Tonight's contest pits a successful X-district attorney against an uneducated convicted felon. Oddly, both are vying for the office of the president, and with any luck this country will find a way forward and leave the felon languishing in some roadside ditch. However, like the skunk that he is, his presence will be with us long after he is gone.
And yet the polls are saying the 2 nominees are dead even! What does this say about the country? We all need to reunite against tyranny that is knocking on the door and is positioning for a takeover. Many Republicans are realizing this and are endorsing Kamala Harris. You don’t see any Democrats changing their position and endorsing The Adjudicated Felon!
Tulsi Gabbard was previously a democrat, now turned tRump supporter. But I think these people get caught up in the power of it all. The grifters who are promised stardom & money in Magaworld!
"When Prophecy Fails" by Dr Leon Festinger (see Festinger's Theory of Cognitive Dissonance and Cognitive Consistency) led to Cognitive Behavior Techniques that prevent anger, anxiety, depression, etc.
The Senate's Dr Haidt's "3 Great Untruths" that Gen Z believes that is dooming Gen Z and democracy include Exposure Therapy, demonization, and State Dependent Learning... more on request...
Bannon said in his last broadcast before he marched off to jail.
That they have law suits drawn up and lawyers primed to file them as soon as the election results are tabulated, basically sitting on the courthouse steps. The same with fake electors, list drawn up, documents signed and fake electors sitting on the Capitol steps
The last time they were a dollar late, in Minnesota the fake electors showed up after the real ones were already inside.
They have learned. The RNC has also trained 100,000 poll watchers, probably armed as well to intimidate voters, especially POC.
They aren't going to cover all districts, they don't need to, they know which ones are safe, only the vital swing state districts.
I really do hope the DNC is prepared this time to head them off at the pass.
I remember the novel in which Lindbergh becomes President and makes an alliance with Adolf Hitler. It was not implausible as scenario. It feels close to happening now, with modern day Hitler Putin.
It makes me worry along your lines of thought.
It's the economy: yes, I think so too. Like the way Stilitz has put it: the voters are angry because the State has done not enough for them to gain their trust. Kamala is on the right track, but the inequality should have been tackeled, the trends and problems politicised.
It is culture: yes, there is an unbelievable fixation in politics with sexual habits, abortion, and ways to use the rumors in this field for political purposes.
Is it 42% of the electorate? Yes, maybe. But how to get rid of the disproportional effect of this minority? The electoral system should change.
Is culture the problem? Yes: the influence of big money is still growing, in politics and in mass communication. That should change.
There is a problem with the judiciary as well. Trump is an insurrectionist and should be persecuted; in fact every insurrectionist/election denier should be held accountable in the juridical system.
Indeed: a close race might cause violence, whatever the outcome, a victory from Trump will show his madness, cause the end of democracy and probably world peace. Lock him up...
Made notes. Myself victim of "dissonance." Irony is that the "dissonant" one seems to be quite immune to anger, anxiety and depression. Not their problem if you make a problem for yourself.
I remember Gabbard a few years back imploring people to leave Trump alone and not antagonize him. She thought like a battered wife and talked like a little girl. What she is today is a natural progression.
Cyrano had a long nose like Pinocchio, Pinocchio got his long nose from lying. Your screen name should rightfully be Pinoccio, Putin dog. Now go jagoff honestly, in your mothers panties.
I predicted as we get closer to the election, the Putin trolls would be piling in in record numbers and here we have another.
Putin's troll farm is quite busy, not only Shitter and Facebook, but substack as well.
There is a way to cut the noise though, make posting subscriber only.
Allowing ‘subscriber only’ posting may deter a few lone wolf trolls But those in Putin‘s pockets will easily cough up the little fee and post under a clever alias.
I am not so sure that those in Putin's pocket will cough up the coins.
There were virtually no Putin Trump trolls until we got into the election season, then they started to show up in drips and drabs, now the spigot is wide open, and it will get worse until November 5th, I expect it to slow down after that,, except for the few addled fanatics who get boners and orgasms thinking that they have owned the libs.
It is difficult to run for office in Hawaii and win as a Republican.
She had an upbringing with parents who were and are strongly opposed to same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ issues. The views were fostered by being members of a Hindu sect that is considered alt-right.
It’s pretty clear They’re all Russian assets, especially people like Tulsi Gabbard who visited Russia and almost immediately started doing politically weird stuff that made little sense especially for a Democrat… Let’s hope it’s all exposed after Putin is finished off.
Have you ever listened to her? At least not thru the MSNBC or CNN filter? Aside from being a Trump supporter, what specifically don’t you like about her?
Gabbard and Vance and many in the Duopoly are merely right wing hacks - they have nothing to offer. And thats sadly all the majority want in a leader. they dont expect a leader to turn from proxy wars to solve the rot in America.
Do you mean power like a better economy, secure border, less wars, better security within our borders, more 1st amendment rights? Yes, I think Tulsi is caught up in fighting for all of that.
Tulsi is caught up in fighting for Putin. Less wars: Since America is not at war with anyone, that can only mean helping Putin win his genocidal war in Ukraine, 1st Admendment for thee, sure, but not for me. border security yeh, keep out those brown people who are threatening to "pollute" the blood of the nation., better economy for the billionaires that are financing Trump. Tax the working middle class to subsidize the wealthy.
America is at war. We are participants in Israeli conflict with Hamas. We are also participants in Ukrainian conflict with Russia. There may be other wars we aren't being told about. Nevermind if they are labelled as war or conflict or what-have-you. We are marketing our weapons of war to the highest bidder. This makes us participants.
No we are not war Eris, by your definition we are always at war, everywhere, all the time, War has not been declared, we do not have boots on the ground and we are at war with terrorism.
And there are just wars. Wars that need to be fought to preserve democracy and freedom.
And no we don't sell out weapons to the highest bidder, where do you get this shit? Pull it out of your ass to justify your beliefs and ideology?
Israel-Gaza is a side show to the real conflict that is going on. Oct 7th was Khameini's birthday gift to Putin, to distract America and the west form Putin's grand design to rebuilt the Russian Empire, lost when the Soviet Empire was dismantled.
Ukraine , Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Moldova, the
Czech Republic, Germany, France, Britain agree with me. Only right wing authoritarians and Putinists disagree.
ErisX--The powers that be who represent the axis of evil in this world are well equipped and driven to destruction. We need to provide these smaller targets with the necessary tools with which to protect themselves from the dictators of this world who are running rampant over the good societies interested in either maintaining a Democracy or developing one of their own. We are a part of the world's community; we can't just sit back and watch. For if we do there will be no one left to help.
What do you mean genocidal war? Biden/ Harris are concerned about Ukraine’ territorial borders but not ours. 1st amendment for all. Legal immigration for all. Why do you bring race into the conversation? What does that have to do with it?
Well Chris: Per Art II, UN Covenant on Prevention of Genocide states that Intent is required, And Putin has announced his intent many times, over and over, to annihilate the Ukrainian language, culture and identity, and he is waging a war on purpose, not collateral damage as in Gaza, on women and children, bombing maternity hospitals and schools that are not being used by the Ukrainians for command posts.Unlike HAMAS, Ukraine isn't using civilians as human shields.
As regards the 1st Amendment, Read the Bill of Rights, Art 1 says. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances
Where does the constitution say anything about Freedom of speech? It doesn't.
The restraint is on congress, not the citizen, not a state, not a corporation, onlyh congress
The issue with Ukraine is not about their territorial borders, and your attempt to
to conflate that with the immigration problem of the US is what is called a red herring fallacy
Why I brought in race as regards the immigration issue is because that is the reason that the MAGAts are against immigration, all of those brown skinned people coming across the borders, makes those tough manly men wet their pants.
I close by saying your statement. 1st Amendment for all is stupid and a non sequitur. No body is stopping you from expressing your opinion, especially not Congress.
Interesting that Tulsi actually survived the Democratic primary system in 2020 much further than Kamala, who the elites loved but everyone else quickly understood how phony she was. Couldn’t even make it to the Iowa caucus date, and was poling third in her home state of CA. Now Kamala is supposedly the “choice if the people “ without ever getting a single vote in two primaries.
Israel, Israel, you are fixated on Israel, Why is that.Russia has troll farms,Iran has troll farms, Korea and China has troll farms, but not i\Israel, so why are you fixated on Israel ErisX.?
I hate to say it, but people are stupid. Or, at least, incredibly simplistic. They don't bother to look beyond the 'stuff.'. That is just too much work for them.
Not a psychiatric patient. That's a false and silly claim. And insulting to actual psychiatric patients. An a-hole parasite loser traitor is not the same as them.
Perhaps that is why MAGA people feel disrespected by the rest of us - I admit, it's very hard to see any integrity in a MAGA position and I'm tired of pretending there is just to spare the feelings of insecure people.
She’s an idiot. Sorry. She opens her mouth and dumbness falls out. She can’t help herself. She lives in a tiny little bubble. And worse, she votes. Just my dumb opinion.
The GOP aims to do away with good basic education. It’s been at it for years. If you don’t like the quality of today’s voters, wait till this cohort of grade school kids is voting age.
Stupidity is to be pitied; Willful ignorance and deep-seated vicious misogyny with xenophobia are most definitely not. These are symptoms of a pathology that must be shoved back under the rock from which it came.
Ilene - “like” Well said. All of it needs to go back under the rock and then detonated. I just don’t understand how some human beings can hate others who are different from themselves so much. (Actually I do but I hope you get my point)
Half of all American VOTERS are just stupid. Only about half of eligible adults are actually voting. Winners are getting about 25% of the votes of all eligible adults.
@Scott Elrod — Perhaps you could consider putting the liberal condescension on hold while you scroll back up back up and re-read what Prof. Reich wrote:
“They distrust the system. They feel disrespected by the “coastal elites” who appear to run it. And they’re stuck, economically.
“They are mostly white men without college degrees, many without even high school degrees — men who used to have good manufacturing jobs but who are now working for low pay in jobs they consider women’s work.”
Calling half your fellow citizens stupid will not persuade them of their error or do anything to reduce the bitterness — and dangerousness — of the current situation.
Keith that is why I pay little attention to the polls. Do we ever see what are the questions, how they are formatted and what response choices are offered to get to these. Poll in the past may have been more representative but I am not convinced that is the case today. Not to mention I think there are lots of Americans out there who just don’t want to say anything to anyone for fear or just the aggravation of listening to maga acclaimed or leaning rants. That said the only answer to all of this today is to VOTE BLUE UP AND DOWN THE TICKET for a solid victory not easily to be contested.
Keith. I know the GOP puts out disinfo, in articles that appear to be in legitimate online magazines,
but it’s all fake. They’ve also been known to copy
the style of established online news magazines like Time & Newsweek and attach disinfo articles to
them. It’s not the campaigns doing that, it’s the conservative “machine.” Republicans have probably bought what used to be reliable polling companies
and attached fake polling results. The RNC and The Federalist Soc. have built a ginormous operation
for the purpose of taking over our government &
turning it into a Nazi-like regime. Trump is only a superficial part of it and he is by no means running
it. He’s the bombastic, self-centered pathological liar/useful idiot who can keep everyone focused on him and automatically blaming him, while the people actually responsible for it remain behind the scene.
One of the late night talk show hosts pointed out the absurdity of these phone polls. "What normal person answers a phone call from an unidentified caller anymore?"
For those who have chosen the tyrannical method, it is too little too late for reunification. They have shown little interest. The natural evolution of a people, state, country, or earth will happen when the balance of power in positive thought overwhelms the dissonance that owns brutality, that in the past, has benefited the ignorant and uneducated. The education of all those on earth is a slow process and therefore, in our lifetime, we will not see the fruits of our labor - be it cognitive, spiritual, computer generated, or physical. For our children and their children, we must keep on keeping on.
I think it also says something about the poor quality control of polling. If statistically sufficiently powered and non-biased, I would think the polling spectrum would be tighter than the 5-7% differences between often seen between different organizations. Given MAGA's mile wide stream of dark money and their indifference to legalities, we have every right to be suspicious of "dead even polls" especially if there are no significant events that would support them. By the way, can anyone recommend a serious analysis of current electoral polling processes including statistical analytical tools used?
Keith Olson, that’s also surprising and discouraging to me but I like your appeal to reunite against tyranny. VP Harris has already done enough to show us she is the obvious and only choice as our next president.
It says that the country does not agree with this TDS fueled diatribe posing as reasoned analysis. It says that the individuals that Robert Reich is supposedly concerned about and wants to help by implementing more of the failed top down governmental solutions do not agree within and the costal elites agree with his plan to centrally accumulate power.
A perfect example of the point that Dr. Bandy Lee makes. It is Trump contagion that causes people to call felon or weird or this or that, while leaving out the fact that he is a DANGEROUS person with a severe mental pathology. That's WHY he's a serial criminal.
Absolutely! What that woman has been through all in the name of educating the public about the danger Trump poses to the country and the world is disgraceful as well as terribly sad. She is truly a brave and heroic person, who has predicted everything that has come to pass through her vast knowledge, and warns that things will get far worse should King MAGA be reelected.
(Like) x5. Amen She is now setting up a seminar with many of her colleagues to get Congress to consider drafting and passing a resolution that will compel Donald Trump to be examined by a competent mental health professional -- Board certified -- or leave the race.
Dr. Lee speaks of it in her recent sessions on YouTube under the ID of "Recovering from Trump Contagion and the Restoration of Our Collective Mental Health" I'll be donating to that effort and encourage others to do the same.
If only they learned from the last debate and immediately fact checked Trump’s inevitable vociferous lies by lagging the time. I tried to notify ABC to do this but it has not been mentioned. I am worried he will use the debate once again as a platform to spew his lies and the uninformed will be swayed.
At this late date, nobody is going to be "swayed," just by a 1.5 hour debate. Anybody who still votes for this orange blob wanted to before the debate.
You are so correct, Daniel. My hubby is a 75 year old Trumper who spends most of the day in the basement working on his guns.
He will often emotionally repeat to me what he heard on Newsmax, Parlor, OAN... but is unable to give me any of the verifiable *details* of what he heard: Who? What? where? how? when?
"Dunno, but I heard it on one of my channels".
He has absorbed only the *emotions* contained in the statements and made them his, because they confirm his biases.
If you wonder why I didn't say "FoxNews", it is because, he says "they have gone 'soft'.
Note that all "strongmen" have to maintain the illusion that they are strong, usually by bullying, so yes. for them, appearance and demeanor are more important than substance.
Yikes, Cecile . . . "working on his guns"...? What is he working on them for??? Maybe it is high-time you filed for divorce and got the heck out of there!! BEFORE the election comes to pass!
I should explain that he is retired and fixing guns was always his pastime. Folks bring him guns to fix but he knows how I feel about braggards with guns and folks who run their mouth, folks who are cocky or bully others.
Being a gun professional helps to keep him in line, he knows the rules and will respect them. He understands that he could lose it all if he got out of line with a gun.
you're right-most people listening on radio thought Nixon beat Kennedy-but he'd been sick,lost weight,baggy suit,5 o'clock shadow,he didn't look cool,calm,and collected like Kennedy,and he lost
I watched the debate, and it was the make up. Nixon was too manly to wear makeupand came across sallow and harsh in the studio light, it was black and white TV.
Sure. Those who vote viscerally with unengaged brains have allowed their frustration with their social and economic conditions to morph into a death wish. Only they refuse to believe it.
Biden's stumbles were so bad that they overshadowed the garbage he was spieling. It is highly unlikely he will get such a huge pass tonight against Kamala Harris.
She goes into the debate with the highest of expectations while they don't expect anything but lies from him. Plus she's actually expected to fact check him. How does she fact check him and get out her message? I heard Dana Bash claim it's not the moderators job, that fact checking makes them part of the debate. Personally I think they should run a graphic across the screen calling out his lies as he makes them
Dana tried to sink her teeth into Waltz during the interview. He cleverly threw it back making her look like a dog retreating with its tail between its legs.
Trump and all conservatives to extreme right wing used the tacitc known as
The Gish gallop (/ˈɡɪʃ ˈɡæləp/) is a rhetorical technique in which a person in a debate attempts to overwhelm an opponent by presenting an excessive number of arguments, with no regard for their accuracy or strength, with a rapidity that makes it impossible for the opponent to address them in the time available
Kamala is a prosecutor and knows how to instinctively think her feet, Biden is a trained Senator raised on comity and compromise. He looked like a deer in the headlights. He didn't do so well and didn't look good when he debated Kamala for President. It is not that he did well in 2020 . It is just that many of his voters committed suicide by COVID, by not vaxxing, masking or isolating.
She is but she is wasting her time trying to fact check a fire hose of lies, her tactic is to sell herself and make Trump look childish and ineffectual, his image as a strong man is what is attracting the right, the are looking for a 21st Century Hitler or Mussolini, considering the involvement by Catholics, especially Opus Dei, Leonard Leo, Kevin Roberts and SCOTUS, more like a Franco I would say.
I caught Dana Bash on a couple of the late night shows as she peddled her new book. She stated that she and her rework don’t feel responsible for fact checking these debates since they expect the viewers to sort it out. How LAME!! Lazy journalism and a misinformed America! Most people believe that whatever they hear on tv and double, if lies are not corrected. Dana Bash makes a big salary as an MSM tool. Yuck!
So true Marilyn. Lost all respect for Dana Bash after that interview and confirmed it when she interviewed Kamala. What lame questions to ask when all the “supposed newscasters” harp on Kamala needs to introduce herself to America and they lead with what’s your take on TFG questioning your “blackness”. How about your vision and plan to make life better, engage with European leaders. And don’t get me started on well she’s only the VP. Trump was a reality entertainer failed businessman when he ran and no one questioned that or even said how awful he was as a president. Oh but then, they would have to know how to think critically.
Exactly why "news" needs be presented as HARD, VERIFIED FACTS. Not entertainment, speculation or self-enrichment. Try to imagine Walter Kronkite peddling HIS book on the JFK Assassination. You can't beacuse he didn't. He didn't because even media corporations then ran the news departments as separate entities, for the most part, and, yes, NASA did have a successful moon landing in July, 1969, leaving footprints and an American flag (and some trash) behind.
That is one reason why we have so many misinformed people in this country.. So called journalists with little or no courage to speak truth to power and to hold liars and deceivers accountable, which is their duty as the fourth estate…
ABC wants him to "win" and is working for his billionaire supporters, who can't stand him. But they want him to raid the treasury for them, and hobble US in every way. 😢.
Trying to notify any media of anything is a waste of time and talent.
All MSM is corporate. Corporations are owned by investors (individual and institutional), who put in money to expect a return on investment (ROI), they hire an executive (Chief Executive Officer or CEO) to do that job and pay him with salary and benefits and bonuses depending on how well he or she does that job.
The CEO then hires editors and producers to help him do the job that the BoD has hired him to do, and he in turn hires people to report and deliver the message that is approved by the CEO and the BoD.
In some cases, like Brian L Roberts is Major individual Shareholder, Chairman and CEO of Comcast, which owns NBCUniveral whichowns MSNBC and NBC among others.
ABC is owned Walt Disney Studios, the major Shareholder is Robert Iger, who is also the CEO.
CNN is, when you drill down, owned by the Newhouse Family.
NYT by the Ochs Sulzberger Family
WAPO by Jeff Bezos
CBS is owned by National Amusements which is owned by National Amusements is now owned by Michael Redstone's son, Sumner Redstone, who holds 80% of the company, and Sumner's daughter, Shari Redstone, who owns the remaining 20%.
David Elllison son of Larry Ellison,Oracle Corporation co-founder and chairman Larry Ellison who also owns Lanai Island in Hawaii, and is a huge Trump supporter, made a bid in July to buy National Amusements.
None of the above have your, mine, or the nations interests in mind, Only theirs.
There is no such thing as an unbiased fact checker, it depends on the topic and the debaters. Candy Crowley proved this when she mistakenly fact checked Mitt Romney and effectively ended her career. It is up to the opponent to fact check and the audience to decide or do their own research.
K, how does the candidate fact check against a gish gallaper within the time allowed? Harris should straightforward ly answer the questions posed to her and point out that Trump avoided the questions and went off on tangents.
Gloria, I think Harris will make a big mistake if she tries in real time to fact-check the demented orange yam. She just needs to keep right on moving, leaving Trumpty Dumpty behind in his blathering dirt-devil storm.
If fact checks be left up to the audience, then the educated/ diligent will come out in favour of Harris and the uneducated/ lazy in favour of Trumpovich. In other words it’ll achieve little. See how that works?
Certainly someone or some respected journalist or authorities would step forward and present a complete fact checked movie , book , documentary to present to the public to show details of what’s been done !
Here we are weeks away from election and if the response is the canned , hoax , lies. , fake, commie and so many untruths thrown at facts ..it will sink into some and with sigh a Harris victory will be the Answer we point to wear down the ignorance that has to be reversed to find a middle ground going forward because we can certainly not go back.
Marlo - “agree” Unfortunately you will probably be right. Hopefully if he goes on a rant about his hard earned indictments and bs about the Federal Justice Department being rigged/weaponized Harris will calmly point out that he was only convicted in State Court and how is it unfair if Hunter Biden has two federal convictions and because of his games he has none. If you committed the crime then how is it unfair when you get caught?
Donald, it will take more than “luck” to find a way forward after this election. If you fight with a skunk, win or lose” you still come out smelling. That is pretty much what Professor Reich’s essay is saying.
What has been lacking in a number of sources is a good clear analysis of what our everyday lives will be like if Trump and MAGA wins. My prediction is that the scenes we see in Israel of massive protests in the streets and general strikes will become the next phase of our American lives . The only difference between the Netanyahu administration and the Trump administration is that the troops will be facing inward to squash the demonstrations rather than fighting the enemy without.
Capitalism is destroying democracy and our hopes for a better future. We have entered a second “Gilded Age“ and the results will be the same as at the end of the first Gilded Age.
If Trump and MAGA wins, I predict that it is inevitable. we will enter into the next cycle of economic depression.
Marc, maybe capitalism is not the problem, but unlimited greed. In Europe there are multiple ways to contain capitalism. One is improve democracy and procedures to control power...
Neither Captitalism or Communism is a political system.
Authoritarianism and Democracy are political systems.
Capitalism thrives in either a democracy or authoritarian system.
It thrives in Russia, China and the USA
The difference is control. In China the state controls Capitalism, in America Capitalism controls the state. In Russia the oligarchs (capitalists) serve the state in a partnership.
Defining capitalism as a system by which people can invest their own time and resources, and band together in a joint venture to pursue a profitable activity, then Capitalism is the only tool by which people can improve their position and thus improve society, but it needs to be controlled otherwise it is run away freight train, with no brakes.
Also there is confidence and braggadocio, far too many people do not have the discernment to understand the difference between the two. They are actually quite far apart on a scale or range of Personality Traits Factors or Qualities: When one is evaluating someone for Leadership, Ability to Be President:
What Type of Individual is Best Suited for The Responsibilities?
A person who exhibits Confidence or Braggadocio? If you knew not much else about them? Which one would you choose?
From experience, I would chose the person who exudes confidence: the feeling that they can be relied on, trusted, their word, is their bond. Their realistic sense, of their
ability to do what they say they will. Reliable, heart, courage, composure, brave, kind. Integrity. From genuine abilities, talents and efforts, from within, developed, or educated and experienced. Perhaps may have been inborn and or inherited.
Why Not one with braggadocio? An arrogant, boastfulness, empty boasting, vain, a swaggering, cocky manner, bluster. As the boastful character in Edmund Spencer’s “The Faire Queene” 1590 was illustration of exaggerated, beyond truthful, to point of lying. Often attempts to portray oneself as better than, more important, or even deceitful. In attempts to make one’s self seem of greater value, wealth, have more knowledge, influence, power or importance.
Often used by a weak person, in an attempt to bluff for purpose of manipulations, hoping to gain my power in attempts to achieve accumulate more, through subterfuge. May false, or untested.
At the end of the first Gilded Age, didn’t we get Teddy Roosevelt, Progressive Republicanism, trust-busting, pro-labor laws, the National Parks, and a bit later, the Income Tax? The Depression resulted from a return to form of corrupt, laissez faire capitalism under Harding and Coolidge.
I would place Biden’s role following the pandemic and the Trump years as an attempt to revive Rooseveltian (both) government for the people, and Harris, if successful and with a cooperative Congress, as the torch bearer for more of the same.
The future of Trumpism? Take a deep breath and close your eyes. Now visualize a NYT headline stating "Trump flees the US to seek asylum in Russia." Visualize the Trump Tower next to the Kremlin in Moscow.
Now visualize the map of Russia. Instead of St. Petersburg, it says "St. Donaldsburg." Now visualize a mini Mara Lago there with a putting green in the backyard. Now visualize the Trump family sitting in lawn chairs by the putting green and working on their next Trump Social post to warn Americans that "President Harris and VP Walz will not leave after their 2nd term", and "President Obama is making plans to install Michelle on the SCOUTS," and "Americans won't have a country if President Harris steals the election for the 3rd time in 2036." VISUALIZE! :-)
RR's Post was Excellent Today... A.I. WILL be a Major Disruption of Human Systems... Even if it doesn't turn Malignant... What is missing is the Effects of Climate Change... The Insurance Companies, which must manage Future Risk, are starting to raise Rates, which are the 'Canary-In-The-Coal-Mine'... I read recently, that Kuwait, which sits on vast Oil Reserves, has been suffering Power Outages because the Transition from Oil to LNG has been rocky... The Gulf States are running out of Potable Water... Desalinization has it's Limits... Rising Global Temps will limit the Areas of Human Habitation... Phoenix, AZ, is a 'Canary-In-The-Coal-Mine'... We live in 'Interesting Times'... Change Is Accelerating.... It wasn't until the late 18th Century that European Scholars started describing how their Contemporary World has changed from that of their Childhood... Reflect upon the Pace-Of-Change Now...
Donald, let's hope that you are wrong. Lots of dead skunk roadkill out there . . . Stake it thru the heart and put a silver bullet in its brain -- works for vampires, should work for the orange maggot who without that bronze make-up is as pale as a ghost-- ever seen a picture of the REAL, undoctored Trump? TRULY SCARY! Whiter than white -- just like a vampire!
Sad to say, I think you are right, Donald. The stink of a skunk eventually may dissipate, but the memory of it is still debilitating. And the AI wizards will find the technology to keep him alive and threatening long after the ground eats him.
I think there is a lot of manic trumped-up (sorry -- no pun intended!) fear going on here. You people love to scare yourselves! Stop it. Think rationally. I am glad I live in a voting district where the elections have always been run fairly and squarely. I don't anticipate any wild goings-on.
One more hamburger, one more French fry, one more Diet-Coke . . . Trump will be toast!
Daniel - “like” I don’t think that some people forget but just ignore the fact. Very sad. Still hoping that next month E Carroll will sue him again to put him (and his actions) back in the headlines.
Klare K. - It was my understanding that just recently after he lost an appeal (or something- I tend to lose track of his crimes/trials sometimes - that he went in front of the media cameras and brought up all of the women who have claimed sexual assault and vividly recalled their accusations but denied them and went on another bender about her specific case and the time that her rape occurred. Claiming once again it didn’t happen because he is such a Bigly mega star. The lawyer said that she has taken notice and they are considering their options.
Trump just doesn't ever shut his yap. Probably no options re: if he's not outright attacking her. Wonder if he paid up on the $5 mil. + $83 mil. he was fined in her cases?
Klare K. - No, he does not ever shut up. As far as I know he paid a bond while it goes through appeals (surprising, appeals, I know!) and the amount of interest is still accruing.
Professor Reich: i'm really dismayed that trump's steady diet of cheeseburgers and cokes hasn't yet done its job! WTF? all of us should be so lucky. (well, as a vegan who never drinks sodas, i'm safe from that fate, at least.)
That’s probably why he has cognitive decline from his junk food high animal protein diet. It will do him in eventually but maybe not as soon as we would like😏
Sadly, those who had manufacturing jobs and limited educational opportunities feel disenfranchised and squashed by economic pressures and inability to grasp the so called American Dream of wealth, home ownership & a good life. These things are not obtainable so they need someone to blame and something to grasp onto. tRump & MAGA fill this void & make them feel like they have a champion & they can rage against the system by supporting tRump. Sadly his convictions & charges have just martyred him! Yes you’re right MAGA won’t go when he goes. It’s a giant Cult fuelled by anger. Very sad indeed. Never thought I’d ever see America in this way!
You mention " that void." The void was created just before reichwing billionaires created reichwing BS "news," channels ie; FOX, OAN, Newsmax, RAV, 1500 rw radio channels spewing BS nationwide 24/7 & their social media sites.
They invested in a massive propaganda infrastructure to provide COVER for their own decimation of our economy AKA: Raygun's trickle-down theory; that only the very rich deserve tax breaks, tax-subsidies, tax havens, etc...and eventually the 'little ppl,' will get some benefit, eventually.
True BS. All the gains we made from '40s-'70s were reversed with Raygun.
And Democrats stood around and twiddled their thumbs not doing anything to compete. What messages do we forever get from Dem party strategists and leaders? "You got to vote to save yourselves."
Both leftwing radio pros, Thom Hartmann and Randi Rhodes went to Dem party leaders over the years & pointed this growing problem out to them. They all refused to take any action--to invest in any kind of nationwide messaging machine.
Now, here we are. And again, it's up to The People, the ones left with the functioning brains & hearts to now organize, knock on doors, use social media like there's no tomorrow and try to save ourselves.
Personally, I resent Dem party. I hate them. But I, we, have no other choices. And I can only hope enough ppl get involved with the most important election in our lives.
Democratic party leadership has ignored Americans for decades in favor of corporations and greedy rich elites, in many ways just like Rethuglicons & Americans have that void that only reichwing billionaires have bothered to fake filling at all.
Yep. If you put Obama into a hot tub time machine and dialed him into the 1970s, he'd have been a moderate Republican like his fellow Illinois senator from that era, Charles Percy.
Clinton followed Reagan by implementing some horrible policies and pulled the Democrats hard to the right, and became a home for corporatists.
It's pretty difficult to find a political home when one party appeals to Christian fascists and the other is tied at the hip to corporatists and an outdated foreign policy that turns a blind eye to the slaughter of 40,000 Palestinians, but here we are.
At least with Kamala, the door will always be open. It's checkmate if Trump wins. If Kamala wins, I hope we can push for real policy changes.Things like WPA 2.0 that could help the rural undrclass (and urban areas, too). Is she open to that? If she is, our current body politic will prevent her from saying so.
We'll just need to wait and see. First, we need to get her into office. Then, we need to find a way to get corporate money out of politics. How? Beats me. But corporate and billionaire greed is what has taken us to this moment, so finding a way out is imperative. Thanks for the comment that prompted me to ramble.
About those 40,000 Palestinians Charles, about 20,000 of them are JIHADIST fighters, the other 20,000 would still be alive were it not for the cowards that are the leadersship of HAMAS that has been using them and hostages as human shields.
What would you do, if some one invaded your home, killed and raped your sister, then fled back to their home and hid behind the skirts of their mother and sister?
Reprehensible? That's all? Fucking bloody, unconscionable murderers, they and they alone are responsible for all of the current bloodshed and troubles in that wretched land.
We can do the chicken and egg thing if you wish, but that is not fruitful and only serves HAMAS and frankly Islamic purposes.
The problem is that that wretched land which the Romans called Syria Palaiestina has been since the Muslim conquest, sacred Islamic land, just as Saudi Arabia is considered such because of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina (two cities where infidels cannot tread)
Jerusalem is the site of Islams third most holy sited,the Haram al Sharif or Dome of the Rock, and al Aqsa mosque, having Jews in possession of sacred Islamic land and holy sites is an affront that can not be tolerated, and was one of the main reasons that in Nov 1948 it was attacked by Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Syria with the intent of annihilating the Jews. They failed.but have not given up, they will continue to sacrifice Muslim lives until they succeed in annihilating the Jews
About those 40,000 Palestinians Charles, about 20,000 of them are JIHADIST fighters, the other 20,000 would still be alive were it not for the cowards that are the leadersship of HAMAS that has been using them and hostages as human shields.
What would you do, if some one invaded your home, killed and raped your sister, then fled back to their home and hid behind the skirts of their mother and sister?
Nice touch remembering Scarborough's famous line, "Ronald Raygun and the Plutonium blonde." I am not sure that any of today's political leaders have the ability to articulate the scope of our global problem, which predates even the follies of 40 years ago.
I worked in a factory until I was in my early 40s. Thanks to the Dept of Labor, I learned computers and now have a job with my state. If Trump wins people will lose the government intervention that has helped millions of people like me since the 1930s. People forget what life was like before FDR. You had to work until death or wind up in a workhouse!. Are their no prisons, are there no workhouses?
Perhaps some TV or internet messages could say to these men that the true villains are not coastal elites but capitalist oligarchs - in whose pocket Trump is, and he is giving tax money to them which could be benefitting the poorer classes.
Hillary unfortunately instead of trying to persuade some of these discontented people away from Trump despised them as a basket of deplorables, which didn't help. Let's see if Coach Walz can do better.
Yes, propaganda has so many people duped into liking policies that help the wealthy. Neoliberalism/Reaganomics/Trickle Down Economics have been a wrecking ball to the middle class for over 40 years. Most people do not know this.
What distresses me most about Trump is that he is walking, talking proof that America has a double standard. If practically _anybody_ in America did half the excrement that Trump does on a regular basis, they would have been put behind bars or in a padded room for the rest of their lives. He's proof that Our American Dream is actually an American Fantasy.
Americans are in a bind.... because We believe in Democracy. "Majority rules!", and if the majority of Americans want an autocrat to lead them, the minority is _required_ to accept him/her. There has been a political trend that started with Reagan where the wannabe autocrats have become more numerous in Government. And wherever they could, they steered HUGE amounts of money to oligarchs. In turn, the oligarchs have been funding even more autocratic wannabes into office.
We are standing at a precipice: We need to get as many anti-autocrats into office as possible EVERY election. Because the Autocracy crowd need only ONE _big_ win in order to rework the laws to assure that only **They** can run the Government, forevermore. Furthermore, We The People are handicapped by the fact the ONLY candidates We are allowed to vote for are the candidates that the PARTIES' Powers That Be have selected. [The only candidates that have a decent chance of being elected MUST be endorsed by either the Democrats or the Republicans. (Independents account for less than 1% of Government.) And that being the case, as a quid pro quo, to get endorsed, the wannabe candidates must swear an oath of fealty to the Party, first and foremost.] The GOP is solidly _already_ the willing tool of the Autocrats. And the Dems have been steadily drifting that way, scrambling to match the funding that is showered onto the GOP.
It will prevail - for the time being - if Harris wins. And she will win if, and only if, we get progressive/left-wing/liberal voters motivated and to the polls. Get out the youth vote - remind high school and college students that they can register to vote at age 17 1/2. Also, check your own registration from time to time because you never know if you fell victim to a GOP-led purge.
After an initial sugar high of "Kamala wins easily" the polls have brought me down to earth. While this discourse is important, it is based on an enormous "If." The focus needs to be brought back to the here and now issue of making sure that he loses. Some of the problems you have outlined will then become the new "here and now" issues and questions. As for me? I'm turning my focus towards voter registration and GOTV efforts in my neighboring critical state of Pennsylvania. P.S.: It is possible to increase the number of Democratic registrations by staying in African-American neighborhoods and focusing on registering women. Godspeed to Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. They are a resuscitating breath of fresh air.
Under the radar. FT6 has sent more than 12 million texts this cycle. Need phone banking and canvassing to close the deal.
The electorate is not set... yet. Millions of potential Harris voters are not registered ... yet. She trends 60% with women, the same with young people, 70% with tenants in the blue wall swing states. Now is the hour to expand our base significantly.
FT 6 calls primarily unregistered people who trend Democratic...mostly women. Usually don't have to do a lot of persuading.
I wish we could just see how everyone votes, and not obsess about the polls. We have seen 'exit polls' like in 2004, that were nothing like the results of the election. Fishy.
I’ve followed CalFire on FB for years. The endless comments blaming government, and “the woke”, from what seems like an inordinate number of mountain dwelling MAGA residents, now victims of these devastating fires; their comments are disturbing. My heart breaks for the loss of homes, possessions, and animals to these fires, but the Fox News induced beliefs of mountain residents is apparent in their comments. Sad on many levels.
There was a story yesterday in NYT or WaPo about the San Bernardino fire and commenters noted that most who lived at the fire site did so because it is cheaper than living in town.
The further you move from population centers the more right wing the people.
Essentially they live in an ethnic bubble, and there access to the world is via TV, and the internet, and TV is dominated by corporate approved and right wing news, Fox is the major draw, CNN second, Facebook is a right wing hellscape.
Wall Street Dems need to do some deep soul searching to see exactly how their personal choices have alienated America’s workers. We are all responsible for investing wisely in our economy and need to respect the workers who have built it. Our cult of worship of the mighty dollar, needing to impress our friends with the latest gadget or fancy car, prompts us to go for the highest dividends rather than investing in ethically run companies that actually give something back to their employees. The time is now to come clean and to make investment decisions based on what’s truly good for our economy.
On that note, yesterday, from The Guardian, I read the following headline: "Musk on track to become world's 1st trillionaire by 2027."
This was made possible by ALL Rethuglicons and one too many corporate-owned Democrats allowing our laws to favor the greedy uber rich...over the rest of us. For decades, now.
Read enough comments from fellow so-called "lefties," on social media and you can see how Hillary Clinton is STILL on their radars as being "a true Dem hero." Her husband may have "balanced US budget," but at a huge cost to poor and working class Americans who lost government programs that helped them survive.
In 2016, I never heard Hillary talk progressive policies, so I knocked on doors for Bernie. I had to vote for Hillary because I didn't ever want a Rethuglicon in The WhiteHouse again.
Unless and until more of The People rise up and start demanding more progressive politicians, nothing will get better in any major way at all.
Hillary is linked to AIPAC and the destruction of 2 progressive House members campaigns so far: Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman. She also heads up Emily's List which is an organization which campaigns WITH HER BIG PAC $$$$ to demolish lesser, poorer progressives trying to win.
Fay, I agree with you on Tim. From other commenters here, Walz has proven himself to be quite progressive. Great! And he's very personable, which helps.
It is just unsettling to hear 2 no-Dumpster reichwing politicians say that they could only vote for Harris after they both saw her moving to the right on some issues.
That's troubling, to me. Certainly doesn't change my strong determination that blue ballots are needed now more than ever.
But I would be foolish not to put these comments in the important category.
Harris was campaigning recently on getting more individual entrepreneurs excited into starting their own businesses. That's lovely...if you are skilled in business. About a day later, a TV pundit mentioned her plan--her way to try to get Americans to vote for her, and then he said, "What Harris never mentioned was that the majority of individuals businesses fail...". Ooops. Not a really exciting idea after all.
Then I read Michael Bloomberg donated $19 million to her campaign. Not her fault. We are suffering from 5 reichwing fascists on SCOTUS who declared "Money is speech." I get that, but I also know no billionaire or greedy uber rich person gives their $$$$ for nothing in return. Only a fool thinks that. And Bloomberg hates progressive ideas. He's a conservative through & through.
I fear but still hope real progress can happen. I never give up hope, but I'm also not living in any fairytale or hero-worship mindset, either.
I still think Bernie was the only candidate who really was for and still is for the people. The Dems screwed him and us over, he could have beaten Trump. Another good man the Dems should’ve saved is Al Franken but no, he too had to go. Sheesh will they ever learn!
Lynne, in my state, Nevada, Bernie was very competitive in both 2016 & 2020. I heard one voter excited over Bernie with his fist clenched, he threw his arm in the air declaring his enthusiasm for him. Another younger man, a fireman worked with me in the last stages of the campaign was bragging to his buddies (all reichwingers) how Bernie had the answers that his own friends were seeking & grinning over feeling righteous over his choice.
I noticed both Hillary in '16 & Biden in '20 utilized their CONservative Dem heroes; late John Lewis for Hillary, then James Clyburn for Biden to be their ambassadors to demolish Bernie's chances by swaying his own black 'brothers & sisters,' to vote for the corporate Dems they promoted. It worked. Both congressman were from South Carolina. That's exactly when Bernie's campaigned died both times and why Biden demanded the 2024 primary to begin, instead of Iowa.
Dem party leaders can be quite ruthless, when they want to be.
Andrea and Lynne: Yeah O Yeah Hear Ya! Still hurtin' over that hypocrisy. But thinking about it. Was it really hypocrisy or something worse? Guess we don't need to get into that ugliness right now. Gotta think positive for the nonce. We can delve into the foundational slime of Corp Dem policy at a later date. But when?
Now, however, my only real worry is translational of my words by other viewers who need that moral boost & just reading the ugly truth of the party they may vote for could dissuade them, right now. Fascism & reichwingers are scary as hell & we must defeat those SOBs.
What do you think? How involved have you been to get blue ballots going where you live?
Being a billionaire or a trillionaire is the wrong way of looking at wealth and power.
Command of resources is what matters.
Who are the wealthiest men in the world? It is hose that command the resources of a nation and its people.
Does Musk and will Musk command the resources that Putin Commands, that Xi commands, that MBS Commands? No.
Do democratically elected nation leaders command the nations resources? No.
But Trump will with the help of Kevin Roberts and Leonard Leo, and then he will be answerable to no one. Just as were Stalin, Mao,Pol Pot, Franco, Mussolini, Hitler.
As a rule, it's reichwingers that absolutely LOVE their fancy, gas-guzzling muscle cars and ATVs, dirty diesel-spewing trucks with their bumper-stickers all messaging "FUs" to liberals/leftwingers in the world.
I have been thinking about my own contribution to this culture of materialism over the years. I was too busy working and raising a family to pay much attention to the rest of the country or world. Now I regret it.
You did what was in front of you and felt was necessary at the time. Sounds like you now have some energy freed up to get involved in whatever projects might interest you - I’m guessing you have a lot to offer!
Wall Street is backing Trump, because he has promised them unregulated access to the pockets of America.
However Trump is hell bent on revenge and is backed by zealots who will tear down America to fit their fears and needs.
Doing so will destroy the very qualities that made America wealthy in the first place, motivation, diversity, inclusion, morale, and rounding up millions as Trump has said he will do, will destroy the mudsill upon which America is built.
A mudsill is a supporting sill that rests directly on a base, such as the ground, and is the lowest sill of a structure. Mudsills are a key part of a building's structural support, and are used to provide a level surface on uneven ground.
IOW they have killed the goose that laid the golden egg, but like the nobility of the past, they don't care, so long as they are the nobility, and there is distance between them and the mudsill
A lot of the training needed to fill many entry-level manufacturing jobs today can be obtained at a local community college. Eight years is a long time to blame others for one's plight when one hasn't done anything to improve their plight. The fact is that if you're not a wealthy person, you're NEVER going to benefit from any of Trump's so-called economic policies. The reality is that the average economically poor Trump supporter is just as poor, broke, and sick as they were nine years ago; that won't change.
Yesterday, Thom Hartmann was talkin; energy, while I was talkin' hemp.
The main reason I like hemp is it can transform Appalachia into an economic powerhouse. Jobs? Hemp materials can replace stuff like metals that require huge capital investments for market entry. It is renewable. It is environmentally friendly. People can grow their own. Can eat it, drink it, wear it, heat the house with it, put it in the car, and even smoke it.
Hemp is one of the most environmentally friendly and economically efficient all-natural fibers; it requires less water, grows quicker, cleans the air, and regenerates the soil, bringing life to an under-appreciated planet
During WWII, central Kentucky became the hemp capitol of the world, after the Japanese took most hemp producing countries. We needed rope for the Navy. John Young Brown, Sr. controlled a monopoly. Since then hemp was a scheduled drug, illegal, until recently. After Kentucky burley tobacco hit the skids, even Mitch Mc Connell and Rand Paul support it.
Hemp’s cellulose fiber is utilized in a variety of products, including dresses, jeans, shirts, caps, bags, ropes and canvas, skin care products, paper, building materials, and a variety of food items.
When it comes to nutrition, hemp seeds are the most important part of the plant. The seeds can be eaten whole or without the hull. They can also be turned into milk that’s similar to soy milk. Hemp seed oil can be used as a cooking oil in the same way as olive oil.
During the war, Ford even built a car that was partially constructed of hemp to aid American farmers.
Hemp Ethanol And Methanol. Unlike in biodiesel applications, the whole hemp plant can be used in ethanol or methanol production. As with biodiesel, ethanol and methanol can be used as a fuel for vehicles. When derived from industrial hemp, these alcohols are sometimes referred to as hempanol.
A 2011 study found the adjusted biomass energy yield of hemp was 120% higher than that of wheat straw in terms of solid fuels. One of the solid biofuels that can be produced are hemp pellets, which are made from the shiv or hurd – the woody core of the plant. Using hemp for pellets is a good alternative to wood as it produces around the same heat, with similar levels of ash content and isn’t corrosive.
Hemp can also be used to make charcoal and during the pyrolytic process used to create it, also produce liquid biofuels such as methanol as mentioned above.
Hemp Biogas. Methane is the primary component of the natural gas you might use at home and is chemically closely related to methanol. Methane is produced through the action of anaerobic bacteria on organic materials. The equipment used to create the right anaerobic conditions (occurring in the absence of oxygen) and capture the gas is called a biodigester, which acts as a mechanical stomach.
Consider the many coal mines that can be combined with a hemp operation.
I think that a good way to present herself to the American people in the debate would be if Kamala Harris would address the "forgotten people" (that Trump claims to care about) and explain what Trump would do if he gets in power...(i.e. deepen the poverty and isolate them even more while filling up the pockets of the Oligarchs who pay for his campaign and buy their way into White House)
I think it’s pretty clear that too many of them will only cling to their insane and willfully uninformed beliefs nonetheless despite a trump defeat. Let’s face it - a defeat to them is little more than a rallying cry.
I have thought for some time that the problem is not Trump - it's his 'base' and his spineless Republican sycophants in Congress. Some weeks ago, Professor, you said that Trump's followers were not stupid. Some of them are not - they are evil, determined and, above all, dangerous. However, I maintain that the majority of them ARE stupid, and this is frightening. How can these 'non-stupid' people be stupid enough to support an individual who is out-of-control, incompetent, abusive, dangerous and mentally ill? As Liz Cheney put it "I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain." I look forward to a re-built Republican party under Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger - but it will take some time even after Trump is gone.
Let’s use the word naive, for so many of our fellow Americans. They are nice, mostly kind people. Salt of the earth types. They’re not used to devious, shark, greedy, Charlatans smarmy who lie about anything and everything, like “djt” they tend to take him at face value. They “want to believe what he says” all the scary stories about the foreign immigrants.”
I just listened to some of the neighbors, at our pool this morning, nice, sweet, kind, from Nebraska comfortable lives. Retired. All stirred up, by the “bad warnings all those immigrants are coming to destroy us, hordes, the President is trying to protect us from.” They were worried sick, certain only he was protecting our money, homes and lives, the border, the border, he had them terrified. They hadn’t even listened to that “foreigner, girl”-dismissed her as “dangerous a liberal, who was letting all the Immigrants, invading and taking us over!”
Yes, they were dismissing Kamala Harris. Because their “scary bedtime story” by the crass, foul, jerk, arrogant and full of braggadocio, had them so scared, they were reacting like, scared little girls. They didn’t want to hear, the Fact Checks, on their Big Bad Scary Story Teller-was called out for lies: Only upset, The Moderators did, call Out, the other Debator: she HAD to be Lying, because, their President SAID SO…. And…all the Immigrants were Invading! THEY Didn’t Check Her Lies, He said she was…
When I reminded them, Kamala Harris Quoted the Real, Latest Statistics: How Much Less Border Patrol, Crossings were Reduced. Way, way down. They insisted, it wasn’t true, The Trouble was All the Illegals, cause Trump Said so! He’s Got ‘em on a Stuck Loop of Fear, Fear ad Nauseum….. Untruth, all they can hear is his Echoes —————,
Since his Last Run, Years Ago, Still Playing in their Heads. only if they Vote him in Again, is he Gonna, Save ‘em…. Lies on endless Loops , he’s in their heads.
Colin, are you familiar with the bell curve? The population is a perfect example
My wife uses class room criteria, there are A's, B;s, C;S, D's,,E;s and F;s.
there are very few A's and 's in society, mostly C;s, D;s, E;s and F;s.
The D's, E;s, and F;s, are fearful and resentful of the A's and B's, The C;s are complacent to resentful, aspirational A's and B's but just can't cut it.
The resentful C's, D;s, E;s and F;s outnumber the A;s, B;s and satisfied C;s. and this is reflected in the polls,it is the mobile C's, that move from satisfied to resentful and back again.
Resentment is easier to stimulate than satisfaction.
Sit down in a Chinese restaurant fill up on rice and you are satiated, a half hour later you are hungry again.
Walk away from a thanksgiving feast and you are bloated and passing gas, next morning you are ready to start all over again.
Comfort and pleasantness last only until pain is felt. Then we do anything to obviate the pain
Make them feel or fear pain, and then offer relief. That is how snake oil salesmen operate, and the public is still taken in by the Music Man.
How many presidential elections does Trump have to lose -- and how many down-ballot elections have to be lost because of him -- before the GOP moves on, even if Trumpism survives in another home?
You have to understand that reichwing billionaires--the only real puppet masters in that tribe, know well they have no cult leader to divert fascist policies into pleasing cow manure like their orange Dumpty.
Unless and until another reichwing fanatic cult-like conman comes along, those puppet masters know they are stuck. They desperately need a shyster to gather the masses to vote for their massively putrid Project 2025 BS.
As usual, spot on, except for Just Done Vance, who has the charisma and political instincts of a rutabaga. He'll be lost in history, somewhere below Dan Quayle.
Please allow me to add that, as a life-long, small-town, redneck hick, I've known these disaffected white males forever. They've always been present, tho' mostly hidden in the nooks and crannies, hanging out at the local dive bars and autoshops, bitching w/ each other, then going home drunk and angry. What The Felon did was give them a voice that has been amplified by "Asocial" media. Suddenly, they realized that there's a bunch of them around the country plus they had a big-mouthed charlatan to rally around.
All that you say about the economy, jobs and taxes is true, Robert. However, it must be added that these generationally Angry White Boyz have done little/nothing to help themselves. They showed up (more or less) in HS, slouching from one class to the next, getting barely-passing grades - or they dropped out and took low-wage, zero-future jobs doing menial work. They lived with their parents or rented cheap digs, making no plans for their lives. Many of 'em destroyed their brains and futures w/ booze and/or meth.
Their more motivated peers paid attention, engaged in school, graduated, got apprenticeships where they learned job skills or went to trade schools or college. Most of this group became "Move-Outs", leaving East Resume Speed where they grew up because they saw the lack of opportunity.
It's not that the "Stay-Behinds" are stupid, necessarily, just disorganized, unmotivated, myopic and parochial, suspicious of that which they don't know, resistant to change, unable to dream beyond their small-town roots. They won'/can't take responsibility for their own failure to participate in their own lives, so they blame "Them". The Senile Felon gives them plenty of "Thems" to blame.
I can't agree more, Thomas. It is demonstrably, statistically verifiable that (most of) The Rich are the global uber-consumers who are dooming us (and our progeny who we claim to love so deeply) to futures in Climate Hell. The Richer we are, the worse we are, consuming to the limits of our wallets.
I argue, however, that over-consumption (pronounced, "greed") is fundamental to the Egos of Homo Ignorami and that most of the Have-Nots would love to become Haves and then live and consume just like, say, Bill Gates does.
Unfortunately what you say in this piece makes total sense, Professor. I think most of us who want to see tRUMP defeated and subsequently imprisoned haven’t thought much beyond the election. We have thought of trumpism as a fever that must be broken, and not as a chronic condition that will have to be carefully managed for the foreseeable future.
Also, unfortunately, the two dominant current political parties in this country are not up to the task of managing our current conditions. They are part of the problem. Our current political “leaders” are ,for the most part, addicted to power, and to the money that helps them gain and maintain that power.
We need people to run campaigns such as Bernie Sanders did in 2016, when he refused large money donations. He showed that our populace can be inspired by a politician that is genuinely interested in our everyday problems, and who is capable of addressing those problems, because he isn’t beholden to the big money.
Ironically or maybe not, the Peter Thiel’s and Elon Musk are part of the techie billionaires who crushed the middle class and the manufacturing jobs. They look on those men as scum.
The truth hurts. Thank you for your honest statement of fact. We have to win BIG in November. Harris would at least be the beginning of good things for the average American. Jack Smith, hopefully, will land Trump in prison. The few magas still in Congress will cringe in the shadows of a bright and joyous rebirth of Democratic values and accomplishments. VOTE for a brighter future.
Tonight's contest pits a successful X-district attorney against an uneducated convicted felon. Oddly, both are vying for the office of the president, and with any luck this country will find a way forward and leave the felon languishing in some roadside ditch. However, like the skunk that he is, his presence will be with us long after he is gone.
And yet the polls are saying the 2 nominees are dead even! What does this say about the country? We all need to reunite against tyranny that is knocking on the door and is positioning for a takeover. Many Republicans are realizing this and are endorsing Kamala Harris. You don’t see any Democrats changing their position and endorsing The Adjudicated Felon!
Tulsi Gabbard was previously a democrat, now turned tRump supporter. But I think these people get caught up in the power of it all. The grifters who are promised stardom & money in Magaworld!
"Things are Darkest right before the Don..."... is cuffed.
"When Prophecy Fails" by Dr Leon Festinger (see Festinger's Theory of Cognitive Dissonance and Cognitive Consistency) led to Cognitive Behavior Techniques that prevent anger, anxiety, depression, etc.
The Senate's Dr Haidt's "3 Great Untruths" that Gen Z believes that is dooming Gen Z and democracy include Exposure Therapy, demonization, and State Dependent Learning... more on request...
Bannon said in his last broadcast before he marched off to jail.
That they have law suits drawn up and lawyers primed to file them as soon as the election results are tabulated, basically sitting on the courthouse steps. The same with fake electors, list drawn up, documents signed and fake electors sitting on the Capitol steps
The last time they were a dollar late, in Minnesota the fake electors showed up after the real ones were already inside.
They have learned. The RNC has also trained 100,000 poll watchers, probably armed as well to intimidate voters, especially POC.
They aren't going to cover all districts, they don't need to, they know which ones are safe, only the vital swing state districts.
I really do hope the DNC is prepared this time to head them off at the pass.
Nice and thoughtfull text, Bob.
I remember the novel in which Lindbergh becomes President and makes an alliance with Adolf Hitler. It was not implausible as scenario. It feels close to happening now, with modern day Hitler Putin.
It makes me worry along your lines of thought.
It's the economy: yes, I think so too. Like the way Stilitz has put it: the voters are angry because the State has done not enough for them to gain their trust. Kamala is on the right track, but the inequality should have been tackeled, the trends and problems politicised.
It is culture: yes, there is an unbelievable fixation in politics with sexual habits, abortion, and ways to use the rumors in this field for political purposes.
Is it 42% of the electorate? Yes, maybe. But how to get rid of the disproportional effect of this minority? The electoral system should change.
Is culture the problem? Yes: the influence of big money is still growing, in politics and in mass communication. That should change.
There is a problem with the judiciary as well. Trump is an insurrectionist and should be persecuted; in fact every insurrectionist/election denier should be held accountable in the juridical system.
Indeed: a close race might cause violence, whatever the outcome, a victory from Trump will show his madness, cause the end of democracy and probably world peace. Lock him up...
Made notes. Myself victim of "dissonance." Irony is that the "dissonant" one seems to be quite immune to anger, anxiety and depression. Not their problem if you make a problem for yourself.
Praying that is so!
PowerCorrupts - “Like”
Funny!
CSN 1969!
I remember Gabbard a few years back imploring people to leave Trump alone and not antagonize him. She thought like a battered wife and talked like a little girl. What she is today is a natural progression.
Putin ally.
Cyrano had a long nose like Pinocchio, Pinocchio got his long nose from lying. Your screen name should rightfully be Pinoccio, Putin dog. Now go jagoff honestly, in your mothers panties.
I predicted as we get closer to the election, the Putin trolls would be piling in in record numbers and here we have another.
Putin's troll farm is quite busy, not only Shitter and Facebook, but substack as well.
There is a way to cut the noise though, make posting subscriber only.
Allowing ‘subscriber only’ posting may deter a few lone wolf trolls But those in Putin‘s pockets will easily cough up the little fee and post under a clever alias.
I am not so sure that those in Putin's pocket will cough up the coins.
There were virtually no Putin Trump trolls until we got into the election season, then they started to show up in drips and drabs, now the spigot is wide open, and it will get worse until November 5th, I expect it to slow down after that,, except for the few addled fanatics who get boners and orgasms thinking that they have owned the libs.
I used to like her independence but she really has gone off the rails.
It is difficult to run for office in Hawaii and win as a Republican.
She had an upbringing with parents who were and are strongly opposed to same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ issues. The views were fostered by being members of a Hindu sect that is considered alt-right.
Exactly and why campaign reform, especially $$$ and time limits, are vital to OUR Democracy.
It’s pretty clear They’re all Russian assets, especially people like Tulsi Gabbard who visited Russia and almost immediately started doing politically weird stuff that made little sense especially for a Democrat… Let’s hope it’s all exposed after Putin is finished off.
Have you ever listened to her? At least not thru the MSNBC or CNN filter? Aside from being a Trump supporter, what specifically don’t you like about her?
She’s a bad C name
trumps maggots.
Gabbard and Vance and many in the Duopoly are merely right wing hacks - they have nothing to offer. And thats sadly all the majority want in a leader. they dont expect a leader to turn from proxy wars to solve the rot in America.
all the scoundrels of the world.
Gabbard has always been like that. It runs in the family.
Then you really haven’t listened to Tulsi Gabbard…
Do you mean power like a better economy, secure border, less wars, better security within our borders, more 1st amendment rights? Yes, I think Tulsi is caught up in fighting for all of that.
Tulsi is caught up in fighting for Putin. Less wars: Since America is not at war with anyone, that can only mean helping Putin win his genocidal war in Ukraine, 1st Admendment for thee, sure, but not for me. border security yeh, keep out those brown people who are threatening to "pollute" the blood of the nation., better economy for the billionaires that are financing Trump. Tax the working middle class to subsidize the wealthy.
That is why you mean Chris
America is at war. We are participants in Israeli conflict with Hamas. We are also participants in Ukrainian conflict with Russia. There may be other wars we aren't being told about. Nevermind if they are labelled as war or conflict or what-have-you. We are marketing our weapons of war to the highest bidder. This makes us participants.
No we are not war Eris, by your definition we are always at war, everywhere, all the time, War has not been declared, we do not have boots on the ground and we are at war with terrorism.
And there are just wars. Wars that need to be fought to preserve democracy and freedom.
And no we don't sell out weapons to the highest bidder, where do you get this shit? Pull it out of your ass to justify your beliefs and ideology?
Israel-Gaza is a side show to the real conflict that is going on. Oct 7th was Khameini's birthday gift to Putin, to distract America and the west form Putin's grand design to rebuilt the Russian Empire, lost when the Soviet Empire was dismantled.
Ukraine , Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Moldova, the
Czech Republic, Germany, France, Britain agree with me. Only right wing authoritarians and Putinists disagree.
ErisX--The powers that be who represent the axis of evil in this world are well equipped and driven to destruction. We need to provide these smaller targets with the necessary tools with which to protect themselves from the dictators of this world who are running rampant over the good societies interested in either maintaining a Democracy or developing one of their own. We are a part of the world's community; we can't just sit back and watch. For if we do there will be no one left to help.
What do you mean genocidal war? Biden/ Harris are concerned about Ukraine’ territorial borders but not ours. 1st amendment for all. Legal immigration for all. Why do you bring race into the conversation? What does that have to do with it?
Well Chris: Per Art II, UN Covenant on Prevention of Genocide states that Intent is required, And Putin has announced his intent many times, over and over, to annihilate the Ukrainian language, culture and identity, and he is waging a war on purpose, not collateral damage as in Gaza, on women and children, bombing maternity hospitals and schools that are not being used by the Ukrainians for command posts.Unlike HAMAS, Ukraine isn't using civilians as human shields.
As regards the 1st Amendment, Read the Bill of Rights, Art 1 says. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances
Where does the constitution say anything about Freedom of speech? It doesn't.
The restraint is on congress, not the citizen, not a state, not a corporation, onlyh congress
The issue with Ukraine is not about their territorial borders, and your attempt to
to conflate that with the immigration problem of the US is what is called a red herring fallacy
Why I brought in race as regards the immigration issue is because that is the reason that the MAGAts are against immigration, all of those brown skinned people coming across the borders, makes those tough manly men wet their pants.
I close by saying your statement. 1st Amendment for all is stupid and a non sequitur. No body is stopping you from expressing your opinion, especially not Congress.
And don’t forget the best Kool Aid.
Interesting that Tulsi actually survived the Democratic primary system in 2020 much further than Kamala, who the elites loved but everyone else quickly understood how phony she was. Couldn’t even make it to the Iowa caucus date, and was poling third in her home state of CA. Now Kamala is supposedly the “choice if the people “ without ever getting a single vote in two primaries.
Wow, I was indeed prescient the Trump-Putin trolls are indeed logging on in records numbers, Putin must be getting anxious as election day draws near.
They've got skin in the game, as does Israel. What happens matters to them enough that they're using their resources to put their thumb on the scale.
Israel, Israel, you are fixated on Israel, Why is that.Russia has troll farms,Iran has troll farms, Korea and China has troll farms, but not i\Israel, so why are you fixated on Israel ErisX.?
How can a moron and psychiatric patient become a serious candidate?
Follow the money.
Easily. Especially when you have obscenely wealthy, morons, and sociopaths stuffing him with money.
I hate to say it, but people are stupid. Or, at least, incredibly simplistic. They don't bother to look beyond the 'stuff.'. That is just too much work for them.
She slept her way to it…
Not a psychiatric patient. That's a false and silly claim. And insulting to actual psychiatric patients. An a-hole parasite loser traitor is not the same as them.
Bets me
Excellent question!
Perhaps that is why MAGA people feel disrespected by the rest of us - I admit, it's very hard to see any integrity in a MAGA position and I'm tired of pretending there is just to spare the feelings of insecure people.
Tracy, I get the impression that the MAGA mind wants free of the complexities of our system. Whatever the former guy tells them they believe (Gulp).
One needs a good education to become an informed citizen.
How about that person at the state fair who said she is voting for Trump because he will bring us together. Yes, i feel the love from that man.
Maybe she defines "us" more narrowly than me.
She’s an idiot. Sorry. She opens her mouth and dumbness falls out. She can’t help herself. She lives in a tiny little bubble. And worse, she votes. Just my dumb opinion.
Her "us" is definitely not the U.S.
The GOP aims to do away with good basic education. It’s been at it for years. If you don’t like the quality of today’s voters, wait till this cohort of grade school kids is voting age.
Yes, the maggots have tunnel vision and miss the grand beauty of our country and our Democracy
Thanks! I feel the same way.
Proof that half of all Americans are just stupid.
Stupidity is to be pitied; Willful ignorance and deep-seated vicious misogyny with xenophobia are most definitely not. These are symptoms of a pathology that must be shoved back under the rock from which it came.
I agree. Vote Blue!
Ilene - “like” Well said. All of it needs to go back under the rock and then detonated. I just don’t understand how some human beings can hate others who are different from themselves so much. (Actually I do but I hope you get my point)
Half of all American VOTERS are just stupid. Only about half of eligible adults are actually voting. Winners are getting about 25% of the votes of all eligible adults.
There, fixed it.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1140011/number-votes-cast-us-presidential-elections/
Maybe not stupid but just easily manipulated. A cult complex.
True. But that doesn’t make it any better for the rest of us, in my not so humble opinion.
And polls are stupider
And psychopathic…
@Scott Elrod — Perhaps you could consider putting the liberal condescension on hold while you scroll back up back up and re-read what Prof. Reich wrote:
“They distrust the system. They feel disrespected by the “coastal elites” who appear to run it. And they’re stuck, economically.
“They are mostly white men without college degrees, many without even high school degrees — men who used to have good manufacturing jobs but who are now working for low pay in jobs they consider women’s work.”
Calling half your fellow citizens stupid will not persuade them of their error or do anything to reduce the bitterness — and dangerousness — of the current situation.
Thanks for your reply. I appreciate you taking the time to respond. I understand your point. Have a great day!
In fact, most people just follow what they are told.
Keith that is why I pay little attention to the polls. Do we ever see what are the questions, how they are formatted and what response choices are offered to get to these. Poll in the past may have been more representative but I am not convinced that is the case today. Not to mention I think there are lots of Americans out there who just don’t want to say anything to anyone for fear or just the aggravation of listening to maga acclaimed or leaning rants. That said the only answer to all of this today is to VOTE BLUE UP AND DOWN THE TICKET for a solid victory not easily to be contested.
The only poll which matters is at the polls in November.
cathleen707 - “like”/“agree”
VOTE BLUE!💙💙💙💙💙💙 And help get out the vote
Or it could be that polls aren’t reliable anymore
Keith. I know the GOP puts out disinfo, in articles that appear to be in legitimate online magazines,
but it’s all fake. They’ve also been known to copy
the style of established online news magazines like Time & Newsweek and attach disinfo articles to
them. It’s not the campaigns doing that, it’s the conservative “machine.” Republicans have probably bought what used to be reliable polling companies
and attached fake polling results. The RNC and The Federalist Soc. have built a ginormous operation
for the purpose of taking over our government &
turning it into a Nazi-like regime. Trump is only a superficial part of it and he is by no means running
it. He’s the bombastic, self-centered pathological liar/useful idiot who can keep everyone focused on him and automatically blaming him, while the people actually responsible for it remain behind the scene.
One of the late night talk show hosts pointed out the absurdity of these phone polls. "What normal person answers a phone call from an unidentified caller anymore?"
Of COURSE you're going to get a skewed sample!
For those who have chosen the tyrannical method, it is too little too late for reunification. They have shown little interest. The natural evolution of a people, state, country, or earth will happen when the balance of power in positive thought overwhelms the dissonance that owns brutality, that in the past, has benefited the ignorant and uneducated. The education of all those on earth is a slow process and therefore, in our lifetime, we will not see the fruits of our labor - be it cognitive, spiritual, computer generated, or physical. For our children and their children, we must keep on keeping on.
I think it also says something about the poor quality control of polling. If statistically sufficiently powered and non-biased, I would think the polling spectrum would be tighter than the 5-7% differences between often seen between different organizations. Given MAGA's mile wide stream of dark money and their indifference to legalities, we have every right to be suspicious of "dead even polls" especially if there are no significant events that would support them. By the way, can anyone recommend a serious analysis of current electoral polling processes including statistical analytical tools used?
Keith Olson, that’s also surprising and discouraging to me but I like your appeal to reunite against tyranny. VP Harris has already done enough to show us she is the obvious and only choice as our next president.
It says that the country does not agree with this TDS fueled diatribe posing as reasoned analysis. It says that the individuals that Robert Reich is supposedly concerned about and wants to help by implementing more of the failed top down governmental solutions do not agree within and the costal elites agree with his plan to centrally accumulate power.
TDS. Trump Derangement Sydrome: People who have been deranged by Donald John Trump and worship him unconditionally.
"....against an uneducated convicted felon."
A perfect example of the point that Dr. Bandy Lee makes. It is Trump contagion that causes people to call felon or weird or this or that, while leaving out the fact that he is a DANGEROUS person with a severe mental pathology. That's WHY he's a serial criminal.
That and hordes of crooked lawyers and lots of billionaire bucks.to prop them up.
😬😡😡😡😡😡
Absolutely! What that woman has been through all in the name of educating the public about the danger Trump poses to the country and the world is disgraceful as well as terribly sad. She is truly a brave and heroic person, who has predicted everything that has come to pass through her vast knowledge, and warns that things will get far worse should King MAGA be reelected.
(Like) x5. Amen She is now setting up a seminar with many of her colleagues to get Congress to consider drafting and passing a resolution that will compel Donald Trump to be examined by a competent mental health professional -- Board certified -- or leave the race.
Dr. Lee speaks of it in her recent sessions on YouTube under the ID of "Recovering from Trump Contagion and the Restoration of Our Collective Mental Health" I'll be donating to that effort and encourage others to do the same.
If only they learned from the last debate and immediately fact checked Trump’s inevitable vociferous lies by lagging the time. I tried to notify ABC to do this but it has not been mentioned. I am worried he will use the debate once again as a platform to spew his lies and the uninformed will be swayed.
At this late date, nobody is going to be "swayed," just by a 1.5 hour debate. Anybody who still votes for this orange blob wanted to before the debate.
A lot of people are visceral. Appearance and demeanor are more important than substance to "persuadable" people.
90% of MAGATs vote against their own economic and physical health.
"A lot of people are visceral."
You are so correct, Daniel. My hubby is a 75 year old Trumper who spends most of the day in the basement working on his guns.
He will often emotionally repeat to me what he heard on Newsmax, Parlor, OAN... but is unable to give me any of the verifiable *details* of what he heard: Who? What? where? how? when?
"Dunno, but I heard it on one of my channels".
He has absorbed only the *emotions* contained in the statements and made them his, because they confirm his biases.
If you wonder why I didn't say "FoxNews", it is because, he says "they have gone 'soft'.
Note that all "strongmen" have to maintain the illusion that they are strong, usually by bullying, so yes. for them, appearance and demeanor are more important than substance.
Thank you for explaining husband's views.Your post helps me understand.
None of my business Cecile but how can you live in the same house with such a misogynist and hate filled bigot?
Yikes, Cecile . . . "working on his guns"...? What is he working on them for??? Maybe it is high-time you filed for divorce and got the heck out of there!! BEFORE the election comes to pass!
I should explain that he is retired and fixing guns was always his pastime. Folks bring him guns to fix but he knows how I feel about braggards with guns and folks who run their mouth, folks who are cocky or bully others.
Being a gun professional helps to keep him in line, he knows the rules and will respect them. He understands that he could lose it all if he got out of line with a gun.
you're right-most people listening on radio thought Nixon beat Kennedy-but he'd been sick,lost weight,baggy suit,5 o'clock shadow,he didn't look cool,calm,and collected like Kennedy,and he lost
I watched the debate, and it was the make up. Nixon was too manly to wear makeupand came across sallow and harsh in the studio light, it was black and white TV.
my dad said he'd move to Australia if Kennedy won-didn't-good or bad?
Agreed. Those 10% must be the Independently rich.
Or are connected via the spoils system.
So true! The MAGAS that I know are all struggling with health issues and working low wage jobs! One is on SSD 🤪 crazy
Sure. Those who vote viscerally with unengaged brains have allowed their frustration with their social and economic conditions to morph into a death wish. Only they refuse to believe it.
Biden's stumbles were so bad that they overshadowed the garbage he was spieling. It is highly unlikely he will get such a huge pass tonight against Kamala Harris.
She goes into the debate with the highest of expectations while they don't expect anything but lies from him. Plus she's actually expected to fact check him. How does she fact check him and get out her message? I heard Dana Bash claim it's not the moderators job, that fact checking makes them part of the debate. Personally I think they should run a graphic across the screen calling out his lies as he makes them
Sounds like Dana is trying to evade responsibility from the piss poor job she & Jake did.
Dana tried to sink her teeth into Waltz during the interview. He cleverly threw it back making her look like a dog retreating with its tail between its legs.
WALZ
Dana and Jake were following the instructions given them by the producer, who received them from the CEO.
They were handed the questions and told what not to do.
Like a secretary taking dictation,or a mechanic changing oil.
Thank you, Lisamanv, I've long hoped for a two minute delay so that fact checkers can post as we watch the debate.
How can anyone fact check a fire hose of lies
Trump and all conservatives to extreme right wing used the tacitc known as
The Gish gallop (/ˈɡɪʃ ˈɡæləp/) is a rhetorical technique in which a person in a debate attempts to overwhelm an opponent by presenting an excessive number of arguments, with no regard for their accuracy or strength, with a rapidity that makes it impossible for the opponent to address them in the time available
Kamala is a prosecutor and knows how to instinctively think her feet, Biden is a trained Senator raised on comity and compromise. He looked like a deer in the headlights. He didn't do so well and didn't look good when he debated Kamala for President. It is not that he did well in 2020 . It is just that many of his voters committed suicide by COVID, by not vaxxing, masking or isolating.
we can hope that Kamala is sharp enough and informed enough to fact-check him herself
She is but she is wasting her time trying to fact check a fire hose of lies, her tactic is to sell herself and make Trump look childish and ineffectual, his image as a strong man is what is attracting the right, the are looking for a 21st Century Hitler or Mussolini, considering the involvement by Catholics, especially Opus Dei, Leonard Leo, Kevin Roberts and SCOTUS, more like a Franco I would say.
She is, for sure!
I caught Dana Bash on a couple of the late night shows as she peddled her new book. She stated that she and her rework don’t feel responsible for fact checking these debates since they expect the viewers to sort it out. How LAME!! Lazy journalism and a misinformed America! Most people believe that whatever they hear on tv and double, if lies are not corrected. Dana Bash makes a big salary as an MSM tool. Yuck!
So true Marilyn. Lost all respect for Dana Bash after that interview and confirmed it when she interviewed Kamala. What lame questions to ask when all the “supposed newscasters” harp on Kamala needs to introduce herself to America and they lead with what’s your take on TFG questioning your “blackness”. How about your vision and plan to make life better, engage with European leaders. And don’t get me started on well she’s only the VP. Trump was a reality entertainer failed businessman when he ran and no one questioned that or even said how awful he was as a president. Oh but then, they would have to know how to think critically.
Everyone is writing a book these days, and 99% could be reduced to one or two paragraphs. I wonder who is buying all of these books.
Journalism has lost its way
Exactly why "news" needs be presented as HARD, VERIFIED FACTS. Not entertainment, speculation or self-enrichment. Try to imagine Walter Kronkite peddling HIS book on the JFK Assassination. You can't beacuse he didn't. He didn't because even media corporations then ran the news departments as separate entities, for the most part, and, yes, NASA did have a successful moon landing in July, 1969, leaving footprints and an American flag (and some trash) behind.
Hell, I can ask questions too if that's all they do.
That is one reason why we have so many misinformed people in this country.. So called journalists with little or no courage to speak truth to power and to hold liars and deceivers accountable, which is their duty as the fourth estate…
ABC wants him to "win" and is working for his billionaire supporters, who can't stand him. But they want him to raid the treasury for them, and hobble US in every way. 😢.
Trying to notify any media of anything is a waste of time and talent.
All MSM is corporate. Corporations are owned by investors (individual and institutional), who put in money to expect a return on investment (ROI), they hire an executive (Chief Executive Officer or CEO) to do that job and pay him with salary and benefits and bonuses depending on how well he or she does that job.
The CEO then hires editors and producers to help him do the job that the BoD has hired him to do, and he in turn hires people to report and deliver the message that is approved by the CEO and the BoD.
In some cases, like Brian L Roberts is Major individual Shareholder, Chairman and CEO of Comcast, which owns NBCUniveral whichowns MSNBC and NBC among others.
ABC is owned Walt Disney Studios, the major Shareholder is Robert Iger, who is also the CEO.
CNN is, when you drill down, owned by the Newhouse Family.
NYT by the Ochs Sulzberger Family
WAPO by Jeff Bezos
CBS is owned by National Amusements which is owned by National Amusements is now owned by Michael Redstone's son, Sumner Redstone, who holds 80% of the company, and Sumner's daughter, Shari Redstone, who owns the remaining 20%.
David Elllison son of Larry Ellison,Oracle Corporation co-founder and chairman Larry Ellison who also owns Lanai Island in Hawaii, and is a huge Trump supporter, made a bid in July to buy National Amusements.
None of the above have your, mine, or the nations interests in mind, Only theirs.
Fortunately, these morons won’t be in the audience.
There is no such thing as an unbiased fact checker, it depends on the topic and the debaters. Candy Crowley proved this when she mistakenly fact checked Mitt Romney and effectively ended her career. It is up to the opponent to fact check and the audience to decide or do their own research.
K, how does the candidate fact check against a gish gallaper within the time allowed? Harris should straightforward ly answer the questions posed to her and point out that Trump avoided the questions and went off on tangents.
Gloria, I think Harris will make a big mistake if she tries in real time to fact-check the demented orange yam. She just needs to keep right on moving, leaving Trumpty Dumpty behind in his blathering dirt-devil storm.
Moderators agree before hand, not to fact check.See this discussion from Politico on Candy Crowley and the Obama Romney debate
https://www.politico.com/story/2012/10/seeking-control-crowley-fact-checks-mitt-082512
If fact checks be left up to the audience, then the educated/ diligent will come out in favour of Harris and the uneducated/ lazy in favour of Trumpovich. In other words it’ll achieve little. See how that works?
Agreed. But now that there are "alternative facts"....
Certainly someone or some respected journalist or authorities would step forward and present a complete fact checked movie , book , documentary to present to the public to show details of what’s been done !
Here we are weeks away from election and if the response is the canned , hoax , lies. , fake, commie and so many untruths thrown at facts ..it will sink into some and with sigh a Harris victory will be the Answer we point to wear down the ignorance that has to be reversed to find a middle ground going forward because we can certainly not go back.
Marlo - “agree” Unfortunately you will probably be right. Hopefully if he goes on a rant about his hard earned indictments and bs about the Federal Justice Department being rigged/weaponized Harris will calmly point out that he was only convicted in State Court and how is it unfair if Hunter Biden has two federal convictions and because of his games he has none. If you committed the crime then how is it unfair when you get caught?
Donald, it will take more than “luck” to find a way forward after this election. If you fight with a skunk, win or lose” you still come out smelling. That is pretty much what Professor Reich’s essay is saying.
What has been lacking in a number of sources is a good clear analysis of what our everyday lives will be like if Trump and MAGA wins. My prediction is that the scenes we see in Israel of massive protests in the streets and general strikes will become the next phase of our American lives . The only difference between the Netanyahu administration and the Trump administration is that the troops will be facing inward to squash the demonstrations rather than fighting the enemy without.
Capitalism is destroying democracy and our hopes for a better future. We have entered a second “Gilded Age“ and the results will be the same as at the end of the first Gilded Age.
If Trump and MAGA wins, I predict that it is inevitable. we will enter into the next cycle of economic depression.
Marc, maybe capitalism is not the problem, but unlimited greed. In Europe there are multiple ways to contain capitalism. One is improve democracy and procedures to control power...
Tom, Capitalism has evolved into a system that rewards greed and alienates and or impoverishes most of the population. Economic Democracy is the next natural step in the evolution of our Economic system.https://www.proutinstitute.org/policy-solutions/economic-democracy-the-alternative-to-corporate-rule
Neither Captitalism or Communism is a political system.
Authoritarianism and Democracy are political systems.
Capitalism thrives in either a democracy or authoritarian system.
It thrives in Russia, China and the USA
The difference is control. In China the state controls Capitalism, in America Capitalism controls the state. In Russia the oligarchs (capitalists) serve the state in a partnership.
Defining capitalism as a system by which people can invest their own time and resources, and band together in a joint venture to pursue a profitable activity, then Capitalism is the only tool by which people can improve their position and thus improve society, but it needs to be controlled otherwise it is run away freight train, with no brakes.
Sounds like communism and its author consulted with Russia the article states.
It’s called social democracy.
Totally agree
And that is why we must do everything now to ensure that he doesn't win.
it's easy to confuse confidence with competence
trump is a coward under his bluster. When he loses he will thrash about but will have to face some prison time for his life of cheating.
Also there is confidence and braggadocio, far too many people do not have the discernment to understand the difference between the two. They are actually quite far apart on a scale or range of Personality Traits Factors or Qualities: When one is evaluating someone for Leadership, Ability to Be President:
What Type of Individual is Best Suited for The Responsibilities?
A person who exhibits Confidence or Braggadocio? If you knew not much else about them? Which one would you choose?
From experience, I would chose the person who exudes confidence: the feeling that they can be relied on, trusted, their word, is their bond. Their realistic sense, of their
ability to do what they say they will. Reliable, heart, courage, composure, brave, kind. Integrity. From genuine abilities, talents and efforts, from within, developed, or educated and experienced. Perhaps may have been inborn and or inherited.
Why Not one with braggadocio? An arrogant, boastfulness, empty boasting, vain, a swaggering, cocky manner, bluster. As the boastful character in Edmund Spencer’s “The Faire Queene” 1590 was illustration of exaggerated, beyond truthful, to point of lying. Often attempts to portray oneself as better than, more important, or even deceitful. In attempts to make one’s self seem of greater value, wealth, have more knowledge, influence, power or importance.
Often used by a weak person, in an attempt to bluff for purpose of manipulations, hoping to gain my power in attempts to achieve accumulate more, through subterfuge. May false, or untested.
Like the skunk comparison...
Me too!💩💩💩💩💩😖
At the end of the first Gilded Age, didn’t we get Teddy Roosevelt, Progressive Republicanism, trust-busting, pro-labor laws, the National Parks, and a bit later, the Income Tax? The Depression resulted from a return to form of corrupt, laissez faire capitalism under Harding and Coolidge.
I would place Biden’s role following the pandemic and the Trump years as an attempt to revive Rooseveltian (both) government for the people, and Harris, if successful and with a cooperative Congress, as the torch bearer for more of the same.
IMHO rope a dope.
She wins on appearance and demeanor.
Skunk is right. #trumpstinks.
The future of Trumpism? Take a deep breath and close your eyes. Now visualize a NYT headline stating "Trump flees the US to seek asylum in Russia." Visualize the Trump Tower next to the Kremlin in Moscow.
Now visualize the map of Russia. Instead of St. Petersburg, it says "St. Donaldsburg." Now visualize a mini Mara Lago there with a putting green in the backyard. Now visualize the Trump family sitting in lawn chairs by the putting green and working on their next Trump Social post to warn Americans that "President Harris and VP Walz will not leave after their 2nd term", and "President Obama is making plans to install Michelle on the SCOUTS," and "Americans won't have a country if President Harris steals the election for the 3rd time in 2036." VISUALIZE! :-)
RR's Post was Excellent Today... A.I. WILL be a Major Disruption of Human Systems... Even if it doesn't turn Malignant... What is missing is the Effects of Climate Change... The Insurance Companies, which must manage Future Risk, are starting to raise Rates, which are the 'Canary-In-The-Coal-Mine'... I read recently, that Kuwait, which sits on vast Oil Reserves, has been suffering Power Outages because the Transition from Oil to LNG has been rocky... The Gulf States are running out of Potable Water... Desalinization has it's Limits... Rising Global Temps will limit the Areas of Human Habitation... Phoenix, AZ, is a 'Canary-In-The-Coal-Mine'... We live in 'Interesting Times'... Change Is Accelerating.... It wasn't until the late 18th Century that European Scholars started describing how their Contemporary World has changed from that of their Childhood... Reflect upon the Pace-Of-Change Now...
Donald, let's hope that you are wrong. Lots of dead skunk roadkill out there . . . Stake it thru the heart and put a silver bullet in its brain -- works for vampires, should work for the orange maggot who without that bronze make-up is as pale as a ghost-- ever seen a picture of the REAL, undoctored Trump? TRULY SCARY! Whiter than white -- just like a vampire!
Sad to say, I think you are right, Donald. The stink of a skunk eventually may dissipate, but the memory of it is still debilitating. And the AI wizards will find the technology to keep him alive and threatening long after the ground eats him.
I think there is a lot of manic trumped-up (sorry -- no pun intended!) fear going on here. You people love to scare yourselves! Stop it. Think rationally. I am glad I live in a voting district where the elections have always been run fairly and squarely. I don't anticipate any wild goings-on.
One more hamburger, one more French fry, one more Diet-Coke . . . Trump will be toast!
Well said
Donald - “like” and sadly agree.
*and ADJUDICATED RAPIST! Why does everyone forget he is legally a rapist now???
Daniel - “like” I don’t think that some people forget but just ignore the fact. Very sad. Still hoping that next month E Carroll will sue him again to put him (and his actions) back in the headlines.
Anon: What could she sue him on? Is he still harassing her?
Klare K. - It was my understanding that just recently after he lost an appeal (or something- I tend to lose track of his crimes/trials sometimes - that he went in front of the media cameras and brought up all of the women who have claimed sexual assault and vividly recalled their accusations but denied them and went on another bender about her specific case and the time that her rape occurred. Claiming once again it didn’t happen because he is such a Bigly mega star. The lawyer said that she has taken notice and they are considering their options.
Trump just doesn't ever shut his yap. Probably no options re: if he's not outright attacking her. Wonder if he paid up on the $5 mil. + $83 mil. he was fined in her cases?
Klare K. - No, he does not ever shut up. As far as I know he paid a bond while it goes through appeals (surprising, appeals, I know!) and the amount of interest is still accruing.
Professor Reich: i'm really dismayed that trump's steady diet of cheeseburgers and cokes hasn't yet done its job! WTF? all of us should be so lucky. (well, as a vegan who never drinks sodas, i'm safe from that fate, at least.)
An olfactometer reading can document the effect of the diet.
The nose is the only olfactometer needed,if you can get close enough to Barron von Shitzenpantz.
Ding, ding, DING!
Disappointed someone isn’t dead? You people are trash.
That’s probably why he has cognitive decline from his junk food high animal protein diet. It will do him in eventually but maybe not as soon as we would like😏
If you have enough money and power, you can live forever. Who knows maybe they are draining young healthy males of blood and giving him transfusions.
I doubt he will ever see the inside of a prison. He is a slimy slug that slips through the law unscathed. God help us if he wins the election.
Long and miserable.... miserable!
He'll become a raging ravng lunatic. Oh, Wait, He's already that. The red caps don't care for America only for their Fuehrer.
Does it hurt being this fucking stupid? You’re brainwashed my man.
Sadly, those who had manufacturing jobs and limited educational opportunities feel disenfranchised and squashed by economic pressures and inability to grasp the so called American Dream of wealth, home ownership & a good life. These things are not obtainable so they need someone to blame and something to grasp onto. tRump & MAGA fill this void & make them feel like they have a champion & they can rage against the system by supporting tRump. Sadly his convictions & charges have just martyred him! Yes you’re right MAGA won’t go when he goes. It’s a giant Cult fuelled by anger. Very sad indeed. Never thought I’d ever see America in this way!
You mention " that void." The void was created just before reichwing billionaires created reichwing BS "news," channels ie; FOX, OAN, Newsmax, RAV, 1500 rw radio channels spewing BS nationwide 24/7 & their social media sites.
They invested in a massive propaganda infrastructure to provide COVER for their own decimation of our economy AKA: Raygun's trickle-down theory; that only the very rich deserve tax breaks, tax-subsidies, tax havens, etc...and eventually the 'little ppl,' will get some benefit, eventually.
True BS. All the gains we made from '40s-'70s were reversed with Raygun.
And Democrats stood around and twiddled their thumbs not doing anything to compete. What messages do we forever get from Dem party strategists and leaders? "You got to vote to save yourselves."
Both leftwing radio pros, Thom Hartmann and Randi Rhodes went to Dem party leaders over the years & pointed this growing problem out to them. They all refused to take any action--to invest in any kind of nationwide messaging machine.
Now, here we are. And again, it's up to The People, the ones left with the functioning brains & hearts to now organize, knock on doors, use social media like there's no tomorrow and try to save ourselves.
Personally, I resent Dem party. I hate them. But I, we, have no other choices. And I can only hope enough ppl get involved with the most important election in our lives.
Democratic party leadership has ignored Americans for decades in favor of corporations and greedy rich elites, in many ways just like Rethuglicons & Americans have that void that only reichwing billionaires have bothered to fake filling at all.
Yep. If you put Obama into a hot tub time machine and dialed him into the 1970s, he'd have been a moderate Republican like his fellow Illinois senator from that era, Charles Percy.
Clinton followed Reagan by implementing some horrible policies and pulled the Democrats hard to the right, and became a home for corporatists.
It's pretty difficult to find a political home when one party appeals to Christian fascists and the other is tied at the hip to corporatists and an outdated foreign policy that turns a blind eye to the slaughter of 40,000 Palestinians, but here we are.
At least with Kamala, the door will always be open. It's checkmate if Trump wins. If Kamala wins, I hope we can push for real policy changes.Things like WPA 2.0 that could help the rural undrclass (and urban areas, too). Is she open to that? If she is, our current body politic will prevent her from saying so.
We'll just need to wait and see. First, we need to get her into office. Then, we need to find a way to get corporate money out of politics. How? Beats me. But corporate and billionaire greed is what has taken us to this moment, so finding a way out is imperative. Thanks for the comment that prompted me to ramble.
Charles, great ramble and right on target.
Gloria - Was it a ramble or a weave? ;)
Ding, ding, DING!
Well, the ding, ding, ding came from your comment. I just followed up. :-)
About those 40,000 Palestinians Charles, about 20,000 of them are JIHADIST fighters, the other 20,000 would still be alive were it not for the cowards that are the leadersship of HAMAS that has been using them and hostages as human shields.
What would you do, if some one invaded your home, killed and raped your sister, then fled back to their home and hid behind the skirts of their mother and sister?
Send them carry out from Uber, ?
Both Hamas and Netanyahu are reprehensible. My point was not to make a defense of Hamas, and nowhere in my comment is that suggested.
Reprehensible? That's all? Fucking bloody, unconscionable murderers, they and they alone are responsible for all of the current bloodshed and troubles in that wretched land.
We can do the chicken and egg thing if you wish, but that is not fruitful and only serves HAMAS and frankly Islamic purposes.
The problem is that that wretched land which the Romans called Syria Palaiestina has been since the Muslim conquest, sacred Islamic land, just as Saudi Arabia is considered such because of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina (two cities where infidels cannot tread)
Jerusalem is the site of Islams third most holy sited,the Haram al Sharif or Dome of the Rock, and al Aqsa mosque, having Jews in possession of sacred Islamic land and holy sites is an affront that can not be tolerated, and was one of the main reasons that in Nov 1948 it was attacked by Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Syria with the intent of annihilating the Jews. They failed.but have not given up, they will continue to sacrifice Muslim lives until they succeed in annihilating the Jews
Sorry, I'm not going to get into a pissing contest over Abrahamic religions.
About those 40,000 Palestinians Charles, about 20,000 of them are JIHADIST fighters, the other 20,000 would still be alive were it not for the cowards that are the leadersship of HAMAS that has been using them and hostages as human shields.
What would you do, if some one invaded your home, killed and raped your sister, then fled back to their home and hid behind the skirts of their mother and sister?
Send them carry out from Uber, ?
Nice touch remembering Scarborough's famous line, "Ronald Raygun and the Plutonium blonde." I am not sure that any of today's political leaders have the ability to articulate the scope of our global problem, which predates even the follies of 40 years ago.
Whoops, it was Scargill, not as I said.
I worked in a factory until I was in my early 40s. Thanks to the Dept of Labor, I learned computers and now have a job with my state. If Trump wins people will lose the government intervention that has helped millions of people like me since the 1930s. People forget what life was like before FDR. You had to work until death or wind up in a workhouse!. Are their no prisons, are there no workhouses?
Perhaps some TV or internet messages could say to these men that the true villains are not coastal elites but capitalist oligarchs - in whose pocket Trump is, and he is giving tax money to them which could be benefitting the poorer classes.
Hillary unfortunately instead of trying to persuade some of these discontented people away from Trump despised them as a basket of deplorables, which didn't help. Let's see if Coach Walz can do better.
Yes, propaganda has so many people duped into liking policies that help the wealthy. Neoliberalism/Reaganomics/Trickle Down Economics have been a wrecking ball to the middle class for over 40 years. Most people do not know this.
What distresses me most about Trump is that he is walking, talking proof that America has a double standard. If practically _anybody_ in America did half the excrement that Trump does on a regular basis, they would have been put behind bars or in a padded room for the rest of their lives. He's proof that Our American Dream is actually an American Fantasy.
There is still hope that justice will prevail.
Americans are in a bind.... because We believe in Democracy. "Majority rules!", and if the majority of Americans want an autocrat to lead them, the minority is _required_ to accept him/her. There has been a political trend that started with Reagan where the wannabe autocrats have become more numerous in Government. And wherever they could, they steered HUGE amounts of money to oligarchs. In turn, the oligarchs have been funding even more autocratic wannabes into office.
We are standing at a precipice: We need to get as many anti-autocrats into office as possible EVERY election. Because the Autocracy crowd need only ONE _big_ win in order to rework the laws to assure that only **They** can run the Government, forevermore. Furthermore, We The People are handicapped by the fact the ONLY candidates We are allowed to vote for are the candidates that the PARTIES' Powers That Be have selected. [The only candidates that have a decent chance of being elected MUST be endorsed by either the Democrats or the Republicans. (Independents account for less than 1% of Government.) And that being the case, as a quid pro quo, to get endorsed, the wannabe candidates must swear an oath of fealty to the Party, first and foremost.] The GOP is solidly _already_ the willing tool of the Autocrats. And the Dems have been steadily drifting that way, scrambling to match the funding that is showered onto the GOP.
It will prevail - for the time being - if Harris wins. And she will win if, and only if, we get progressive/left-wing/liberal voters motivated and to the polls. Get out the youth vote - remind high school and college students that they can register to vote at age 17 1/2. Also, check your own registration from time to time because you never know if you fell victim to a GOP-led purge.
https://voterizer.org/
He certainly is UNFIT.
After an initial sugar high of "Kamala wins easily" the polls have brought me down to earth. While this discourse is important, it is based on an enormous "If." The focus needs to be brought back to the here and now issue of making sure that he loses. Some of the problems you have outlined will then become the new "here and now" issues and questions. As for me? I'm turning my focus towards voter registration and GOTV efforts in my neighboring critical state of Pennsylvania. P.S.: It is possible to increase the number of Democratic registrations by staying in African-American neighborhoods and focusing on registering women. Godspeed to Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. They are a resuscitating breath of fresh air.
The polls ; remember the red tidal wave predicted in the mid terms, that did not come even close to being reality? "fool me once..."
WE ARE STILL REGISTERING NEW DEMOCRATS.
Under the radar. FT6 has sent more than 12 million texts this cycle. Need phone banking and canvassing to close the deal.
The electorate is not set... yet. Millions of potential Harris voters are not registered ... yet. She trends 60% with women, the same with young people, 70% with tenants in the blue wall swing states. Now is the hour to expand our base significantly.
FT 6 calls primarily unregistered people who trend Democratic...mostly women. Usually don't have to do a lot of persuading.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/all-volunteer-ops/volunteer
Ya, Laurie... Definite "grain of salt" stuff. And yet, the polls are the best we have. Wish it weren't so damned important.
I wish we could just see how everyone votes, and not obsess about the polls. We have seen 'exit polls' like in 2004, that were nothing like the results of the election. Fishy.
I’ve followed CalFire on FB for years. The endless comments blaming government, and “the woke”, from what seems like an inordinate number of mountain dwelling MAGA residents, now victims of these devastating fires; their comments are disturbing. My heart breaks for the loss of homes, possessions, and animals to these fires, but the Fox News induced beliefs of mountain residents is apparent in their comments. Sad on many levels.
There was a story yesterday in NYT or WaPo about the San Bernardino fire and commenters noted that most who lived at the fire site did so because it is cheaper than living in town.
I'm in Midwest...please elaborate on the fire victims
The further you move from population centers the more right wing the people.
Essentially they live in an ethnic bubble, and there access to the world is via TV, and the internet, and TV is dominated by corporate approved and right wing news, Fox is the major draw, CNN second, Facebook is a right wing hellscape.
Wall Street Dems need to do some deep soul searching to see exactly how their personal choices have alienated America’s workers. We are all responsible for investing wisely in our economy and need to respect the workers who have built it. Our cult of worship of the mighty dollar, needing to impress our friends with the latest gadget or fancy car, prompts us to go for the highest dividends rather than investing in ethically run companies that actually give something back to their employees. The time is now to come clean and to make investment decisions based on what’s truly good for our economy.
On that note, yesterday, from The Guardian, I read the following headline: "Musk on track to become world's 1st trillionaire by 2027."
This was made possible by ALL Rethuglicons and one too many corporate-owned Democrats allowing our laws to favor the greedy uber rich...over the rest of us. For decades, now.
Read enough comments from fellow so-called "lefties," on social media and you can see how Hillary Clinton is STILL on their radars as being "a true Dem hero." Her husband may have "balanced US budget," but at a huge cost to poor and working class Americans who lost government programs that helped them survive.
In 2016, I never heard Hillary talk progressive policies, so I knocked on doors for Bernie. I had to vote for Hillary because I didn't ever want a Rethuglicon in The WhiteHouse again.
Unless and until more of The People rise up and start demanding more progressive politicians, nothing will get better in any major way at all.
Hillary is linked to AIPAC and the destruction of 2 progressive House members campaigns so far: Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman. She also heads up Emily's List which is an organization which campaigns WITH HER BIG PAC $$$$ to demolish lesser, poorer progressives trying to win.
This is what we are up against.
Kamala Harris is NOT Hillary Clinton, Tim Walz is also a forward thinking Progressive
Fay, I agree with you on Tim. From other commenters here, Walz has proven himself to be quite progressive. Great! And he's very personable, which helps.
It is just unsettling to hear 2 no-Dumpster reichwing politicians say that they could only vote for Harris after they both saw her moving to the right on some issues.
That's troubling, to me. Certainly doesn't change my strong determination that blue ballots are needed now more than ever.
But I would be foolish not to put these comments in the important category.
Harris was campaigning recently on getting more individual entrepreneurs excited into starting their own businesses. That's lovely...if you are skilled in business. About a day later, a TV pundit mentioned her plan--her way to try to get Americans to vote for her, and then he said, "What Harris never mentioned was that the majority of individuals businesses fail...". Ooops. Not a really exciting idea after all.
Then I read Michael Bloomberg donated $19 million to her campaign. Not her fault. We are suffering from 5 reichwing fascists on SCOTUS who declared "Money is speech." I get that, but I also know no billionaire or greedy uber rich person gives their $$$$ for nothing in return. Only a fool thinks that. And Bloomberg hates progressive ideas. He's a conservative through & through.
I fear but still hope real progress can happen. I never give up hope, but I'm also not living in any fairytale or hero-worship mindset, either.
Andrea what a politician says to get elected and what they do after election are not related.
What we do know is that Kamala is an anti Trump, and that is all we can care about at the moment.
There is not much a President can do, without a Congress supporting them.
All they can do is issue executive orders, And executive orders can only address the execution of laws that Congress has passed.
For instance you can't legalize abortion or outlaw guns by executive order.
I still think Bernie was the only candidate who really was for and still is for the people. The Dems screwed him and us over, he could have beaten Trump. Another good man the Dems should’ve saved is Al Franken but no, he too had to go. Sheesh will they ever learn!
Lynne, in my state, Nevada, Bernie was very competitive in both 2016 & 2020. I heard one voter excited over Bernie with his fist clenched, he threw his arm in the air declaring his enthusiasm for him. Another younger man, a fireman worked with me in the last stages of the campaign was bragging to his buddies (all reichwingers) how Bernie had the answers that his own friends were seeking & grinning over feeling righteous over his choice.
I noticed both Hillary in '16 & Biden in '20 utilized their CONservative Dem heroes; late John Lewis for Hillary, then James Clyburn for Biden to be their ambassadors to demolish Bernie's chances by swaying his own black 'brothers & sisters,' to vote for the corporate Dems they promoted. It worked. Both congressman were from South Carolina. That's exactly when Bernie's campaigned died both times and why Biden demanded the 2024 primary to begin, instead of Iowa.
Dem party leaders can be quite ruthless, when they want to be.
Andrea and Lynne: Yeah O Yeah Hear Ya! Still hurtin' over that hypocrisy. But thinking about it. Was it really hypocrisy or something worse? Guess we don't need to get into that ugliness right now. Gotta think positive for the nonce. We can delve into the foundational slime of Corp Dem policy at a later date. But when?
Now, however, my only real worry is translational of my words by other viewers who need that moral boost & just reading the ugly truth of the party they may vote for could dissuade them, right now. Fascism & reichwingers are scary as hell & we must defeat those SOBs.
What do you think? How involved have you been to get blue ballots going where you live?
It is all about Campaign financing and the donors, and getting a job after the election.
Voted for him twice
Being a billionaire or a trillionaire is the wrong way of looking at wealth and power.
Command of resources is what matters.
Who are the wealthiest men in the world? It is hose that command the resources of a nation and its people.
Does Musk and will Musk command the resources that Putin Commands, that Xi commands, that MBS Commands? No.
Do democratically elected nation leaders command the nations resources? No.
But Trump will with the help of Kevin Roberts and Leonard Leo, and then he will be answerable to no one. Just as were Stalin, Mao,Pol Pot, Franco, Mussolini, Hitler.
Judy: Okay but shedding no tears for MAGA mudtruckers who spend their hard-earned bucks on the latest "gadget or fancy car".
https://www.facebook.com/groups/368619780139349/permalink/2245860429081932/?sale_post_id=2245860429081932&mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v
It's not about economics/money. I cannot buy into blaming the economy for basically racist white supremacist neopaleofascistic worldviews.
P.S. Admitting my biased view. Sure. The majority of mudtruckers could be Democrats for all I know. I'm sticking with it till you cough up the data. 🙃
Forget to add: reichwing all spend their $$$ on those gas-guzzling vehicles while they all complain about Biden raising the cost of gas.
They wouldn't be Rethuglicons if they weren't hypocrites to the Nth degree.
As a rule, it's reichwingers that absolutely LOVE their fancy, gas-guzzling muscle cars and ATVs, dirty diesel-spewing trucks with their bumper-stickers all messaging "FUs" to liberals/leftwingers in the world.
Correct dnkarr, It is the corporate establishment that wants us to believe and vote on the economy, the people are voting on cultural issues.
Exactly right!
I have been thinking about my own contribution to this culture of materialism over the years. I was too busy working and raising a family to pay much attention to the rest of the country or world. Now I regret it.
You did what was in front of you and felt was necessary at the time. Sounds like you now have some energy freed up to get involved in whatever projects might interest you - I’m guessing you have a lot to offer!
What a lovely and compassionate comment. Thank you, Judy.
Wall Street is backing Trump, because he has promised them unregulated access to the pockets of America.
However Trump is hell bent on revenge and is backed by zealots who will tear down America to fit their fears and needs.
Doing so will destroy the very qualities that made America wealthy in the first place, motivation, diversity, inclusion, morale, and rounding up millions as Trump has said he will do, will destroy the mudsill upon which America is built.
A mudsill is a supporting sill that rests directly on a base, such as the ground, and is the lowest sill of a structure. Mudsills are a key part of a building's structural support, and are used to provide a level surface on uneven ground.
IOW they have killed the goose that laid the golden egg, but like the nobility of the past, they don't care, so long as they are the nobility, and there is distance between them and the mudsill
.
A lot of the training needed to fill many entry-level manufacturing jobs today can be obtained at a local community college. Eight years is a long time to blame others for one's plight when one hasn't done anything to improve their plight. The fact is that if you're not a wealthy person, you're NEVER going to benefit from any of Trump's so-called economic policies. The reality is that the average economically poor Trump supporter is just as poor, broke, and sick as they were nine years ago; that won't change.
Dead on Jimmie. Unfortunately this is true.
I've been sayin' that it's the culture, stupid.
Yesterday, Thom Hartmann was talkin; energy, while I was talkin' hemp.
The main reason I like hemp is it can transform Appalachia into an economic powerhouse. Jobs? Hemp materials can replace stuff like metals that require huge capital investments for market entry. It is renewable. It is environmentally friendly. People can grow their own. Can eat it, drink it, wear it, heat the house with it, put it in the car, and even smoke it.
Only takes one season to make money.
My favorite innovation is hemp batteries. https://cleantechnica.com/2022/10/24/hemp-for-victory-researchers-make-better-cheaper-batteries-from-plant-waste/
Hemp is one of the most environmentally friendly and economically efficient all-natural fibers; it requires less water, grows quicker, cleans the air, and regenerates the soil, bringing life to an under-appreciated planet
During WWII, central Kentucky became the hemp capitol of the world, after the Japanese took most hemp producing countries. We needed rope for the Navy. John Young Brown, Sr. controlled a monopoly. Since then hemp was a scheduled drug, illegal, until recently. After Kentucky burley tobacco hit the skids, even Mitch Mc Connell and Rand Paul support it.
Hemp’s cellulose fiber is utilized in a variety of products, including dresses, jeans, shirts, caps, bags, ropes and canvas, skin care products, paper, building materials, and a variety of food items.
When it comes to nutrition, hemp seeds are the most important part of the plant. The seeds can be eaten whole or without the hull. They can also be turned into milk that’s similar to soy milk. Hemp seed oil can be used as a cooking oil in the same way as olive oil.
During the war, Ford even built a car that was partially constructed of hemp to aid American farmers.
Hemp Ethanol And Methanol. Unlike in biodiesel applications, the whole hemp plant can be used in ethanol or methanol production. As with biodiesel, ethanol and methanol can be used as a fuel for vehicles. When derived from industrial hemp, these alcohols are sometimes referred to as hempanol.
A 2011 study found the adjusted biomass energy yield of hemp was 120% higher than that of wheat straw in terms of solid fuels. One of the solid biofuels that can be produced are hemp pellets, which are made from the shiv or hurd – the woody core of the plant. Using hemp for pellets is a good alternative to wood as it produces around the same heat, with similar levels of ash content and isn’t corrosive.
Hemp can also be used to make charcoal and during the pyrolytic process used to create it, also produce liquid biofuels such as methanol as mentioned above.
Hemp Biogas. Methane is the primary component of the natural gas you might use at home and is chemically closely related to methanol. Methane is produced through the action of anaerobic bacteria on organic materials. The equipment used to create the right anaerobic conditions (occurring in the absence of oxygen) and capture the gas is called a biodigester, which acts as a mechanical stomach.
Consider the many coal mines that can be combined with a hemp operation.
I think that a good way to present herself to the American people in the debate would be if Kamala Harris would address the "forgotten people" (that Trump claims to care about) and explain what Trump would do if he gets in power...(i.e. deepen the poverty and isolate them even more while filling up the pockets of the Oligarchs who pay for his campaign and buy their way into White House)
I think it’s pretty clear that too many of them will only cling to their insane and willfully uninformed beliefs nonetheless despite a trump defeat. Let’s face it - a defeat to them is little more than a rallying cry.
Well said!
I have thought for some time that the problem is not Trump - it's his 'base' and his spineless Republican sycophants in Congress. Some weeks ago, Professor, you said that Trump's followers were not stupid. Some of them are not - they are evil, determined and, above all, dangerous. However, I maintain that the majority of them ARE stupid, and this is frightening. How can these 'non-stupid' people be stupid enough to support an individual who is out-of-control, incompetent, abusive, dangerous and mentally ill? As Liz Cheney put it "I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain." I look forward to a re-built Republican party under Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger - but it will take some time even after Trump is gone.
Let’s use the word naive, for so many of our fellow Americans. They are nice, mostly kind people. Salt of the earth types. They’re not used to devious, shark, greedy, Charlatans smarmy who lie about anything and everything, like “djt” they tend to take him at face value. They “want to believe what he says” all the scary stories about the foreign immigrants.”
I just listened to some of the neighbors, at our pool this morning, nice, sweet, kind, from Nebraska comfortable lives. Retired. All stirred up, by the “bad warnings all those immigrants are coming to destroy us, hordes, the President is trying to protect us from.” They were worried sick, certain only he was protecting our money, homes and lives, the border, the border, he had them terrified. They hadn’t even listened to that “foreigner, girl”-dismissed her as “dangerous a liberal, who was letting all the Immigrants, invading and taking us over!”
Yes, they were dismissing Kamala Harris. Because their “scary bedtime story” by the crass, foul, jerk, arrogant and full of braggadocio, had them so scared, they were reacting like, scared little girls. They didn’t want to hear, the Fact Checks, on their Big Bad Scary Story Teller-was called out for lies: Only upset, The Moderators did, call Out, the other Debator: she HAD to be Lying, because, their President SAID SO…. And…all the Immigrants were Invading! THEY Didn’t Check Her Lies, He said she was…
When I reminded them, Kamala Harris Quoted the Real, Latest Statistics: How Much Less Border Patrol, Crossings were Reduced. Way, way down. They insisted, it wasn’t true, The Trouble was All the Illegals, cause Trump Said so! He’s Got ‘em on a Stuck Loop of Fear, Fear ad Nauseum….. Untruth, all they can hear is his Echoes —————,
Since his Last Run, Years Ago, Still Playing in their Heads. only if they Vote him in Again, is he Gonna, Save ‘em…. Lies on endless Loops , he’s in their heads.
Thank you for the 'grassroots feedback', Kali. You're right, and it's so frustrating!
Colin, are you familiar with the bell curve? The population is a perfect example
My wife uses class room criteria, there are A's, B;s, C;S, D's,,E;s and F;s.
there are very few A's and 's in society, mostly C;s, D;s, E;s and F;s.
The D's, E;s, and F;s, are fearful and resentful of the A's and B's, The C;s are complacent to resentful, aspirational A's and B's but just can't cut it.
The resentful C's, D;s, E;s and F;s outnumber the A;s, B;s and satisfied C;s. and this is reflected in the polls,it is the mobile C's, that move from satisfied to resentful and back again.
Resentment is easier to stimulate than satisfaction.
Sit down in a Chinese restaurant fill up on rice and you are satiated, a half hour later you are hungry again.
Walk away from a thanksgiving feast and you are bloated and passing gas, next morning you are ready to start all over again.
Comfort and pleasantness last only until pain is felt. Then we do anything to obviate the pain
Make them feel or fear pain, and then offer relief. That is how snake oil salesmen operate, and the public is still taken in by the Music Man.
How many presidential elections does Trump have to lose -- and how many down-ballot elections have to be lost because of him -- before the GOP moves on, even if Trumpism survives in another home?
The GOP can’t move on until the MAGA cult is vanquished.
They are Brainwashed playing in their heads, need Deprogramming!
You have to understand that reichwing billionaires--the only real puppet masters in that tribe, know well they have no cult leader to divert fascist policies into pleasing cow manure like their orange Dumpty.
Unless and until another reichwing fanatic cult-like conman comes along, those puppet masters know they are stuck. They desperately need a shyster to gather the masses to vote for their massively putrid Project 2025 BS.
As usual, spot on, except for Just Done Vance, who has the charisma and political instincts of a rutabaga. He'll be lost in history, somewhere below Dan Quayle.
Please allow me to add that, as a life-long, small-town, redneck hick, I've known these disaffected white males forever. They've always been present, tho' mostly hidden in the nooks and crannies, hanging out at the local dive bars and autoshops, bitching w/ each other, then going home drunk and angry. What The Felon did was give them a voice that has been amplified by "Asocial" media. Suddenly, they realized that there's a bunch of them around the country plus they had a big-mouthed charlatan to rally around.
All that you say about the economy, jobs and taxes is true, Robert. However, it must be added that these generationally Angry White Boyz have done little/nothing to help themselves. They showed up (more or less) in HS, slouching from one class to the next, getting barely-passing grades - or they dropped out and took low-wage, zero-future jobs doing menial work. They lived with their parents or rented cheap digs, making no plans for their lives. Many of 'em destroyed their brains and futures w/ booze and/or meth.
Their more motivated peers paid attention, engaged in school, graduated, got apprenticeships where they learned job skills or went to trade schools or college. Most of this group became "Move-Outs", leaving East Resume Speed where they grew up because they saw the lack of opportunity.
It's not that the "Stay-Behinds" are stupid, necessarily, just disorganized, unmotivated, myopic and parochial, suspicious of that which they don't know, resistant to change, unable to dream beyond their small-town roots. They won'/can't take responsibility for their own failure to participate in their own lives, so they blame "Them". The Senile Felon gives them plenty of "Thems" to blame.
We shouldn't forget that it's the "successful" people who are striving and achieving who are also driving the destruction of our planet's ecosystem.
I can't agree more, Thomas. It is demonstrably, statistically verifiable that (most of) The Rich are the global uber-consumers who are dooming us (and our progeny who we claim to love so deeply) to futures in Climate Hell. The Richer we are, the worse we are, consuming to the limits of our wallets.
I argue, however, that over-consumption (pronounced, "greed") is fundamental to the Egos of Homo Ignorami and that most of the Have-Nots would love to become Haves and then live and consume just like, say, Bill Gates does.
M.A.T. - You nailed it. Great insight and detail. A+.
Unfortunately what you say in this piece makes total sense, Professor. I think most of us who want to see tRUMP defeated and subsequently imprisoned haven’t thought much beyond the election. We have thought of trumpism as a fever that must be broken, and not as a chronic condition that will have to be carefully managed for the foreseeable future.
Also, unfortunately, the two dominant current political parties in this country are not up to the task of managing our current conditions. They are part of the problem. Our current political “leaders” are ,for the most part, addicted to power, and to the money that helps them gain and maintain that power.
We need people to run campaigns such as Bernie Sanders did in 2016, when he refused large money donations. He showed that our populace can be inspired by a politician that is genuinely interested in our everyday problems, and who is capable of addressing those problems, because he isn’t beholden to the big money.
The most accurate is Allan Lichtman. He picks KAMALA.
Ironically or maybe not, the Peter Thiel’s and Elon Musk are part of the techie billionaires who crushed the middle class and the manufacturing jobs. They look on those men as scum.
The truth hurts. Thank you for your honest statement of fact. We have to win BIG in November. Harris would at least be the beginning of good things for the average American. Jack Smith, hopefully, will land Trump in prison. The few magas still in Congress will cringe in the shadows of a bright and joyous rebirth of Democratic values and accomplishments. VOTE for a brighter future.