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Here in the USA we gasp at the lies that are fed to Russians.citizens by their leaders, who tell their people that Ukrainian atrocities are staged. Yet the Republicans do the same thing, spreading lies to their own people about January 6, and those people just lap it up. It is unbelievable how far they push their big lies.

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Apr 26, 2022·edited Apr 26, 2022

Is the United States a Republic or a Democracy? Your answer to that question will determine who our government answers to: Representatives or Citizens.

Maintaining both the electoral college and the popular vote, kept this an open question for 246 years. The time has come to choose.

The Republicans are fighting to establish a Republic and end Democracy forever. The “BIG lie” is code for Republic. “Taking our country back” means back to a Republic (back to a time when it was so difficult to vote, representatives were citizen’s only real choice of being heard). When Republicans talk about “values” they are talking about money – not morals. Republican voters are passionately interested in controlling American society. It’s a marriage made in heaven, for Republican leaders have no interest in morals. In exchange for control of the Republic, Republican Party leaders are promising their followers complete control over the morals of the country, including enforcement by the courts and police – and if necessary, the military.

If Americans choose a Republic, the wealthiest elites in history will own America. Elon Musk buying Twitter for $46-billion, while I have $470.00 in my checking account made my case.

However, if Americans choose Democracy, citizens will acquire power never seen in human history. I’m on the side of Democracy. I have faith and confidence in my fellow citizens.

Until the BIG question has been answered once and for all, nothing else matters.

On November 5, 2024, the BIG question will be placed before us. We will NOT be voting for a President. We will be voting FOR a Democracy or a Republic.

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Apr 26, 2022·edited Apr 26, 2022

A judge just charged ol' Tweety with contempt of court and is fining him $10,000/day he doesn't appear to testify. To most people, that's a heavy fine. For ol' Tweety and his ilk, that's not even a slap on the wrist! For ol' Tweety and his ilk, it's pocket change they'll write-off as cost of doing business. >When< will judges catch on and begin dispatching state or federal marshals to frog-march that a$$hole and his like-minded a$$hole followers to a cold, dark cell until they >respect< their subpoenas ‽

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If memory serves, as far back as March of 2021, policy experts started sounding the alarm, asserting that the perpetuation of false grievances that the 2020 election was stolen would succeed unimpeded if Senate Democrats didn’t change the Senate filibuster rule. Fast-forward to the Senate vote in January of 2022, wherein Manchin’s and Sinema’s obstruction of a modest reform to the filibuster blocked the passage of nationwide minimum voter protection safeguards which would have preempted and superseded any state law in conflict with any of its provisions.

Considering Republican state legislators, as we speak, are ruthlessly changing election rules to change who can be in charge, how votes are counted, and how they’re certified, the question, absent any federal voter protections, is how do we out-organize them?

Step one: We acknowledge, fair or not, that politics largely is perception, and, though Republicans have no ideas other than ones arising from greed and self-serving impulses, their strategy of running on divisiveness, far too often, wins them elections. Next we prevail upon every Democrat, consistently and methodically, to push against Republicans’ avarice, against their machinations, and against their manipulations with the one tool the far-right, in particular, loathes more than liberals—the truth.

Step two: We confront another painful truth, that, despite Dems frequently quoted as saying, “we plan to focus on kitchen table issues,” in the past 15 months, Dems haven’t been able to extend the child tax credit or lower prescription drug costs or improve childcare or raise the minimum wage to $15…, legislation that actually would make people’s lives easier and would be counter-inflationary. Then we prevail upon Senate Democrats to pass into law at least a piece of Biden’s BBB social and climate package and present it to voters as a down payment of more to come if Dems retain the House and pick up at least 2 Senate seats.

As a final point, I would note, were they to build on their majority, Dems, in my view, would capture the dynamic of the political conversation in the country for the foreseeable future.

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This Republican party is the party of Putin. If you want to be kept in the dark, exploited, blocked from free speech under threat of draconian jail time, or death by poisoning or some other sort of abuse, vote Republican in America, land of the 'free' (fascists). That is where we will be headed if they get 'elected'. Personal liberties will disappear under their rule.

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Inciting an insurrection is a seditious act punishable by imprisonment. Trump and his enablers are guilty of sedition and the electorate needs to know it. Merrick Garland has enough evidence to lock them all up.

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I assume many of those who won't speak outside the GOP and in have been involved with illegal gains in money, sometimes a lot of money, and they fear if Trump goes down, they will be exposed. It is a kind of conspiracy: they all want into or are into a kleptocracy. I'm not sure I would honor any of them with the term fascism, for that implies a real ideology; they lack that altogether: they show themselves rather to be all unprincipled scum at core.

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Apr 26, 2022·edited Apr 26, 2022

A "HEADS-UP": Everyone make sure not to miss the links in Prof Reich's message in the sentence "Fully 85 percent of Republicans now believe it (35 percent of Americans overall believe it)." Both 85 percent & 35 percent are underlined. They're links to the same Atlantic article at : https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/04/trump-voters-big-lie-stolen-election/629572/

It's a good article.

Also: in the 2nd paragraph, there are two underlined words which are also links pointing to a Pressreader article at https://www.pressreader.com/usa/santa-fe-new-mexican/20220424/282071985460523 (an outlet I'm unfamiliar with, but will keep in mind.)

I >mightily< appreciate links to references.

Message here, if you see underlined words in Prof Reich's morning essays, make sure to click on them - just in case they're links. (On the other hand, links usually show-up in blue. These links remain black in my email client, like the rest of the text, so it's not clear the underline is a link.)

Those of you who >did< notice the links, please disregard this comment.

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Apr 26, 2022·edited Apr 27, 2022

When power and control become more important than democracy and law, as we’re seeing in the republican party, our only hope is that Americans recognize the deception and removes them from office.

In all my years I have never seen such weakness and fear in one party, paralyzed in fear that a narcissistic sociopath will destroy their careers should they speak the truth. I’ve also never seen the media so complacent and eager to capitalize by normalizing or pushing false equivalencies.

Donald Trump instigated and contributed to a deadly insurrection against our government with the help of several high-level sycophants, yet we see some of them featured on primetime tv shows or as guest speakers on cable outlets. The only place we should see Trumps face is in a courtroom, charged for his crimes against our nation and not in an interview with his orange sweaty face spewing the same lies. We have one chance to avert and stop fascism in it track, I hope voters realize this.

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We still have a Constitution, which Trump swore to protect and defend. He broke his oath. Isn't that enough to prosecute, indict, and imprison him? Somebody who understands the law better than I do, please share, what can we do to pressure the Justice Department to vigorously prosecute Trump? He needs to be barred from running for office and removed from influence. How do we make this happen? We need hope and concrete action steps.

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I'd like to see us enlist the aid of past presidents and vice presidents to do a media blitz of interviews on all the major news programs and talk shows, asking the simple question - WHY ARE YOU LYING, calling out every politician BY NAME who perpetuates the 2020 "stolen election" lie.

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Part of the problem in this country stems from our judicial system. Why does it take so long to bring people to trial? Jan. 6, 2021 is now almost 16 months ago, and we still don’t have indictments against most of the ringleaders, let alone trial dates. This gives the conspiracy theorists plenty of time to spin their ridiculous lies, and “alternative facts.” “Justice delayed is justice denied.”

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The billionaires who backed Trump are bankrolling Republican candidates so the price of having any conscience is negotiable depending upon an individual's standing in the polls and abilities to raise funding from non Trump sources.More years of idiocy lie ahead for America unless the Democrats can mount an effective campaign that focuses on the bread and butter issues of living costs,health access,and national security which should be vigorously protected against Chinese or Russian money.

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Thank you professor. We are roughly the same age. You are a little older but have aged better. You have taught that this slid was a long time coming. The question I struggle with is, "What can I, with my strengths and weakness, do?" You tell me that I should not feel helpless and hopeless but it is hard.

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What a follow up to yesterday's post about our newest version of Rupert Murdoch. Lying has been normalized it seems. So extreme we are no longer shocked.

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Have we not become a country of narcissists obsessed with i-stuff, and me-concerns? Have we also not become a country where winning is worshipped in the market, in politics, and in sports of all kind? A country where "greed" is deemed a positive?

This country I'm positing may be more the country admired by the wealthier class, aka, more likely to vote republican. I believe that only a severe economic or environmental event will bring us back to a less divided, more we-country. "United we stand, divided we fall?"

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