We, ordinary working people, should be the ones saying stop the steal. The hard right Trumpers are planning to steal America from us. Our rights, our benefits, any security we might have. They see life as a zero sum game. They want it all or they fear they will have nothing. Our Country was built to share opportunity, not deny it. Lets stop the steal in November. Vote D.
Spot on! How anyone can continue his toxic rhetoric based on lies and hate without bringing anything to the table that's positive is anyone's guess. Then again, this felonious shyster who will forever have at least the No. 34 attached to his disastrous resume continues to get help from most of the media who are all in it for the money and not the sake of democracy.
Exactly: Putin's trolls have been pulling talking points from history books to feed to Trump and the Reds- First it was from the lies told by the Know Nothings in the 1840's and early '50s about the immigrants of the time- the Irish who they claimed to be agents of the Pope, sent here to destroy the moral fabric of our country with whiskey, and the Germans with beer, but mainly with their ideas that slavery is morally repugnant,, thus undermining the unfair economics of the time.
The Reds of the time then, literally, started a civil war to perpetuate the unfair economic advantage of slavery, rationalized by lies that many continue to believe to this day.
They didn't call it culture wars then- but it was the same thing- the Reds claimed that those nasty abolitionists had no respect for property rights of the South, and were merely out to destroy the economy of the South with their meddling for human rights.
English is the second language for most of Putin's trolls, so they didn't realize that when they stepped forward in time to the 1930s that the term a "unified Reich" is not commonly used term in America.
We need to re-read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to learn what finally caused the townsfolk to realize that the King and the Duke were conning them, at which point the townsfolk tarred and feathered the King and Duke and rode them out of town on a rail.
Sadly, the media. Call out your most listened-to sources, like I have. I refuse to listen to or support NPR anymore, and I have told them and several programs that they air and support exactly why.
I’ve canceled my long-standing WaPo subscription because Will Lewis seems to be determined to turn a once-great newspaper into another Murdochian outlet, something I want no part of. But why NPR?
Hi, Marla, thanks for the info on WaPo . . . I have just subscribed to them on May 25 . . . I like E.J. Dionne, and I receive regular updates on the Trump Trials both on Sundays and whenever there is movement in that regard. The two columnists who write it are very, very thorough, clever and have an upbeat manner. As for NPR, they just tiptoe around Trump, they never take a stand, they've really gone "woke," they offer too much cultural stuff I'm just not interested in, like the latest musician they want to give 5 minutes of fame to, and a few weeks ago they aired such a raunchy program on the new noontime program on the local affiliate station (something I NEVER DREAMED I'd hear on NPR), that I just said, "That's it, I am done!" I had just contributed to them in their fundraiser two days before, and I contacted them and demanded a refund. They also have ruined Sunday morning's "Weekend Edition" for me with the replacement host, who has a really grating, TERRIBLE voice, and I just cannot listen to her or the program anymore. I also cannot stand listening to Mary Louise Kelly on "All Things Considered" weekdays, who not only has a TERRIBLE voice, but she is overbearing, domineering, RUDE, edits people's sentences for them, overrides what interviewees are saying, finishes their sentences for them(!) . . . After years of listening, I just can't tolerate them anymore! They also air CONSTANTLY announcements that they run into the ground, they CONSTANTLY remind listeners of their need for money, and the local affiliate is just trying to do too much. They've got a rap/hip-hop station now with a lot of no-talent music, and they started a new program called "This Is Nashville," but instead of hiring local talent to host it, they hired a black guy from Albuquerque, NM, and he is just full of himself! It just all got to be intolerable!
What do the sexual, racial, (and geographical) orientations of a program host necessarily have to do with the content? If you don’t like the content, simply complain on that basis, not on your assumptions about the host
Yeah, that was interesting. I had deja vu of my Mom (born a Bircher, died a Birther) yelling at the TV about how "shrill" this or that woman was. If she didn't like the content.
My "assumptions" about the host are right-on. And who the hell are you to tell me what to do or think about something I can judge fairly when YOU have never heard the guy in action??? HE . . . IS . . . AN . . . IDIOT, and Nashville's new mayor, a really hardworking progressive, thinks so as well!
Klare: Just a few comments. 1) My experiences with my local NPR affiliate are in some ways similar to yours (constant nagging for bucks, irritating voice on sunday mornings) but i've never had a problem with their fairness. 2) Get an Amazon Echo or Google Home and just tell it to play some other NPR station. There's a nationwide bunch of them to choose from - WNYC, WNBR, Iowa Public Radio, Minnesota Public Radio are all great.
My wife and I really enjoy the NPR we get on our Amazon Echo here in SoCal. Mostly good content with good commentators. You know NPR has its very legit moments when easily-irritated Trump and his twisted cronies in Congress are always pushing to defund them.
Marla, the Washington Post still has some excellent journalists who are writing vetted truths. Great articles about politics, the damage done by the government and the Catholic Church to the Indigenous community, etc. I’m don’t think throwing out the baby with the bath water is the answer, Also reading the comments gives me a better idea of what others are thinking.
Interesting piece in (on?) CNN today about the person Will Lewis has selected to be the new EIC for WaPo. The guy was heavily involved in the phone hacking scandals in the UK when he, too, worked for Rupert Murdoch.
I wonder how many of WaPo's columnists are syndicated and can be found on other outlets? Regardless, I hate the direction he's taking the paper, which had done some outstanding journalism in the past.
But, like most of us, WaPo's glory days are behind it. No more Ben Bradlee, Bernstein and Woodward, even Marty Baron. Feh. Instead, we've got this low-rent Fleet Street wannabe.
Wow -- truly disheartening! Why would Lewis hire such a person? Both of them were involved in the phone-hacking scandals? Truly terrible news! Guess lots of the Left will be jumping ship!
Marla, I'm equally disturbed by the WaPo leadership change. Right now I'm holding off on canceling my subscription (which I've had in one form or another since 1984) because I like a number of the columnists and feature writers, and a lot of the reporting (although the headlines often strike me as baiting). I do miss many of the writers who have retired or were laid off over the last year or two.
I don’t think it will be easy to stop it by voting. Too many roadblocks have been put into place - the lies, (believed by millions), propaganda, media becoming an extreme right mouthpiece, voter restriction & intimidation, gerrymandering, state's under red control willing to cheat, Supreme Court in their pocket, Congress & senate worthless…….i am not feeling hopeful.
We have to try. I like to say two things. 1. Voting is our superpower. 2. The voting booth is our duty station and this is a red alert. All hands on deck. We will do it.
In one day in March at the FT 6 summit, 11,000 new N. Carolina Democrats were registered. To sweep we need to add the millions of unregistered folk who heavily trend Democratic. FT6 uses data mining to identify them.
Tom High: I do not consider you a troll and I am not a robot. You have a legitimate point of view; one with which others here may disagree but that does not relegate you to troll status.
I live in Texas, unfortunately so I feel my vote doesn’t even count. I wish we could either get rid of the Electoral College or mandate that all states report their presidential votes as cast.
If this overthrow of the US Government comes to pass, we are all culpable. By not doing enough to stop it. We boomers are most to blame. We just quietly allow takeover of media, Government agencies, Supreme Court justices, etc. We got old and comfortable. God help us. The mob mentality of the Republicans is frightening. All is not lost yet. But the Democrats need to get organized.
The elected Democrats and our DOJ, will be our biggest facilitators of autocracy and ruin, if TFG wins. Two plus years for indictments!? Most elected co-conspirators not even YET indicted!? (Hawley, Cruz, Jordan, Greene, Boebert, Gaetz, et.al)
As a Boomer who spent her life in public service and non profits and fighting the very things behind Trumps rise, please speak for yourself. I am so tired of people wasting energy whining about the Democrats.
Emily K Lewis ; As the heading of this forum topic points out ; there are lies harming and destroying our Country. The overthrow of this U.S. Government is happening as we type. The Courts, from state to federal to Supreme have been bought. Justice is being controlled by a criminal demagogue, who is able to use his appointed judges to stop justice : he has control over the Congress, who misuse their power to misuse our treasury. investigate legitimate legislators, and threaten State prosecutors , juries and judges. Blaming a segment of the population based on the time of their birth, saying ; "We got old and comfortable" is not reasonable and fair, although it IS lazy thinking! The entire Government is rigged to allow the Cult of the billionaires to steal our Government and Country! Tell President Biden to use his executive power to DO Something! Our military is supposed to defend US from enemies ; Foreign and DOMESTIC ! we have domestic enemies under foot, all the way to the 'highest " Court! Demand Justice. before the promised bloodbath! Wake up! Stop blaming the victims!
Florida is very old and growing more massive (1000 people per day). It feels very complacent and leans right. It’s my view from here. Perhaps there is more support for Biden in other parts of the country.
First check and re-check your registration, polling place or drop-box location, rules for signatures or witnesses, etc. etc. If you are on this substack, you are a target.
The orange turd has already been found guilty of trying to steal the 2016 election.
He cannot do it again. He should never have been in office to begin with.
Never ran a real business with employees. Never listened to people smarter than him (which is just about anyone), never dealt fairly with another party on anything, only with regard to himself. What a foul creature.
Exactly right. Those who are actually stealing elections through voter suppression laws, imposing phony election integrity policies and poll watchers, are the ones who are saying that the elections are rigged.
This is the magic of projections. Say it first, so then the other side can’t say it.
“The media is the enemy “ “fake news” are also true, but not for the reasons Donald says.
Honest people are out foxed by the fox in the hen house.
Suggestion: Let’s agree with the Republicans that the elections are rigged and then show the truth that it they who are cheating. Make it a debate over evidence.
The same with the claim of “fake news”. We can show that it’s fake, can they?
(And I don’t mean we do it in substacks such as this, but with ads to the public such as bill boards. )
I think you are confused! Trump was already President and followed through with his campaign promises such as, the wall, American gas, increased tariffs on China etc.. all while the Democrats accused Trump, while in office, with false claims of “colluding with Russia” after a spied on phone call. Democrat prosecutors are trying really hard to “get Trump” on various ridiculous charges such as how he wrote a NDA check. Biden can barely speak a complete sentence, has done nothing for the USA, crime and drug gangs are ruining the cities. Inflation everywhere..illegal migrants murdering our citizens. The only way Democrats will win is by cheating. No one respects Democrats anymore, at all. They have devolved into a party of disgusting wokeism, anti religion, anti American, anti Jewish, women hating, child hating. They protect all that is unworthy, and decry decency.
Sadly, your comment is simply a recounting of every piece of propaganda issued by the malevolent Right. You have been duped by Bannon, Jones et al. Donald Trump is not the man you believe him to be. The Democratic Party is not the source of all political ills. Sensible people have reasonable discussions about political issues, and disagree without believing that “the other side” are moral reprobates. You have been “programmed” by the Alt Right cultists, who ( believe it or not) are aided by professional intelligence operatives run by the spy services of Russia and China. They are skilled in psychological manipulation. You will need help regaining control of your senses in order to understand the damage that has been done to you. I hope that you recover. As the old ad slogan for the United Negro College Fund said, “ A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”
"I'm melting! Meeehhlttiiing.....!" Okay, maybe that was a little cryptic. I was imagining what actual exposure to your excellent info-prescriptions might do to the poor thing. It would be like one of those confrontations between Captain Kirk and the mad computer. Kirk: "download the Reich and Hartmann material NOW, Scotty!" Deep Thought begins to smoke..... sorry, I now have piled on Oz, Trek, and Hitchhiker's Guide.
I heard a CEO today on Morning Joe say he and other CEO's say that they would not Vote for Trump. Deporting 15 million Illégals is not feasable, would cause immense chaos to the economy and other things...We must keep our focus on the BIG PICTURE. There are way more of us than than there are of them!!!!
I think FDR, Truman, JFK, LBJ. and Obama would show that to be false. Decency does not involve any action by Trump toward women either. Democrats have always brought progress and help from the Great Depression on. The people I mention are hero's. Normal Republicans don't like Trump either. So sorry, I must disagree.
Don't be sorry to disagree, Bill. I think Bonnie has fallen through the looking glass. I don't think she's a troll. Just completely wrong. As the old song said, "She's more to be pitied than censured."
Everyone you mentioned is one of my heroes, Bill! These men were decent, honest and absolutely for Democracy and 'We the people'. Nothing but praise for these strong men!
Bonnie, you are not operating with facts, but with rumors and lies. There is additional proof of Russian collusion that’s been revealed this week. More evidence that the convicted felon has been caught again betraying his country by making a deal with Putin thru his campaign officer Manafort.
Seems as you are the one that is confused, projecting everything your slimy and rotten MAGATS do. Donald TUMP cannot even speak words correctly. And no one is cheating except you and your criminal MAGATS. Take your damn ass and TROLL elsewhere you confused and deluded idiot. Go tell your lies elsewhere, because all you said is bold, blatant lies! Donald TUMP did not follow through with ANYTHING while he was Dictator. He is the absolute definition of a mob boss lying about everything that comes out of the anus on his on his face. What the hell is ''wokeism? a stupid word made up by you deranged imbeciles?? You people are in dire need of help from a qualified mental health professional. There is do decency associated with the domestic terrorists that call themselves MAGA's.
So true every thing you say! I have sadly been disgusted by the lack of education in this country of any retrospective of history of the past. These Trump supporters are walking right into a repeat of history towards a mentally disturbed man who wants to be our DICTATOR! What the hell are they thinking? Do they even realize how dangerous the Republicans are? This is not the party of Reagan or even of Bush, this is a very, dangerous party that has no interest in helping the middle or lower classes! They will get rid of Social Security, Medicare etc this is a party strictly for the WEALTHY! What do these Trumpers see in this insane man? He was a terrible president! Millions died while he did nothing about COVID ! NOTHING! He’s a selfish NARCISSIST and if you don’t know the meaning of that word for heavens sake look it up! It basically means he has no feelings or care or love for anyone but himself. He was born that way, there is no cure. He will never care about anyone but himself. He’s deadly dangerous as dangerous as Putin or Hitler or Stalin who had Paranoia ! His speeches are full of hate and lies just like Hitler, some of his followers think that’s cool, but they never actually had to live under that repressive regime so they think it would be cool, it wouldn’t. Many Americans will flee from here if he gets elected because he will go after those against him, Biden would never do that. I don’t ever want to live in fear of jackboots coming inthe Night like Trump threatens do you?
On further look, looks like poor translation. (from Russian?) What English-speaker since 19th Century - yes, I meant 19th - says: "They protect all that is unworthy, and decry decency." Nah.
Meroe, I have some trouble following the thread of your comments due to their brevity, which, while it may be the “soul of wit” , also serves to obscure meaning. (This meant as a compliment, not a snarky comeback).
Bonnie , not ganging up on you but I would just point out that while there may be higher levels of urban crime now, post pandemic, stats for “serious crimes “ (assaults, bodily harm, and shootings showed a decline to around pre-pandemic levels. I am not able to cite a source for that info on this blog. Please note that the author of the article you cited in your recent comment was a co- author of the Heritage Foundation’s “Mandate for Leadership/ better known as Project 2025. That plan is a serious program to politicize every federal agency, replacing every non- partisan mid to upper level civil servant with Trump loyalist “drones” whose fealty is sworn to Donald Trump, not to the Constitution. That is a long-winded way of saying that the source you are citing is not an impartial 3rd party researcher or objective reporter.
I just had a look at your sub-stack and the first article I read you claim "Crime is off the charts in most cities". I'm not sure where you're getting your information but it's false.
According to preliminary FBI data, violent crime in the first quarter of 2024 has decreased significantly compared to the same period in 2023. Here are some key findings:
Murder and Rape: Both murder and rape were down by 26%.
Robbery: Robbery decreased by 18%.
Aggravated Assault: Aggravated assault fell by 13%.
Overall Violent Crime: Overall violent crime dropped by 15%.
As far as "colluding with Russia" I'd strongly suggest reading both the Mueller and Durham reports. The wall was never built and Mexico never paid for it, the "big, beautiful" healthcare plan never materialized, increased tariffs on China caused the US to pay the biggest bail out to farmers in history and the price of consumer products to rise.
Okay, every word you wrote reeks of Russian bots. If this is not the case, please start questioning your news source. You really are out of touch with reality. I don't say this in a mean way; you need to check your source.
This post is what frightens me about my fellow Americans! Millions are either willfully ignorant of facts and truth or gullible enough to be manipulated by master con man - neither bodes well for future of American democracy.
You are so far off! Trump is a criminal whether you believe it or not! He has been convicted by a jury of his peers. The problem you probably have is that you are likely a Fox Watcher, the man that owns Fox purposely made that station lie constantly to get back at our country! He knew all the stories they told were lies or fake news in order to destroy us! People are hooked on those lies and he’s destroying our country with those lies. Canada will not allow Fox a broadcast license because they lie. At least the Canadians have some decent priorities. We know they lie but thought Americans were smart enough to know better, apparently not. So sad that so many believe all the lies.If you want the real story you might try MSNBC.
Consider for a moment that you are completely wrong and have been misinformed. Because you have. Any time you hear an assertion made by a “news” source or pundit, please verify the information. Look up actual statistics. The narrative you’ve been served up doesn’t bear out and it’s meant to instill fear.
The wall??? He built 50 miles of garbage wall that is falling apart and WE the taxpayer paid for it-
Gas??? Trump wants to fuckup the environment by drilling in your backyard instead of creating new green energy ideas - women hating ? That’s the pussygrabber- child hating ?? Again the guy that stole money from a children’s charity Trump - decency ?? Trump cheated on all three wives … one was pregnant at the time - you’re brain is soooo devoid of facts - seek mental health eval
In my humble opinion, and in the lexicon I’ve made up for myself, “D” stands for “drain”. In the terminology I’ve made up for myself “D” stands for the nuclear holocaust drain we’re going to be flushed down as a species because of the absolute foolishness of President Biden. He’s completely botched things up in Ukraine and he’s allowed the tail to wag the dog in Israel. Both of which could lead to world war 3 and nuclear holocaust. Instead of trying to work with China to prevent a conflict in the South China Sea we’re preoccupied with self inflicted wounds in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. In the self made lexicon I’ve made up for myself “R” stands for rapacious. It stands for the rapacious ringer we’re about to put ourselves through when we enlist the services of a fascist to run the show. I’m not sure which is worse. My instincts tell me “R” is much worse but unfortunately I’ve been duped by the “D” too many times. - - I can tell you, a lot of people feel that way. That’s a result of the fact that even though the “D” had the opportunity to take the high road and lead by example they didn’t. And because of their failure to do so it will prove to be the biggest reason why the “R” will most likely prevail in November 2024. And as a result of that we’ll be faced with an even faster race to the bottom. In a similar fashion as to what cool hand luke said “what we have is a failure to communicate” - “what we have here is unbelievably bad leadership”.
if you want to 'stop the steal' how can voting for anyone of the Duopoly, including Biden and Trump, get you anywhere NEAR there? Cornel West is not in the Duopoly. He has my vote.
You are preaching to the choir. What is the plan to win back those who Biden has alienated so we CAN win? For starters, Biden has utterly ignored many young people about an appalling genocide that is going on. And the old guard Dem machine (Clinton, Pelisi, Schumer, etc) has shown an unwillingness to support FDR-type progressive Dems. So, what’s the plan to win those votes, back? They were on board in 2020. Maybe it’s time to listen to THOSE voters, not just pat ourselves on the back for being more moral than MAGA? That’s not a strategy.
Everything MAGA says is projection, gaslighting, and confession. We must listen to every accusation they make as what they have done or are planning. EXPOSE THE LIES OF THE MAGA RIGHT!
What are you talking about? Hard right stealing America? The 'soft' right of Bidens Democrats is allowing companies to poison you, to slow down and quash unionizing efforts through the courts, which Biden made no effort to rebalance on the Supreme Court. The democrats also suppressed votes and candidates in primaries, so who is 'stealing' what..? And that fucker is complicit in MURDER. But hey, as long as your guy wins....
Flint Michigan has had “ dirty water “ for 75 years - where is the regulations to cleanup their natural resources ? Reagan decommissioned most of them
As far as Israel and Palestine - where are the leaders of Hamas negotiating a peace agreement? Why aren’t you protesting Iran for giving Hamas $$ for their war ? All NATO nations supporting Israel not just USA
You're another one of those are you? Another one with a whataboutism argument. Like that whitewashes the Democrats at all. Obama LIED about the water on his own watch. Doesn't.matter how you try to reframe it. And you need a history lesson.on Israel. It has been killing and colonising since before Hamas ever existed. And it was Netenyahu who helped them gain power, because it suited him to have Gaza and the West Bank under two different 'governments'. Also why don't you check how many Palestinians were killed BEFORE Oct 7th, even just in the first months of 2023 leading up to October. And even then, even with the ICJ ruling and multiple condemnations by the United Nations, Biden is still arming them to the hilt. Even the bombs he is giving them, the US wouldn't use in Afghanistan because of the amount of collateral damage that occurs. Get ALL of your facts straight, not just the ones you selectively choose to ease your conscience.
I am disturbed by all this over-confidence! Winning in November will be harder than you assume. Not everyone sees the horror in Trump or the misery that his reich will impose upon Americans. Complacency is the very, very last tingle you should feel in your bones.
Andrew, you are right. I am surprised at how many folks I have encountered who have no clue what is going on. Most are just going about life without caring about politics. I have started posting on Facebook some of the articles I read on Substack.
trump hates animals period. I can tell when a person just doesn't have a taste for animals versus literally hating them. I am extremely leery of people who hate animals.
If all dog lovers voted against tRump he could not come close to winning the WH. So I call on all dog lovers to unite and save America from that monster and vote BLUE!!
So what he has a dog that isn’t keen on secret service agents, he’s protective, a quality that is known of German Shepherds, what’s your point? You have no point the dog in question is great with his family. You are just being nasty to be nasty. Trump is mentally unstable and needs medical attention and is totally unsuitable as a leader. It has nothing to do with Biden’s dog! If you can’t see that Trump has completely lost it and you would vote for a Hitler want to be then you are indeed a traitor to all those who died in WWII trying to protect the world from Mad Men just like Trump. The Republican Party is so corrupt now they will do absolutely anything to gain full power even knowing that Trump is one sick candidate because their lust for power is so overwhelming. They are incredibly DANGEROUS! But go ahead throw this country into the arms of a corrupt party with a leader with severe DEMENTIA!
The secret service is full of people I wouldn't let watch my dog. Remember the drunken agents "guarding" president Obama in Columbia?
I have read the dog bit only two SS agents. The rest were left alone.
I think the dog had excellent judgement.
And your question about Biden being good with dogs makes you sound ignorant. The dog loved Biden, and he retired him somewhere where the Ss couldn't kill him. Dumoty would have had him shot,like Kristi and her puppy.
Dogs can genuinely sense evil too. German Shepherds will protect their people. Maybe there are people the dogs don't care for working for the secret service? Probably actually if Mr. Biden didn't clean house completely. It's sad it had to come to that isn't it? Anyway, I will not blame the animal until I see the circumstances surrounding the bite. Completely unprovoked, a healthy animal may be at fault. I do not know what happened.
Oh Paul, that is BS and you know it. Besides, Biden does not hate dogs or any other animals as Trump and his crazy crew do. Gov. Noem (No clue how she became a governor of anything ( had to brag about killing a recalcitrant dog, something Biden would never do, and then her goat, something very few people would ever do either. Ignorance is strong with these Republicans and they whine that Democrats are not worthy to govern. Republicans do not seem able to govern even themselves. Their lying, cheating (gerrymandering), and disinformation are legendary and there is no evidence anywhere that they will improve. So enjoy your lying, cheating crew. It must give you satisfaction.
I’m sorry I can’t get it right. When I wrote Donald had sex with a porn star, I was chastised too.
The point is he cheated on his wife when she had recently had a baby then, knowing it was despicable behavior in many people’s eyes, paid her $135,000 to keep it a secret. She knew how most people would view this and that is why she threatened to expose this.
I am not criticizing the woman or sex workers or porn stars. I respect everyone who does honest work. (I wish I could check in with an editor before I write so I don’t write anything “disgusting”.)
is this better?: WHEN MELANIA HAD A BABY DONALD HAD SEX WITH STORMY D.
Pornography is definitely sex work. That's not a slur, just an accurate description. "Sex worker" isn't just a euphemism for prostitute, it encompasses a number of other trades.
What’s worse than that is he told Stormy she reminded him of his daughter. He told Howard Stern he would love to have sex with his daughter if she wasn’t his daughter. All you need to know. No wonder she is nowhere around him!🤮🤮🤮
Yes, my neighbor, who is a very nice lady, but watches NewsMax for hours on end, thinks we need a businessman as president and Trump is that businessman. I told her he inherited his business from his father and had six bankruptcies, so he was not successful, but I doubt I convinced her.
With the exception of Truman, 20th century Presidents who were businessmen are considered by scholars to have been terrible presidents. Harding and Hoover (and Trump!) are ranked near the bottom of presidential rankings. Carter is a great man but was not a particularly good president.
Thank you for the link. My thought is that business does not qualify someone for president, or any government job, because business is all about making maximum profit for oneself, while government is supposed to be about service to the public.
Carter was unlucky. He had the oil crisis and the Iran hostage crisis to deal with, neither of which were of his making. Obama and Clinton were competent but also lucky. Reagan was awful but lucky. W was unlucky but played a poor hand really badly.
True Andrew, especially when the Republicans have passed over 100 voter suppression laws, scrub voter lists, limit drop boxes, cancelled absentee ballots/mail in voting, are training 100,000 people t be armed poll watchers, and not bad enough 100,000's of thousands of Muslim are going to elect Trump by sitting out the election, same with black males..
They are proudly flipping the finger to Biden and the Dem's, WTF do they think they are going to get from Trump and the MAGAts, who have already told us what they are going to do. Trump says he is going to deport 11 million immigrants,. and that includes Muslims.
Maybe blacks haven' got everything that they demand from Dems and Biden, but damn, Trump is profound racist and hates black, even as he suckers them and courts their vote.
Here is how the elction plays out
270 Electoral votes to win
Blue and blue leaning states have 226
Red and Red leaning states have 235
The election will be determined in swing states, of which there are only five. Three of the 2020 Swing states, Ga, NC, VA are no longer swing states becaus of voter suppression laws passed since 2020.
That leave AZ with 10 electoral votes, NV with 6, Mi with 15, PA with 19 and Wisconsin with 11
Biden won those states in 2020 by about 10,000 votes each.
MI, PA, WI have over 100,000 Muslims and over 500,000 blacks.
If the Muslims alone,. show their ass and sit out the election or vote third party, Trump wins
Unless there is an abrupt awakening among Muslims and blacks, that they are slitting their own throats, Trump will be 47, and you can see that in the judicial system and even the press as people are hedging their bets out of fear, they do take Trump seriously when he speaks of revenge.
The only way to save our collective asses is for all minorities to show up en masse, set aside their hurt feelings and their myopic, ethnic partisanship.
Thank you. I did not know there were that many Muslims in WI. I'm not doubting you, I just didn't know. Why would either population vote for Drumpf? I do not understand. He's been nasty to both groups. Yes, I know Biden is no angel, but the part I will give Biden credit for is progressing and learning. There are still the occasional faux pas...but I can tell he is trying. I don't see a complete con artist with him as I do with Drumpf.
I think the real problem is they won’t vote because they don’t like Trump because he’s a lying psychopath and the don’t like Biden because of the war on Gaza. It’s a very real problem.
Muslims unlike Christians, Jews rally the wagons, when Muslims are at war with infidels, especially Jews.
You have Jews for Palestine, Jews for HAMAS, queers for HAMAS, and so forth,
But you will not find Muslims for Israel or even Muslims against HAMAS. On TV a Muslim host will make some perfunctory statement about the raid of HAMAS on Oct 7th, but then immediately go on about the poor Gazans and evil Jews.
Although they don't say evil out loud,it is implied.
The fact is that all of the death and destruction in Gaza is the responsibility of HAMAS, all of it and they don't give a shit about the people they supposedly respresent, because in their mindset Muslims are a nation of martyrs, and in Islam martyrs are celebrated,not mourned.
The first and foremost loyalty of a Muslim is towards the Ummah (world wide community of believers), the idea of dual citizenship is a fraud, one cannot serve two masters. The same goes for all dual citizenship, when the two nations are at war or at odds with each other, a dual citizen is a traitor to one.
Beautifully written thank you so much! Every word the truth! It infuriates me that the Republican are trying to foist this imbecile off on us because they know very well how stupid he is! They actually think they can control him but I doubt it! He will do what ever he wants because he is so very very Stupid! That’s what they’re counting on of course, but it will backfire if the horror of this election ends up with him! That just cannot happen. The Republicans will cheat of course, they always do. They are despicable! What a country!
Here’s a thought, the big backers of Trump know he has dementia and think it’s a good thing. As with Reagan they can completely control him as his mind deteriorates.
Over-confidence? Where? Quite the opposite, from what I read.
The way I see it, Andrew, is that the orange slime lost by over 7 million votes last time, and if anything, he's losing voters, not gaining them. Polls are notoriously unreliable, and the author of those scary NY Times polls that have people clutching their pearls recently admitted that his data set is questionable.
Also, it's over 5 months until the election. Anything could happen between now and then, including one too many cheeseburgers for Cheeto Benito.
So at this point, I'm not agonizing. I may be singing a different song on November 6th, but until then, I'll reserve judgment.
Confidence and complacency are a bit different.....it's the motivation behind them. One is fear based, the other is more confidently inspired, which I think is a better motivator. Fear can lead to discouragement and anger.
Andrew Beck, you wrote, "Not everyone sees the horror in Trump or the misery that his reich will impose upon Americans." It seems to me that what is even more dangerous, astounding, and alarming is that so many DO see the "horror" but don't find it horrible; they see the "misery" and don't define it as misery. They are welcoming, summoning and celebrating the demise of the basic principles of this nation it for over 200 years. The ignorance, complacency, and hate that is cheered among the Trump mob is chilling. He has his cult of willing puppets. I still don't think that anyone who might be expected to "know something" has given a satisfying answer to the big question: why? Why does he have a cult at all, let alone one that might enable him to destroy our country? WHY?
Urgency agreed. We need to "Purge the Reich". What ever it takes to divide the dimwitted trumpian loyalists. Trump hates Taylor Swift, Dolly Parton, and Dogs. Pick a decisive topic and spew the truth that targets and tilts the same weak minds vulnerable to the propaganda.
I was just threatened by. A poster with concentration camp when Trump wins ! This is already very terrifying! There are some truly deranged people out there and I do believe that a Trump presidency would be extremely dangerous for many of us if I am already being threatened for making a negative comment about Trump! How can the Republicans condone this type of violent behavior from their Candidate and his followers? It’s terrifying!
Problem is, We in America feel so safe to do anything we want like a raid on the Capitol and not get shot; lie openly about the intent of that raid, etc. We can buy guns with no one noticing or checking, we can scream treasonous words but have the right to do that. We let the government "Do it's thing and not be bothered' Yes, we are complacent to do anything most cannot do in foreign countries. I often wonder IF Trump really has an idea of the harm he may bring this Country. ....... Example: people are already becoming pitted against each other because of their individual beliefs.
Andrew, spot on. Too many Americans have had and are having their fears stoked by our foreign adversaries and RW media. Fear/anger is their merchandise and all those aggrieved gun-toting disgruntled MAGAts love what tRump stands for. That is anti-LGBTQ, women, minorities, immigrants, elites, liberals, woke, CRT, the government, etc. And they are ok voting for a dictator who will get even with all those elites who they think look down on them.
"It has been America’s great misfortune for him to emerge at a time when the nation was already distrustful and disdainful of politics." Robert, you say this like it is an accident people are so negative... as if there has not been, and currently is a PR campaign to convince people all politics is crooked and we should be afraid of each other. This treachery has been going on for decades. a little rip here, a little tear there.
Nixon’s evasion of Justice. Reagan’s “Fairness Doctrine. Iran Contra affair. Fox News inception. Rush Limbaugh inception. Sinclair Broadcasting. Newt Gingrich. The Moral Majority. Evangelicals. Gore v Bush. The minority rule allowed Electoral College, favoring a MINORITY population contained in RED/MAGA states, to maintain Senatorial power. The Internet destruction of Journalism and Newspapers. The NRA and their millions in contributions to the GOP. The Federalist Society (1982). There are more tears and rips in our Democracy’s fabric, that have gone unanswered by Democrats, over the last 5 decades, that have brought us here.
Corrupt insider trading. And failure to enact much of the legislation that is widely popular. Money = speech. These are factors that lessen to Obama - hope and change - but that he could not fix. It les to Trump - a desire for more Change - blow
It up - and that he did but not in the way many hoped. The oligarchs- many unknown- are in charge and this feeling is common across young people. Who don’t see Biden as a solution.
The thing is a vote for anyone other than Biden is worse. But they don’t quite get that.
That's what Republican behavior is supposed to make you believe. If people are elected who believe government should do nothing to help people, but everything to help the morbidly rich and bloated corporations....guess what happens?
Hi Papa, I'm with you up until the last 16 words. Then I sort of went, "Is this calling the victim responsible for being attacked?" And, is it an example of the tiny little twist PR agents know how to insert in articles that change people thinking? The above mentioned, plus the oligarchs paying for all this tearing and ripping are responsible.
You need to understand that the USA is a large, mostly unpopulated land mass. The majority of Americans live in densely populated cities. The cities of NYC, Philadelphia, LA, San Diego and Seattle would choose the president at each election. The landowners, farmers, suburbanites would never choose a president. In that case there could be a break up of our land into different countries. Remember, the civil war? They were trying to break up with America. So the electoral college gives a voice ( vote) to states that are less populated. A popular vote would separate America. (Which I’m all for, by the way) let CA, NYC and Washington go their own way…good riddance.
I disagree with your proposition that a popular vote vs electoral college vote, would cause another civil war Bonnie. And, let’s recall that the “they” you refer to whom we’re trying to break up America were racist southern plantation owners and politicians who wanted to maintain people in human bondage for money and power.
Not the right to vote.
The Electoral College was primarily created with the concern that rural Americans of the time (1787); the framers were concerned that the difficulties of transportation and mass communication would make campaigning almost impossible, leaving the rural citizens out of political discourse, information, and voting.
What disparities and unfairness the Electoral College presents to individual American voters, versus the Popular vote - one vote for each voter.
Red States:
Wyoming. Population 700,000, has Two Federal Senators.
Idaho, population 1,939,932. Two Federal Senators.
Montana population 1,123,000. Two Federal Senators.
Oklahoma population 1,412,000. Two Federal Senators.
Arkansas population, 3,416,000. Two Federal Senators.
North Dakota population, 779,261. Two Federal Senators.
South Dakota population, 909,825. Two Federal Senators.
South Carolina population, 5,282,000. Two Senators.
North Carolina population 10,975,000. Two Senators.
Alaska population 733,392. Two Senators.
26 million voters from red states. 20 Senators.
Blue states:
California. Population 39,168,192. Two Senators.
So, more rural red states (10) with 26 million Americans elect 20 Senators.
One blue state with 39 million Americans elects 2 Senators.
Put another way, the 20 red states with two thirds the population of one blue state referenced, determine 90 percent MORE of the selection of our Federal Senators.
We need to realize that 17th century mass communication and technological concerns no longer exist in the 21’st century, and eliminate the electoral college.
Every American’s vote should be equal. Not a percentage of other Americans vote, based on where you live in America.
Good post and Organized Treason is spot on. Many Maga congressmen seem treasonous and I wish they could be held accountable for that or for not supporting the laws and constitution and our country. They are desperate and will do anything.
I fear for what is to become. What is 50% of our nation thinking to believe in Trump who is such a liar, cheat and a nut case. Scares the bejeezers out of me!
It’s not 50% - that too is propaganda, amplified by bots and AI. Maga traitors are a small but very vocal minority - not even 50% of Republicans, which remember are at most half of voters. And roughly 1/3 of Americans DO NOT VOTE at all! That means maybe 12% of the population is in the cult; (which is still shocking, but it’s not half.) They do make a lot of noise - which the big corporate media amplifies because “if it bleeds it leads.” It’s all about clicks and advertiser dollars. DO NOT BE FOOLED by “infotainment news sources” and do not give in to despair. If we turn out and vote, we have the power to end the Clown Reich.
Unfortunately, what is 50% is members of Congress. That so many people fold is very disturbing. You’ve got Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney with a backbone. The rest are selfish sycophants, and unfortunately, our fellow Americans.
Agree. It's the 24% of MAGgot republicans who believe this. The entire party is full of nitwits.
Thirty percent can't be bothered to vote, and most of those I would wager have so little knowledge and awareness thst maybe that's fine. But some might.
We let the education system built by Reagan and the moron W persist and there will be no one left to vote.
This is true, BUT I'm not concerned about civilian magas. What is most concerning is that the Republicans in Congressional offices have thought of ways to steal the election that will look more legitimate. And what they are doing is sowing the ideas of doubt that they will amplify and harvest after November 6. Their "mistake" was leaving it to a single man (Pence) to help make the steal look official. They are not going to do that again.
I'm legitimately concerned that Mike Johnson plans not to swear in any new Democrats that would flip the House and/or Senate, claiming voter fraud. That wouldn't necessarily stick, but it would, like dump has succeeded at with three of his impending criminal cases, delay proceedings and muck things up judicially, and they might even slither themselves into positions that they can bring election fraud cases in front of the Supreme Court and we all know how that would turn out. The six conservative sc justices are waiting in the wings.
I'm not trying to be cynical. I'm only pointing out that these official, voted-in legislators are broadcasting their intentions to do this. I don't know what to do except that I wrote to my Democratic senators and Congressional representatives asking them to be prepared with as many legal counterpoints as possible. I mean, they have to know their maga compatriots are planning legal justifications for their coup.
I share your concerns and can only hope Dem leaders and the FBI are on top of this stuff. All the more reason we must all be working to get more voters registered and turn out the vote massively. Everyone should be checking their registration and telling everyone they know to do so. There could be disruptions close to Election Day, so the more we vote early the better. A sweeping Blue victory will prevent some of the planned machinations from ever coming into play.
My feeling is that there are many people who'd like to "make money without working too hard". This was the saying in my country of origin and these kinds of people were looked down on. At the moment it seems that many people with these tendencies were just waiting for permission to break societal rules and quickly embraced their crooked hero. It is very scary to me, especially with all this love of weapons...
It was a huge "mainstream" fail this week, headlining the Mifepristone decision AS IF it had to do with "the merits." It was a dodge on "standing," with instructions (Kavanaugh) on what kind of plaintiffs would give the Injustices a way to uphold the Comstock Act.
yeah, why the fail? They think the public is to dumb to understand ? Does better coverage cut into the ad space? The latter being a more general problem our civillization faces.
I was born a serious newshound and always used to listen to the evening news with my grandfather who was a real history buff. I must have gotten my love of it from him.
My mom controlled what we were allowed to watch on TV. She would run it out (it was on a TV stand with wheels and she kept it in her bedroom) and we would watch the news with her and Pop. They loved Walter Cronkite, Huntley and Brinkley, Edward R. Murrow and some others. I guess I loved it because they would discuss it with us like we were adults!!
Read The Atlantic. Forum ( a Conservative with both intellect and clear moral compass), Anne Applebaum and others deliver thoughtful articles every month.
David Frum? Yes, everyone refers to "The Atlantic." My problem is I have to go to the library to read it, and I don't get there very often. Also, "The New Yorker" has some excellent investigative, expose articles sometimes, written by Jane Mayer and/or Ronan Farrow.
It also needs to be written about in publications that the average person will read and written how they speak. It needs to be down-to-earth and relatable. I love reading the Atlantic, but it is viewed as elite and intimidating to many; therefore, those who need to be swayed will not read it if they see it at all.
Yeah, same thing I say about Jon Stewart and John Oliver. Their discourse is smart, whip-sharp and spot on, but who is listening to them and getting swayed by their opinions?? I already agree with them! The "right" people are not listening to them.
HOPEFULLY, Carly, enough people on the left are watching them to move the election in the right (er, left!) direction! Thanks for your upbeat response. I love both of them! And remember, Jon Stewart came back at just this time "to save us from Trump"! I jumped for joy when I learned of his return!
I'm a Democrat and I've been doing it for years. By now the nitwiits just stay away because they don't like the mirror I hold. They have plenty of folks who hold a mirror they like.
This is the clearest declaration I have read of our present situation. Thank you! We simply must not proceed as if this is all perfectly legitimate. I'm not sure how the process can be disrupted, but it feels to me that we're in a barrel headed downstream for Niagara Falls. The lies, the distortion, and the money being amassed are on full display, and the tendency to pretend that the Republican party under Trump's leadership is anything but a fascist operation must be resisted.
Yes, Rubio, Moscow Mitch, Graham, Johnson, Jordan, et.al. they are selling out our Constitution for power. And the only way they can get it and keep it for awhile is sleep with the Orange Turd. They are conmen, cowards and Communist.
Winning back the younger gen vote is critical. This election will come down to the unwillingness of a few percent of people to go to the polls in swing states because they just can’t stomach the carnage in Gaza. And Joe seems like he’s simply on another planet with the whole thing. Even my hardcore, lifelong 91-year-old Dem father doesn’t get it (let alone my 2 20-something kids).
Biden is trying to negotiate a peace deal - or at least a truce. Exactly how do they think Trump would be better? He doesn’t care - would let all of Palestine become a parking lot.
Donald TUMP will be much worse. I agree that he would let al of Palestine become a parking lot, or worse. I just can't believe there are so many people here in the United States are so ignorant and narrow minded that call themselves MAGA's. TUMP doesn't care about anything but TUMP.
Janet B: But it already is a parking lot just waiting for megabucks contractors to come in and clear the way. Some Palestinians left over? Don't worry bout them. Some temp housing and porta-potties outta the public eye will suffice. 😥
People who subscribe to this substack are going to vote for Biden. That is not the issue. The issue that deserves our time is “How does Biden win, given his perceived lack of vitality and inability to inspire confidence among non-establishment Dem voters. A peace deal maybe gets you a fraction of a percent back that he’s lost. But his actions have enabled the genocide that he now must try to fix. How do we overcome that knowledge in voters’ minds? Maybe by highlighting a couple of things that are front and center on people’s minds: housing being one?
Thanks! Yes, as we see from these comments, establishment Dems are so disconnected. They utterly miss the point again and again and just want to keep railing about Trump, which makes them simply incapable of listening to voters’ frustration with elites. Trump loves it—he’s running against an incoherent Dem who looks/sounds like the opposite of a strong leader, who invokes pity, cringing and fear that he’ll trip and die at any moment on the world stage.
Just an enormous vacuum of vitality and ability to inspire confidence. And as if that wasn’t enough of a challenge to win over HEARTS of voters, Biden supports increasingly atrocious acts of genocide, basically thumbing his nose at possible (younger especially) supporters.
I just have to console myself with main thing they’ve done right: empowered an amazing (young) person, Lina Khan at the FTC to break up monopolies. But she can’t win the election of course.
In addition to standard PTSD, they are now looking at what they are calling moral injury to veterans. Anyone who is paying attention and wasn’t trained to hate Palestinians, is sustaining moral injury by what is happening in Gaza. Youth is more open minded, informed, and thus sustaining more injury.
Perhaps we have always been genocidal colonizers, but now it is getting rubbed in our face.
Console yourself with this because we are hollering it til the orange fascist prick leaves our universe. How will you justify your moronic attitude to your kids, if lucky enough to have any, that you support a convicted rapist, a fraud, a felon who wants to strip America of every right we fought for 249 yrs, including women’s rights-god help your soul if you have daughters-they will hate your f’ing guts. https://x.com/thanksjoebiden/status/1790227307241537975?s=46&t=RUixOfAXf98CpggH0rLMOw
You sound more like a maga than a Democrat. Are you interested in helping to elect The Donald? I get that you are frustrated - especially by Biden’s inability to resolve the Gaza crisis - but spreading questionable statistics and trashing the only party and candidate who can preserve our threatened democracy is unhelpful to anyone except the fascists. It certainly doesn’t help Palestinians.
We have two choices right now: A or B. If you don’t like it, grow up. That’s the reality.
You’re not getting a magic pony. No one is getting a magic pony. This is real life in a binary system. Your choices are a loyal but imperfect old workhorse who understands the job and will continue to do his best every day and a deranged wild boar (also old) who is bent on destroying civil rights, women’s rights, the system of justice and more while he and his family loot the US treasury and consort with our enemies. If you don’t choose the workhorse, you are choosing the wild boar. Whether you do that because you actually like the wild boar or because you have given in to fear and propaganda, the result is the same. Please choose wisely.
Oh dear. No ideas here. That’s exactly what DJT wants. I am as MAGA as Michael Moore, Noam Chomsky, Bernie Sanders, Robert Reich, etc. Your labels are reductionist, not helpful to solutions. In fact, they make my point.
So What do working classAmericans (in swing states especially) care about? Many care about housing, which IS the wolf at the door to many people. (Can only have up to 2 main issues in an election or voters tune out—so what is the second? ) How do Dems unite around a language that resonates??
Meaning whether Russia knew that Middle East could be a wedge issue? I actually think it could've been a win for Dems, but Biden sided with Far Right, as did Republicans. And supporting the Far Right anywhere is never the way to go--just seeds chaos and misery. Big money in politics (in this case, AIPAC) is such a problem?
Thank you for that respectful question. (I’m amazed by some of the unhinged rage here.) Biden has a director of youth engagement, but that doesn’t matter because he seems not to give a darn what they think in terms of Middle East, which speaks to his character. Plus the fact that he didn’t turn the reigns of power over to a younger person is a slap in the face to them. He’s a constant reminder that establishment Dems actively fight to keep power out of the hands of younger people. So he has to do something AUTHENTIC and radical. Maybe that looks like incessant talk about housing, including a guarantee of decent housing, which is really a guarantee of mental and economic security ? Housing insecurity is brutal for a huge proportion of Americans. What do you think?
Trump’s supporters and enablers are at their cores delusional in one of two ways: they truly believe all of the MAGA lies or delude themselves into the belief that their lust for power is the only way forward in the GOP. The latter facilitate the delusions of the former. The media provides no effective doses of antidote for these delusions. The common good of all is the greatest victim.
The problem is the power that Felon's cult has in the Republican primaries. In that cohort his 30% national minority that always loses elections becomes a 50%+ majority that wins them, so any elected Republican absolutely cannot offend his base.
Just like Democrats cannot afford to offend the Jewish vote, which would abandon Trump the next time he talks about, let alone condemns, any signs of genocide. If that population decided to stay home out of spite, Biden goes down the toilet.
Exactly. But Dems will shoot all the messengers on this one: you, me, Michael Moore, Naomi Klein, JVP, etc etc. Paraphrasing George Soros here: sometimes history just is gonna roll through and you can’t fight it, the only thing you can do is try to get out of the way (he was speaking of surviving WW2 as a teenager).
Shall we talk about the demographics here, the ELEPHANT in the room?
2 out of 3 WHITE Voters, vote Trumpublican.
Trump got more votes than any other presidential candidate in history in 2020. Except for Biden.
Biden won by just 2% (51% to 49%).
Roughly 66% of the voting pool is White. The Trumpublicans get 44% and the Dems get 22% usually. In 2020, 2% of the White vote "flipped" and voted for Biden. Those voters aren't Democrats and they may go back to voting Trumpublican this time.
One of our political parties is 90% White, openly racist, misogynistic, homophobic, Evangelical Christian, Nationalistic fascists.
The other is a multiracial coalition of "slightly" left of center, multicultural, pluralists.
This isn't an election. It's the next round in a cold Civil war.
So what you are saying is that all these people are just open to hatefulness, vitriol, lies, intolerance towards others, and they don't look to feeling uplifted by what so many of our former presidents tried to give us and do for us? How have we sunk so low . . . ? God, when I chance to hear or see something that Rick Scott, Tim Scott (disgusting Uncle Tom sellout!), Marco Rubio, the hideous Mitch McConnell (isn't that guy DEAD yet??), Lindsey maggot-to-the-max Graham, MJT, Jordan, Comer, Cornyn, Cotton, and all the rest of them have said, I just want to effing scream, they are such pushovers, sycophants and suck-ups! NO MORALS, PERSONAL VALUES OR STANDARDS WHATSOEVER!!
While I don’t dispute your analogy to both the Civil War and the Cold War, I want to cool the rhetoric a bit, and just repeat that it IS is an election, and Americans are not at war with themselves….granted though, many Republicans and Trump voters will claim that a win by Biden ( or anyone other than their trained monkey) is prima facie evidence of a “rigged” election.
J6 was a coup attempt and Biden wasn't strong enough politically to go after the conspirators. The Democrats only loosely control the Agencies of State with DHS, ICE, and CBP all being Trumpists strongholds.
The FBI is factionalized into Trumpist offices and regular offices. The DOJ is the same with Trumpist prosecutors pursuing politically motivated prosecutions of Democrats.
2 of the SC justices are clearly implicated in the J6 conspiracy.
Miley, in several of the Post Trump era books that came out. Stated that he was "alerted" in September of 2020. When one of his mentors told him that the Trumpublican’s were recruiting active and retired officers for "something" after the election.
1200 officers were quietly "retired" in the year after J6.
Do you really think Tuberville's screwing with the promotion schedule in the services last year was just about the reason given? The Trumpublicans are trying to get "MAGA" officers into key military commands.
What more evidence do you need that the Trumpists are going to try again. You really need to listen to what WHITE America is saying amount themselves these days.
Thank you ( I think) for the info on military personnel being recruited for the Trumpist cause ( whatever form that may take). But I have to take issue with the premise that there is a political bloc that is “White America”. You cannot judge a book by its cover, nor a person by their color. I am a white guy over 65. Just because a bunch of mostly old, white voters are avid Trumpists doesn’t make me one. People with whom I associate resemble me in form and in political leanings. We would be part of the bloc you mentioned, if it were a monolithic entity, but it exists only as a statistical construct. Granted, you would get a different sense of White American attitudes if you visited a gathering of Southern Baptist Convention-goers. While I agree that “race matters” it does not delineate our politics.
It has been publicly speculated that Trump has dirt on Republican representatives and senators. Why else would they abandon their principles so completely? The about-face of people like Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio—just a few of the examples of who were once seemingly stalwart defenders of the constitution—beg the question: if Trump was sending Giuliani all over the world to manufacture dirt on Hunter Biden to soil Joe Biden, what were Trump’s criminal friends—such as Roger Stone—doing here in the U.S. to shore up Trump’s power grab (besides planning an insurrection with criminal groups like The Proud Boys)? What were Trump’s cronies digging up or making up to blackmail these Senators and Representatives to coerce these once-staunch Trump critics behind the scenes? Why were established Senators like Mitch McConnell afraid to publicly shame Trump? Why the about-face from being horrified by Trump’s actions and inactions on January 6th where McCarthy was calling for Trump to be held to account immediately following the attempted insurrection, to going down to Mar-a-lago, only to come away from that meeting once again praising Trump and doubling down on the lie that the election was stolen? Why did we ever let a foreigner corrupt our press? If “news” is in the name, why do we let opinion pieces from Murdoch’s empire soil our public discourse. Why did we let “alternative facts” be a cover for blatant lies, or worse omitting to cover key stories that would be unfavorable to Trump? Seems Mitch McConnell was always in it for the money. He cheated us all when he stole Obama’s Supreme Court pick. Then he doubled down and rushed Barrett’s nomination through closer to the election than Obama’s pick. Now the American Oligarchs—who already enjoy privileges the rest of us will never enjoy—are lining up behind Trump because he is blatantly bribing them OUTLOUD! We know Russia and other anti-American countries like North Korea and Iran are using our right to free speech against us. They must have dirt on Trump the way he kisses Putin’s ass. If they dropped a bomb, we would unite to fight them—but MAGA is so enthralled with Trump, they don’t recognize the attack. They fawn all over Trump regardless of his crimes. Then Trump-appointed rogue, partisan judges are delaying the evidence against Trump from being heard BEFORE the election—all while a couple of conservative Supreme Court judges are taking bribes from wealthy donors, and others weren’t lying about their true beliefs to get confirmed only to steal our rights away. What makes a party turn on members whose conscience won’t let them tell known lies? Money. Greed. And seeking office not to serve but to grab power for the wealthy. They will destroy our democracy for a few bucks. I pray there are enough principled citizens left to standup to this assault on our nation! We must elect Biden. The alternative is terrifying!
Exactly. This is intentional, a classic fascist tactic. We need to stop infighting and stop holding our personal votes hostage until we get everything we want. Time’s awasting!
The practical task ahead of us RIGHT NOW is to turn out blue voters.
Biden should not be debating Tr*p It just normalizes and legitimizes him. And Democrats stop acting like the Weimar Republic. Act offensively, not defensively. Chose your own issues.
I believe the debate was a good choice. Trump with no audience and a mic that gets cut when his turn is over is out of his element. I expect Trump to look weak.
I haven't heard anything about physical distance zones! Remembering Trump's weird "stalking" of Clinton. But I don't see how Biden could be the one to blink. I hope he finds an opening to demand Trump's tax returns! "You hid the Stormy event: you confiscated your medical records, you squirrel classified documents around bathrooms and ballrooms: where are your tax returns!"
I haven't heard anything about physical distance zones specifically, but I did hear something like " podium choice will be determined by a coin flip" so I imagine the mic will be fixed in place and the candidates won't be able to wander. I don't have time to research it right now.
Nothing has changed except now, more people are calling it what it is - treason - open, unapologetic, infectious for the ignorant and grifting as they go treason.
If we were writing a book and within its pages there was a character whose personal antics fit Trump's behavior our finished produce would be found in the fiction section of our local library because no one would believe such a man could ever exist.
We, ordinary working people, should be the ones saying stop the steal. The hard right Trumpers are planning to steal America from us. Our rights, our benefits, any security we might have. They see life as a zero sum game. They want it all or they fear they will have nothing. Our Country was built to share opportunity, not deny it. Lets stop the steal in November. Vote D.
Spot on! How anyone can continue his toxic rhetoric based on lies and hate without bringing anything to the table that's positive is anyone's guess. Then again, this felonious shyster who will forever have at least the No. 34 attached to his disastrous resume continues to get help from most of the media who are all in it for the money and not the sake of democracy.
And he’s not working alone.
Exactly: Putin's trolls have been pulling talking points from history books to feed to Trump and the Reds- First it was from the lies told by the Know Nothings in the 1840's and early '50s about the immigrants of the time- the Irish who they claimed to be agents of the Pope, sent here to destroy the moral fabric of our country with whiskey, and the Germans with beer, but mainly with their ideas that slavery is morally repugnant,, thus undermining the unfair economics of the time.
The Reds of the time then, literally, started a civil war to perpetuate the unfair economic advantage of slavery, rationalized by lies that many continue to believe to this day.
They didn't call it culture wars then- but it was the same thing- the Reds claimed that those nasty abolitionists had no respect for property rights of the South, and were merely out to destroy the economy of the South with their meddling for human rights.
English is the second language for most of Putin's trolls, so they didn't realize that when they stepped forward in time to the 1930s that the term a "unified Reich" is not commonly used term in America.
We need to re-read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to learn what finally caused the townsfolk to realize that the King and the Duke were conning them, at which point the townsfolk tarred and feathered the King and Duke and rode them out of town on a rail.
Can we read Huckleberry Finn? Did'nt repubs ban that book? /s
Sadly, the media. Call out your most listened-to sources, like I have. I refuse to listen to or support NPR anymore, and I have told them and several programs that they air and support exactly why.
Why NPR?
I’ve canceled my long-standing WaPo subscription because Will Lewis seems to be determined to turn a once-great newspaper into another Murdochian outlet, something I want no part of. But why NPR?
Hi, Marla, thanks for the info on WaPo . . . I have just subscribed to them on May 25 . . . I like E.J. Dionne, and I receive regular updates on the Trump Trials both on Sundays and whenever there is movement in that regard. The two columnists who write it are very, very thorough, clever and have an upbeat manner. As for NPR, they just tiptoe around Trump, they never take a stand, they've really gone "woke," they offer too much cultural stuff I'm just not interested in, like the latest musician they want to give 5 minutes of fame to, and a few weeks ago they aired such a raunchy program on the new noontime program on the local affiliate station (something I NEVER DREAMED I'd hear on NPR), that I just said, "That's it, I am done!" I had just contributed to them in their fundraiser two days before, and I contacted them and demanded a refund. They also have ruined Sunday morning's "Weekend Edition" for me with the replacement host, who has a really grating, TERRIBLE voice, and I just cannot listen to her or the program anymore. I also cannot stand listening to Mary Louise Kelly on "All Things Considered" weekdays, who not only has a TERRIBLE voice, but she is overbearing, domineering, RUDE, edits people's sentences for them, overrides what interviewees are saying, finishes their sentences for them(!) . . . After years of listening, I just can't tolerate them anymore! They also air CONSTANTLY announcements that they run into the ground, they CONSTANTLY remind listeners of their need for money, and the local affiliate is just trying to do too much. They've got a rap/hip-hop station now with a lot of no-talent music, and they started a new program called "This Is Nashville," but instead of hiring local talent to host it, they hired a black guy from Albuquerque, NM, and he is just full of himself! It just all got to be intolerable!
.
What do the sexual, racial, (and geographical) orientations of a program host necessarily have to do with the content? If you don’t like the content, simply complain on that basis, not on your assumptions about the host
Yeah, that was interesting. I had deja vu of my Mom (born a Bircher, died a Birther) yelling at the TV about how "shrill" this or that woman was. If she didn't like the content.
My "assumptions" about the host are right-on. And who the hell are you to tell me what to do or think about something I can judge fairly when YOU have never heard the guy in action??? HE . . . IS . . . AN . . . IDIOT, and Nashville's new mayor, a really hardworking progressive, thinks so as well!
Klare: Just a few comments. 1) My experiences with my local NPR affiliate are in some ways similar to yours (constant nagging for bucks, irritating voice on sunday mornings) but i've never had a problem with their fairness. 2) Get an Amazon Echo or Google Home and just tell it to play some other NPR station. There's a nationwide bunch of them to choose from - WNYC, WNBR, Iowa Public Radio, Minnesota Public Radio are all great.
Thank you.
My wife and I really enjoy the NPR we get on our Amazon Echo here in SoCal. Mostly good content with good commentators. You know NPR has its very legit moments when easily-irritated Trump and his twisted cronies in Congress are always pushing to defund them.
Marla, the Washington Post still has some excellent journalists who are writing vetted truths. Great articles about politics, the damage done by the government and the Catholic Church to the Indigenous community, etc. I’m don’t think throwing out the baby with the bath water is the answer, Also reading the comments gives me a better idea of what others are thinking.
Interesting piece in (on?) CNN today about the person Will Lewis has selected to be the new EIC for WaPo. The guy was heavily involved in the phone hacking scandals in the UK when he, too, worked for Rupert Murdoch.
I wonder how many of WaPo's columnists are syndicated and can be found on other outlets? Regardless, I hate the direction he's taking the paper, which had done some outstanding journalism in the past.
But, like most of us, WaPo's glory days are behind it. No more Ben Bradlee, Bernstein and Woodward, even Marty Baron. Feh. Instead, we've got this low-rent Fleet Street wannabe.
No thanks.
Wow -- truly disheartening! Why would Lewis hire such a person? Both of them were involved in the phone-hacking scandals? Truly terrible news! Guess lots of the Left will be jumping ship!
Marla, I'm equally disturbed by the WaPo leadership change. Right now I'm holding off on canceling my subscription (which I've had in one form or another since 1984) because I like a number of the columnists and feature writers, and a lot of the reporting (although the headlines often strike me as baiting). I do miss many of the writers who have retired or were laid off over the last year or two.
I cancelled and told them why.
WAPO has more fluff than news today is why I cancelled.
I cancelled NYT because I couldn't stand one more pic of the orange guy above the fold - and other reasons.
I just completed a survey for NPR and rated them only fair on bias. NPR is sliding into becoming just another news station.
Too many people many with college educations get ALL of their "news" from Newsmax and Fox!
😂
I don’t think it will be easy to stop it by voting. Too many roadblocks have been put into place - the lies, (believed by millions), propaganda, media becoming an extreme right mouthpiece, voter restriction & intimidation, gerrymandering, state's under red control willing to cheat, Supreme Court in their pocket, Congress & senate worthless…….i am not feeling hopeful.
We have to try. I like to say two things. 1. Voting is our superpower. 2. The voting booth is our duty station and this is a red alert. All hands on deck. We will do it.
North Carolina registered dems 2.4 mil. Republicans 2.2 million.
Uncommitted 2.8 million. The last group is the superpower in NC. Field Team 6 and voter postcard groups may save us. Google chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions@substack.com
or Jessica Craven for the best of organizations to donate or work with for results.
The Guardian is a still great news source.
In one day in March at the FT 6 summit, 11,000 new N. Carolina Democrats were registered. To sweep we need to add the millions of unregistered folk who heavily trend Democratic. FT6 uses data mining to identify them.
Register Democrats to save the world.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
Do not support the DNC! Support progressive and good Democrats who have done their jobs.
Just like you should be purged for your trolling!
Troll. Putin pays by the word.
Tom High: I do not consider you a troll and I am not a robot. You have a legitimate point of view; one with which others here may disagree but that does not relegate you to troll status.
We have a runoff election tomorrow, I’ll be voting in it, it’s for a judge and we can see how important judges are. 💥
I live in Texas, unfortunately so I feel my vote doesn’t even count. I wish we could either get rid of the Electoral College or mandate that all states report their presidential votes as cast.
If this overthrow of the US Government comes to pass, we are all culpable. By not doing enough to stop it. We boomers are most to blame. We just quietly allow takeover of media, Government agencies, Supreme Court justices, etc. We got old and comfortable. God help us. The mob mentality of the Republicans is frightening. All is not lost yet. But the Democrats need to get organized.
The elected Democrats and our DOJ, will be our biggest facilitators of autocracy and ruin, if TFG wins. Two plus years for indictments!? Most elected co-conspirators not even YET indicted!? (Hawley, Cruz, Jordan, Greene, Boebert, Gaetz, et.al)
Boomers will be the third most culpable.
The MAGAts are to blame!
Papa ; B.S.! All those that you named are NOT Democrats! Blame the billionaires, and the sell outs who were bought!
As a Boomer who spent her life in public service and non profits and fighting the very things behind Trumps rise, please speak for yourself. I am so tired of people wasting energy whining about the Democrats.
Emily K Lewis ; As the heading of this forum topic points out ; there are lies harming and destroying our Country. The overthrow of this U.S. Government is happening as we type. The Courts, from state to federal to Supreme have been bought. Justice is being controlled by a criminal demagogue, who is able to use his appointed judges to stop justice : he has control over the Congress, who misuse their power to misuse our treasury. investigate legitimate legislators, and threaten State prosecutors , juries and judges. Blaming a segment of the population based on the time of their birth, saying ; "We got old and comfortable" is not reasonable and fair, although it IS lazy thinking! The entire Government is rigged to allow the Cult of the billionaires to steal our Government and Country! Tell President Biden to use his executive power to DO Something! Our military is supposed to defend US from enemies ; Foreign and DOMESTIC ! we have domestic enemies under foot, all the way to the 'highest " Court! Demand Justice. before the promised bloodbath! Wake up! Stop blaming the victims!
Florida is very old and growing more massive (1000 people per day). It feels very complacent and leans right. It’s my view from here. Perhaps there is more support for Biden in other parts of the country.
But it’s the younger generations who can save us IF they get out and vote. They are the ones who have the most to lose.
Add fake electors.
Call your local election board and get the paperwork to be a poll worker on election day. It pays a day's salary. It helps you feel engaged & hopeful.
Sadly, I tend to agree, but I will fight to the end for my rights and for the rights of ALL people and DEMOCRACY. Vote BLUE!
We need Executive Intervention! This is an Emergency, if ever there was one 😳!
First check and re-check your registration, polling place or drop-box location, rules for signatures or witnesses, etc. etc. If you are on this substack, you are a target.
https://voterizer.org/
Which ones of us is We The People? Then we have to start the Stop The Lie movement. Right hand on the Bible please.
You’re right. Every republican accusation is a confession.
The orange turd has already been found guilty of trying to steal the 2016 election.
He cannot do it again. He should never have been in office to begin with.
Never ran a real business with employees. Never listened to people smarter than him (which is just about anyone), never dealt fairly with another party on anything, only with regard to himself. What a foul creature.
Exactly right. Those who are actually stealing elections through voter suppression laws, imposing phony election integrity policies and poll watchers, are the ones who are saying that the elections are rigged.
This is the magic of projections. Say it first, so then the other side can’t say it.
“The media is the enemy “ “fake news” are also true, but not for the reasons Donald says.
Honest people are out foxed by the fox in the hen house.
Suggestion: Let’s agree with the Republicans that the elections are rigged and then show the truth that it they who are cheating. Make it a debate over evidence.
The same with the claim of “fake news”. We can show that it’s fake, can they?
(And I don’t mean we do it in substacks such as this, but with ads to the public such as bill boards. )
I think you are confused! Trump was already President and followed through with his campaign promises such as, the wall, American gas, increased tariffs on China etc.. all while the Democrats accused Trump, while in office, with false claims of “colluding with Russia” after a spied on phone call. Democrat prosecutors are trying really hard to “get Trump” on various ridiculous charges such as how he wrote a NDA check. Biden can barely speak a complete sentence, has done nothing for the USA, crime and drug gangs are ruining the cities. Inflation everywhere..illegal migrants murdering our citizens. The only way Democrats will win is by cheating. No one respects Democrats anymore, at all. They have devolved into a party of disgusting wokeism, anti religion, anti American, anti Jewish, women hating, child hating. They protect all that is unworthy, and decry decency.
Sadly, your comment is simply a recounting of every piece of propaganda issued by the malevolent Right. You have been duped by Bannon, Jones et al. Donald Trump is not the man you believe him to be. The Democratic Party is not the source of all political ills. Sensible people have reasonable discussions about political issues, and disagree without believing that “the other side” are moral reprobates. You have been “programmed” by the Alt Right cultists, who ( believe it or not) are aided by professional intelligence operatives run by the spy services of Russia and China. They are skilled in psychological manipulation. You will need help regaining control of your senses in order to understand the damage that has been done to you. I hope that you recover. As the old ad slogan for the United Negro College Fund said, “ A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”
If she reads the columns by Reich & Hartmann & other Substack authors, there's a chance she can be disabused of her false notions.
"I'm melting! Meeehhlttiiing.....!" Okay, maybe that was a little cryptic. I was imagining what actual exposure to your excellent info-prescriptions might do to the poor thing. It would be like one of those confrontations between Captain Kirk and the mad computer. Kirk: "download the Reich and Hartmann material NOW, Scotty!" Deep Thought begins to smoke..... sorry, I now have piled on Oz, Trek, and Hitchhiker's Guide.
That was funny. I like the way you combined your excellent source material. Meanwhile, We Apologize for the Inconvenience.
Can't like, don't know why, so letting you know I've been in a state of sustained hilarity for greatly enjoyed while....
Well said R. Hodsdon.
I heard a CEO today on Morning Joe say he and other CEO's say that they would not Vote for Trump. Deporting 15 million Illégals is not feasable, would cause immense chaos to the economy and other things...We must keep our focus on the BIG PICTURE. There are way more of us than than there are of them!!!!
There are not enough of us in Magastan to move the needle very far. But we do need to vote in overwhelming numbers.
So true, Lisa! Vote Blue, America!!
I think FDR, Truman, JFK, LBJ. and Obama would show that to be false. Decency does not involve any action by Trump toward women either. Democrats have always brought progress and help from the Great Depression on. The people I mention are hero's. Normal Republicans don't like Trump either. So sorry, I must disagree.
Don't be sorry to disagree, Bill. I think Bonnie has fallen through the looking glass. I don't think she's a troll. Just completely wrong. As the old song said, "She's more to be pitied than censured."
I "vote" troll. Just too much copy/paste, rote wrong.
Could be, but let's be generous. :-)
I think troll, too. She bashes a lot of Reich's writings. Click on her name and you will see for yourself.
Everyone you mentioned is one of my heroes, Bill! These men were decent, honest and absolutely for Democracy and 'We the people'. Nothing but praise for these strong men!
Bonnie, you are not operating with facts, but with rumors and lies. There is additional proof of Russian collusion that’s been revealed this week. More evidence that the convicted felon has been caught again betraying his country by making a deal with Putin thru his campaign officer Manafort.
Seems as you are the one that is confused, projecting everything your slimy and rotten MAGATS do. Donald TUMP cannot even speak words correctly. And no one is cheating except you and your criminal MAGATS. Take your damn ass and TROLL elsewhere you confused and deluded idiot. Go tell your lies elsewhere, because all you said is bold, blatant lies! Donald TUMP did not follow through with ANYTHING while he was Dictator. He is the absolute definition of a mob boss lying about everything that comes out of the anus on his on his face. What the hell is ''wokeism? a stupid word made up by you deranged imbeciles?? You people are in dire need of help from a qualified mental health professional. There is do decency associated with the domestic terrorists that call themselves MAGA's.
So true every thing you say! I have sadly been disgusted by the lack of education in this country of any retrospective of history of the past. These Trump supporters are walking right into a repeat of history towards a mentally disturbed man who wants to be our DICTATOR! What the hell are they thinking? Do they even realize how dangerous the Republicans are? This is not the party of Reagan or even of Bush, this is a very, dangerous party that has no interest in helping the middle or lower classes! They will get rid of Social Security, Medicare etc this is a party strictly for the WEALTHY! What do these Trumpers see in this insane man? He was a terrible president! Millions died while he did nothing about COVID ! NOTHING! He’s a selfish NARCISSIST and if you don’t know the meaning of that word for heavens sake look it up! It basically means he has no feelings or care or love for anyone but himself. He was born that way, there is no cure. He will never care about anyone but himself. He’s deadly dangerous as dangerous as Putin or Hitler or Stalin who had Paranoia ! His speeches are full of hate and lies just like Hitler, some of his followers think that’s cool, but they never actually had to live under that repressive regime so they think it would be cool, it wouldn’t. Many Americans will flee from here if he gets elected because he will go after those against him, Biden would never do that. I don’t ever want to live in fear of jackboots coming inthe Night like Trump threatens do you?
Sounds like you drank the kool-aid....
On further look, looks like poor translation. (from Russian?) What English-speaker since 19th Century - yes, I meant 19th - says: "They protect all that is unworthy, and decry decency." Nah.
Mmerose, in answer to your question, I would say, “Literate ones.”
OK Robert B. Parker "Spenser." But he would be spoofin'. Just like me: Nah.
Meroe, I have some trouble following the thread of your comments due to their brevity, which, while it may be the “soul of wit” , also serves to obscure meaning. (This meant as a compliment, not a snarky comeback).
Interesting point, and a good catch.
I’m sorry you’ve got your head this far up your nether regions that you’re unable to see the truth.
Pity, that.
Go away troll!!!
What parallel universe you from Bonnie girl? O yeah. THAT one. P.S. Which 'migrants' were they mass murdering our school kids? I forget. 🤡😥
Typical reply from a leftist propagandist!
https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-urban-violent-crime-spike-is-real
Bonnie , not ganging up on you but I would just point out that while there may be higher levels of urban crime now, post pandemic, stats for “serious crimes “ (assaults, bodily harm, and shootings showed a decline to around pre-pandemic levels. I am not able to cite a source for that info on this blog. Please note that the author of the article you cited in your recent comment was a co- author of the Heritage Foundation’s “Mandate for Leadership/ better known as Project 2025. That plan is a serious program to politicize every federal agency, replacing every non- partisan mid to upper level civil servant with Trump loyalist “drones” whose fealty is sworn to Donald Trump, not to the Constitution. That is a long-winded way of saying that the source you are citing is not an impartial 3rd party researcher or objective reporter.
I just had a look at your sub-stack and the first article I read you claim "Crime is off the charts in most cities". I'm not sure where you're getting your information but it's false.
According to preliminary FBI data, violent crime in the first quarter of 2024 has decreased significantly compared to the same period in 2023. Here are some key findings:
Murder and Rape: Both murder and rape were down by 26%.
Robbery: Robbery decreased by 18%.
Aggravated Assault: Aggravated assault fell by 13%.
Overall Violent Crime: Overall violent crime dropped by 15%.
As far as "colluding with Russia" I'd strongly suggest reading both the Mueller and Durham reports. The wall was never built and Mexico never paid for it, the "big, beautiful" healthcare plan never materialized, increased tariffs on China caused the US to pay the biggest bail out to farmers in history and the price of consumer products to rise.
What you say is overwhelmingly provably false, but it does parrot the disinformational russorepublofascist propaganda spiel we see all the time.
Okay, every word you wrote reeks of Russian bots. If this is not the case, please start questioning your news source. You really are out of touch with reality. I don't say this in a mean way; you need to check your source.
This post is what frightens me about my fellow Americans! Millions are either willfully ignorant of facts and truth or gullible enough to be manipulated by master con man - neither bodes well for future of American democracy.
You are so far off! Trump is a criminal whether you believe it or not! He has been convicted by a jury of his peers. The problem you probably have is that you are likely a Fox Watcher, the man that owns Fox purposely made that station lie constantly to get back at our country! He knew all the stories they told were lies or fake news in order to destroy us! People are hooked on those lies and he’s destroying our country with those lies. Canada will not allow Fox a broadcast license because they lie. At least the Canadians have some decent priorities. We know they lie but thought Americans were smart enough to know better, apparently not. So sad that so many believe all the lies.If you want the real story you might try MSNBC.
Consider for a moment that you are completely wrong and have been misinformed. Because you have. Any time you hear an assertion made by a “news” source or pundit, please verify the information. Look up actual statistics. The narrative you’ve been served up doesn’t bear out and it’s meant to instill fear.
The wall??? He built 50 miles of garbage wall that is falling apart and WE the taxpayer paid for it-
Gas??? Trump wants to fuckup the environment by drilling in your backyard instead of creating new green energy ideas - women hating ? That’s the pussygrabber- child hating ?? Again the guy that stole money from a children’s charity Trump - decency ?? Trump cheated on all three wives … one was pregnant at the time - you’re brain is soooo devoid of facts - seek mental health eval
In my humble opinion, and in the lexicon I’ve made up for myself, “D” stands for “drain”. In the terminology I’ve made up for myself “D” stands for the nuclear holocaust drain we’re going to be flushed down as a species because of the absolute foolishness of President Biden. He’s completely botched things up in Ukraine and he’s allowed the tail to wag the dog in Israel. Both of which could lead to world war 3 and nuclear holocaust. Instead of trying to work with China to prevent a conflict in the South China Sea we’re preoccupied with self inflicted wounds in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. In the self made lexicon I’ve made up for myself “R” stands for rapacious. It stands for the rapacious ringer we’re about to put ourselves through when we enlist the services of a fascist to run the show. I’m not sure which is worse. My instincts tell me “R” is much worse but unfortunately I’ve been duped by the “D” too many times. - - I can tell you, a lot of people feel that way. That’s a result of the fact that even though the “D” had the opportunity to take the high road and lead by example they didn’t. And because of their failure to do so it will prove to be the biggest reason why the “R” will most likely prevail in November 2024. And as a result of that we’ll be faced with an even faster race to the bottom. In a similar fashion as to what cool hand luke said “what we have is a failure to communicate” - “what we have here is unbelievably bad leadership”.
Good post Bill Donahue!!
if you want to 'stop the steal' how can voting for anyone of the Duopoly, including Biden and Trump, get you anywhere NEAR there? Cornel West is not in the Duopoly. He has my vote.
You are preaching to the choir. What is the plan to win back those who Biden has alienated so we CAN win? For starters, Biden has utterly ignored many young people about an appalling genocide that is going on. And the old guard Dem machine (Clinton, Pelisi, Schumer, etc) has shown an unwillingness to support FDR-type progressive Dems. So, what’s the plan to win those votes, back? They were on board in 2020. Maybe it’s time to listen to THOSE voters, not just pat ourselves on the back for being more moral than MAGA? That’s not a strategy.
Everything MAGA says is projection, gaslighting, and confession. We must listen to every accusation they make as what they have done or are planning. EXPOSE THE LIES OF THE MAGA RIGHT!
What are you talking about? Hard right stealing America? The 'soft' right of Bidens Democrats is allowing companies to poison you, to slow down and quash unionizing efforts through the courts, which Biden made no effort to rebalance on the Supreme Court. The democrats also suppressed votes and candidates in primaries, so who is 'stealing' what..? And that fucker is complicit in MURDER. But hey, as long as your guy wins....
Poisonings us? Like how? Complicit in murder? What are you talking about?
Never heard of Flint Michigan and Obama with his glass of water? You never heard of the genocide that Biden is arming and funding?
Flint Michigan has had “ dirty water “ for 75 years - where is the regulations to cleanup their natural resources ? Reagan decommissioned most of them
As far as Israel and Palestine - where are the leaders of Hamas negotiating a peace agreement? Why aren’t you protesting Iran for giving Hamas $$ for their war ? All NATO nations supporting Israel not just USA
You're another one of those are you? Another one with a whataboutism argument. Like that whitewashes the Democrats at all. Obama LIED about the water on his own watch. Doesn't.matter how you try to reframe it. And you need a history lesson.on Israel. It has been killing and colonising since before Hamas ever existed. And it was Netenyahu who helped them gain power, because it suited him to have Gaza and the West Bank under two different 'governments'. Also why don't you check how many Palestinians were killed BEFORE Oct 7th, even just in the first months of 2023 leading up to October. And even then, even with the ICJ ruling and multiple condemnations by the United Nations, Biden is still arming them to the hilt. Even the bombs he is giving them, the US wouldn't use in Afghanistan because of the amount of collateral damage that occurs. Get ALL of your facts straight, not just the ones you selectively choose to ease your conscience.
I am disturbed by all this over-confidence! Winning in November will be harder than you assume. Not everyone sees the horror in Trump or the misery that his reich will impose upon Americans. Complacency is the very, very last tingle you should feel in your bones.
Andrew, you are right. I am surprised at how many folks I have encountered who have no clue what is going on. Most are just going about life without caring about politics. I have started posting on Facebook some of the articles I read on Substack.
"Trump hates dogs"
Post it in comments in Facebook animal sites and see what happens.. 2/3rds of voters have pets.
On military and history sites "not suckers or losers" works.
trump hates animals period. I can tell when a person just doesn't have a taste for animals versus literally hating them. I am extremely leery of people who hate animals.
Trump has no empathy for dogs, cats, people, Veterans, the military,truth . . . .in fact, he has no empathy whatsoever.
And of people animals shun!!!!!
Me too, it usually means they have a mean spirit and he certainly is extremely hateful.
Hating animals? - guess what humans are not plants.
Me too! You can tell a lot about them!
I’m sure they hate him too.
Repeat, repeat, repeat…👍🏼
If all dog lovers voted against tRump he could not come close to winning the WH. So I call on all dog lovers to unite and save America from that monster and vote BLUE!!
To dog lovers not liking dogs is akin to being soulless, which is what many think tRump is.
James K. Polk, who served from 1845 to 1849 was the last president not to have a dog in the WH.
Biden showers with his daughter.
"non sequitur"
Why even introduce this? You just stole the thread.
So what he has a dog that isn’t keen on secret service agents, he’s protective, a quality that is known of German Shepherds, what’s your point? You have no point the dog in question is great with his family. You are just being nasty to be nasty. Trump is mentally unstable and needs medical attention and is totally unsuitable as a leader. It has nothing to do with Biden’s dog! If you can’t see that Trump has completely lost it and you would vote for a Hitler want to be then you are indeed a traitor to all those who died in WWII trying to protect the world from Mad Men just like Trump. The Republican Party is so corrupt now they will do absolutely anything to gain full power even knowing that Trump is one sick candidate because their lust for power is so overwhelming. They are incredibly DANGEROUS! But go ahead throw this country into the arms of a corrupt party with a leader with severe DEMENTIA!
The secret service is full of people I wouldn't let watch my dog. Remember the drunken agents "guarding" president Obama in Columbia?
I have read the dog bit only two SS agents. The rest were left alone.
I think the dog had excellent judgement.
And your question about Biden being good with dogs makes you sound ignorant. The dog loved Biden, and he retired him somewhere where the Ss couldn't kill him. Dumoty would have had him shot,like Kristi and her puppy.
So says a guy s=who supports stealing from kids with cancer.
Dogs have a sixth sense, They can sense when a person is a threat. If a dog bites you it is defending it owner and turf.
The secret service was corrupted by Trump, and Biden depends on Trump Humpers for protection.
Major only bit ywo agents. Biden should have fired that agent, not major. He should have listened to his dog. not the right wing media.
Dogs can genuinely sense evil too. German Shepherds will protect their people. Maybe there are people the dogs don't care for working for the secret service? Probably actually if Mr. Biden didn't clean house completely. It's sad it had to come to that isn't it? Anyway, I will not blame the animal until I see the circumstances surrounding the bite. Completely unprovoked, a healthy animal may be at fault. I do not know what happened.
Oh Paul, that is BS and you know it. Besides, Biden does not hate dogs or any other animals as Trump and his crazy crew do. Gov. Noem (No clue how she became a governor of anything ( had to brag about killing a recalcitrant dog, something Biden would never do, and then her goat, something very few people would ever do either. Ignorance is strong with these Republicans and they whine that Democrats are not worthy to govern. Republicans do not seem able to govern even themselves. Their lying, cheating (gerrymandering), and disinformation are legendary and there is no evidence anywhere that they will improve. So enjoy your lying, cheating crew. It must give you satisfaction.
At least Biden has one; trump has lies and senility.
And the point you're making here has meandered away?
Don’t forget to post WHEN MELANIA HAD A BABY DONALD HAD SEX WITH A SEX WORKER and paid her $135,000 to keep it a secret from the voters.
Yuk. This is the behavior that is worse than the 34 felonies. Can you vote for that man? No one denies that is what he did.
She was not a sex worker.
That's disgusting.
She gave sick men with a porn problem a place to spend their money.
I’m sorry I can’t get it right. When I wrote Donald had sex with a porn star, I was chastised too.
The point is he cheated on his wife when she had recently had a baby then, knowing it was despicable behavior in many people’s eyes, paid her $135,000 to keep it a secret. She knew how most people would view this and that is why she threatened to expose this.
I am not criticizing the woman or sex workers or porn stars. I respect everyone who does honest work. (I wish I could check in with an editor before I write so I don’t write anything “disgusting”.)
is this better?: WHEN MELANIA HAD A BABY DONALD HAD SEX WITH STORMY D.
Pornography is definitely sex work. That's not a slur, just an accurate description. "Sex worker" isn't just a euphemism for prostitute, it encompasses a number of other trades.
I have a hell of a lot more respect for her than I do that scumbag orange narcissist.
What’s worse than that is he told Stormy she reminded him of his daughter. He told Howard Stern he would love to have sex with his daughter if she wasn’t his daughter. All you need to know. No wonder she is nowhere around him!🤮🤮🤮
Could never vote for that scum, that’s what he is. Self important crook is what he is from a long line of scum.
Yes- most people I talk to haven’t got a clue
True, people act high minded when they say they "try not to read about politics because it's so divisive" or some such rubbish.
I have been doing this once or twice a week when the article is really jarring.
I don't want to flood the zone.
I save the really jarring articles and post only once a week. I, too, want to keep Facebook more upbeat and not political.
And you Marj.
Good for you Linda!
Yes, my neighbor, who is a very nice lady, but watches NewsMax for hours on end, thinks we need a businessman as president and Trump is that businessman. I told her he inherited his business from his father and had six bankruptcies, so he was not successful, but I doubt I convinced her.
But it's good you tried! Never give up.
Trump is ROTTEN to the CORE!
You should show this link to your neighbor: https://time.com/4547837/donald-trump-business-presidents/
With the exception of Truman, 20th century Presidents who were businessmen are considered by scholars to have been terrible presidents. Harding and Hoover (and Trump!) are ranked near the bottom of presidential rankings. Carter is a great man but was not a particularly good president.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_presidents_of_the_United_States
Thank you for the link. My thought is that business does not qualify someone for president, or any government job, because business is all about making maximum profit for oneself, while government is supposed to be about service to the public.
Carter was unlucky. He had the oil crisis and the Iran hostage crisis to deal with, neither of which were of his making. Obama and Clinton were competent but also lucky. Reagan was awful but lucky. W was unlucky but played a poor hand really badly.
Not only that but Reagan made a deal with Iran to not free the hostages until after the election.
Yes- these people haven’t a clue
True Andrew, especially when the Republicans have passed over 100 voter suppression laws, scrub voter lists, limit drop boxes, cancelled absentee ballots/mail in voting, are training 100,000 people t be armed poll watchers, and not bad enough 100,000's of thousands of Muslim are going to elect Trump by sitting out the election, same with black males..
They are proudly flipping the finger to Biden and the Dem's, WTF do they think they are going to get from Trump and the MAGAts, who have already told us what they are going to do. Trump says he is going to deport 11 million immigrants,. and that includes Muslims.
Maybe blacks haven' got everything that they demand from Dems and Biden, but damn, Trump is profound racist and hates black, even as he suckers them and courts their vote.
Here is how the elction plays out
270 Electoral votes to win
Blue and blue leaning states have 226
Red and Red leaning states have 235
The election will be determined in swing states, of which there are only five. Three of the 2020 Swing states, Ga, NC, VA are no longer swing states becaus of voter suppression laws passed since 2020.
That leave AZ with 10 electoral votes, NV with 6, Mi with 15, PA with 19 and Wisconsin with 11
Biden won those states in 2020 by about 10,000 votes each.
MI, PA, WI have over 100,000 Muslims and over 500,000 blacks.
If the Muslims alone,. show their ass and sit out the election or vote third party, Trump wins
Unless there is an abrupt awakening among Muslims and blacks, that they are slitting their own throats, Trump will be 47, and you can see that in the judicial system and even the press as people are hedging their bets out of fear, they do take Trump seriously when he speaks of revenge.
The only way to save our collective asses is for all minorities to show up en masse, set aside their hurt feelings and their myopic, ethnic partisanship.
Thank you. I did not know there were that many Muslims in WI. I'm not doubting you, I just didn't know. Why would either population vote for Drumpf? I do not understand. He's been nasty to both groups. Yes, I know Biden is no angel, but the part I will give Biden credit for is progressing and learning. There are still the occasional faux pas...but I can tell he is trying. I don't see a complete con artist with him as I do with Drumpf.
I think the real problem is they won’t vote because they don’t like Trump because he’s a lying psychopath and the don’t like Biden because of the war on Gaza. It’s a very real problem.
Google Muslims in Wisconsin or any other state.
Muslims unlike Christians, Jews rally the wagons, when Muslims are at war with infidels, especially Jews.
You have Jews for Palestine, Jews for HAMAS, queers for HAMAS, and so forth,
But you will not find Muslims for Israel or even Muslims against HAMAS. On TV a Muslim host will make some perfunctory statement about the raid of HAMAS on Oct 7th, but then immediately go on about the poor Gazans and evil Jews.
Although they don't say evil out loud,it is implied.
The fact is that all of the death and destruction in Gaza is the responsibility of HAMAS, all of it and they don't give a shit about the people they supposedly respresent, because in their mindset Muslims are a nation of martyrs, and in Islam martyrs are celebrated,not mourned.
The first and foremost loyalty of a Muslim is towards the Ummah (world wide community of believers), the idea of dual citizenship is a fraud, one cannot serve two masters. The same goes for all dual citizenship, when the two nations are at war or at odds with each other, a dual citizen is a traitor to one.
Thanks for the Islamophobia. That's really going to encourage any Muslims reading to vote for your preferred candidate.
Thank you!
Beautifully written thank you so much! Every word the truth! It infuriates me that the Republican are trying to foist this imbecile off on us because they know very well how stupid he is! They actually think they can control him but I doubt it! He will do what ever he wants because he is so very very Stupid! That’s what they’re counting on of course, but it will backfire if the horror of this election ends up with him! That just cannot happen. The Republicans will cheat of course, they always do. They are despicable! What a country!
Trump's brain is getting worse quickly says pyschiatrist
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTzku-Fvm9c
Trump is deteriorating and the entire world is watching
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPmfhV2h2lQ
Diaper Don: Former Apprentice staffer tells all
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N60ceYRlY2I&ab_channel=MeidasTouch
Here’s a thought, the big backers of Trump know he has dementia and think it’s a good thing. As with Reagan they can completely control him as his mind deteriorates.
It certainly explains a lot.
Over-confidence? Where? Quite the opposite, from what I read.
The way I see it, Andrew, is that the orange slime lost by over 7 million votes last time, and if anything, he's losing voters, not gaining them. Polls are notoriously unreliable, and the author of those scary NY Times polls that have people clutching their pearls recently admitted that his data set is questionable.
Also, it's over 5 months until the election. Anything could happen between now and then, including one too many cheeseburgers for Cheeto Benito.
So at this point, I'm not agonizing. I may be singing a different song on November 6th, but until then, I'll reserve judgment.
Confidence and complacency are a bit different.....it's the motivation behind them. One is fear based, the other is more confidently inspired, which I think is a better motivator. Fear can lead to discouragement and anger.
No, everyone sees it. The problem is the tens of millions who *want it*.
Andrew Beck, you wrote, "Not everyone sees the horror in Trump or the misery that his reich will impose upon Americans." It seems to me that what is even more dangerous, astounding, and alarming is that so many DO see the "horror" but don't find it horrible; they see the "misery" and don't define it as misery. They are welcoming, summoning and celebrating the demise of the basic principles of this nation it for over 200 years. The ignorance, complacency, and hate that is cheered among the Trump mob is chilling. He has his cult of willing puppets. I still don't think that anyone who might be expected to "know something" has given a satisfying answer to the big question: why? Why does he have a cult at all, let alone one that might enable him to destroy our country? WHY?
Urgency agreed. We need to "Purge the Reich". What ever it takes to divide the dimwitted trumpian loyalists. Trump hates Taylor Swift, Dolly Parton, and Dogs. Pick a decisive topic and spew the truth that targets and tilts the same weak minds vulnerable to the propaganda.
I am terrified
I was just threatened by. A poster with concentration camp when Trump wins ! This is already very terrifying! There are some truly deranged people out there and I do believe that a Trump presidency would be extremely dangerous for many of us if I am already being threatened for making a negative comment about Trump! How can the Republicans condone this type of violent behavior from their Candidate and his followers? It’s terrifying!
Problem is, We in America feel so safe to do anything we want like a raid on the Capitol and not get shot; lie openly about the intent of that raid, etc. We can buy guns with no one noticing or checking, we can scream treasonous words but have the right to do that. We let the government "Do it's thing and not be bothered' Yes, we are complacent to do anything most cannot do in foreign countries. I often wonder IF Trump really has an idea of the harm he may bring this Country. ....... Example: people are already becoming pitted against each other because of their individual beliefs.
Andrew, spot on. Too many Americans have had and are having their fears stoked by our foreign adversaries and RW media. Fear/anger is their merchandise and all those aggrieved gun-toting disgruntled MAGAts love what tRump stands for. That is anti-LGBTQ, women, minorities, immigrants, elites, liberals, woke, CRT, the government, etc. And they are ok voting for a dictator who will get even with all those elites who they think look down on them.
Love it!!!
Thanks for making us aware of the libtees website.... those various shirt captions are great.
Great T-shirt! Not sure I have the brass to wear it here in gun toting Arizona!
You are already conceding one of your rights — Free Speech. See how stochastic terrorism works?
Sure do! I will order a T-shirt and have it sent to you Sheila!
Flagstaff maybe. Kingman no.
Probably wise not to.
Great t-shirt!
"It has been America’s great misfortune for him to emerge at a time when the nation was already distrustful and disdainful of politics." Robert, you say this like it is an accident people are so negative... as if there has not been, and currently is a PR campaign to convince people all politics is crooked and we should be afraid of each other. This treachery has been going on for decades. a little rip here, a little tear there.
Nixon’s evasion of Justice. Reagan’s “Fairness Doctrine. Iran Contra affair. Fox News inception. Rush Limbaugh inception. Sinclair Broadcasting. Newt Gingrich. The Moral Majority. Evangelicals. Gore v Bush. The minority rule allowed Electoral College, favoring a MINORITY population contained in RED/MAGA states, to maintain Senatorial power. The Internet destruction of Journalism and Newspapers. The NRA and their millions in contributions to the GOP. The Federalist Society (1982). There are more tears and rips in our Democracy’s fabric, that have gone unanswered by Democrats, over the last 5 decades, that have brought us here.
Congress is useless. Their
Corrupt insider trading. And failure to enact much of the legislation that is widely popular. Money = speech. These are factors that lessen to Obama - hope and change - but that he could not fix. It les to Trump - a desire for more Change - blow
It up - and that he did but not in the way many hoped. The oligarchs- many unknown- are in charge and this feeling is common across young people. Who don’t see Biden as a solution.
The thing is a vote for anyone other than Biden is worse. But they don’t quite get that.
That's what Republican behavior is supposed to make you believe. If people are elected who believe government should do nothing to help people, but everything to help the morbidly rich and bloated corporations....guess what happens?
Apparently it works.
Stop electing them
Hi Papa, I'm with you up until the last 16 words. Then I sort of went, "Is this calling the victim responsible for being attacked?" And, is it an example of the tiny little twist PR agents know how to insert in articles that change people thinking? The above mentioned, plus the oligarchs paying for all this tearing and ripping are responsible.
You need to understand that the USA is a large, mostly unpopulated land mass. The majority of Americans live in densely populated cities. The cities of NYC, Philadelphia, LA, San Diego and Seattle would choose the president at each election. The landowners, farmers, suburbanites would never choose a president. In that case there could be a break up of our land into different countries. Remember, the civil war? They were trying to break up with America. So the electoral college gives a voice ( vote) to states that are less populated. A popular vote would separate America. (Which I’m all for, by the way) let CA, NYC and Washington go their own way…good riddance.
Electoral College vs Popular vote results.
I disagree with your proposition that a popular vote vs electoral college vote, would cause another civil war Bonnie. And, let’s recall that the “they” you refer to whom we’re trying to break up America were racist southern plantation owners and politicians who wanted to maintain people in human bondage for money and power.
Not the right to vote.
The Electoral College was primarily created with the concern that rural Americans of the time (1787); the framers were concerned that the difficulties of transportation and mass communication would make campaigning almost impossible, leaving the rural citizens out of political discourse, information, and voting.
What disparities and unfairness the Electoral College presents to individual American voters, versus the Popular vote - one vote for each voter.
Red States:
Wyoming. Population 700,000, has Two Federal Senators.
Idaho, population 1,939,932. Two Federal Senators.
Montana population 1,123,000. Two Federal Senators.
Oklahoma population 1,412,000. Two Federal Senators.
Arkansas population, 3,416,000. Two Federal Senators.
North Dakota population, 779,261. Two Federal Senators.
South Dakota population, 909,825. Two Federal Senators.
South Carolina population, 5,282,000. Two Senators.
North Carolina population 10,975,000. Two Senators.
Alaska population 733,392. Two Senators.
26 million voters from red states. 20 Senators.
Blue states:
California. Population 39,168,192. Two Senators.
So, more rural red states (10) with 26 million Americans elect 20 Senators.
One blue state with 39 million Americans elects 2 Senators.
Put another way, the 20 red states with two thirds the population of one blue state referenced, determine 90 percent MORE of the selection of our Federal Senators.
We need to realize that 17th century mass communication and technological concerns no longer exist in the 21’st century, and eliminate the electoral college.
Every American’s vote should be equal. Not a percentage of other Americans vote, based on where you live in America.
End-Stage Reaganism
😂
Good post and Organized Treason is spot on. Many Maga congressmen seem treasonous and I wish they could be held accountable for that or for not supporting the laws and constitution and our country. They are desperate and will do anything.
🤣
I fear for what is to become. What is 50% of our nation thinking to believe in Trump who is such a liar, cheat and a nut case. Scares the bejeezers out of me!
It’s not 50% - that too is propaganda, amplified by bots and AI. Maga traitors are a small but very vocal minority - not even 50% of Republicans, which remember are at most half of voters. And roughly 1/3 of Americans DO NOT VOTE at all! That means maybe 12% of the population is in the cult; (which is still shocking, but it’s not half.) They do make a lot of noise - which the big corporate media amplifies because “if it bleeds it leads.” It’s all about clicks and advertiser dollars. DO NOT BE FOOLED by “infotainment news sources” and do not give in to despair. If we turn out and vote, we have the power to end the Clown Reich.
Unfortunately, what is 50% is members of Congress. That so many people fold is very disturbing. You’ve got Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney with a backbone. The rest are selfish sycophants, and unfortunately, our fellow Americans.
Even Mittens showed up to kiss the ring when the convict returned to DC - what a gutless coward. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger remain patriots
Agree. It's the 24% of MAGgot republicans who believe this. The entire party is full of nitwits.
Thirty percent can't be bothered to vote, and most of those I would wager have so little knowledge and awareness thst maybe that's fine. But some might.
We let the education system built by Reagan and the moron W persist and there will be no one left to vote.
Well said, St. Joan!
This is true, BUT I'm not concerned about civilian magas. What is most concerning is that the Republicans in Congressional offices have thought of ways to steal the election that will look more legitimate. And what they are doing is sowing the ideas of doubt that they will amplify and harvest after November 6. Their "mistake" was leaving it to a single man (Pence) to help make the steal look official. They are not going to do that again.
I'm legitimately concerned that Mike Johnson plans not to swear in any new Democrats that would flip the House and/or Senate, claiming voter fraud. That wouldn't necessarily stick, but it would, like dump has succeeded at with three of his impending criminal cases, delay proceedings and muck things up judicially, and they might even slither themselves into positions that they can bring election fraud cases in front of the Supreme Court and we all know how that would turn out. The six conservative sc justices are waiting in the wings.
I'm not trying to be cynical. I'm only pointing out that these official, voted-in legislators are broadcasting their intentions to do this. I don't know what to do except that I wrote to my Democratic senators and Congressional representatives asking them to be prepared with as many legal counterpoints as possible. I mean, they have to know their maga compatriots are planning legal justifications for their coup.
@ScottDworkin I wonder what you think about these concerns and what is being done to prevent GOP malfeasance.
I share your concerns and can only hope Dem leaders and the FBI are on top of this stuff. All the more reason we must all be working to get more voters registered and turn out the vote massively. Everyone should be checking their registration and telling everyone they know to do so. There could be disruptions close to Election Day, so the more we vote early the better. A sweeping Blue victory will prevent some of the planned machinations from ever coming into play.
My feeling is that there are many people who'd like to "make money without working too hard". This was the saying in my country of origin and these kinds of people were looked down on. At the moment it seems that many people with these tendencies were just waiting for permission to break societal rules and quickly embraced their crooked hero. It is very scary to me, especially with all this love of weapons...
Me too!
When will the Democrats wake up and confront the Republican bullsh*t head on?
What do you want them to do? It’s the media that should be calling out the lies.
It was a huge "mainstream" fail this week, headlining the Mifepristone decision AS IF it had to do with "the merits." It was a dodge on "standing," with instructions (Kavanaugh) on what kind of plaintiffs would give the Injustices a way to uphold the Comstock Act.
Let's also not forget that it was not about bump stocks, it was about "stickin' it to the ATF."
Restriction of executive branch power increases SCOTUS power.
It's a zero sum game., especially when the legislative branch is tied up in knots.
And what was that weird thing with Thomas "show-and-tell" like, introducing new evidence???
yeah, why the fail? They think the public is to dumb to understand ? Does better coverage cut into the ad space? The latter being a more general problem our civillization faces.
Amen!!!!! Please, Walter Cronkite, Edward R. Murrow, and a few others of your ilk, could we borrow you for just a little while??
Oh Klare! If we only had journalists now with the integrity and honesty of these men! They were great!
I was born a serious newshound and always used to listen to the evening news with my grandfather who was a real history buff. I must have gotten my love of it from him.
My mom controlled what we were allowed to watch on TV. She would run it out (it was on a TV stand with wheels and she kept it in her bedroom) and we would watch the news with her and Pop. They loved Walter Cronkite, Huntley and Brinkley, Edward R. Murrow and some others. I guess I loved it because they would discuss it with us like we were adults!!
I recently saw some old clips from those news shows. My god, how grown-up the grown-ups were back then!
That is excellent!
Read The Atlantic. Forum ( a Conservative with both intellect and clear moral compass), Anne Applebaum and others deliver thoughtful articles every month.
David Frum? Yes, everyone refers to "The Atlantic." My problem is I have to go to the library to read it, and I don't get there very often. Also, "The New Yorker" has some excellent investigative, expose articles sometimes, written by Jane Mayer and/or Ronan Farrow.
It also needs to be written about in publications that the average person will read and written how they speak. It needs to be down-to-earth and relatable. I love reading the Atlantic, but it is viewed as elite and intimidating to many; therefore, those who need to be swayed will not read it if they see it at all.
very true.
Yeah, same thing I say about Jon Stewart and John Oliver. Their discourse is smart, whip-sharp and spot on, but who is listening to them and getting swayed by their opinions?? I already agree with them! The "right" people are not listening to them.
HOPEFULLY, Carly, enough people on the left are watching them to move the election in the right (er, left!) direction! Thanks for your upbeat response. I love both of them! And remember, Jon Stewart came back at just this time "to save us from Trump"! I jumped for joy when I learned of his return!
Thank you for your response.
“Frum ”, not “forum”
Damn good question Stephen!!!
Because Democrats are hardly superior.
Your comment, made with zero context, makes zero sense.
MAGA's are inferior to the extreme and scum of the earth!
I'm a Democrat and I've been doing it for years. By now the nitwiits just stay away because they don't like the mirror I hold. They have plenty of folks who hold a mirror they like.
Who are these democrats you refer to?
When it’s too late.
This is the clearest declaration I have read of our present situation. Thank you! We simply must not proceed as if this is all perfectly legitimate. I'm not sure how the process can be disrupted, but it feels to me that we're in a barrel headed downstream for Niagara Falls. The lies, the distortion, and the money being amassed are on full display, and the tendency to pretend that the Republican party under Trump's leadership is anything but a fascist operation must be resisted.
Yes, Rubio, Moscow Mitch, Graham, Johnson, Jordan, et.al. they are selling out our Constitution for power. And the only way they can get it and keep it for awhile is sleep with the Orange Turd. They are conmen, cowards and Communist.
SO-O-O-O DISGUSTING!!!!!!!!!
Winning back the younger gen vote is critical. This election will come down to the unwillingness of a few percent of people to go to the polls in swing states because they just can’t stomach the carnage in Gaza. And Joe seems like he’s simply on another planet with the whole thing. Even my hardcore, lifelong 91-year-old Dem father doesn’t get it (let alone my 2 20-something kids).
Biden is trying to negotiate a peace deal - or at least a truce. Exactly how do they think Trump would be better? He doesn’t care - would let all of Palestine become a parking lot.
Or let kushner turn it into a beachside resort…SMFH
Donald TUMP will be much worse. I agree that he would let al of Palestine become a parking lot, or worse. I just can't believe there are so many people here in the United States are so ignorant and narrow minded that call themselves MAGA's. TUMP doesn't care about anything but TUMP.
Janet B: But it already is a parking lot just waiting for megabucks contractors to come in and clear the way. Some Palestinians left over? Don't worry bout them. Some temp housing and porta-potties outta the public eye will suffice. 😥
Ah, you are aware of the Kushner Plan.
Or worse...
Trump had a MUSLIM BAN … how can Palestinians approve of him be our leader?
People who subscribe to this substack are going to vote for Biden. That is not the issue. The issue that deserves our time is “How does Biden win, given his perceived lack of vitality and inability to inspire confidence among non-establishment Dem voters. A peace deal maybe gets you a fraction of a percent back that he’s lost. But his actions have enabled the genocide that he now must try to fix. How do we overcome that knowledge in voters’ minds? Maybe by highlighting a couple of things that are front and center on people’s minds: housing being one?
You have to keep trying Liz. Don’t give up!
Thanks! Yes, as we see from these comments, establishment Dems are so disconnected. They utterly miss the point again and again and just want to keep railing about Trump, which makes them simply incapable of listening to voters’ frustration with elites. Trump loves it—he’s running against an incoherent Dem who looks/sounds like the opposite of a strong leader, who invokes pity, cringing and fear that he’ll trip and die at any moment on the world stage.
Just an enormous vacuum of vitality and ability to inspire confidence. And as if that wasn’t enough of a challenge to win over HEARTS of voters, Biden supports increasingly atrocious acts of genocide, basically thumbing his nose at possible (younger especially) supporters.
I just have to console myself with main thing they’ve done right: empowered an amazing (young) person, Lina Khan at the FTC to break up monopolies. But she can’t win the election of course.
In addition to standard PTSD, they are now looking at what they are calling moral injury to veterans. Anyone who is paying attention and wasn’t trained to hate Palestinians, is sustaining moral injury by what is happening in Gaza. Youth is more open minded, informed, and thus sustaining more injury.
Perhaps we have always been genocidal colonizers, but now it is getting rubbed in our face.
Console yourself with this because we are hollering it til the orange fascist prick leaves our universe. How will you justify your moronic attitude to your kids, if lucky enough to have any, that you support a convicted rapist, a fraud, a felon who wants to strip America of every right we fought for 249 yrs, including women’s rights-god help your soul if you have daughters-they will hate your f’ing guts. https://x.com/thanksjoebiden/status/1790227307241537975?s=46&t=RUixOfAXf98CpggH0rLMOw
You sound more like a maga than a Democrat. Are you interested in helping to elect The Donald? I get that you are frustrated - especially by Biden’s inability to resolve the Gaza crisis - but spreading questionable statistics and trashing the only party and candidate who can preserve our threatened democracy is unhelpful to anyone except the fascists. It certainly doesn’t help Palestinians.
We have two choices right now: A or B. If you don’t like it, grow up. That’s the reality.
You’re not getting a magic pony. No one is getting a magic pony. This is real life in a binary system. Your choices are a loyal but imperfect old workhorse who understands the job and will continue to do his best every day and a deranged wild boar (also old) who is bent on destroying civil rights, women’s rights, the system of justice and more while he and his family loot the US treasury and consort with our enemies. If you don’t choose the workhorse, you are choosing the wild boar. Whether you do that because you actually like the wild boar or because you have given in to fear and propaganda, the result is the same. Please choose wisely.
Oh dear. No ideas here. That’s exactly what DJT wants. I am as MAGA as Michael Moore, Noam Chomsky, Bernie Sanders, Robert Reich, etc. Your labels are reductionist, not helpful to solutions. In fact, they make my point.
So What do working classAmericans (in swing states especially) care about? Many care about housing, which IS the wolf at the door to many people. (Can only have up to 2 main issues in an election or voters tune out—so what is the second? ) How do Dems unite around a language that resonates??
Well also, I wonder how much influence Russia has been having on fomenting this discord
Meaning whether Russia knew that Middle East could be a wedge issue? I actually think it could've been a win for Dems, but Biden sided with Far Right, as did Republicans. And supporting the Far Right anywhere is never the way to go--just seeds chaos and misery. Big money in politics (in this case, AIPAC) is such a problem?
Liz,great question! What resonates for you? Also, it appears that the language and its delivery by Biden is not resonating with you. Why?
Thank you for that respectful question. (I’m amazed by some of the unhinged rage here.) Biden has a director of youth engagement, but that doesn’t matter because he seems not to give a darn what they think in terms of Middle East, which speaks to his character. Plus the fact that he didn’t turn the reigns of power over to a younger person is a slap in the face to them. He’s a constant reminder that establishment Dems actively fight to keep power out of the hands of younger people. So he has to do something AUTHENTIC and radical. Maybe that looks like incessant talk about housing, including a guarantee of decent housing, which is really a guarantee of mental and economic security ? Housing insecurity is brutal for a huge proportion of Americans. What do you think?
Trump’s supporters and enablers are at their cores delusional in one of two ways: they truly believe all of the MAGA lies or delude themselves into the belief that their lust for power is the only way forward in the GOP. The latter facilitate the delusions of the former. The media provides no effective doses of antidote for these delusions. The common good of all is the greatest victim.
The problem is the power that Felon's cult has in the Republican primaries. In that cohort his 30% national minority that always loses elections becomes a 50%+ majority that wins them, so any elected Republican absolutely cannot offend his base.
Sick and sad . . .
Just like Democrats cannot afford to offend the Jewish vote, which would abandon Trump the next time he talks about, let alone condemns, any signs of genocide. If that population decided to stay home out of spite, Biden goes down the toilet.
You’re hilarious.
Jews aren’t a monolith, any more than any other group. I would no sooner vote for the Yam, than I would sprout wings and fly.
Exactly. But Dems will shoot all the messengers on this one: you, me, Michael Moore, Naomi Klein, JVP, etc etc. Paraphrasing George Soros here: sometimes history just is gonna roll through and you can’t fight it, the only thing you can do is try to get out of the way (he was speaking of surviving WW2 as a teenager).
Yes, it's the primaries, baby!
Just more proof the Republicans are now run by malignant narcissists, sociopaths & psychopaths. https://samray.substack.com/p/trumpism-is-narcissism
Shall we talk about the demographics here, the ELEPHANT in the room?
2 out of 3 WHITE Voters, vote Trumpublican.
Trump got more votes than any other presidential candidate in history in 2020. Except for Biden.
Biden won by just 2% (51% to 49%).
Roughly 66% of the voting pool is White. The Trumpublicans get 44% and the Dems get 22% usually. In 2020, 2% of the White vote "flipped" and voted for Biden. Those voters aren't Democrats and they may go back to voting Trumpublican this time.
One of our political parties is 90% White, openly racist, misogynistic, homophobic, Evangelical Christian, Nationalistic fascists.
The other is a multiracial coalition of "slightly" left of center, multicultural, pluralists.
This isn't an election. It's the next round in a cold Civil war.
So what you are saying is that all these people are just open to hatefulness, vitriol, lies, intolerance towards others, and they don't look to feeling uplifted by what so many of our former presidents tried to give us and do for us? How have we sunk so low . . . ? God, when I chance to hear or see something that Rick Scott, Tim Scott (disgusting Uncle Tom sellout!), Marco Rubio, the hideous Mitch McConnell (isn't that guy DEAD yet??), Lindsey maggot-to-the-max Graham, MJT, Jordan, Comer, Cornyn, Cotton, and all the rest of them have said, I just want to effing scream, they are such pushovers, sycophants and suck-ups! NO MORALS, PERSONAL VALUES OR STANDARDS WHATSOEVER!!
It's been a Cold civil war since 2016. At least.
Try 1866.
... seemingly on the verge of becoming hot.
While I don’t dispute your analogy to both the Civil War and the Cold War, I want to cool the rhetoric a bit, and just repeat that it IS is an election, and Americans are not at war with themselves….granted though, many Republicans and Trump voters will claim that a win by Biden ( or anyone other than their trained monkey) is prima facie evidence of a “rigged” election.
J6 was a coup attempt and Biden wasn't strong enough politically to go after the conspirators. The Democrats only loosely control the Agencies of State with DHS, ICE, and CBP all being Trumpists strongholds.
The FBI is factionalized into Trumpist offices and regular offices. The DOJ is the same with Trumpist prosecutors pursuing politically motivated prosecutions of Democrats.
2 of the SC justices are clearly implicated in the J6 conspiracy.
Miley, in several of the Post Trump era books that came out. Stated that he was "alerted" in September of 2020. When one of his mentors told him that the Trumpublican’s were recruiting active and retired officers for "something" after the election.
1200 officers were quietly "retired" in the year after J6.
Do you really think Tuberville's screwing with the promotion schedule in the services last year was just about the reason given? The Trumpublicans are trying to get "MAGA" officers into key military commands.
What more evidence do you need that the Trumpists are going to try again. You really need to listen to what WHITE America is saying amount themselves these days.
Thank you ( I think) for the info on military personnel being recruited for the Trumpist cause ( whatever form that may take). But I have to take issue with the premise that there is a political bloc that is “White America”. You cannot judge a book by its cover, nor a person by their color. I am a white guy over 65. Just because a bunch of mostly old, white voters are avid Trumpists doesn’t make me one. People with whom I associate resemble me in form and in political leanings. We would be part of the bloc you mentioned, if it were a monolithic entity, but it exists only as a statistical construct. Granted, you would get a different sense of White American attitudes if you visited a gathering of Southern Baptist Convention-goers. While I agree that “race matters” it does not delineate our politics.
It has been publicly speculated that Trump has dirt on Republican representatives and senators. Why else would they abandon their principles so completely? The about-face of people like Lindsey Graham, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio—just a few of the examples of who were once seemingly stalwart defenders of the constitution—beg the question: if Trump was sending Giuliani all over the world to manufacture dirt on Hunter Biden to soil Joe Biden, what were Trump’s criminal friends—such as Roger Stone—doing here in the U.S. to shore up Trump’s power grab (besides planning an insurrection with criminal groups like The Proud Boys)? What were Trump’s cronies digging up or making up to blackmail these Senators and Representatives to coerce these once-staunch Trump critics behind the scenes? Why were established Senators like Mitch McConnell afraid to publicly shame Trump? Why the about-face from being horrified by Trump’s actions and inactions on January 6th where McCarthy was calling for Trump to be held to account immediately following the attempted insurrection, to going down to Mar-a-lago, only to come away from that meeting once again praising Trump and doubling down on the lie that the election was stolen? Why did we ever let a foreigner corrupt our press? If “news” is in the name, why do we let opinion pieces from Murdoch’s empire soil our public discourse. Why did we let “alternative facts” be a cover for blatant lies, or worse omitting to cover key stories that would be unfavorable to Trump? Seems Mitch McConnell was always in it for the money. He cheated us all when he stole Obama’s Supreme Court pick. Then he doubled down and rushed Barrett’s nomination through closer to the election than Obama’s pick. Now the American Oligarchs—who already enjoy privileges the rest of us will never enjoy—are lining up behind Trump because he is blatantly bribing them OUTLOUD! We know Russia and other anti-American countries like North Korea and Iran are using our right to free speech against us. They must have dirt on Trump the way he kisses Putin’s ass. If they dropped a bomb, we would unite to fight them—but MAGA is so enthralled with Trump, they don’t recognize the attack. They fawn all over Trump regardless of his crimes. Then Trump-appointed rogue, partisan judges are delaying the evidence against Trump from being heard BEFORE the election—all while a couple of conservative Supreme Court judges are taking bribes from wealthy donors, and others weren’t lying about their true beliefs to get confirmed only to steal our rights away. What makes a party turn on members whose conscience won’t let them tell known lies? Money. Greed. And seeking office not to serve but to grab power for the wealthy. They will destroy our democracy for a few bucks. I pray there are enough principled citizens left to standup to this assault on our nation! We must elect Biden. The alternative is terrifying!
Well said! Trump is the Russian “bomb” - as you said, people just don’t realize it. And instead we are fighting each other and destroying our nation.
Exactly. This is intentional, a classic fascist tactic. We need to stop infighting and stop holding our personal votes hostage until we get everything we want. Time’s awasting!
The practical task ahead of us RIGHT NOW is to turn out blue voters.
Biden should not be debating Tr*p It just normalizes and legitimizes him. And Democrats stop acting like the Weimar Republic. Act offensively, not defensively. Chose your own issues.
I believe the debate was a good choice. Trump with no audience and a mic that gets cut when his turn is over is out of his element. I expect Trump to look weak.
I haven't heard anything about physical distance zones! Remembering Trump's weird "stalking" of Clinton. But I don't see how Biden could be the one to blink. I hope he finds an opening to demand Trump's tax returns! "You hid the Stormy event: you confiscated your medical records, you squirrel classified documents around bathrooms and ballrooms: where are your tax returns!"
I haven't heard anything about physical distance zones specifically, but I did hear something like " podium choice will be determined by a coin flip" so I imagine the mic will be fixed in place and the candidates won't be able to wander. I don't have time to research it right now.
Trump went into the 2020 debate thinking he could make Biden stutter. In 2024, Biden will make Trump blather.
I still think Trump is gonna bail on the debate because Biden won't go on Fox with him.
It’s a way to expose how diminished #DonTheConvict is.
Nothing has changed except now, more people are calling it what it is - treason - open, unapologetic, infectious for the ignorant and grifting as they go treason.
If we were writing a book and within its pages there was a character whose personal antics fit Trump's behavior our finished produce would be found in the fiction section of our local library because no one would believe such a man could ever exist.
No Donald - It would be banned.