In what universe is Trump morally equivalent to Biden? I’m not very happy about the stance with respect to Israel or the new immigration policy by the Biden administration but how is thst equivalent to locking up and deporting 10 million immigrants, using the justice department to go after anyone who ever opposed the president, waiving around classified intelligence like it’s Halloween candy to show off for all his friends, attempting to overthrow a valid election or the many other crimes Trump has committed or has publicly stated he will commit if he’s elected again? Stopping federal funding for any public school that requires vaccinations, filling up vital civil service jobs with people who toe the party line instead of know how to do their jobs, take off all limits on campaign contributions and all the rest of the Project 2025 playbook? People who think Biden is anything like that are the very definition of low information voters.
Power Corrupts, thanks for reminding me of Eleanor's quote. She was a force for good in the world, a wise, strategic, strong, and loving woman who gave the world the Bill of Human Rights and a changed for the better at that time, United Nations. What a great role model!
PowerCorrupts : just watching the "news' in heat and humidity will cause sweat, exacerbated by the electric bills!. Can't afford "mandatory" exercise! Where and by whom is it "mandatory"?$40. Per month at Anytime Fitness. And one must share the space with strangers who could be MAGATs!!! = More sweat! Just can't 'win'. Canada requires at least 5 year wait to emigrate! Might as well jump into a lake!
Because the Sackler family was behind creating & more specifically the marketing of both Valium and OxyContin--just different generations of the family!
THEY SHOULD BE IN JAIL, but in the us they get rich and stay rich even when they kill hundreds of thousands of people
“Go running to the cupboard for Mother’s little helpers”…as one song lyric aptly described…or, more tragically, albeit Canadian, Matthew Perry’s account of freely giving children drugs to “help them behave”…
It’s not for that except in cases where a child will harm himself or others with extremely violent behavior issues but there are so many different drugs out now and all doctors shouldn’t be prescribing them. They should specialize in that field.
Informed dude. Be informed on the sever cases of children with ADD and worse. This medication should not be handed out like candy no but wasn’t its intention, of course like everything made for the benefit of those who require it-it will be abused to the umptenth degree. Always.
A poor choice between un-equals is what this country has sadly come to. Emigrating to Portugal is looking pretty good right now if convicted felon Trump gets in again.
No. It’s your country. Stay and make it better. I asked my grandsons wife why she left Mexico and she said it’s corrupt, I asked her then why nobody thought of rising up and taking their country back, she just shrugged her shoulders. Nobody knows why. They just leave. We can’t give our democracy to the gazillionaires who back tRump. Of course they’ll get out of it what they want but it’s no better any place else. The gap is ever widening everywhere.
I what effing world is Biden messing up our country? We're making more progress than ever in improving conditions and if you're in a situation where you have the choice to emigrate (since most countries only let you stay if you can park a lot of money for years or are in an in demand profession and young) then you are doing well. Nice to know so many can't even stay and vote to help.
L Volkoff I just read this again and it’s sad that Americans have become this cowardly that they would rather run away that stand their ground and declare “morons will not take our democracy.” It’s sad that most people know so little of the suffering in our history that helped us get here today and there’s so much left to do. So much, but fair whether Americans aren’t willing. They don’t have to take up arms in military service like some modern countries require, there are so many ways to rid ourselves of the poisoned well tRump brought about and it won’t be over night but it will be done. One great thing is that we have a good president, a good man, a good person in the White House who so many do not seem to notice as if they’re listening more to Fox News interpretation of things not reality.
Right on and thank you! I traveled quite a bit since 2005 and the last thing I want to hear is complaints from tourists about everything under the sun, i.e., "Doesn't anyone here speak English?" or "Some guy is staring at me!" Yes, we do when tourists visit Jordan, although there are tour guides who speak other languages in addition to English.
Canada experienced unprecedented damage from wildfires between May and July 2023 due to abnormally warm, dry conditions across the country. More than 630 wildfires remained active nationwide as of early July, resulting in the displacement of more than 84,500 people and spread of dangerous levels of smoke across much of the country, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center and Canadian Red Cross Society. The U.S. Government had mobilized approximately 1,500 wildland firefighting personnel to Canada in support of wildfire suppression efforts as of early May, and U.S. Ambassador to Canada David L. Cohen issued a declaration of humanitarian need due to the effects of wildfires on June 30. In response, USAID provided $100,000 to support people directly affected by wildfires, particularly in remote and indigenous communities.
Yikes, that's an abysmally low amount of money, especially considering the effects the smoke can inevitably have on the US, AND that some of our most pristine, cherished forested lands share those high fire rate risky border areas!
As a former firefighter paramedic, I know the various ways in which active fires, drought, beetle diseased trees can all spread without regard for human assigned borders, walls & fencing--even jumping across rivers and lakes.
I apologize to you-our neighbors to the North--and for the many Americans who regularly THREATEN Canada with their "novel idea" to immigrate there IF THINGS GET BAD HERE!
Hi, Roger. :-) Yes, I live in a country in the Middle East, which has been home to Palestinian, Kuwaiti (after Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait), Iraqi, and Syrian refugees, and where I still have some responsibilities to take care of. It's also been my home since 1974. As for my previous comment, have you ever visited Jordan or researched it?
What I know is that if Israel ever finds itself attacked and has its back to the wall it will not hesitate to use its nuclear weapons to not only destroy the Middle East, but also the world. No one needs to visit the Middle East to know that.
Again spoken like a truly dumb American who can think of nothing else other than war and exploitation. Seriously, stay where you are. Do a favour to us by not moving.
Canada experienced unprecedented damage from wildfires between May and July 2023 due to abnormally warm, dry conditions across the country. More than 630 wildfires remained active nationwide as of early July, resulting in the displacement of more than 84,500 people and spread of dangerous levels of smoke across much of the country, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center and Canadian Red Cross Society. The U.S. Government had mobilized approximately 1,500 wildland firefighting personnel to Canada in support of wildfire suppression efforts as of early May, and U.S. Ambassador to Canada David L. Cohen issued a declaration of humanitarian need due to the effects of wildfires on June 30. In response, USAID provided $100,000 to support people directly affected by wildfires, particularly in remote and indigenous communities.
There's a lot of frustration with America outside of America atm. Most of us are over the genocide of Palestinians and are angry at biden’s support of it.
At this point, both your options for president are despicable.
I agree. I think some people throw out phrases not really knowing what it means, but it sounds like a smart thing to say. A shallow comment coming from a young inexperienced voter worries me.
Like someone told me in 2,000 when I didn’t like that Bush became president, they told me if I didn’t like it to leave. That’s an ignorant thing to say. I am an American regardless and have the right to dislike my president as I disliked and do dislike Donald Trump. It’s the stupidest and oldest cliché there is.
Lots of Trolls and the problem is substack, too many comments and we don't know to whom a response was made. We have to remember to include the screen name of the person to which we are responding.
KG-Here are some facts… Biden passed much needed legislation to give hope for prosperity after trump mangled the pandemic, destroyed the economy and led an insurrection to overthrow the government. Biden lowered the unemployment rate from 6.3% to 3.5% and has held the unemployment rate below 4% for the longest period in 50 years. Biden created 15 million jobs in a little over 3 years (a record). Bidenomics grew the economy at a rate of 3.1% last year and reduced inflation to 1.9% from 9%. Biden united the West to help Ukraine fight Russia. Biden passed the first gun safety legislation in thirty years. The following legislation was also passed during Bidens first term: Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation, The Electoral Count Act, Science and Chips Act, Respect For Marriage Act, American Rescue Plan, PACT Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
You are very much like MAGA in your inability to understand the whole picture and to hyper focus on one thing. Israel is our intelligence for the entire Middle East. Frankly, I don’t agree with it and would love us to disassociate with them. But this is a fact. We are engaged in treaties with them as well as the fact that they are considered an ally. It is unfortunately complicated but I disagree with Biden on his tame response but would NEVER jeopardize my LGBTQIA friends and other women & people of color who will be endangered if FELON trump can cheat his way in with a close call vote!
When the rounding up and deporting begins do you think the selecting will be done carefully and that there will be any recourse if you or someone in your family are taken in by mistake? Can you be sure that you won’t be swept up in the frenzy of rounding up 11 million people.
The GOP has a plan for you. Ask about it.
DONT LET OTHER PEOPLE RUN YOUR LIFE. VOTE BLUE.
This is much more than just Biden vs Trump. School boards, state governments, congress. They are all crucial if you care about freedom to read (book banning), voting rights, healthcare, jobs.
And remember to only think the approved thoughts and speak the approved opinions or you’ll instantly lose your rights to speech and assembly. You know, because freedom.
It’s so hilarious watching all these assholes take the Pepsi challenge, except with fascism. Oh, but Biden is the better fascist, so line up and praise the new fuhrer. Don’t like fascism? You must want the fascist Trump to win.
Don’t try and escape the fascism through a third party either, you’ll only waste your fascism-choosing vote.
You realize since Biden took office anywhere from 8-13 million illegal immigrants have entered the country?
You realize that’s more people than the entire population of NY?
You realize they are doing this also to steal an election?
Biden and Trump are equally responsible and actually working together to ensure the circle and integrity of the mafia we call our gov doesn’t get taken down.
Robert F Kennedy jr chose a foreign agent as his VP
Nikki Haley is a liar
Vivek ram… is a biotech ceo. After Covid who tf would want a bio tech ceo to be president.
As far as im concerned anyone else running isn’t going to be a very good president.
If they were, they’d be in the media.
If I told you Christ was here in the flesh and 2024 was the year he was to assume the throne and reign over the earth as KING of KINGS & it was up to you all to write his name on the ballot and elect him to office.
Firstly illegal immigrants can’t vote. And secondly illegal immigrants work very hard to stay below the radar so they are extremely unlikely to do anything to get themselves noticed like trying to vote.
And if Trump and Biden are working together (there’s what’s left of your credibility gone right there) who is working to “steal” the election from whom?
In Dupage Co, IL, election workers compare our signatures with those on file. One has to verify one's identity when originally registering to vote. And absentee voting doesn't require someone to show a photo ID>
For starters, non-citizens cannot vote so it’s silly to accuse them of trying to steal an election, and this is a democracy, not a theocracy, so no, I would not vote for a religious leader of any stripe. If the person claiming to be Christ (as many have) was not born in this country he would not be eligible to be president according to our Constitution.
People like you want to destroy this country by tearing up our Constitution. No, I would not vote for any religious leader and I certainly would not vote for Criminal Trump, who is being used by religious leaders to gain control of our government so they can force their beliefs on the rest of us. No thanks.
They can vote in state elections bro. If they can be planted to elect people in certain states to power this ultimately leads to presidential elections too!
Don’t speak if you don’t know!
The fact is we actually had no constitutional rights or bill of rights since 1933!
FDR signed an emergency powers declaration and forgot to end it before leaving office.
Every president since then has secretly extended it or created a reason and excuse to “declare” it once again.
Whole time it’s always been in effect and they have to create reasons to tell the public its gunna be put into play
Dakotah, your sources of information are faulty. Federal law prohibits non-citizens from voting in federal elections. Every state has a law prohibiting non-citizens from voting in statewide elections. Some cities and Washington D.C. have passed ordinances allowing non-citizens to vote, but only for school board members (San Francisco) or only in municipal elections. NYC passed such a law but it has been found unconstitutional and withdrawn.
As to your point about Congress pressuring for a bill that would bar “illegals” (sic.) from voting: MAGA House Reps proposed a bill to prohibit non-citizens from voting in federal elections. It when no where because non-citizens are already prohibited from voting in federal elections. Failing that, they did propose and pass a bill prohibiting non-citizens from voting in local elections. To support The Big Lie, MAGA released statements implying that their bill applied to non-citizen voting in all elections to give Americans the false impression that non-citizens had been voting in all elections, including the election that was “stolen” from Trump.
The (right wing) Heritage Foundation tried to prove that non-citizen voting was a problem. They were only able to find 24 non-citizens who voted in a federal election over the 20 year period from 2003-2023. Why, because voter registrars check federal citizenship databases before registering voters, and there are severe prison penalties for illegal voting by Americans and any non-citizen caught voting would be deported.
WaPo has thousands of trolls, many work for foreign misinformation organizations. Don’t know why it’s so much worse than the NYT. Creeping Murdoch i fluence from their new editors?
Because Republicans in Congress are constantly making issues where there are none & writing legislation to solve a problem that doesn't exist, that they fabricated. That's what their constant hearings trying to impeach whomever & weaponize government under the pretense of stopping the weaponization of government are all about.
Yes, and the Right wing are skilled at election thefts. Bet you won't make that claim when Trump is elected, you will slink quietly back into the fillthy sewer you emerged from.
Second, we NEED MORE workers. Any American who wants a job gets one. Unemployment is at record lows. Businesses are being crippled by a lack of employees. Health care is crippled by a lack of workers. Restaurants are closing for a lack of staff.
Oh...and btw, NO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS VOTE. That is a MAGA lie.
The birth rate in America is below replacement levels. We need more younger workers to pay taxes and help support our society.
Immigrants commit way less crime than Americans born here!
The only people responsible for not improving the border situation are Trump and Johnson. They killed a bipartisan bill passed by the Senate which would have funded improvements and security issues at the border - to include better screening for fentanyl.
Please get your facts straight. And if you don't vote for Biden you will be responsible for Project 2025 and an America you won't recognize. You will have enabled fascism.
If I recall, the late, great, Senator and Presidential nominee, Bob Dole of Kansas once said, “you can have your own opinion, but not your own set of facts!”…or words to that effect. When you advise “get your facts straight”, to which facts are you referring? So much of what appears on the “interweb” is opinion, if loosely based on fact, those are rarely cited with credible reference.
Just sayin’…the art of meaningful discourse seems lost amid the noise.
Bill getting facts straight or looking at any information that causes one to think for themselves won’t be tolerated. Thankgod you bowed down to genocide Joe at the end of your comment. You were almost a Putin loving troll bot for not following the rest of the lemmings. Vote for RFK jr. Or any other 3rd party candidate. Also there’s never a good time to shower with your daughter. No matter what these perverts say
This rant is a prime example of the way some people are attempting to inoculate themselves from the natural consequences of their failure to vote for Biden. People who voted for Jill Stein in 2016 gave tRump the presidency. If you vote for a third party or if you simply choose not to vote based on some false equivalency, you are voting for tRump and you are responsible for what happens to this country if tRump takes power.
Yes, all us third party voters who always vote third party are actually owned by the Democrats, because democracy. Choose your corporate selected fascist or the bad guys win and kill millions before blotting out the sun. And ignore the 4 years Trump spent in office forwarding the interests of the rich and not killing half the country. The Democrats promise he will play his roll this time.
Maybe you have amnesia, but when Trump was first elected, it came to light that the people he employed at his golf courses were illegal immigrants. He liked them because they can't demand a decent pay check or vacations or even days off. You realize none of those people could vote? You realize the last election was scrutinized more than ANY other election and the few cases of fraud would never have changed the results? You also realize that even before being elected, Trump was found guilty of fraud with his charitable foundation and forced to close it and not have another one for several years? And that included his children. And he had to pay back millions. You also remember that Trump was found guilty of fraud with his school and had to pay back millions? You also remember he owes E Jean Carroll several million? The judge declared him a sexual predator. I could go on and on. So when Evangelicals say they back him because he has the same values they do, it really makes me think they need to start paying taxes because if a religion gets into politics it is no longer a tax free institution. Also they must not have many values. One more thing I should point out to you - the Second Coming will come as a theif in the night, not even Christ knows the day and hour. Trump could not even give ONE passage in the bible when asked. Please!
You forgot to mention the white nationalist Evangelicals... Who in my opinion are not Christian, because just read the parts about what Jesus did and said in the bible ..... None of his life was perverted like they are.
You must have missed the many bizarre things Jesus did in the Bible. Please read it. To say Jesus was all love & good exposes the fact that you do not know the bible.
Sugar & butterflies?? What a bizarre reference when talking about the bible with it’s rated X sections and utter non-sense uttered by so-called Jesus. It’s a book written by numerous pre-science men. You should be careful about what you have been told is in the bible snd what IS in the bible. Hardly a reference for anything really.
You should go to the Ellis Island campus and learn that all the immigrants that entered through New York were basically illegal. Our entire country was populated by illegals! I'm super proud that I am a second generation illegal immigrant! The only reason people don't like immigrants from Mexico is cuz they are not white!
Perhaps, but the right should absolutely love them because they are conservative. Catholics, Evangelicals, Pentecostals. The enemy of everything liberal and secular.
Who are you? You're spouting absolute nonsense. I can't believe you got 4 likes. Jesus Christ is not coming. Biden and Dumpy aren't working together. 13 million illegal immigrants are not invading the US to steal an election. For one thing, that's a crazy fantasy. For another, it doesn't work that way. Go away, CrazyPants.
Happy to see someone else apply that moniker…I understand the ramifications of following New Zealand and tossing the Murdochs out as not being legitimate news purveyors. Maybe, one measure would be reinstating “equal time” rules that once applied to broadcast and perhaps print? Media….TV and radio specifically, were required-for the common good! To broadcast equal time for opposing candidates.
Unthinkable in today’s media scape? Perhaps, but crucial when trying to build and establish a well informed citizenry, the foundation of effective self governance.
Constitutional challenges abound…but at some point, we need to find a path to safe, sane, electronic information in a world, never possible to even dream of when our Founders lived.
Could job with all the lies here! There is marked upswing in LEGAL immigration I will admit. But your liddle "CaRaVaNs" DO NOT EXIST, cult member. Why do you despise democracy so viciously???
You do realize Biden closed the border completely. Trump will be lost without his only rallying cry. Whatever will he do? Hmm…and your info isn’t accurate.
Let them all in seems to assumed to be a liberal or progressive agenda, and if one is not on board then one must be a racist and/or fascist.
People knee jerk and react. If the right is for something, then the left MUST be against it, this is how reverse psychology is used to manipulate.
Trump has said many a true thing, and the left defends. Like the media is the enemy of the people. And it is, it gave Trump mlllions of free air time and he became President thanks to the media, and they are still giving him free air time and with a few exceptions like Joy Reid and Rachel Maddow, not taking him to task as they should. Trump called the FBI the enemy of the people and even had James Comey investigated. I suppose I am suppose to defend the man who pulled an October surprise in Trump's favor.
And so it goes.
As far as immigration. Trump mentioned that the immigrants at the border speak almost every tongue on the planet. And it is true, they are flying in from Gabon, Nigeria, India, China, the Mid east west and east Asia, Africa and where do they get the money, and the passports and Visa's to enter Mexico? No body asks.
Nobody questions the Venezuelans, the trip from Venezuela to the US Border if on foot, is periolous, especially through theDarian Gap in Panama, one runs a gauntlet of hostile natives, gangs who take all your money and even lives, poisonous snakes like the fer de lance, peccaries, jaquars, not to mention malaria laden mosquito's and yet they arrive at the border, with nice clean clothes, freshly scrubbed faces, and their vulnerable kids carrying dolls and soccer balls. They are obviously flying in from Venezuela, and the tickets are expensive, poor peasants can't afford them, so who are these people.
They are well to do, or former well to do, middle class, who have found themselves in the position of the peasants that they use to exploit, and witless Americans feel sorry for them and their sad story.
Those from Asia, Haiti, the Mideast, Africa are not poor economic migrants, because the only way to arrive in Mexico is by airplane, and tickets cost thousands.
And yes some of them are in fact terrorists, spies, even agents send to assassinate dissidents of their home country.. India sent an assassin to Canada and he succeeded, Modi sent one to America and he got caught.
There are genuine asylum seekers, from Central America, women and children seeking escape from raping and murdering right wing gangs.
The Hispanic migrants are natural allies of right wing. They are Catholics, Evangelicals, Pentecostals and are socially conservative, they may not be able to vote,until they become citizens but there children will.
A naturalized Mexican American is Mayra Flores, she is as fanatic a right winger as you can find, she representeds the 18th in Texas, and she isn't alone among right wing Hispanics. Tarrio, Fuentes, Arpaio, are names that roll easily off the tongue, not to mention the Cubano's of Florida. and they are not exceptions.
One voting bloc that appears to be going for Trump thid election is the Latino.
Thank you, Professor. Third party or write in, is to try to steal votes from Pres. Biden. T was trying that with Ye, in 2020 to get young people to vote for him then, off the ballot you go, Ye would tell his voters to vote for T. Ye was too late, CPT, and I am called a C, female. I vote for Pres. Biden.
Apparently the college campus universe. But how can this be? Are some students that confused and uninformed about what Trump and MAGA are doing to our democracy. Are foreign agents helping MAGA spread disinformation in our universities? I would bet on it. But still college students should be smart enough to know better, one would think.
It is the fact that a horrific genocide is being enabled by Biden that makes anyone with a heart who's done a little research extremely torn between voting for a cold-hearted genocidal maniac or a third party. If everyone who hates these choices rallied the vote for medical doctor Jill Stein, she could win. I despise DJT and thought Biden was doing pretty well until 10/7. I cannot vote for what I see as unrelenting evil. If Biden thinks he's a good Catholic, I'd say he qualifies for the other place as much as anyone. We should all be trying to stop our money being used to enable these atrocities. And all should be questioning and seeking information about Israel's actions and their stranglehold on the American people and our government, through 70 years of AIPAC money, propaganda, lies, eternal victimhood and the charge of antisemitism cast at anyone who doubts the rightness of their actions. They are torturing and killing the Palestinians and destroying all of their infrastructure with impunity. Those who look away disgust me thoroughly.
I think you'd best get your facts straight. Biden has deported far more migrants than Trump, as well as denying asylum to tens of thousands more. He has expanded Trump's Title 42 twice and is currently effectively shutting down the southern border for election season. He has been an accomplice to two genocides (and lies about them), slanders and gaslights and brutalizes the children of this country ("law and order" just like the Republicans, expands the surveillance state, wants to add 100,000 more cops to an unaccountable and brutal police force, escalates xenophobic rhetoric about China and muslims, and has been supportive of anti-abortion measures like the Hyde Amendment for decades. This is a very short list of the horrors Biden is complicit with. He is merely a pawn of greater forces and works diligently in the interest of militarism, Zionism, McCarthyism, nationalism, and the Democratic Party's brand of fascism. Biden is a war criminal and you don't care because you think it doesn't affect you directly. There is a large swath of our population who feels no difference under a Biden, Trump or Obama presidency. Rants aren't helpful, and being propagandized about Putin and Trump and fascism to the point that nothing else matters (even genocide) shows where our moral compass is pointing. The truth is simple and was told years ago by a philosopher who Democrats and Republicans alike pretend to admire but fail to follow : "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom." On top of that, you've got a party and its media saving "democracy" while stifling it on college campuses around the country, as well as in articles like this dictating democracy to Americans by admonishing them for wanting other choices. https://theintercept.com/2024/06/05/border-asylum-biden-executive-order/
Boris, aka Barry Kaufman, is a Putin Troll, He will say some things that liberals will agree with, then sets about attacking Biden and the Democrats in the service of Putin.
Facts? Your facts are not facts. Ridiculous to tell normal people voters that what you just said is factual. Where is the evidence of your pathetic post?
Sad to say, Biden is, like Trump, a politician, albeit a long standing, successful one for over forty years in the Senate and now the presidency. That’s doesn’t qualify Biden to be president again, except for the chilling fact that only he stands between us and Trump. Chilling indeed.
I agree with all you’ve said, Sioux; Keep the rants coming! Such words make us all feel better and powerful, but the only problem is that those who should hear them are blind and deaf to anything eschatological that blames their fearless leader and his cronies.
It would seem Republicans are at an impasse. They are having difficulty distinguishing the difference between stupidity and intelligence. One position they have too much of, the other they desperately need.
Donald the way that you wrote that leads to they have too much intelligence and desperately need stupidity. You should do a reversal of the order on one side of the equation, I suggest the former stupidity and intelligence, they have too much stiupidity and not enough inteligence.
Sioux you’re right in what you stated and anyone who sees an ounce of decency, morality, dignity in Donald Trump, well I don’t believe anyone can say they see that, they must have personal reasons for wanting him back in power like his calling the white supremacist at Charlottesville “good people” and telling the proud boys to “stand by” and his unfiltered dislike of Hispanics. He should have never been elected to the highest office in our land and has lowered the bar more than I ever dreamed. He has a narcissistic personality disorder, he can only feel for himself, he takes credit that’s isn’t his, he constantly brags on himself, he’s an embarrassment, he would be a joke if hadn’t done so much harm. I personally know of veteran caregiver benefits he and his Republican house took away when he signed the mission act of 2018, it looked good until you read the hundreds of pages and find that by adding more vets they covered cost by disqualifying others, they would’ve had to remove some of the tax breaks for the ultra wealthy and they weren’t about to do that.
Professor Reich: it is imperative that the moment the democrats regain control of the house and senate, the electoral vote must be removed from american political life. the reason it was enacted was due to racism, and THIS is the reason the entire country is trapped under minority rule from trump and his brain-damaged support goons.
A third-party bid is a terrible idea. The individuals running from this platform are rejects from the two fundamental political entries we are so familiar with. If we support anyone other than candidates from the two principal parties, in essence what we are doing is electing an egotistical moron to the Presidency. Make your vote count for something, ignore the efforts put forth by any individual running from the fringe.
“The two fundamental political entries” have, over the years, been fine-tuned by the GOP and DNC to appeal to whatever these dominant parties have decided will appeal to the most voters while still preserving their favorite agendas with as little compromise as they deem practical. It is hardly surprising that both have evolved to resemble each other so uncannily.
Their power comes from restricting the voting field to either/or and then demonizing each other. Each is the other’s strongest argument. A strong third party would weaken both by offering a real possibility of change, so both established parties unite in their desperation to destroy any threat to their power. This is what our democracy has evolved into.
Unfortunately there is no such party or candidate this time. There could've been in 2016 had Bernie decided, after being denied the Democratic nomination, to accept the Green Party's offer to head their ticket, as I urged him to do, but he didn't, & we saw what resulted. The Democratic Party establishment decided this time the nominee once again had to be Biden, & no good, strong candidate has emerged either inside or outside the Democratic Party, & now we face the truly existential threat that is Trump & the modern GOP, so we have no reasonable, moral alternative to Biden.
I live in a blue state. If you fine lovers of freedom who insist on choosing our votes, censoring our speech and dictating our opinions would slow down on blowing yourselves for 5 minutes, you’d realize very few of us have votes that count otherwise.
And that browbeating and arresting everyone who doesn’t vote Democrat until we effectively have a one party system (like now!), we will not wind up free.
Post Trump, how are you all going to restore democracy? Or are you just going to call Autocracy by another name?
Judge, the most recent numbers for Wisconsin are interesting, but it's just one poll. If you look at the latest polls from Michigan, https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-general/ they reveal the opposite: Trump wins if 3rd part candidates are on the ballot, otherwise it's even with a trend towards Trump (you see this if you use the drop-downs).
We have 5 months, and that is a long time in politics. Nevertheless, given that this is the most important election since 1936, the polls simply shouldn't be this close.
I thought of registering as Democrats to save the world then to realize the leader of the Democrat is currently and actively making a genocide possible. If this is meant by "saving the world" then I choose to let it burn.
KG: Before you vote, consider the serious plan for a trump administration, per the Heritage Foundation and 100 right wing organizations, with input from Trump loyalists including Mark Meadows and Stephen Miller:
If elected, Trump will:
· Invoke the Insurrection Act on Day One to put down protests.
· Build migrant detention camps to remove 11 million immigrants and deploy the U.S. military, both at the border and inland.
· Deploy the National Guard to American cities as he sees fit, without requests from cities or states
• Privatize Social Security: The plan is authored by Stephen Moore, a conservative economist and longtime advocate for privatization of social security…
· Use the DOJ to prosecute his enemies, including “the vermin in our midst… commies, democrats, President Biden, judges, prosecutors, generals,”
· Gut the U.S. civil service, replace with trump loyalists currently being recruited and trained by right wing organizations
· Let red states monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute those who violate abortion bans.
· To talk or teach about LBGTQ will be considered pornography, which will be made a crime and punished.
· Staff his Administration with acolytes who back his false assertion that the 2020 election was stolen.
· Eliminate Department of Education and Environmental Protection Agency and promote use of fossil fuels, eliminate funding for environmental projects under the Deficit Reduction Act
• Close the White House pandemic-preparedness office
· Withhold funds appropriated by Congress and use them for his purposes , according to top advisers.
· Fire a U.S. Attorney who does not carry out his order to prosecute someone, breaking with a tradition of independent law enforcement that dates from America’s founding.
· Pardon every one of his supporters accused of attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, more than 800 of whom have pleaded guilty or been convicted by a jury.
· Might not come to the aid of an attacked ally in Europe or Asia if he felt that country wasn’t paying enough for its own defense.
· Gut NATO and refuse to defend allies who come under attack by Russia or China. Stop sending weapons to Ukraine
And we won't be here debating anything-- take a look at Russian media--or Orban as CPAC mentor to The extent that they have an exchange program where people have stayed there with him and his administration learning from him for the past year or two or perhaps more so that they can enact everything that he has done in his country and have such success here in the US!
The insurrectionist is going to use the insurrection clause against the people who prevented his first insurrection. Not even in Shakespeare is there more exquisite irony. Now that I've had a little coffee, I see that it wasn't very clear. My sense of humor is weird. I'm sorry.
Or just watch the new Netflix series that our age group know all about so they must have made it as a learning or comparison show so that people who don’t know much about hitlers rise and the sycophants who helped him, the carrying out of the very things that trumps had hinted at doing and in some instances says he will do, like punish his enemies for instance. I’m sure this series, some taken from a diary of a well respected news reporter who was there, has been made explicitly for people who can’t see what’s right in front of them. I’ve read it and watched variations but this one goes right to the point of how Hitler wanted to “Make Germany Great Again,” and how he played on the emotions and used his own hatred to gain power and demanded total loyalty. And yes he too went to prison for a time for an attempted coup on his government. You can’t see history repeating itself if you don’t know the history, or care too.
"I have never witnessed a more totalitarian , paranoid , self/righteous or deceptive administration.in my lifetime." This sentence only makes sense if you are talking about Biden’s predecessor. As a description of that administration, it's on the money. As a description of Biden’s administration, it's laughably insane.
Yes, I know. That's why I didn't bother replying in detail. But it is rather amazing how much projection these people engage in. Pretty much every attack they make on Biden and the Democrats is actually true of their side. As some have put it, every one of their accusations is a confession.
You're right, Eric! Projection at its finest!! It is sad, but don't you know they are saying that we project! They cannot accept truth, facts, or evidence even when it smacks them right in the face! Vote Blue, America!!
WRONG, Donald TUMP must be deposed and put under the Leavenworth Federal prison to rot away into oblivion. The sooner, the better! What have the Rethuglicans become? Treasonous traitors and domestic terrorists!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Perhaps consider this: if Biden loses will he and his supporters try to create false panels of electors? Or march on the Capitol to try to get the result reversed? Will they threaten to hang Kamala Harris? And if Hunter Biden is convicted will his father cry that the Judge was crooked and the prosecutor bent?
Yet Trump has done all that and more already and you think Biden is totalitarian?
They will never reply or acknowledge these truths. Further evidence that these comments are generated by Russian produced bots or trolls, not actual people.
KG, are you aware of the Plan for 2025? Suggest you check it out before you vote. The list below shows just a few of the horrific action seriously planned for trump administration.
· Invoke the Insurrection Act on Day One to put down protests.
· Build migrant detention camps to remove 11 million immigrants and deploy the U.S. military, both at the border and inland.
· Deploy the National Guard to American cities as he sees fit, without requests from cities or states
• Privatize Social Security: The plan is authored by Stephen Moore, a conservative economist and longtime advocate for privatization of social security…
· Use the DOJ to prosecute his enemies, including “the vermin in our midst… commies, democrats, President Biden, judges, prosecutors, generals,”
· Gut the U.S. civil service, replace with trump loyalists currently being recruited and trained by right wing organizations
· Let red states monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute those who violate abortion bans.
· To talk or teach about LBGTQ will be considered pornography, which will be made a crime and punished.
· Staff his Administration with acolytes who back his false assertion that the 2020 election was stolen.
Totalitarian? Certainly not! Despite obstruction & sabotage by House & Senate Republicans, 2 senators of his own party & the Supreme Court against his grand plans to improve our environment & infrastructure & strengthen civil rights & opportunities, Biden respected & obeyed the separation & balance of governmental power, which is quite in contrast to what Trump did, tried to do & plans to do if he gets back in power. He has also been, for good or bad, hands off on the activities of the AG, FBI & DOJ, including the investigations & prosecutions, or lack or delay thereof, of Trump & scores of seditious members of Congress, corrupt judges & justices & their wives, which is again quite in contrast with Trump's behavior & intentions.
Paranoid? No indication of that, unlike Trump, who has been diagnosed from afar by psychologists & psychiatrists as suffering from a type of paranoia.
Self-righteous? Biden is relatively humble, especially compared to the sadonarcissistic megalomaniac Mango Mussolini.
Deceptive? No. Sometimes wishy-washy or indecisive or changeable, but not deceptive. You want deceptive? How about Alito? Thomas, Cannon... Making lame excuses for nefarious actions, including obstructing the judicial process in favor of Trump.
First it is imperative that democrats regain control of the democratic party which has been highjacked by lobbyists and special interest groups for the past 30 years.
Actually it wasn't racism that sprung the electoral college on us GrrlScientist, it was pure unadulterated snobbery. The framers of the Constitution were not only white and male - they were men of property and business. It was the working class white men they didn't trust. Remember they willingly considered the African slaves to be only 3/5 of a human being.
No, you're right M Trree, it was definitely classism. Slaves and indigenous people were not allowed to vote. Nor were females. This was them feeling intellectually superior, What a shock it must have been to discover females could actually think (and learn)
Fay Reid, thanks. I have read that the bad ones wanted slave holding states with less people than non-slave holding states with more people, to have an outsized vote. But either way, I agree classism was always it seems, at the very heart of what they did. And bad men have always been backlashing against women voting, and not being repressed and subjugated by men. It is now today reaching its apex. It's a sad and scary time.
Trump does not believe women have rights under the Constitution. It's up to the states, he says. In November we will decide the fate of women and democracy in America.
Quite agree about the Electoral College. The difference between fascism and our reasonable approximation to democracy will be decided in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Biden and Trump are neck and neck. The latest polls in June in those 3 states demonstrate that the Trump conviction has changed nothing.
I think Biden has been an excellent president, and along with Bill Maher, I would vote for his head in a jar of blue liquid. Unfortunately my opinion doesn't count. If Biden doesn't do enormously better after the first debate, then the DNC must move swiftly to remove him and install someone like Sanders. This is no time to go wobbly.
I agree on both counts, obviously the first is a simple fact. But Sanders is not perceived as being old, because he's vigorous (likewise, Trump) and perception is everything. Biden looks as lost as a patient who's just backed out of a nursing home.
This is so true. Professor Reich is absolutely correct about not voting for a third party candidate, but really only if you live in one of the five swing states that matter.
I live in Vermont. On élection day the state will be called for Biden 10 seconds after the polls close (Yay!). The outcome is not in question and if I wanted to votre for a third party (I don’t) I could without having any impact on the results.
The trolls must be having insomnia like me tonight.
I will vote for President Biden again, as I do. I don’t agree with everything he has done but I sure as hell don’t agree with anything the Combover Caligula has done or plans to do and I certainly won’t waste my one precious vote on a candidate that cannot possibly win.
Polling suggests that maybe Biden is the wasted vote. I am confused by the constant sniveling about saving democracy while effectively eliminating all semblance of democracy
Screw the polls. It's the undecided you have to educate. If they realize that democracy is at stake and the alternative is having a dictator in office, it will be a world no one will be happy in. Vote BLUE, regardless. Educate the undecided and the young fools who keep their faces buried in their phones. An equivalent of buried in the sand. Be enlightened all.
Except Trump already had 4 years, and we’ve lost more freedom under Biden. You will note Trump did not “lock her up”.
I really think at this point that clarifying how Biden will restore democracy after ruining it keeping Trump from a second term would get the Dems more votes than another toxic rant about how exercising our only meaningful political decision in line with our actual beliefs is fascism.
You “educated people “ when you threw Ukrainian people in the meat grinder. You educated them again when you let Zionist massacre Palestinians. It may not have the effect you had hoped for
Maybe monkeys might fly outta both of their old butts, but at least THEY'd be younger?
Is that what you're suggesting?!
There's just WAY TOO MANY PPL either in China or Russia or being paid by China or Russia to friggin Post here (or paid by the drumpf & co grifters campaigns - so same thing except add in the saudis mbs!)
Actually, the Democrats haven't had their convention yet and still have the opportunity to put someone completely different in. Will they do that? Of course not because they're too wrapped up in their bubble where everything they do is right.
Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, just elevated Ronny Jackson and Scott Perry to the House Intelligence Committee! Professor Reich, who’s minding the store?
Shame on you Robert for supporting Biden. He has greenlighted genocide and for chastising others for voting third party. He is no better than Trump and furthermore, if you look at the totality of his political career he has done more harm to ppl than Trump. Let’s not forget he was one of the main authors of the crime bill and he also was a major contributor to the Glass-Steagall Act being repealed.
I’m just trying to raise awareness about Biden and how he showered with his daughter. It doesn’t seem to be getting a lot of press. Maybe because the press is bias. Anywho vote for RFK jr unless you’re a brainwashed supporter of the guy who showers with his daughter. Or the other guy. I hear he thinks his daughter is attractive. That sounds better than the shower thing but still not great.
Not true. But by now, everyone knows that when you claim someone is a bot it’s because your version of events is indefensible. Your warning about bots is telling the entire chat that I’m correct but you are a petty sore loser who can’t accept defeat. Like when Hillary made up Russia gate to deflect from her humiliating defeat to a game show host.
So that makes it okay for Biden to shower with his daughter? That tells me everything I need to know about you. But starting your idiotic drivel with umm helps as well. Thanks!! Vote for RFK jr because voting for Biden is wasting your vote.
Bathing a child is part of parenting, and some parents get themselves and their child done at the same time. She protests this excerpt from a private journal being published without permission and used against her father. The abundant drug use has destroyed your mind and character.
You're missing the big picture forest for the trees.
There won't BE ANOTHER ELECTION or a chance to vote, protest or even voice your opinions if Drumpf & Co get back in there!
Wake up to Project 2025 & dark money billionaires who just want workers who can't unionize, picket or anything to get better wages or benefits.
The 900+ pages of their MANDATE FOR LEADERSHIP are just part one of a four part conservative agenda.
Oh and The Mandate for Leadership was also the title to the giant checklist cheatsheet guide handed to Ronald Reagan back when he took office--didn't anyone ever wonder how someone like him was able to do all the terribly wrong & lasting damage--total reversal of fortune for the ENTIRE MIDDLE CLASS OF AMERICA?
Done by a former actor who was a terrible governor & so out of it with ACTUAL ALZHEIMER'S disease, so then his wife & staff basically enabled giving Iran arms for hostages? Then proceeded to allow CIA agents to deal in cocaine trafficking to THE US while Nancy preached Just Say No to drugs, etc etc
Good job Brandon! and on this site if you disagree with what a commenter thinks is virtuous and based on his or her own opinions, you are a troll. How sick is that. I am voting Jill Stein, go call me a troll. I could care less. And by the way Trump won in 2016 because of what preceded in a DEM administration. Massive foreclosures, bank bailouts, no Medicare for All or a Public Option... and going back, Biden's crime bill.. it's layered up ... if I were in Ohio, near my alma mater Oberlin's northeast Ohio District, I would vote Kucinich..running as an Independent. Go Dennis.
The ICJ and most of the rest of the world disagree. More countries are joining South Africa's petition to the ICJ to declare Israel a genocidal state and order it to cease and desist. It was announced today that Spain is joining. The Maldives Islands, where some Israelis like to vacation, will no longer admit people with Israeli passports. South Africa has stated that Israel's apartheid is worse than the one it endured.
Oh tRump would be better in your eyes? Glass-Steagall repeal was bipartisan and in retrospect was not a good Idea, but was part of the push for deregulation at the time. And aren't we all geniuses in hindsight? Look up the word genocide. And consider that Jehodists want to die as martyrs to live in paradise for eternity. They have no consideration for the lives of the Palestinians or they would not use them as human shields. And with all of their funds, what did they do for all the Palestinians who support them, nothing. They bought weapons and dug tunnels. And the Israelis who had made many peace deals with Hamas and they then broke every one of them. And Israelis are the bad guys. They have been harsh on the Palestinians because the Palestinians kept attacking Israelis. It is hard to sympathize with people who only want to kill you in the name of Muhammad. The terrorist that committed the massacre in Oct were thrilled to have murdered and raped some Jews. Jehodists live to kill infidels.
You sure are a product of the great Israeli propaganda machine. You're parroting everything the pro genocide, pro Israel crowd says. It's the IDF who uses Palestinians as human shields, including children, and against international law, when they do search missions in Gaza. If Hamas tried using civilians as shields it wouldn't work, as the IDF murders children, ambulance drivers, women waving white flags, basically any Palestinian they can. It's a flat out lie that Hamas has broken peace deals. Throughout the 1990's and 2000's Hamas made several proposals for peace in exchange for recognition of a Palestinian state by Israel; Israel either ignored these or flat out rejected them. In fact it's Israel right now that's preventing a ceasefire which is supported by the US and which Hamas has accepted. Palestinians aren't killing Israelis because of religion; they kill them because for the last 76 years Israelis have stolen their land, driven them from their homes, and murdered them. In 1948 over 15000 Palestinians were killed, 750,000 displaced from their homes, and over 500 Palestinian villages destroyed to create Israel. It's been the same ever since. Hamas exists because of the occupation, subjugation and dispossession of the indigenous Palestinian population by European Jews. Palestinians are second class citizens in their own country. Israel's an example of settler colonialism at its best.
How can we show the DNC we are not happy and want change if we give them our vote? Majority of the DNC is not inline with any of my political values or of people my age
Perhaps look at an election as being more like catching a bus than a taxi. Is it going in roughly the right direction or is it going to take you over a cliff. I think you know which is which in this particular bus station.
Not from my perspective. Which one will tell you their bus is the most popular even if it isn’t? Which one sends armed forces to keep you on their bus? And which one wants to run the other bus off the road?
Look at the police brutality in this country. The cops sent in to break up peaceful protests. And Biden just told asylum seekers they can't get on the bus at all.
Your perspective is consistent with making excuses for your inevitable failure. Did you ever notice that it’s always the DNC that is afraid of the third party candidate while simultaneously bemoaning a threat to democracy? It’s likely that those that voted third party were simply not going to vote. You are excusing your failure before it even happens. Bernie, Jill stein, Ralph Nader, teddy Kennedy, RFK jr. Etc. Must be an election year. I smell stupid old dinosaurs making excuses for their own self inflicted failures.
There are very substantial differences between the two candidates on foreign policy. Biden supports Ukraine in its fight against Russian imperialism. The other guy would abandon Ukraine to its attacker. Biden coordinates with European and Asian allies. The other guy doesn't get along with most of them (he prefers dictators) and would pull the US out of NATO. As for Gaza, at least Biden makes some effort to restrain Israel, even if it's inadequate. The other guy would do NOTHING to restrain Israel.
And then of course there's the world's number one existential threat, the climate crisis. Biden is doing something about that, even if it is less than he could or should be doing. The other guy would undo everything Biden has done and virtually guarantee that the world will have no chance of avoiding catastrophic levels of warming.
To reiterate, there's an enormous difference between the two candidates, and anyone who cares about the future of humanity should be rooting for Biden.
You speak for yourself. From my U.K. perspective there is a yawning chasm between both parties and their candidates, starting (and probably ending) with what they will do after the result is announced, which IMHO tells us all we need to know. Only one will whine and claim that he’s been robbed. Only one will have supporters that threaten or use violence. Only one will break the law to try to get into the WH. Only one is working for a foreign power. And you don’t need me to tell you which one that is.
This is tiresome and myopic, playing the race card,playing victim. Americans are suckers for the game, I know, now whites are getting the game playing victim, because of affirmative actions and so called "reverse discrimination"
The government of all countries are responsible for the condition of their citizens.
The situation in any country, red, yellow, black and white is the responsibility of that countries government,and he people put that government in charge, even if it is a coup.
If Trump becomes #47, and America becomes a dictatorship, then Americans are responsible.
A "brown country"? That's an odd way to put it. In any case, it's the "brown countries", to use your term, who are already suffering the worst from climate change. And that's just going to get worse in the future. But just how much worse will be determined by who wins this election, and if the guy who has already promised fossil fuel executives that he'll gut environmental protections if they bankroll his campaign should win, many of those countries are looking at a future in which they'll literally become unlivable.
Yeh let's start with Gaza, where thousands of crazed Islamic Terrorists flew over, around and crashed through the walls, to rape and murder women, infants, childrens, elderly and disabled Jews, grabbed 240 hostages and ran back to Gaza thinking to use them as human shields and bargaining chips, then when the Jews said "nope" they hid behind their own women and children as human shields.
Sure let's start with Gaza.
And ignore the man who is actually an aggrressor and killing women and children, and destroying a country in a real campagin of Genocide, as he has announced in public. Vladimir Putin.
You're still at it with Gaza, and still a fine example of the great Israeli propaganda machine. The rapes and baby beheadings of Oct. 7 have been debunked yet you keep bringing them up. Israel's been murdering women, infants, children, elderly and disabled Palestinians for the past 8 months, including starving them and denying medical care, firing upon starving people trying to access food, etc., committing innumerable atrocities and war crimes, but this doesn't seem to bother you in the least. The "crazed Islamic terrorists" are resistance fighters who exist because of 76 years of oppression, subjugation, and dispossession of the indigenous Palestinian population by European Jews. Israelis have been stealing Palestinian land, driving them from their homes and murdering them since 1948. Palestinians are now second class citizens in their own country.
There are no Palestinian human shields as the IDF guns down children, ambulance drivers, women waving white flags, medical workers, basically any Palestinian that moves. Most of the 38,000 killed by Israel have been women and children.
You're the only person I've ever heard claim there's a genocide going on in the Ukraine.
Deceit and deflection is the usual course for the pro genocide pro Israel crowd.
UK politics is similar. Domestic policies have two seemingly very different perspectives. In reality both chase after the approval of billionaires and their media.
From a foreign policy perspective there is even less difference: both UK and US are willing to oppose 95% of other nations at the UN and fully support Israel continually breaking international laws.
Well Tim: Why does Gaza occupy so much of your attention, while you totally ignore the real genocide of Putin in Ukraine. That is where the left goes wrong.
As regards the UN, your comment about the US and uK opposing 95% of the the UN is hyperbolic.
There are 193 Nations that are member os the UN. 57 of those nations are Muslim.
You and Europeans and Americans know nothing about Islam.
The first loyalty of a Muslim is to the Ummah or world wide community of Muslims, when it finds itself in conflict with any kufr (kaffir or unbeliever state, especially a Jewish state, as there is a 1400 year old war with the Jews, as written in the Quran and the haddiths.
And then there are the countries dependent on a supply of Muslim oil, so yes there is a motivation for many non Muslim states, and the UN, to side with Muslims.
You say the first loyalty of a Muslim is to the world wide community of Muslims; you could say the same for the Jews. The land called Palestine was inhabited for centuries by a diverse group of Arabs, Jews, Greeks, and others who lived together in relative peace and harmony. This changed in the late 19th century when the Zionists came along. The present conflict originates from Europeans exporting their problems and prejudices like antisemitism to weaker areas and countries like the middle east and Palestine, especially after WW2 but also before. In typical settler colonial fashion they slaughter the natives and grab the land for their own purposes. Most of the Global South (the 140+ in the UN who recognize a Palestinian state) consider Jews to be neither favored (chosen people narrative) nor privileged (owed something for the Jewish holocaust). And, yes, the Global South knows genocide.
You're the only person I've ever heard talk about a 1400 year war between Muslims and Jews, as well as a genocide in the Ukraine. But I guess you're saying so makes it so.
Ann Higgins, I would just put an s on foreign power. There's Russia, Saudia Arabia, and any and all who offer him money or power. Everything's for sale.
Spain and South Africa are also dependent on Muslim oil, aren't they.
So you have two dependencies supporting Islamic terrorists And that proves what.
I am old enough to know that black South Africa has a royal case against Israel, because Israel supported the White South African government, so this is payback.
Spain is just across the narrow mouth of the Mediterranean from Morocco and Algeria and has a very heavy population of Muslims
As of 2024, the Islamic Commission of Spain estimates that there are 2.5 million Muslims in Spain, which is about 5.32% of the country's population of 47 million. This is a 10-fold increase from the Muslim population in Spain over the past 30 years. However, some unofficial figures estimate that there are closer to 3 million Muslims in Spain.
So between oil, the proximity of Muslim countries and their internal population, what else do you expect Spain to do.
There is a positive correlation between the population of Muslims and the counties dependence on Arab oil and their support for the terorist gang of HAMAS
I understand that there are a considerable number of racists in the US who legitimise mass murder of Palestinians just by reference to many of them being Muslim. Such people can similarly ignore that the US is isolated at the UN.
What's less easy to fathom is how democrats manage to support the racist foreign policy even under Biden.
If Trump was in power many would point to the suppression of protests as evidence of racism. Inviting a war criminal to speak to Congress is occurring under Biden.
Using humanitarian convoys to conduct military operations while murdering hundreds of Palestinians is occurring with Biden's full support.
Well Tim: Palestinians don't belong to a race. Arab is not a race, it is an ethnic identity based on the native language. There are Chrisian Palestinians and Jewish Palestinians (Druze), as regards color they come in all shades from Black to white.
Because of America's detestable history with importing Africans for use as slaves, and the subsequent civil war, Jim Crow and struggles for equality, Americans are sensitive to race, and the first charge that comes up to silence debate is racism.
And that is bullshit. When everything is racism, nothing is racism.
As regards Islam. Not just the right, but the left should be concerned about Islam, it is intolerant of other religions, unless Christians and Jews submit.
It is homophobic to extremis, worse than Christianity, and misogynistic. Islamic countries actually practice gender apartheid. That the left doesn't complain about how Islam treats women and gays, atheists shows their hypocrisy, if not hypocrisy then self willed ignorance.
As regards what the right does and doesn't do. A broken clock is right twice a day. I am not so stupid as to fall into the trap of reverse psychology and react just because my enemy acts.
Trump said that the media is the enemy of the people. Should I react and defend the media. No, because of the media, and it's million dollars of free advertising Trump became President, and it is at it again, normalizing pervesion, treason, ieing, grifting.
He also said that the FBI is the enemy of the people. Should I react and defend the FBI, when it helped Trump get elected, when instead of investigating the Proud Boys, militias, the right wing making threats, it investigated BLM and "antifascists, and we wound up with Jan 6.
Now the right wing congressmen are investigating Merrick Garland, should I knee jerk and defend him. When he never even investigated much less indicted the plotters in Congress, and wasn't going to do anything about Trump, and took two years to appoint Jack Smith as special counsel., and only did so because he was shamed into it by his peers in an open letter.
Go ahead be a fool and a tool, be manipulated by reverse psychology, but I won't be.
The whole world is aghast at Palestinian children being murdered in their thousands by indiscriminate bombing and votes overwhelmingly to recognize the Palestinian state.
Your argument is that they are not a race.
I'm not going to debate or determine whether you have a semblance of humanity to Palestinians (that much is apparent).
My query is why Democrats believe the rest of the world will perceive any difference at all in the foreign policy of Trump or Biden.
This is all happening in the context of dwindling US influence. The global south is hell bent on breaking the hegemony of the dollar (who could blame them?). Our idiot government has done the one thing Kissenger warned never to do: let China and Russia get close. NATO is going to lose in Ukraine. And it’s not looking good for Netanyahu in the long run. We’ve hollowed out our industrial base to the point that we can’t supply both conflicts. We’re overextended and behaving increasingly irrationally on the global stage. When the next financial crisis hits (when, not if), it will be a tremendous crash. No wonder the dems aren’t that keen on winning this time around.
It seems that EVERY election boils down to choosing the lesser of two evils. Not so much because We are terrified of the greater of two evils, but because We have decided that ONLY a Democrat or Republican stands any reasonable chance of winning to office.... and most people don't want to "waste their vote" on someone that they actually _like_ and wish they were the ones going to DC. (Less than 1% of members of Congress are from Parties other than Democrats or Republicans.)
Isn't promoting a Two-Party system of government the antithesis of Democracy? Because ^that mindset is tattooed on the brain of every American, We The People are, in fact, doomed to be voting NOT for who We actually want in office, but rather which of the two race horses is likely to screw over We The People **the least**. Further, it promotes, as We can plainly see, EXTREME tribalism as the two Parties continually go for each other's throat. Compromise has become nearly impossible -- and it's only likely to get worse.
So I really don't fault young people for being disenchanted by the way The System is now. Now, while they are still idealistic, I'm sure they will entertain the idea of voting for whoever they _actually_ want, even if that candidate's run for office is doomed. But pretty much inevitably, Harsh Reality will sink in and convince them that the greater evil really IS pretty bad for America and MUST be stopped at all costs. And so they will more than likely almost immediately commence a political lifetime of voting for "the lesser of two evils," election after election after election after.....
The "lesser of two evils" is inevitable because We The People do NOT get to choose the candidates that We are permitted to vote for. The candidates are chosen by the Powers That Be in the two major PARTIES. Since "everybody knows" ONLY a Dem or a Republican has any real chance of winning, candidates are required to sell their souls to the Party of their choice. In exchange for a Party endorsement, they MUST swear an oath of fealty to the Party first and foremost -- and to heck with serving the needs of The People who are the ones that actually vote them into office.
Power comes with organization, hence political parties. The notion that a candidate unaffiliated with any well organized party can accomplish anything is sheer wishful thinking. Right-wingers became powerful when they gained control of the Republican Party. Remaining "independent" in such a situation is delusional. You will be one or the other even if you don't vote--or vote for a an ephemeral third party candidate.
In practice, the Independents in Congress caucus with one or the other of the two major Parties. Which makes them de facto members of those Parties. So, as you say, being an Independent in Congress is an illusion.
Robert, I love your articles, I follow you and have done so for years. Sadly, I cannot vote for Genocide Joe. I just can't bring myself to cross that red line. I'm not telling anyone what to do, but I personally will vote Jill Stein.
Does climate change matter? do human rights matter? Do taxes matter? Does healthcare matter? There are clear and major differences between Republicans and Democrats. You ignore them. Why?
First, those of us who live in solidly blue states can vote third party without danger. Second, we should. The DNC has proved itself anti-democratic (and defended it in court). The reason that the far-right is growing worldwide is that the supposed left sold itself to the 1% and has failed to do anything for the 99%. End of story.
Yeah Mike my thoughts exactly. I vote in Washington state. Have come to that conclusion. Since we are the ones not taking any risk, the least we can do - should do - is vote our conscience and be counted as such.
Mike - I guess we can only be guaranteed a count if we vote third party - not necessarily as write-in (which I was hoping to do). I'm guessing you probably knew that. Kinda depressing re: write-in hoops to jump through (using this quora guy as resource who seems to know what he's talking about):
I voted Green in 2012, after it became clear that Obama didn't intend to keep his promises. Then I wrote in Bernie Sanders in 2016 & 2020, after the DNC cheated us. I would prefer to vote for Cornel West, but will vote Green if that's my best option. But Robert Reich's refusal to be honest (he knows perfectly well that both parties have been bought by the 1%) rankles. As does the dishonesty of all the supposedly intelligent people who refuse to publicly admit the core of our problem.
I live in a state that's going to vote for Trump. I am, therefore, not faced with a binary choice, but frankly, the fact that the one and only thing the two parties agree on is that you may only vote for one of them has locked us into a system of increasing extremes.
Biden & Trump are both truly evil. They both lie all the time. Both are criminals. Neither believes in true democracy, where people are told the truth, can freely express their opinions — and where the government listens to the people.
Trump has been convicted of crimes (although not the most serious ones he committed) and Biden is clearly guilty of complicity in genocide — generally considered to be the worst of crimes — as well as Israel's many other crimes, such as racism, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, attacks on Syria and Lebanon, and brutal military rule in the 'West Bank'. Biden, in turn, has also attacked other countries — most recently Yemen, which was actually living up to its responsibilities under the genocide convention while the US is doing the opposite.
I'd rather 'waste' my vote on Jill Stein than vote for either Biden or Trump. Voting for either of those two morally degenerate criminals is definitely a wasted vote.
Yes. That said I also understand that if Stein had the slightest chance of getting into a position of power, she would be turned or murdered. It’s just a way of registering our displeasure. Voting will not get us out of this mess. I don’t know what will other than absolutely massive civil disobedience, which requires a lot more people waking up.
I'm not going to argue with your deep desire to believe. Besides, voting Biden can't do any more harm. You're certainly anything wrong. He's already President. I just would like to caution you against investing any emotional energy in your position. At the end of the day it makes absolutely no difference who we vote for. Our ballots are not connected in any meaningful way to the levers of power.
I guess it's frustrating that you tell us over and over and over again all the problems with capitalism that are true under both parties and then insist we vote for one of those parties upholding it. Like, it's beyond frustrating. It's maddening. What is going to change in my lifetime if we keep doing the thing that caused the problem to try to fix the problem? Maybe Democrats will respond better if the circumstances are worse. I mean, it's worth a try. But what I really am hearing is that our democracy is frighteningly fragile and even Democrats aren't courageous enough to do a damn thing to try to substantively fix it because of their own self interests. Making your advice moot at best. I think you know as well as I do that Trump is not the problem. Yet you keep focusing on his defeat as the solution. Defeating Trump in this election changes nothing. Just like electing Obama didn't end but instead exacerbated racism. We need real solutions, and this ain't it.
Totally disagree with this article. If there was ever a time for a third party it’s now! Democrats & Republicans are NOT who they used too be. It is not your Fathers Democrat or Republican Party anymore!! It should be May the BEST person be elected too President! The one who may actually have certain beliefs from Both parties combined…
Even if you won’t vote for Biden, are ANY of the 3rd party candidates qualified to be President? Stein is a perennial candidate who’s never held a public office higher than town council, Kennedy is a nut-job, and Cornel West is just another political pundit who has never been elected to anything.
A vote for Biden is a vote for Harris, not happening, Biden will never make it 4 more years. So I may have to do a write in…my choice, this is still America….and at least I didn’t succumb too which idiot should be President!
Talk about blame shifting. Shame on you. You blame third party voters. THAT is anti-democracy at it’s worst. If anyone is to blame for a win by Trump it would be the democrats for supporting Biden for a second term. The “vote for Biden to defeat Trump” rhetoric worked in 2020 but NOT in 2024. What will finally wake up the democrats? The frustrated and disgusted forgotten masses that have turned to Trump. Those that are turning to third party because in a true democracy they must vote but their conscience will not allow them to vote for Trump. And they know Biden is not working for them. If Trump wins in November there is no blaming third party voters. There is only blame on the democrats for supporting big money politicians and forgetting about the segment of society that is not only forgotten by Bidenomics but growing exponentially every year that passes.
In what universe is Trump morally equivalent to Biden? I’m not very happy about the stance with respect to Israel or the new immigration policy by the Biden administration but how is thst equivalent to locking up and deporting 10 million immigrants, using the justice department to go after anyone who ever opposed the president, waiving around classified intelligence like it’s Halloween candy to show off for all his friends, attempting to overthrow a valid election or the many other crimes Trump has committed or has publicly stated he will commit if he’s elected again? Stopping federal funding for any public school that requires vaccinations, filling up vital civil service jobs with people who toe the party line instead of know how to do their jobs, take off all limits on campaign contributions and all the rest of the Project 2025 playbook? People who think Biden is anything like that are the very definition of low information voters.
Sioux Fleming, excellent rant! Thank you! We need to be able to counter the nonsense with a rant.
M tree ; rant, statement whatever gives the information!
Laurie Blair, yup, just give it our best, passionately.
Power Corrupts, thanks for reminding me of Eleanor's quote. She was a force for good in the world, a wise, strategic, strong, and loving woman who gave the world the Bill of Human Rights and a changed for the better at that time, United Nations. What a great role model!
PowerCorrupts : just watching the "news' in heat and humidity will cause sweat, exacerbated by the electric bills!. Can't afford "mandatory" exercise! Where and by whom is it "mandatory"?$40. Per month at Anytime Fitness. And one must share the space with strangers who could be MAGATs!!! = More sweat! Just can't 'win'. Canada requires at least 5 year wait to emigrate! Might as well jump into a lake!
Because the Sackler family was behind creating & more specifically the marketing of both Valium and OxyContin--just different generations of the family!
THEY SHOULD BE IN JAIL, but in the us they get rich and stay rich even when they kill hundreds of thousands of people
The oxcycontin that was coined as "not addictive" lie. Get the ads off of network tv from pharmaceutical inventors of more addictions .
“Go running to the cupboard for Mother’s little helpers”…as one song lyric aptly described…or, more tragically, albeit Canadian, Matthew Perry’s account of freely giving children drugs to “help them behave”…
We had the widespread use of Ritalin not long ago. Here.
It’s not for that except in cases where a child will harm himself or others with extremely violent behavior issues but there are so many different drugs out now and all doctors shouldn’t be prescribing them. They should specialize in that field.
Informed dude. Be informed on the sever cases of children with ADD and worse. This medication should not be handed out like candy no but wasn’t its intention, of course like everything made for the benefit of those who require it-it will be abused to the umptenth degree. Always.
A poor choice between un-equals is what this country has sadly come to. Emigrating to Portugal is looking pretty good right now if convicted felon Trump gets in again.
For those who have the means…Portugal, Spain, Italy, any number of places…
heck, driving across the bridge in Buffalo is a relief…one can feel the body relax, the mind unclench, one’s breathing deepens…sanity returns.✌️
No. It’s your country. Stay and make it better. I asked my grandsons wife why she left Mexico and she said it’s corrupt, I asked her then why nobody thought of rising up and taking their country back, she just shrugged her shoulders. Nobody knows why. They just leave. We can’t give our democracy to the gazillionaires who back tRump. Of course they’ll get out of it what they want but it’s no better any place else. The gap is ever widening everywhere.
I what effing world is Biden messing up our country? We're making more progress than ever in improving conditions and if you're in a situation where you have the choice to emigrate (since most countries only let you stay if you can park a lot of money for years or are in an in demand profession and young) then you are doing well. Nice to know so many can't even stay and vote to help.
I have or never have had any desire to leave America.
I no world is Biden messing up. TV news makes every day look like all is lost. The stuff they say over and over makes me sick.
Biden’s doing just fine but for anyone thinking they can’t tough out a little fake news then they should go. Weak links and all that.
L Volkoff I just read this again and it’s sad that Americans have become this cowardly that they would rather run away that stand their ground and declare “morons will not take our democracy.” It’s sad that most people know so little of the suffering in our history that helped us get here today and there’s so much left to do. So much, but fair whether Americans aren’t willing. They don’t have to take up arms in military service like some modern countries require, there are so many ways to rid ourselves of the poisoned well tRump brought about and it won’t be over night but it will be done. One great thing is that we have a good president, a good man, a good person in the White House who so many do not seem to notice as if they’re listening more to Fox News interpretation of things not reality.
Stay in your own hell hole and try to change it. Nobody wants dumb and arrogant Americans anywhere outside America and polluting other countries.
Right on and thank you! I traveled quite a bit since 2005 and the last thing I want to hear is complaints from tourists about everything under the sun, i.e., "Doesn't anyone here speak English?" or "Some guy is staring at me!" Yes, we do when tourists visit Jordan, although there are tour guides who speak other languages in addition to English.
Same to you, bubba. Whiat hell hole, exactly, do you live in? Hnnn, some where in Africa or the Middle East, maybe?
Spoke like a true dumb American. Like I said, please just stay in your hell hole. The world really doesn’t need Americans everywhere.
Canada experienced unprecedented damage from wildfires between May and July 2023 due to abnormally warm, dry conditions across the country. More than 630 wildfires remained active nationwide as of early July, resulting in the displacement of more than 84,500 people and spread of dangerous levels of smoke across much of the country, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center and Canadian Red Cross Society. The U.S. Government had mobilized approximately 1,500 wildland firefighting personnel to Canada in support of wildfire suppression efforts as of early May, and U.S. Ambassador to Canada David L. Cohen issued a declaration of humanitarian need due to the effects of wildfires on June 30. In response, USAID provided $100,000 to support people directly affected by wildfires, particularly in remote and indigenous communities.
Yikes, that's an abysmally low amount of money, especially considering the effects the smoke can inevitably have on the US, AND that some of our most pristine, cherished forested lands share those high fire rate risky border areas!
As a former firefighter paramedic, I know the various ways in which active fires, drought, beetle diseased trees can all spread without regard for human assigned borders, walls & fencing--even jumping across rivers and lakes.
I apologize to you-our neighbors to the North--and for the many Americans who regularly THREATEN Canada with their "novel idea" to immigrate there IF THINGS GET BAD HERE!
Yeah. yahoo, right?!
FU AH
Hi, Roger. :-) Yes, I live in a country in the Middle East, which has been home to Palestinian, Kuwaiti (after Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait), Iraqi, and Syrian refugees, and where I still have some responsibilities to take care of. It's also been my home since 1974. As for my previous comment, have you ever visited Jordan or researched it?
What I know is that if Israel ever finds itself attacked and has its back to the wall it will not hesitate to use its nuclear weapons to not only destroy the Middle East, but also the world. No one needs to visit the Middle East to know that.
Duly noted about not needing to visit the Middle East, but you brought up the Middle East as a hell hole, bud.
If war is ever declared on Canada this A M would be begging for American help as always.
Again spoken like a truly dumb American who can think of nothing else other than war and exploitation. Seriously, stay where you are. Do a favour to us by not moving.
There’s more where that came from
Canada experienced unprecedented damage from wildfires between May and July 2023 due to abnormally warm, dry conditions across the country. More than 630 wildfires remained active nationwide as of early July, resulting in the displacement of more than 84,500 people and spread of dangerous levels of smoke across much of the country, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center and Canadian Red Cross Society. The U.S. Government had mobilized approximately 1,500 wildland firefighting personnel to Canada in support of wildfire suppression efforts as of early May, and U.S. Ambassador to Canada David L. Cohen issued a declaration of humanitarian need due to the effects of wildfires on June 30. In response, USAID provided $100,000 to support people directly affected by wildfires, particularly in remote and indigenous communities.
You do realise that ALL of us help our neighbours when they're in trouble surely?
You're not special or unique.
It's exactly what we all do for each other during natural disasters. It's an obligation we ALL take on!
Only countering an ugly statement by an obviously ugly hearted person. I have nothing against Canada, and no desire to go there.
There's a lot of frustration with America outside of America atm. Most of us are over the genocide of Palestinians and are angry at biden’s support of it.
At this point, both your options for president are despicable.
Good luck!
I agree. I think some people throw out phrases not really knowing what it means, but it sounds like a smart thing to say. A shallow comment coming from a young inexperienced voter worries me.
Like someone told me in 2,000 when I didn’t like that Bush became president, they told me if I didn’t like it to leave. That’s an ignorant thing to say. I am an American regardless and have the right to dislike my president as I disliked and do dislike Donald Trump. It’s the stupidest and oldest cliché there is.
What comment(s) are you talking about?
Moral equivalence?
Don You answered my question witih a question.
Any I asked Tracy, what she was talking about. Not you.
Oops- sorry.
I am trying to follow the thread Don. Honestly, Whose comments were moral equivalence.?
I thought it was related to someone who said B & tRump were both morally equivalent. I got bogged down with trolls today- ugh.
Lots of Trolls and the problem is substack, too many comments and we don't know to whom a response was made. We have to remember to include the screen name of the person to which we are responding.
KG-Here are some facts… Biden passed much needed legislation to give hope for prosperity after trump mangled the pandemic, destroyed the economy and led an insurrection to overthrow the government. Biden lowered the unemployment rate from 6.3% to 3.5% and has held the unemployment rate below 4% for the longest period in 50 years. Biden created 15 million jobs in a little over 3 years (a record). Bidenomics grew the economy at a rate of 3.1% last year and reduced inflation to 1.9% from 9%. Biden united the West to help Ukraine fight Russia. Biden passed the first gun safety legislation in thirty years. The following legislation was also passed during Bidens first term: Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation, The Electoral Count Act, Science and Chips Act, Respect For Marriage Act, American Rescue Plan, PACT Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
You are very much like MAGA in your inability to understand the whole picture and to hyper focus on one thing. Israel is our intelligence for the entire Middle East. Frankly, I don’t agree with it and would love us to disassociate with them. But this is a fact. We are engaged in treaties with them as well as the fact that they are considered an ally. It is unfortunately complicated but I disagree with Biden on his tame response but would NEVER jeopardize my LGBTQIA friends and other women & people of color who will be endangered if FELON trump can cheat his way in with a close call vote!
You can hardly get more morally bankrupt than Trump. He is the closest to an antichrist you'll find anywhere with the possible exception of Putin.
"If there is such a thing as "political morality" it is being truthful. Trump?
If Biden is defeated KG you will love Trump. Wait, you already do, that is why you are here trying to demoralize Biden voters, isn't it.
Some more things to say.
When the rounding up and deporting begins do you think the selecting will be done carefully and that there will be any recourse if you or someone in your family are taken in by mistake? Can you be sure that you won’t be swept up in the frenzy of rounding up 11 million people.
The GOP has a plan for you. Ask about it.
DONT LET OTHER PEOPLE RUN YOUR LIFE. VOTE BLUE.
This is much more than just Biden vs Trump. School boards, state governments, congress. They are all crucial if you care about freedom to read (book banning), voting rights, healthcare, jobs.
And remember to only think the approved thoughts and speak the approved opinions or you’ll instantly lose your rights to speech and assembly. You know, because freedom.
It’s so hilarious watching all these assholes take the Pepsi challenge, except with fascism. Oh, but Biden is the better fascist, so line up and praise the new fuhrer. Don’t like fascism? You must want the fascist Trump to win.
Don’t try and escape the fascism through a third party either, you’ll only waste your fascism-choosing vote.
Uh….
You realize since Biden took office anywhere from 8-13 million illegal immigrants have entered the country?
You realize that’s more people than the entire population of NY?
You realize they are doing this also to steal an election?
Biden and Trump are equally responsible and actually working together to ensure the circle and integrity of the mafia we call our gov doesn’t get taken down.
Robert F Kennedy jr chose a foreign agent as his VP
Nikki Haley is a liar
Vivek ram… is a biotech ceo. After Covid who tf would want a bio tech ceo to be president.
As far as im concerned anyone else running isn’t going to be a very good president.
If they were, they’d be in the media.
If I told you Christ was here in the flesh and 2024 was the year he was to assume the throne and reign over the earth as KING of KINGS & it was up to you all to write his name on the ballot and elect him to office.
Would you choose him?
Firstly illegal immigrants can’t vote. And secondly illegal immigrants work very hard to stay below the radar so they are extremely unlikely to do anything to get themselves noticed like trying to vote.
And if Trump and Biden are working together (there’s what’s left of your credibility gone right there) who is working to “steal” the election from whom?
Here ourside Buffalo, New York, election workers check one's name off of a list.
No picture ID required? Trump: fraud! fraud! election stolen!
In Dupage Co, IL, election workers compare our signatures with those on file. One has to verify one's identity when originally registering to vote. And absentee voting doesn't require someone to show a photo ID>
For starters, non-citizens cannot vote so it’s silly to accuse them of trying to steal an election, and this is a democracy, not a theocracy, so no, I would not vote for a religious leader of any stripe. If the person claiming to be Christ (as many have) was not born in this country he would not be eligible to be president according to our Constitution.
People like you want to destroy this country by tearing up our Constitution. No, I would not vote for any religious leader and I certainly would not vote for Criminal Trump, who is being used by religious leaders to gain control of our government so they can force their beliefs on the rest of us. No thanks.
Amen on that. Thank you!
They can vote in state elections bro. If they can be planted to elect people in certain states to power this ultimately leads to presidential elections too!
Don’t speak if you don’t know!
The fact is we actually had no constitutional rights or bill of rights since 1933!
FDR signed an emergency powers declaration and forgot to end it before leaving office.
Every president since then has secretly extended it or created a reason and excuse to “declare” it once again.
Whole time it’s always been in effect and they have to create reasons to tell the public its gunna be put into play
I highly recommend rejoining objective reality. It's going to be quite the commute from... wherever you are, but it'll be worth it.
"You can't get there from here!" Inaccesible universe.
in what state or county can illegals vote? Just want to know.
Conspiracy theories stirred up in a one-sided history lesson
How can they vote in state elections? Forget the question. Caution everyone Dakotah is a right wing troll.
Dakotah is a lousy liar also. I am sure he does this for fun, to make you angry, but, common, spare us from this crap.
Dakotah is clearly a Crank, er Cronk.
Cronk is a german work for sick....
Actually it's "krank", but Cronk is clearly a crank if not krank.
Then the newsman of lore, Walter Cronkite, had a last name meaning..sickness?!
Cron kite, not Cronkite and Cronkite does not translate into sickness.
However infomed dude is a troll.
Was Cronkite suffering from Krankenheit? In any case, Cronk is no Cronkite.
If illegals can’t vote why was Congress pressuring for a bill that would bar illegals from voting??
They are getting IDs!
All you need to vote is an ID!
They are getting rent paid for 7 months and pre paid credit cards in NY!
Wake tf up!
This is election theft!
Because they wanted to mislead people like you. Looks like it worked.
Dakotah, your sources of information are faulty. Federal law prohibits non-citizens from voting in federal elections. Every state has a law prohibiting non-citizens from voting in statewide elections. Some cities and Washington D.C. have passed ordinances allowing non-citizens to vote, but only for school board members (San Francisco) or only in municipal elections. NYC passed such a law but it has been found unconstitutional and withdrawn.
As to your point about Congress pressuring for a bill that would bar “illegals” (sic.) from voting: MAGA House Reps proposed a bill to prohibit non-citizens from voting in federal elections. It when no where because non-citizens are already prohibited from voting in federal elections. Failing that, they did propose and pass a bill prohibiting non-citizens from voting in local elections. To support The Big Lie, MAGA released statements implying that their bill applied to non-citizen voting in all elections to give Americans the false impression that non-citizens had been voting in all elections, including the election that was “stolen” from Trump.
The (right wing) Heritage Foundation tried to prove that non-citizen voting was a problem. They were only able to find 24 non-citizens who voted in a federal election over the 20 year period from 2003-2023. Why, because voter registrars check federal citizenship databases before registering voters, and there are severe prison penalties for illegal voting by Americans and any non-citizen caught voting would be deported.
Folks, Mr. Crank is simply that. A troll or bot assigned to comment on WaPo political stories. Neither worth reading nor worthy of responding se.
WaPo has thousands of trolls, many work for foreign misinformation organizations. Don’t know why it’s so much worse than the NYT. Creeping Murdoch i fluence from their new editors?
It's owned by Bezos, who apparently doesn't want to be outFoxed by his musky billionaire rival.
And, like Crank, crude and virtually illiterate digital refuse.
The Republicans want to stir up the Maga base that tends to be less well read and less educated, justsayin.
You are a goofy .... Republican brainwash, fear mongering goof.
Please don't vote if you can't tell truth from lies.
Because Republicans in Congress are constantly making issues where there are none & writing legislation to solve a problem that doesn't exist, that they fabricated. That's what their constant hearings trying to impeach whomever & weaponize government under the pretense of stopping the weaponization of government are all about.
Yes, and the Right wing are skilled at election thefts. Bet you won't make that claim when Trump is elected, you will slink quietly back into the fillthy sewer you emerged from.
Bro google the mf facts and then shove it
Sorry, you are wrong on two points. First, your numbers are way, way off.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_immigration_to_the_United_States
Second, we NEED MORE workers. Any American who wants a job gets one. Unemployment is at record lows. Businesses are being crippled by a lack of employees. Health care is crippled by a lack of workers. Restaurants are closing for a lack of staff.
Oh...and btw, NO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS VOTE. That is a MAGA lie.
The birth rate in America is below replacement levels. We need more younger workers to pay taxes and help support our society.
Immigrants commit way less crime than Americans born here!
The only people responsible for not improving the border situation are Trump and Johnson. They killed a bipartisan bill passed by the Senate which would have funded improvements and security issues at the border - to include better screening for fentanyl.
Please get your facts straight. And if you don't vote for Biden you will be responsible for Project 2025 and an America you won't recognize. You will have enabled fascism.
And don't forget the boost they give to Social Security! Who would vote for anyone who calls immigrants "human scum"?
If I recall, the late, great, Senator and Presidential nominee, Bob Dole of Kansas once said, “you can have your own opinion, but not your own set of facts!”…or words to that effect. When you advise “get your facts straight”, to which facts are you referring? So much of what appears on the “interweb” is opinion, if loosely based on fact, those are rarely cited with credible reference.
Just sayin’…the art of meaningful discourse seems lost amid the noise.
Such nonsense. Guess the MAGAS have infiltrated these sites, too bad!
AS we get closer to November, the numbers increase, but after November they will fall silent, especially if Trump wins.
Sorry Bill, but Illegals do vote, just not in anything other than local elections (city council, mayor, etc. which may be why the confusion).
This from USA.gov: "Who can vote?"
You can vote in U.S. federal, state, and local elections if you:
**Are a U.S. citizen (some areas allow non-citizens to vote in local elections only)**
Meet your state's residency requirements
You can be experiencing homelessness and still meet these requirements.
Are 18 years old on or before Election Day
In almost every state, you can register to vote before you turn 18 if you will be 18 by Election Day.
Some states allow 17-year-olds who will be 18 by Election Day to vote in primaries.
Are registered to vote by your state's voter registration deadline. North Dakota does not require voter registration."
Your quote says US citizen, etc. Not US citizen "or".
I get it! But the fantasy that illegal immigrants can sway the nation as to the Congress and the presidency...that's a fantasy...right?
Bill getting facts straight or looking at any information that causes one to think for themselves won’t be tolerated. Thankgod you bowed down to genocide Joe at the end of your comment. You were almost a Putin loving troll bot for not following the rest of the lemmings. Vote for RFK jr. Or any other 3rd party candidate. Also there’s never a good time to shower with your daughter. No matter what these perverts say
Chuck, how old is your daughter?
This rant is a prime example of the way some people are attempting to inoculate themselves from the natural consequences of their failure to vote for Biden. People who voted for Jill Stein in 2016 gave tRump the presidency. If you vote for a third party or if you simply choose not to vote based on some false equivalency, you are voting for tRump and you are responsible for what happens to this country if tRump takes power.
Yes, all us third party voters who always vote third party are actually owned by the Democrats, because democracy. Choose your corporate selected fascist or the bad guys win and kill millions before blotting out the sun. And ignore the 4 years Trump spent in office forwarding the interests of the rich and not killing half the country. The Democrats promise he will play his roll this time.
Maybe you have amnesia, but when Trump was first elected, it came to light that the people he employed at his golf courses were illegal immigrants. He liked them because they can't demand a decent pay check or vacations or even days off. You realize none of those people could vote? You realize the last election was scrutinized more than ANY other election and the few cases of fraud would never have changed the results? You also realize that even before being elected, Trump was found guilty of fraud with his charitable foundation and forced to close it and not have another one for several years? And that included his children. And he had to pay back millions. You also remember that Trump was found guilty of fraud with his school and had to pay back millions? You also remember he owes E Jean Carroll several million? The judge declared him a sexual predator. I could go on and on. So when Evangelicals say they back him because he has the same values they do, it really makes me think they need to start paying taxes because if a religion gets into politics it is no longer a tax free institution. Also they must not have many values. One more thing I should point out to you - the Second Coming will come as a theif in the night, not even Christ knows the day and hour. Trump could not even give ONE passage in the bible when asked. Please!
You forgot to mention the white nationalist Evangelicals... Who in my opinion are not Christian, because just read the parts about what Jesus did and said in the bible ..... None of his life was perverted like they are.
You must have missed the many bizarre things Jesus did in the Bible. Please read it. To say Jesus was all love & good exposes the fact that you do not know the bible.
Didn't say it was all sugar and butterflies.... Just justice and no lies
Sugar & butterflies?? What a bizarre reference when talking about the bible with it’s rated X sections and utter non-sense uttered by so-called Jesus. It’s a book written by numerous pre-science men. You should be careful about what you have been told is in the bible snd what IS in the bible. Hardly a reference for anything really.
One reason to avoid talk of religion, and politics, at family gatherings!
No one is illegal
Uh according to the the USA constitution and rule of law yes, they are.
Wtf?
Are you an American?
I hope not, thats treasonous words right there
You should go to the Ellis Island campus and learn that all the immigrants that entered through New York were basically illegal. Our entire country was populated by illegals! I'm super proud that I am a second generation illegal immigrant! The only reason people don't like immigrants from Mexico is cuz they are not white!
Perhaps, but the right should absolutely love them because they are conservative. Catholics, Evangelicals, Pentecostals. The enemy of everything liberal and secular.
the enemies of everything liberal and secular, hence paranoid.
Heck, wouldn't you want to come to the US? We don't know who they really are, except they don't like where they are (possibly) persecuted.
Who are you? You're spouting absolute nonsense. I can't believe you got 4 likes. Jesus Christ is not coming. Biden and Dumpy aren't working together. 13 million illegal immigrants are not invading the US to steal an election. For one thing, that's a crazy fantasy. For another, it doesn't work that way. Go away, CrazyPants.
Truly!!
Time for you to stop watching faux news.
Happy to see someone else apply that moniker…I understand the ramifications of following New Zealand and tossing the Murdochs out as not being legitimate news purveyors. Maybe, one measure would be reinstating “equal time” rules that once applied to broadcast and perhaps print? Media….TV and radio specifically, were required-for the common good! To broadcast equal time for opposing candidates.
Unthinkable in today’s media scape? Perhaps, but crucial when trying to build and establish a well informed citizenry, the foundation of effective self governance.
Constitutional challenges abound…but at some point, we need to find a path to safe, sane, electronic information in a world, never possible to even dream of when our Founders lived.
Informed Dude, you seem to be well informed and correct in your judgment. This is why clarity in principles is so crucial now.
If it weren't for those "illegals," the economy would collapse. I don't see native white folk lining up to pick crops.
And, no, I wouldn't write in Christ.
Could job with all the lies here! There is marked upswing in LEGAL immigration I will admit. But your liddle "CaRaVaNs" DO NOT EXIST, cult member. Why do you despise democracy so viciously???
You do realize Biden closed the border completely. Trump will be lost without his only rallying cry. Whatever will he do? Hmm…and your info isn’t accurate.
Let them all in seems to assumed to be a liberal or progressive agenda, and if one is not on board then one must be a racist and/or fascist.
People knee jerk and react. If the right is for something, then the left MUST be against it, this is how reverse psychology is used to manipulate.
Trump has said many a true thing, and the left defends. Like the media is the enemy of the people. And it is, it gave Trump mlllions of free air time and he became President thanks to the media, and they are still giving him free air time and with a few exceptions like Joy Reid and Rachel Maddow, not taking him to task as they should. Trump called the FBI the enemy of the people and even had James Comey investigated. I suppose I am suppose to defend the man who pulled an October surprise in Trump's favor.
And so it goes.
As far as immigration. Trump mentioned that the immigrants at the border speak almost every tongue on the planet. And it is true, they are flying in from Gabon, Nigeria, India, China, the Mid east west and east Asia, Africa and where do they get the money, and the passports and Visa's to enter Mexico? No body asks.
Nobody questions the Venezuelans, the trip from Venezuela to the US Border if on foot, is periolous, especially through theDarian Gap in Panama, one runs a gauntlet of hostile natives, gangs who take all your money and even lives, poisonous snakes like the fer de lance, peccaries, jaquars, not to mention malaria laden mosquito's and yet they arrive at the border, with nice clean clothes, freshly scrubbed faces, and their vulnerable kids carrying dolls and soccer balls. They are obviously flying in from Venezuela, and the tickets are expensive, poor peasants can't afford them, so who are these people.
They are well to do, or former well to do, middle class, who have found themselves in the position of the peasants that they use to exploit, and witless Americans feel sorry for them and their sad story.
Those from Asia, Haiti, the Mideast, Africa are not poor economic migrants, because the only way to arrive in Mexico is by airplane, and tickets cost thousands.
And yes some of them are in fact terrorists, spies, even agents send to assassinate dissidents of their home country.. India sent an assassin to Canada and he succeeded, Modi sent one to America and he got caught.
There are genuine asylum seekers, from Central America, women and children seeking escape from raping and murdering right wing gangs.
The Hispanic migrants are natural allies of right wing. They are Catholics, Evangelicals, Pentecostals and are socially conservative, they may not be able to vote,until they become citizens but there children will.
A naturalized Mexican American is Mayra Flores, she is as fanatic a right winger as you can find, she representeds the 18th in Texas, and she isn't alone among right wing Hispanics. Tarrio, Fuentes, Arpaio, are names that roll easily off the tongue, not to mention the Cubano's of Florida. and they are not exceptions.
One voting bloc that appears to be going for Trump thid election is the Latino.
Na. He’d be too old, just like Biden and that convicted rapist and felonious criminal, DJT.
"Would you choose him?"
Christ no!
What’s his stance on vaccines?😉
Thank you, Professor. Third party or write in, is to try to steal votes from Pres. Biden. T was trying that with Ye, in 2020 to get young people to vote for him then, off the ballot you go, Ye would tell his voters to vote for T. Ye was too late, CPT, and I am called a C, female. I vote for Pres. Biden.
Other than posting as a paid or unpaid troll, HOW's your January 13th "coming soon" Substack writing coming along?
Or am I misreading snarky instead of true believer? I can't hardly tell anymore online even with emojis 🥴
There is absolutely no comparison between Biden and Trump….none!
Brenda🎯Precisely correct.
Apparently the college campus universe. But how can this be? Are some students that confused and uninformed about what Trump and MAGA are doing to our democracy. Are foreign agents helping MAGA spread disinformation in our universities? I would bet on it. But still college students should be smart enough to know better, one would think.
It is the fact that a horrific genocide is being enabled by Biden that makes anyone with a heart who's done a little research extremely torn between voting for a cold-hearted genocidal maniac or a third party. If everyone who hates these choices rallied the vote for medical doctor Jill Stein, she could win. I despise DJT and thought Biden was doing pretty well until 10/7. I cannot vote for what I see as unrelenting evil. If Biden thinks he's a good Catholic, I'd say he qualifies for the other place as much as anyone. We should all be trying to stop our money being used to enable these atrocities. And all should be questioning and seeking information about Israel's actions and their stranglehold on the American people and our government, through 70 years of AIPAC money, propaganda, lies, eternal victimhood and the charge of antisemitism cast at anyone who doubts the rightness of their actions. They are torturing and killing the Palestinians and destroying all of their infrastructure with impunity. Those who look away disgust me thoroughly.
I think you'd best get your facts straight. Biden has deported far more migrants than Trump, as well as denying asylum to tens of thousands more. He has expanded Trump's Title 42 twice and is currently effectively shutting down the southern border for election season. He has been an accomplice to two genocides (and lies about them), slanders and gaslights and brutalizes the children of this country ("law and order" just like the Republicans, expands the surveillance state, wants to add 100,000 more cops to an unaccountable and brutal police force, escalates xenophobic rhetoric about China and muslims, and has been supportive of anti-abortion measures like the Hyde Amendment for decades. This is a very short list of the horrors Biden is complicit with. He is merely a pawn of greater forces and works diligently in the interest of militarism, Zionism, McCarthyism, nationalism, and the Democratic Party's brand of fascism. Biden is a war criminal and you don't care because you think it doesn't affect you directly. There is a large swath of our population who feels no difference under a Biden, Trump or Obama presidency. Rants aren't helpful, and being propagandized about Putin and Trump and fascism to the point that nothing else matters (even genocide) shows where our moral compass is pointing. The truth is simple and was told years ago by a philosopher who Democrats and Republicans alike pretend to admire but fail to follow : "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom." On top of that, you've got a party and its media saving "democracy" while stifling it on college campuses around the country, as well as in articles like this dictating democracy to Americans by admonishing them for wanting other choices. https://theintercept.com/2024/06/05/border-asylum-biden-executive-order/
Boris, aka Barry Kaufman, is a Putin Troll, He will say some things that liberals will agree with, then sets about attacking Biden and the Democrats in the service of Putin.
That is how a disinfo agent works.
Facts? Your facts are not facts. Ridiculous to tell normal people voters that what you just said is factual. Where is the evidence of your pathetic post?
Everything you accuse Biden of, to the extent that it may be true, is true of Trump to a far greater extent.
Sad to say, Biden is, like Trump, a politician, albeit a long standing, successful one for over forty years in the Senate and now the presidency. That’s doesn’t qualify Biden to be president again, except for the chilling fact that only he stands between us and Trump. Chilling indeed.
Whoever thought that we could come to where we are now?
I agree with all you’ve said, Sioux; Keep the rants coming! Such words make us all feel better and powerful, but the only problem is that those who should hear them are blind and deaf to anything eschatological that blames their fearless leader and his cronies.
A new dilemma for the Republican party--
Donald Hodgins <silencenotbad@gmail.com>
7:27 AM (29 minutes ago
It would seem Republicans are at an impasse. They are having difficulty distinguishing the difference between stupidity and intelligence. One position they have too much of, the other they desperately need.
Donald the way that you wrote that leads to they have too much intelligence and desperately need stupidity. You should do a reversal of the order on one side of the equation, I suggest the former stupidity and intelligence, they have too much stiupidity and not enough inteligence.
Same here and that's an excellent rant! What happens in the U.S. affects the rest of the world, including, but not limited to, the Middle East.
Sioux you’re right in what you stated and anyone who sees an ounce of decency, morality, dignity in Donald Trump, well I don’t believe anyone can say they see that, they must have personal reasons for wanting him back in power like his calling the white supremacist at Charlottesville “good people” and telling the proud boys to “stand by” and his unfiltered dislike of Hispanics. He should have never been elected to the highest office in our land and has lowered the bar more than I ever dreamed. He has a narcissistic personality disorder, he can only feel for himself, he takes credit that’s isn’t his, he constantly brags on himself, he’s an embarrassment, he would be a joke if hadn’t done so much harm. I personally know of veteran caregiver benefits he and his Republican house took away when he signed the mission act of 2018, it looked good until you read the hundreds of pages and find that by adding more vets they covered cost by disqualifying others, they would’ve had to remove some of the tax breaks for the ultra wealthy and they weren’t about to do that.
Dear Sioux: Great comment. in fact you were way to nice to Trump
Exactly! Excellent post.
Professor Reich: it is imperative that the moment the democrats regain control of the house and senate, the electoral vote must be removed from american political life. the reason it was enacted was due to racism, and THIS is the reason the entire country is trapped under minority rule from trump and his brain-damaged support goons.
Register Democrats -- save the world.
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
A third-party bid is a terrible idea. The individuals running from this platform are rejects from the two fundamental political entries we are so familiar with. If we support anyone other than candidates from the two principal parties, in essence what we are doing is electing an egotistical moron to the Presidency. Make your vote count for something, ignore the efforts put forth by any individual running from the fringe.
“The two fundamental political entries” have, over the years, been fine-tuned by the GOP and DNC to appeal to whatever these dominant parties have decided will appeal to the most voters while still preserving their favorite agendas with as little compromise as they deem practical. It is hardly surprising that both have evolved to resemble each other so uncannily.
Their power comes from restricting the voting field to either/or and then demonizing each other. Each is the other’s strongest argument. A strong third party would weaken both by offering a real possibility of change, so both established parties unite in their desperation to destroy any threat to their power. This is what our democracy has evolved into.
Unfortunately there is no such party or candidate this time. There could've been in 2016 had Bernie decided, after being denied the Democratic nomination, to accept the Green Party's offer to head their ticket, as I urged him to do, but he didn't, & we saw what resulted. The Democratic Party establishment decided this time the nominee once again had to be Biden, & no good, strong candidate has emerged either inside or outside the Democratic Party, & now we face the truly existential threat that is Trump & the modern GOP, so we have no reasonable, moral alternative to Biden.
I so totally agree.
I live in a blue state. If you fine lovers of freedom who insist on choosing our votes, censoring our speech and dictating our opinions would slow down on blowing yourselves for 5 minutes, you’d realize very few of us have votes that count otherwise.
And that browbeating and arresting everyone who doesn’t vote Democrat until we effectively have a one party system (like now!), we will not wind up free.
Post Trump, how are you all going to restore democracy? Or are you just going to call Autocracy by another name?
Judge, the most recent numbers for Wisconsin are interesting, but it's just one poll. If you look at the latest polls from Michigan, https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-general/ they reveal the opposite: Trump wins if 3rd part candidates are on the ballot, otherwise it's even with a trend towards Trump (you see this if you use the drop-downs).
We have 5 months, and that is a long time in politics. Nevertheless, given that this is the most important election since 1936, the polls simply shouldn't be this close.
The DNC has 3 weeks to get this right.
I thought of registering as Democrats to save the world then to realize the leader of the Democrat is currently and actively making a genocide possible. If this is meant by "saving the world" then I choose to let it burn.
Are you kidding me!
Yes, you're kidding us. So stupid. Begone troll.
KG: Before you vote, consider the serious plan for a trump administration, per the Heritage Foundation and 100 right wing organizations, with input from Trump loyalists including Mark Meadows and Stephen Miller:
If elected, Trump will:
· Invoke the Insurrection Act on Day One to put down protests.
· Build migrant detention camps to remove 11 million immigrants and deploy the U.S. military, both at the border and inland.
· Deploy the National Guard to American cities as he sees fit, without requests from cities or states
• Privatize Social Security: The plan is authored by Stephen Moore, a conservative economist and longtime advocate for privatization of social security…
· Use the DOJ to prosecute his enemies, including “the vermin in our midst… commies, democrats, President Biden, judges, prosecutors, generals,”
· Gut the U.S. civil service, replace with trump loyalists currently being recruited and trained by right wing organizations
· Let red states monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute those who violate abortion bans.
· To talk or teach about LBGTQ will be considered pornography, which will be made a crime and punished.
· Staff his Administration with acolytes who back his false assertion that the 2020 election was stolen.
· Eliminate Department of Education and Environmental Protection Agency and promote use of fossil fuels, eliminate funding for environmental projects under the Deficit Reduction Act
• Close the White House pandemic-preparedness office
· Withhold funds appropriated by Congress and use them for his purposes , according to top advisers.
· Fire a U.S. Attorney who does not carry out his order to prosecute someone, breaking with a tradition of independent law enforcement that dates from America’s founding.
· Pardon every one of his supporters accused of attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, more than 800 of whom have pleaded guilty or been convicted by a jury.
· Might not come to the aid of an attacked ally in Europe or Asia if he felt that country wasn’t paying enough for its own defense.
· Gut NATO and refuse to defend allies who come under attack by Russia or China. Stop sending weapons to Ukraine
And we won't be here debating anything-- take a look at Russian media--or Orban as CPAC mentor to The extent that they have an exchange program where people have stayed there with him and his administration learning from him for the past year or two or perhaps more so that they can enact everything that he has done in his country and have such success here in the US!
Nicely put, Gail!!
Well said. Thank you for injecting some facts into the discussion.
Gail, I apologize for my comment above. I did not mean to respond to your serious post with a joke. And I'm sorry because your post is awesome.
Well, your statement could be true at some point, even if not on Day One, but I wouldn't describe it as funny. More like sad or terrifying.
If elected, Trump will:
· Invoke the Insurrection Act on Day One to put down protests.
That's almost funny. I better go get some coffee.
What is funny about this???
The insurrectionist is going to use the insurrection clause against the people who prevented his first insurrection. Not even in Shakespeare is there more exquisite irony. Now that I've had a little coffee, I see that it wasn't very clear. My sense of humor is weird. I'm sorry.
Please explain what is so funny???
We need this kind of factual post to refute the nonsense of pro-Trump trolls everywhere.
👍
Or just watch the new Netflix series that our age group know all about so they must have made it as a learning or comparison show so that people who don’t know much about hitlers rise and the sycophants who helped him, the carrying out of the very things that trumps had hinted at doing and in some instances says he will do, like punish his enemies for instance. I’m sure this series, some taken from a diary of a well respected news reporter who was there, has been made explicitly for people who can’t see what’s right in front of them. I’ve read it and watched variations but this one goes right to the point of how Hitler wanted to “Make Germany Great Again,” and how he played on the emotions and used his own hatred to gain power and demanded total loyalty. And yes he too went to prison for a time for an attempted coup on his government. You can’t see history repeating itself if you don’t know the history, or care too.
"I have never witnessed a more totalitarian , paranoid , self/righteous or deceptive administration.in my lifetime." This sentence only makes sense if you are talking about Biden’s predecessor. As a description of that administration, it's on the money. As a description of Biden’s administration, it's laughably insane.
Eric, KG is a troll. Don't let trolls rile you up! You are spot on with your analysis.
Yes, I know. That's why I didn't bother replying in detail. But it is rather amazing how much projection these people engage in. Pretty much every attack they make on Biden and the Democrats is actually true of their side. As some have put it, every one of their accusations is a confession.
Eric I reported KG as the troll they are to the Substack. They removed it from my thread, so the distraction is gone.
You're right, Eric! Projection at its finest!! It is sad, but don't you know they are saying that we project! They cannot accept truth, facts, or evidence even when it smacks them right in the face! Vote Blue, America!!
So true. I wish the haters would wake up out of the haze and understood facts over fiction.
Thanks Peggy. It’s sad that even such a platform as this is polluted by people like KG perhaps KG left out his/her third initial; the letter B.
I’m glad that troll subscribed and helps fund Prof. Reich, a really important voice
You don’t think you will suffer too of Trump is elected? What do you think will protect you?
WRONG, Donald TUMP must be deposed and put under the Leavenworth Federal prison to rot away into oblivion. The sooner, the better! What have the Rethuglicans become? Treasonous traitors and domestic terrorists!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Perhaps consider this: if Biden loses will he and his supporters try to create false panels of electors? Or march on the Capitol to try to get the result reversed? Will they threaten to hang Kamala Harris? And if Hunter Biden is convicted will his father cry that the Judge was crooked and the prosecutor bent?
Yet Trump has done all that and more already and you think Biden is totalitarian?
They will never reply or acknowledge these truths. Further evidence that these comments are generated by Russian produced bots or trolls, not actual people.
KG, are you aware of the Plan for 2025? Suggest you check it out before you vote. The list below shows just a few of the horrific action seriously planned for trump administration.
· Invoke the Insurrection Act on Day One to put down protests.
· Build migrant detention camps to remove 11 million immigrants and deploy the U.S. military, both at the border and inland.
· Deploy the National Guard to American cities as he sees fit, without requests from cities or states
• Privatize Social Security: The plan is authored by Stephen Moore, a conservative economist and longtime advocate for privatization of social security…
· Use the DOJ to prosecute his enemies, including “the vermin in our midst… commies, democrats, President Biden, judges, prosecutors, generals,”
· Gut the U.S. civil service, replace with trump loyalists currently being recruited and trained by right wing organizations
· Let red states monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute those who violate abortion bans.
· To talk or teach about LBGTQ will be considered pornography, which will be made a crime and punished.
· Staff his Administration with acolytes who back his false assertion that the 2020 election was stolen.
·
You tell him, Gail!!
We are people who believe no person is above the law. Count 'em,,, 34 X GUILTY!
In what ways are any of those adjectives true?
Totalitarian? Certainly not! Despite obstruction & sabotage by House & Senate Republicans, 2 senators of his own party & the Supreme Court against his grand plans to improve our environment & infrastructure & strengthen civil rights & opportunities, Biden respected & obeyed the separation & balance of governmental power, which is quite in contrast to what Trump did, tried to do & plans to do if he gets back in power. He has also been, for good or bad, hands off on the activities of the AG, FBI & DOJ, including the investigations & prosecutions, or lack or delay thereof, of Trump & scores of seditious members of Congress, corrupt judges & justices & their wives, which is again quite in contrast with Trump's behavior & intentions.
Paranoid? No indication of that, unlike Trump, who has been diagnosed from afar by psychologists & psychiatrists as suffering from a type of paranoia.
Self-righteous? Biden is relatively humble, especially compared to the sadonarcissistic megalomaniac Mango Mussolini.
Deceptive? No. Sometimes wishy-washy or indecisive or changeable, but not deceptive. You want deceptive? How about Alito? Thomas, Cannon... Making lame excuses for nefarious actions, including obstructing the judicial process in favor of Trump.
After you detailed Trump's plan for America, you want to depose Biden.
Who then is your choice? RFKjr.
Any vote for anyone else is a vote for Trump and you will get that which you fear.
Be gone!
Ok bot/plant/concern troll
You're a candidate for the looney bin. Go away warfet!
First it is imperative that democrats regain control of the democratic party which has been highjacked by lobbyists and special interest groups for the past 30 years.
Ideas? This likely can't happen first; if Biden doesn't win, we will move into a dictatorship where we won't be able to do reforms.
Actually it wasn't racism that sprung the electoral college on us GrrlScientist, it was pure unadulterated snobbery. The framers of the Constitution were not only white and male - they were men of property and business. It was the working class white men they didn't trust. Remember they willingly considered the African slaves to be only 3/5 of a human being.
Agreed. It wasn’t ONLY racism.
Fay Reid, that's what I thought. That it was more classism than racism, but I could be wrong. Or maybe it was a combination of motives.
No, you're right M Trree, it was definitely classism. Slaves and indigenous people were not allowed to vote. Nor were females. This was them feeling intellectually superior, What a shock it must have been to discover females could actually think (and learn)
Fay Reid, thanks. I have read that the bad ones wanted slave holding states with less people than non-slave holding states with more people, to have an outsized vote. But either way, I agree classism was always it seems, at the very heart of what they did. And bad men have always been backlashing against women voting, and not being repressed and subjugated by men. It is now today reaching its apex. It's a sad and scary time.
It certainly is. And if, by some tragedy, trump is elected it will get worse.
Fay Reid, and suffering and ruthless cruelty, the list goes on and on.
Fay Reid, oh true, it would be mayhem and violence and death and destruction. Truly dystopian.
M Tree: a good example of the desire for more slave holding states is exemplified by the Bleeding Kansas battles. (Here's a clarifying summary of that situation: https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/bleeding-kansas)
Barbara D. Reed, thank you, I didn't know Kansas played such a pivotal role.
Trump does not believe women have rights under the Constitution. It's up to the states, he says. In November we will decide the fate of women and democracy in America.
True, and I hope we make the right decision, keep our representative republic and Joe Biden
I can't imagine most Americans would want to vote to live in such a dystopia.
Quite agree about the Electoral College. The difference between fascism and our reasonable approximation to democracy will be decided in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Biden and Trump are neck and neck. The latest polls in June in those 3 states demonstrate that the Trump conviction has changed nothing.
I think Biden has been an excellent president, and along with Bill Maher, I would vote for his head in a jar of blue liquid. Unfortunately my opinion doesn't count. If Biden doesn't do enormously better after the first debate, then the DNC must move swiftly to remove him and install someone like Sanders. This is no time to go wobbly.
Not true about polls, Michael.
https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-donald-trump-polls-battleground-states-1908358
Prescribe yourself some Hopium.
Sanders? He’s older than Biden. And who else has a high enough profile to counteract Trump?
I agree on both counts, obviously the first is a simple fact. But Sanders is not perceived as being old, because he's vigorous (likewise, Trump) and perception is everything. Biden looks as lost as a patient who's just backed out of a nursing home.
Elizabeth Warren. Lately Jamie Raskin. Both are stellar, in my opinion.
His head in a jar of blue liquid... that sounds pretty gruesome...
What's Bill Maher got to do with it???
This is so true. Professor Reich is absolutely correct about not voting for a third party candidate, but really only if you live in one of the five swing states that matter.
I live in Vermont. On élection day the state will be called for Biden 10 seconds after the polls close (Yay!). The outcome is not in question and if I wanted to votre for a third party (I don’t) I could without having any impact on the results.
The electoral college is the REAL problem!
They can't do it. It's in the Constitution, so it can only be removed by a vote of 38 or more state legislatures.
It's ironic that someone who calls themselves a 'scientist' has never read the US Constitution.
Yup, and the flyover and evangelical run states are all solid red hat wearin’ folks.
Sadly, there are some intelligent voters trapped in those states.
This is an excellent comment !
Nice to say but we all know it will take a Constitutional Amendment to rid ourselves of this racist POS.
That will never happen. The dems (and the republicans ) like it just the way it is.
The EC is racist? really?
yes.
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/electoral-colleges-racist-origins
Amazing article. A must read. Thank you!!!
The trolls must be having insomnia like me tonight.
I will vote for President Biden again, as I do. I don’t agree with everything he has done but I sure as hell don’t agree with anything the Combover Caligula has done or plans to do and I certainly won’t waste my one precious vote on a candidate that cannot possibly win.
Polling suggests that maybe Biden is the wasted vote. I am confused by the constant sniveling about saving democracy while effectively eliminating all semblance of democracy
Unless you're in a battleground state, any vote for either major party is always wasted. This is an eternal truth in American politics.
Oh, Chuck...
Concern trolling 👆
Screw the polls. It's the undecided you have to educate. If they realize that democracy is at stake and the alternative is having a dictator in office, it will be a world no one will be happy in. Vote BLUE, regardless. Educate the undecided and the young fools who keep their faces buried in their phones. An equivalent of buried in the sand. Be enlightened all.
Except Trump already had 4 years, and we’ve lost more freedom under Biden. You will note Trump did not “lock her up”.
I really think at this point that clarifying how Biden will restore democracy after ruining it keeping Trump from a second term would get the Dems more votes than another toxic rant about how exercising our only meaningful political decision in line with our actual beliefs is fascism.
You “educated people “ when you threw Ukrainian people in the meat grinder. You educated them again when you let Zionist massacre Palestinians. It may not have the effect you had hoped for
Maybe the dems could put forth a better candidate and the election would be a slam dunk.
Maybe monkeys might fly outta both of their old butts, but at least THEY'd be younger?
Is that what you're suggesting?!
There's just WAY TOO MANY PPL either in China or Russia or being paid by China or Russia to friggin Post here (or paid by the drumpf & co grifters campaigns - so same thing except add in the saudis mbs!)
I suspect they don’t care. Win or lose, the swamp monster lives on.
Actually, the Democrats haven't had their convention yet and still have the opportunity to put someone completely different in. Will they do that? Of course not because they're too wrapped up in their bubble where everything they do is right.
Thanks Elsie, This is where I attempt to pop that bubble. I’m not sure it’s working or if the country even deserves better. But here I am
Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, just elevated Ronny Jackson and Scott Perry to the House Intelligence Committee! Professor Reich, who’s minding the store?
Keith ; the same "people" who brought US tRUMP!
The insurrection is happening right in front of our noses at this very moment, and, as in the past, it is led by the South.
Shame on you Robert for supporting Biden. He has greenlighted genocide and for chastising others for voting third party. He is no better than Trump and furthermore, if you look at the totality of his political career he has done more harm to ppl than Trump. Let’s not forget he was one of the main authors of the crime bill and he also was a major contributor to the Glass-Steagall Act being repealed.
Bots, trolls and a-holes.
Hahahahahaha! That sounds like the beginning of a song!!
Yeah or a dystopian wizard of Oz song
"Bots, trolls and a-holes, oh my!"
A "cry into your beer" C & W slow twangy ballad with haunting pedal steel guitar riffs.
Or a riff on Guy Fiere' "Dive's, Drives-In, and Bars" or something like that TV show.
Peggy. Freeman, haha it does! Daniel is a poet, and I didn't know it.
Daniel Solomon, you're a poet!
Projection.
Projection.
Seems like a flood lately- is RR to be feared? Maybe needs a moderator to cut the crap.
...and people wasting time responding must be the point. How to get rid of the clutter??
Biden showered with his daughter. That’s pretty gross.
Chuck--You seem to be overly concerned with showering, try it some time. It might make a difference, being clean will be a new experience for you.
I’m just trying to raise awareness about Biden and how he showered with his daughter. It doesn’t seem to be getting a lot of press. Maybe because the press is bias. Anywho vote for RFK jr unless you’re a brainwashed supporter of the guy who showers with his daughter. Or the other guy. I hear he thinks his daughter is attractive. That sounds better than the shower thing but still not great.
This post is by a Russian bot, not a person, and is not worthy of a response.
Not true. But by now, everyone knows that when you claim someone is a bot it’s because your version of events is indefensible. Your warning about bots is telling the entire chat that I’m correct but you are a petty sore loser who can’t accept defeat. Like when Hillary made up Russia gate to deflect from her humiliating defeat to a game show host.
Chuck, the daughter thing seems to be like a worm in your brain. Have you traveled with Kjr?
Get lost Chuck lest you be chucked out. You're idea of reality is perplexing.
It’s perplexing because you’re brainwashed. Or good old fashioned stupid,
Umm Drumpf has had and continues to have an obsession with Ivanka and her body and how "if she wasn't his daughter…"
So that makes it okay for Biden to shower with his daughter? That tells me everything I need to know about you. But starting your idiotic drivel with umm helps as well. Thanks!! Vote for RFK jr because voting for Biden is wasting your vote.
Another Russian bot
Bathing a child is part of parenting, and some parents get themselves and their child done at the same time. She protests this excerpt from a private journal being published without permission and used against her father. The abundant drug use has destroyed your mind and character.
I think she was 12? Also, why dad? Just gross. The more you defend it the grosser you are
You're missing the big picture forest for the trees.
There won't BE ANOTHER ELECTION or a chance to vote, protest or even voice your opinions if Drumpf & Co get back in there!
Wake up to Project 2025 & dark money billionaires who just want workers who can't unionize, picket or anything to get better wages or benefits.
The 900+ pages of their MANDATE FOR LEADERSHIP are just part one of a four part conservative agenda.
Oh and The Mandate for Leadership was also the title to the giant checklist cheatsheet guide handed to Ronald Reagan back when he took office--didn't anyone ever wonder how someone like him was able to do all the terribly wrong & lasting damage--total reversal of fortune for the ENTIRE MIDDLE CLASS OF AMERICA?
Done by a former actor who was a terrible governor & so out of it with ACTUAL ALZHEIMER'S disease, so then his wife & staff basically enabled giving Iran arms for hostages? Then proceeded to allow CIA agents to deal in cocaine trafficking to THE US while Nancy preached Just Say No to drugs, etc etc
Good job Brandon! and on this site if you disagree with what a commenter thinks is virtuous and based on his or her own opinions, you are a troll. How sick is that. I am voting Jill Stein, go call me a troll. I could care less. And by the way Trump won in 2016 because of what preceded in a DEM administration. Massive foreclosures, bank bailouts, no Medicare for All or a Public Option... and going back, Biden's crime bill.. it's layered up ... if I were in Ohio, near my alma mater Oberlin's northeast Ohio District, I would vote Kucinich..running as an Independent. Go Dennis.
There is no genocide.
The ICJ and most of the rest of the world disagree. More countries are joining South Africa's petition to the ICJ to declare Israel a genocidal state and order it to cease and desist. It was announced today that Spain is joining. The Maldives Islands, where some Israelis like to vacation, will no longer admit people with Israeli passports. South Africa has stated that Israel's apartheid is worse than the one it endured.
Yep
Thanks for a sobering dose of reality. Bravo!
Hey!
FUCK YOU!!!!
Oh tRump would be better in your eyes? Glass-Steagall repeal was bipartisan and in retrospect was not a good Idea, but was part of the push for deregulation at the time. And aren't we all geniuses in hindsight? Look up the word genocide. And consider that Jehodists want to die as martyrs to live in paradise for eternity. They have no consideration for the lives of the Palestinians or they would not use them as human shields. And with all of their funds, what did they do for all the Palestinians who support them, nothing. They bought weapons and dug tunnels. And the Israelis who had made many peace deals with Hamas and they then broke every one of them. And Israelis are the bad guys. They have been harsh on the Palestinians because the Palestinians kept attacking Israelis. It is hard to sympathize with people who only want to kill you in the name of Muhammad. The terrorist that committed the massacre in Oct were thrilled to have murdered and raped some Jews. Jehodists live to kill infidels.
You sure are a product of the great Israeli propaganda machine. You're parroting everything the pro genocide, pro Israel crowd says. It's the IDF who uses Palestinians as human shields, including children, and against international law, when they do search missions in Gaza. If Hamas tried using civilians as shields it wouldn't work, as the IDF murders children, ambulance drivers, women waving white flags, basically any Palestinian they can. It's a flat out lie that Hamas has broken peace deals. Throughout the 1990's and 2000's Hamas made several proposals for peace in exchange for recognition of a Palestinian state by Israel; Israel either ignored these or flat out rejected them. In fact it's Israel right now that's preventing a ceasefire which is supported by the US and which Hamas has accepted. Palestinians aren't killing Israelis because of religion; they kill them because for the last 76 years Israelis have stolen their land, driven them from their homes, and murdered them. In 1948 over 15000 Palestinians were killed, 750,000 displaced from their homes, and over 500 Palestinian villages destroyed to create Israel. It's been the same ever since. Hamas exists because of the occupation, subjugation and dispossession of the indigenous Palestinian population by European Jews. Palestinians are second class citizens in their own country. Israel's an example of settler colonialism at its best.
How can we show the DNC we are not happy and want change if we give them our vote? Majority of the DNC is not inline with any of my political values or of people my age
Tell yourself that story every night after you send the dictator back into the White House
Perhaps look at an election as being more like catching a bus than a taxi. Is it going in roughly the right direction or is it going to take you over a cliff. I think you know which is which in this particular bus station.
Except they're both going in the same direction. One is rapid transit and the other is a neighborhood bus.
Not from my perspective. Which one will tell you their bus is the most popular even if it isn’t? Which one sends armed forces to keep you on their bus? And which one wants to run the other bus off the road?
Look at the police brutality in this country. The cops sent in to break up peaceful protests. And Biden just told asylum seekers they can't get on the bus at all.
Your perspective is consistent with making excuses for your inevitable failure. Did you ever notice that it’s always the DNC that is afraid of the third party candidate while simultaneously bemoaning a threat to democracy? It’s likely that those that voted third party were simply not going to vote. You are excusing your failure before it even happens. Bernie, Jill stein, Ralph Nader, teddy Kennedy, RFK jr. Etc. Must be an election year. I smell stupid old dinosaurs making excuses for their own self inflicted failures.
There are other forms of transportation where you have more control over where you end up.
I agree
Wishful thinking gets you the worst of evils.
For people outside the US there appears minimal difference in foreign policy between Democrats or Republicans.
The democratic ideal is broken by kleptocrats.
Wouldn't a vote for Biden just reaffirm his support for a genocidal policy?
There are very substantial differences between the two candidates on foreign policy. Biden supports Ukraine in its fight against Russian imperialism. The other guy would abandon Ukraine to its attacker. Biden coordinates with European and Asian allies. The other guy doesn't get along with most of them (he prefers dictators) and would pull the US out of NATO. As for Gaza, at least Biden makes some effort to restrain Israel, even if it's inadequate. The other guy would do NOTHING to restrain Israel.
And then of course there's the world's number one existential threat, the climate crisis. Biden is doing something about that, even if it is less than he could or should be doing. The other guy would undo everything Biden has done and virtually guarantee that the world will have no chance of avoiding catastrophic levels of warming.
To reiterate, there's an enormous difference between the two candidates, and anyone who cares about the future of humanity should be rooting for Biden.
Here, here! Thank you Eric!
You speak for yourself. From my U.K. perspective there is a yawning chasm between both parties and their candidates, starting (and probably ending) with what they will do after the result is announced, which IMHO tells us all we need to know. Only one will whine and claim that he’s been robbed. Only one will have supporters that threaten or use violence. Only one will break the law to try to get into the WH. Only one is working for a foreign power. And you don’t need me to tell you which one that is.
If you lived in a brown country, you might think differently.
This is tiresome and myopic, playing the race card,playing victim. Americans are suckers for the game, I know, now whites are getting the game playing victim, because of affirmative actions and so called "reverse discrimination"
The government of all countries are responsible for the condition of their citizens.
The situation in any country, red, yellow, black and white is the responsibility of that countries government,and he people put that government in charge, even if it is a coup.
If Trump becomes #47, and America becomes a dictatorship, then Americans are responsible.
A "brown country"? That's an odd way to put it. In any case, it's the "brown countries", to use your term, who are already suffering the worst from climate change. And that's just going to get worse in the future. But just how much worse will be determined by who wins this election, and if the guy who has already promised fossil fuel executives that he'll gut environmental protections if they bankroll his campaign should win, many of those countries are looking at a future in which they'll literally become unlivable.
Like a lot.
And who might that be? No one comes to mind.
I mean, just pick one of the ones we've bombed (or paid to have bombed). Let's start with Gaza and work backwards.
Yeh let's start with Gaza, where thousands of crazed Islamic Terrorists flew over, around and crashed through the walls, to rape and murder women, infants, childrens, elderly and disabled Jews, grabbed 240 hostages and ran back to Gaza thinking to use them as human shields and bargaining chips, then when the Jews said "nope" they hid behind their own women and children as human shields.
Sure let's start with Gaza.
And ignore the man who is actually an aggrressor and killing women and children, and destroying a country in a real campagin of Genocide, as he has announced in public. Vladimir Putin.
Talk about Gaza ignore Putin.
Gotcha.
You're still at it with Gaza, and still a fine example of the great Israeli propaganda machine. The rapes and baby beheadings of Oct. 7 have been debunked yet you keep bringing them up. Israel's been murdering women, infants, children, elderly and disabled Palestinians for the past 8 months, including starving them and denying medical care, firing upon starving people trying to access food, etc., committing innumerable atrocities and war crimes, but this doesn't seem to bother you in the least. The "crazed Islamic terrorists" are resistance fighters who exist because of 76 years of oppression, subjugation, and dispossession of the indigenous Palestinian population by European Jews. Israelis have been stealing Palestinian land, driving them from their homes and murdering them since 1948. Palestinians are now second class citizens in their own country.
There are no Palestinian human shields as the IDF guns down children, ambulance drivers, women waving white flags, medical workers, basically any Palestinian that moves. Most of the 38,000 killed by Israel have been women and children.
You're the only person I've ever heard claim there's a genocide going on in the Ukraine.
Deceit and deflection is the usual course for the pro genocide pro Israel crowd.
UK politics is similar. Domestic policies have two seemingly very different perspectives. In reality both chase after the approval of billionaires and their media.
From a foreign policy perspective there is even less difference: both UK and US are willing to oppose 95% of other nations at the UN and fully support Israel continually breaking international laws.
Well Tim: Why does Gaza occupy so much of your attention, while you totally ignore the real genocide of Putin in Ukraine. That is where the left goes wrong.
As regards the UN, your comment about the US and uK opposing 95% of the the UN is hyperbolic.
There are 193 Nations that are member os the UN. 57 of those nations are Muslim.
You and Europeans and Americans know nothing about Islam.
The first loyalty of a Muslim is to the Ummah or world wide community of Muslims, when it finds itself in conflict with any kufr (kaffir or unbeliever state, especially a Jewish state, as there is a 1400 year old war with the Jews, as written in the Quran and the haddiths.
And then there are the countries dependent on a supply of Muslim oil, so yes there is a motivation for many non Muslim states, and the UN, to side with Muslims.
You say the first loyalty of a Muslim is to the world wide community of Muslims; you could say the same for the Jews. The land called Palestine was inhabited for centuries by a diverse group of Arabs, Jews, Greeks, and others who lived together in relative peace and harmony. This changed in the late 19th century when the Zionists came along. The present conflict originates from Europeans exporting their problems and prejudices like antisemitism to weaker areas and countries like the middle east and Palestine, especially after WW2 but also before. In typical settler colonial fashion they slaughter the natives and grab the land for their own purposes. Most of the Global South (the 140+ in the UN who recognize a Palestinian state) consider Jews to be neither favored (chosen people narrative) nor privileged (owed something for the Jewish holocaust). And, yes, the Global South knows genocide.
You're the only person I've ever heard talk about a 1400 year war between Muslims and Jews, as well as a genocide in the Ukraine. But I guess you're saying so makes it so.
Ann Higgins, I would just put an s on foreign power. There's Russia, Saudia Arabia, and any and all who offer him money or power. Everything's for sale.
No, a vote for Biden would save the country from a fascist dictatorship.
First you do violence to the word genocide. The overuse of the word renders it it useless, when everything is genocide,nothing is genocide.
Spain & South Africa lawyers & the ICC would disagree.
Spain and South Africa are also dependent on Muslim oil, aren't they.
So you have two dependencies supporting Islamic terrorists And that proves what.
I am old enough to know that black South Africa has a royal case against Israel, because Israel supported the White South African government, so this is payback.
Spain is just across the narrow mouth of the Mediterranean from Morocco and Algeria and has a very heavy population of Muslims
As of 2024, the Islamic Commission of Spain estimates that there are 2.5 million Muslims in Spain, which is about 5.32% of the country's population of 47 million. This is a 10-fold increase from the Muslim population in Spain over the past 30 years. However, some unofficial figures estimate that there are closer to 3 million Muslims in Spain.
So between oil, the proximity of Muslim countries and their internal population, what else do you expect Spain to do.
There is a positive correlation between the population of Muslims and the counties dependence on Arab oil and their support for the terorist gang of HAMAS
I understand that there are a considerable number of racists in the US who legitimise mass murder of Palestinians just by reference to many of them being Muslim. Such people can similarly ignore that the US is isolated at the UN.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/10/middleeast/unga-palestinian-membership-resolution-intl/index.html
What's less easy to fathom is how democrats manage to support the racist foreign policy even under Biden.
If Trump was in power many would point to the suppression of protests as evidence of racism. Inviting a war criminal to speak to Congress is occurring under Biden.
Using humanitarian convoys to conduct military operations while murdering hundreds of Palestinians is occurring with Biden's full support.
Well Tim: Palestinians don't belong to a race. Arab is not a race, it is an ethnic identity based on the native language. There are Chrisian Palestinians and Jewish Palestinians (Druze), as regards color they come in all shades from Black to white.
Because of America's detestable history with importing Africans for use as slaves, and the subsequent civil war, Jim Crow and struggles for equality, Americans are sensitive to race, and the first charge that comes up to silence debate is racism.
And that is bullshit. When everything is racism, nothing is racism.
As regards Islam. Not just the right, but the left should be concerned about Islam, it is intolerant of other religions, unless Christians and Jews submit.
It is homophobic to extremis, worse than Christianity, and misogynistic. Islamic countries actually practice gender apartheid. That the left doesn't complain about how Islam treats women and gays, atheists shows their hypocrisy, if not hypocrisy then self willed ignorance.
As regards what the right does and doesn't do. A broken clock is right twice a day. I am not so stupid as to fall into the trap of reverse psychology and react just because my enemy acts.
Trump said that the media is the enemy of the people. Should I react and defend the media. No, because of the media, and it's million dollars of free advertising Trump became President, and it is at it again, normalizing pervesion, treason, ieing, grifting.
He also said that the FBI is the enemy of the people. Should I react and defend the FBI, when it helped Trump get elected, when instead of investigating the Proud Boys, militias, the right wing making threats, it investigated BLM and "antifascists, and we wound up with Jan 6.
Now the right wing congressmen are investigating Merrick Garland, should I knee jerk and defend him. When he never even investigated much less indicted the plotters in Congress, and wasn't going to do anything about Trump, and took two years to appoint Jack Smith as special counsel., and only did so because he was shamed into it by his peers in an open letter.
Go ahead be a fool and a tool, be manipulated by reverse psychology, but I won't be.
The whole world is aghast at Palestinian children being murdered in their thousands by indiscriminate bombing and votes overwhelmingly to recognize the Palestinian state.
Your argument is that they are not a race.
I'm not going to debate or determine whether you have a semblance of humanity to Palestinians (that much is apparent).
My query is why Democrats believe the rest of the world will perceive any difference at all in the foreign policy of Trump or Biden.
This is all happening in the context of dwindling US influence. The global south is hell bent on breaking the hegemony of the dollar (who could blame them?). Our idiot government has done the one thing Kissenger warned never to do: let China and Russia get close. NATO is going to lose in Ukraine. And it’s not looking good for Netanyahu in the long run. We’ve hollowed out our industrial base to the point that we can’t supply both conflicts. We’re overextended and behaving increasingly irrationally on the global stage. When the next financial crisis hits (when, not if), it will be a tremendous crash. No wonder the dems aren’t that keen on winning this time around.
It seems that EVERY election boils down to choosing the lesser of two evils. Not so much because We are terrified of the greater of two evils, but because We have decided that ONLY a Democrat or Republican stands any reasonable chance of winning to office.... and most people don't want to "waste their vote" on someone that they actually _like_ and wish they were the ones going to DC. (Less than 1% of members of Congress are from Parties other than Democrats or Republicans.)
Isn't promoting a Two-Party system of government the antithesis of Democracy? Because ^that mindset is tattooed on the brain of every American, We The People are, in fact, doomed to be voting NOT for who We actually want in office, but rather which of the two race horses is likely to screw over We The People **the least**. Further, it promotes, as We can plainly see, EXTREME tribalism as the two Parties continually go for each other's throat. Compromise has become nearly impossible -- and it's only likely to get worse.
So I really don't fault young people for being disenchanted by the way The System is now. Now, while they are still idealistic, I'm sure they will entertain the idea of voting for whoever they _actually_ want, even if that candidate's run for office is doomed. But pretty much inevitably, Harsh Reality will sink in and convince them that the greater evil really IS pretty bad for America and MUST be stopped at all costs. And so they will more than likely almost immediately commence a political lifetime of voting for "the lesser of two evils," election after election after election after.....
The lesser of two evils is the result of not enough people caring, which is in itself evil.
The "lesser of two evils" is inevitable because We The People do NOT get to choose the candidates that We are permitted to vote for. The candidates are chosen by the Powers That Be in the two major PARTIES. Since "everybody knows" ONLY a Dem or a Republican has any real chance of winning, candidates are required to sell their souls to the Party of their choice. In exchange for a Party endorsement, they MUST swear an oath of fealty to the Party first and foremost -- and to heck with serving the needs of The People who are the ones that actually vote them into office.
Power comes with organization, hence political parties. The notion that a candidate unaffiliated with any well organized party can accomplish anything is sheer wishful thinking. Right-wingers became powerful when they gained control of the Republican Party. Remaining "independent" in such a situation is delusional. You will be one or the other even if you don't vote--or vote for a an ephemeral third party candidate.
In practice, the Independents in Congress caucus with one or the other of the two major Parties. Which makes them de facto members of those Parties. So, as you say, being an Independent in Congress is an illusion.
Robert, I love your articles, I follow you and have done so for years. Sadly, I cannot vote for Genocide Joe. I just can't bring myself to cross that red line. I'm not telling anyone what to do, but I personally will vote Jill Stein.
A protest vote is a wasted vote, and that is a heavy responsibility to carry, especially this year.
Tom, it's really up to you, for you still live in a free country.
Does climate change matter? do human rights matter? Do taxes matter? Does healthcare matter? There are clear and major differences between Republicans and Democrats. You ignore them. Why?
First, those of us who live in solidly blue states can vote third party without danger. Second, we should. The DNC has proved itself anti-democratic (and defended it in court). The reason that the far-right is growing worldwide is that the supposed left sold itself to the 1% and has failed to do anything for the 99%. End of story.
Yeah Mike my thoughts exactly. I vote in Washington state. Have come to that conclusion. Since we are the ones not taking any risk, the least we can do - should do - is vote our conscience and be counted as such.
Wishful thinking gets you nowhere.
I agree with you Mike
Mike - I guess we can only be guaranteed a count if we vote third party - not necessarily as write-in (which I was hoping to do). I'm guessing you probably knew that. Kinda depressing re: write-in hoops to jump through (using this quora guy as resource who seems to know what he's talking about):
https://www.quora.com/Which-US-states-allow-write-ins-for-a-Presidential-election/answer/William-Murphy-50?ch=15&oid=29093049&share=462b566f&srid=3Bg0Ng&target_type=answer
Whatever. Will go with whomever is available Washington State - other than the usual suspects.
I voted Green in 2012, after it became clear that Obama didn't intend to keep his promises. Then I wrote in Bernie Sanders in 2016 & 2020, after the DNC cheated us. I would prefer to vote for Cornel West, but will vote Green if that's my best option. But Robert Reich's refusal to be honest (he knows perfectly well that both parties have been bought by the 1%) rankles. As does the dishonesty of all the supposedly intelligent people who refuse to publicly admit the core of our problem.
Protest, by all means, but not by wasting your vote.
Do you really not get how the Electoral College functions?
No, Victor Kamendrowsky is braindead, like so many others
Does Robert Reich really not get how the Electoral College functions?
Guess he just doesn't wanna go there. Binary thinking seems to be modus operandi 2024. No exceptions.
I'm sick to death of supposedly intelligent people denying obvious realities.
I am voting for a third party.
I live in a state that's going to vote for Trump. I am, therefore, not faced with a binary choice, but frankly, the fact that the one and only thing the two parties agree on is that you may only vote for one of them has locked us into a system of increasing extremes.
Biden & Trump are both truly evil. They both lie all the time. Both are criminals. Neither believes in true democracy, where people are told the truth, can freely express their opinions — and where the government listens to the people.
Trump has been convicted of crimes (although not the most serious ones he committed) and Biden is clearly guilty of complicity in genocide — generally considered to be the worst of crimes — as well as Israel's many other crimes, such as racism, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, attacks on Syria and Lebanon, and brutal military rule in the 'West Bank'. Biden, in turn, has also attacked other countries — most recently Yemen, which was actually living up to its responsibilities under the genocide convention while the US is doing the opposite.
I'd rather 'waste' my vote on Jill Stein than vote for either Biden or Trump. Voting for either of those two morally degenerate criminals is definitely a wasted vote.
Exactly!!! Jill Stein for president!
Yes. That said I also understand that if Stein had the slightest chance of getting into a position of power, she would be turned or murdered. It’s just a way of registering our displeasure. Voting will not get us out of this mess. I don’t know what will other than absolutely massive civil disobedience, which requires a lot more people waking up.
Yes. It would be hard to wish a victory that would land her in such a position.
Do as you wish if you are willing to accept responsibility for the consequences of a tRump dictatorship.
We might get fascism under Trump, but we can clearly see the signs under Biden anyway.
People who vote their conscience aren't the problem — it's the Democratic party running a war criminal for president.
It's already fascism.
Whatever helps you sleep at night.
I'm not going to argue with your deep desire to believe. Besides, voting Biden can't do any more harm. You're certainly anything wrong. He's already President. I just would like to caution you against investing any emotional energy in your position. At the end of the day it makes absolutely no difference who we vote for. Our ballots are not connected in any meaningful way to the levers of power.
*Not doing anything wrong
Either way, it makes no difference.
Keep telling’ yourself those self congratulatory stories!
It's already a dictatorship.
I guess it's frustrating that you tell us over and over and over again all the problems with capitalism that are true under both parties and then insist we vote for one of those parties upholding it. Like, it's beyond frustrating. It's maddening. What is going to change in my lifetime if we keep doing the thing that caused the problem to try to fix the problem? Maybe Democrats will respond better if the circumstances are worse. I mean, it's worth a try. But what I really am hearing is that our democracy is frighteningly fragile and even Democrats aren't courageous enough to do a damn thing to try to substantively fix it because of their own self interests. Making your advice moot at best. I think you know as well as I do that Trump is not the problem. Yet you keep focusing on his defeat as the solution. Defeating Trump in this election changes nothing. Just like electing Obama didn't end but instead exacerbated racism. We need real solutions, and this ain't it.
Totally disagree with this article. If there was ever a time for a third party it’s now! Democrats & Republicans are NOT who they used too be. It is not your Fathers Democrat or Republican Party anymore!! It should be May the BEST person be elected too President! The one who may actually have certain beliefs from Both parties combined…
Even if you won’t vote for Biden, are ANY of the 3rd party candidates qualified to be President? Stein is a perennial candidate who’s never held a public office higher than town council, Kennedy is a nut-job, and Cornel West is just another political pundit who has never been elected to anything.
A vote for Biden is a vote for Harris, not happening, Biden will never make it 4 more years. So I may have to do a write in…my choice, this is still America….and at least I didn’t succumb too which idiot should be President!
Talk about blame shifting. Shame on you. You blame third party voters. THAT is anti-democracy at it’s worst. If anyone is to blame for a win by Trump it would be the democrats for supporting Biden for a second term. The “vote for Biden to defeat Trump” rhetoric worked in 2020 but NOT in 2024. What will finally wake up the democrats? The frustrated and disgusted forgotten masses that have turned to Trump. Those that are turning to third party because in a true democracy they must vote but their conscience will not allow them to vote for Trump. And they know Biden is not working for them. If Trump wins in November there is no blaming third party voters. There is only blame on the democrats for supporting big money politicians and forgetting about the segment of society that is not only forgotten by Bidenomics but growing exponentially every year that passes.