Thank you, Professor, from 1964 until 2022 I did all those things and more, I was a voter registrar, I knocked on doors, phone banked, lobbyed in the Captiol Building in Sacramento and worked on more campaigns than I can remember. Now, at 91, and a non-supportive body, that 's gone. I will of course vote, and assure that my grandchildren and relatives, and friends vote. But my active days, alas, are done.
Fay Reid, thank you for all your service to Democracy. Your active looks different now. Your heart is what is most active now and that is the most important part. ♡
Fay, a lot of us may have “non supportive bodies' but like you, very active and focused minds. "KEEP ON KEEPIN ON."
For myself, I am feeling very fortunate to be present during a critical and crucial time in our unfolding history. Tyrants rise and fall and this particular batch of Trump and his band of Trumpets are shaking quiescent progressive minded people out of their somnolence. I think that upon awakening the first reaction may be “Oh God, we are going to hell in a hand basket!” But many of us do not jump into action until faced with an existential crisis.
In our country's past it took disasters such as the Civli War and the Great Depression for us to be ready to jump into action and to reinvent Democracy. (It was the Civil War that gave us the Amendment that disqualifies Trump to run for elective office.) Now we are faced head on with some fatal flaws in our Democracy, Capitalistic economy and a Supreme Court system that will again force us to make systemic changes much deeper than who is elected for President by 5 states in gerrymandered districts in an ancient Electoral College system we have accepted "as the way things are.”
Personally, I look forward to the future and the dramatic times ahead. Like a rollercoaster it may be scary at the first plunge down, but then we look back at it and say “Boy, that was an exciting ride. At first it scared the crap out of me but now I’m glad I did it."
Thank you for raising our sites. Every time someone says they plan to move away from the U.S, I worry that it's one less vote for democracy. We who stay must do whatever we can At 80, I no longer have the stamina to canvass, and those systems for phonebanking make me crazy, so I have been writing postcards to voters since the 2022 election, and I have a friend who prepared snack bags for a Senate campaign. In my partner's largely Republican family, I refuse to remain silent, which at least gives me currency with the younger generation. They give me hope.
Well, at least in Georgia and Virginia they may have had some effect. Interestingly, they were not candidate-specific with the Center for Common Ground's Reclaim Our Vote campaigns. I intuited, though, that the recipients were probably registered Democrats who voted infrequently.
“Every time someone says they plan to move away from the U.S, I worry that it's one less vote for democracy.”
Whenever I hear this “move away” response I give an eye-roll and sigh. It’s always in my experience been a left of center person regarding a right/conservative politician, most recently Trump but before that GW Bush. I find it so weak.
It’s great that you don’t remain silent. Debate and discussion are educational and stimulating as well.
I'm a lot more cautious than I used to be, and I look for allies where I can find them. Happy to say that my daughter carries on without any prodding. It gives me hope.
I love the historical basis for the optimism. It helps. Yet, Germany was taken by Hitler’s “charm “, his manipulation of his early followers. In fact he was so clever that England almost joined him and the US waited and waited. I’m truly worried. Trump appointed judges are scattered throughout the states as are Clarance Thomas trained judges. Biden has made great progress under awful circumstances but the labels “old& incompetent “ stick easily as he struggles with his stutter. Why “old” doesn’t apply to Trump puzzles me. Has our media already fallen for Trump’s ease with lies. He sure uses the vernacular exceedingly well and a great deal of our country responds to that far more easily than to the more nuanced speech of the thoughtful, the educated.
I’m really worried but grateful for your sharing your perspective.
The terrifyingly abject reality is that there is NO ONE to come and save U.S. from OUR own orange (S)Hitler and it's fascist evil minions, the way WE helped (albeit yes, very LATE!) save Europe, and the rest of the world from that sadistic horror some 80 odd years ago. :( :(
Those who 'flee to safety' elsewhere, take note of that. ;)
The Nazis started their propaganda years before Hitler ever let his intentions be known. Gobbles, who was his minister of propaganda, did a masterful job over many, many years. By the time Hitler became well-known, the German people had been trained to obey orders, and to never go against the Nazi party line. It started even in the schools and those children eventually became the guards in the concentration camps. One of the propaganda films that were filmed back then by a masterful, female filmmaker, is still considered one of the best propaganda films of all time, even though it was filmed in black-and-white.
Yes, evil fascist, sadistic despots and their regimes use that Leni Riefenstahl film as a 'gold standard', even today. :( :(
Does anyone else find it ironic (given the religion in which he was raised), and terrifying (given that he spews, 'guides', and directs the SCUMp regime with the same sort of vile, evil rhetoric) that Stephen Miller actually/physically looks like Goebbels?!?
That they look the same is just an insane historical coincidence.
But Miller is a master propagandist and knows that the Big Lie ("Trump Won") repeated over and over and over will eventually become the truth for many people.
These enablers and apologists and opportunists behind Trump are despicable, and dangerous.
Marc, thank you. I admire your 'silver lining' comments and I especially needed to hear from you today. This topic, the urgency of what our country is facing, is already overwhelming and I expect to be in constant 'fight or flight' mode for the next 10 months. I'll be looking for your posts and following you! No pressure! 😉
Paula, I hope you are not being literal about being in fight-or-flight mode for the next 10 months. It’s crucial for each of us to regularly take some time for self care, in whatever form that may take — nature, exercise (even walking counts), music, meditation, hugs, anything uplifting or even distracting for that matter. This includes taking in the caring we share here. 💜
I am a kindle addict. I read escapist fiction for at least 40 hours a week. I am mostly bedridden with degenerative disc disease and sciatica, so I have become very adept at finding ways to keep myself busy while lying down. I spend the first half of my day reading news and substacks of those few of my personal heroes, like Robert Reich and Chris Hedges. Then in the afternoon I'm off to my various alternative realities! Thank you for your kind interest. And a hopefully happy New Year!
I wouldn’t normally say this about anyone but I have to admit that I wouldn’t shed any tears if I woke up and learned that Trump had passed away and gone to hell(where he belongs). 😂😂😂😂😂
Despite what Trump tells his doctor to say (that he is in perfect health) I suspect between his obesity, his lack of sleep & exercise, his poor diet, his quick temper and his obvious dementia, that he is likely to suffer a stroke, a heart attack or something debilitating very soon.
Charlotte. Well said! Our generation is honoring the sacrifices of those who went before us. We will not stand idly by while greedy bastards try to tank the Constitution.
While not sacrificing my life, I am sacrificing my peaceful retirement. As I've posted on other threads, I'm actively supporting the postcard project to get out the vote. Names and addresses of infrequent Democratic voters are supplied by Activate America; eye-catching postcards from Etsy. I also regularly send emails to Senators and Representatives. It's what I can do.
There's a special election in February to fill Santos' seat. It's an opportunity to elect a Democrat. Let's do everything we can to get out the vote! 🔵🔵
Fay, an ongoing contribution you are making is your participation in this and other substack communities. I always look for your comments, and I always either learn from them or am inspired by them, or both. I feel like you are a smart and trusted friend, and I thank you for the information and wisdom you share. Best wishes for a satisfying and peaceful 2024💫. Ann
Well, @Fay Reid, let's look at some ways things have gotten better since 1964.
Civil Rights Act, Indian Child Welfare Act, Environmental Protection Act, Clean Water Act, Clear Air Act, Environmental Protection Agency, Superfund law, Toxic Substances Control Act, Insecticide and Fungicide Act, Consumer Protection Agency, – National Emissions Standards Act
1965 – Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act
1965 – Solid Waste Disposal Act (amended by RCRA in 1976)
1967 – California Air Resources Board established; set emissions standards predating EPA.
1967 – Air Quality Act (amendment to CAA)
1969 – Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act
1969 – National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
1970 – Reorganization Plan No. 3 created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by Presidential Executive Order
1970 – Clean Air Act (Extension). Major rewrite of CAA, setting National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) Hazardous Air Pollutant standards, and auto emissions tailpipe standards.
1970 – Williams-Steiger Occupational Safety and Health Act (created OSHA and NIOSH)
1970 – Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act
1970 – Environmental Quality Improvement Act
1972 – Federal Water Pollution Control Amendments of 1972 (P.L. 92-500). Major rewrite.
1972 – Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) (amended by Food Quality Protection Act of 1996)
1972 – Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972
1973 – Endangered Species Act (amended 1978, 1982)
1974 – Safe Drinking Water Act (amended 1986, 1996)
1976 – Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (amended 2016)
1977 – Clean Water Act (amended FWPCA of 1972)
1977 – Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
1978 – National Energy Conservation Policy Act
1978 – Endangered Species Act Amendments
1980 – Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act
1980 – Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act
1982 – Nuclear Waste Policy Act
1982 – Endangered Species Act Amendments of 1982
1984 – Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984
1986 – Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1986
1986 – Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRKA)
1987 – Water Quality Act (amended FWPCA of 1972)
1989 – Montreal Protocol on ozone-depleting chemicals enters into force.
1990 – Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. Set new automobile emissions standards, low-sulfur gas, required Best Available Control Technology (BACT) for toxins, reduction in CFCs.
1. President Biden fought for and signed the American Rescue Plan which protected workers’ pensions, provided funding to communities and businesses devastated by COVID-19, lowered or eliminated insurance premiums for millions of lower- and middle-income families, provided funds for affordable housing, provided money for public safety and crime reduction, provided support to small business, expanded food assistance programs in homes and schools, expanded child care programs, invested in mental health and health care centers, added $40 billion for investing in American workers, provided funding to the economies of tribal nations, and supported families with children. Child poverty has already been cut in half as a result of his efforts.
2. He signed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill to repair our roads, waterways, bridges and railroads, and bring high-speed internet to rural communities. Also included is money for public transit and airports, electric vehicles and low emission public transportation, power infrastructure, and clean water.
3. Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. This law provides incentives for states to pass red flag laws, expands the law that prevents people convicted of domestic abuse from gun ownership, expands background checks on young people between 18 and 21 who want to buy a gun, and allocates funds for the mental health of young people.
4. He instituted an executive order raising standards for law enforcement agencies, with particular emphasis on use-of-force policies, availability of body cameras, and recruitment and retention of officers.
5. He brought the unemployment rate down to a low of 3.5%, matching the lowest rate before the pandemic. It has now climbed a bit to 3.8%, but this compares very favorably to the rates of other countries throughout the world. Biden’s administration has added 13.2 million jobs since he came into office, replacing all of the jobs that were lost at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Today there are more people in America working today than ever before!
6. He signed a bill to help veterans who have long been suffering from the effects of burn pits.
7. Biden ended the war in Afghanistan, the longest war in U.S. history. Over 120,000 people were safely evacuated, double the number calculated by the most optimistic experts.
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8. He has steadfastly supported Ukraine after this democratic country was unjustly invaded by Putin and Russia, and has successfully led the free world by lobbying NATO and other allies to add their financial and military support.
9. He signed the Inflation Reduction Act, making health insurance plans more affordable, lowering drug costs, preventing millions of Americans from losing their Affordable Care Act insurance, and requiring Medicare to negotiate the cost of 10 high-cost prescription drugs.
10. Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act, providing funding to produce semiconductor chips for automobiles, cellphones, laptops, gaming consoles, washing machines, etc. here in the Unites States rather than continuing to rely on China.
11. His administration has provided over $369 million to reduce greenhouse emissions by 40% in the next seven years and promote clean energy technologies, moving our country to greater self-sufficiency in energy production.
12. He signed the Postal Service Reform Act to modernize and stabilize the U.S. Post Office and also to help it continue to deliver mail six days every week, focusing on on-time delivery.
Other accomplishments include the reestablishment of respect among our allies on the world stage, the Violence Against Women Act, the Respect for Marriage Act, pardoning those convicted of simple marijuana possession, appointing Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson (the first Black woman on the Supreme Court), forgiving certain student loans, and electoral reforms to ensure that election results are not undermined.
Daniel, this needs to be put in pamphlet form so that we could hand them out to everyone we meet. If you want to know what so called 'Sleepy Joe' was doing while that orange man pitched temper tantrums, just read this pamphlet and you will get an idea of how hard he has worked for the betterment of our country and citizens! ALL citizens, not just a few! That was very well said!!
Yes...anyone elected to public office represents us all. Not just Megas, GOP, etc. Not a constant running for office agenda. Elections are necessary but 2 yr primaries are expensive and boring. We have more to do.
You forgot his record in the ongoing massacre/genocide in Gaza. The vast majority of deaths are women and children. In my view this overrides all of the above. Nice attempt.
Doug Allam ; Don't allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. The war in Israel is an intractable mess that has existed for a very long time. Joe Biden is President of the United States, not of Israel. He has tried to help, but Netanyahu is an extreme right winger who wants to expand settlements in Gaza. Even as I type this, right wingers on the West Bank are driving out the residents there and killing them. Will you blame Biden for that? Blaming Biden for everything that goes wrong is a MAGA strategy. I ask what do the MAGAts get done?
First, mostly BS. Sure there's collateral damage. But you know NOTHING about his actual negotiations. ASSUME that, PRESUME that. Americans died on Oct. 7 and there are still American hostages.
Second, 2 choices, Us or them. You advocate giving in to "them."
Doug Allam ; What would you have Joe Biden do about the challenges in Israel and Gaza and the west Bank? If you want to play Monday morning quarterback; What would you have done after October 7, 2023?
Biden caused all those deaths? Somehow I missed that!
It was started by Hamas, likely with assistance, materials & planning from Iran & Russia, which saw a way to divert US & Western attention from their brutal, unprovoked war on Ukraine & cause internal dissension in the US & other countries. Their strategy worked like a charm!
US intelligence on Israeli military operations -> Trump -> Russia -> Iran -> Hamas -> barbaric attack on Israel -> Israeli invasion of Gaza
Daniel, with such an impressive list of accomplishments it is shameful that so many MAGA voters will ignore such progress. Such progress is diminished when republicans have succeeded in making immigration a media spotlight issue and I would humbly suggest that the spotlight be turned upon DeSantis, Abbott and Trump failures. Biden must use his political skill, success, creativity and numerous resources at his disposal to embarrass them for their shallow, politically motivated stunts by aggressively adding immigration reform to his agenda. The first criticisms about Biden I hear from MAGA voters is dissatisfaction with the Afghanistan withdrawal and inability to control immigration. I would laugh at their ignorance if Trump's poll numbers were not representative of so many uninformed voters.
Daniel, this never happened if you watch Fox News. Its owners, the billionaire Murdochs know better, of course, but to them all that legislation is "woke" and worthy of derision.
Daniel: You did a much better job than I of recounting Biden's positive achievements. If you can find my first (TL, DR) post, I did try to balance it with his negatives.
One item on your great list stands out to me. OSHA ! I worked in heavy industry and construction for 32 years as a Professional Engineer. Many considered OSHA as a pain in the ass but it really saves lives. One of the hardest things I have done is to be part of an investigation team for an industriral accident resulting in a death. Not a fun job. It was an accident involving a crane, manlift and an automatic guided coil transport vehicle. Cause of death directly related to failure to follow safety procedures that the workers had been trained on.
OSHA fall protection requirements have saved many lives.
Understand I am not an OSHA nut, but saving lives saves a company lots of money in the end.
I was an administrative law judge for 30 years. I did not hear OSHA cases per se but at one time I was the parliamentary judge when they did rulemaking. I heard about 30 types of cases that were investigated by OSHA, including 23 types of whistleblower cases.
Robert was Secretary of Labor in the Clinton Administration, when I was with another agency, SSA.
All of these protections are invisible to the majority of taxpayers, but save life and limb, as well as untold costs. Starting with Reagan, Republicans have been working 24/7 to undermine these rights.
IMHO about 20% of MAGATS are slitting their own throats by supporting vampires.
Don't underestimate the appeal of a crusade! It empowers and gives a sense of meaning, purpose, and belonging to people who find themselves at a loss. Trump is now leading a crusade for a "better" "America"--White, Christian, patriotic, conservative in values. They hate big business but they love big oil if guaranteed low fuel prices. We need leaders who will lead a democratic crusade of our own, but even then we must keep in mind that even Bernie's supporters love low fuel prices!
Unless/until, of course, the rightwingnut courts, and fascist MAGAt Congress totally exempt their huge corporate donors and benefactors from any and ALL; tort suits, liability, and payment of fines. :( :(
Martha Ture ; I just fast forward their asses when I watch recorded programs, past the BS. As soon as Steve Kornaki (or others), puts on the huckster show, I pass it by. I don't want or need to be gamed. I know how I will vote! The elections should not take over a year or two to get done! There should be NO 'swing' states, or Electoral College, or gerrymandering! there should be no Citizens United dirty money buying off our 'representatives'! there should not be any billionaires either!
It was great to see your list, Martha. But sad to see that all those great works have practically come to a grinding halt with a polarized constituency and a do-nothing congress and senate. It seems to have started with Reagan, then the Tea Party, and now Trump. a lot of greed, fear, and lust for power.
The resentment of working class people toward people of color was not born in the Reagan administration. See, for example, Pete Hammill's article https://nymag.com/news/features/46801/ written in 1969. " They are the people who assault peace marchers, who start groups like the Society for the Prevention of Negroes Getting Everything (S.P.O.N.G.E.), the people who hate John Lindsay and vote for George Wallace, presumably because they believe that Wallace will eventually march every black man in America to the gas chambers, sending Lindsay and the rest of the Liberal Establishment along with them. Sometimes these brutes are referred to as “the ethnics” or “the blue-collar types.”
Recall also the white riots after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision - and this: https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/nov/14. So we need to drop the idea that a polarized constituency began during the Reagan administration.
As to the loggerheads in Congress and Senate, let's look at the origins of gerrymandering, lobbying, fundraising, and the uses of the public airwaves to spread propaganda. People elected Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, etc. People did NOT elect Donald Trump. Gerrymandering began when in 1812 Elbridge Gerry rewrote the map of Massachusetts to benefit one party over another and you can look it up. . .As to the rise of the GOP's dirty tricks and ends justify the means fundraising, see the Powell Memorandum, for example. As to the race to the bottom, one day a very good California Democratic Congressman, Tony Coelho, told the DNC that we were getting beat like a gong in fundraising by the GOP and had to get serious about going to big money donors.
As for greed, fear, and lust for power, welcome to the Order of Primates.
If anything went wrong in our endless struggle, it is that we lefties tended to think that once a battle was over, we had won. That legislation, SCOTUS decisions, were final.
"Gerrymandering began when in 1812 Elbridge Gerry rewrote the map of Massachusetts to benefit one party over another and you can look it up."
Indeed! The word Gerrymander is from a combination of Elbridge Gerry and a salamander, which is the shape his new district resembled. Its ridiculousness was so apparent to one editorial cartoonist, Elkanah Tisdale, that he turned it into an unforgettable example of his craft.
But, ol' pruneface, 'gold standard'<- (LOFL, as they label him) 'Saint Ronnie' RAY GUN ZAP!, Bedtime For Bonzo, was the first to truly weaponize this to his (and his subsequent regimes') absolute benefit.
Kickstarted by the (luckily for U.S.) unsuccessful, Barry STINKwater. ;)
Are you a CHMM? I was, once upon a time. Your list sounds like a syllabus for the certification training. But I don't see CERCLA (Superfund), sometimes known jokinglly to us in the trade as the Lawyers' and Consultants' Full Employment Act.
Certified Hazardous Materials Manager. It got me a promotion and a raise. It was the only professional certification that I could get with just a BA and experience.
Quite weak since 2002, although there have been a few good things passed under Biden, like the Infrastructure bill, & Obama made improvements to our healthcare system, & marriage equality for gays happened at the end of his presidency.
Unfortunately, all progress will be washed away under a Trump-MAGA government.
This is Noah Chomsky's whole thesis - any social progress is inevitably met with reactionary pullback. And here we are at the critical 2024 fulcrum: forward with democratic progress or backward to neo-fascist "strongman" rule?
The decisions we make can carry a degree of responsibility long after we enact them. Look at Lot's wife, even today when she cooks the only thing she adds to her dishes is "Pepper.
Veronica--I see you are a fan of Mr. Clemens. Here is a story you may take a liking to. Sam was a passenger on a river boat somewhere in the Southern regions of our infant country when he heard a ship mate relay to the captain the depth of the waters they were navigating. The deck hand took a sounding and yelled up to the skipper "Mark Twain" the rest is literary history. Can you "fathom" that.
Fay, you have fought the good fight and I applaud all you have done. You are right. Younger people need to pick up the mantle and carry our fight forward. You have served our country well and you still do simply by voting. That is the most important freedom all of us need to ensure we do. Happy New Year!
As an 87-year-old, I know the feeling, Fay, although I don't know you. May I merely suggest you consider publicly responding to something you disagree with? Letters to the editor can be a welcome tonic to irrational statements, unsupported generalizations and distortions (or lies).
Bless you Fay for staying in the fight! ❤️ Voting and assuring that others vote is indeed a form of activism.
I identify with limitations imposed on an aging body. I used to be active in an anti-drunk driving campaign. Attended dozens of court proceeding to report how judges dealt with perpetrators. Covered by the media, it let judges know the public is watching. Legislation was changed to require first-time offenders to attend a 3-day intensive educational incarceration and referral to sobriety resources.
Fast forward. Retired from critical care nursing after 40 years; I'm physically and mentally tired. My knees sound like a bowl of Rice Crispies. My imagined peaceful retirement, an illusion. Instead of Court Watches, what I CAN do (and am doing) is participating in postcard campaigns to get out the vote. Wrote stacks of postcards in support of Ohio's Issue 1 (to legalize abortion.) Plan on writing a MOUNTAIN of postcards to get out the vote for the November election.
Each of us is capable of doing our part to save our precious democracy!
Fay, I have enjoyed and learned from your commentary here, so keep that up as it helps those of us a few years younger than you to swing that gauntlet.
Rather than do something traditional, like simply wishing everyone a happy new year and stating my new year's resolution, I'd like to offer a little "new year's food for thought" for the coming year:
- WHY DOES THE US HAVE SUCH AN INSANELY LARGE PRISON POPULATION (Simon Whistler on "Today I found out"):
Mr. Reich says, "Trump is leading in the polls by a slim margin. Even more remarkably, more Americans disapprove than approve of Biden’s efforts to improve the nation’s infrastructure, and more believe that Trump “has a vision for the future” than believe Biden does."
I agree with Mr. Reich! But why is this phenomenon occurring? That is the question of all questions.
The answer is, of course, that over half the Nation gets their daily news fix from FOX. They don't talk about the many accomplishments of Joe Biden. They do dis him almost every day; multiple times. And this is not real news reporting. It is, propaganda at its worst. Shut those faucets of propaganda off and America just might actually know how good Joe Biden really is!
Thank you, Marvin. I still can't figure out what drives these obviously mentally challenged people to watch and believe this Fox Spews propaganda. I have heard some people say the TV's in hospital lobbies, doctor's offices, pub's, and some restaurants have Fox Spews on every time they visit a public place with a TV going in them. It seems these places want to cram this lying crap down the public's throats. To me, personally, this is unacceptable and utterly disgusting. I have walked out of places that had their televisions tuned to Fox Spews. I wouldn't watch that garbage if someone offered me a large sum of cash.
I noticed the same and have politely asked for the channel to be changed to something more palatable like HGTV, especially when I was waiting in a hospital for my mother to have surgery.
John, your statement about "obviously mentally challenged people" is the exact topic that Robert Reich addresses in this article.
These individuals are mis informed but treating them like "mentally challenged" only strengthens their resolve that liberals are evil.
I think that RR is suggesting that we should formulate a strategy where we can walk into a "Fox Den" and engage in thought provoking discussions that cause Fox News recipients to think about what's missing in that Fox "news" story.
Appealing to fear especially in politics work. "Did you see that massive river of immigrants pouring into this country, It's Binden's weakness - trump knows how to fix that." Fear my friends SELLS.
yes, facts and logic alone aren't enough. Passions must be engaged. As Reich says, we don't have to use all of their bully tactics, but we better use some tactics that raise fear, hope, passion.
A favorite term of mine, too, along with "Siberian Candidate", "Benedict Donald"; & now I've coined another one based on a recent trending theme: "Putin's Putrid Putain"
Harvey Kravetz—and the reasons for the torrents of immigrants from Central and South America can, primarily, be laid at the door of the U S of A and its policies and activities through the CIA and the OAS. We are paying the price for it all now.
Biden better do something about the border. Anything. He could lose AZ over it and more. That this problem has gotten to this stage is not a very good sign about the WhiteHouse.
At this point, given the rightwingnuts' media 'investment' in this fascist talking point, Biden could build a wall that would make SCUMp's and his MAGAts' most wet dream fantasy border blocker look like a rickety old post fence, and deport EVERY SINGLE undocumented person in this land, without any exceptions/exemptions, and it would STILL not sway any of the brown shirts. :( :(
I have seen it claimed that certain right-wing billionaires have funded the flights of migrants & refugees to Mexico near the US border with the intent to make Biden look bad.. I haven't seen substantiation for this claim, but I wonder how some of them, especially from Africa & Asia, could reach there without such help, being impoverished as most of them are. If true, I think this information should be spread far & wide, but I'm hesitant to do that without being sure of its veracity.
Mike, the thought of walking into the "Fox Den" makes my mouth go dry and my legs begin to shake. These are people that threaten (with fire arms), intimidate, and bully and I am a little bit nervous about confronting them! I have done so in the past, and they yelled at me which I can handle. What I wouldn't be able to handle is if they pulled their fire arms. I'm afraid I would wet my pants!! But, for Democracy I am willing to try again!
Avoid mention of Trump's name. He poisons the conversation. Avoid negative remarks concerning the Republicans. Focus on Democratic Party efforts to improve their lives (universal healthcare, making the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, etc.) and what Biden has accomplished. Most will listen politely and respond well. If not, you at least made an effort. If anyone pulls a gun on you, run and notify the police!
Thanks, Tim. That is good advice! I try very hard not to talk about trump especially where I live as they are mostly trump supporters. I do push Biden's accomplishments but have found that many of them use the lie points pushed by republicans. The republicans counter everything that is good with a lie that their supporters believe without question. It is very hard to get past that.
Talking about the Republican Party's lack of accomplishments, its antidemocratic policies directed at funneling wealth to billionaires & multinational corporations & away from the middle and working classes & kowtowing to the wishes of the most aggressively militaristic & imperialist adversary of the US is an absolutely necessary part of the conversation.
Name calling HURTS us. Please stop it! The right wing media tells them "See, they disrespect you, hate you, and hate America". It works! I see this all the time in my family of Trump supporters who consume lots of Fox News and right wing radio programs. By the way, my family members are grossly misinformed, but they are NOT MENTALLY CHALLENGED.
Ok. Let them continue to get all their information from the Republicans and right wing media because we won't bother to try and engage them with the truth. Not a winning plan in my opinion,
Right! There are people I love who adored Rush Limbaugh and Tucker Carlson. They are not feeble-minded or more bigoted than the average American. I don’t respect that art of them and Vice versa, so we don’t talk politics. Been there, done that, nothing good can come from that.
This can ONLY possibly 'work' IF they are not violent reactionaries in their reaction to said MAGA, Goebbels Nooz propaganda refuting 'discussions' in the first place. ;)
Susan, do they ever change the channel? While CNN is a lot better than Fox “news,’ I have given up on them as a reliable source, especially after the “town hall” (rally) with tfg. But at least they’re not a non-stop source of propaganda and fear mongering/perpetual rage machine.
Jerry Springer (who just died in 2023) was a Democrat! He was also of German Jewish heritage, and lost several family members in concentration camps. See Wikipedia.
As any political content should NOT be forced upon US in any public space, as we are already way too vitriolically, (and in THEIR case, VIOLENTLY) divided to begin with!
John T Phillips ; I will not go into Burger King for the flame grilled whopper anymore, like I occasionally used to, because they had Fox on all the time in their seating area. I also read that they are supporters of the R's in campaign contributions.
They don't play that at my Burger KIng-which I hardly ever go to anyway. I went once to that rightwing chicken place next door. Pretty good chicken sandwich. Won't go back though.
steve reed; I tried chick fil A but will not go back since they successfully won the right to deny women who worked there to be allowed to have insurance that covers abortion care. That was before the recent repeal under Dobbs. The 'right' never stops doing wrong and opposing the Constitution!
The drive-up window line at the Newtown, Pa. one was backed up to the shopping center's entrance light most of the times I went past there.
That town is at least a slight majority progressive Dem, so I am guessing that even our own people can be quite ill informed (as their product is NOT all THAT 'great'. ;)
Also airports. I was doing A LOT of flying between Chicago and New Orleans while my mom was still alive and everywhere there was a TV on at O'Hare or Louis Armstrong, it was on Fox. Thankfully said TVs were often on mute, but still. UGH.
It’s not just Fox. ALL of the major outlets (NY Times, Washington Post, etc.) are downplaying Trump’s crimes and Biden’s accomplishments. Their business model and revenue requires a horse race, so they have to make both candidates look the same.
Biden and the Democrats have that hurdle to get over as well. They can do it. We can help.
Like Dr Reich lists, we need to counter lies with truth (UNRELENTINGLY), engaging with those who are not yet irredeemable Trump cultists, and getting the vote out.
Christopher, check out Daniel Solomon's post on this feed. He has made a list of President Biden's accomplishments. It will help when countering those republican lies!
He numbered each accomplishment. Someone suggested putting in a pdf which would be great when sending out messages. It's Daniel Solomon. He did an excellent job of pointing out how hard President Biden is working for ALL of us and what he has accomplished so far.
1. President Biden fought for and signed the American Rescue Plan which protected workers’ pensions, provided funding to communities and businesses devastated by COVID-19, lowered or eliminated insurance premiums for millions of lower- and middle-income families, provided funds for affordable housing, provided money for public safety and crime reduction, provided support to small business, expanded food assistance programs in homes and schools, expanded child care programs, invested in mental health and health care centers, added $40 billion for investing in American workers, provided funding to the economies of tribal nations, and supported families with children. Child poverty has already been cut in half as a result of his efforts.
2. He signed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill to repair our roads, waterways, bridges and railroads, and bring high-speed internet to rural communities. Also included is money for public transit and airports, electric vehicles and low emission public transportation, power infrastructure, and clean water.
3. Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. This law provides incentives for states to pass red flag laws, expands the law that prevents people convicted of domestic abuse from gun ownership, expands background checks on young people between 18 and 21 who want to buy a gun, and allocates funds for the mental health of young people.
4. He instituted an executive order raising standards for law enforcement agencies, with particular emphasis on use-of-force policies, availability of body cameras, and recruitment and retention of officers.
5. He brought the unemployment rate down to a low of 3.5%, matching the lowest rate before the pandemic. It has now climbed a bit to 3.8%, but this compares very favorably to the rates of other countries throughout the world. Biden’s administration has added 13.2 million jobs since he came into office, replacing all of the jobs that were lost at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Today there are more people in America working today than ever before!
6. He signed a bill to help veterans who have long been suffering from the effects of burn pits.
7. Biden ended the war in Afghanistan, the longest war in U.S. history. Over 120,000 people were safely evacuated, double the number calculated by the most optimistic experts.
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8. He has steadfastly supported Ukraine after this democratic country was unjustly invaded by Putin and Russia, and has successfully led the free world by lobbying NATO and other allies to add their financial and military support.
9. He signed the Inflation Reduction Act, making health insurance plans more affordable, lowering drug costs, preventing millions of Americans from losing their Affordable Care Act insurance, and requiring Medicare to negotiate the cost of 10 high-cost prescription drugs.
10. Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act, providing funding to produce semiconductor chips for automobiles, cellphones, laptops, gaming consoles, washing machines, etc. here in the Unites States rather than continuing to rely on China.
11. His administration has provided over $369 million to reduce greenhouse emissions by 40% in the next seven years and promote clean energy technologies, moving our country to greater self-sufficiency in energy production.
12. He signed the Postal Service Reform Act to modernize and stabilize the U.S. Post Office and also to help it continue to deliver mail six days every week, focusing on on-time delivery.
Other accomplishments include the reestablishment of respect among our allies on the world stage, the Violence Against Women Act, the Respect for Marriage Act, pardoning those convicted of simple marijuana possession, appointing Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson (the first Black woman on the Supreme Court), forgiving certain student loans, and electoral reforms to ensure that election results are not undermined.
Daniel, - And all this will avail Biden nothing. The only thing that will secure his re-election in November is to persuade blue-collar to vote for him. And many of them will not vote for Biden unless he has something substantial to offer them: full-time jobs, job security, skills retraining, good schools for their children, safe neighbourhood and urban renewal. His offer to them would need to be dramatic, genuine and urgent. They would have to believe it - believe him.
The Democratic Party cannot get out of its own way. It has been committing political malpractice for my Entire life. It kept using the Supreme Court appointments as a lure to win our support. 40 years later, we can measure our success. Now, six control freaks Are swanning. Around with their AK 47s slung around their shoulder.
Daniel, - That's too passive. The Democratic Party will need to be far more inspiring and far more focused on the predominantly white unemployed, under-employed, under-paid, and zero-hours contracted labour.
Huh. And here I thought they were using improving the economy, expanding protections for minorities, lowering the cost of medical coverage, protecting women’s rights, working to control climate change and save the planet, following the rule of law, fighting to preserve democracy, improving America’s standing in the world, and generally making life better for people as reasons to vote for them.
But if you want to see all that as just attempts to “lure people in” as if they were laying some sort of trap, well, that’s a strange perspective.
Sure, Dems are doing some things that are good. But how are they reigning in corporate control of government? Where is our universal health care? Why are our prescription drug prices the highest on the planet? Where is universal preschool and child care? Why are people homeless? Neither party is doing anything about that. They always have things set up so they can't do anything about our real problems. They throw their hands up in despair. 'The other side won't let us!'
Progress towards your universal healthcare is blocked by Republicans. The Democrats have brought DOWN the cost of medicine and healthcare (Insulin for only $35 anyone?) which Republicans have fought every step of the way. Democrats have been improving childcare (free breakfast and lunch for every school kid in Minnesota) while Republicans have declared BANNING free school meals a priority (https://newrepublic.com/post/173668/republicans-declare-banning-universal-free-school-meals-2024-priority).
Notice a theme there?
But, sure, easier to falsely claim “both sides the same” and blame only the Democrats. To ignore the actual fact the some problems are being solved so you can falsely whine that nothing is being done.
Public Broadcasting was initiated to remove the poison of corporate funding from American popular media. The corporate capitalist creep to dark ambition and ultimate power has been achieved by largesse allowed in small dollops by now a dependence and addiction for budgeting of PBS along with the elimination of substantial non corporate media.
A complete corporate monopoly of media networking has existed in place for some time, and the media corporations are merely mouthpieces for immense parent corporations and their design and dependence on neoconservative economic principles in conflict as the “engine of a capitalist democracy”.
There will be no mention of unprofitable journalism in America until and unless war and violence become non-profitable by disgust of America’s viewers and rejection of the commodification of death and pain to encourage and profit from a diabolical economic theory of war driven economic success which is the principal standard of American corporate capital in 2024. Palestine is the proving ground of Israeli and American weapons researchers which see the slaughter as their testing ground for future weapons sales of “battle proven” designs.
The claim to “democracy” by American corporate captured government is as valid as the claim of “socialism” by the National Socialists of Germany in their weapons testing in the Spanish Civil War in anticipation of a global conflict.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: those of his supporters who are not racist are single issue anti-abortion voters. I know them. I talk with them.
I was in the Navy during the 70s, and was staunchly anti-abortion. (If the name, Francis Schaeffer means anything to anyone.) By the early 80s I had to admit that I was wrong and completely changed my view. (I was a bible-believing "Christian" at that time, but I had learned to accept challenges in order to find Truth.)
I know what we need. In your mind envision one individual that epitomizes what being a true American represents. Someone who has sacrificed everything conceivable in an effort to help maintain this Democracy. Now, fill your being to the brim with human kindness and compassion, then become that person. I have a feeling most of us here would already understand my intent. Keep your glass half full and be careful Robert's shoes might be a little tight.
I like this brief meditation, Donald. There are two individuals who immediately came to mind: Heather Cox Richardson and Robert Hubbell. I will invoke their personas when my energy and optimism are flagging. Thanks 💫!
I envision John F. Kennedy, John Lewis, and Martin Luther King. It helps me maintain a calmness so that I can interact with those that don't have the same vision for America that I do!
It’s too bad that most Republican Congress people do not have the same vision you have in spite of taking an oath to support the Constitution of the United States.I think they should all be asked to renew their oath in front of all of U.S. citizens
Donald: He more resembles Beau. But Beau has a better beard... I might try to grow mine like his... I was previously trying to emulate Jack Smith, and before him Roger McGuinn.
Greg--Doesn't it appear odd to you that all the terrible things being carried out in this country are due to the efforts of Trump's Goon squad. Why is it our own people exemplify the lunacy necessary to be a part of Trump's lost world. I fear if they ever do wake up the suicide rate in this country will explode.
Can you run for president while in prison? Debs did in 1920 in his fifth and last campaign for the office. Having become a socialist through his reading in various prisons, he was jailed for sedition in 1919 for antiwar and anti-draft agitation.
Dear libs, in the world of politics, if one wants to get elected they must sell FEAR. And personality. That explains in part Trump, Reagan, and W.
Those of us who have been aware of Biden's political career know he was always a lossy candidate, but we all knew he could be a great president. He needs to get on the "horn" and have a fireside chat and empathize, explain, and reassure Americans what has been accomplished and assuage their fears of immigrants, and all those others, and the steps to be taken to alleviate high costs of RE and other necessities. Having a competent staff and cabinet members is critical for any administration. He needs to drop down on the floor and do 20 pushups. Demonstrate that 81 is not two steps from the grave.
Recalling the famous newspaper held up by Harry Truman in 1948. "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN."
The one year anniversary of the East Palestiine (OH) disaster is upon us, and Biden has yet to visit. He should -- and hold up the paper with the headline from September 24, 2018:
"Trump Rolls Back Train-Braking Rule Meant to Keep Oil Tankers from Exploding Near Communities." Just hold it up with a stern look, Joe. That shouldn't be too hard.
Thomas—that’s a great idea. I think he should read it aloud, as well. There are a lot of people with learning disabilities who never got the help they needed. My cousin spent thousands of dollars getting help for his oldest child. She graduated from university. Not everyone lives in a area where help is available, or who can afford it.
Yes, a fireside chat or a televised address to the American people. Whatever happened to that? Obama, as eloquent an orator as he was, underutilized the bully pulpit, too.
Yes. Fox is a problem -- and people’s belief that it is real news is a problem. But I also worry that the “real” press tries to provide “balance” or is just as driven by sensationalism. A whole program yesterday -- finally -- on NPR about this. I learned in grad school that it is the questions we ask that skew or reveal (and then went on to work as a GAO evaluator); when you ask about inflation constantly, it diverts people’s attention from the good things. And then there is word choice: “belief” in climate change? Not a matter of belief. Etc.
Yeah - it’s like the Trump followers only want a Jerry Springer type news show instead of Walter Conkrite- their attention span so short they can’t absorb real news facts unless you twist them around and make a fairy tale out of it.
Those followers have always been there, potentially. It took modern day rightwing media to bring them out and turn them into cultish camp followers. Father Coughlin history with his anti-semitic American style fascism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Coughlin
There's a great cartoon (probably from Daily Kos) of Jordan and Comer with a flip chart listing all of Commander's impeachable offenses. Too bad there's no way to post pictures here. I don't have the link.
Marvin Fretwell ; Those who attend tfg's rallies are fired up, but I don't see much in the news about what he has supposedly accomplished, even with sycophants in the Congress. How do we "shut those faucets of propaganda off"? Over the weekend there were some shows on MSNBC that featured all tRump all the time. They were not boosting him, but he was everywhere with a generous sprinkling of Fox 'news' segments. I fast forward out of these mud pits, wondering why MSNBC keeps airing them. If I wanted to watch Fox, I would watch it. Sheesh!
because they are stupid ? driven by ratings. They can't get off of him making him the centerpiece of stories where he could even be marginalized in the telling. Disappointing.
steve reed ; It may be that they are chasing the 'republican' viewers, too. Or they want to highlight what 'the other side' is doing and saying, to educate, inform and have 'balance' in their 'news'? Honestly, I think anyone who has not decided which party they like by now, has not been paying attention. But some folks work so much, they may be trying to figure it out still. They may learn something?! and vote Democrat! Who would want a Hitler? How many even know about Hitler, or fascism?
And even knowing about Hitler is so different from a practical understanding of what America would look like under fascism, is so beyond the Ken of most people
Not only that, if Biden stays in office the FBI and the black helicopters are coming after YOU. Biden and the Dems are destroying America blah blah blah on an endless loop from right wing media.
Why would anyone think a country can be safe with seditious unAmerican media outlets like Fox, One America News, NewsMax, and hundreds of rightwing radio stations? They need to be shut down or constrained by Congress expressing the will of the people. It is the civic equivalent of yelling fire in an auditorium. Other countries have recognized this and put in guardrails. But our cultural devotion to free speech and distrust of government, always there but heightened in the past 30 years, enables these dangers to our democracy and our society.
I almost can't believe I'm writing these words. Never really thought we would be in this nightmarish situation.
We are at a tipping point but we can tip things in the right direction if we act together.
steve: I can't endorse government censorship of unpopular or even idiotic speech. That is a slippery slope.
But the regulations under which their licenses are issued require that stations operate in the public interest. The problem there is that the FCC, which defines the public interest, is controlled by Capital and operates in the interest of the rich.
The issue is not simple. Please read the Digital Republic by Susskind as he lays out the case for government regulating curtailing whatever you wanna call it unaccountable big tech media in ways, similar to the ways in which we regulate other industries. For sure, information and free-speech present special challenges. Slippery slope is a catchall phrase for doing nothing. I shouldn’t have this cookie because that’s a slippery slope and I’ll end upeating a whole bag.!! OK sometimes a slippery slope argument is good.
steve reed ; as I have said in other posts in these threads, Conservative's conservative ; retired Judge Michael J. Luttig made a statement on an MSNBC show recently, that the media is misinforming and disinforming the public, and that is of significant concern in a Democracy. I say that The enemies of Democracy want to inject politics into the process of justice. Donald J. Trump wants to turn every legal proceeding into a political rally. Why is he out on bail? Because he threatens everyone! We need some Special Forces to come in and protect Judges, assistants, and all those prosecutors , witnesses, even potential jurors from his BIG MOUTH! take away his damned megaphone!
True. And .45 is demonstrably a flight risk. He has business interests in numerous countries, including Russia. He should be in pretrial custody with no bail. Any time he wants he can fire up Air Force None and fly off to visit his buddy Vlad.
Lock him up! Preferably in Guantanamo as an "enemy combatant."
Greg ; If only! Biden should use emergency war powers! we are close enough! the Supreme court is being Coy! This is a serious threat! Would we just chill if a Bin Laden was planning a major attack? Incredibly, tfg has secret service protection!!!! This is Nuts!
We DID just chill when Bin Laden was planning a major attack… just like the Israeli government… their intelligence people knew about the Hamas attack a year or so before it happened. They did nothing to stop it. Totally a setup by Putinyahu’s “defense” force.
Supposedly Bin Laden is dead now, but have you seen his body? (And likewise for Prigozhin.)
Supposedly the IDF killed a Hamas honcho in Lebanon yesterday… with a drone! Seriously? I have a bridge to sell you.
Perhaps those who can afford to do so give a subscription to this and other Substack writers we believe provide appropriate counter-Trump & counter-MAGA content with facts and sense we can help. It’s one more way to amplify the messages that must be heard.
Marvin, read Daniel Solomon's post listing President Biden's many accomplishments. I told him we need to have that written up into pamphlet form and distributed across this country!!
Living in California I usually feel comfortable voting 3rd party, but in the last presidential and the upcoming one I feel it's important to have Trump beaten by the largest number possible regardless of the electoral college to make the message as clear as possible.
It's been the same for me in Oregon. If Democrats can't win in Oregon, they're not going to win the nation. But now I vote Democratic regardless because of the disaster Republicans will bring. I happen to prefer Biden to any recent 3rd party candidate, anyway
I would consider Cornel West if he were running as a Democrat, but IMHO this is not the time for 3rd (4th, 5th, 6th...) parties. He used to be on NPR on Sunday afternoons IIRC.
I also want to look into Cenk Uygur's campaign. He is on "The Young Turks."
I wish Cornel, a former classmate of mine, were running in the Democratic primary. We could use a truly progressive voice in the primaries. I am disappointed in his stance on Ukraine though.
I haven’t seen what he said about Ukraine. I have voted 3rd party before (Commoner, Johnson, Nader) and even run under one. I even voted for Gus Hall in 1972 because that was such a hopeless election. But not this time.
I've written and posted the same simple message ever since I saw that the Republicans had increasingly taken over the media news cycle. If Joe is going to be this generation's FDR, he must promote, promote and promote and be backed up by serious Democrats who put out the same message. Promotion is a very basic principle of successful marketing, but the Dems still don't seem to understand how important it is. The Republicans have done this for years and in so doing, they've built support for their crazy ideas, policies and wars. Why on Earth can't the Democrats get over whatever they're doing instead, and verbally support Joe all the time? His poll numbers would be vastly better if they did and if Joe had regular addresses to the nation from the Resolute desk in the Oval Office. Let's have American know the truth. There's no time to lose.
Porter ; Excellent points! but remember that money is speech, and the R's have had more of it. I would think that President Biden could get himself on television and other media more often, if he really wanted to. He actually has appeared more and his messaging is stronger lately, but more is needed! the Presidency IS a demanding job though!
Hi Laurie - the Dems could have enough money to win this, although from what I've read, donations to Joe are not sufficient at this point and that goes back to my point about Joe being marketed and promoted well, which isn't happening. After all, how can a President with such a great run of successes and a virtually-booming economy, not reap the benefits? Something is very wrong with the way the Dems have failed to use Biden the right way and to take over the news cycle.
Porter : Retired conservative judge Michael Luttig said on MSNBC recently that the media is a problem with disinformation and misinformation, which has hurt voters perception and is a threat to Democracy and even justice.
Absolutely true. The media, on both sides, exists primarily to make money and so they'll grab whatever brings in the most viewers. A quiet, good-natured, competent and perhaps occasionally boring President doesn't bring in viewers, and commercials and money. But remember that's what the country needed after Trump - quiet competence - and that's Joe.
Porter ; I agree, and , as Professor Reich has said, we need to have boring banking again. Like when I was very young, and my working class grandfather showed me his checkbook to explain savings and how he was earning 5% on his money! Try to find that today! That would be quietly exciting for most of US! (would not impress the spoiled billionaires though).
Porter hi!: if money is speech. It seems that the 'R's have more of it. Most of US are struggling to make ends meet after all the increases in the interest rates, and prices going up. Just because Jerome Powell has announced that he will stop or slow down raising interest rates, doesn't mean an instant reprieve from high costs. "Taking over the news cycle, would be a very heavy lift when hostile billionaires with their own agenda own the media. Joe has been very strong lately in citing his accomplishments in spite of the enemies against progress and Democracy across the aisle. The sad fact is that our 'news' cycle is owned and operated by those who do not support the Common Good.
Laurie, that's always been true and it's human nature. The support for the common good has always been elusive. Keep in mind, though, that with full employment (we must get more workers, where can they be found, I wonder?), rising income, and the rebirth of American consumerism (retail is going nuts; been to a store lately?) Americans on the whole are doing much better. Trouble is, because the Dems are so quiet, people don't make the connection between the statistics and who fixed the economy.
Porter; Dems are so quiet, because they do not have their voices in the media. How many low income senior women (or men), get to discuss anything? Besides, most prices will most likely not go down. They may continue stay where they are, if we are lucky, for a while. I have a few 'over the counter' medically necessary items ( not covered), that have gone up. I just spent over $100 on them. one went up from $48 to $60, for a month's supply of a supplement my GI doc suggested I take, that actually helps. Another increased as well. These are also taxed! My covered prescriptions have also gone up, and I must pay for them, too, even though over $100 /mo. is taken out of my Social Security to pay for them. Social Security is taxed, too. that is more than $100 as well. they get US coming and going. That is why I still work in my 70's. I am grateful to have what I have. But it would be nice to retire and get some Rest and Recreation.
Citizens United has affected Democrats as well. They are owned by Big Money also. Not the same, but the soft pedal appears to be just as powerful in limiting US common good. Dems have been in power in the near past and NOT restored 'US common good'. Roberts absurd notion that we can overcome 50 years of deconstruction of our values suggests the rabbit can ask the hungry fox not to eat it. Ha!
The angry seeking English who came to the US did not act legally against the British. The Civil War came about because Southern extreme greed could not be overcome by nicey nice. The Lincoln compromise has left us with women and people of color as second class citizens, now the resumption of child labor. Biden is clearly no FDR. We must engage in serious pushback. Yes, Biden has done good things but so long in coming, more 'too little, too late'. Climate chaos, streams of immigrants, daily extinctions of life are not to be trifled with anymore. We knew all this in the 1960s. Clearly, a revolution of chaos, guns is unwinnable but much more must be challenged.
Vicki, MSN ; As we approach the Rapids, I think it is more important to focus on winning the Presidency and as many seats in government as possible. The 'right' wants to politicize justice itself with no regard for the Constitution and the rule of law. We are not going to solve " Climate chaos, streams of immigrants, daily extinctions of life" with any kind of 'revolution' without defeating the NAZI MAGAts at the ballot box!
I agree with you. 1 problem is true progressives are prevented from winning the Democratic presidential nomination. Secondly when they do get either chamber, it's barely, with more than enough turncoats like Manchinema to thwart progressive legislation. We need larger Democratic majorities with a majority of them progressives.
The Republicans also have a much more sophisticated propaganda machine, helped not only by billionaires & giant multinational corporations, but also Russia, another very sophisticated propaganda organization.
As for Biden being televised, many networks ignore him, even though televising presidential speeches used to be automatic.
Many TV stations are corporations pushing Fascism. Sound familiar? Biden is more corporate than most Progressive Democrats. It’s is never enough for the elite. When rich they get into our government policies for themselves. The world has to tax the rich to survive. It works for only the few while masses of people roam the world trying to find a better life. It’s not amnesty except for more money and life. Even American workers want that with so much competition by illegals who pay no taxes and get free benefits (we the tax payers fund). Not the rich but the middle class who are disappearing.
Republicans can’t run government…only destroy it. History has proven this true. Even poor Republicans vote against their own self interest. Their leaders propagandize hate and fear to get power.
You like many are overfocusing on message content and not enough on message distribution channels which coud be better used (or , just used) by Dems. Esp in small town and rural America. Hell, Dems already have the cities for the most part.
I attribute the better marketing of Repubs to a stronger marketing/commercial bent and experience of Republicans vis-a-vis Dems, esp Dem leadership.
steve reed, yes I agree. We need the message far and wide. Saturated on infinite repeat. They have the megaphone on blast everywhere incessantly. We have a tin can and a string that we use sometimes. Thanks for making this salient point!
I recently listened to an interview with Anand. Gridharadas on MSNBC. He stated that unfortunately Trump has done an excellent job organizing, motivating, and instilling passion into his followers and continues to use effective techniques to bring more follower. The Democratic Party has unfortunately not done the same, not even close. It’s difficult but nevertheless needs to be accomplished in spite of so many political factions under a expansive tent. The DNC needs to foster passionate thread to strengthen the support of our democracy.
Boy, do I agree, Porter! Has Robert R written about this huge and continuing hole in the Democrats presentation? And why doesn’t Biden take to the airwaves? He sure had ample opportunity during the pandemic and now with his highly controversial support of Israel. If he doesn’t speak up to all of us himself he leaves it to the media who have to go for money over substance.
Maybe better from Dachau, which was liberated by American troops, not the Red Army as Auschwitz was. April 29 is the anniversary. And the American troops and liberated prisoners killed a number of the SS guards. Can’t say I blame them.
I think we need to focus on the universal stench of the Republican brand, and it’s willingness to bow down to the #SeditionCaucus and pitch every shred of its integrity into the cesspool that it has created.
Todd Telford ; Why? The Senate should investigate Congress members who have fake resumes, and those from gerrymandered districts, who are illegitimate. They should look at those who voted against certifying President Biden's win; against their oaths of office! They did this on Jan 6!, supporting the insurrection! 14th amendment section 3! They are disqualified! What is our Constitution worth if it cannot be enforced!? Our enemies are running our government and aiding Vladimir Putin in his war on Ukraine! Eventually, he could attack US, after marching through other sovereign countries! If the right wing extremists get their way, We will be in world war three with a 'leader' for life who will oppress and destroy US, and everything we have fought for, and hoped for, and many died for, in the second world war.
2. Those that are implicated as co-conspirators to send phony electors. Most recent evidence shows that Ron Johnson was involved. Scott Perry enlisted a "cadre." In his book and on TV interviews, .Peter Navarro enlisted a "Green Bay sweep" of dozens of probably co-conspirators that are members of Congress.
3. Every member of Congress and staff on duty Jan 6 are eyewitnesses who should have been questioned. No time like the PRESENT.
I think you have to attack the GOP brand but how you do it makes a diffrerence. On balance a positive message is more important but theres room for both. IMO.
11. Whenever anyone says "That's socialism!" in response to your support of a social welfare program like, say, paid parental leave that is routinely available in other democracies, do not -- repeat, DO NOT -- do what most Democrats do today: cringe and walk away in silence.
Do what Harry Truman did in 1948. RESPOND! "When they say something is socialism, they mean that's something that is good for the American people."
I totally agree with you, Stephen. A few years ago, i asked my TUMP fanatic neighbors that are old enough to get their Social Security, why haven't they signed up for their SS retirement yet, and they replied, '' We don't take handouts from the government, and anyway, SS is socialism'' Those stupid idiots had FICA tax taken out all of their paychecks all of their working lives, and Social Security IS NOT A HANDOUT. That was 4 years ago and i haven't spoken to them since. I just cannot tolerate being around a person or persons that support a raving, corrupt maniac like Donald TUMP, and that includes my relatives. And they wonder why i want to go live in Canada.
John, my sister and I are going to buy a villa in Tuscany and move there if the orange man gets back in the White House. I simply cannot stay here and watch my country be destroyed!
What burns me are the TFG lovers that rail on our “socialist” government programs, but are first in line for their SS, Medicare, VA and military benefits, their adult kids on food stamps, and their government pensions. It’s socialism for everyone except themselves. Then they have the nerve to complain about the low dollar level or poor service of said government programs.
It’s no different than the Washington hating southern R governors that are first to cry where’s Washington and federal help after a natural disaster.
Wow. Why isn’t this bigger news? He was still president when his foundation was totally misdirecting money to personal use. At least the ny attorney general prosecuted him and got some payouts to charities.
Many people, including myself, can't stomach Biden's full throated support of Israel's genocide in Gaza. The Dem Party has been operating on the "Lesser of Two Evils" mantra for a couple decades now and this is where it's brought us.
The problem here is that the blame is being placed in the wrong place.
Hamas exists to kill every Jew. They attack, kill and rape in the most in-human way and then hide amongst and below the innocent Palestinian people, who are pawns and shields. Hamas cares nothing for the Palestinians because they want blame for the actions that they started to fall on Israel and supporters of Jews.
Netanyahu's actions are war crimes primarily becuase of the extreme collateral damage caused by Hamas embedding amongst the Palestinians. He could have handled the war with Hamas differently.
Finally, the blame is equally shared by the surrounding Arab world which has also ignored the plight of their fellow Arabs - the Palestinians. Everyone is to blame for failure to solve the Palestinian problem and Hamas exploited this failure.
You are right to be angry about the genocide, but focus your anger on the true source. By blaming Biden, you are falling into the trap set by the enemies of the US, which includes Putin and Xi.
Hopefully, these folks will come around and realize what a danger Trump is to the survival of our country. Do they really think that Trump would withdraw support from Israel to pressure them to stop the bombing?
That's why Russia helped preparing Hamas so enthusiastically..all that followed was projected..also this..for Russia the main target of this war is Bidens America, and western democracy..
It doesn't help that the Israeli-setler-government is of the same kind as Hamas and Putin and Trump and the like..
(Well, i must admit/should add that direct Russian involvement is not (yet) proven or confirmed, i believe. But some sources talk in quite detail about it, i hear. It's under investigation.
But even if Rissia is not directly involved, that doesn't change how this war functions for Russia..)
Smarter ones will be voting for Marianne Williamson in the Democratic primary even as the DNC tries to be autocratic in denying other candidates. Take a lesson from LBJ, Biden could sit out.
I ask folks to consider that Israel's right-wing government -- which is ushering in fascism there* -- will be extremely happy for a Trump victory. (They've named a settlement after him.) Their powerful lobbies here in the USA are going to be investing heavily to defeat progressive Democrats.
* If an Israeli so much as openly expresses compassion for the dead in Gaza, according to Ha'aretz journalist, Gideon Levy, there will be legal repercussions.
This is what all Dems need to confront the Party on:
All those who are saying Biden isn’t perfect (but we should vote from him) are refusing to acknowledge the full blown genocide Biden is participating in.
A vote for Biden is a vote supporting mass slaughter of a people with the right to defend themselves but without the means.
What many are not ready to admit is that the 2 party system we have here isn’t working. Because a choice between a lunatic wannabe dictator and a supporter of cold blooded and premeditated mass murder is not a choice.
The Dems need to hold a proper primary that demonstrates DEMOCRACY. They've doubled down against all candidates by removing access.
Personally I continue supporting Marianne Williamson as a better than Biden candidate. She's got to get through this primary which is probably harder than going independent.
The party elite need to realize their robbery of democracy has many young voters outraged.
K Miller ; "Biden isn’t perfect (but we should vote from him)" ; Yes, compared with tRump, who is the most likely candidate, (if the Supreme Court does not get their job done in time), Joe Biden is the best, really the only candidate for those who value Democracy, to vote for. Don't allow the 'perfect' to destroy the good! The ideal is an illusion in this situation. The real choice is evident, like most truths.
Patricia Panitz ; Joe Biden has said out loud to Netanyahu that he will stop sending weapons support to Israel if the killing continues. I hope he makes good on that. It is a falsehood that he has given "full throated support" to genocide!
Biden's claim that he will stop sending weapons is a PR stunt. He's been sending weapons without congressional approval. So far over 20,000 Palestinians have been killed and Gaza's in smithereens - when will be a good time to stop?
Some of the comments here are straight out of AIPAC’s handbook...as in:
MYTH: Hamas using civilians as human shields.
TRUTH: Israel / IDF have FREQUENTLY used Palestinian civilians as human shields.
Check your history. Look to scholars like Norm Finkelstein. The ugly truth about Israel is hard for many people to assimilate but it doesn’t make it any less true. Israel is the illegal occupier of Palestinians’ territories since the Nakba of 1948, with continued expansion in 1967 and so on. The same rationale has been applied to other resisters of Israel’s ongoing violent repression/suppression of Palestinians. We are now witnessing genocide and ethnic annihilation in real time.
This is not about the “perfect” candidate.
If you are using this rationale for supporting Biden, then you are turning a blind eye to outright slaughter.
Stop blaming the voter. Blame the Party and make them change if they want the office.
The Dems know full well Biden will lose as a result of alienating the truly sane voters but they refuse to put up a viable candidate. IMO it’s not trump we need to worry about: It’s Liz Cheney…who despite the fact that she vocally supports Biden’s Israeli devotion (and will also lead on a large incremental step to defund social security & Medicare for future gen’s among other greedy deeds), she comes across as sane in every interview. She’s got the Statesmen’s background, the demeanor, she’s White, middle aged, and looks exactly like the well heeled (esp Barbie wannabes) suburban moms that politicians covet.
You have to ask the question: Why would the Dems want to lose? Because they know they will if they stick with Biden.
Israel has been oppressing the Palestinians since its inception in 1948 (done, by the way, without any input from the indigenous Palestinians whose land was oppropriated without compensation and who had nothing to do with the Holocaust). Israelis steal their land; drive them from their homes, often in the middle of the night; burn their crops; imprison them, including children, to indefinite detention without charges or trial; restrict mobility with a system of checkpoints everywhere; and in the case of Gaza, greatly restrict the inflow of necessities like food, water and medicine. Water in Gaza was undrinkable before Oct. 7, and electricity was limited to 4 hours a day. Is it any surprise that an organization like Hamas come into being? Before Oct.7 Israel was trying to erase Palestine and Palestinians slowly and quietly, so the rest of the world wouldn't notice; now it is plain for all to see. The present leaders of Israel, admittedly right wing extremists, have admitted their goal is eradication of Palestinians. But they are who Israelis elected.
The fact that Biden facilitates this makes him an enabler of genocide
I think Canada has also had it's fair share of incompetents too, but like Australia. never on the scale of the malicious and malevolent Donald TUMP, and his deluded supporters. It gets very cold in Canada, but i would rather put up with cold weather, than to have to put up with TUMP and his cult followers here in the USA. I have to admit, i am sick and fed up with evil criminals trying to take over here in the USA. They lie, cheat, steal, and are always threatening violence against people that try to stop TUMP. Death threats to the Secretary of States in Maine and Colorado are the latest example of these terrorists threats to the SOS in Maine and Colorado for their efforts to remove TUMP from their state ballots. Donald TUMP should be in a jail cell right now, but he is still allowed to run free and have rallies spewing his hate and threats to his enemies. WHY?? No one, (including TUMP) is supposed to be, ''above the law.''
I think these ''polls' are bogus and very inaccurate and are just another tool of propaganda taken by persons that want TUMP to be our dictator. Only a very small percentage of voters are represented in them and they are taken in areas that have always leaned toward the Fascist Rethugs.
Roger Farquhar ; Our media, or the 'Fourth Estate', has been complicit and bought up by the billionaires. It does not inform the public ; the voters adequately. Misinformation and Disinformation abounds. Our education system has not kept up with the world and changes in our communications. only a few schools teach Civics or financial literacy, for example.
Roger, what's the weather like in Australia? You may see an influx of Americans moving to your country because we can't stand the malicious, malevolent trump and his supporters either!!
I'm not a follower or fan of Taylor Swift. Way too old, but she's had some catchy tunes from years ago. If she can literally cause an earthquake--make the earth move, then she's got the power to affect young people in a good way. If only she would use it.
Real? I have to believe it because she has a tight rein on her music and image. I lived, for a while, in the same town where she grew up, and had my computer worked on at the shop by the guy who taught her how to play guitar. After knowing his story, I don't feel quite the same about her. Berks County Man Says He Taught Taylor Swift to Play Guitar (google title of article). A snippet of unimportant info.
40% of electorate is Gen Z. 70% trend Democratic. She is the number 1 Democratic influencer, bar none. Person of the Year. Time. Speaks to the generation that can sweep Republicans. Gen Z followers support Taylor Swift's marketing by staying connected through social media, buying her merchandise and talking about her on social media. Taylor Swift doesn't necessarily need to always market herself because so much of her audience does it for her.
She supports abortion rights. She has identified as a feminist and advocated for LGBTQ rights and gun control. She's been critical of police brutality, racism and white supremacy. She has used her influence and social media power to spotlight issues within the industry and society at large, such as fostering reforms to Spotify, Apple Music, Ticketmaster, recording and distribution contracts, and drawing attention to artists' rights, masters, intellectual property, corporate greed, sexism and racism, while being a subject of scrutiny and controversy herself. https://en.wikipedia.org/.../Cultural_impact_of_Taylor....
She has supported Biden, and hopefully she will have the same effect on his campaign as she has had on ancillary products she supports.
Thank you for the detailed and informative reply. I stand corrected. I still wish more Americans would pay attention to Robert Reich or Heather Cox Richardson than to Taylor Swift. Not all wishes come true...
I’m surprised and frankly a little disappointed in your comments in that to me you have left out that we should all be doing what you are doing. I now specifically respond to multiple calls for democratic fund raising that I will now give money ONLY to candidates that publicly and directly support and endorse the Robert Reich analysis and proposals . You have made clear that as long as 29 years ago you saw changes were happening that if not corrected we’re highly likely to lead to widespread disappointment and disillusionment that were to be fertile ground for the type of pro fascism that we’re facing today with Trump and the Republican party. What Biden has done is offered many progressive and positive initiatives but I have not seen Biden or ONE Democratic candidate (and my email is filled with requests for money) who has addressed the heart of the problem as you have. Trump is not an aberration he has clearly recognized the widespread but not articulated view of maybe a majority of Americans that our world has become widely out of balance. And Trump through his fascist rhetoric has claimed and taken the mantra that he and the Republican Party are the party of change. Biden and some other democrats have proposed and even passed some positive steps. BUT NO ONE can say or feel that the democrats are anywhere near addressing the dramatic pains and imbalances in the country that as you so clearly articulate flowed directly from globalization and deregulation of the financial markets that largely had their genesis in Clinton and following administrations. Trump cannot be stopped without convincing voters the democrats admit past mistakes and take on the mantra of the Robert Reich program.
Greg, I saw that link, didn’t feel it told me what I’d want to know about the person, so I used google, reviewed online history, (Wikipedia, etc.), and this guy’s NOT my guy at all!! Sorry.
If you’re talking about Cenk Uygur (I can’t find my way to what you’re responding to in this useless app) he’s not my guy either. I only provided the link because someone asked about him. I see some problems with him too and won’t be voting for him. No need to apologize to me.
Mark, - Absolutely not! The Democrats need to understand that Trump's MAGA policy appeals to the majority who are struggling to finance their next decent meal and pay for their children's education; those who are under-paid; those in the gig economy who are on zero-hours job contracts; those who lost their safe full-time industrial jobs to Reaganomics. - But yes, Biden or his replacement candidate needs to be more progressive - dramatically so.
But 'progessive' doesn't mean endless wars - especially not against a people who simply want to keep their plot of land, their home and their modest business in a land that their ancestors have lived on for generations and which belongs to them by the right of Native Title. People are fed up with unnecessary and unjust wars. Trump appeals because he will bring a negotiated peace to Ukraine - not an endless military stalemate.
Unsure of the antecedent to “Absolutely not!”, but otherwise absolutely agree with your comment- except - I think Trump will throw the Ukrainians under his fond colleague Putin’s bus... but would still agree that this will appeal to his fans.
Mark, - It's always hard to second-guess what Donald Trump would do, were he U.S. President dealing with the Russia-Ukraine War. My guess is that he actually would ask Putin what he wants from the war, and Putin would probably answer that, in a way, Ukraine's status is only part of a wider issue, namely the proximity of NATO right on the borders of European Russia, and that what Putin wants is some form of 'decommissioning' or 'reduction' of the status of these nations as NATO members, OR some kind of mutual surveillance arrangement between Russia and NATO - that would include the border areas of Russia and these nations. He would want a return to a non-aligned Ukraine, as it was in 1991. As against this, Putin would be willing to withdraw his army from Ukraine (except Crimea), including the Donbass region. I suspect that Trump and Putin would agree. Putin would be happy because at long last, he'd then consider Russia much safer from a first-strike from his nearby neighbours, and the strategic situation would be far less asymmetrical than since the 1990s. Trump would be pleased because funding for Ukraine's defence could now be shifted to U.S. domestic purposes - job creation, retraining, urban renewal and improved basic education.
Trump ought to, but may not propose, that Russia assist in rebuilding Ukraine. On the other hand, Putin may offer to help in the restoration of Ukraine, as a goodwill measure.
I think I can predict your reaction to all this: incredulity! Since AD2000, the populations and voters in the West have been inculcated with the notion of the evil monster in the East. However, recall for a moment that in the early 2000s, Putin suggested that Russia become an EU member. In 2014, Putin was held responsible for the destruction of the Malaysia Airline flight over eastern Ukraine - while not a single Western political analyst or commentator asked 'Cui bono?' (who benefits?) Our opinion shapers and influencer all agreed that "Putin done it!" But did he? Or was it a faction within the radical-right nationalist Kiev government that did it in the hope of drawing NATO into their civil war in the Donbass region? The Cui bono question points to them rather than Putin or his Russo-Ukrainian rebels.
Gunnar, as close to a ‘red line’ for me is rewarding a violent revision of peaceful state borders.
(Additionally, appeasement has appeared to repeatedly fail with Putin - didn’t end with Chechnya, didn’t end with Crimea, wouldn’t end with the Donbas. When/if Ukraine is capitulated to Putin, it becomes Russia, and Poland becomes the next buffer zone one must sacrifice?)
I almost always favor peaceful solutions, but it’s hard to tell someone not to fight to defend their home, when the other side is not willing to stop.
Also remember, the same could be said about the U.S.: appeasement with the U.S. is fraught because ... remember Vietnam, Guatemals, El Salvador, Persian Gulf War, the Iraq War, the Syrian civil war, and the current proxy war against the Gaza Strip. Oh, I forgot the broken U.S. promise to Gorbachev in 1989-1990.
Thank You!!!☮️😎💕We are on it. Rallying all of us old McGovern workers…This election is pivotal for our precious Democracy. And…We thought Nixon was bad, Oy!!
Here's a suggestion - talk some sense into the DNC to get Biden to retire - soon.
First, his support for Palestinian genocide is a war crime that tarnishes America globally while the world has watched Bibi turn Gaza into a modern-day Dresden using US bombs. It is clear that even Secretary of State Blinken is chagrined by it all. Second, I am 76, and yet it is clear to me that Biden is not in touch with Millennials thru GenZ any more than he is with the couple dozen of my Boomer prep-school classmates from the 60s that I am in email touch with almost daily.
Third, and most troubling as a psychologist, is that given Biden's age and the stress of the job at 1600 Penn, there is no way that a male in his 80s already showing overt signs of waning physical and mental stamina can handle another term in these stressful times. He walks and talks like a doddering old man - and that is what voters see on TV. The polls have been trying to tell DNC that it needs to run a younger candidate, but somehow they think Trump is so terrible Biden will win. That was probably true the last time - but not this November.
If somebody with integrity, like Liz Cheney is on the ballot - even as a third-party candidate, Biden will be a one-term president anyway - and I will have helped. My worry is that so many voters have no clue what life under a fascist dictator would be like. Americans rarely know anybody in Europe or Japan very well who might wise them up. Disgusted, they might not vote at all. My BFF is a German, and his late parents described the rise of Hitler exactly as I am watching Trump's rise - right down to claims of victimization and the thuggery he incites all the time. The daily news summary I post nearly always has a 5-1 count of Republican to Democrat headlines, and I monitor over 60 RSS feeds and another 20 news summaries. Trump accounts for half of the GOP's headlines. Biden too is half the Democrats headlines (like 10-2).
We have already experienced Trump's Jan 6 dry-run Putsch. I wonder how Biden will react when the Proud Boys set our Rathaus on fire this year. My guess is capitulate if he does not suffer a stroke or something first.
If my comment is suffocating support for a second Biden term, then I achieved my aim.
All Biden has been. in my view, is a place-keeper president - the Un-Trump. If you look at his achievements from a leadership perspective, they have actually been few - a) because his worldview is sorely stuck in the 90s (as Gaza shows), and b) because his energy level is sagging. Yes, Build-Back-Better was a noteworthy achievement, but how much of that was Biden, and how much was Congress and agency heads? Yes, the economy rebounded after COVID, but that is mainly due to Powell. Where was Yellen or Congress?
Biden helped some college students deal with ridiculously burdensome loans. He has done nothing to reduce the cost of college. What did he do to wake up the country to the dangers of fascism that now dominate Texas and Florida? Until recently - nothing. What did Biden do to deal with the tsunami of illegal immigrants from the south that he inherited? Things are only getting worse. What about the FAA. Flying today is torture, prices are too high, and just getting to the plane can take an hour once in the terminal. Now flights are being cancelled by the bushel. What about the polluting trainwreck epidemic. Buttigieg is not leading DOT - the air and rail monopolies are.
Internationally, US support for Ukraine is fading as RU continues its invasion. The US is aiding and abetting Genocide in Gaza. The US abandoned the Philippine Islands as a policy choice when Marcos was getting too big for his proverbial britches and kicked us out. Now all of a sudden, we are doing a costly and dangerous 180 risking war with China? The US has nothing at stake in the PI. Then there is N. Korea, which is a slave country that only grows as a US annoyance and nuclear threat. No progress there either.
I could go on. My point is that while Trump was a far worse president, being a bit better is nothing to brag about. Biden has been a loyal place-keeper president. It is time to move on or risk losing our democracy as the WH energy to lead continues to wane or be distracted by a worldview that is generations out of step with the majority of voters. It is hard for many of to see how giving Biden a second term will stop the MAGA movement from destroying our democracy.
You’re still drowning in negativity- what are YOU doing to help the country? Biden can’t do this alone - where’s Congress? Why didn’t the Senate controlled by McConnell convict Trump in 2021 ? I really can’t name one person that could have done better so far in the WH than Biden did with a pandemic - twenty million people unemployed and double digit inflation, let alone a known fascist authoritarian Putin knocking on Ukraine’s door trying to undermine NATO and democracy around the world. So easy for duds like you to sit back and criticize people that are trying to keep things together. Where would we be if Trump was in WH since 2020 election ? Good God man … thank your lucky stars we kept are heads above water and democracy is still in place… be positive for where we’ve come from and fight to protect to keep it …. Biden’s not perfect, far from it - but neither are any of us- but he is the better choice when we are only 10 months out from 2024 elections.
You said: "I really can’t name one person that could have done better so far in the WH than Biden." that nicely sums up the problem with the Democratic Party - a lack of leaders.
The Dems are not grooming or promoting new leaders - Katie Porter, AOC are years away from a presidential run. The GOP has a swarm of candidates for 2024 - Only Newsom has even been mentioned - nothing more. Where are the leaders? Where is the press coverage? The entire Democratic Party is like Sleepy Joe - asleep at the switch.
Tomonthebeach, - I agree with everything you say, except for one thing: Putin called for substantive negotations - several times - before he invaded Ukraine, because he (and Russia) feel threatened by NATO "on our doorstep", "on our porch", as he put it. He wants a readjustment of the overall asymmetrical strategic situation on Russia's borders. He - and I, a Norwegian by birth - were dead against the reunification of Germany. There is nothing that Russians (and I) feared more than a reunified Germany, but there is nothing we can do about this now; the U.S. President at the time forced it through. And now, Germany is turning radical Right. You reap as you sow!
Donald Trump is absolutely correct when he claims that he can end the Russia-Ukraine War within a few days. Putin will concede all occupied territories in Ukraine except Crimea - IF, and only if, NATO somehow make an offer that would be seen by Russians as conciliatry and give them a sense of safety. They want a return to the Cold War security of a balance of terror - not an imbalance. They want Ukraine to return to its previous status - since 1991 - as a neutral buffer state, together with Central Asia.
Like NATO, they are concerned about China's long-term stategic plans in Central Asia, and Russia wants us, and needs us, as their allies. NATO, under U.S. leadership is pursuing a shortsighted policy of antagonising two large countries simultaneously. How stupid is that! - And yes, Trump may have neo-Fascist tendencies, but his MAGA policy appeals to close to 50% of American voters because they are sick and tired of America's post-War policy of 'eternal war' (not unlike that described by George Orwell in !984"). At least 30% of Americans live close to the breadline, thanks to Reaganomics. They want MAGA - and they NEED it! But in the meantime Biden continues to fight two proxy wars! This will not win him the heart and minds of potential Democrat voters.
I don't think Biden and his advisers have realised how perilous their - and the country's - situation is. They seem to think that they can "stand on their record". That is nonsense. They have far too little to show for their 4 years in power. They need to think BIG, and to target the beneficiaries carefully, namely blue-collar and the white working people in their degraded neighbourhoods with their underfunded schools for their children. HOPE must be injected into these vast communities across the U.S. And the proxy wars must end, and the precious money must be diverted from those wars to secure a comfortable election win, not a possible victory by a hair's breath.
Robert Reich understands that the electoral situation, 10 months from the election, is desperate. But he doesn't seem to understand what is needed: not so much a renewed effort of campaigning by you/us but a radical and well-targeted massive injection of funding into the poor and semi-poor heartlands of his country, where - out of desperation and anger - the Trump-followers dwell. Incemental improvements in the overall U.S. economy will not secure Biden's re-election. If the Democrats are fighting an internal war against a prospective authoriatian government, then they must fight to win. It will be expensive, it will cost a huge amount of money, but it will surely be worth it in the end!
Rather than refute line-by-line what you are asserting about Russia in Ukraine, it is probably better to just suggest that next time you get together with Putin to suggest that he buy you a beer for posting his propaganda so articulately.
Tomonthebeach - Your reply is not justified by the facts.
"Ukraine crisis: Transcript of leaked Nuland-Pyatt call - BBC News" – 4 February 2014
"BREAKING! Putin: Ukraine in NATO Means Military Bases At Russian Border! Russia Can Not Stay Silent - YouTube" - 9 Dec 2021
'NATO Expansion Was a Big Mistake' - Fmr Austrian FM to RT - YouTube - 26 Jan 2022
"US ignored Russia's security concerns, Vladimir Putin says - BBC News - YouTube" - 28 Jan 2022
"100 Seconds to Midnight on the Doomsday Clock: We Need a New Security Architecture! - YouTube" – 19 Feb 2022
"Henry Kissinger Suggests Ukraine Give Up Territory to Russia - The New York Times (nytimes.com)" – 24 May 2022
"Kissinger: It's Time For Negotiated Peace In Ukraine To Avoid World War (planet-today.com)" - 18 December 202
Consider all this and don't take on trust what Western mainstream media tell us. They are telling us what their proprietors want us to know. Search YouTube instead!
I LOVE Joe Biden and am grateful that he's made this sacrifice to serve...however, he should have been (quietly) preparing to welcome a successor and preparing his party for same. The fact that he hasn't is a stain on an otherwise stellar term in office.
You say you are a psychologist? Have you heard tRump talk? You say Biden is mumbling? Give me a .... break!. Age is not the issue here. If anyone is showing the pressure, tRump is...why has he not participated in the debates? Because he cannot keep his mouth shut. 99% of the time, he doesn't even know where he is!. And the zombies do not care. After all their churches tell them God sent you tRump to save them. They probably think of him on some space ship....while they sip on tRhum Coolaidas...
We all hear Trump rant several times a day. His rants always get headlines. Meanwhile, Sleepy Joe is lucky to get a couple of headlines a week. Trump is manifesting deteriorating frontal lobes bigly. His narcissistic personality disorder is textbook as his niece has pointed out in the MSM. However that Trump is a dangerous lunatic does not make Biden the ideal candidate. It just makes Trump a bigger threat than 2016. When the world in in danger, you do not send your grandpa to the rescue. You call in Superman. That is the DNC's problem - they offer us grandpa; not Clark Kent.
I lived in Germany for a year (1967-68).The father of my host family and many of his relatives were in the Rote Kapelle anti-Nazi resistance. Through Walter I am 2 degrees of separation from Hitler. His parents and grandfather were executed by the Gestapo at Ploetzensee Prison. I have been there. The meathooks where they hung the July 20 plotters were still there.
And my kindly history teacher there was in the German paratroops at the Battle of Stalingrad. Enough to make a pacifist of anybody.
Thanks very much for the list -- AND I urge everyone wondering how fascism can hold appeal to read the opening couple pages (at least) of historian Heather Cox Richardson's "Democracy Awakening." She lays out clearly how people who don't feel government is working for them come to support and deeply identify with a dictator.
If the Democrats want to win in 2024 they better find a candidate who is not a puppet of the evil war mongers. On a different note .. happy new year ... and maybe say a prayer for our brothers and sisters in Gaza who are being murdered with the full support of the United States government
Robert Reich has laid down ten ground rules as to how you/we behave in the next ten months until the presidential election. Well and good; I don't have any objections to any of these guidelines. But they will not lead the Democrats to victory - because they will fail to persuade both Tump followers and the swinging voters. The only thing that will persuade the swingers will be a radical change in domestic economic policy that will foreground the plight of blue-collar and the struggling white population who have been ravaged by unemployment, under-employment, under-payment, involuntary part time and zero-hours employment contracts, degraded neighbourhoods and underfunded schooling for their children. Without hope for themselves and for the future of their children, they will vote massively for Donald Trump, both as their 'saving angel' and as a protest vote against a capitalist system that foist upon them two dominant parties that do the bidding of Big Business both as their funders and as their very effective lobby groups.
I repeat: nothing you/we do or say will give the Democrats an assured or decisive election victory. They won't listen to you. They will not believe that the Democratic Party will come to their rescue and lift them out of their poverty and semi-poverty and give them any hope that their children's education in underfunded schools will lift them out of their poverty. Incremental economic improvement will not do the trick.
Only a radical New Deal-style injection of job creation and retraining of the U.S. blue-collar and the white lumpen proletariat will turn the tide and defeat Trump's psychological hold over, and his political appeal to these very large sections of the U.S. electorate. The real stumbling block is the Democrats themselves: they blame it all on Trump. But Trump is just a symptom. What the Democrats don't seem to realise is that "faith in this Great Country" has been eroded ever since Reaganomics began to erode the living standards of so many Americans. Now, "the System" and the "New World Order" are questioned by the masses. This is why MAGA has become such a popular slogan: it signals the hope of a return to the days when full employment and job security was maintained and promoted by both parties - in fact, taken for granted.
The key word is HOPE. Only a radical turn in domestic economic policy will give the voters a sense of hope.
Not feasible to provide a radical turn in his domestic policy legislatively before the election. Biden should promise some of that for his 2nd term to give HOPE. Not sure we will see enough of that. They are a cautious group in the WhiteHouse.
Fortunately many swing voters will respond to the many things he has done. No one knows if it will be enough to win.
40 years of government disinvestment and the rise of anti-democatic power can't be changed overnight or in 4 years. Biden has made a good start given the playing field.
Steve, - "Not feasible" is not good enough. Robert Reich is worried that Donald Trump will win in November. He is right to be worried. True, Biden cannot implement, in full, a New Deal-style restructuring of the U.S. economy - which is in effect what I am suggesting by advocating an enormous, nationwide rescue package for blue-collar - in ten months; what he can do is to lay out a detailed plan as to how he will do it and a time line for carrying it out. And he can make a modest start within ten months. For example, he can demonstrate that he cannot bring economic reform unless the Democrats control both houses of Congress.
Things can't be changed in ten months, but the plan can be introduced and adopted as Democratic Party policy. If it's detailed, the plan will carry weight and conviction. If we are at war with Donald Trump, then we are in it to WIN and all stops have to be pulled.
I agree. Biden should do something like this plan you suggest. However it should be sold at the 5th grade level--very simple very short . like a 3 or 4 liner. Any details can be done for that much smaller part of the electorate who want to know more.
But not too detailed as to cause more fractures in the Party or turn off voters who dislike some of the details. Keep it broad and populist with words people like with room for people to read into it what they want. How or does he deal with immigration or even the national debt- I dunno. By the way, the Party platform looks good but it's a book.
Steve, - "Very simple very short" won't do the trick. Of course, the introduction to the plan should be brief and to the point. But the plan itself needs to be detailed so as to convince the swinging voters (and some committed Trumpist voters) that the plan has been carefully considered, costed, and will target blue-collar and their decrepit environments. Apart from injecting large sums into job creation, retraining, and schools funding, urban renewal would need to be part of the over-all plan. The plan needs to be dramatic if it is to have a voter impact on the psychological level. I hesitate to say this, but it needs to have elements of Roosevelt's New Deal and Mao's Great Leap Forward - that is, both economic substance and sociological razzamatazz.
I take your point about maintaining unity within the Democratic Party. However, I do believe Robert Reich is correct when he says that drastic measures are needed to ensure a Democrat win in November. In fact, Mr Reich is himself invoking a semi-Maoist approach by calling for the masses (of Democrat voters) to make personal sacrifices for the common good of the country. I am, however, saying that more is required than a populist awakening: namely a from-the-top-down directed and orchestrated radical policy change that will make the ordinary American sit up and marvel at its reach and bravery.
This is no time to consider the sensitivities of local or factional snowflakes. There are many people who are wondering whether the U.S. is on the brink of civil war. Well, one way to assuage this threat - if real - is to offer the American blue collar voter a New Deal that really FEELS like a new deal. Democrats need to cease regarding blue collar as deplorables in a basket and an enemy within, and instead embrace this demographic section of the U.S. as a friend who needs TLC and a loving embrace - if not a bear hug.
Yes, I know it's a metaphor ... but for what? What does a 'new deck' mean in practice? New presidential candidates? I'd vote for new policies - they're desperately needed. We need to TALK with Putin, and we need to stop supporting Israel's collective punishment in the Gaza Strip. We need radically new economic policies domestically. These are policies that Joe Biden himself could institute; there is no 'new deck' on the horizon - no-one is going to remove Biden at this late state of the election campaign, even though it might be wise to do so.
Thank you, Professor, from 1964 until 2022 I did all those things and more, I was a voter registrar, I knocked on doors, phone banked, lobbyed in the Captiol Building in Sacramento and worked on more campaigns than I can remember. Now, at 91, and a non-supportive body, that 's gone. I will of course vote, and assure that my grandchildren and relatives, and friends vote. But my active days, alas, are done.
Fay Reid, thank you for all your service to Democracy. Your active looks different now. Your heart is what is most active now and that is the most important part. ♡
Fay, a lot of us may have “non supportive bodies' but like you, very active and focused minds. "KEEP ON KEEPIN ON."
For myself, I am feeling very fortunate to be present during a critical and crucial time in our unfolding history. Tyrants rise and fall and this particular batch of Trump and his band of Trumpets are shaking quiescent progressive minded people out of their somnolence. I think that upon awakening the first reaction may be “Oh God, we are going to hell in a hand basket!” But many of us do not jump into action until faced with an existential crisis.
In our country's past it took disasters such as the Civli War and the Great Depression for us to be ready to jump into action and to reinvent Democracy. (It was the Civil War that gave us the Amendment that disqualifies Trump to run for elective office.) Now we are faced head on with some fatal flaws in our Democracy, Capitalistic economy and a Supreme Court system that will again force us to make systemic changes much deeper than who is elected for President by 5 states in gerrymandered districts in an ancient Electoral College system we have accepted "as the way things are.”
Personally, I look forward to the future and the dramatic times ahead. Like a rollercoaster it may be scary at the first plunge down, but then we look back at it and say “Boy, that was an exciting ride. At first it scared the crap out of me but now I’m glad I did it."
Thank you for raising our sites. Every time someone says they plan to move away from the U.S, I worry that it's one less vote for democracy. We who stay must do whatever we can At 80, I no longer have the stamina to canvass, and those systems for phonebanking make me crazy, so I have been writing postcards to voters since the 2022 election, and I have a friend who prepared snack bags for a Senate campaign. In my partner's largely Republican family, I refuse to remain silent, which at least gives me currency with the younger generation. They give me hope.
Keep on Keeping ON progwoman! Those postcards are a very personal way to connect with others! Good for you!
Well, at least in Georgia and Virginia they may have had some effect. Interestingly, they were not candidate-specific with the Center for Common Ground's Reclaim Our Vote campaigns. I intuited, though, that the recipients were probably registered Democrats who voted infrequently.
“Every time someone says they plan to move away from the U.S, I worry that it's one less vote for democracy.”
Whenever I hear this “move away” response I give an eye-roll and sigh. It’s always in my experience been a left of center person regarding a right/conservative politician, most recently Trump but before that GW Bush. I find it so weak.
It’s great that you don’t remain silent. Debate and discussion are educational and stimulating as well.
Progwoman,, you are brave. I was given strict instructions not to discuss politics at Christmas (or ever) with my sisters family.
I'm a lot more cautious than I used to be, and I look for allies where I can find them. Happy to say that my daughter carries on without any prodding. It gives me hope.
Marc Nevas, you speak of this time in such an uplifting and inspiring way. Thank you!
I love the historical basis for the optimism. It helps. Yet, Germany was taken by Hitler’s “charm “, his manipulation of his early followers. In fact he was so clever that England almost joined him and the US waited and waited. I’m truly worried. Trump appointed judges are scattered throughout the states as are Clarance Thomas trained judges. Biden has made great progress under awful circumstances but the labels “old& incompetent “ stick easily as he struggles with his stutter. Why “old” doesn’t apply to Trump puzzles me. Has our media already fallen for Trump’s ease with lies. He sure uses the vernacular exceedingly well and a great deal of our country responds to that far more easily than to the more nuanced speech of the thoughtful, the educated.
I’m really worried but grateful for your sharing your perspective.
The terrifyingly abject reality is that there is NO ONE to come and save U.S. from OUR own orange (S)Hitler and it's fascist evil minions, the way WE helped (albeit yes, very LATE!) save Europe, and the rest of the world from that sadistic horror some 80 odd years ago. :( :(
Those who 'flee to safety' elsewhere, take note of that. ;)
If Trump wins, there is no place of safety on this planet
Absolutely AGREED to that!
The Nazis started their propaganda years before Hitler ever let his intentions be known. Gobbles, who was his minister of propaganda, did a masterful job over many, many years. By the time Hitler became well-known, the German people had been trained to obey orders, and to never go against the Nazi party line. It started even in the schools and those children eventually became the guards in the concentration camps. One of the propaganda films that were filmed back then by a masterful, female filmmaker, is still considered one of the best propaganda films of all time, even though it was filmed in black-and-white.
Yes, evil fascist, sadistic despots and their regimes use that Leni Riefenstahl film as a 'gold standard', even today. :( :(
Does anyone else find it ironic (given the religion in which he was raised), and terrifying (given that he spews, 'guides', and directs the SCUMp regime with the same sort of vile, evil rhetoric) that Stephen Miller actually/physically looks like Goebbels?!?
No question, Stephen Miller is Trump's Goebbles.
That they look the same is just an insane historical coincidence.
But Miller is a master propagandist and knows that the Big Lie ("Trump Won") repeated over and over and over will eventually become the truth for many people.
These enablers and apologists and opportunists behind Trump are despicable, and dangerous.
Here's my post on Bannon
https://neofascism.substack.com/p/triumvirate-of-evil-bannon-giuliani
Here's my post on Guiliani
https://neofascism.substack.com/p/rudy-giuliani
and the ever-detestable MTG
https://neofascism.substack.com/p/the-five-faces-of-marjorie-taylor
It's not just Trump we need to worry about.
Marc, thank you. I admire your 'silver lining' comments and I especially needed to hear from you today. This topic, the urgency of what our country is facing, is already overwhelming and I expect to be in constant 'fight or flight' mode for the next 10 months. I'll be looking for your posts and following you! No pressure! 😉
Paula, I hope you are not being literal about being in fight-or-flight mode for the next 10 months. It’s crucial for each of us to regularly take some time for self care, in whatever form that may take — nature, exercise (even walking counts), music, meditation, hugs, anything uplifting or even distracting for that matter. This includes taking in the caring we share here. 💜
I am a kindle addict. I read escapist fiction for at least 40 hours a week. I am mostly bedridden with degenerative disc disease and sciatica, so I have become very adept at finding ways to keep myself busy while lying down. I spend the first half of my day reading news and substacks of those few of my personal heroes, like Robert Reich and Chris Hedges. Then in the afternoon I'm off to my various alternative realities! Thank you for your kind interest. And a hopefully happy New Year!
I had spinal surgery for those conditions (some other ones,) and it worked!! I'm an old lady
I wouldn’t normally say this about anyone but I have to admit that I wouldn’t shed any tears if I woke up and learned that Trump had passed away and gone to hell(where he belongs). 😂😂😂😂😂
Despite what Trump tells his doctor to say (that he is in perfect health) I suspect between his obesity, his lack of sleep & exercise, his poor diet, his quick temper and his obvious dementia, that he is likely to suffer a stroke, a heart attack or something debilitating very soon.
Amen to that
Marc,
I've read a little about PROUT before but seeing your interest in it has encouraged me to learn more about it. It is an inspiring philosophy.
Beautifully said!
Call Us The Newest Greater Generation! The First Gave Their Lives, We The People Give Our Hearts, Energy and Voices!!
Charlotte. Well said! Our generation is honoring the sacrifices of those who went before us. We will not stand idly by while greedy bastards try to tank the Constitution.
While not sacrificing my life, I am sacrificing my peaceful retirement. As I've posted on other threads, I'm actively supporting the postcard project to get out the vote. Names and addresses of infrequent Democratic voters are supplied by Activate America; eye-catching postcards from Etsy. I also regularly send emails to Senators and Representatives. It's what I can do.
There's a special election in February to fill Santos' seat. It's an opportunity to elect a Democrat. Let's do everything we can to get out the vote! 🔵🔵
MOST excellent comment, Marc!! :)
Thank you, you're very kind and appreciated.
Thank you for your very inspiring message! Those is us moving up behind (I am 71), need to continue striving for fairness and justice.
Correction - "Those of us..." as likely understood anyway.
Fay, an ongoing contribution you are making is your participation in this and other substack communities. I always look for your comments, and I always either learn from them or am inspired by them, or both. I feel like you are a smart and trusted friend, and I thank you for the information and wisdom you share. Best wishes for a satisfying and peaceful 2024💫. Ann
Yes!
Thanks Fay, and ditto in Pa
Never gets better, right? LOL
Well, @Fay Reid, let's look at some ways things have gotten better since 1964.
Civil Rights Act, Indian Child Welfare Act, Environmental Protection Act, Clean Water Act, Clear Air Act, Environmental Protection Agency, Superfund law, Toxic Substances Control Act, Insecticide and Fungicide Act, Consumer Protection Agency, – National Emissions Standards Act
1965 – Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act
1965 – Solid Waste Disposal Act (amended by RCRA in 1976)
1967 – California Air Resources Board established; set emissions standards predating EPA.
1967 – Air Quality Act (amendment to CAA)
1969 – Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act
1969 – National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
1970 – Reorganization Plan No. 3 created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by Presidential Executive Order
1970 – Clean Air Act (Extension). Major rewrite of CAA, setting National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) Hazardous Air Pollutant standards, and auto emissions tailpipe standards.
1970 – Williams-Steiger Occupational Safety and Health Act (created OSHA and NIOSH)
1970 – Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act
1970 – Environmental Quality Improvement Act
1972 – Federal Water Pollution Control Amendments of 1972 (P.L. 92-500). Major rewrite.
1972 – Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) (amended by Food Quality Protection Act of 1996)
1972 – Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972
1973 – Endangered Species Act (amended 1978, 1982)
1974 – Safe Drinking Water Act (amended 1986, 1996)
1975 – Hazardous Materials Transportation Act
1976 – Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) (amended 1984, 1996)
1976 – Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (amended 2016)
1977 – Clean Water Act (amended FWPCA of 1972)
1977 – Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
1978 – National Energy Conservation Policy Act
1978 – Endangered Species Act Amendments
1980 – Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act
1980 – Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act
1982 – Nuclear Waste Policy Act
1982 – Endangered Species Act Amendments of 1982
1984 – Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984
1986 – Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1986
1986 – Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRKA)
1987 – Water Quality Act (amended FWPCA of 1972)
1989 – Montreal Protocol on ozone-depleting chemicals enters into force.
1990 – Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. Set new automobile emissions standards, low-sulfur gas, required Best Available Control Technology (BACT) for toxins, reduction in CFCs.
1990 – Oil Pollution Act of 1990
1992 – Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act
1993 – North American Free Trade Agreement (Implementation Act)
1994 – Executive Order 12898 on Environmental Justice
1996 – Mercury-Containing and Rechargeable Battery Management Act (P.L. 104-19)
1996 – Food Quality Protection Act (amended FIFRA)
1996 – Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996
1996 – Land Disposal Program Flexibility Act of 1996
1997 – Kyoto Protocol
1998 – Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21)
2002 – California AB 1493 sets standards for emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases from automobiles and light duty trucks.
2002 – Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act (amended CERCLA)
2016 – Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (amended TSCA)
So you can take some credit for helping to elect people who got these things done.
Thank you.
Thanks. Add:
1. President Biden fought for and signed the American Rescue Plan which protected workers’ pensions, provided funding to communities and businesses devastated by COVID-19, lowered or eliminated insurance premiums for millions of lower- and middle-income families, provided funds for affordable housing, provided money for public safety and crime reduction, provided support to small business, expanded food assistance programs in homes and schools, expanded child care programs, invested in mental health and health care centers, added $40 billion for investing in American workers, provided funding to the economies of tribal nations, and supported families with children. Child poverty has already been cut in half as a result of his efforts.
2. He signed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill to repair our roads, waterways, bridges and railroads, and bring high-speed internet to rural communities. Also included is money for public transit and airports, electric vehicles and low emission public transportation, power infrastructure, and clean water.
3. Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. This law provides incentives for states to pass red flag laws, expands the law that prevents people convicted of domestic abuse from gun ownership, expands background checks on young people between 18 and 21 who want to buy a gun, and allocates funds for the mental health of young people.
4. He instituted an executive order raising standards for law enforcement agencies, with particular emphasis on use-of-force policies, availability of body cameras, and recruitment and retention of officers.
5. He brought the unemployment rate down to a low of 3.5%, matching the lowest rate before the pandemic. It has now climbed a bit to 3.8%, but this compares very favorably to the rates of other countries throughout the world. Biden’s administration has added 13.2 million jobs since he came into office, replacing all of the jobs that were lost at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Today there are more people in America working today than ever before!
6. He signed a bill to help veterans who have long been suffering from the effects of burn pits.
7. Biden ended the war in Afghanistan, the longest war in U.S. history. Over 120,000 people were safely evacuated, double the number calculated by the most optimistic experts.
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8. He has steadfastly supported Ukraine after this democratic country was unjustly invaded by Putin and Russia, and has successfully led the free world by lobbying NATO and other allies to add their financial and military support.
9. He signed the Inflation Reduction Act, making health insurance plans more affordable, lowering drug costs, preventing millions of Americans from losing their Affordable Care Act insurance, and requiring Medicare to negotiate the cost of 10 high-cost prescription drugs.
10. Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act, providing funding to produce semiconductor chips for automobiles, cellphones, laptops, gaming consoles, washing machines, etc. here in the Unites States rather than continuing to rely on China.
11. His administration has provided over $369 million to reduce greenhouse emissions by 40% in the next seven years and promote clean energy technologies, moving our country to greater self-sufficiency in energy production.
12. He signed the Postal Service Reform Act to modernize and stabilize the U.S. Post Office and also to help it continue to deliver mail six days every week, focusing on on-time delivery.
Other accomplishments include the reestablishment of respect among our allies on the world stage, the Violence Against Women Act, the Respect for Marriage Act, pardoning those convicted of simple marijuana possession, appointing Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson (the first Black woman on the Supreme Court), forgiving certain student loans, and electoral reforms to ensure that election results are not undermined.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/therecord/
Daniel, this needs to be put in pamphlet form so that we could hand them out to everyone we meet. If you want to know what so called 'Sleepy Joe' was doing while that orange man pitched temper tantrums, just read this pamphlet and you will get an idea of how hard he has worked for the betterment of our country and citizens! ALL citizens, not just a few! That was very well said!!
Bullet form--one liners. boom boom boom
put at 5th grade level
and the specific audience is what's important
Good idea Peggy! I think I will do that today!
This is the kind of thing his campaign chair should be doing.
Yes...anyone elected to public office represents us all. Not just Megas, GOP, etc. Not a constant running for office agenda. Elections are necessary but 2 yr primaries are expensive and boring. We have more to do.
With a viciously HOSTILE, recalcitrant, fighting him every single step of the way, FASCIST Congress in power no less!! :)
You forgot his record in the ongoing massacre/genocide in Gaza. The vast majority of deaths are women and children. In my view this overrides all of the above. Nice attempt.
Doug Allam ; Don't allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. The war in Israel is an intractable mess that has existed for a very long time. Joe Biden is President of the United States, not of Israel. He has tried to help, but Netanyahu is an extreme right winger who wants to expand settlements in Gaza. Even as I type this, right wingers on the West Bank are driving out the residents there and killing them. Will you blame Biden for that? Blaming Biden for everything that goes wrong is a MAGA strategy. I ask what do the MAGAts get done?
First, mostly BS. Sure there's collateral damage. But you know NOTHING about his actual negotiations. ASSUME that, PRESUME that. Americans died on Oct. 7 and there are still American hostages.
Second, 2 choices, Us or them. You advocate giving in to "them."
Doug Allam ; What would you have Joe Biden do about the challenges in Israel and Gaza and the west Bank? If you want to play Monday morning quarterback; What would you have done after October 7, 2023?
Biden caused all those deaths? Somehow I missed that!
It was started by Hamas, likely with assistance, materials & planning from Iran & Russia, which saw a way to divert US & Western attention from their brutal, unprovoked war on Ukraine & cause internal dissension in the US & other countries. Their strategy worked like a charm!
US intelligence on Israeli military operations -> Trump -> Russia -> Iran -> Hamas -> barbaric attack on Israel -> Israeli invasion of Gaza
Troll. I agree it is unforgivable our government is involved in this genocide in the ME. Not with my tax dollars.
Doug: I agree, and said much the same thing in my (very long) comment.
Doug, I see you have a Substack newsletter, but it's empty. Like your attempt to blame the Israel/Hamas war on Biden.
You say it overrides everything else; does that include Trump's attempt to overturn an American election?
Daniel, with such an impressive list of accomplishments it is shameful that so many MAGA voters will ignore such progress. Such progress is diminished when republicans have succeeded in making immigration a media spotlight issue and I would humbly suggest that the spotlight be turned upon DeSantis, Abbott and Trump failures. Biden must use his political skill, success, creativity and numerous resources at his disposal to embarrass them for their shallow, politically motivated stunts by aggressively adding immigration reform to his agenda. The first criticisms about Biden I hear from MAGA voters is dissatisfaction with the Afghanistan withdrawal and inability to control immigration. I would laugh at their ignorance if Trump's poll numbers were not representative of so many uninformed voters.
I've written about this many times. Both immigration and Afghanistan were set-ups. Beyond "stunts" some of their conduct is murderous, treasonous.
Immigration is fixed when immigration courts are fully funded and employer sanction laws are enforced.
Trump didn't have to negotiate with the Taliban.
Daniel, this never happened if you watch Fox News. Its owners, the billionaire Murdochs know better, of course, but to them all that legislation is "woke" and worthy of derision.
Thank you for this excellent list of accomplishments.
Thanks for filling that gap!
This is exactly the kind of helpful spreading of information we need to be doing.
Thanks Daniel.
Daniel, thank you! As usual you come up with brilliant thoughts. A Taylor Swift influencer was another great idea.
Daniel: You did a much better job than I of recounting Biden's positive achievements. If you can find my first (TL, DR) post, I did try to balance it with his negatives.
Dr. Reich just had a very good article in the Guardian.
And also This is the list we all can memorize and start to spout off to anyone and everyone. Thank You!!
One item on your great list stands out to me. OSHA ! I worked in heavy industry and construction for 32 years as a Professional Engineer. Many considered OSHA as a pain in the ass but it really saves lives. One of the hardest things I have done is to be part of an investigation team for an industriral accident resulting in a death. Not a fun job. It was an accident involving a crane, manlift and an automatic guided coil transport vehicle. Cause of death directly related to failure to follow safety procedures that the workers had been trained on.
OSHA fall protection requirements have saved many lives.
Understand I am not an OSHA nut, but saving lives saves a company lots of money in the end.
I was an administrative law judge for 30 years. I did not hear OSHA cases per se but at one time I was the parliamentary judge when they did rulemaking. I heard about 30 types of cases that were investigated by OSHA, including 23 types of whistleblower cases.
Robert was Secretary of Labor in the Clinton Administration, when I was with another agency, SSA.
All of these protections are invisible to the majority of taxpayers, but save life and limb, as well as untold costs. Starting with Reagan, Republicans have been working 24/7 to undermine these rights.
IMHO about 20% of MAGATS are slitting their own throats by supporting vampires.
It's what they have been brainwashed, dogmatized, and mesmerized to do BEST, Daniel. ;) :( :(
Don't underestimate the appeal of a crusade! It empowers and gives a sense of meaning, purpose, and belonging to people who find themselves at a loss. Trump is now leading a crusade for a "better" "America"--White, Christian, patriotic, conservative in values. They hate big business but they love big oil if guaranteed low fuel prices. We need leaders who will lead a democratic crusade of our own, but even then we must keep in mind that even Bernie's supporters love low fuel prices!
Unless/until, of course, the rightwingnut courts, and fascist MAGAt Congress totally exempt their huge corporate donors and benefactors from any and ALL; tort suits, liability, and payment of fines. :( :(
Martha Ture ; Thanks for this!
@Laurie Blair, you're welcome. Keep it in mind in the coming draggy, loud, vociferous news days.
Martha Ture ; I just fast forward their asses when I watch recorded programs, past the BS. As soon as Steve Kornaki (or others), puts on the huckster show, I pass it by. I don't want or need to be gamed. I know how I will vote! The elections should not take over a year or two to get done! There should be NO 'swing' states, or Electoral College, or gerrymandering! there should be no Citizens United dirty money buying off our 'representatives'! there should not be any billionaires either!
WOW! Martha Ture! I bet you are an Ace at research! Thanks for taking the time to put this list together, I am very impressed.
And same to you, Daniel! Well done!
Thank you. That's what I do. Research, writing, photography.
It was great to see your list, Martha. But sad to see that all those great works have practically come to a grinding halt with a polarized constituency and a do-nothing congress and senate. It seems to have started with Reagan, then the Tea Party, and now Trump. a lot of greed, fear, and lust for power.
@Dr. Candace Benyei, it didn't start with Reagan. I know that's the revealed wisdom, the liturgy, the canon. But it's not the case.
Let's look first at the elements that have led to the polarized constituency. Those elements begin with our fundamental culture of racism and classism, which date to 1619. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-african-slave-ship-arrives-jamestown-colony
The resentment of working class people toward people of color was not born in the Reagan administration. See, for example, Pete Hammill's article https://nymag.com/news/features/46801/ written in 1969. " They are the people who assault peace marchers, who start groups like the Society for the Prevention of Negroes Getting Everything (S.P.O.N.G.E.), the people who hate John Lindsay and vote for George Wallace, presumably because they believe that Wallace will eventually march every black man in America to the gas chambers, sending Lindsay and the rest of the Liberal Establishment along with them. Sometimes these brutes are referred to as “the ethnics” or “the blue-collar types.”
Recall also the white riots after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision - and this: https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/nov/14. So we need to drop the idea that a polarized constituency began during the Reagan administration.
As to the loggerheads in Congress and Senate, let's look at the origins of gerrymandering, lobbying, fundraising, and the uses of the public airwaves to spread propaganda. People elected Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, etc. People did NOT elect Donald Trump. Gerrymandering began when in 1812 Elbridge Gerry rewrote the map of Massachusetts to benefit one party over another and you can look it up. . .As to the rise of the GOP's dirty tricks and ends justify the means fundraising, see the Powell Memorandum, for example. As to the race to the bottom, one day a very good California Democratic Congressman, Tony Coelho, told the DNC that we were getting beat like a gong in fundraising by the GOP and had to get serious about going to big money donors.
As for greed, fear, and lust for power, welcome to the Order of Primates.
If anything went wrong in our endless struggle, it is that we lefties tended to think that once a battle was over, we had won. That legislation, SCOTUS decisions, were final.
Uh-huh.
"Gerrymandering began when in 1812 Elbridge Gerry rewrote the map of Massachusetts to benefit one party over another and you can look it up."
Indeed! The word Gerrymander is from a combination of Elbridge Gerry and a salamander, which is the shape his new district resembled. Its ridiculousness was so apparent to one editorial cartoonist, Elkanah Tisdale, that he turned it into an unforgettable example of his craft.
Of course, you are correct!
But, ol' pruneface, 'gold standard'<- (LOFL, as they label him) 'Saint Ronnie' RAY GUN ZAP!, Bedtime For Bonzo, was the first to truly weaponize this to his (and his subsequent regimes') absolute benefit.
Kickstarted by the (luckily for U.S.) unsuccessful, Barry STINKwater. ;)
Are you a CHMM? I was, once upon a time. Your list sounds like a syllabus for the certification training. But I don't see CERCLA (Superfund), sometimes known jokinglly to us in the trade as the Lawyers' and Consultants' Full Employment Act.
Superfund is in the first paragraph of my list. I don't know what a CHMM is.
Certified Hazardous Materials Manager. It got me a promotion and a raise. It was the only professional certification that I could get with just a BA and experience.
Wow impressive list! did you have it at the ready? Nothing between 2002 and 2016?
Some of it I lived. But I looked it up, which anyone can do.
Quite weak since 2002, although there have been a few good things passed under Biden, like the Infrastructure bill, & Obama made improvements to our healthcare system, & marriage equality for gays happened at the end of his presidency.
Unfortunately, all progress will be washed away under a Trump-MAGA government.
This is Noah Chomsky's whole thesis - any social progress is inevitably met with reactionary pullback. And here we are at the critical 2024 fulcrum: forward with democratic progress or backward to neo-fascist "strongman" rule?
You just amazed me: because YOU ARE HERE!
The decisions we make can carry a degree of responsibility long after we enact them. Look at Lot's wife, even today when she cooks the only thing she adds to her dishes is "Pepper.
Stephanie--Good morning, I see you found a post that made me smile while writing it. She is right at home in Jimmy's Margaritaville.
Hahaha! Liked thus a LOT!
Veronica--I see you are a fan of Mr. Clemens. Here is a story you may take a liking to. Sam was a passenger on a river boat somewhere in the Southern regions of our infant country when he heard a ship mate relay to the captain the depth of the waters they were navigating. The deck hand took a sounding and yelled up to the skipper "Mark Twain" the rest is literary history. Can you "fathom" that.
and I hear one long blast from the ships' horn. The sign of warning.
steve-- That horn was the signaling of Trump's birth. And he complains about Biden being old.
I hear 5 shorts: "standing into danger."
That's the sound you hear before the tanker runs over your sailboat.
Yes: Two fathom! LOL
Veronica--Exactly.
Veronica--You have a good eye. Happy New Year, young lady.
Fay Reid ; You are still 'active' when participating in this forum! Rant on!
Fay, you have fought the good fight and I applaud all you have done. You are right. Younger people need to pick up the mantle and carry our fight forward. You have served our country well and you still do simply by voting. That is the most important freedom all of us need to ensure we do. Happy New Year!
Thank you for all you’ve already done! Fantastic!
As an 87-year-old, I know the feeling, Fay, although I don't know you. May I merely suggest you consider publicly responding to something you disagree with? Letters to the editor can be a welcome tonic to irrational statements, unsupported generalizations and distortions (or lies).
Thanks for fighting the fight Fay. I don't think many people realize how much of a difference you have made. From this 62 year old it IS appreciated!
Bless you Fay for staying in the fight! ❤️ Voting and assuring that others vote is indeed a form of activism.
I identify with limitations imposed on an aging body. I used to be active in an anti-drunk driving campaign. Attended dozens of court proceeding to report how judges dealt with perpetrators. Covered by the media, it let judges know the public is watching. Legislation was changed to require first-time offenders to attend a 3-day intensive educational incarceration and referral to sobriety resources.
Fast forward. Retired from critical care nursing after 40 years; I'm physically and mentally tired. My knees sound like a bowl of Rice Crispies. My imagined peaceful retirement, an illusion. Instead of Court Watches, what I CAN do (and am doing) is participating in postcard campaigns to get out the vote. Wrote stacks of postcards in support of Ohio's Issue 1 (to legalize abortion.) Plan on writing a MOUNTAIN of postcards to get out the vote for the November election.
Each of us is capable of doing our part to save our precious democracy!
Thank you Fay. We could ask no more of any American.
thanks for your efforts! bravo!
Vote Blue to save America!🇺🇸💙💙💙
You just DID something, with your post! Keep on, keepin' on!
Thank you
You are most welcome. =)
Thank you for your service and leadership
thank you Gail, you help me feel less useless (:-)
Fay, I have enjoyed and learned from your commentary here, so keep that up as it helps those of us a few years younger than you to swing that gauntlet.
Thank you Chris, you help me feel less guilty that I can no longer do more.
Rather than do something traditional, like simply wishing everyone a happy new year and stating my new year's resolution, I'd like to offer a little "new year's food for thought" for the coming year:
- WHY DOES THE US HAVE SUCH AN INSANELY LARGE PRISON POPULATION (Simon Whistler on "Today I found out"):
https://youtu.be/ndhzqkWnRh0?si=L-dnfNt37JA_fr-T
By the way: HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL!
Mr. Reich says, "Trump is leading in the polls by a slim margin. Even more remarkably, more Americans disapprove than approve of Biden’s efforts to improve the nation’s infrastructure, and more believe that Trump “has a vision for the future” than believe Biden does."
I agree with Mr. Reich! But why is this phenomenon occurring? That is the question of all questions.
The answer is, of course, that over half the Nation gets their daily news fix from FOX. They don't talk about the many accomplishments of Joe Biden. They do dis him almost every day; multiple times. And this is not real news reporting. It is, propaganda at its worst. Shut those faucets of propaganda off and America just might actually know how good Joe Biden really is!
Thank you, Marvin. I still can't figure out what drives these obviously mentally challenged people to watch and believe this Fox Spews propaganda. I have heard some people say the TV's in hospital lobbies, doctor's offices, pub's, and some restaurants have Fox Spews on every time they visit a public place with a TV going in them. It seems these places want to cram this lying crap down the public's throats. To me, personally, this is unacceptable and utterly disgusting. I have walked out of places that had their televisions tuned to Fox Spews. I wouldn't watch that garbage if someone offered me a large sum of cash.
I noticed the same and have politely asked for the channel to be changed to something more palatable like HGTV, especially when I was waiting in a hospital for my mother to have surgery.
John, your statement about "obviously mentally challenged people" is the exact topic that Robert Reich addresses in this article.
These individuals are mis informed but treating them like "mentally challenged" only strengthens their resolve that liberals are evil.
I think that RR is suggesting that we should formulate a strategy where we can walk into a "Fox Den" and engage in thought provoking discussions that cause Fox News recipients to think about what's missing in that Fox "news" story.
Appealing to fear especially in politics work. "Did you see that massive river of immigrants pouring into this country, It's Binden's weakness - trump knows how to fix that." Fear my friends SELLS.
yes, facts and logic alone aren't enough. Passions must be engaged. As Reich says, we don't have to use all of their bully tactics, but we better use some tactics that raise fear, hope, passion.
I admit I do not follow Robert's Rue No. 5.
"Orange Antichrist" fits perfectly.
Calling Trump names does not violate Rule 5 in my opinion. He deserves it. Calling his supporters names hurt us in the long run.
A favorite term of mine, too, along with "Siberian Candidate", "Benedict Donald"; & now I've coined another one based on a recent trending theme: "Putin's Putrid Putain"
steve reed, I agree. And also, redirect their anger to where it truly belongs.
Harvey Kravetz—and the reasons for the torrents of immigrants from Central and South America can, primarily, be laid at the door of the U S of A and its policies and activities through the CIA and the OAS. We are paying the price for it all now.
Stephanie: Amen!
Why did the chickens cross the border? Because they were coming home to roost.
Biden better do something about the border. Anything. He could lose AZ over it and more. That this problem has gotten to this stage is not a very good sign about the WhiteHouse.
At this point, given the rightwingnuts' media 'investment' in this fascist talking point, Biden could build a wall that would make SCUMp's and his MAGAts' most wet dream fantasy border blocker look like a rickety old post fence, and deport EVERY SINGLE undocumented person in this land, without any exceptions/exemptions, and it would STILL not sway any of the brown shirts. :( :(
I have seen it claimed that certain right-wing billionaires have funded the flights of migrants & refugees to Mexico near the US border with the intent to make Biden look bad.. I haven't seen substantiation for this claim, but I wonder how some of them, especially from Africa & Asia, could reach there without such help, being impoverished as most of them are. If true, I think this information should be spread far & wide, but I'm hesitant to do that without being sure of its veracity.
unfortunately, fear does sell.
So Biden and the Dems need to ramp up a FEAR of TRUMP campaign. Bigly.
Mike, the thought of walking into the "Fox Den" makes my mouth go dry and my legs begin to shake. These are people that threaten (with fire arms), intimidate, and bully and I am a little bit nervous about confronting them! I have done so in the past, and they yelled at me which I can handle. What I wouldn't be able to handle is if they pulled their fire arms. I'm afraid I would wet my pants!! But, for Democracy I am willing to try again!
Avoid mention of Trump's name. He poisons the conversation. Avoid negative remarks concerning the Republicans. Focus on Democratic Party efforts to improve their lives (universal healthcare, making the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, etc.) and what Biden has accomplished. Most will listen politely and respond well. If not, you at least made an effort. If anyone pulls a gun on you, run and notify the police!
Thanks, Tim. That is good advice! I try very hard not to talk about trump especially where I live as they are mostly trump supporters. I do push Biden's accomplishments but have found that many of them use the lie points pushed by republicans. The republicans counter everything that is good with a lie that their supporters believe without question. It is very hard to get past that.
Talking about the Republican Party's lack of accomplishments, its antidemocratic policies directed at funneling wealth to billionaires & multinational corporations & away from the middle and working classes & kowtowing to the wishes of the most aggressively militaristic & imperialist adversary of the US is an absolutely necessary part of the conversation.
Name calling HURTS us. Please stop it! The right wing media tells them "See, they disrespect you, hate you, and hate America". It works! I see this all the time in my family of Trump supporters who consume lots of Fox News and right wing radio programs. By the way, my family members are grossly misinformed, but they are NOT MENTALLY CHALLENGED.
I agree people should not be dissing people who support Trump.
But they should call out what Repub party is doing that contradicts what they say they are doing or stand for.
I agree, in theory. What I need, is to know how to do that without vomiting while attempting to engage the programed zombies. 🤮
Try to engage. Some of them are nice people.
That is what tRiump said about the Proud Boys and such...
Ok. Let them continue to get all their information from the Republicans and right wing media because we won't bother to try and engage them with the truth. Not a winning plan in my opinion,
Right! There are people I love who adored Rush Limbaugh and Tucker Carlson. They are not feeble-minded or more bigoted than the average American. I don’t respect that art of them and Vice versa, so we don’t talk politics. Been there, done that, nothing good can come from that.
This can ONLY possibly 'work' IF they are not violent reactionaries in their reaction to said MAGA, Goebbels Nooz propaganda refuting 'discussions' in the first place. ;)
I’ve asked the proprietor to change the station and put on CNN.
Susan, do they ever change the channel? While CNN is a lot better than Fox “news,’ I have given up on them as a reliable source, especially after the “town hall” (rally) with tfg. But at least they’re not a non-stop source of propaganda and fear mongering/perpetual rage machine.
Yeah- they have their ups and downs - but it’s not like a Jerry Springer show which Fox is trying to emulate
Jerry Springer (who just died in 2023) was a Democrat! He was also of German Jewish heritage, and lost several family members in concentration camps. See Wikipedia.
How about something more innocuous, like the Nature Channel? CNN is another source of constant punditry & propaganda that riles up audiences.
Anything but football!
AGREED!
As any political content should NOT be forced upon US in any public space, as we are already way too vitriolically, (and in THEIR case, VIOLENTLY) divided to begin with!
First time I've seen the adverbial form of "vitriolic", but I love the way you use it!
John T Phillips ; I will not go into Burger King for the flame grilled whopper anymore, like I occasionally used to, because they had Fox on all the time in their seating area. I also read that they are supporters of the R's in campaign contributions.
You have to tell them. I say that as someone who mostly does not, but should.
steve reed ; I vote with my wallet and my feet. It's not as though they are selling health food anyway.
They don't play that at my Burger KIng-which I hardly ever go to anyway. I went once to that rightwing chicken place next door. Pretty good chicken sandwich. Won't go back though.
steve reed; I tried chick fil A but will not go back since they successfully won the right to deny women who worked there to be allowed to have insurance that covers abortion care. That was before the recent repeal under Dobbs. The 'right' never stops doing wrong and opposing the Constitution!
The drive-up window line at the Newtown, Pa. one was backed up to the shopping center's entrance light most of the times I went past there.
That town is at least a slight majority progressive Dem, so I am guessing that even our own people can be quite ill informed (as their product is NOT all THAT 'great'. ;)
As stated before, I walked out of the Doylestown, Pa. BK for precisely this reason.
It was well worth skipping a (NOT very good, and certainly NOT healthy) meal! ;)
Also airports. I was doing A LOT of flying between Chicago and New Orleans while my mom was still alive and everywhere there was a TV on at O'Hare or Louis Armstrong, it was on Fox. Thankfully said TVs were often on mute, but still. UGH.
Think that's bad ? While getting my car repaired in the lobby they ran a 30 minute informerical talking up how wonderful Missouri Republicans are.
The foxing of America makes me want to vomit, projectile vomiting directed at tRump and his tRumpians.
the foxing of America. That's good.
How can we outfox them?
Me either!!!
It’s not just Fox. ALL of the major outlets (NY Times, Washington Post, etc.) are downplaying Trump’s crimes and Biden’s accomplishments. Their business model and revenue requires a horse race, so they have to make both candidates look the same.
Biden and the Democrats have that hurdle to get over as well. They can do it. We can help.
Like Dr Reich lists, we need to counter lies with truth (UNRELENTINGLY), engaging with those who are not yet irredeemable Trump cultists, and getting the vote out.
Christopher, check out Daniel Solomon's post on this feed. He has made a list of President Biden's accomplishments. It will help when countering those republican lies!
Peggy I’m searching for Daniel’s . I’ll start looking again.
He numbered each accomplishment. Someone suggested putting in a pdf which would be great when sending out messages. It's Daniel Solomon. He did an excellent job of pointing out how hard President Biden is working for ALL of us and what he has accomplished so far.
1. President Biden fought for and signed the American Rescue Plan which protected workers’ pensions, provided funding to communities and businesses devastated by COVID-19, lowered or eliminated insurance premiums for millions of lower- and middle-income families, provided funds for affordable housing, provided money for public safety and crime reduction, provided support to small business, expanded food assistance programs in homes and schools, expanded child care programs, invested in mental health and health care centers, added $40 billion for investing in American workers, provided funding to the economies of tribal nations, and supported families with children. Child poverty has already been cut in half as a result of his efforts.
2. He signed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill to repair our roads, waterways, bridges and railroads, and bring high-speed internet to rural communities. Also included is money for public transit and airports, electric vehicles and low emission public transportation, power infrastructure, and clean water.
3. Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. This law provides incentives for states to pass red flag laws, expands the law that prevents people convicted of domestic abuse from gun ownership, expands background checks on young people between 18 and 21 who want to buy a gun, and allocates funds for the mental health of young people.
4. He instituted an executive order raising standards for law enforcement agencies, with particular emphasis on use-of-force policies, availability of body cameras, and recruitment and retention of officers.
5. He brought the unemployment rate down to a low of 3.5%, matching the lowest rate before the pandemic. It has now climbed a bit to 3.8%, but this compares very favorably to the rates of other countries throughout the world. Biden’s administration has added 13.2 million jobs since he came into office, replacing all of the jobs that were lost at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Today there are more people in America working today than ever before!
6. He signed a bill to help veterans who have long been suffering from the effects of burn pits.
7. Biden ended the war in Afghanistan, the longest war in U.S. history. Over 120,000 people were safely evacuated, double the number calculated by the most optimistic experts.
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8. He has steadfastly supported Ukraine after this democratic country was unjustly invaded by Putin and Russia, and has successfully led the free world by lobbying NATO and other allies to add their financial and military support.
9. He signed the Inflation Reduction Act, making health insurance plans more affordable, lowering drug costs, preventing millions of Americans from losing their Affordable Care Act insurance, and requiring Medicare to negotiate the cost of 10 high-cost prescription drugs.
10. Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act, providing funding to produce semiconductor chips for automobiles, cellphones, laptops, gaming consoles, washing machines, etc. here in the Unites States rather than continuing to rely on China.
11. His administration has provided over $369 million to reduce greenhouse emissions by 40% in the next seven years and promote clean energy technologies, moving our country to greater self-sufficiency in energy production.
12. He signed the Postal Service Reform Act to modernize and stabilize the U.S. Post Office and also to help it continue to deliver mail six days every week, focusing on on-time delivery.
Other accomplishments include the reestablishment of respect among our allies on the world stage, the Violence Against Women Act, the Respect for Marriage Act, pardoning those convicted of simple marijuana possession, appointing Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson (the first Black woman on the Supreme Court), forgiving certain student loans, and electoral reforms to ensure that election results are not undermined.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/therecord/
Daniel, - And all this will avail Biden nothing. The only thing that will secure his re-election in November is to persuade blue-collar to vote for him. And many of them will not vote for Biden unless he has something substantial to offer them: full-time jobs, job security, skills retraining, good schools for their children, safe neighbourhood and urban renewal. His offer to them would need to be dramatic, genuine and urgent. They would have to believe it - believe him.
And like magic, Daniel Solomon responds with his list of Biden accomplishments so we won't have to search for his original post.
The Democratic Party cannot get out of its own way. It has been committing political malpractice for my Entire life. It kept using the Supreme Court appointments as a lure to win our support. 40 years later, we can measure our success. Now, six control freaks Are swanning. Around with their AK 47s slung around their shoulder.
The worthy opposition, starting with Nixon's Southern Strategy, not Democrats, caused the heartburn.
Our best hope is that even Republican women are females who have been screwed.
Second best is that Gen X will save us.
Daniel, - That's too passive. The Democratic Party will need to be far more inspiring and far more focused on the predominantly white unemployed, under-employed, under-paid, and zero-hours contracted labour.
Thus Biden’s weed pardons, I dare say.
Huh. And here I thought they were using improving the economy, expanding protections for minorities, lowering the cost of medical coverage, protecting women’s rights, working to control climate change and save the planet, following the rule of law, fighting to preserve democracy, improving America’s standing in the world, and generally making life better for people as reasons to vote for them.
But if you want to see all that as just attempts to “lure people in” as if they were laying some sort of trap, well, that’s a strange perspective.
Sure, Dems are doing some things that are good. But how are they reigning in corporate control of government? Where is our universal health care? Why are our prescription drug prices the highest on the planet? Where is universal preschool and child care? Why are people homeless? Neither party is doing anything about that. They always have things set up so they can't do anything about our real problems. They throw their hands up in despair. 'The other side won't let us!'
Progress towards your universal healthcare is blocked by Republicans. The Democrats have brought DOWN the cost of medicine and healthcare (Insulin for only $35 anyone?) which Republicans have fought every step of the way. Democrats have been improving childcare (free breakfast and lunch for every school kid in Minnesota) while Republicans have declared BANNING free school meals a priority (https://newrepublic.com/post/173668/republicans-declare-banning-universal-free-school-meals-2024-priority).
Notice a theme there?
But, sure, easier to falsely claim “both sides the same” and blame only the Democrats. To ignore the actual fact the some problems are being solved so you can falsely whine that nothing is being done.
Christopher Foxx ; We need to Give what we can to Inequality Media Civics Action when we can!
Public Broadcasting was initiated to remove the poison of corporate funding from American popular media. The corporate capitalist creep to dark ambition and ultimate power has been achieved by largesse allowed in small dollops by now a dependence and addiction for budgeting of PBS along with the elimination of substantial non corporate media.
A complete corporate monopoly of media networking has existed in place for some time, and the media corporations are merely mouthpieces for immense parent corporations and their design and dependence on neoconservative economic principles in conflict as the “engine of a capitalist democracy”.
There will be no mention of unprofitable journalism in America until and unless war and violence become non-profitable by disgust of America’s viewers and rejection of the commodification of death and pain to encourage and profit from a diabolical economic theory of war driven economic success which is the principal standard of American corporate capital in 2024. Palestine is the proving ground of Israeli and American weapons researchers which see the slaughter as their testing ground for future weapons sales of “battle proven” designs.
The claim to “democracy” by American corporate captured government is as valid as the claim of “socialism” by the National Socialists of Germany in their weapons testing in the Spanish Civil War in anticipation of a global conflict.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: those of his supporters who are not racist are single issue anti-abortion voters. I know them. I talk with them.
I pray for them...and us.
I was in the Navy during the 70s, and was staunchly anti-abortion. (If the name, Francis Schaeffer means anything to anyone.) By the early 80s I had to admit that I was wrong and completely changed my view. (I was a bible-believing "Christian" at that time, but I had learned to accept challenges in order to find Truth.)
Thank you for writing about that, Thomas. It takes time, thought and courage to question one’s beliefs.
Some of them are both racists and anti women's medical care!
I know what we need. In your mind envision one individual that epitomizes what being a true American represents. Someone who has sacrificed everything conceivable in an effort to help maintain this Democracy. Now, fill your being to the brim with human kindness and compassion, then become that person. I have a feeling most of us here would already understand my intent. Keep your glass half full and be careful Robert's shoes might be a little tight.
I like this brief meditation, Donald. There are two individuals who immediately came to mind: Heather Cox Richardson and Robert Hubbell. I will invoke their personas when my energy and optimism are flagging. Thanks 💫!
Agreed! They start my day. Coffee, Heather, Robert and Robert. Sometimes some Thom and often Simon. So many great thought leaders here...
Then it's "Clear Eyes, Full Heart, Can't Lose!"
Great mantra!
Still-- You picked two winners.
I envision John F. Kennedy, John Lewis, and Martin Luther King. It helps me maintain a calmness so that I can interact with those that don't have the same vision for America that I do!
Yes, Peggy, for me, also - calmness is the key. Steadiness and clarity. Extending friendship even if the divide (politically) is enormous.
Peggy--You have very good examples of individuals who make you feel like our Democracy has a future.
Thank you! These men truly inspire me to be a better American and to get in good trouble for my country!
Peggy--Happy New Year.
Happy New Year right back at'cha, Donald!! May this year bring about changes that will benefit ALL of us!!
It’s too bad that most Republican Congress people do not have the same vision you have in spite of taking an oath to support the Constitution of the United States.I think they should all be asked to renew their oath in front of all of U.S. citizens
Yeah, John Lewis, too. Let's see some Good Trouble!
Robert may not resemble Bo But his rules score a perfect 10. Even while listening to a rendition of Balero.
Donald: He more resembles Beau. But Beau has a better beard... I might try to grow mine like his... I was previously trying to emulate Jack Smith, and before him Roger McGuinn.
Greg--Not the same Jack Smith of cough drop fame. If so, you do go back as far as I do.
No, but he had a pretty good beard too.
Greg--You do remember that little box that contained cough drops that were purchased for everything but a cough. The Smith Brothers--
Greg--Doesn't it appear odd to you that all the terrible things being carried out in this country are due to the efforts of Trump's Goon squad. Why is it our own people exemplify the lunacy necessary to be a part of Trump's lost world. I fear if they ever do wake up the suicide rate in this country will explode.
Go blue--
MLK and Woody Guthrie. Maybe Eugene Debs.
Can you run for president while in prison? Debs did in 1920 in his fifth and last campaign for the office. Having become a socialist through his reading in various prisons, he was jailed for sedition in 1919 for antiwar and anti-draft agitation.
Greg--Worthy choices.
Dear libs, in the world of politics, if one wants to get elected they must sell FEAR. And personality. That explains in part Trump, Reagan, and W.
Those of us who have been aware of Biden's political career know he was always a lossy candidate, but we all knew he could be a great president. He needs to get on the "horn" and have a fireside chat and empathize, explain, and reassure Americans what has been accomplished and assuage their fears of immigrants, and all those others, and the steps to be taken to alleviate high costs of RE and other necessities. Having a competent staff and cabinet members is critical for any administration. He needs to drop down on the floor and do 20 pushups. Demonstrate that 81 is not two steps from the grave.
Recalling the famous newspaper held up by Harry Truman in 1948. "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN."
The one year anniversary of the East Palestiine (OH) disaster is upon us, and Biden has yet to visit. He should -- and hold up the paper with the headline from September 24, 2018:
"Trump Rolls Back Train-Braking Rule Meant to Keep Oil Tankers from Exploding Near Communities." Just hold it up with a stern look, Joe. That shouldn't be too hard.
Thomas—that’s a great idea. I think he should read it aloud, as well. There are a lot of people with learning disabilities who never got the help they needed. My cousin spent thousands of dollars getting help for his oldest child. She graduated from university. Not everyone lives in a area where help is available, or who can afford it.
Yes, a fireside chat or a televised address to the American people. Whatever happened to that? Obama, as eloquent an orator as he was, underutilized the bully pulpit, too.
Their 'cut Rambo Superman' (like the imbecilic flags of him they all wave so adoringly, LOL!) SCUMp would drop to the floor and never get up! ;)
Agreed!
AMEN!!!!
Right wing media is the major force behind the rise of Trump and MAGA in my opinion.
Help share good political reporting around re what's happening in your state
https://statesnewsroom.com/
They have affiliates in about half the states and specialize on what's happening in state capitals.
Steve: I concur. I have been reading them for about a year. Kate Queram is really funny.
Yes. Fox is a problem -- and people’s belief that it is real news is a problem. But I also worry that the “real” press tries to provide “balance” or is just as driven by sensationalism. A whole program yesterday -- finally -- on NPR about this. I learned in grad school that it is the questions we ask that skew or reveal (and then went on to work as a GAO evaluator); when you ask about inflation constantly, it diverts people’s attention from the good things. And then there is word choice: “belief” in climate change? Not a matter of belief. Etc.
Maybe George Soros could buy Fox?
If we could just shut Fox up completely!
Without free speech, how would we know who the idiots are?
Trust me, they are distinguishable from far away!
Yeah - it’s like the Trump followers only want a Jerry Springer type news show instead of Walter Conkrite- their attention span so short they can’t absorb real news facts unless you twist them around and make a fairy tale out of it.
Those followers have always been there, potentially. It took modern day rightwing media to bring them out and turn them into cultish camp followers. Father Coughlin history with his anti-semitic American style fascism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Coughlin
FDR shut him down in 1939.
Yes, and he had MANY followers/listeners back then, WAY WAY too many! :(
But if they own dogs....
You. "Do you love your doggy?" course."
Them. "Of course!"
You. "Trump hates dogs." https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/05/opinion/trump-military-dog.html
.
Sic Commander on him!
There's a great cartoon (probably from Daily Kos) of Jordan and Comer with a flip chart listing all of Commander's impeachable offenses. Too bad there's no way to post pictures here. I don't have the link.
Yes, WHATEVER it takes!
Most of them also LOVE their booze/beer as well.
Inform them that their worshiped orange fuehrer is a teetotaler/abstainer. ;)
Who was it that first said, “Never trust a man who doesn’t drink.”?
I think it was FALSELY attributed to W.C. Fields, maybe??
Marvin Fretwell ; Those who attend tfg's rallies are fired up, but I don't see much in the news about what he has supposedly accomplished, even with sycophants in the Congress. How do we "shut those faucets of propaganda off"? Over the weekend there were some shows on MSNBC that featured all tRump all the time. They were not boosting him, but he was everywhere with a generous sprinkling of Fox 'news' segments. I fast forward out of these mud pits, wondering why MSNBC keeps airing them. If I wanted to watch Fox, I would watch it. Sheesh!
because they are stupid ? driven by ratings. They can't get off of him making him the centerpiece of stories where he could even be marginalized in the telling. Disappointing.
steve reed ; It may be that they are chasing the 'republican' viewers, too. Or they want to highlight what 'the other side' is doing and saying, to educate, inform and have 'balance' in their 'news'? Honestly, I think anyone who has not decided which party they like by now, has not been paying attention. But some folks work so much, they may be trying to figure it out still. They may learn something?! and vote Democrat! Who would want a Hitler? How many even know about Hitler, or fascism?
The Dems should run Rick Steves's "Rise of Fascism in Europe" every night for a month before the election, alternating with footage of J6.
I didn't have the title quite right.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU1IVW6uqM0
Greg ; Rick Steves is cool!
And even knowing about Hitler is so different from a practical understanding of what America would look like under fascism, is so beyond the Ken of most people
Why is Fox News so profoundly supporting Trump? Who’s pulling those strings and why?
Money? Their owners like Putin?, get money from him, and maybe other 'autocrats'? Murdoch, and now his son, have a legacy of messing with the voters.
And the advertisers. Boycott them.
Make it generic-who supports Fox, NewsMax, and OAN ?
Not only that, if Biden stays in office the FBI and the black helicopters are coming after YOU. Biden and the Dems are destroying America blah blah blah on an endless loop from right wing media.
Why would anyone think a country can be safe with seditious unAmerican media outlets like Fox, One America News, NewsMax, and hundreds of rightwing radio stations? They need to be shut down or constrained by Congress expressing the will of the people. It is the civic equivalent of yelling fire in an auditorium. Other countries have recognized this and put in guardrails. But our cultural devotion to free speech and distrust of government, always there but heightened in the past 30 years, enables these dangers to our democracy and our society.
I almost can't believe I'm writing these words. Never really thought we would be in this nightmarish situation.
We are at a tipping point but we can tip things in the right direction if we act together.
steve: I can't endorse government censorship of unpopular or even idiotic speech. That is a slippery slope.
But the regulations under which their licenses are issued require that stations operate in the public interest. The problem there is that the FCC, which defines the public interest, is controlled by Capital and operates in the interest of the rich.
The issue is not simple. Please read the Digital Republic by Susskind as he lays out the case for government regulating curtailing whatever you wanna call it unaccountable big tech media in ways, similar to the ways in which we regulate other industries. For sure, information and free-speech present special challenges. Slippery slope is a catchall phrase for doing nothing. I shouldn’t have this cookie because that’s a slippery slope and I’ll end upeating a whole bag.!! OK sometimes a slippery slope argument is good.
Now I want a cookie.
steve reed ; as I have said in other posts in these threads, Conservative's conservative ; retired Judge Michael J. Luttig made a statement on an MSNBC show recently, that the media is misinforming and disinforming the public, and that is of significant concern in a Democracy. I say that The enemies of Democracy want to inject politics into the process of justice. Donald J. Trump wants to turn every legal proceeding into a political rally. Why is he out on bail? Because he threatens everyone! We need some Special Forces to come in and protect Judges, assistants, and all those prosecutors , witnesses, even potential jurors from his BIG MOUTH! take away his damned megaphone!
make threats to judges etc a bigger punishment. Get a few show cases.
True. And .45 is demonstrably a flight risk. He has business interests in numerous countries, including Russia. He should be in pretrial custody with no bail. Any time he wants he can fire up Air Force None and fly off to visit his buddy Vlad.
Lock him up! Preferably in Guantanamo as an "enemy combatant."
Greg ; If only! Biden should use emergency war powers! we are close enough! the Supreme court is being Coy! This is a serious threat! Would we just chill if a Bin Laden was planning a major attack? Incredibly, tfg has secret service protection!!!! This is Nuts!
We DID just chill when Bin Laden was planning a major attack… just like the Israeli government… their intelligence people knew about the Hamas attack a year or so before it happened. They did nothing to stop it. Totally a setup by Putinyahu’s “defense” force.
Supposedly Bin Laden is dead now, but have you seen his body? (And likewise for Prigozhin.)
Supposedly the IDF killed a Hamas honcho in Lebanon yesterday… with a drone! Seriously? I have a bridge to sell you.
Read Snyder’s Substack from yesterday that I mentioned earlier.
Perhaps those who can afford to do so give a subscription to this and other Substack writers we believe provide appropriate counter-Trump & counter-MAGA content with facts and sense we can help. It’s one more way to amplify the messages that must be heard.
https://statesnewsroom.com/
Timothy Snyder, (https://open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/the-pitchfork-ruling?r=o0ume&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email) - also read his book "On Tyranny": there is a graphic edition.,
David Rovics (great musical journalism especially about the slaughter in Palestine)
Michael Moore (are you here, Mike?)
Lucas Kunce (an ex-marine running against Josh Hawley)
Beyond Substack, check out Beau of the Fifth Column on YT,
The Lever, The Intercept, More Perfect Union (many videos esp. about labor and class issues), Mother Jones, Brian Tyler Cohen/atAdvocacy News (YT)
If you are interested in socialism, try Jacobin. If I had more time and less to read already I would subscribe.
For recreational (?) reading: Margaret Attwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" - check it out before the Hitler Moms and Loud Noise shut down your library.
Robert asked for recommendations in an email today. These are the first that come to mind.
BBC has more even-handed content on Palestine than US maimscream media. PBS carries a couple of their news programs, and they have a couple news apps.
Marvin, read Daniel Solomon's post listing President Biden's many accomplishments. I told him we need to have that written up into pamphlet form and distributed across this country!!
Marvin, I saw a focus group of 10 Iowa Republicans.
How many believe Joe Biden is the legitimate president? 0/10
How many believe the 2020 election was stolen? 10/10
Where do you get your news? Fox, Truth Social, TikTok.
Exactly! These right-wing propaganda machines are doing their work well. And, "You can fool some of the people all the time!"
It's right out of Hilter's playbook: repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the "truth" - and the bigger the lie, the easier to sell.
And he's got a whole propaganda machine in FOX, Tucker Carlson, Charlie Kirk, NRA, "General" Flynn, on and on.
The Dems need to up their game: not lies, but full-court press on the Truth about Trump
Living in California I usually feel comfortable voting 3rd party, but in the last presidential and the upcoming one I feel it's important to have Trump beaten by the largest number possible regardless of the electoral college to make the message as clear as possible.
It's been the same for me in Oregon. If Democrats can't win in Oregon, they're not going to win the nation. But now I vote Democratic regardless because of the disaster Republicans will bring. I happen to prefer Biden to any recent 3rd party candidate, anyway
I would consider Cornel West if he were running as a Democrat, but IMHO this is not the time for 3rd (4th, 5th, 6th...) parties. He used to be on NPR on Sunday afternoons IIRC.
I also want to look into Cenk Uygur's campaign. He is on "The Young Turks."
I still stand by my prediction a year or so ago that we would soon have 4 "major" parties. I think we are moving toward that faster than I expected.
I don't know that we will, but it would be a more natural & realistic expression of our political differences to have at least 4 major parties.
It’ll come, have faith. Maybe a lot sooner than either of us expects. If we beat tRump this time I think the R party will split, maybe for good.
That's what I'm hoping for (been hoping that since the better part of this century).
I wish Cornel, a former classmate of mine, were running in the Democratic primary. We could use a truly progressive voice in the primaries. I am disappointed in his stance on Ukraine though.
I haven’t seen what he said about Ukraine. I have voted 3rd party before (Commoner, Johnson, Nader) and even run under one. I even voted for Gus Hall in 1972 because that was such a hopeless election. But not this time.
I've voted 3rd party numerous times, but not most recently nor will I this time.
Thank you for your principled stands, clear and positive voice, and tireless efforts, Bob!
I've written and posted the same simple message ever since I saw that the Republicans had increasingly taken over the media news cycle. If Joe is going to be this generation's FDR, he must promote, promote and promote and be backed up by serious Democrats who put out the same message. Promotion is a very basic principle of successful marketing, but the Dems still don't seem to understand how important it is. The Republicans have done this for years and in so doing, they've built support for their crazy ideas, policies and wars. Why on Earth can't the Democrats get over whatever they're doing instead, and verbally support Joe all the time? His poll numbers would be vastly better if they did and if Joe had regular addresses to the nation from the Resolute desk in the Oval Office. Let's have American know the truth. There's no time to lose.
Porter ; Excellent points! but remember that money is speech, and the R's have had more of it. I would think that President Biden could get himself on television and other media more often, if he really wanted to. He actually has appeared more and his messaging is stronger lately, but more is needed! the Presidency IS a demanding job though!
Hi Laurie - the Dems could have enough money to win this, although from what I've read, donations to Joe are not sufficient at this point and that goes back to my point about Joe being marketed and promoted well, which isn't happening. After all, how can a President with such a great run of successes and a virtually-booming economy, not reap the benefits? Something is very wrong with the way the Dems have failed to use Biden the right way and to take over the news cycle.
Porter : Retired conservative judge Michael Luttig said on MSNBC recently that the media is a problem with disinformation and misinformation, which has hurt voters perception and is a threat to Democracy and even justice.
Absolutely true. The media, on both sides, exists primarily to make money and so they'll grab whatever brings in the most viewers. A quiet, good-natured, competent and perhaps occasionally boring President doesn't bring in viewers, and commercials and money. But remember that's what the country needed after Trump - quiet competence - and that's Joe.
Porter ; I agree, and , as Professor Reich has said, we need to have boring banking again. Like when I was very young, and my working class grandfather showed me his checkbook to explain savings and how he was earning 5% on his money! Try to find that today! That would be quietly exciting for most of US! (would not impress the spoiled billionaires though).
Porter hi!: if money is speech. It seems that the 'R's have more of it. Most of US are struggling to make ends meet after all the increases in the interest rates, and prices going up. Just because Jerome Powell has announced that he will stop or slow down raising interest rates, doesn't mean an instant reprieve from high costs. "Taking over the news cycle, would be a very heavy lift when hostile billionaires with their own agenda own the media. Joe has been very strong lately in citing his accomplishments in spite of the enemies against progress and Democracy across the aisle. The sad fact is that our 'news' cycle is owned and operated by those who do not support the Common Good.
Laurie, that's always been true and it's human nature. The support for the common good has always been elusive. Keep in mind, though, that with full employment (we must get more workers, where can they be found, I wonder?), rising income, and the rebirth of American consumerism (retail is going nuts; been to a store lately?) Americans on the whole are doing much better. Trouble is, because the Dems are so quiet, people don't make the connection between the statistics and who fixed the economy.
Porter; Dems are so quiet, because they do not have their voices in the media. How many low income senior women (or men), get to discuss anything? Besides, most prices will most likely not go down. They may continue stay where they are, if we are lucky, for a while. I have a few 'over the counter' medically necessary items ( not covered), that have gone up. I just spent over $100 on them. one went up from $48 to $60, for a month's supply of a supplement my GI doc suggested I take, that actually helps. Another increased as well. These are also taxed! My covered prescriptions have also gone up, and I must pay for them, too, even though over $100 /mo. is taken out of my Social Security to pay for them. Social Security is taxed, too. that is more than $100 as well. they get US coming and going. That is why I still work in my 70's. I am grateful to have what I have. But it would be nice to retire and get some Rest and Recreation.
Citizens United has affected Democrats as well. They are owned by Big Money also. Not the same, but the soft pedal appears to be just as powerful in limiting US common good. Dems have been in power in the near past and NOT restored 'US common good'. Roberts absurd notion that we can overcome 50 years of deconstruction of our values suggests the rabbit can ask the hungry fox not to eat it. Ha!
The angry seeking English who came to the US did not act legally against the British. The Civil War came about because Southern extreme greed could not be overcome by nicey nice. The Lincoln compromise has left us with women and people of color as second class citizens, now the resumption of child labor. Biden is clearly no FDR. We must engage in serious pushback. Yes, Biden has done good things but so long in coming, more 'too little, too late'. Climate chaos, streams of immigrants, daily extinctions of life are not to be trifled with anymore. We knew all this in the 1960s. Clearly, a revolution of chaos, guns is unwinnable but much more must be challenged.
Vicki, MSN ; As we approach the Rapids, I think it is more important to focus on winning the Presidency and as many seats in government as possible. The 'right' wants to politicize justice itself with no regard for the Constitution and the rule of law. We are not going to solve " Climate chaos, streams of immigrants, daily extinctions of life" with any kind of 'revolution' without defeating the NAZI MAGAts at the ballot box!
I agree with you. 1 problem is true progressives are prevented from winning the Democratic presidential nomination. Secondly when they do get either chamber, it's barely, with more than enough turncoats like Manchinema to thwart progressive legislation. We need larger Democratic majorities with a majority of them progressives.
they do use surrogates but they could do more with that.
The Republicans also have a much more sophisticated propaganda machine, helped not only by billionaires & giant multinational corporations, but also Russia, another very sophisticated propaganda organization.
As for Biden being televised, many networks ignore him, even though televising presidential speeches used to be automatic.
Many TV stations are corporations pushing Fascism. Sound familiar? Biden is more corporate than most Progressive Democrats. It’s is never enough for the elite. When rich they get into our government policies for themselves. The world has to tax the rich to survive. It works for only the few while masses of people roam the world trying to find a better life. It’s not amnesty except for more money and life. Even American workers want that with so much competition by illegals who pay no taxes and get free benefits (we the tax payers fund). Not the rich but the middle class who are disappearing.
Republicans can’t run government…only destroy it. History has proven this true. Even poor Republicans vote against their own self interest. Their leaders propagandize hate and fear to get power.
You like many are overfocusing on message content and not enough on message distribution channels which coud be better used (or , just used) by Dems. Esp in small town and rural America. Hell, Dems already have the cities for the most part.
I attribute the better marketing of Repubs to a stronger marketing/commercial bent and experience of Republicans vis-a-vis Dems, esp Dem leadership.
steve reed, yes I agree. We need the message far and wide. Saturated on infinite repeat. They have the megaphone on blast everywhere incessantly. We have a tin can and a string that we use sometimes. Thanks for making this salient point!
I recently listened to an interview with Anand. Gridharadas on MSNBC. He stated that unfortunately Trump has done an excellent job organizing, motivating, and instilling passion into his followers and continues to use effective techniques to bring more follower. The Democratic Party has unfortunately not done the same, not even close. It’s difficult but nevertheless needs to be accomplished in spite of so many political factions under a expansive tent. The DNC needs to foster passionate thread to strengthen the support of our democracy.
Boy, do I agree, Porter! Has Robert R written about this huge and continuing hole in the Democrats presentation? And why doesn’t Biden take to the airwaves? He sure had ample opportunity during the pandemic and now with his highly controversial support of Israel. If he doesn’t speak up to all of us himself he leaves it to the media who have to go for money over substance.
Very well said! AMEN.Let us keep repeating this!
He should give a livestreamed speech from Auschwitz, to highlight what we face if tRump gets reelected.
Maybe better from Dachau, which was liberated by American troops, not the Red Army as Auschwitz was. April 29 is the anniversary. And the American troops and liberated prisoners killed a number of the SS guards. Can’t say I blame them.
I think we need to focus on the universal stench of the Republican brand, and it’s willingness to bow down to the #SeditionCaucus and pitch every shred of its integrity into the cesspool that it has created.
Todd Telford ; Why? The Senate should investigate Congress members who have fake resumes, and those from gerrymandered districts, who are illegitimate. They should look at those who voted against certifying President Biden's win; against their oaths of office! They did this on Jan 6!, supporting the insurrection! 14th amendment section 3! They are disqualified! What is our Constitution worth if it cannot be enforced!? Our enemies are running our government and aiding Vladimir Putin in his war on Ukraine! Eventually, he could attack US, after marching through other sovereign countries! If the right wing extremists get their way, We will be in world war three with a 'leader' for life who will oppress and destroy US, and everything we have fought for, and hoped for, and many died for, in the second world war.
1. Those that requested pardons.
2. Those that are implicated as co-conspirators to send phony electors. Most recent evidence shows that Ron Johnson was involved. Scott Perry enlisted a "cadre." In his book and on TV interviews, .Peter Navarro enlisted a "Green Bay sweep" of dozens of probably co-conspirators that are members of Congress.
3. Every member of Congress and staff on duty Jan 6 are eyewitnesses who should have been questioned. No time like the PRESENT.
Daniel ; But is there anybody 'home' in the DOJ? Can the Senate look into any of this?
As for trump's voters he can do no wrong, as for Biden's voters he can do nothing right. Cultists vs ____?.
But not as many......
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mHSjoVo2qkICBvNPWd51cXGHpZEgraCX/view
I think that sounds like a losing proposition. A waste of time. Focus on positivity or you will get the stench right back at you!
I think you have to attack the GOP brand but how you do it makes a diffrerence. On balance a positive message is more important but theres room for both. IMO.
Apparently, 1/6 is now all Twitter's fault! :
https://youtu.be/8PRwbFPYQi8?si=RmwbiEU9LsFr_XIg
🤣
Biden is a bit long in the tooth. Given. >So the hell what ‽< >He knows the hell better!<
Robert and Heather doing this daily is a pretty impressive thing.
11. Whenever anyone says "That's socialism!" in response to your support of a social welfare program like, say, paid parental leave that is routinely available in other democracies, do not -- repeat, DO NOT -- do what most Democrats do today: cringe and walk away in silence.
Do what Harry Truman did in 1948. RESPOND! "When they say something is socialism, they mean that's something that is good for the American people."
I totally agree with you, Stephen. A few years ago, i asked my TUMP fanatic neighbors that are old enough to get their Social Security, why haven't they signed up for their SS retirement yet, and they replied, '' We don't take handouts from the government, and anyway, SS is socialism'' Those stupid idiots had FICA tax taken out all of their paychecks all of their working lives, and Social Security IS NOT A HANDOUT. That was 4 years ago and i haven't spoken to them since. I just cannot tolerate being around a person or persons that support a raving, corrupt maniac like Donald TUMP, and that includes my relatives. And they wonder why i want to go live in Canada.
John, my sister and I are going to buy a villa in Tuscany and move there if the orange man gets back in the White House. I simply cannot stay here and watch my country be destroyed!
What burns me are the TFG lovers that rail on our “socialist” government programs, but are first in line for their SS, Medicare, VA and military benefits, their adult kids on food stamps, and their government pensions. It’s socialism for everyone except themselves. Then they have the nerve to complain about the low dollar level or poor service of said government programs.
It’s no different than the Washington hating southern R governors that are first to cry where’s Washington and federal help after a natural disaster.
It's hard to believe the ignorance and stupidity. I would have probably done the same thing.
They ask me why I live in "communist" Vietnam. They do not get it! Vietnam is more capitalistic than many Democratic countries!
Just remind them that socialism is what we all do every day.
James Burnham ; Yes , especially for the obscenely wealthy!
They’re all about socialism for the wealthiest individuals and corps.
Tell them socialism is the act of being social. That should end any conversation.
Not sure ‘ending the conversation’ is an act of being social, tho...
Most effective:
1. Trump hates dogs. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/05/opinion/trump-military-dog.html
2. Trump family charity stole from kids with cancer and disabled war veterans. https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2019/donald-j-trump-pays-court-ordered-2-million-illegally-using-trump-foundation
Wow. Why isn’t this bigger news? He was still president when his foundation was totally misdirecting money to personal use. At least the ny attorney general prosecuted him and got some payouts to charities.
Well said Stephen!
I like to point out the military and the parks are socialism, then I ask if they really want all roads to be toll roads.
Many people, including myself, can't stomach Biden's full throated support of Israel's genocide in Gaza. The Dem Party has been operating on the "Lesser of Two Evils" mantra for a couple decades now and this is where it's brought us.
The problem here is that the blame is being placed in the wrong place.
Hamas exists to kill every Jew. They attack, kill and rape in the most in-human way and then hide amongst and below the innocent Palestinian people, who are pawns and shields. Hamas cares nothing for the Palestinians because they want blame for the actions that they started to fall on Israel and supporters of Jews.
Netanyahu's actions are war crimes primarily becuase of the extreme collateral damage caused by Hamas embedding amongst the Palestinians. He could have handled the war with Hamas differently.
Finally, the blame is equally shared by the surrounding Arab world which has also ignored the plight of their fellow Arabs - the Palestinians. Everyone is to blame for failure to solve the Palestinian problem and Hamas exploited this failure.
You are right to be angry about the genocide, but focus your anger on the true source. By blaming Biden, you are falling into the trap set by the enemies of the US, which includes Putin and Xi.
Thank you! Agreed.
I agree as well. I'm afraid that by not coming down on Netanyahu, Biden is handing the keys to the White House to Trump.
Agree. Most young people I know won’t vote for Trump or Biden. They will be staying home come elections. They are calling him genocide Joe.
Hopefully, these folks will come around and realize what a danger Trump is to the survival of our country. Do they really think that Trump would withdraw support from Israel to pressure them to stop the bombing?
Trump and Netanyahu are birds of a feather. Both are rooting for each other.
That's why Russia helped preparing Hamas so enthusiastically..all that followed was projected..also this..for Russia the main target of this war is Bidens America, and western democracy..
It doesn't help that the Israeli-setler-government is of the same kind as Hamas and Putin and Trump and the like..
(Well, i must admit/should add that direct Russian involvement is not (yet) proven or confirmed, i believe. But some sources talk in quite detail about it, i hear. It's under investigation.
But even if Rissia is not directly involved, that doesn't change how this war functions for Russia..)
Smarter ones will be voting for Marianne Williamson in the Democratic primary even as the DNC tries to be autocratic in denying other candidates. Take a lesson from LBJ, Biden could sit out.
https://www.history.com/news/lbj-exit-1968-presidential-race
marianne2024.com
They must have missed the fact that Hamas is in charge of Palestine’s future - not Biden
I wish we'd pull support of the war in its entirety. Neither side is "good," it's just a bloody mess.
I ask folks to consider that Israel's right-wing government -- which is ushering in fascism there* -- will be extremely happy for a Trump victory. (They've named a settlement after him.) Their powerful lobbies here in the USA are going to be investing heavily to defeat progressive Democrats.
* If an Israeli so much as openly expresses compassion for the dead in Gaza, according to Ha'aretz journalist, Gideon Levy, there will be legal repercussions.
True, and extremely sad! 76% of Israeli's want Bibi.GONE!
This is what all Dems need to confront the Party on:
All those who are saying Biden isn’t perfect (but we should vote from him) are refusing to acknowledge the full blown genocide Biden is participating in.
A vote for Biden is a vote supporting mass slaughter of a people with the right to defend themselves but without the means.
What many are not ready to admit is that the 2 party system we have here isn’t working. Because a choice between a lunatic wannabe dictator and a supporter of cold blooded and premeditated mass murder is not a choice.
@K Miller. So... Fascism is okey dokey?
And using your logic, American dead and American hostages are irrelevant.?
K. MILLER HAS NO LOGIC.
The Dems need to hold a proper primary that demonstrates DEMOCRACY. They've doubled down against all candidates by removing access.
Personally I continue supporting Marianne Williamson as a better than Biden candidate. She's got to get through this primary which is probably harder than going independent.
The party elite need to realize their robbery of democracy has many young voters outraged.
K Miller ; "Biden isn’t perfect (but we should vote from him)" ; Yes, compared with tRump, who is the most likely candidate, (if the Supreme Court does not get their job done in time), Joe Biden is the best, really the only candidate for those who value Democracy, to vote for. Don't allow the 'perfect' to destroy the good! The ideal is an illusion in this situation. The real choice is evident, like most truths.
Patricia Panitz ; Joe Biden has said out loud to Netanyahu that he will stop sending weapons support to Israel if the killing continues. I hope he makes good on that. It is a falsehood that he has given "full throated support" to genocide!
He needs to act, not just suggest he may act....
Me, too. Laurie Blair.
Biden's claim that he will stop sending weapons is a PR stunt. He's been sending weapons without congressional approval. So far over 20,000 Palestinians have been killed and Gaza's in smithereens - when will be a good time to stop?
@ Patricia. You're repeating a false trope that's at the same level as Qanon.
Biden is between a rock and a hard place!
Although Biden is the rock... and the Democratic candidates are stuck with less than democracy in the primaries.
Genocide?
Hamas and the people who elected them to run their country brought Israel's response upon themselves!
What would you have done if a mob of people, who had
announced publicly their goal of killing your family and friends, burst into your life, raping, killing, and mutilatiing everyone in sight?
Think about it!
Some of the comments here are straight out of AIPAC’s handbook...as in:
MYTH: Hamas using civilians as human shields.
TRUTH: Israel / IDF have FREQUENTLY used Palestinian civilians as human shields.
Check your history. Look to scholars like Norm Finkelstein. The ugly truth about Israel is hard for many people to assimilate but it doesn’t make it any less true. Israel is the illegal occupier of Palestinians’ territories since the Nakba of 1948, with continued expansion in 1967 and so on. The same rationale has been applied to other resisters of Israel’s ongoing violent repression/suppression of Palestinians. We are now witnessing genocide and ethnic annihilation in real time.
This is not about the “perfect” candidate.
If you are using this rationale for supporting Biden, then you are turning a blind eye to outright slaughter.
Stop blaming the voter. Blame the Party and make them change if they want the office.
The Dems know full well Biden will lose as a result of alienating the truly sane voters but they refuse to put up a viable candidate. IMO it’s not trump we need to worry about: It’s Liz Cheney…who despite the fact that she vocally supports Biden’s Israeli devotion (and will also lead on a large incremental step to defund social security & Medicare for future gen’s among other greedy deeds), she comes across as sane in every interview. She’s got the Statesmen’s background, the demeanor, she’s White, middle aged, and looks exactly like the well heeled (esp Barbie wannabes) suburban moms that politicians covet.
You have to ask the question: Why would the Dems want to lose? Because they know they will if they stick with Biden.
Israel has been oppressing the Palestinians since its inception in 1948 (done, by the way, without any input from the indigenous Palestinians whose land was oppropriated without compensation and who had nothing to do with the Holocaust). Israelis steal their land; drive them from their homes, often in the middle of the night; burn their crops; imprison them, including children, to indefinite detention without charges or trial; restrict mobility with a system of checkpoints everywhere; and in the case of Gaza, greatly restrict the inflow of necessities like food, water and medicine. Water in Gaza was undrinkable before Oct. 7, and electricity was limited to 4 hours a day. Is it any surprise that an organization like Hamas come into being? Before Oct.7 Israel was trying to erase Palestine and Palestinians slowly and quietly, so the rest of the world wouldn't notice; now it is plain for all to see. The present leaders of Israel, admittedly right wing extremists, have admitted their goal is eradication of Palestinians. But they are who Israelis elected.
The fact that Biden facilitates this makes him an enabler of genocide
Yes, I agree! I Ofer my post this morning. ‘‘Twas a fine morning to be out!
Looking on from Australia I’m somewhat aghast at the direction politics is taking in the US. The polls defy logic.
Granted we have also had our fair share of incompetents but never on the scale of the malicious and malevolent Trump, and his supporters.
It’s no wonder the worlds dictators, the deplorables, are champing at the bit.
I think Canada has also had it's fair share of incompetents too, but like Australia. never on the scale of the malicious and malevolent Donald TUMP, and his deluded supporters. It gets very cold in Canada, but i would rather put up with cold weather, than to have to put up with TUMP and his cult followers here in the USA. I have to admit, i am sick and fed up with evil criminals trying to take over here in the USA. They lie, cheat, steal, and are always threatening violence against people that try to stop TUMP. Death threats to the Secretary of States in Maine and Colorado are the latest example of these terrorists threats to the SOS in Maine and Colorado for their efforts to remove TUMP from their state ballots. Donald TUMP should be in a jail cell right now, but he is still allowed to run free and have rallies spewing his hate and threats to his enemies. WHY?? No one, (including TUMP) is supposed to be, ''above the law.''
I think these ''polls' are bogus and very inaccurate and are just another tool of propaganda taken by persons that want TUMP to be our dictator. Only a very small percentage of voters are represented in them and they are taken in areas that have always leaned toward the Fascist Rethugs.
Roger Farquhar ; Our media, or the 'Fourth Estate', has been complicit and bought up by the billionaires. It does not inform the public ; the voters adequately. Misinformation and Disinformation abounds. Our education system has not kept up with the world and changes in our communications. only a few schools teach Civics or financial literacy, for example.
Roger, what's the weather like in Australia? You may see an influx of Americans moving to your country because we can't stand the malicious, malevolent trump and his supporters either!!
Show up. Stand up. Speak up. Speak out. Channel John Lewis. Make good trouble. Vote.
Channel Taylor Swift.
I'm not a follower or fan of Taylor Swift. Way too old, but she's had some catchy tunes from years ago. If she can literally cause an earthquake--make the earth move, then she's got the power to affect young people in a good way. If only she would use it.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=914152127007346&set=p.914152127007346&type=3
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10159922591581009&set=a.10150130208971009
Real? I have to believe it because she has a tight rein on her music and image. I lived, for a while, in the same town where she grew up, and had my computer worked on at the shop by the guy who taught her how to play guitar. After knowing his story, I don't feel quite the same about her. Berks County Man Says He Taught Taylor Swift to Play Guitar (google title of article). A snippet of unimportant info.
Look at the marketing! Was she 12? When opportunity knocks open the damn door.
Swift-Dylan 2024!
I suppose "channel" is a pop word today. I would prefer a word that actually says what it means.
You kids and your music today....
Who?
Only if you have a pea brain.
40% of electorate is Gen Z. 70% trend Democratic. She is the number 1 Democratic influencer, bar none. Person of the Year. Time. Speaks to the generation that can sweep Republicans. Gen Z followers support Taylor Swift's marketing by staying connected through social media, buying her merchandise and talking about her on social media. Taylor Swift doesn't necessarily need to always market herself because so much of her audience does it for her.
She supports abortion rights. She has identified as a feminist and advocated for LGBTQ rights and gun control. She's been critical of police brutality, racism and white supremacy. She has used her influence and social media power to spotlight issues within the industry and society at large, such as fostering reforms to Spotify, Apple Music, Ticketmaster, recording and distribution contracts, and drawing attention to artists' rights, masters, intellectual property, corporate greed, sexism and racism, while being a subject of scrutiny and controversy herself. https://en.wikipedia.org/.../Cultural_impact_of_Taylor....
She has supported Biden, and hopefully she will have the same effect on his campaign as she has had on ancillary products she supports.
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/taylor-swift-save-joe-biden-rcna130344
https://time.com/6342806/person-of-the-year-2023-taylor-swift/
https://news.miami.edu/law/stories/2023/10/legal-course-on-taylor-swifts-ip-empire.html
Thank you for the detailed and informative reply. I stand corrected. I still wish more Americans would pay attention to Robert Reich or Heather Cox Richardson than to Taylor Swift. Not all wishes come true...
False dichotomy. All options to oppose Fascism are open.
I’m surprised and frankly a little disappointed in your comments in that to me you have left out that we should all be doing what you are doing. I now specifically respond to multiple calls for democratic fund raising that I will now give money ONLY to candidates that publicly and directly support and endorse the Robert Reich analysis and proposals . You have made clear that as long as 29 years ago you saw changes were happening that if not corrected we’re highly likely to lead to widespread disappointment and disillusionment that were to be fertile ground for the type of pro fascism that we’re facing today with Trump and the Republican party. What Biden has done is offered many progressive and positive initiatives but I have not seen Biden or ONE Democratic candidate (and my email is filled with requests for money) who has addressed the heart of the problem as you have. Trump is not an aberration he has clearly recognized the widespread but not articulated view of maybe a majority of Americans that our world has become widely out of balance. And Trump through his fascist rhetoric has claimed and taken the mantra that he and the Republican Party are the party of change. Biden and some other democrats have proposed and even passed some positive steps. BUT NO ONE can say or feel that the democrats are anywhere near addressing the dramatic pains and imbalances in the country that as you so clearly articulate flowed directly from globalization and deregulation of the financial markets that largely had their genesis in Clinton and following administrations. Trump cannot be stopped without convincing voters the democrats admit past mistakes and take on the mantra of the Robert Reich program.
And sorry to say, to do this in my view we need a younger candidate, &
- one who speaks consistently on Ukraine and Gaza,
- one who can credibly represent US on world stage to the global South,
- one who is more progressive,
- one who has stamina required for global conflict,
- one with a different VP,
in my view.
Understand it is Scary to have to explore options, but it doesn’t get one bit better each day until Nov.
I agree. We need a real primary. Cenkforamerica.com
Not a natural-born citizen, according to Wikipedia.
Who is Cenk? (Is that a name?)
https://cenkforamerica.com/
Greg, I saw that link, didn’t feel it told me what I’d want to know about the person, so I used google, reviewed online history, (Wikipedia, etc.), and this guy’s NOT my guy at all!! Sorry.
If you’re talking about Cenk Uygur (I can’t find my way to what you’re responding to in this useless app) he’s not my guy either. I only provided the link because someone asked about him. I see some problems with him too and won’t be voting for him. No need to apologize to me.
Mark, - Absolutely not! The Democrats need to understand that Trump's MAGA policy appeals to the majority who are struggling to finance their next decent meal and pay for their children's education; those who are under-paid; those in the gig economy who are on zero-hours job contracts; those who lost their safe full-time industrial jobs to Reaganomics. - But yes, Biden or his replacement candidate needs to be more progressive - dramatically so.
But 'progessive' doesn't mean endless wars - especially not against a people who simply want to keep their plot of land, their home and their modest business in a land that their ancestors have lived on for generations and which belongs to them by the right of Native Title. People are fed up with unnecessary and unjust wars. Trump appeals because he will bring a negotiated peace to Ukraine - not an endless military stalemate.
Unsure of the antecedent to “Absolutely not!”, but otherwise absolutely agree with your comment- except - I think Trump will throw the Ukrainians under his fond colleague Putin’s bus... but would still agree that this will appeal to his fans.
Mark, - It's always hard to second-guess what Donald Trump would do, were he U.S. President dealing with the Russia-Ukraine War. My guess is that he actually would ask Putin what he wants from the war, and Putin would probably answer that, in a way, Ukraine's status is only part of a wider issue, namely the proximity of NATO right on the borders of European Russia, and that what Putin wants is some form of 'decommissioning' or 'reduction' of the status of these nations as NATO members, OR some kind of mutual surveillance arrangement between Russia and NATO - that would include the border areas of Russia and these nations. He would want a return to a non-aligned Ukraine, as it was in 1991. As against this, Putin would be willing to withdraw his army from Ukraine (except Crimea), including the Donbass region. I suspect that Trump and Putin would agree. Putin would be happy because at long last, he'd then consider Russia much safer from a first-strike from his nearby neighbours, and the strategic situation would be far less asymmetrical than since the 1990s. Trump would be pleased because funding for Ukraine's defence could now be shifted to U.S. domestic purposes - job creation, retraining, urban renewal and improved basic education.
Trump ought to, but may not propose, that Russia assist in rebuilding Ukraine. On the other hand, Putin may offer to help in the restoration of Ukraine, as a goodwill measure.
I think I can predict your reaction to all this: incredulity! Since AD2000, the populations and voters in the West have been inculcated with the notion of the evil monster in the East. However, recall for a moment that in the early 2000s, Putin suggested that Russia become an EU member. In 2014, Putin was held responsible for the destruction of the Malaysia Airline flight over eastern Ukraine - while not a single Western political analyst or commentator asked 'Cui bono?' (who benefits?) Our opinion shapers and influencer all agreed that "Putin done it!" But did he? Or was it a faction within the radical-right nationalist Kiev government that did it in the hope of drawing NATO into their civil war in the Donbass region? The Cui bono question points to them rather than Putin or his Russo-Ukrainian rebels.
Gunnar, as close to a ‘red line’ for me is rewarding a violent revision of peaceful state borders.
(Additionally, appeasement has appeared to repeatedly fail with Putin - didn’t end with Chechnya, didn’t end with Crimea, wouldn’t end with the Donbas. When/if Ukraine is capitulated to Putin, it becomes Russia, and Poland becomes the next buffer zone one must sacrifice?)
I almost always favor peaceful solutions, but it’s hard to tell someone not to fight to defend their home, when the other side is not willing to stop.
But Mark, the other side is willing to stop!
Also remember, the same could be said about the U.S.: appeasement with the U.S. is fraught because ... remember Vietnam, Guatemals, El Salvador, Persian Gulf War, the Iraq War, the Syrian civil war, and the current proxy war against the Gaza Strip. Oh, I forgot the broken U.S. promise to Gorbachev in 1989-1990.
He has a VP?
😏
Thank You!!!☮️😎💕We are on it. Rallying all of us old McGovern workers…This election is pivotal for our precious Democracy. And…We thought Nixon was bad, Oy!!
Vey!
Here's a suggestion - talk some sense into the DNC to get Biden to retire - soon.
First, his support for Palestinian genocide is a war crime that tarnishes America globally while the world has watched Bibi turn Gaza into a modern-day Dresden using US bombs. It is clear that even Secretary of State Blinken is chagrined by it all. Second, I am 76, and yet it is clear to me that Biden is not in touch with Millennials thru GenZ any more than he is with the couple dozen of my Boomer prep-school classmates from the 60s that I am in email touch with almost daily.
Third, and most troubling as a psychologist, is that given Biden's age and the stress of the job at 1600 Penn, there is no way that a male in his 80s already showing overt signs of waning physical and mental stamina can handle another term in these stressful times. He walks and talks like a doddering old man - and that is what voters see on TV. The polls have been trying to tell DNC that it needs to run a younger candidate, but somehow they think Trump is so terrible Biden will win. That was probably true the last time - but not this November.
If somebody with integrity, like Liz Cheney is on the ballot - even as a third-party candidate, Biden will be a one-term president anyway - and I will have helped. My worry is that so many voters have no clue what life under a fascist dictator would be like. Americans rarely know anybody in Europe or Japan very well who might wise them up. Disgusted, they might not vote at all. My BFF is a German, and his late parents described the rise of Hitler exactly as I am watching Trump's rise - right down to claims of victimization and the thuggery he incites all the time. The daily news summary I post nearly always has a 5-1 count of Republican to Democrat headlines, and I monitor over 60 RSS feeds and another 20 news summaries. Trump accounts for half of the GOP's headlines. Biden too is half the Democrats headlines (like 10-2).
We have already experienced Trump's Jan 6 dry-run Putsch. I wonder how Biden will react when the Proud Boys set our Rathaus on fire this year. My guess is capitulate if he does not suffer a stroke or something first.
Not only Biden is 81 -- he is acting and behaving like an 85. We desperately need an younger Democrat in these stressful times.
I'll be 72 in a week, and I sure don't want that job.
Your negativity is suffocating.
If my comment is suffocating support for a second Biden term, then I achieved my aim.
All Biden has been. in my view, is a place-keeper president - the Un-Trump. If you look at his achievements from a leadership perspective, they have actually been few - a) because his worldview is sorely stuck in the 90s (as Gaza shows), and b) because his energy level is sagging. Yes, Build-Back-Better was a noteworthy achievement, but how much of that was Biden, and how much was Congress and agency heads? Yes, the economy rebounded after COVID, but that is mainly due to Powell. Where was Yellen or Congress?
Biden helped some college students deal with ridiculously burdensome loans. He has done nothing to reduce the cost of college. What did he do to wake up the country to the dangers of fascism that now dominate Texas and Florida? Until recently - nothing. What did Biden do to deal with the tsunami of illegal immigrants from the south that he inherited? Things are only getting worse. What about the FAA. Flying today is torture, prices are too high, and just getting to the plane can take an hour once in the terminal. Now flights are being cancelled by the bushel. What about the polluting trainwreck epidemic. Buttigieg is not leading DOT - the air and rail monopolies are.
Internationally, US support for Ukraine is fading as RU continues its invasion. The US is aiding and abetting Genocide in Gaza. The US abandoned the Philippine Islands as a policy choice when Marcos was getting too big for his proverbial britches and kicked us out. Now all of a sudden, we are doing a costly and dangerous 180 risking war with China? The US has nothing at stake in the PI. Then there is N. Korea, which is a slave country that only grows as a US annoyance and nuclear threat. No progress there either.
I could go on. My point is that while Trump was a far worse president, being a bit better is nothing to brag about. Biden has been a loyal place-keeper president. It is time to move on or risk losing our democracy as the WH energy to lead continues to wane or be distracted by a worldview that is generations out of step with the majority of voters. It is hard for many of to see how giving Biden a second term will stop the MAGA movement from destroying our democracy.
You’re still drowning in negativity- what are YOU doing to help the country? Biden can’t do this alone - where’s Congress? Why didn’t the Senate controlled by McConnell convict Trump in 2021 ? I really can’t name one person that could have done better so far in the WH than Biden did with a pandemic - twenty million people unemployed and double digit inflation, let alone a known fascist authoritarian Putin knocking on Ukraine’s door trying to undermine NATO and democracy around the world. So easy for duds like you to sit back and criticize people that are trying to keep things together. Where would we be if Trump was in WH since 2020 election ? Good God man … thank your lucky stars we kept are heads above water and democracy is still in place… be positive for where we’ve come from and fight to protect to keep it …. Biden’s not perfect, far from it - but neither are any of us- but he is the better choice when we are only 10 months out from 2024 elections.
You said: "I really can’t name one person that could have done better so far in the WH than Biden." that nicely sums up the problem with the Democratic Party - a lack of leaders.
The Dems are not grooming or promoting new leaders - Katie Porter, AOC are years away from a presidential run. The GOP has a swarm of candidates for 2024 - Only Newsom has even been mentioned - nothing more. Where are the leaders? Where is the press coverage? The entire Democratic Party is like Sleepy Joe - asleep at the switch.
Newsom is a born loser, likke the last Dem Governor of Virginia.
You haven't achieved anything like an aim. You don't yet see the target.
Biden is the UnTrump. Sounds good to me. Where's my voting booth. Nuff said.
Tomonthebeach, - I agree with everything you say, except for one thing: Putin called for substantive negotations - several times - before he invaded Ukraine, because he (and Russia) feel threatened by NATO "on our doorstep", "on our porch", as he put it. He wants a readjustment of the overall asymmetrical strategic situation on Russia's borders. He - and I, a Norwegian by birth - were dead against the reunification of Germany. There is nothing that Russians (and I) feared more than a reunified Germany, but there is nothing we can do about this now; the U.S. President at the time forced it through. And now, Germany is turning radical Right. You reap as you sow!
Donald Trump is absolutely correct when he claims that he can end the Russia-Ukraine War within a few days. Putin will concede all occupied territories in Ukraine except Crimea - IF, and only if, NATO somehow make an offer that would be seen by Russians as conciliatry and give them a sense of safety. They want a return to the Cold War security of a balance of terror - not an imbalance. They want Ukraine to return to its previous status - since 1991 - as a neutral buffer state, together with Central Asia.
Like NATO, they are concerned about China's long-term stategic plans in Central Asia, and Russia wants us, and needs us, as their allies. NATO, under U.S. leadership is pursuing a shortsighted policy of antagonising two large countries simultaneously. How stupid is that! - And yes, Trump may have neo-Fascist tendencies, but his MAGA policy appeals to close to 50% of American voters because they are sick and tired of America's post-War policy of 'eternal war' (not unlike that described by George Orwell in !984"). At least 30% of Americans live close to the breadline, thanks to Reaganomics. They want MAGA - and they NEED it! But in the meantime Biden continues to fight two proxy wars! This will not win him the heart and minds of potential Democrat voters.
I don't think Biden and his advisers have realised how perilous their - and the country's - situation is. They seem to think that they can "stand on their record". That is nonsense. They have far too little to show for their 4 years in power. They need to think BIG, and to target the beneficiaries carefully, namely blue-collar and the white working people in their degraded neighbourhoods with their underfunded schools for their children. HOPE must be injected into these vast communities across the U.S. And the proxy wars must end, and the precious money must be diverted from those wars to secure a comfortable election win, not a possible victory by a hair's breath.
Robert Reich understands that the electoral situation, 10 months from the election, is desperate. But he doesn't seem to understand what is needed: not so much a renewed effort of campaigning by you/us but a radical and well-targeted massive injection of funding into the poor and semi-poor heartlands of his country, where - out of desperation and anger - the Trump-followers dwell. Incemental improvements in the overall U.S. economy will not secure Biden's re-election. If the Democrats are fighting an internal war against a prospective authoriatian government, then they must fight to win. It will be expensive, it will cost a huge amount of money, but it will surely be worth it in the end!
Rather than refute line-by-line what you are asserting about Russia in Ukraine, it is probably better to just suggest that next time you get together with Putin to suggest that he buy you a beer for posting his propaganda so articulately.
Tomonthebeach - Your reply is not justified by the facts.
"Ukraine crisis: Transcript of leaked Nuland-Pyatt call - BBC News" – 4 February 2014
"BREAKING! Putin: Ukraine in NATO Means Military Bases At Russian Border! Russia Can Not Stay Silent - YouTube" - 9 Dec 2021
'NATO Expansion Was a Big Mistake' - Fmr Austrian FM to RT - YouTube - 26 Jan 2022
"US ignored Russia's security concerns, Vladimir Putin says - BBC News - YouTube" - 28 Jan 2022
"100 Seconds to Midnight on the Doomsday Clock: We Need a New Security Architecture! - YouTube" – 19 Feb 2022
"Henry Kissinger Suggests Ukraine Give Up Territory to Russia - The New York Times (nytimes.com)" – 24 May 2022
"Kissinger: It's Time For Negotiated Peace In Ukraine To Avoid World War (planet-today.com)" - 18 December 202
Consider all this and don't take on trust what Western mainstream media tell us. They are telling us what their proprietors want us to know. Search YouTube instead!
Cenkforamerica.com
Too many want to divide us and conquer us.
Choice: Democracy or Fascism.
True -- well said!
Well said, Tomonthebeach!
I LOVE Joe Biden and am grateful that he's made this sacrifice to serve...however, he should have been (quietly) preparing to welcome a successor and preparing his party for same. The fact that he hasn't is a stain on an otherwise stellar term in office.
You say you are a psychologist? Have you heard tRump talk? You say Biden is mumbling? Give me a .... break!. Age is not the issue here. If anyone is showing the pressure, tRump is...why has he not participated in the debates? Because he cannot keep his mouth shut. 99% of the time, he doesn't even know where he is!. And the zombies do not care. After all their churches tell them God sent you tRump to save them. They probably think of him on some space ship....while they sip on tRhum Coolaidas...
We all hear Trump rant several times a day. His rants always get headlines. Meanwhile, Sleepy Joe is lucky to get a couple of headlines a week. Trump is manifesting deteriorating frontal lobes bigly. His narcissistic personality disorder is textbook as his niece has pointed out in the MSM. However that Trump is a dangerous lunatic does not make Biden the ideal candidate. It just makes Trump a bigger threat than 2016. When the world in in danger, you do not send your grandpa to the rescue. You call in Superman. That is the DNC's problem - they offer us grandpa; not Clark Kent.
Cartoon: Two young boys looking at their Mother sitting in the next room One is saying
" My Mom's old enough to remember when Hitler was bad!"
Less keen on the closing 2 lines, but DO agree with the rest, Tomonthebeach!
I lived in Germany for a year (1967-68).The father of my host family and many of his relatives were in the Rote Kapelle anti-Nazi resistance. Through Walter I am 2 degrees of separation from Hitler. His parents and grandfather were executed by the Gestapo at Ploetzensee Prison. I have been there. The meathooks where they hung the July 20 plotters were still there.
And my kindly history teacher there was in the German paratroops at the Battle of Stalingrad. Enough to make a pacifist of anybody.
Thanks very much for the list -- AND I urge everyone wondering how fascism can hold appeal to read the opening couple pages (at least) of historian Heather Cox Richardson's "Democracy Awakening." She lays out clearly how people who don't feel government is working for them come to support and deeply identify with a dictator.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/09/25/heather-cox-richardson-substack-review/
If the Democrats want to win in 2024 they better find a candidate who is not a puppet of the evil war mongers. On a different note .. happy new year ... and maybe say a prayer for our brothers and sisters in Gaza who are being murdered with the full support of the United States government
@Peter So you risk standing with Trump, Putin, MAGA Mike.
As if thoughts and prayers work! Might as well ask Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy! Which side's prayers will be answered?
2024 will make all of us feel better for knowing you and all that you share with us!
You have stated it just right, as usual, Robert!
Insightful as usual
Robert Reich has laid down ten ground rules as to how you/we behave in the next ten months until the presidential election. Well and good; I don't have any objections to any of these guidelines. But they will not lead the Democrats to victory - because they will fail to persuade both Tump followers and the swinging voters. The only thing that will persuade the swingers will be a radical change in domestic economic policy that will foreground the plight of blue-collar and the struggling white population who have been ravaged by unemployment, under-employment, under-payment, involuntary part time and zero-hours employment contracts, degraded neighbourhoods and underfunded schooling for their children. Without hope for themselves and for the future of their children, they will vote massively for Donald Trump, both as their 'saving angel' and as a protest vote against a capitalist system that foist upon them two dominant parties that do the bidding of Big Business both as their funders and as their very effective lobby groups.
I repeat: nothing you/we do or say will give the Democrats an assured or decisive election victory. They won't listen to you. They will not believe that the Democratic Party will come to their rescue and lift them out of their poverty and semi-poverty and give them any hope that their children's education in underfunded schools will lift them out of their poverty. Incremental economic improvement will not do the trick.
Only a radical New Deal-style injection of job creation and retraining of the U.S. blue-collar and the white lumpen proletariat will turn the tide and defeat Trump's psychological hold over, and his political appeal to these very large sections of the U.S. electorate. The real stumbling block is the Democrats themselves: they blame it all on Trump. But Trump is just a symptom. What the Democrats don't seem to realise is that "faith in this Great Country" has been eroded ever since Reaganomics began to erode the living standards of so many Americans. Now, "the System" and the "New World Order" are questioned by the masses. This is why MAGA has become such a popular slogan: it signals the hope of a return to the days when full employment and job security was maintained and promoted by both parties - in fact, taken for granted.
The key word is HOPE. Only a radical turn in domestic economic policy will give the voters a sense of hope.
Not feasible to provide a radical turn in his domestic policy legislatively before the election. Biden should promise some of that for his 2nd term to give HOPE. Not sure we will see enough of that. They are a cautious group in the WhiteHouse.
Fortunately many swing voters will respond to the many things he has done. No one knows if it will be enough to win.
40 years of government disinvestment and the rise of anti-democatic power can't be changed overnight or in 4 years. Biden has made a good start given the playing field.
Steve, - "Not feasible" is not good enough. Robert Reich is worried that Donald Trump will win in November. He is right to be worried. True, Biden cannot implement, in full, a New Deal-style restructuring of the U.S. economy - which is in effect what I am suggesting by advocating an enormous, nationwide rescue package for blue-collar - in ten months; what he can do is to lay out a detailed plan as to how he will do it and a time line for carrying it out. And he can make a modest start within ten months. For example, he can demonstrate that he cannot bring economic reform unless the Democrats control both houses of Congress.
Things can't be changed in ten months, but the plan can be introduced and adopted as Democratic Party policy. If it's detailed, the plan will carry weight and conviction. If we are at war with Donald Trump, then we are in it to WIN and all stops have to be pulled.
I agree. Biden should do something like this plan you suggest. However it should be sold at the 5th grade level--very simple very short . like a 3 or 4 liner. Any details can be done for that much smaller part of the electorate who want to know more.
But not too detailed as to cause more fractures in the Party or turn off voters who dislike some of the details. Keep it broad and populist with words people like with room for people to read into it what they want. How or does he deal with immigration or even the national debt- I dunno. By the way, the Party platform looks good but it's a book.
Steve, - "Very simple very short" won't do the trick. Of course, the introduction to the plan should be brief and to the point. But the plan itself needs to be detailed so as to convince the swinging voters (and some committed Trumpist voters) that the plan has been carefully considered, costed, and will target blue-collar and their decrepit environments. Apart from injecting large sums into job creation, retraining, and schools funding, urban renewal would need to be part of the over-all plan. The plan needs to be dramatic if it is to have a voter impact on the psychological level. I hesitate to say this, but it needs to have elements of Roosevelt's New Deal and Mao's Great Leap Forward - that is, both economic substance and sociological razzamatazz.
I take your point about maintaining unity within the Democratic Party. However, I do believe Robert Reich is correct when he says that drastic measures are needed to ensure a Democrat win in November. In fact, Mr Reich is himself invoking a semi-Maoist approach by calling for the masses (of Democrat voters) to make personal sacrifices for the common good of the country. I am, however, saying that more is required than a populist awakening: namely a from-the-top-down directed and orchestrated radical policy change that will make the ordinary American sit up and marvel at its reach and bravery.
This is no time to consider the sensitivities of local or factional snowflakes. There are many people who are wondering whether the U.S. is on the brink of civil war. Well, one way to assuage this threat - if real - is to offer the American blue collar voter a New Deal that really FEELS like a new deal. Democrats need to cease regarding blue collar as deplorables in a basket and an enemy within, and instead embrace this demographic section of the U.S. as a friend who needs TLC and a loving embrace - if not a bear hug.
we'll see what he does. It won't be as dramatic as you or i would like,
Unfortunately I think you will be proven right, Steve.
I was a Citizens Party candidate for state senate in 1982. Our motto was "We don't need a New Deal... We need a NEW DECK!"
Greg, - A new deck of cards?
It’s a metaphor!
Yes, I know it's a metaphor ... but for what? What does a 'new deck' mean in practice? New presidential candidates? I'd vote for new policies - they're desperately needed. We need to TALK with Putin, and we need to stop supporting Israel's collective punishment in the Gaza Strip. We need radically new economic policies domestically. These are policies that Joe Biden himself could institute; there is no 'new deck' on the horizon - no-one is going to remove Biden at this late state of the election campaign, even though it might be wise to do so.