.

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I'm hoping Coachella will bring him down in California but who knows his cult was doing everything it could to cover for tRumps failure to protect the cult in the first place, some leader.

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Scary and true

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I do not believe that Putin is a nuclear threat. It is all bluff and it is working.

Putin is not suicidal, not at all, and if he launched nukes that would be it.

I do not think that the nuclear arsenal is ready. Nukes and missiles are not like bombs and ammunition, forever dangerous. They require maintenance. The Generals and admirals of the Russian armed forces are corrupt, they have been siphoning maintenance funds for personal use, to build dacha's for themselves and their mistresses, limousines, gold toilets. (they are tacky)

The U.S.A. has its own problems with it's nuclear arsenal. One of which are plutonium pits, with the end of the cold war, we stopped building and lost the knowledge of how to build plutonium pits, which are essential for the functioning of plutonium bombs. Lawrence Livermore has a crash program to restart the build of plutonium pits.

Missiles are not rockets that can be built and stored for years, like Ammo, they require constant maintenance, maintenance costs money and requires skilled troops. Neither of which is possessed by Russia.

Putin knows that the west is a bunch of "pussies", and all he has to do is wave his nuclear phallus, and Americans will tremble and throw up their hands, no North Korea is getting into the act.

All that is required for evil to prevail is to do nothing, and trembling in your boots is doing nothing.

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Well, I sure hope you're right about this, because the total destruction of everything on Earth is a pretty big thing to gamble on!

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We are already destroying every thing on earth, didn't you know that, Only in slow motion. And I don't believe that there is a chance that there will be a nuclear war.

So tell me are you one of those surrender monkey's CLS? Bully bait? Those who won't stand up for themselves, deserve what happens to them.

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William Farrar, are you okay? Why are you disrespecting another commenter? I respect your many contributions to this blog — while disagreeing with some— but your aggressive attitude towards CLS is simply rude and does nothing to enhance either the tone or substance of the discussion.

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No, I am not a 'surrender monkey'. Is it possible for you to make a point without becoming abusive? I'm done here.

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Why are you so hateful with your postings ?

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He doesn’t need them all to work. Just using one would shatter the non-use principle that has held since WE used two.

Casual reference here and there to a “tactical” bomb {of smaller size??} amps up my anxiety to the stratosphere.

I’m not only afraid of a nuclear winter from wholesale use of a nuclear arsenal … I’m scared to death we will start thinking little nukes would be fine, so why not use ‘em …

I’m really, really, REALLY bummed that Trump negated the agreement with Iran not to develop bomb grade uranium and not to develop their own bombs —of whatever size ..

Kim having a handful of bombs and ability to craft little ones gives me chills.

This is all VERY scary … Really really really VERY scary.

Shaking in one’s boots is not recommended.

Neither is appeasement.

But rational thought about real possibilities … yeah, that’s important.

And keeping Trump and his minions out of office … that’s important too.

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Hiroshima was a tactical nuclear bomb, in today's terms.

If Putin used a tactical nuclear bomb, he is in effect starting a nuclear war, and I do not believe that he is suicidal, but I do believe too many Americans are anxious to wet their pants and are thus susceptible to bullying.

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they should have let patton finish the war (take out stalin). instead we brought the war criminals from germany to run our space program and put not a few of them in the new CIA.

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The problem is Putin is as unhinged as Trump and, therefore, barely fathomable!

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I do not think that Putin is unhinged at all, he is calculating though, but not transactional likeTrump.

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He is smarter and savvier, but just as insane. And, projecting what he is willing to do to people, he’s probably just as scared of what might happen to HIM if he’s ever deposed.

He holds economic sway over his power people, but even that can be broken, if they get pissed enough with him. This war in Ukraine was a mistake on his part.

I have NO idea what a man like that man might do to get out of a tight spot, and neither does anyone on this thread.

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Putin has to be unhinged to put his faith in a man that is clearly suffering dementia and rambling on and on about sharks and electric boats

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I'm inclined to believe the Ukraine war could have been ended in weeks (as Ukrainian born, US educated, head of Moscow University suggested (I forget his name) -- if we assured Putin that Ukraine would not be joining NATO. (You may remember how *we* reacted when Khrushchev started stationing missiles in Cuba.)

But I guess there's too much money to be made selling weapons.

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No Bill, assuring Ukraine to not join NATO is the talk of a surrender monkey, and secondly the party line of Putin.

The problem is that Putin is an imperialist aggressor, and has said that the Ukrainian identity is ersatz, false, contrived, as is the Ukrainian culture. by invading Ukraine he has committed genocide per Art II, of the UN Convention on Prevention of Genocide.

He thought that it would be a walk in the park, that is why he invaded.

If Ukraine belong to NATO as it should have when, it gave up it's nuclear arsenal on the promise by Putin that he would respect their sovereignty and not join NATO there would have been no war.

Putin and Trump are brothers, both are liars, despots who can't be trusted.

I tire of hearing bullshit from Putin apologists. It makes me think that Reich's substack has been infiltrated by Putin troll farms.

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Well, I see a lot of opinions here William, I’d be curious to know what are your sources?

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I don’t know why you buy that idea that Ukraine not joining the EU or NATO would solved the problem, Bill.. The missile crisis had to do with US putting bombs in Turkey and Krushchev putting them in Cuba. That was resolved by both sides pulling their missiles back.

You believe it would be just fine for Putin to dictate the entire future of the Ukrainian state — not just the placement of armament — and that would be OK for Ukraine, and stop future encroachment? Mmmmph. I doubt it.

And once he was IN the East, Putin was NOT going to withdraw. Ending the war after he invaded would have meant giving him the industrial eastern corridor of Ukraine {along with Crimea}, too, or no deal. It was actually talked about.

Putin had already invaded Crimea, years before invading Ukraine through the Donbas and Eastern Provinces, but the head of the Ukrainian gov before Zelenski was pro-Russia. Putin claims that the Donbas and Eastern Ukraine is rightfully Russian, too… having been seeded with Russians during the Soviet Union days, and according to Putin’s little “history” lesson that he claims is evidence Ukraine does not really exist as a nation.

No, I don’t actually believe this had a chance of ending quickly without the surrender of Ukraine, and the Ukrainians don’t seem to want to surrender, even though this has been horrendous …

At this point, I don’t know HOW it ends. Even if the West lets Zelenski use weapons to a greater extent and Putin can’t defeat Ukrainne on the battlefield, how does he save face and stop?

I don’t know.

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Yes, I’m sure there’s no quick and easy solution at this point. But each side waving their big-dick missiles at each other is not likely to lead to a happy end for anyone. The only sane solution is to talk it through. Yet our common response in such situations — withdraw our diplomats — is that of a junior high coed (“I’m mad at Susie so I’m not talking to her. And if you’re my friend, you won’t talk to her either!”)

Contrary to the assertions of other commenters, seeking to understand the other’s motivations is not the same as acceptance and support.

BUT, if we want to keep blowing up the world, at least the shareholders of defense contractors will be happy.

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William Farrar: Yes. Putin and others are practicing emotional blackmail, but, don't ever, not even for a second, think that he will not nuke us; after all, many believe he is god, so will never be hurt or damaged in any way.

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What has many thinking he is god, got to do with him not nuking us?

One thing does not follow the other Barbara.

I don't think that Putin is insane enough to start a nuclear war. He has threatened to use nukes three times, drew a line in the sand so to speak and we have stepped over that line and no nukes.

Remember he threatened nukes if Ukraine was supplied F-16's and long range artillery. Well they have been and no nukes.

He might opt for a Gottdammerung if NATO was at the doorsteps of Moscow, but that is a big if.

Putin likes his power and wealth too much, look what he has done to hold on to it. He also has children, big deterrent, and as I have posted above, the missiles won't leave the silo and the nukes are duds, because they both require maintenance and his corrupt generals siphoned off maintenance funds for their own use.

They who will not defend their freedom, do not deserve it.

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Putin is just like Trump - he has no empathy gene - he would kill his own mother - so would Trump

They are diabolical, devious, deceitful and treat people disrespectfully,

Don’t make either one out to be ethical enough not to push a button if they have a fart coming out sideways

You can trust these two about as far as you can throw them

Both are psychopaths

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W F : "They who will not defend their freedom, do not deserve it."

R H: Everyone deserves freedom (with a few exceptions).

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William Farrar: I think it’s necessary to distinguish between strategic and tactical nuclear weapons. Russia has a huge arsenal of tactical (battlefield) nuclear weapons. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has a very instructive article arguing the case that Putin would be more likely to use a tacticle weapon when he is winning not when he is losing.

https://thebulletin.org/2024/10/why-russia-is-more-likely-to-go-nuclear-in-ukraine-if-its-winning/?utm_campaign=This%20Week%20in%20Foreign%20Policy&utm_medium=email&utm_content=327680468&utm_source=hs_email

Given how the war is going at the moment, this scenario is becoming more worrying. It’s also the reason that the U.S. and NATO and its allies should be giving the go ahead for the use of long range weapons at Ukraines discression.

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I do not think that Putin is suicidal enough to use nukes.

I repeat a battlefield nuclear weapon today has the explosive power of Hiroshima. We are not talking about a 2,000 lb bomb or a MOAB, but a Hiroshima bomb.

If he used such a thing, it would be all over for Russia and Putin, he is not suicidal.

But he knows Americans well, he using psychological warfare, because he knows that all he has to do is threaten, and Americans will cave, soft, pampered cowards.

I agree Biden should be giving the go ahead for use of long range weapons at Ukraines discretion, but you have lily livered cowards like Jake Sullivan advising the President., Either that or his a fifth columnist.

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Terrible!!!

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Here's a real question. If people elect a "monster," is that democracy in action or not?

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If they have been manipulated by lies, distortion and slickness, capitalising on their fears and anger? I think it probably means we failed to hold democracy by robbing citizens of the most important parts of maintaining a democracy: moral reasoning, civic duty, and discrimination-in short robbing them of an education worthy of maintaining a democracy…

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Your analysis that we will have failed to hold democracy because we didn't educate the new people on morality, ethics, and civic duty hits home with me. I was thus educated. The middle-aged people today were not so educated. And their children less so. It's the fault of my generation. Of me.

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You are saying that “we failed to hold democracy” when people vote on the basis of their “fears and anger.” The problem with this is that your fellow citizens are as entitled to vote on the basis of their fear and anger as you are to vote on the basis of yours. Would the civil rights act have happened without fear and anger? Would the establishment of laws to protect workers’ right to collective bargaining have happened without fear and anger? Would the United States have prevailed in World War II without fear and anger? Would the Food and Drug Administration have been created without fear and anger? The EPA? Would progressive taxation exist without fear and anger?

When you hold the fear and anger of your fellow Americans in contempt - so much so that you do not even consider their peaceful expression of those sentiment as democratically legitimate - then you really, really need to consider whether you have not yourself become the very threat to democracy that you decry in others.

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Yes, no doubt I’m very dangerous… but my point was our educational priorities may not be serving democracy… I wasn’t criticising fear or anger as motivation, I was questioning if our educational processes are creating moral reasoning, discrimination, civic duty and personal agency from within oneself

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I'm with you, Nancie. I understood what you said. Chris is using the Vance argument. It's circular.

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I have no idea what “the Vance argument” is but - as with Nancie above - your contempt for your fellow Americans (specifically, the ones who vote for Trump) is astonishing. They are just like you and me. Really.

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I don’t think you are dangerous. I do, however, think your ideas are extremely dangerous. You toss around judgements about “moral reasoning” as though you have some special inside track on the truth. You can tell what is and isn’t a lie. You know which citizens are well enough educated to participate properly in democracy. You know slickness when you see it. And when I ask you if the contrary judgments of your fellow citizens in these very matters makes their votes valid your answer is not a confident “yes it does” but an implicit “no.” I truly wish that the arrogance and condescension of people who have so much contempt for their fellow Americans could see that Trump is what you get when you secretly (or not so secretly) speak about them like this. If Hillary Clinton had not used the word “deplorables” to describe people she considers her inferiors she would probably have been elected to the presidency and Donald J. Trump would have become an amusing footnote. But she did use the word. You did not, but your post drips with contempt: for people who you don’t think are as enlightened as you, for people susceptible to lies to which you are not, for people incorrectly educated. The arrogance is breathtaking.

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You make a valid, important point, Chris. but who is the hatemonger, the spreader of fear and anger? Who is who claims to be a savior of Christian America but acts in the most anti-Christian way imaginable? How can one justify supporting such a man?

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I haven’t spoken about anything but educational priorities and the impact of critical thinking in decision making…and many lies are quite obvious, and being highlighted by many, in the current civil discourse. I know you’re looking to make your point about arrogance-but I’m not your culprit. And pretty much seems to me you’re demonising me in exactly the way you presume I am demonizing others. You set a trap, but you’re in it; not me.

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Chris— In your reply to Nancie you’re writing about fear and anger like someone who is himself motivated by fear and anger. So take this as a suggestion— persuading people to understand and adopt your point of view is one of the most difficult tasks skills— sometimes called the art of gentle persuasion. Banging away with rhetorical point after point is neither gentle nor particularly persuasive.

The central issue is how to deal with an opponent who has no scruples about inventing stories, exaggerating and just plain lying in order to anger and frighten his followers into voting for him and his authoritarian plan of governance.

Using the institutional framework of democratic elections to gain power and then change the system of government from inside the system is a tactic of today’s modern dictatorships such as Hungary and Turkey.

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Injecting fear and anger into our politics has been a Fox News accomplishment.

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MSM is not doing their jobs

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Neil Postman worried about this too in his "Amusing Ourselves to Death . . So did Lawrence Ferlinghetti "above a sea of faces paces his way to the other side of day performing ... in a blather of asphalt and delay.

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Democracy becomes “mob rule “ when the people elect a mob boss to lead them. It is precisely what the Founders feared — that unscrupulous demagogues could sway an unsophisticated electorate by pandering to their demands and inflaming their fears.

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No we did that our education system is not great. We have been dumbing down our schools since the late 60's early 70's by lowering standards of education requirements to pass each grade level and forcing larger class sizes with less teachers.

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So exactly what's happening now. It almost invites me to recall Plato's unpleasant recipe for a republic. He foresaw the same. But an oligarchy, no matter how "enlightened," is never going to work. We have a democracy at the moment. But we do not have an educated democracy. Current citizens may give it all away--by accident.

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By accident? How so?

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Precisely. And that is why they wrote a constitution whose primary purpose (“Congress shall make no law…”) was to constrain the tyrannical capacities of the state. People are welcome to spread all the fear and hysteria they want you to about Donald Trump. It’s a democracy. More power to them. But I really wish they would (a) recognize that their anxiety is more akin to religious conviction than empirically founded fact, and therefore - since we are not yet a theocracy - their fear is owed no special deference or privilege and (b) stop flirting with the possibility of removing our constitutional constraints on the exercise of government power (packing the Supreme Court, abridging free speech, weaponizing the legal system) to “protect our democracy”, when their real interest is partisan. If you define your democratically chosen opponent as not democratic then you are not really interested in democracy. And you should stop pretending otherwise.

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Trump lost the 2020 election, but he denies it, and he tried to overturn the result. Furthermore, he has stated he would be a dictator "on day one" if elected. What do you call this? Why do you ignore this? Do you really expect to be respected?.

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Chris — Why you say that fearing the loss of our democracy under another Trump reign is unfounded and not based on facts? Many of the experienced people who served Trump, who saw his unstable decision-making up close and tried to restrain his rash impulses, are now speaking publicly about this. I have never met the guy but I have met his type; Trump is not the only fat-head who scoffs at experts and believes his own self-aggrandizing propaganda.

You seem sensitive to the prevalent vibe on Reich’s blog that everyone takes Donald Trump’s awfulness as a matter of faith or as tribal loyalty. I can’t speak for anyone else here, but I came to this conclusion on my own long before The Donald started playing with the idea of getting into politics; though I readily admit he has proven himself even more degraded than I imagined.

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Disliking tRump and family since the 70's

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Chris your argument is just a lot of airy-fairy philosophizing. Read the room: it’s a blog of people who come here to read and discuss Robert Reich’s daily commentary. Very few of any give any credence to Trump, Vance et al. other than that they are an imminent danger to our system of government and American society in general. If you like wasting your time airing your political opinions to a hostile audience, don’t expect a lot of thumbs up emojis.

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You have a point. People here seem to think that “discussion” is a kind of contest to see how vigorously they can all agree with one another. They call you names rather than addressing your challenges, which doesn’t really bother me but also just wastes words. (I thought Nancie was an exception - she clarified that her focus of interest is our educational systems, and actually read what I wrote.) But it’s rare to find people who actually take their own words or other people’s words seriously. I’m interested in talking to people who don’t agree with me. They’re the only ones from whom I can learn something. But people able to engage in an actual discussion are rare.

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Hey Chris! Thanks for the shout out! I wanted to say thank you to you too, for hearing me. I also want you to know I understand wanting to hear ‘the other side’, and like you I do try to learn from people who see things differently from me; not as boldly as you jumping in here, but when it’s in front of me, 100%. All the best to you!

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You have yet to demonstrate your own ability.

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I would be democratic except for their voting suppression and electoral deceits being put in place before this election.

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The last vote of a democracy, if it uses its vote to end itself. That vote would be like a suicide.

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Neither JD Vance nor Mike Johnson (and, likely, most of the rest of the r's) will admit Trump LOST the 2020 election and Trump won't even answer the question of if he wants Ukraine to win (in my book, a dumb question - but, must be asked nonetheless - answer: Of course he doesn't). I remember Trump passing top secret info to the Russians right in the "White House" after he fired Comey and I also remember those numerous EMPTY Top Secret folders in Mar a Lago when Jack Smith's agents exercised a search warrant for Top Secret stolen documents (by Trump). Think of those 7 secret phone calls mentioned above and Trump's willingness to accept foreign help in his campaigns for president - then think of two plus two equals four. I rest my case!

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You and about a goodly number of others.

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Unfortunately, he probably will.

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Adam Mockler, a young youtuber goes to tfg rallies and talks to attendees waiting in line and videos the conversations. Lately, he's been asking people if it were a choice between Putin and Harris for president, who would they pick. Invariably, they pick Putin. Wow! The sickness of lies is a national emergency. My fellow citizens have bought a whole pack of lies. How can that be? How can they not hear KGB and think highly trained expert at manipulation and exploitation. How can they not see that tfg is a completely transactional, useful idiot to Putin? How can they not understand that they are being played by tfg, who is being played by Putin?

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M Tree, I think a lot of the people that are loyal to the orange man either didn't pay attention in history and civic classes in school or might be too young to remember what the KGB was doing during the cold war. The orange man and Putin are master manipulators and that is because they have succeeded at manipulation all of their lives! They are both getting old but there will be others like them waiting in the wings. I believe it is imperative that we need to work at our education system to include a class on defining manipulation and exploitation as it pertains to society. Education is the key to help our younger generations learn how to spot when someone is trying to manipulate and exploit them because I don't think their parents are teaching them that. Vote blue, America, up and down the ballot!

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Peggy Freeman, I agree education is essential. Teach people informally and formally, about the red flags. But, I can't imagine any R's wanting to promote that, ha, ha. So it's up to us.

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Exactly! We must continue to work hard after Kamala Harris and Tim Walz get elected to let our politicians know what we want to see for our education system, for climate change initiatives, for our Supreme Court and so many other important issues. We cannot stop even after the Democrats win in November! Vote blue, America, up and down the ballot!

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Peggy Freeman, true, true. I'm with ya!

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The republicans are trying to take over what we teach our children, but it is NOT a good thing.

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Jan, I agree. Scary stuff.

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Red flags, indeed. It occurs to me that the GOP flag is bright red, with a little elephant I believe. I added a matching little hammer-and-sickle.

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a swastika might be more appropriate.

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Education … with both content and context and learning how to apply logic and analysis…is SUCH a critical part of a democratic society. And being informed … communication, discussion, and a media to distribute accurate information is another.

Not surprising at all that both education and the means to inform the public are under attack by the Right. And have been for a VERY long time … Just as an aside, I’ve long noticed the tendency in our popular culture to demonize reporters and the press as “vultures” who would swoop in and overpower victims of crime, or give away critical secrets at the very worst moments. [And some in the press, swooping in with satellite disks on giant trucks, and gaggles of reporters with microphones pressed on people gave support to those impressions, I’m not unaware. But the press has also been long ready to withhold critical pieces of information that would harm investigations or critical programs in action, so that image of the rush to print and the devil take the hindmost is not true}.

Education, too, has been turned into the butt of jokes too often, as well. Instead of “Up the Down Staircase” and “To Sir with Love,” we got image after image of idiot teachers and bureaucrat principles being bested by clever and resistant kids … And during that time, the Republican playbook had their people running for school boards and hollowing out curricula, demonizing civics education that gave kids the accurate history and context of our country, and taught them to think about the real implications of our social order … our own Civil War vis a vis slavery and states’ rights, for instance, and the reality of Jim Crow and economic isolation of POC, as well as the social and economic echoes that are still with us … We don’t teach people that reality.

We don’t have to impart guilt over the past, but we do have to impart a recognition of the harm that was done, how it shaped our culture today, along with a repudiation of those policies and determination to do better.

And what Americans don’t know about our policies and actions on the world stage fills volumes, too - volumes our kids never get to read in history class. Some claim they don’t think our kids need to feel guilty about a past that happened before they were born {I can agree with that}, but then they don’t teach that history and help kids learn from it, so they won’t repeat it. Pretending it never happened only leaves us open to doing it again.

There’s so much that people COULD consider when choosing what kind of world we want our kids to grow up in, domestically and internationally…

I hope people will at least see the kind of world Trump would create, and I hope they repudiate that.

With a sense of how we actually did get here, I could not do anything other than Vote Blue this year.

I’m trying to hold onto hope …

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What a great read, Pat! I agree 100% with everything you said! We do need to address the curriculum for our young people. I believe we need to teach them to think for themselves and we do that by introducing the facts, allowing debate which gives students a chance to hear other thoughts besides their own. Only then can students actually learn how to think critically, how to discern what is misinformation and propaganda and what is truth.

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Sometimes, Peggy, having kids debate, and assigning some to defend the indefensible, helps them to recognize how bogus ideas are latched onto and presented — they begin to recognize how logical fallacies are structured — things like that. Yes, we need to help the next generations learn HOW to think, not what to think. But they do need accurate accounts of what has happened in our past — history — to have something solid to think about as they consider what kind of world THEY want to fashion for themselves, too.

Onward …

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I agree! Learning HOW to think is essential for our kids to be able to navigate in this world today. Debate is and I believe always has been a great way to help kids form their own opinions about ideas and various programs. Critical thinking is an absolute necessity.

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Hear, hear

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The alternative is fascism.

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Why would the wealthy want to pay for the education of the populace? It is to their economic advantage to keep people ignorant. Only government can force them to open their wallets, and that's why they hate government, the federal government most of all. They fear anarchy, of course, hence "small government," small but well armed, is their program.

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That is actually not even true. People who THINK their fortunes depend on exploiting less powerful people may think like that, but it is atavistic, short-sighted, and — yes — very stupid.

Truly successful people can thrive better with a well-educated and productive society … it’s actually BETTER for business …

Of course, if one’s only goal is to amass more money than the next guy and lord it over the poorer class, gain outrageous amounts of pure power — and you have no desire to craft a truly successful and sustainable life that provides fun, satisfaction, camaraderie, and leisure enough to thoroughly enjoy the fruits of one’s labors — then sure, keeping people ignorant is a better deal. But it sets up a vicious circles of exploitation and rebellion and oppression and exploitation and rebellion …. What a godawful waste of time.

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Pat, I will not dispute the truth of your narrative but would add a word of caution: we need to distinguish between political activism (“voting Blue “) and teaching students how to think about their history. Framing historical inquiry with an ideological bent can be used to indoctrinate students rather than educate them. I am not saying that this is what you had in mind; I just want to emphasize that it is a point to consider when voters consider who they vote onto their local school boards.

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I agree … hollowing out our education is done ON THAT BASIS.

Especially when one does not know the history, it can be charged that teaching about the abuses of Jim Crow and redlining and denying POC their earned veterans’ benefits, etc, is politically motivated to turn people against more conservative and “long held” policies that hold states’ rights above nationally-recognized rights.

It can be charged that we are trying to vilify our country by teaching about abuses overseas, too, even though they are real. People don’t even want to criticize dropping TWO nuclear weapons on Japan … {please explain why ONE was not considered enough to scare everyone in the world and get Japan to surrender, when they were pretty-well seen as ready to surrender, anyway…} but I digress.

As I see it, while history and context might have political impact, that is not the reason to teach it or not teach it. But it’s all too easy to CLAIM a political motivation for teaching the truth, and force us to stop it. {We’re doing it now with climate change, and with our history of racial discrimination … }

The only reason to try to AVOID teaching truth is, if hearing the truth makes one’s “side” look bad, and that side uses our current ignorance to motivate us to STAY ignorant…

It’s a vicious circle …

So, yeah, we need to distinguish between TEACHING students how to think, and advocating for our conclusions.

But, right now, we’re being encouraged not to teach them. Which promotes the problem …. If you don’t learn from history, you may be doomed to repeat it.

Hello, appeasement. Hello, taking us back to The Gilded Age. Hello, monopolies and Oligarchs. Hello, Fascism.

Gad.

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Pat - Your post was right on…excuse me for being pedantic (my god-given superpower), but with respect to the decision to drop two nuclear bombs on Japanese cities instead of one, US war planners believed that the Japanese military would not surrender unless they were convinced that further fighting would result in the total destruction of every Japanese city and military stronghold. Additionally, US nuclear scientists wanted to know if both the uranium and plutonium bombs would perform as their calculations predicted. Fortunately, in August 1945 there were only two operational bombs that could be deployed, and also the Japanese government communicated their acceptance of the Allied terms.

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Mmmph. I can’t read the minds of people from 1945, and a lot has been said about it down through the decades, but such explanations now sound like after-the-fact commentary to me … Just saying. Tangential to my main point about teaching people to think about history, but to my mind, there’s still no reason for doing what we did in the face of the reality of the events, and in light of the enormity of the Hiroshima destruction, other than it being an outrageous and unnecessary demonstration of monstrous power … Mmmmmm….well, it was pretty much a gratuitous act of incredible callousness, I think. But that’s what my thinking process concludes … after-the-fact explanations and hindsight notwithstanding …

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Not quite. They surrendered to the US only, who, like the Japanese, wanted to avoid a Soviet invasion of Japan.

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I was thinking about you when Milton hit. Is everything OK?

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Thank you, Thomas! It was a bit nerve racking until Milton took that little wobble! He was headed straight for us but went just a little North! We were damaged but can be mended. I took my furry friends and went to a shelter. Milton was ferocious! At least my house was still standing. We were out of power for about a day and a half. God bless Duke Energy! They have been working so very hard to get electricity restored in our area! My heart goes out to those people that live along the coast. They have been hit by two major hurricanes and many have lost everything! Many of the places I went as a kid have been completely obliterated.

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(Like) -- Sure glad you're OK and back home again.

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Thank you, Thomas, I appreciate that!

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Me too, Peggy! Very glad to hear you are ok! And your fur babies!

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Peggy Freeman, glad you and your furry friends are safe. Hope everyone, including our animal friends, gets the assistance they need.

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M Tree, there are many little animals that have been lost. Some were abandoned to manage on their own. One little fellow was left tied to a road sign. Whoever did that to him deserves a special place in the hottest corner of hell in my book. I have gotten busy putting together care packages for the shelters housing these pets. Feeding them is expensive and they need whatever help they can get! My little furry buddies and I made it through a little shaken up but slowly getting back to normal!

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Peggy Freeman, glad you and your furry friends are recovering! I saw on youtube, the trooper rescue the dog tied to a fence on the roadside with the water rising at his chest. I was so grateful to the trooper for valuing animal life too. I could never abandon my four-legged friends. I'm glad you are doing what you can for those at shelters. Is there a good, reputable shelter organization you can recommend for making a donation to?

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So very sorry , Peggy, for what you and your Florida neighbors have had to endure. Personally, relieved to know you are all right!.California earthquakes can." shake" you up a bit...( and, yes...we've had some deadly ones ) ...the anxiety you must feel must be heartbreaking. You mention the places you went as a kid...obliterated?.

The " structures" may be gone, Peggy....but not the memories!.They remain with you always... the older you become...the RICHER they become! God Bless you, dear lady. Your ideas, your quiet dignity, your wise counsel...have enriched our lives by way of this forum.....a blessing to us all...and to me personally..

Fair well....be safe...be renewed in our.fight to Vote Blue !

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Thank you so very much for your kind words, Lynn! You are absolutely right. The places may be gone but the memories remain in my heart forever. I appreciate everyone on this forum with your fresh and innovative ideas, your humor and most of all your tenacious fight to hold on to our Democracy! Vote blue, America, up and down the ballot!

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Peggy - Yikes! It’s so sad that with so many problems we can’t do much about except persevere, humanity manages to keep making life more difficult with imaginary problems (think, “immigrants taking your pets!”).

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Trump like Putin doesn’t want people to think 🥴

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Civilizations are Hard to Build, and Easy to Destroy... Political Chaos is usually the Beginning of the End... Think of the Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, and Chinese, to name just a few ... Now, the Chinese, and the Russians are trying to Destroy the American Hegemony created after the End of WW2... DJT is Putin's Useful Idiot....

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Apache, those are profound words I'm truly learning in real time, "Civilizatons are Hard to Build, and Easy to Destroy."

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principle of entropy.

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American Hegemony did not benefit Iraq and encouraged Iran to attempt to control the middle east. Bush II was one of our worst presidents until Trump arrived. Notice Bush II is not campaigning against Trump.

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Apache: There will always be hegemony. Power abhors a vacuum. So whose hegemony will it be? Russia's or America's.

The notion of people's living in peace and cooperation is a fantasy, it flies in the face of human nature.

After WWII, the United States, being undamaged by the war, was in a position to lead the world. Is leadership hegemonic?

The problem with the left and the right,is that they learn words, words with emotional content and then toss them around like confetti. Genocide, Hegemony, Imperialism, Capitalism, Communism, Socialism.

So many ways to say "me no like, thee be evil"

Hegemony is employed by people with an affection for using words that they believe have a negative propaganda effect

Hegemony is a form of domination where a social group maintains its power over another through CONSENT rather than force. It can also refer to the social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence of a dominant group.

Do you belong to a faction, religious, ideological, social then you are part of a hegemon.

Europe after WWII consented to have the United States lead the world, because of it's economic and industrial and political strengths, all of which have been eroded by globalism.

The hegemony it once enjoyed,it enjoys no longer. The US is no longer a world leader, not even a follower, but it wandering in the desert living off i'ts stored fat like a bear out of hibernation.

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William, I love what you’re saying, all except what I believe is an overly negative view of America’s situation today. I would say that we no longer have an unchallenged position— China under Xi aspires to be the world’s hegemon — but our problems are more internal than external, meaning that ultimately we have the ability to fix them ourselves.

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R Hodson. I agree with you that our problems are more internal than external.

Our external problems are caused by our internal factions and frictions., which is the weakness of democracy.

As I stated elsewheres I recall, I think it was bin Laden, who said: We will use your freedoms to destroy you.

It is ironic that the faction that seems most cohesive and thus the most powerful (I mean the movement currently known as MAGA), a movement which is fearful and jealous of loss of power and control, is working (are working when considered as a force of many) to actually destroy the very foundations and muscle of the system that they view as ideal and superior.

There are many defining aspects about humans, one of which is short sightedness, immediate gains with no thought of consequences.

One of my military jobs, and skills, was planning, and planning is like chess, you have to think many steps ahead, whereas on the battlefield instantaneous decision making in response to changes and threats is needed for survival.

Most of human action is as if life is a constant, mutating battlefield, and while it does seem so, there is little to no thought of consequences, intended or unintended.

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I wonder if he only uploads the interviews where the concertgoer picks Putin. Also, does he ask them, “Who is Putin?” They may not know. Jay Leno used to go out on the street and find people who didn't know who the president of the United States was.

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Kathleen Weber, yup they know who Putin is. They are bombarded constantly with pro-Putin propaganda from their candidate and their other sources of info --- lies.

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If they get their understanding of Putin from Trump, then they have no idea who Putin is. What trump has made clear is that 40% of Americans can be brainwashed or sold a load of 💩, however you want to phrase it. Others may dislike Trump but vote for him because they are terrified of Democrats. Quite frankly, there are some Democrats that terrify me.

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The only thing that terrifies me right now is the possibility of trump in OUR White House! How can his followers believe his lies? I will never understand how they can support a person with trump's plans for America!

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Why do you refer to Trump voters as "followers"? Do you refer to Harris voters as "followers"?

Most Trump voters don't particularly like the man. Most see him as better than the alternatives. If you cared about the truth you wouldn't cite the extreme expressions of the most fanatical supporters as representative of all supporters. But that wouldn't fit the narrative. So you ignore the facts.

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'Most Trump voters don't particularly like the man'. Where did you learn this? Many of his followers seem to practically worship him, at least that is what I have seen for years. If there is evidence out there that most of his voters don't like him, please do share it with us.

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Chris, it may not be accurate to call every Trump supporter a “follower “ but they are obviously listening to what he says and believing at least enough to make up their minds and vote for the guy. Who knows what “represents the thoughts” of the people who vote for him? You go off the rails when you accuse Jan of ignoring facts — more like, Jan was expressing an opinion, just as you are.

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I'm with ya, Kathleen. The YouTuber wants to be like Jay Leno. Or perhaps DJ Lenin for that matter.

What kind of line was it? Where was it? RTV in DC?

Did he speak to the Putin Care Bear Collective of Fozzy Bear, Cozy Bear, and a few misinformed, hillbilly Trumpy Bears? I think so! Lol!

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"Jay Leno used to go out on the street.."

But a street is different than a political rally.

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Please ask him to walk the streets of Parma, Ohio, more Ukrainian Americans per square inch than anywhere else in America, and get some interviews.

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Parma:

Ukrainian Village

The Ukrainian Village commercial district is located along State Road between Tuxedo Avenue and Grantwood Drive. This district was designated Ukrainian Village in September 2009.

This commercial district features a large number of small, family-owned businesses and medical offices, features one of the most "walkable" neighborhoods in Parma, and boasts a traffic count of more than 40,000 vehicles each day at the intersection of State and Snow Roads. This area also hosts the Ukrainian Independence Day parade (August).[56]

In 2013, Parma formed a sister-city relationship with Lviv, Ukraine and is home to Ohio's largest Ukrainian community, the majority of whom are foreign born, with more than twice the number of any other city.

Parma is the seat of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saint Josaphat, which was established by Pope John Paul II in 1983.

Polish Village

The Polish Village commercial district is located along Ridge Road between Pearl Road and Thornton Avenue. This district was designated Polish Village on May 1, 2011

This commercial district features a large number of small, family-owned businesses and medical offices, features one of the most walkable neighborhoods in Parma, and boasts a traffic count of more than 40,000 vehicles each day at the intersection of Ridge and Snow Roads. This area also hosts the Polish Constitution Day parade (May), St. Charles Carnival parade (July), Independence Day parade (July), and Christmas parade (December).

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Just in case, they should be reminded of Thaddeus Kosciusko, a Polish freedom fighter in Europe and America, one of the most remarkable men who ever lived.

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I wonder if JD says they eat their neighbor's cats and dogs...

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MTree, I respectfully disagree. Just because the "YouTuber" spoke to a few people standing in line doesn't mean that they are representative of most Americans. It fair to say it was not an objective poll.

Moreover, when someone conducts an unscientific poll and comes to a wacky conclusion like Americans would like Putin more than Harris as President, the possibility of the YouTuber being Russian dis/misinformation is a very real possibility. The YouTuber created a Pro-Russia false narrative out of thin air. We should have, and need to have, more faith in our fellow Americans, IMO.

Remember the chant at the Women's March, or the Youth against gun violence March, or the Climate March in DC, or any March in a major city, "this is what Democracy looks like!" Well, given that the person has all the legitimacy of a "YouTuber," and makes the dubious narrative that people like Putin more than Harris... Well, all I can say is... This Is What Russian DISINFORMATION LOOKS LIKE!

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Danny Piper, he was only speaking to people waiting in line for the former guy's rallies. So, I agree it isn't representative of most Americans. He partners with Meidas Touch Network and is a very politically informed, gracious, intelligent young man. I have great respect and admiration for him. He treats everyone he converses with, with respect and is skillful at uplifting democratic values in his interactions. His videos are excellent. If you like, you can watch the videos of his interactions with people at the former guy's rallies. I think you might like this young youtuber, Danny. He really is superb!

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Great response. Thanks,M Tree!

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They are simply being human. 20th century Technocratic assumptions failed to factor in the fact that Inter Nationalising the world was simply a homogenizing reiteration of nationalisms with all its parallel murderous environmental and cultural extinctions. The technocrats chosen political weapon of increasingly deregulated neo liberal economics may have delivered millions out of brutal material poverty but it has done so at the cost of violent and chaotic imposed from above inter nationalist social revolutions.

Of course individuals who have seen generations of their families in place ways of life and culture destroyed in the name of some abstract material progress they increasingly have no share in and been politically told that complaining of this involuntary cultural sacrifice is both backward and wicked, you will get chaotic political and social blowback. Think of globalisation as a simplistic pouring of oil on troubled waters. The oil is now truly running out and the storms beneath are returning in greater force.

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Yep. Spot on, Monnina.

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...what gets me are those people of my generation who like to sport "I'd rather be a Russian..." T-Shirts at T**** rallies. Like myself these people grew up and lived during the darkest part of the cold war when the world came frighteningly close to nuclear annihilation with the Cuban Missile Crisis. I remember the air raid drills, the Better Dead than Red" slogans, the MAD policy (which it truly was), and the pointless "duck cover drills" in school (I even paraphrased the signature line from the film: "Remember kids, when you see the flash....that's the last thing you'll ever see).

Sadly these people have been so deluded by T****'s and his MAGApublicans' lies, they think people in Russia have it better. I like to say maybe they should go and live there for a year to see for themselves what its like, I have no doubt they's be pleading to come back home in a few months. In fact some who gave up citizenship to move there have regretted their decision. In Russia there is no first amendment, no second amendment. Elections are extremely rigged, government corruption is almost off the scale, and wealthy oligarchs (of which Putin himself is one) pretty much run the show. T**** and his followers talk about a "deep state" interfering in their lives. That has existed Russia for years.

Remember all those Russian dash cam videos that we popular on YouTube? The reason so many motorists there are using the cameras is because the judicial and legal system is extremely corrupt and the only way to protect oneself is to have hard evidence of who is at fault.

This is what Ukraine is fighting against. That have a long memory and know what it once was like. under Soviet rule, something Putin seems to want to return to with is plans for bringing Russia back to it's "former glory". He is a product o f the Soviet era and lamented that the breakup in 1991 as the "greatest geopolitical catastrophe" of the 20th century.

This is certainly not the type of government I care to live under either

A few years ago I dusted off my copy of Sinclair Lewis' 1935 novel "It Can;'t Happen Here" and re-read it. In some ways the parallels are frightening where a populist strongman wins and turns our nation into a dictatorship. T**** is a real life "Buzz Windrip" (the main antagonist in the story) who even said he'd be a "dictator on Day One". He may say he knows nothing about Project 2025, but much of it fits his agenda like a glove, and in fact it was written by members of his former staff.

General Milley was mistaken when he called January 6th our "Reichstag Moment" . That day was more like T****'s "Beer Hall Putsch as it failed (the only difference is while it even resulted in his second impeachment, he avoided being thrown in prison for it, unlike Adolf Hitler). The real "Reichstag Moment" is still ahead of us in 24 days and 13 hours as I wrote this.

...and the clock is ticking.

We Can't Let It Happen Here.

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BC Shelby, I agree. You'd think something true about Putin's cruel ruthlessness towards his own people and the suffering of the citizens would break through to them. Sad and scary that it doesn't. And then some of the truth is known by some people as you say, but they choose to ignore it.

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“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes”

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Bob Palmer, thanks! It's such a great quote.

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Wow. He should ask them to check out what life in Russia is like for ordinary citizens.

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Emperor Julius Caesar replaced a democratic Rome. The Romans wanted a strong man to lead them, instead of democracy. Look what happened.

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Sad to say, I think they prefer any White man over a Black woman. Trump accuses Kamala Harris of being a Communist. Putin actually was a Communist, and would have maintained the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics if he could have.

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Carolyn Herz, they said no to her because the usual "ists". I hadn't thought of it that way as a rationalization for some, to avoid the "dreaded black and dreaded woman". Yikes! Thanks! Probably too, because her very look as a candidate is democracy and they don' t want more of that. But for most of them, whatever the rationalization for choosing a cruel, murderous dictator over a representative of the people, their true reason is most likely unconscious to them.

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M Tree, I think it’s partially because the younger generations haven’t grown up in the shadow of

WWII. To them, Hitler and the atrocities he was responsible for are ancient history. The

generation that fought against Hitler’s fascism

has died. All of the movies about WWII that starkly

contrasted the differences between democracy

and fascism have faded away. I’m not bringing

these things up as a way to belittle younger generations, I’m saying it’s human nature that as

events fade into the distance past, they’re more or less not “real” for younger people.

If you combine that with a derelict main stream

media that has abandoned its function as a purveyor of factual information to educate and clarify important issues affecting our lives, there’s a big void that’s easily filled with lies. I guess there are some things that are meaningless to those who’ve

never experienced prolonged hardship. Hardship

tends to make people cautious, even cynical, when

someone is trying to sell them “snake oil” and lies.

The problem is, when a large number of people haven’t endured suffering and loss and have no clue

about what’s coming, (even though plenty of people try to tell them) the rest of us who know what’s coming get dragged through it with them.

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Susan Garrity Benton, thanks, that's such a good point that the younger generations weren't immersed in wartime or post wartime society like we were. That helps me understand the younger ones response better. But the older ones responses still baffle me. Maybe it's a matter of strength of beliefs and type of beliefs. I was strongly conditioned to believe in democracy, be patriotic, and have reverence for our democratic institutions. Perhaps the older people were not. It's so hard to wrap my head around that. Distrust, anger, at the institutions I understand, but wanting to do away with them is absurd, suicidal, and treasonous.

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We’re living in a very different world than the one we grew up in. I hadn’t given it much thought until these

American Nazis started coming out of the woodwork

as Trump became more prominent. I noticed what I

wasn’t seeing. I wasn’t seeing immediate push-back,

like I had seen in the past. Naturally, I was concerned

so I started thinking about it.

Anyway, the biggest surprise to me is the number of people who are very easily swayed by lies, aka

disinformation. The disinformation and mangling of

the English language started way before Trump came on the political scene. Mitch McConnell was a

genius in that regard and Foxnews has been relentlessly corrupting our language for years.

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The secret to selling fascism is to demonize democracy, demonize the left, and make the fascist candidate seem like a demigod. This has all been done successfully, resulting in people choosing Putin (and tRump) over Harris.

The connection between Putin and tRump is mostly psychological, in that both are sociopaths. They were both cut from the same piece of grotesque cloth. Neither has a conscience, remorse, empathy or any other virtue. These two snakes see each other as kindred spirits. Nearly every fascist leader in history has been a sociopath/psychopath.

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Steve Rasmussen, thanks, the secrets to selling fascism you noted are spot on.

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Thinking is hard so the MAGA cult doesn’t 🤮

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Does "Adam Mockler" show the answers of people who pick Harris? I thought so.

"Invariably"? I wonder if you're one of those people who fancies themselves a truth lover immune to propaganda.

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Chris Nathan, no one is immune. But I'm always alert and know the tell tale signs of propaganda. His content points to democratic values not propaganda.

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I think it’s normal to think well of those who agree with our own opinions. Truth is elusive but facts abound: unfortunately so does B.S., but it’s not hard to tell them apart.

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Professor Reich, it takes a BIG man to admit the mistakes he has made.

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In RR's defense, it's healthier to be optimistic. Who could guessed that Republicans would nominate Trumpy Bear again after losing to Biden, J6, and Trump's track record? Not me!

Who could've imagined Trump going from doing "The Apprentice" on TV to doing a modern day "The Manchurian Candidate," from NYC Broadway to Main Street stages across swing states? Not me. Honestly, in the summer of 2016 I wrote that Trump would be doing stand up comedy rants in red state Holiday Inns. I was wrong too. Who knew?

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"stand up comedy rants" !!! but has Trump ever said anything funny?

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No, he hasn't Woozie, he is devoid of a funny bone. It's always all about him. Imagine Mark Twain trading jabs with him.

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He's actually anti-laughter! I will never forget the way he reacted when Obama poked fun at him and his 'birther' conspiracy during a correspondents dinner....gave me a chilling queezy feeling. I knew tRumPutin would have his revenge. As Mary Trump has told us: NEVER EVER LAUGH AT THE DONALD!

So of course, I love laughing at him. The Lincoln Project often uses it as an effective way to needle him. We know it works because tRump tries to sue them, and sends 'cease and desist' orders often.

Laugh in the face of fear.

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Dennis, I shudder at the mere thought of Mark Twain being subjected to the likes of Trump. At least he was spared the horrors of Trump TV!

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Danny Piper: Who would have ever guessed that Dick Cheyney would join Liz , Adam Kinzinger, and now. several other leaders in the Republican party to rally with and pledge to vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.?

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"Healthier" for who Danny. Optimism is what gets people killed. Optimism says "why build for earthquakes, floods and fires"

The optimist doesn't need a fire department, smoke detector, a carbon dioxide detector.

An optimist believes nothing will ever happen to them. Lots of Optimists in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina.

An optimist in tornado alley, lives in a mobile/manufactured home, built over steel I beams. Tornado's generate electro magnetic fields and are attracted to large metal objects like mobile homes, silo's, metal buildings.

An optimist believes in the common sense and good faith of his fellow citizens and that they would never ever vote for a creep like Trump.

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You're defining naivete, not optimism.

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Optimism is naivete.

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Hey, man , I’m optimistic because the sun keeps on coming up and I’m still here to see it ( if I decide to get up early). There is a functional difference between optimism and naivety. Optimistic people believe that, despite everything, things will work out okay in the end; naive people never imagine that they would not work out well.

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Naive people are unaware, not that they could never imagine anything. Naive people have imaginations, they just live in an information desert.

Children are naive, because they don't know any better.

Knowing that the sun will rise in the east does not require optimism. Any more than knowing that if I jump off the top of a four story building I have a damn good chance of dying. That is tempered with the fact that I fell 50 feet when I was 15, and only suffered a green stick fracture in my left forearm. My friends ran off, and when I got up and chased after them, they thought I was a ghost.

Here is how I see optimism vs pessimism

An optimist can be surprised, seriously disappointed and depressed, when proven wrong.

A pessismist, never, but they will be pleasantly surprised and elated when proven wrong.

I've never been depressed only pleasantly surprised and elated.

The optimistic Jew said after Hitler was appointed Chancellor, it can't really be that bad, we have a democracy after all, and after Crystalknacht, "this too will pass"

The pessismistic Jew, bought a ticket on a steamer out of Bremerhaven.

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William, you have convinced me that optimism is the root cause of all our troubles. Pass the Kool-aid!

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R Hodson, your response was a shameful and dishonest tactic.

The optimistic Jew in 1933 Berlin. "this Hitler fellow, can't be all that bad, just a bunch of bluster and bluff to appeal to his base".

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William, as I tried to reply earlier, my remark was meant as sarcasm (or irony, take yer pick). I wasn’t born yesterday. And not tactical.

The other thing is your quote about “that Hitler fella” seems to me a a projection. It’s a good fit for the ‘geniuses’ (another sarc alert!) in charge of the GOP who figured they could give this Trump fella a chance to play with the big dogs to spice things up in the primaries. They could always dump Trump later if he became a nuisance.

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(I was being sarcastic - or ironic, I get them mixed up).!

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Reich:"Democracy is not a spectator sport. It’s not what governments do. Democracy is what people do. The resistance ...should remind us that democracy survives only if people are willing to sacrifice for it."

We all have anxiety, depression, bad habits, questionable relationships?

Scientists are finding that admitting weakness can create opportunities for accelerated growth, ideally in our leaders and in ourselves:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10sB0fqSY4fbyuRvWeSvif6HXW1gDFXru/view?usp=drive_link

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K_9SkawJH6sRq-V5718NFw79j_t_SsVm/view?usp=drive_link

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I'm not so sure about Dr. Reich's statement about Putin's nuclear threats. Ukraine's actions have on at least three occasions shown Putin's threats to be no more than bluster. From day one of Russia's attack Biden and therefore the West have suffered from an excess of caution and, most importantly, have learned nothing from our mistakes.

Trump would be a disaster to be sure, but Biden's performance hasn't been beyond criticism.

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No question Biden could have been more aggressive. But he also knows that he couldn’t count on the support of the entire country after an attack the way, say, W could after 9/11.

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I think it was Willy Brandt who said, “We have a duty to act tenaciously and purposefully even if some measures do appear to be unpopular." (Or perhaps it was Helmut Schmidt.) In any event, leadership includes educating the public and acting in their best interest even if it is unpopular. I shudder to think what would have happened had Franklin Roosevelt or Abraham Lincoln bowed to popular opinion.

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Good point, Stephen.

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Stephen, first, I would compliment Dr. Reich for admitting to what he sees to be his oversights, and to correct his views. And then, the country, after the 2020 election and then after Jan. 6 must have had a reality check that t. was an existential threat not only to democracy but to the virtue of human life, as seen in his denial of climate change, of world relations, of the value of a multitude of peoples, and in his affinity for dictators like Putin, Orban, and Kim. It is like 90 million people have been blinded by him, and succumbed to the lure of the abyss. My own eyes are wide open now. We need to jam him up with the ballot, in force. As far as nuclear deterrence, Biden has, on at least one occasion, clarified to Putin that it would be the gravest of errors to unleash a nuclear weapon on Ukraine. As for Trump, one of his Chiefs of Staff, John Kelly as I recollect, stated that at one point Trump queried with regard to ISIS in Syria, "Why don't we just nuke them?" This is what we are confronted with, not having a Kelly to hold him back. Bluntly put, he is shit-faced in the view that absolute power is within his grasp.

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To clarify, "...half the country, after the 2020 election..."

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I agree that Putin Putin's nuclear threats are phony ballooning baloney. You would probably like the work of this war historian

https://phillipspobrien.substack.com/p/can-we-finally-let-ukraine-fight

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Thanks for posting the link. I am already subscribed.

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This irony is what I like and respect...

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My comment is about the BIG MAN...

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What I was thinking as I read Robert’s mea culpa. Since it is’true confessions’ time, to some degree I shared each of these outlooks at one time. I still believe that the MAD concept is a powerful deterrent against nuclear adventurism.

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Janet, please explain your reasons why "we need" a 32 hour work week. Are you suggesting we pass a law to do this? Lebanon's government has failed. Is it run by an oligarchy? Is that oligarchy Hezbollah?

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Project 2025. Project 2025. Project 2025. People seem to be forgetting.

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I’m planning to make sure you’re right about one thing, Robert. Democracy is a gift to be treasured. We won’t allow the grifter to snatch it away in his tiny hands.

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Well said. Thank you! ❤️🇺🇲

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I too was waaaay wrong. For decades I thought the average adult was far smarter and streetwise than they actually are. I was also wrong about people’s herd instinct. Most people don’t think for themselves. They do what the herd thinks; what they are told to think. Racism too I was wrong about. It’s nowhere near dead and never will be. There’s a lot of racist mo fos out there.

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I would often say that, being born white in America makes you either a saint, a racist, or a racist in recovery. And I ain't no saint. I came to accept that racism is just a form of cowardice, and I did not want to live my life as a coward.

Being on a US Navy ship with 250 shipmates of all backgrounds -- and out on deployment for 7 or 8 months at time, compels a person to deal with those things. Also, living in an Asian country were I was the minority helped too. I've always considered myself a very flawed person with a sense of decency and fair-mindedness.

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In my case, I was naive. I didn't know racism existed until I went to college in Florida. I was sitting at a table in a diner with 2 friends, one of whom was black. A pair of drunk rednecks sitting at the counter started singing loudly "everybody loves a bigger sometime". I was so shocked, I started to get up to go say something to them - probably ask them what in the hell was wrong with them - but my black friend looked at me, terrified and shaking his head 'no'. Only then did I understand it was real, and dangerous. I've never been so sad and ashamed for my own race and my sheltered life. Believe it or not, I still often forget that racism is a real thing. Like Robert Reich, I have foolishly believed that for most of the world it was in our past, and only survived among ignorant people with a family history of racism. The last few years have been incredibly jarring.

Now, don't even get me started on fascists! WTF???

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"bigger " was supposed to start with an n. Thank you autocorrect.

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I was also naive about just how crooked the entire world is. It’s very crooked for the most part. Not illegal per se, but crooked and conniving.

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Marvelous, Robert! We must all do our utmost to ensure that so-called macho strongmen no longer hold sway over our world. Working hard to elect Kamala and Tim is just the start, Trumpelstiltskin, Pukin, Musk-Rat, Irrele-Vance, Nethanyahoo and Peter Thief must all be taught a good lesson this November 5!

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The Republican Party, The MAGA Party, are poised to take back the Senate. Trump is also on his way to winning. The corporations are not democratic institutions and they pretty much run the country. We live in a plutocracy. Dr. Reich talks about our democracy but seemingly forgets his own words such as a 2010 article in Salon, "America is becoming a plutocracy". https://www.salon.com/2010/10/18/the_perfect_storm/

The corporate sector for decades backed the Republican Party, and this includes corporate media even though they claim to be fair and balanced, they are not. As Dr. Reich pointed out the other day in his article about the news media and Kamala Harris. The problem for corporate America is they are now going to have live with the real possibility of being ruled by an authoritarian government lead by an aging malignant narcissist, Trump, christian nationalist, and the end of the rule of law that helped them all become wealthy. Unfortunately the rest of us will have to live with what ever is coming if Trump wins. If the US was a real democracy I don't think Trump would have survived the first impeachment let alone the second. What Dr. Reich seemed to also be wrong about was that the Republican Party would support our democratic republic over power. Seems Dr. Reich was wrong about that as well.

This nation is for corporations and by corporations and special interest. Look at the healthcare industrial complex, it's a huge dysfunctional mess and that's by design. How else does a for profit health insurance corporation get away with raising their premiums by 2000% or more for drug coverage. Biden did do a good thing when he capped drug prices, but Congress didn't help him because all the health insurance corporations did was raise premiums and deductibles to make up the difference of losses on drugs they can't make a profit on anymore.

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I suspect PBMs are making the profit from overpriced drugs. One PBM is owned by CVS pharmacy which also owns a health insurance company. Years ago, the State of California legislature allowed Blue Cross of California to change from non-profit to for-profit in order to "access capital" which decision was wrong. Blue Shield of California remains not for profit.

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Another example of how the Democrats do the bidding of the wealthy donating class. If both parties kowtow to the wealthy donor class, whether they are liberal or conservative, the citizens always get screwed.

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I know.... I'm not sure if they're doing this out of weakness for wealth/power themselves, or for political survival. I've become very worried that the donating class has so much power they could sink any candidate or even party that won't toe the line.

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That's what happened to Biden. He wouldn't step down until Pelosi and other Democrats in leadership rolls told him he needed to step down. It was about the money.

I live in Massachusetts which is a one party state run by Democrats and I've seen how a self titled progressive governor, Maura Healey, turned her back on the people of Dorchester and Ayer after two hospitals had to close due the malfeasance of Steward Health Care, which is one of the largest healthcare scandals to hit Massachusetts. Governor Healey was asked by the people of Dorchester and Ayer to attend or send a representative and she ignored people of Ayer and Dorchester. Healey is completely in the pockets of the wealthy donor class of which the former CEO of Steward, Ralph de la Torre, who was a donor to Healey's AG and governor campaigns.

Speaking of Healey and her administration, Monica Tibbits-Nutt , who is a friend of Healey's was appointed as Secretary of Transportation. When asked if she ever rides on public transportation she said no, that she doesn't have the time. What? The person in charge of the public transportation system does not think she should at least take a commuter rail or subway. Needless to say, the public outrage was met with a wave of the hand by Healey. These are progressive Democrats who are wealthy and who only deal with the liberal wealthy donors and the rest of the citizens can eat cake.

I voted for Healey as well. I won't be if she runs for again.

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“Earlier this year, Trump suggested he’d encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” if a NATO ally wasn’t paying their fair share to the alliance.”

So let me get this straight! Trump not only took our most important top secret documents, which confirm our most sensitive Special Access Programs (SAP); he also managed to have seven calls with Putin at Mar a LarDo, while in possession of these documents, without anyone having knowledge of these conversations. What could possibly go wrong?

It’s not like he shared sensitive, highly classified documents with Foreign Minister Lavrov And Ambassador Kislyak of Russia, while President in the Oval? Oh wait, he did!

Furthermore, it was information Israel shared with us, and after the debacle, our allies, including Israel, Germany, Great Britain and France considered no longer sharing classified information with us for fear Trump would hand it over to Putin or even Xi!

Think about it? Our allies view Trump as a National Security risk! When was the last time our allies ever could even conceive such a betrayal by a US president? It’s never Happened before.

It’s also not like he betrayed our allies in the past? Oh wait, just ask the Kurds and our Afghan allies. Now none of our allies trust us to uphold our security or economic agreements.

Bottom line: the damage being done is self inflicted and avoidable. If Trump wins again, there will be a realignment of world interests, which would leave the US out in the cold. Instead of having the a seat at the table (head seat), we’d be on the menu!

Additionally, Trump believes the authoritarian’s of the world love him; he claims he has a great relationship with Putin. Nothing could be further from the truth. Putin, Orban, Netanyahu and Xi are all using Trump. It took me only one college child psychology class to figure out the pathology of the petulant man-child we call Trump. Foreign leaders have unlimited resources to manipulate the man.

As Benjamin Disraeli once said, “countries have no friends, only interests.” And the only one who doesn’t understand how international relations work; is Trump , and America will be far worse off for the matter! Let that sink in !…..:)

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DEFEAT TREASONOUS TERRORISTS FELONS NAZIS RACIST RAPIST CORRUPT AND CON REPUBLICONS EVERYWHERE

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FT 6 sent 250,000 texts to unregistered NC and WI folk yesterday. Today is the last day to register online in NC. https://www.fieldteam6.org/

Last day to register in Pa and MI online is Oct. 21. WI online Oct 16, but MI and NC permit registrations in person during early voting periods and WI at the polls.

States with late registration. https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/same-day-voter-registration

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The Cost Of Freedom Is Eternal Vigilance... People for the Most Part, are still Tribal Animals....

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This is Robert Reich’s finest essay. Everyone should read it, share it, then actively support liberal candidates for office up and down the ballot. It will indeed take all of us to win against the avalanche of lies that threatens democracy and the civilizing sanity of liberal institutions everywhere.

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Like!

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I can't believe that the moneyed interests have installed a Russian plant ,and some of them want to do it again. Our Supreme Court is bought and paid for, and the Fourth Estate does not think this fact is a story. What, if any, remedies do we have? All I hear from pundits is how bad everything will be when/if he 'wins'. We are reminded often that he can make all justice go away. Weaponize the already compromised courts along with every lever in government. Sickening!

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DJT has been Cultivated by the Russians since the Soviet Era in the 1980s... Their Strategic Aims haven't changed... Putting a Madman as head of their greatest Enemy is a Brilliant Move on the Russians part... Brilliant for Them, Horrible for Us....

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Apache : Yes, but it looks like their diabolical plan may backfire. The Conservatives who are on board with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz realize what we are losing if that loser in Chief regains power. Just look at the recent storms on repeat in Florida and several other states. It does not take a genius to see what losing policy can do.

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Hello Laurie... Let's Hope that Logic Prevails.... The MAGAs have Blind Faith, and Hatred on their side... This Blinds Them To Logic... This Election in the Swing Counties, in the Swing States is too close to Comfort...

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Yes, it seems that almost every election is "very tight". The media make more $$$ when this is pushed. All the PACs are able to get worried voters to 'support' their favorite candidates. The ads get more numerous. (And we learned in school that we don't have poll taxes! B.S.!) As for logic ; remember the RED WAVE we were warned about in the mid terms? That turned out to be a blue tsunami?

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Bear in Mind that the Control of the House Of Representatives passed to the Republicans, and we now have Mike Johnson as Speaker... I much preferred Nancy Pelosi.... How is it that we have a Convicted Felon, Financial Fraudster, Twice Impeached DJT on the National Ballot? Logic Doesn't Apply... Bummer... ;-)

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A corrupt Court is the main symptom of the disease of corruption in general.

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I am comforted by the fact that Biden has full immunity to do, as President, any thing he feels he must between November 5 and January 20.

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Woozie : I had the same thought until I read Judge Ketangi Brown Jackson's dissent where she says (paraphrasing), it is wrong for immunity laws to be made for only one individual President. 🤔 I have the impression that the law is written for tRUMP only. Having said that , President Biden has said that there are actions and preparations being made to tighten security at all levels of government to prevent anything that may be attempted to interfere or cause violence during voting. and through the entire election process. Up to the certification of votes, and beyond.

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I have a great respect for you, Robert, and have followed your articles for perhaps decades, mostly in the Guardian and now here. Your optimism in political, social and economic affairs has contrasted my own more cynical views, and I have been encouraged by you. So your 'mea culpa' of reality breaking into your post is not a surprise, but not welcome either.

I was going to go through the points one by one but there is nothing to be gained. Enough to say that I think the Dems need a reality check too, because the gap between their thinking and offerings to the American public, and what at least 50% of Americans think, believe and want is growing demonstrably wider - it is, for example, incredible that people like Trump and Vance are neck and neck with Harris and Walz! It must surely be time to ask Why?

Whomever wins in 4 weeks time, I think the Dems have to think very, very seriously about what the electorate actually want from their political representatives in Washington, both domestically and internationally.

For two obvious examples:

Do they want AI encouraged as part of a progressive hi-tech agenda? Or controlled so it doesn't replace millions of American workers and professionals with algorithms and bots. (That might bring the Unions back onside too). I am absolutely sure that millions of Americans are scared that their jobs, and jobs for their children, simply won't exist soon.

And I am already sure they do NOT want American Presidents spending $billions of American's money to send battlefield weapons, month after month, for Netanyahu to obliterate Israel's neighbours, occupy their countries and start a new Middle East war. Especially as it will obviously drag American troops into it.

Dems may have the moral high ground, with rights for every minority, and social policies, and greater protections, but perhaps much of that agenda was for richer, better times, now gone. All that cannot be at the expense of ignoring the absolute basics - the gut fear of people wondering whether to buy food or pay the rent, or if they can afford to get that lump checked by a doctor, or driving an uninsured or unsafe car to work because they cannot afford any alternative.

I hope, Robert, you can regain your optimism with a Harris win and new policies that inspire more of the American public to better, more positive politics. But I think there is some soul searching to do first.

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Very good.

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I am so glad for all of the faithful readers of Robert Reich, who continue to work hard to face difficult truths and also champion the rights of the disenfranchised, validate the honor of the courageous, value cooperation over coercion, and work for a healthy planet, justice, and the power of love. Love of others and self-respect will keep us working and moving forward, in good times and in bad times. We will persevere.

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A lot of interesting questions from Reich with answers to consider, but the one that stands out is the closeness of Trump to Putin. I have always been suspicious of Trump’s behavior and comments regarding Putin. Going behind closed doors with Putin, defending Putin over our own, praising Putin and Kim Jon Un you have to not be paying attention to not see it all. And when Trump took all those boxes from the Whitehouse - no doubt in my mind Trump had intention to provide or charge Putin for secrets. It’s mindboggling to hear the November race is so close. A fascist from the beginning, Trump has gotten worse - hard to figure those who would vote for a traitor?

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