Indeed it is a cult. One created to destroy rule of law democracies in both Britain (Brexit) and the US (MAGA) by a criminal network of the morbidly wealthy, their global corporations and colluding hostile states and their bought compliant legacy media. Trump is merely their current Celebrity Preacher.
Monnina, you're right. Trump is only the puppet. The richy rich, corporations, far-right media, and putin are the ones working the strings on the little orange man. They are the ones I would like to see brought down.
Remeber just 9 years past when Hilary got all sorts of grief for calling these MAGAt Depraved Bastards, "Deplorable?" Even then I said she was too timid with these Repugnant Party Despicables.
It truly amazes me how the fuck this country has survived its politicians for almost two hundred fifty years,wars,natural disasters piece of cake 🍰 the politicians are and always have been the most destructive things in our history! Think about it!
I think you are right and they are playing with fire. He's crazier than they probably thought. They wanted money and power and they might get war and all the wrong kind of allies instead.
Maybe "shadow puppet" would be more accurate? He THINKS he's in control while he's cooperating, but he's too stupid to see how he's shooting himself in both feet.
and be well prepared for ridiculous charges and challenges of the vote count in each and every swing state; intimidation during voting and possibly armed "civil unrest" immediately afterwards.
We cannot be afraid of this--we must stand firm and unyielding to strong arm tactics.
I’ve been voting blue no matter who for 55 years and will continue voting blue no matter who. Never have I met a Republicon that didn’t speak out of both sides of their mouths. They speak with a forked tongues, they are snakes.
A good description of how the right wing billionaires took over the court system and started to destroy our government is the book The Scheme by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.
They will ultimately give him the election. Once in office, the republicans controlled state legislatures will gleefully overturn Amendement 22 (they'll have the votes) and we will have Putin, I mean Trump, in office until his Big Mac kills him. This is how it's going to go down. This is how an authoritarian takes over a democracy. Constitution? A little wite-out here, some scratched out words there, much better.
You need 2/3 of both the House and the Senate in order to send a proposed amendment to the states. You need 3/4 of the States (38) to ratify that proposed amendment. Ain't gonna happen .
It doesn't matter if it is a cult or not, people have to get their act together, and start doing their homework. The problem is there has been ZERO accountability, not just for TRUMP but for many leaders in our country. The Supreme court should be held accountable as well, starting with Citizens United. Corporations are people, incubated eggs are people, guns are people...just SICK to death of these weasels that are truly destroying America.
In the 1980s, corporations stopped being “good business citizens” and went all-in at being only for their own bottom line, cross-border entities with ZERO allegiance to anything but themselves. The Oligarchs now DO want control here, but not even because they want to run this country. I think it’s because they want to run THE WORLD, and this is just one more piece of it.
Why do we think Donnie loves every Oligarch he meets? Why did Orban show up here? Why does Putin want Donnie in office again? Now, I’m totally paranoid about the worldwide threat of Oligarch rule. The human race would be lucky to survive another hundred years.
Ah, we must get through to people this year …. I believe in people’s right to object and express their misgivings, but in the end, we must not let any Republican take the White House, and we must try to get more serious people into Congress.
The Heritage Foundation, and the Faux-Freedom Caucus, and the Manafort-Bannon-Stone-Kellyanne consortium will take us down the Oligarch Trail just as sure as Donnie is Orange.
Since 2008 corporations have given much more money to democratic candidates than they have to Republican candidates. That's a fact. Spin it however you want.
AND, giving to candidates directly does not come close to measuring how money influences legislation and public policy. 502(c)4s, for instance, aren’t even allowed direct advocacy or coordination with candidates.. But they are allowed to keep their donors secret!
And PACs put money into lobbying; and other activities, which is not the same, either.
To say nothing of ALEC and Think Tanks and TV shows and even pundits at news outlets, etc. — all corporate activity.
So, you may be doing some of your own spin, Bill.
But I’d still like to get a look at where you got that info…
Why is it that if I yelled “fire“ in a child daycare center, I would be immediately arrested. But Trump can say something like this and get away with it? What the hell is wrong with Garland? Why are we paying him? Why did Biden appoint him? He’s a limp noodle in a wildcat fight.
Here hear. Absolutely telling is this monopoly of overly and dangerously greedy puppet masters picking sorry sacks to do their bidding. My oh my are we sad. Thank you Michealene.
He even hates his “cult/supporters), but he loves donations; he also admitted he loves stupid people, which, except for his millionaire/billionaire donors, is what his cult is. They haven’t figured out that he hates them right along with the rest of us. Personally, I think he has neurosyphilis. He did say on the Howard Stern show years ago that not catching STDs was his Viet Nam. Maybe he lost that war. He should be in a prison for the mentally criminally insane, his dementia is showing, he can even speak, it’s more like babbling. Republicans have screwed up their own party to the max.
I'm sick of hearing that this is a cult. What cult has ever duped half the American population? This notion of cult is convenient for Corporate Democrats so as to avoid their responsibility in pissing off 50% of us. I'm a Progressive, but I get it.
Greed, fear and stupidity are the reasons people support Trump. The very wealthy want to hold onto their millions and billions; people are afraid he’ll ruin their political careers or afraid for his goonies threatening them & their families or they are uninformed by either watching fake news (Fox News, Hannity, Tucker Carlson) or don’t watch or read anything.
I understand the fear but he has threatened democrats far more than republicans. I mean, look what one of his goons did to Paul Pelosi. Yet democrats are standing up to him and not backing down. Republicans have no spine. They don’t deserve to be in office. Vote blue.
Actually I disagree. Democrats are horrible on messaging and they DO NOT stand up as a unified force. For example, when some of our large cities, wanted to have sanctuaries for those coming over the border illegally, that was WRONG. We can't say, that TEXAS cannot protect themselves from the onslaught when these cities sit far away from the chaos. However my point is DEMOCRATS have been very weak and splintered on many issues. They do not stand up, they did not stand up when we had a Supreme Court opening, it's just per BS. And women suffer the consequences. Maybe they should ALL be removed from office. Every last one of them.
It’s because we have a big tent, with lots of issues we are passionate about. We care about everyone, and sometimes we get things wrong. The thing about democrats is we keep trying. We don’t throw up our hands and say, well that didn’t work so let’s give up. The GOP just wants to inflict as much pain as possible.
Completely disagree. Have you read Simon Rosenbergs substacks? Did you hear Bidens SOTU speech? Here is the message. Democrats make good things happen. Like the biggest and fastest financial recovery in the world. Like a huge infrastructure package that is rebuilding the country, bringing broadband to under-served areas. Like forgiving student loans using every possible tool available. Like helping America develop a computer chip industry to offset the uncertainties of Taiwan.
Message number 2: Republicans have eliminated reproductive rights for women. And now they are going after contraception! This issue, in itself, will propel a Blue Wave in November. And then...add in the MAGA attacks on Medicare and Social Security. Talk about campaign gifts!
Watch the ads developing from the Democratic Committee and the White House. Donald Trump is a master of deceit, crimes of sexual abuse and fraud. Joe Biden brings integrity and compassion for ALL Americans.
The bogus impeachment of Biden based on a phony fink has collapsed. The House of Representatives is a pathetic jumble of jerks. Hunter Biden made mince meat of the Gym Jordan committee of clowns.
The beauty of the Democratic Party is our diversity and differing opinions. But when push comes to shove, we are all in this together. I understand how you might feel envious of the GOP "unity". But that is just a mask hiding the terror Trump induces. I'd rather be a member of a family that argues than part of one that kills and eats its own.
I can't agree with you more about what the Democrats care about AND look at the NYT today. "Trump Allies are winning war over disinformation..." People believe this crap.
Justice Ginsburg should have resigned when she got the cancer diagnosis and Democrats had majorities in Congress. Don't blame the whole party for the failings of some of its members.
I'll take the Big-Tent diversity of the sometimes uncoordinated but independently thinking Dems over the lock-step (goose step) robotic uniformity of the Republicans and their tightly controlled, pre-approved messaging...literally, down to the exact wording and phrases they've been instructed to repeat ad nauseum.
I've been thinking a lot about Dumpy's "threats" - I've never understood how mean tweets could scare people so badly. But once Dumpy built up such a radical, feverish base, not supporting Dumpy became a threat to people's political careers. I think that Democrats in general don't think that losing a political race isn't a calamity, and are mature enough that they're not threatened by nasty people or names. That's not to say that there aren't genuine threats towards Dems, like the guy that attacked Paul Pelosi or the pipe bombs sent to various Dem leaders several years ago. But in general, Democrats don't feel threatened by silly nicknames.
I do, but not to David, I wont give him the time. It's the way "THEY" are so vile in their approach that gives people the "freedom" to go out and hurt someone like Paul Pelosi. He continued to call her a crazed lunatic. WTF. David, you need to get a clue.
@Laxe. 2 active wars, children dying by the thousands, GOP Representatives blocking aid, Putin threatening to use nukes. And you figure the big news is....
Yes, I saw the footage. A "lover's spat" doesn't normally put someone in the hospital with a fractured skull. He stated that he wanted to see Nancy Pelosi, not Paul, and that he had a number of [political] bones to pick WITH HER.
David Dwayne DuPape had had mental episodes and truly believed in a number of QAnon conspiracy theories that have little to do with the truth.
He was rightfully convicted by a jury of his peers to 50 years in prison on assault and attempted kidnapping of a Federal Officer. Those are the facts that you can take to the bank.
I am well aware that some people on the fringes of never ever land believe that David Dwayne Dupape was Paul Pelosi's gay lover. The problem is that nothing of the kind was apparent on the bodycam footage you refer to. Paul Pelosi was startled in the middle of the night if you wish to refer to his missing pants. DuPape had a wife and 2 children. Paul Pelosi is not known or rumored to have had gay lovers in the past. [I'm sure some would have shown up by now,. David Dwayne Dupape seems to have a fascination and was caught for indecent exposure several times, but not for homosexuality, either with Mr. Pelosi or anyone else, and he clearly stated his intention to kidnap Nancy Pelosi.
You are a TROLL. Maybe we should sic the MAGATS on you, crack your scull open with a hammer and say it was a lover’s spat. Pelosi called desperately for help.
“The country” has left Trump supporters behind? This country has opportunity for anyone who chooses to avail themselves of those opportunities. Even my local Walmart in a small city in a red state pays $15/hr to start and includes college benefits. My son has a good friend who doesn’t think he’s college material so he’s going to school to be a welder which pays up to $50-70/hr. In the past I’ve been a substitute teacher for mild/moderate special ed in high school and all those kids wanted to be welders because the money is so great. If people feel this country has left them behind it’s because they aren’t trying to avail themselves of the opportunities available and probably expect a lot for no effort. And they probably have a skewed idea of what other people have and how they achieve it. It sounds to me like the same thinking that leads to white men saying that they don’t have any opportunities and they’re the victims of reverse discrimination.
There are many left behind. It's almost impossible for what was a middle class person to buy a house these days. My daughter and her husband make around $120k and they can't save up to buy a house. Their rent for a 2 bedroom apt is $2700/mo. She's driving a 20yr old car with well over 100k miles and he has an older model truck. Between food, gas, childcare, rent, and utilities, there's not much left over. At least she is contributing to her 401k for the max allowed.
I don’t know how they got into a position where they’re renting an apartment for $2700/month. Of course they can’t get ahead. There were things they could have done from the beginning that would have them in a better position now. I’m not faulting them. Most people don’t do very practical things when they’re starting their “adult life.” It’s too bad because it’s really hard to get out of that mess once you’re in it. One piece of advice I’d give them…get a roommate. Even if they and the kid(s) have to sleep in the same room. In a year they could save $12,000+. It’s a start on a down payment for a house. In that same year, one or both could get a second job, working so that the other can take care of the child(ren). That’s another $10k. Budget to the bone. No new clothes for them. Second-hand clothes only for any children. No money for coffee or meals out. Live a brutal year all around and they should have $25-30k+ to put a down payment on a house. If they want to continue being smart, they should buy a two-family home and use the rent on the other half to help with their mortgage payment and still save money toward the goal of buying themselves a single family home and renting both parts of the multi-family. Good luck to them!
Not that easy. It depends on where you live. I know someone paying $2,000 a month for a fourth floor walk up studio apartment. That is what it costs and it is a modest apartment in a modest neighborhood.
Deborah Treschitta, people aren't a number on a paper. So your plan sounds so simple but it is lifeless. It takes nothing into account of their myriad of personal and family challenges, responsibilities, or deficits. It's numbers on a paper-centered not people-centered. It reeks of rationalization of superiority and of continuuing billionaire exploitation.
Sadly Deborah common sense ain't common. I agree with you,but people have unlimited problems for every simple solution .
When I retired as a financial analyst it was the best day of my life.No longer did I have to put up with people that denied that 2x1 is 2
2x2 is 4......2x4 is 8..This has many names,exponential growth,compounding etc..This comes into play with two common names,Coca Cola and Wal Mart,and many others.Coke starting in 1919 @ $40 a share,I forget now how many 2 for 1 splits they have had but you now have ~ 10,000 shares in Coke at approx $60 each.Nobody could afford $40 back then. Nobody could possibly pay back a loan of $40 over a period of 105 years..
Wal Mart I know better, 11 X 2 for 1 splits and a recent 3 for 1. 2x1 is 2
2x2 is 4. 2x4 is 8.Every time they look in the mirror the fool that stares back at them is the problem.
Wal Mart you can count on your fingers,people would rather deny it for an entire life time and more if they could .Started at $16.50 in 1971,nobody bought it,nobody had $16.50 to spare,nobody could possibly pay back a loan of $16.50 over decades and decades. People will tell you that every day of their lives and longer if they could..You now have just over 6,000 shares in Wal Mart at ~ $60 each a simple idea,I'll employ some rich people to work for me by becoming a part owner ( shareholder )of that company .
This brings us to the latest goose that lays the golden eggs.They are always determined to kill that goose,jealousy,stupidity,who knows..I think Bezos is back to being the richest man in the world, the goose that lays the golden eggs.He owns 9% of himself,down from 10% as he has been donating shares/money to charity.. So in round numbers he has 1 billion shares in Amazon at whatever the share price is..Anybody can feed the goose that lays the golden eggs,buy the bird seed ( shares in the goose ) and the goose will lay as many golden eggs as possible for as long as it can,to thankyou for having faith in it .
The person looking back from the mirror of course has a lot of self delusional nonsense.
Reds under the bed
They don't pay tax.
They have my share of the " money".
They don't pay tax
They vote for Trump.
They are determined to destroy the world .Etc etc etc.
Shall I kill the goose,or shall I collect the golden eggs.I'm never surprised at how 99% of people think the correct answer is kill the goose.
There are many other simple things cone into it but when they deny that 2x1 is 2 etc why bother.They will deny it .
I started as a welder because " they make a lot of money".I was good at it.I could glue metal together to an extremely high standard.People would fly me to various places around the world to glue al those various and exotic metals together .Looks great,but they wanted their pound of flesh,work 84 hours per week,then perhaps have a day off to recover,or a week off.You get sick of leaving family and friends at the drop of a hat for an undetermined length of time.
I was glad of the career change,until reality strikes. "I'm not paying you for simple answers.I want you to tell me that I'll be rich by next week because you know the secrets"
How on earth did you come up with that assumption? I'm just commenting that many people are left behind and feel that the American Dream is out of their reach. I know people who are working 2 and sometimes 3 jobs just to stay afloat.
And calling the orange baboon a billionaire is pretty hilarious these days.
@Deborah. You are in good company with a majority of professional political scientists. But there is one other factor which is the effect of global capitalists moving jobs out of the USA to low tax , low regulation nd low labor cost locations in other countries, combined with so many opportunities in the USA are in more urban settings which has tended to hollow out rural areas. I feel the Democrats (I am one) need to pay more attention to jobs and infrastructure in rural areas and set up regulations to limit how corporations can avoid taxes and regulations by moving operations overseas.
@Daniel. If I may, I think we are talking about different components of the electorate. I don’t disagree that some former Trump voters may be persuaded by appeals to their emotional values. But I’m concerned that the more their attachment to Trump is visceral the less they can be swayed. I’m addressing the part of that coalition that is more rational, ie more persuadable. But I’ll attest my view is far from scientific - more of a hope than a finding.
Hello Benjamin, The infrastructure bill has given birth to many, many infrastructure projects in rural areas which also bring jobs to those areas. It has also brought the internet to the rural areas where it wasn’t available before. Finally, the new green energy will be replacing “cleeeeeen coal” (How Trump says “clean coal…ridiculous in more ways than one 🙄) will bring better jobs to more rural areas, not just big cities. Additionally, construction spending on new manufacturing facilities in the US has increased more than any other G7 nation and foreign investment in the US for advanced manufacturing has increased, specifically using 2022 as the basis for data since this is the first full year since Biden’s incentives went into effect.
@Deborah. Yes! The problem is that perception is reality for some people. Their choice of media feeds them a "curated" reality which is part carefully selected fact and part bold lie. Consequently the affected people don't really get the true story, therefor hang on to their resentments. I hope the Biden campaign pushes lots of real stories by real people who are doing better!
In Florida, Governor DeSantis just signed bills to loosen child labor laws, prohibit cities and counties from redlining contractors that don't pay a living wage, and prohibits requirements for contractors to provide water breaks and lunch breaks. I would not want to pour hot tar on a road bed all day without shade of any kind under these conditions for a company that was hired by bidding cheap. Governor DeSantis is of the same mind as Trump, so you can sort of get the idea from him about the tenor of things to come if Trump gets elected. In my county, apartment builders wanted to apply for tax relief for offering low income housing. What was their low income cost for an apartment? $2,000/month. And that rate goes up by 8% every year just ...because it can.
It's important to refrain from generalizing. When migrant workers fled Florida because of hell fire from the governor, business "leaders" held a convention to figure out how to get them back because both construction and agriculture came to a dead halt. You can look this up. Maybe you don't understand that these workers PAY TAXES (unlike General Electric which makes billions of dollars a year and doesn't pay any).
Listen, I left California after many years because of my taxes and how utterly unaffordable it is. We paid 2,400 a month for health insurance that covers ZERO. I would watch the benefits allocated to those coming over the boarder, food, shelter, phone, health insurance that made my TAXES worse. It is NOT okay. Look at the top corporations, they pay ZERO in income tax. That is so WRONG yet, we keep doing it because they give $ to politicians. When are we all going to stand up on the streets and say ENOUGH.
Actually there are a lot of people left behind. Truly. I just sat with a group of college grads with HUGE debt, who can't get jobs because the tech sector is allowed to bring in H1Visas without restraint. No, Deborah, there are a lot of angry people in America who feel that Corporations and the billionaires are destroying our country.
Having lived in Seattle area for a few years, witnessing the upper middle class housing available to the Microsoft Visa workers, it was stunning, in light of American Citizen options. Too many have not lived around the US to truly see what has become of the US. As I returned home to New England in 2015, I had also learned we are no longer the United States. States do anything they want and have for some decades with no federal consequences but taking federal monies with rules attached. As the federal government has been defunded of its regulatory arms, so have states gone rogue. Some appear 'Blue' state but act like Red states.
Completely agree with you. I watched the India "mafia" house H1Visa employees in housing like rats, and having no voice. No consequences as the state level, where is the FCC with all of these groups. Don't take away my guns, but you can have a twitter bot, send porn out everywhere.
Michelene, My ex-husband was a senior software engineer and is now in management and his current wife is also a software developer. I’ve known him for about 30 years - through him working for the huge company, Oracle, to working for a startup to now working for a medium-sized company. The percentage of H1Visas to American citizens is, and has always been, small. My ex-husband, when he worked at Oracle (where there were more employees with visas) had a Bachelor’s degree from a small college versus his coworkers who had Master’s from Stanford. When there was a job that was challenging or needed to be done quickly, my husband was the one tasked with it. There was a big presentation in Las Vegas that Larry Ellison was giving personally. The team went out there and something was messed up with the code and they couldn’t fix it so they flew my (then) husband out and he had about 18 hours to fix it before the deadline. He finished in an hour and a half. I’ve known probably about a hundred of his coworkers throughout the years and only a couple were here on a visa. My ex thought all of the ones I knew were talented and I saw them change jobs to get raises often. It’s what they do in software. My ex could write his ticket just about anywhere. My point in all this is that skill plays a factor and not all jobs are taken by foreigners. And, not from him but from me living in a flyover state, if there aren’t jobs where you are, move. There are plenty of jobs here and more are being created every day. And the cost of living is way cheaper.
Thank you for this. I wish we had access to these numbers. I had a friend at APPLE who saw a number of employees jobs taken by H1Visa...so either way, it's not okay.
I heard those cases. If they lost the job to an immigrant but were equally qualified, send them to a lawyer!!!! They may have a case if they can prove it.
I used to take testimony from vocational experts. They can place anybody!
Daniel, these are not just single cases. Google, FB, Tesla, APPLE have whole companies offshore that are doing this, the percentages are HIGH... and it happens all day long.
Well, it’s great that things have worked out for you Deborah, but realize that it’s not a level playing field (as growing economic inequality illustrates). The same opportunities are not always available to everyone. If you live in an impoverished community, one where the major employer has left, come from a broken, abusive home, have been told all your life that you’re worthless, have troubled friends, gangs, under-funded schools, etc, etc. it’s a naive fantasy that you can simply pick yourself up by your bootstraps, move to a new context and start a new life. Sure, some can do it, but not everyone. And unfortunately. some in the latter camp get hopeless and angry enough that they’d just like to see the whole system burn — and Trump is the match.
Not everyone cares about or takes advantage of the opportunities that are there and that’s different. I’ve known people from all sorts of backgrounds in my life who overcame all those situations you’re talking about. I’m specifically thinking of one guy whose life was almost a formulaic plot for a sappy movie. Grew up in Harlem in the dangerous days. Absent father, impoverished home; he stepped over drug dealers and homeless on his way to his crappy, underfunded school. He graduated from high school and joined the military and when I met him he was in an upper management position in the FAA. Very successful. Not everyone does that for myriad reasons but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. So if those who don’t do it want to burn down the country, they - once again - want an easy way out. No one can do anything about people who don’t help themselves. And that goes way beyond any political or ideological reasoning. Biden becomes the excuse for their failure and they’re hoping for some “magical” rescue from the circumstances of their own making. Trump plays into that magical thinking and, sadly, they’re not bright enough to see through it even when it’s obvious that by supporting him they’re working against their best interests. You can’t fix stupid.
Deborah Treschitta, I thinketh you see the splinter in someone else's eye but not the log in yours. You are missing the opportunity to go out amongst all sorts of people and listen, ask questions, and observe with an open heart. If you do, you will find the whole truth. What you are currently saying is part truth and is laden with judgment
You have no idea the many, many, many years I’ve gone out among all *sorts* of people and done exactly what you’re advocating - and more! I tutored the woman who helped me around the house so she could get her GED. She and the guy who helped her went back on drugs and stole from me. I currently have five other people who are former drug users who help me with things and who I help with getting their lives into some kind of manageable place. I’ve had more but two more stole from me. The people I have now have been in prison and been homeless and were hard-core drug users and (sometimes) alcoholics for years - decades, sometimes. So you take people like that and run the gamut from coworkers in office jobs and factories to students when I worked as a teacher aide for a few years and a substitute teacher, to my coworkers who were very successful in our aviation field and almost all of whom came from a blue collar background and I can literally say that I’ve been around and interacted very closely with a greater number and wider variety of people than most people have. I’ve always been a talker - I love getting to know people - and, importantly, an excellent listener. And I don’t judge people for past mistakes. Do I judge them for being weak and stealing my grandmother’s engagement and wedding rings? You bet I do. And those rings are a perfect example of why I judge them. My grandparents moved from Massachusetts to Connecticut - away from their families and all they had known - for better job opportunities. They had four children when the Depression hit and they pawned those rings to pay for food for their children. My grandfather worked three jobs to get them back on their feet and get those rings back. He worked until he was well into his 60’s. My grandmother worked until she was 74 years old. They couldn’t buy a house until they were in their 50’s but they finally did. They were the poster children for hard work. And my parents and aunts and uncles and my siblings and cousins and I all learned that you don’t get anything without working hard for it. And that you make your own opportunities. And you create your own failures. There’s your log and splinter right there.
Deborah, this is a sad story. Thank you for sharing it. One of the things that comes across is that geographic mobility has destroyed personal connections and entire communities. The socio-psychological costs of "progress" are staggering and the political consequences are frightening.
Bullshit! This country is amazing and you can choose to kill your self if you want or stop acting like a whiny baby and get up off your ass and be grateful for what you have! I’m sick of this doom and gloom attitude. Biden has done more for this country than anyone in years! Look at the numbers. Stop complaining and realize if you vote for a nut job like the orange sociopath you’re going to be living under a dictatorship. I’m sure you’ll be really happy with absolutely NO FREEDOM whatsoever. Left behind my ass. Move to Haiti or any of Trump’s shithole countries if you want to know what left behind really means!
Betty, I have worked in many parts of the world, and sorry our country has left a TON of people behind. I am not whining, I am speaking about the African Americans in Chicago that haven been begging for help for YEARS, and than suddenly we found 3 billion to help immigrants. Sorry, as a woman I have seen and watched my rights erode.
Democrats didn't eliminate affirmative action, underfund the EEOC, oppose the voting right act, ship jobs to Mejico and China etc. BLAME IT ON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
Totally agree AND they allowed it to happen. How come Reproductive rights were not worked on earlier? They create GREAT donations. The whole system sucks.
So have I and I’m mad as hell! I fought for them in the 70’s, but I know I have two choices… only two. Biden or Trump and I’m not an idiot. I can see that Biden is going to do a hell of a lot more for me than a rapist, narcissistic asshole; so instead of complaining about it I am going to VOTE! And do anything I can to keep that monster from entering the Oval Office again!
Bill, I think that Marlo was trying to make the options for voting Trump simpler. While each individual cultist has their reason I have said for a long time that you can really boil it down to just 2 reasons. One Stupid or two, Racist. I'd also like you to clarify if you believe our country has left the Trumpers behind?
Well, I don’t believe people are *born* stupid and racist, they have to be made that way by years of fear and neglect.
No, it’s not the fault of our country as a whole. If anything, it’s our socio-economic model that turns around individualism, competition, and “getting ahead” (which can’t help but mean “leaving everyone else behind”). The end result is a dying Middle Class, a destitute Lower Class, and a handful of billionaires (soon to be trillionaries?) building their own kingdom on a Hawaiian island (Zuckerberg), or on planet Mars (Musk).
I respect your right to believe what you will and if your tied to a theology then you've limited your choices right there. That's fine that we believe differently. I'm sure we both agree that Trump is the greatest threat to the future of our nation in my lifetime and yours and must be stopped at each point he tries to raise.
Something I didn’t realize until I was in my 50’s is that, yes, people *are* born stupid. I am fortunate that I was born with a relatively high IQ and a kind heart so I just thought that people weren’t as smart as I am and if I could only teach them well enough that they’d be smart too. Smart enough. Nope! People actually are stupid. No one wants to say it bluntly because it sounds elitist and mean. I’m not elitist. I’m the daughter of a plumber and a factory office worker - filing, not management. But both my parents were pretty smart. It was being the son of an immigrant who went through the depression that led my father to the only choice of the trades as a career and my mother being a housewife with children that led her to an office job. But they weren’t stupid. So, my feelings about what people do being a result of their intelligence or lack thereof isn’t a correlation I make. But I kind of threw out the baby with the bath water. My father went on to lead large building crews when he was a relatively young man. And then to being an inspector working for the city, a coveted job in my home town and, once again, achieved at a relatively young age. And along the way he learned how to build houses. Because he was innately pretty smart and a really good worker. Not everyone is. Contrary to what Trump will tell them, I don’t think that makes them someone to look down on and it certainly doesn’t make them “deplorable.” It’s the ridiculous gullibility and refusal to acknowledge facts in order to cling to their “band of hate” brothers and sisters and their racism and xenophobia that I look down on and find deplorable. But, because they’re stupid, they won’t admit the truth. It’s easier to let Trump do their thinking for them. Ugh.
Yes, that's the problem - MAGAs feel powerless and hopeless in themselves, so turn to Trump - who doesn't give them any hope, but at least they feel aligned with someone who *appears* powerful.
Seems like Biden/Dems at least are starting to get the message that giving hope to the masses is critically important!
Could not agree with you more. WTF is Garland...? He is too busy hiring HUR, who totally was biased, instead of doing his job. Get the orange jumpsuit behind bars.
Yes! I suspect most of the chaos and strife happening today would not be happening if Garland had aggressively responded to the Jan 6th insurrection on Day 7 — by going after the people at the top (in the suits and ties) instead of merely prosecuting the low-level pawns in order to create the appearance that he was doing something.
Garland may have made a great judge but he’s the wrong man for the AG job. Jack Smith probably would have been better!
Marlo, I don't know about you but if that little orange man threatened my family, I sure as hell would not give in then!! If he threatened my political career that would be all the more reason for not supporting him because you see what has happened to a lot of political careers by those that chose to follow him and constantly exposing yourself to right-wing propaganda 24/7 will definitely screw up your head!! These people need to open their eyes and come out into the light!! Wake up, America!! Vote Blue in November!!
So I am voting blue, but am TERRIFIED it will not be enough. I am terrified that the strung out right wing, will say it was rigged AGAIN and we will have an outright war.
Michealene, I will admit to you that I was worried and nervous about this. My sister retired from the military assured me that if it becomes necessary, the President can work with the military (they defend America from terrorists at home as well as abroad) and quell the unrest pretty quickly. She also said that inciting violence against other Americans to obtain power (like January 6) is an insurrection and unlawful. She put my mind at ease. The majority of Americans stand for Democracy and will not surrender it to the likes of the little orange man and his cult.
But if you were an otherwise sane Republican Congressman, like my Representative Juan Ciscomani (R), you might keep quiet to protect your wife and six kids.
Oh Diane, my heart hurts for these Congressmen who fear for their families safety! It is absolutely insane that those vicious, vile threats and intimidation are happening here in our country!! I don't know Rep. Juan Ciscomani but I do know and understand the importance of keeping your family safe. Who would have ever thought our country would reach this point?
If you run scared of a bully - then you’ll be his target always - you have to stand up and call him what he is- even if you can’t keep your job - a toadie for Trump is just as bad as the bully himself
Marlo, I don't think that your description of the people that support Trump is accurate.
America is not free, Trump said: I'm giving the country back to YOU the people of America. That is how this plays out. If YOU get to govern your affairs wouldn't that be freedom? Do you really want a government corporation to tell you what you must do?
The funniest thing to me? The supreme court CONTINUES to support him when, if he steals a second election, they will be looking through the classified ads DAY ONE! HE TOLD THEM SO! Who needs courts when he's "Bigly Fuehrer 4 Lyfe???" [sic]
Media helps a lot by reporting without analysis, interpretation, or context. And by NOT reporting his more vile & unhinged statements. Between normalizing & both-siding MSM keeps him front & center while sidelining the President.
That's true, Jan. I encourage a lot of the people who parrot the media to study up on Yellow Journalism. It has been around as long as newspapers have been circulated. Using lurid features and sensationalized news to get more people to click or read their publications. Many people did not read yellow journalist (back in my younger days it was usually National Enquirer or the Star) and knew that what they wrote was NOT factual representation.
I’d almost forgotten about the Enq & Star. “Inquiring minds want to know.” I didn’t think of them as yellow journ because I didn’t think journalism was involved. But that would certainly be the right genre. Yellow journ on steroids.
I kind of miss their lurid headlines. And I always wondered whether anyone believed that a woman in Papua New Guinea had given birth to Siamese sextuplets joined at the feet so they looked like a sweet 6-pointed star. 🙂
Republicans have historically kept their constituents as illiterate and pliable as possible, malleable, so they believe what is told to them. Better if they are hyper religious which means you question little. One only needs to look at the metrics for health, longevity, higher education, and yes crime ( higher in cities in red states) to be convinced. Their relative lack of education makes them easy prey for conspiracy theories, fear mongering, mob mentality. When they have very limited knowledge they think as one. It’s sad and scary but not surprising at all.
Yes indeed its difficult having never been in a cult it's impossible to have a frame of reference. I guess its like a fan club gone very wrong. Plus he is a master con man.
I agree. Some watched “The Apprentice” and were enthralled. I never liked that show. I saw him for what he was back then. The show was actually losing money towards the end.
Reality shows just look "unscripted." tRump was just playing a business man on tv. He didn't even write the Art of the Deal. Anthony Schwartz did. Donald cannot and does not write.
As an insider, an American, it is hard for me to understand why people are supporting a traitor and someone who is actively trying to destroy our constitution and our democracy!
Conditioning is powerful. North American society evolved an ethos ideally suited to and likely to produce human beings with similar characteristics as Trump and who aspire to the many false and harmful notions of what it is to be 'successful', i.e. Wealth, Materialism, Status, Fame, Influence, Power.
Conditioning is difficult to resist because it is insidious. The result is that it becomes the 'norm' and often, even usually, becomes lauded and seen as desirable. Because it is insidious and evolves over time and because it is spread by institutions generally seen as respectable, valuable, honest and protective of fundamentally agreed values, it is readily insinuated into the social mindset, both individual and collective.
The problem is that because it is so, most don't even recognise it for what it really is and many will even strongly oppose those who try to show its reality and its failings, as well as the risk it poses to harmony, equity, reason, justice and morality in society.
The result is virtually an acceptance that people such as Epstein and Trump and other such insults to caring humanity will exist and simply have to be tolerated or, even worse, emulated. Thus we have the deluded, misled, ignorant MAGA supporters of Trump and the cowardly GOP members who have allowed him to destroy the very principles on which the Party was founded.
Those people, in the main, are not 'bad' people, but as one notable is reported once to have said: 'Forgive them for they know not what they do.'
Unfortunately, if those people are allowed to have their way, despite the reality that most of them will come to regret it, the damage will be done and the true values that most US citizens hold in high regard - even if they can't always live up to them - will be destroyed and replaced by a narrow-minded, unforgiving, vengeful and dictatorial society such as one would never have thought possible for a nation such as the USA.
non sibi cunctis - Well said, but your last paragraph descends into the sort of hyperbole that Trump is so infamous of. And yet, there is a grain of truth in it, too. Ordinary people will adopt his hyperbolic language and use it in untimely fashion - as he does. They will think it's "cool". They will hang on to his words and interpret them literally, knowing on reflection that Trump is very good at upping the heat and animating his followers but can't be taken literally.
Thank you for your view but I can't agree with it. There is no hyperbole about my last paragraph or, indeed, anything I wrote. If, as it seems, you think that there is, I suggest you look up its meaning in a dictionary.
It was explored by Nietzsche; it was alluded to in the remarkable book “Democracy in America” by de Tocqueville in the chapter on how democracies fail. There is rampant immaturity in America coupled with ressentiment towards those seen as unfairly prospering. “Hillbilly Elegy” took a swing at resentment based on self-pity before JD Vance got stupid. The anger of the immature, who feel downtrodden and oppressed in the country with one of the best standards of living in the world, drives them. They believe that their prosperity has been stolen by a shadowy enemy, and that it can be recovered by erasing that part of the country’s population. To do so, they trust in the most wicked and nefarious, who promise to treat their favored children to riches. It has not worked before, and so many have suffered in making remedy.
I’m aware of de Tocqueville and his writing, especially the “dictatorship of the majority”. Just because there is a majority does not make a decision ethically acceptable or even truely democratic. Here we are seeing millions support him and voting for him. I think that you have to go back to Germany and the elections that brought Hitler and NSDAP to power to find something similar.
@Mohammad. You clearly know history. But the parallels are more contemporary; Orban in Hungary, Putin in Russia, Xi in China (as always a special flavor in China) Kim in North Korea and the little dictators in some of the former Soviet countries...
You wrote: "....There is rampant immaturity in America coupled with ressentiment towards those seen as unfairly prospering," Yet tRump is the person who favors the prosperous rich with more grift, lower taxes. He does nothing to support the poor and yet they love him. It's counterintuitive. And stupid.
They’re irrational Peggy Jo. Also, we should keep in mind that Fox not-the-news reflects the false reality
Trump describes practically every day.
Republicans have engaged in a form of mass brainwashing for at least a couple of decades.
By repeating words and phrases incessantly, such
that at some point in the future, a republican only has to speak a word or phrase of the previously
established “code” they created to evoke the desired emotional reaction like, “Lock her up,” and “sleepy Joe.” I agree there’s rampant immaturity
among Americans as well as an unwillingness
to be held accountable. I guess they go hand in hand.
Compared to the generation of Americans who lived through the Great Depression and WWII, our lives are vastly easier and millions of us take it for granted
that it will always be the way it is now or better.
Let's stop pretending that there is a dichotomy between freedom loving Democrats and servile, money worshiping Republicans. When Demos have control they ape the Republicans in major ways, not even having the spine to pass social welfare. The SCOTUS would not have been able to reverse Roe v. Wade if the Demos had expressed abortion rights in legislative form when they had the chance. Now Biden is hammering on innocent immigrant applicants just like Trump did. It goes on and on. Both parties worship the RICH who call all the shots here. Bernie and Elizabeth went pretty far in proving that common people can finance politics but that's too hard for most Demos. The riches millions are so much easier to suck up to. When I get in lots of paper pumping some politician, I make a note to vote for his opponent. I don't give my vote to the guy with the most money. But very few voters think that way, so money sails right on, buying votes. It would be easy to lay all the blame at the door of the MAGAs but it isn't that easy. Until we get rid of the right to accumulate as much money as possible, there will be no improvement. It's a legal determination, and it could be changed. Either you have the rich or you have democracy. You can't - CANNOT - have both! Face facts!
Let's stop listening to anyone who spews the false equivalency narrative. There are and will continue to be vast differences between the parties. I don't know when you think Democrats had the time to pass "social welfare" legislation. President Obama was lucky to have a six-week window to pass heath care legislation.
Paul, legislation that neuters Citizen’s United would go a long way. I agree about wealth accumulation, but that’s hard to stop without massive govt control which most would object to imo. But its influence can be controlled. The Dems haven’t really controlled Congress since that decision, & it’s necessary.
Jan: I have little objection to one person having 11 yachts (well, not too much) since that doesn't affect or injure the rest of us. But absolutely no one should be able to buy a politician, a representative, a judge or a law. This could be implemented in a straightforward manner. It almost is, in anti-corruption laws which are ignored. Now I am not saying it will be easy - or even practically possible - but the concept is quite conceivable.
That could be because you’re a rational man, Mohammad. Most Trumpeters are not, and those that are (wealthy donors) support him cynically because they believe he’ll give them more ways to keep & increase their own $$ & power.
He’s a conman to the core. A very good one, but still a conman.
The only Americans who support Trump are white supremacists/Nazis/Facists who want to "make America great again", i.e., white, male, Christian. I am a practicing Catholic and I was never taught in my Catholic grammar school or high school that Jesus said "kill people who don't agree with you".
It appears that the only GQP politicians who will refuse to endorse Trump are those who have decided (or realized) that their political careers are over.
We wish! And anyone who took this more than funny post seriously, all I can say is Wow! I personally would LOVE TO SEE ALL MAGA SUPPORTERS DEPORTED AND SENTENCED TO HARD LABOR!
To me this is depressing and a good indicator of why there is so much apathy and lack of urgency pretty much everywhere. Everybody's exhausted, everybody wants to just laugh it off and not get upset. Sometimes you have to feel the uncomfortable feelings
I cope with humor sometimes too. But with "bloodbaths"...no. We've seen what rhetoric 1/100th as extreme as this did before. He's doing it again - but far worse, and in a far more dangerous context.
Pence's reasons were explained in a Saturday Washington Post article:
"Pence’s stated reasoning is also notable. It’s not that he views Trump as dangerous to democracy, or even so much that he’s upset over Trump’s attacking him for his refusal to try to overturn the 2020 election on Jan. 6, 2021." Is Pence unconcerned about the threat Trump poses to democracy? Or that the mob would have killed him if they could have gotten their hands on him?
The article notes that, "Instead, Pence pitched the current version of Trump as insufficiently conservative on issues such as abortion, the national debt, and China and TikTok," and “Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years,” Pence said, “and that is why I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump in this campaign.”
It looks like Pence is trying to do some kink of political dualism, by taking a stand based on trivia instead of ethics and backbone. Maybe he thinks he and his family will get fewer "swatting" attacks compared to others who defied Trump? The mobs already threatened to hang him, so it's ridiculous for him to think any of them care about his reasons. He snubbed Dear Leader, so he is considered their enemy.
What's Mitch McConnell's excuse. His words are meaningless. He is an accomplice. One of Trump's biggest enablers, if not the biggest. I don't ever want to hear an ounce of respect ever directed at him again.
Those are cowards. They have passports & money & a plan to flee the USA for safety. Ironic - they'll be seeking asylum in another country. They're probably planning now.
Those who care more about power than their duty to serve. Got news for them-they will never get loyalty FROM Trump, only the demand that they vow loyalty to HIM.
Maybe not. If we can defeat him in November, convict him, and put him in jail, their political careers could soar in the future, especially if they come out and oppose him now.
The man is a cancer eating into the soul of America. I don't understand how so many people still support this monster. Just today I was sitting in a diner in the small town I live in and someone asked the waitress why Fox news wasn't on the TV. She replied that they had forgotten to turn the TV on. He thought it was for political reasons and they started talking about Trump and how persecuted he was and what a victim he was. I almost lost my breakfast. What is wrong with these people?
Bingo! That’s always what it’s been about: hate. Trump verbalizes the hate they feel, but can’t say aloud. Racist, sexist, misogynistic. Prejudice against immigrants, the college educated, and anyone who got a government benefit without working for it. (Didn’t hear about MAGAs refusing their monthly child credit payments.)
Biden is funding new technology so coal miners, steelworkers, and others who have few options when their industries closed, can get retrained for jobs that will pay union-level wages.
Instead of gratitude for the opportunity, they fly Trump flags in their front yards.
When the train in East Palestine, Ohio, derailed and made the area toxic, Biden pumped in millions of dollars of relief. He was involved in brokering a deal for lifetime medical benefits for those affected and holding the railroad accountable. When he visited East Palestine, he was greeted with protesters waving Trump signs and telling local TV reporters how what happened was all Biden’s fault.
You are absolutely correct. They hate the same people and things he hates. Trumps vocal hatred opened the door for them to hate openly. What they don’t understand is he hates them too, but loves the money they donate. He is the epitome of a conman/grifter and their hatred of liberals, immigrants (all of us are from immigrant backgrounds), the list is endless, fuels their support of this conman/grifter and they fell hook, line and sinker for his BS. Hate is a powerful tool.
I've had those same deeply puzzling reactions. As a retired educational research project manager, my default has been to ask "WHY would people do that?" Knowing that helps me choose actions to hopefully resolve the problems. Reich's last class online from UC Berkley provided lots of facts about policies-real conditions-people's reactions. BUT ALSO... Would recommend the insights that I just got from viewing interview of Tim Alberta, a journalist who was raised in an evangelical pastor's family and has done an extensive analysis of how that brand of Christianity has made bad deals with its integrity. Margaret Hoover interviewed him on recent Firing Line episode. It's only 30 min long and it finally illuminated to me how this tragic twist in thinking became the default mode for stealing people's minds and emotions toward "Trump's goals" for anarchy. Alberta was denounced and harassed by his own long-term family friends at his father's wake because he had written in his column about the desecration of Christian principles that Trump's words and actions continually promote. I'm an extremely 'spiritual' person with a substantial commitment to life practices - but haven't been a church-goer for decades. Hearing his interview inspired me to actually go to a local Lutheran church (my heritage religion) to literally check-out the reality of words vs practices, the intended and the actual. Where or how could I more directly promote the principles of love and respect and integrity? Stepping back from the relentless haranguing within the political realm -- Could it be possible to boost beneficial actions in that arena by building my internal muscles and resiliency via a community institution, like a church. We'll see.
I’m waiting (and waiting, and waiting…) for Trump’s court cases to play out. After Trump loses the election, he will be broke and imprisoned for the rest of his miserable life. Hallelujah!
I heard Trump say that today on T.V. on MSNBC. He is terrified! I just hope the Democrats have a plan in case this really does happen! If it does, he needs to be arrested if he causes violence! Any one else would by now!
Anyone else would've been put away a long time ago for making all of these threats while out on bail for 91 felonies.The two-tier justice system must be stopped and it starts with corrupt former presidents as well as bought and paid for SCOTUS justices.
No Rick, most States are like California. Insanity does not lead to incarceration or mental health treatment either. Unless the insane person murders, or intends to murder, no matter how insane that person is, they cannot be sent to a hospital for treatment unless the patient themselves requests it nor can they be treated. And that's not likely to occur because the last person to recognize mental illness is usually the patient themself. That is one of the few really good things Gavin Newsom is trying to accomplish, allowing next of kin, or doctors, to force treatment of the mentally ill who are incapable of seeking treatment on their own.
I wish you out of staters would quit on the California is bad stuff. I live here and would not consider most other states because of their leaders and lack of things we have in California. As for the desperate P O S wish he would disappear.
Penny, I am a Californian, I have lived in Sacramento County since 1961 and wouldn't want to live anywhere else. While I think I live in he most beautiful state in the Union, we are NOT perfect. The 1969 law which emptied the mental hospitals, sending the patients out on the streets was in my mind inhumane. A person with a bad heart, kidney failure, or cancer is perfectly, intellectually, capable of determining whether or not they want to be treated or just die. A patient with mental illness is not capable. They refuse treatment, do not take the prescription drugs offered to them, and deny their illness, lying to doctors, nurses, and family, I know this first hand. My youngest daughter had clinical depression. And she displayed all the above symptoms. She died at the age of 51 when she fell into a swimming pool and drowned.
Like Donald Trump she didn't understand that she was ill with a critical disease. I sincerely doubt trump would admit to mental illness or seek help. And the next of kin,. cannot request treatment for the patient or make them take prescribed drugs if they are over the age of 18. This is not just California it is the law in most States. I know Governor Newsom was trying to change this regulation last fall, he may have succeeded
VickeyB, Reagan was also a puppet and he emptied the mental hospitals in preparation for what we are experiencing right now!! A lot of those released from mental hospitals are now trump's most loyal base!!
I most assuredly do, he was Governor of California from 1969 to 1973, he said their "communities" would take care of them, BUT there was no money in the legislation for the Counties to do anything. Then when he was elected President he gave the same "opportunities" nationwide. Not all our homeless are mentally ill, but for those who are it is a death sentence.
He lives ( mostly ) in Florida. Florida has the "Baker Act" . It places a person who is out of control on a 72 hr hold to be checked by drs re: their mental health. How does he not qualify?
That 72 hour hold is also in most States, including my State, California. Frankly, I think it has more to do with the high cost of treating mental illnesses. Compared to, say, cancer. My daughter was seriously ill for at least 20 years, like a dunce, it took me years to recognize the disease. When I finally did realize how sick she was I was able to pay for 10 days detoxification, and one month of rehabilitation, then I ran out of funds.
Even after the 72 hour hold, if the patient doesn't agree to treatment, and most don't, they are simply released. The Trump family could probably afford the long term treatment, but if trump denies the need they are SOL.
With his increasing mental instability and cognitive decline, it's not likely he'll seek any treatment himself. Half the time he can't even remember who he's running against. Besides the multiple crimes which include rape and treason, his obvious deteriorating condition makes him even more unfit and dangerous to be reelected.
Fay Reid ; I am sorry about your daughter's long illness and death at an early age. I had a brother who lived that situation and died tragically in a snow bank. I had tried to get him into a hospital without success.
My sincere empathy, Laurie. We do not take care of our people with mental health and never have. In really olden days people were frightened by the mental illness and either tried to exile those suffering or locked them away. Their religion told these poor souls were invaded by the devil or some such evil. Today we punish the entire family by costing them their entire savings, sometimes including their homes. I get so frustrated every time I read about the problems families have had trying to find humane treatment for their loved ones. And when the patient self treats with chemicals ranging from alcohol to opioids, we blame the patient not the disease.
When someone who is charged with many crimes on top of that says or does things that stoke violence & lawlessness, like both Trump & Bannon have done many times, they are usually deemed a national security risk, & are imprisoned while awaiting trial. Apparently Trump & Bannon are exempt.
Jaime ; every day when I hear the news about his latest outrageous statements at rallies, I ask "Why is this person not in custody without a megaphone?" He is being used by billionaires with an agenda! His legal cases keep being delayed. He should be taken off the ballot, or the election delayed if he must remain on it. It is wrong for the voters to have to decide on someone so unfit for the presidency! To think that should he 'jam up' the process of election and gain the Whitehouse to stop all prosecutions; Pardon himself, let his 'soldiers' out of prison, and become dictator on day one is sickening! His thugs like Bannon, Stone, Manafort and Flynn on the loose are dangerous, too. And those in Congress who should be out of their seats for treason! or at the least being disqualified!
The Lincoln Project has some psychological warfare ads circulating. One has an AI video of Fred Trump talking about how disappointed he is that Donald is such a screw up and a summary of all his failures. Powerful.
I suspect many if not most MAGAs are people who feel excluded from the American "good life" and powerless to do express their rage in a way that has any effect. So of course they're going to align with someone they believe CAN -- terrorize the "elites", create chaos, burn the system down.
Jon ; They are a minority that has lost the last few elections. But the threat of a bloodbath makes me wonder how we will be protected from terrorists within our country. Homeland Security apparently is not about protecting US!
It seems to me that the justice system needs a major overhaul. There is definitely something wrong with a system that lets someone who's that guilty weasel out of accountability.
it was really the #1 job Biden was tasked with & elected for: to bring justice to Trump & the many other lawmakers turned lawbreakers, & he's failed at it, at least so far, & he has very little time left.
Yes. But what does he do now? Even if he replaces Garland, then what? As I said in another comment, Trump has now crossed a line. He needs to be arrested and indicted for terrorism.
Respectfully disagree. Biden’s #1 job was to deal with the COVID epidemic. And he did. Making sure vaccine was manufactured, distributed, and administered for free. It was a HUGE public health emergency and his actions saved countless lives. Then he spearheaded child benefits that cut child poverty by 50%. This was a huge help to those who had their hours cut because of COVID lockdown. Then getting benefits for veterans affected by the burn piles.
Robert Mueller was tasked with investigating Trump early on. The process of doing things legally takes time.
A broken justice system leads to a broken democracy. We have 1 party actively attacking democracy & the justice system, & the other party letting them get away with it.
Donald Trump went off the rails a long time ago. At least as far back as 2011 after the correspondents dinner. He is a danger to this country and the world. He is the exact domestic terrorist that he goes on about regarding the Democratic Party. In most countries around the world he would have been imprisoned already. Or worse. He could have chosen a much better life for himself and his family but this sometimes happens when you are guided by anger and hatred. Donald Trump is a very disturbed human being.
I’m writing 100’s of get out the vote letters, that’s all I can say. If I don’t do something, I will have guilt on my own head if this monster, God forbid, gets back in.
Midwest, Subscribe to Jessica Craven on Substack at Chop Wood Carry Water. She puts out an amazing daily list of how to get out the vote. Also follow Robert Hubbell, who ends every (outstanding) daily post with opportunities for reader engagement.
I really like Northeast Arizona Native Democrats. They have an outsized impact in a very important state. This isn’t a “hi we want your vote, bye” organization. It’s helping Native organizers on the ground build community power year- round.
I am affiliated with VoteForward.org. Hands down, I believe they do amazing work and are a really good resource for supporting solid letter-writing campaigns.
PostcardsToVoters and ActivateAmerica via Mobilize have targeted lists to swing state voters … handwritten postcards helped Suozzi in New York win the Santos seat and are proven to be effective! I am writing hundreds of postcards too and if everyone who is commenting would do so, we will win in November. We need all the help we can get…join millions of grassroots volunteers to do this. Find your local Indivisible and Swing Left chapters and other opportunities to take action through Jessica Craven’s substack newsletter Chop Wood, Carry Water and Robert Hubbell’s substack newsletter. Another very worthwhile group is Walk the Walk USA…listen to their monthly zoom meeting where they explain their strategy of raising money for grassroots groups who work year round in communities of color in swing states.
This Megalomanic has nothing to lose. He will do or say anything to get his base whipped up. He belongs in jail and those cases need to be tried. We could have another annual federal holiday when he’s convicted and perp walked into his sentence. Seriously…if any other person in The country did any of these things, they’d be already serving hard time. He should be held to a much higher standard though because he was in a position of public trust and service so he should be dealt with accordingly in the judicial system. On a chain gang,
When the election is over on November 5, 2024, will we be hearing Taps being played for the passing of our Democracy or will we be hearing Reveille for the re-awaking and survival of our Democracy?
Let’s keep calm, work hard, and vote BLUE all the way through for the House, the Senate and the Presidency.
Just remember and practice this important advice:
“You can’t wring your hands and roll up your sleeves at the same time.”
Patricia Nell Scott Schroeder (July 30, 1940 – March 13, 2023), Colorado's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives 1973-1997
Together we can make it happen! Roll up those sleeves now! Susan Highfield
This is on McConnell and the GOP for not voting to impeach him for January 6 , the right wing SCOTUS who are afraid of the Federalist Society, the Heritage Foundation, Fascist Billionaires, plus the slow, scared DOJ It is just another threat from a crazed mentally ill domestic terrorist ! Trump should be in jail. There is no justice system who will take on Trump! Jack Smith, please discuss Trump judge cannon with the 11 th Circuit! Trump needs locked up!
Pence may not endorse Trump but he will vote for him! Once an “R” always an “R” even if he/she is a grifter, liar, mentally ill deranged idiot, conspiracy theorist, thief, rapist, and traitor!
A turtle has no spine. The Republican Party effectively declared itself a crime syndicate when it endorsed the Mob violence on Jan 6 as normal. At this point anyone who endorses Trump is declaring they are unfit to serve the people, and only will serve the whims of this clearly disturbed and deranged man. Vote Blue.
Thank you so much. I have been wondering since why is there not a way for the current president to sui nr 45 for defamation repeating the election lie? Why are there no consequences saying it every where if in fact it has been proven wrong?
Not all politicians lie. There are true, decent public servants like Sherrod Brown here in Ohio, Bernie, Warren & many of the younger ones, like AOC, Omar, Cori Bush & Max Frost to name a few.
I don’t believe that all politicians lie but when I look at what the repugnantkins are saying I’m led to believe that they as a group have no idea what truth means, alternative realities are way more meaningful to them, than the rest of us. I’m convinced that they really believe that if you repeat a lie enough times, it becomes the truth, that’s not what I was taught, I was taught that a lie is a lie, no matter how many times it’s repeated.
I have said it before and will repeat it now: Trump is our Hitler, and this is a combo of 1923 and 1930/31 — Hitler rose, fell, rose again and because of the idiocy of the German hierarchy and the dementia of Hindenburg, attained the Chancellorship, leading to WWII (although some of Trump’s recent imbecilities seem to indicate that we have yet to fight WWII). Trump is, like Hitler, a sociopath. And, like Hitler, when cornered, he is willing to take colossal risks. Add to the mix the sloth and timidity of Garland, the stupidity of impropriety by Fani Willis, the dumb luck of drawing “Loose” Cannon as the judge in the MAL docs case, and the seeming inanity or incompetence of the SDNY who have just turned over to Alvin Bragg at my old office (which is, ultimately, Garland’s fault), and we have a moment of extreme jeopardy. And to those who say it is inappropriate to compare Trump to Hitler, I say, read a few hundred books on Nazi Germany and get a sense of the man and the time, and then get back to me.
Very well stated. I have been thinking of this scenario for a very long time. Just read It Can't Happen here - Sinclair Lewis. Followed by It Can Happen Here - Joe Connison.
Trump always tells what he’s going to do through projection. In other words, if he wins “I don’t think you’re going to have another election, or certainly not an election that’s meaningful.” That’s his goal - and that is the goal of his Republican Party. As former VP Cheney said yesterday, “"In our nation's
246-year history, there has never been an individual who was a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump."
Liz Cheney is a patriot. If she were the only candidate available to defeat Trump I would vote for her. Thankfully she has decided to put her weight behind Biden.
When did she do that? Not voting for A doesn’t mean you’re voting for B. I truly doubt she’ll endorse Biden. She’s a conservative Republican m, just not a MAGA RWNJ whacko.
Cheney's father is known as Darth Vader, the criminal and mastermind behind Bushy II's disasters. He also brought more private Defense Contractors into our defense budget, doubling down on the budget, guns, tanks, horrors, criminals, hands in our taxes!
No doubt Dick Cheney did his part to undermine our Democracy and ideals (sanctioning torture, for one example) so when one despicable character claims another is even worse, that shows just how crazy this is!
"The rest of us must do everything in our power to ensure that this monster never again comes close to the Oval Office." EVERYTHING. IN. OUR. POWER. VOTE!
Saying the quiet part out loud. This has been his MO since his 1st Presidential campaign. We are clear on who he is and what he stands for... the problem is with those who follow his lead! I wanted to belive there were those who were being mislead. But when he tells the truth and reveals the quiet part, it becomes difficult to believe anything other than those that follow him are willful participants and align with his rhetoric.
My God the creative spirit in this country is being wasted,we need an entrepreneur who can create a large enough douche bag to flush every single politician out to sea 🌊 and start anew !just a thought!🤔
For an outsider like me it’s difficult to understand that so many Americans still supports this individual. A denial of reality that is really scary.
Because it’s a cult, sir.
Indeed it is a cult. One created to destroy rule of law democracies in both Britain (Brexit) and the US (MAGA) by a criminal network of the morbidly wealthy, their global corporations and colluding hostile states and their bought compliant legacy media. Trump is merely their current Celebrity Preacher.
Monnina, you're right. Trump is only the puppet. The richy rich, corporations, far-right media, and putin are the ones working the strings on the little orange man. They are the ones I would like to see brought down.
#MeToo
Depraved bastards that they are 🐈⬛
Hahahahaha!! I like that! Depraved bastards! That one is going on my list!!
Remeber just 9 years past when Hilary got all sorts of grief for calling these MAGAt Depraved Bastards, "Deplorable?" Even then I said she was too timid with these Repugnant Party Despicables.
INCELs
On behalf of us decent bastards, I protest.
It truly amazes me how the fuck this country has survived its politicians for almost two hundred fifty years,wars,natural disasters piece of cake 🍰 the politicians are and always have been the most destructive things in our history! Think about it!
I think you are right and they are playing with fire. He's crazier than they probably thought. They wanted money and power and they might get war and all the wrong kind of allies instead.
Agreed, Peggy. Still, it's easier and more convenient for small minds to focus on the dancing puppet then on the purely evil machine controlling it.
Yes, Ilene, I liken them to shaking a shiny object to get a dog's attention!! The machine is what needs to be decommissioned!!
I agree,but the dungeon would be a fitting place for this traitor.
A puppet? A puppet has no agency of its own. He cooperates fully with the string-yankers.
Maybe "shadow puppet" would be more accurate? He THINKS he's in control while he's cooperating, but he's too stupid to see how he's shooting himself in both feet.
Gepetto!
Just like Clarence Thomas.
We MUST bring them down. But HOW?
Vote Blue, Michealene, vote blue!!!
That keeps Trump out of office and then what? More centrist democrats to maintain the status quo? Can I get a real f***ing PROGRESSIVE choice??
and be well prepared for ridiculous charges and challenges of the vote count in each and every swing state; intimidation during voting and possibly armed "civil unrest" immediately afterwards.
We cannot be afraid of this--we must stand firm and unyielding to strong arm tactics.
So true. People steel yourselves!
VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO!
I’ve been voting blue no matter who for 55 years and will continue voting blue no matter who. Never have I met a Republicon that didn’t speak out of both sides of their mouths. They speak with a forked tongues, they are snakes.
The most useful of useless idiots?
Don’t Forget about the Bought SCOTUS…!
As a woman and a "person", one could not possibly forget!
A good description of how the right wing billionaires took over the court system and started to destroy our government is the book The Scheme by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.
Thank you for the reference.
They will ultimately give him the election. Once in office, the republicans controlled state legislatures will gleefully overturn Amendement 22 (they'll have the votes) and we will have Putin, I mean Trump, in office until his Big Mac kills him. This is how it's going to go down. This is how an authoritarian takes over a democracy. Constitution? A little wite-out here, some scratched out words there, much better.
You need 2/3 of both the House and the Senate in order to send a proposed amendment to the states. You need 3/4 of the States (38) to ratify that proposed amendment. Ain't gonna happen .
That’s what they said about Trump getting elected.
Mephisto
(A movie from the time of Reagan):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mephisto_(1981_film)
https://www.amazon.com/Mephisto-Klaus-Maria-Brandauer/dp/B0CJNNM45V
Brexit was an exercise of self harm not about sovereignty but to become 51st of the USA!
Idiots exist everywhere and morans follow!
great way of saying it: Trump is their current Preacher. great!
And the Supremes…
It doesn't matter if it is a cult or not, people have to get their act together, and start doing their homework. The problem is there has been ZERO accountability, not just for TRUMP but for many leaders in our country. The Supreme court should be held accountable as well, starting with Citizens United. Corporations are people, incubated eggs are people, guns are people...just SICK to death of these weasels that are truly destroying America.
In the 1980s, corporations stopped being “good business citizens” and went all-in at being only for their own bottom line, cross-border entities with ZERO allegiance to anything but themselves. The Oligarchs now DO want control here, but not even because they want to run this country. I think it’s because they want to run THE WORLD, and this is just one more piece of it.
Why do we think Donnie loves every Oligarch he meets? Why did Orban show up here? Why does Putin want Donnie in office again? Now, I’m totally paranoid about the worldwide threat of Oligarch rule. The human race would be lucky to survive another hundred years.
Too negative?
Not too negative, the world is at stake, and we need allies.
😬🤞🤞😬
Totally agree with you.
No Pat,
You are too human and an intelligent one at that. If we aren’t honest about these facts we will sink.
Keep talking…. 💕🤗
Ah, we must get through to people this year …. I believe in people’s right to object and express their misgivings, but in the end, we must not let any Republican take the White House, and we must try to get more serious people into Congress.
The Heritage Foundation, and the Faux-Freedom Caucus, and the Manafort-Bannon-Stone-Kellyanne consortium will take us down the Oligarch Trail just as sure as Donnie is Orange.
VOTE BLUE.
Since 2008 corporations have given much more money to democratic candidates than they have to Republican candidates. That's a fact. Spin it however you want.
Interesting thought Bill— e can I look that up?
AND, giving to candidates directly does not come close to measuring how money influences legislation and public policy. 502(c)4s, for instance, aren’t even allowed direct advocacy or coordination with candidates.. But they are allowed to keep their donors secret!
And PACs put money into lobbying; and other activities, which is not the same, either.
To say nothing of ALEC and Think Tanks and TV shows and even pundits at news outlets, etc. — all corporate activity.
So, you may be doing some of your own spin, Bill.
But I’d still like to get a look at where you got that info…
https://www.statista.com/statistics/995822/share-funds-donated-us-political-parties-fortune-500-companies/
I was responding only to corporate/ big business giving :
Why is it that if I yelled “fire“ in a child daycare center, I would be immediately arrested. But Trump can say something like this and get away with it? What the hell is wrong with Garland? Why are we paying him? Why did Biden appoint him? He’s a limp noodle in a wildcat fight.
Perfectly stated. I totally agree.
Here hear. Absolutely telling is this monopoly of overly and dangerously greedy puppet masters picking sorry sacks to do their bidding. My oh my are we sad. Thank you Michealene.
Everything is people except females.
If it weren't so true, I would be laughing. WTF is wrong with these people.
They hate the same people he hates. He even hates his
Pushed wrong button. Grrr
He even hates his “cult/supporters), but he loves donations; he also admitted he loves stupid people, which, except for his millionaire/billionaire donors, is what his cult is. They haven’t figured out that he hates them right along with the rest of us. Personally, I think he has neurosyphilis. He did say on the Howard Stern show years ago that not catching STDs was his Viet Nam. Maybe he lost that war. He should be in a prison for the mentally criminally insane, his dementia is showing, he can even speak, it’s more like babbling. Republicans have screwed up their own party to the max.
If I were a movie producer casting for the part of an orange Antichrist, I'd pick Donald J. Trump.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovCf9VRLnDY
The He Touches It Dies . . who Stacked A Covid Coffin High Rise . .Worthy of The Damien Franchise! . . .#Sick Clown variant . ..
Springtime for Hitler and Germany, winter for Poland and France.
And death for 3,000,000 Gazans!
Heartbreaking and monstrous
Americans who support the murder of 3,000,000 persons are also a cult- ruled by the group of criminals called AIPAC.
That's unfair and ignorant.
Three million is the entire population, so while the suffering is widespread and horrific, this isn't accurate.
My objection is to the black and white nature of the comment, but the sentiment and outrage is also widespread
itnorant????
Typing left handed after shoulder surgery without eboufg coffee. See?
If you're going to fall, let go of the trash can . If you have time.
Please stay on topic.
I'm sick of hearing that this is a cult. What cult has ever duped half the American population? This notion of cult is convenient for Corporate Democrats so as to avoid their responsibility in pissing off 50% of us. I'm a Progressive, but I get it.
Dan makes a good point.
Greed, fear and stupidity are the reasons people support Trump. The very wealthy want to hold onto their millions and billions; people are afraid he’ll ruin their political careers or afraid for his goonies threatening them & their families or they are uninformed by either watching fake news (Fox News, Hannity, Tucker Carlson) or don’t watch or read anything.
I understand the fear but he has threatened democrats far more than republicans. I mean, look what one of his goons did to Paul Pelosi. Yet democrats are standing up to him and not backing down. Republicans have no spine. They don’t deserve to be in office. Vote blue.
Yes!!
That is the absolute truth.
Actually I disagree. Democrats are horrible on messaging and they DO NOT stand up as a unified force. For example, when some of our large cities, wanted to have sanctuaries for those coming over the border illegally, that was WRONG. We can't say, that TEXAS cannot protect themselves from the onslaught when these cities sit far away from the chaos. However my point is DEMOCRATS have been very weak and splintered on many issues. They do not stand up, they did not stand up when we had a Supreme Court opening, it's just per BS. And women suffer the consequences. Maybe they should ALL be removed from office. Every last one of them.
It’s because we have a big tent, with lots of issues we are passionate about. We care about everyone, and sometimes we get things wrong. The thing about democrats is we keep trying. We don’t throw up our hands and say, well that didn’t work so let’s give up. The GOP just wants to inflict as much pain as possible.
Completely disagree. Have you read Simon Rosenbergs substacks? Did you hear Bidens SOTU speech? Here is the message. Democrats make good things happen. Like the biggest and fastest financial recovery in the world. Like a huge infrastructure package that is rebuilding the country, bringing broadband to under-served areas. Like forgiving student loans using every possible tool available. Like helping America develop a computer chip industry to offset the uncertainties of Taiwan.
Message number 2: Republicans have eliminated reproductive rights for women. And now they are going after contraception! This issue, in itself, will propel a Blue Wave in November. And then...add in the MAGA attacks on Medicare and Social Security. Talk about campaign gifts!
Watch the ads developing from the Democratic Committee and the White House. Donald Trump is a master of deceit, crimes of sexual abuse and fraud. Joe Biden brings integrity and compassion for ALL Americans.
The bogus impeachment of Biden based on a phony fink has collapsed. The House of Representatives is a pathetic jumble of jerks. Hunter Biden made mince meat of the Gym Jordan committee of clowns.
The beauty of the Democratic Party is our diversity and differing opinions. But when push comes to shove, we are all in this together. I understand how you might feel envious of the GOP "unity". But that is just a mask hiding the terror Trump induces. I'd rather be a member of a family that argues than part of one that kills and eats its own.
Well said, Bill.
I can't agree with you more about what the Democrats care about AND look at the NYT today. "Trump Allies are winning war over disinformation..." People believe this crap.
Justice Ginsburg should have resigned when she got the cancer diagnosis and Democrats had majorities in Congress. Don't blame the whole party for the failings of some of its members.
I cannot disagree with you at all. And...here we are.
I'll take the Big-Tent diversity of the sometimes uncoordinated but independently thinking Dems over the lock-step (goose step) robotic uniformity of the Republicans and their tightly controlled, pre-approved messaging...literally, down to the exact wording and phrases they've been instructed to repeat ad nauseum.
You neglected so add Vote Blue.
I've been thinking a lot about Dumpy's "threats" - I've never understood how mean tweets could scare people so badly. But once Dumpy built up such a radical, feverish base, not supporting Dumpy became a threat to people's political careers. I think that Democrats in general don't think that losing a political race isn't a calamity, and are mature enough that they're not threatened by nasty people or names. That's not to say that there aren't genuine threats towards Dems, like the guy that attacked Paul Pelosi or the pipe bombs sent to various Dem leaders several years ago. But in general, Democrats don't feel threatened by silly nicknames.
Yes but we are not voting for him. (These are reasons people are voting for Donald Quack).
Any more cultists wanna chime in with David?
I do, but not to David, I wont give him the time. It's the way "THEY" are so vile in their approach that gives people the "freedom" to go out and hurt someone like Paul Pelosi. He continued to call her a crazed lunatic. WTF. David, you need to get a clue.
I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he was attempting to be witty by being wildly sarcastic by repeating outrageous conspiracy theories.
@Laxe. 2 active wars, children dying by the thousands, GOP Representatives blocking aid, Putin threatening to use nukes. And you figure the big news is....
What?
And the green m&m’s have canceled St. Patrick’s Day.
You are a fool.
Woopse
Success, Laxe, BS off topic.
You’re pulling for the pumpkin furor because he’s swell.
Yes, I saw the footage. A "lover's spat" doesn't normally put someone in the hospital with a fractured skull. He stated that he wanted to see Nancy Pelosi, not Paul, and that he had a number of [political] bones to pick WITH HER.
David Dwayne DuPape had had mental episodes and truly believed in a number of QAnon conspiracy theories that have little to do with the truth.
He was rightfully convicted by a jury of his peers to 50 years in prison on assault and attempted kidnapping of a Federal Officer. Those are the facts that you can take to the bank.
https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/david-depape-paul-pelosi-attack-opening-statements/
I am well aware that some people on the fringes of never ever land believe that David Dwayne Dupape was Paul Pelosi's gay lover. The problem is that nothing of the kind was apparent on the bodycam footage you refer to. Paul Pelosi was startled in the middle of the night if you wish to refer to his missing pants. DuPape had a wife and 2 children. Paul Pelosi is not known or rumored to have had gay lovers in the past. [I'm sure some would have shown up by now,. David Dwayne Dupape seems to have a fascination and was caught for indecent exposure several times, but not for homosexuality, either with Mr. Pelosi or anyone else, and he clearly stated his intention to kidnap Nancy Pelosi.
https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL1N31Y148/
The far out conspiracy theory seems to have originated with Elon Musk who twitted but then deleted the story:
https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/truth-or-fake/20221101-elon-musk-tweets-then-deletes-conspiracy-theory-post-about-the-paul-pelosi-attack
You should take whatever Elon Musk says with a pile of salt and stop getting your truths on Twitter.
Not likely to find cultists here.
You wish.
Was sarcasm
Laxe
I have a 2# hammer.
Meet me outside and I’ll give you a demonstration love tap. 💋
You are a TROLL. Maybe we should sic the MAGATS on you, crack your scull open with a hammer and say it was a lover’s spat. Pelosi called desperately for help.
Don't waste time on trolls; their purpose is to throw you off the rails. They are zombies.
Did you forget to take your meds again ?
Also hopelessness, anger, resentment and finally a desire to burn down the country that has left them behind.
“The country” has left Trump supporters behind? This country has opportunity for anyone who chooses to avail themselves of those opportunities. Even my local Walmart in a small city in a red state pays $15/hr to start and includes college benefits. My son has a good friend who doesn’t think he’s college material so he’s going to school to be a welder which pays up to $50-70/hr. In the past I’ve been a substitute teacher for mild/moderate special ed in high school and all those kids wanted to be welders because the money is so great. If people feel this country has left them behind it’s because they aren’t trying to avail themselves of the opportunities available and probably expect a lot for no effort. And they probably have a skewed idea of what other people have and how they achieve it. It sounds to me like the same thinking that leads to white men saying that they don’t have any opportunities and they’re the victims of reverse discrimination.
There are many left behind. It's almost impossible for what was a middle class person to buy a house these days. My daughter and her husband make around $120k and they can't save up to buy a house. Their rent for a 2 bedroom apt is $2700/mo. She's driving a 20yr old car with well over 100k miles and he has an older model truck. Between food, gas, childcare, rent, and utilities, there's not much left over. At least she is contributing to her 401k for the max allowed.
I don’t know how they got into a position where they’re renting an apartment for $2700/month. Of course they can’t get ahead. There were things they could have done from the beginning that would have them in a better position now. I’m not faulting them. Most people don’t do very practical things when they’re starting their “adult life.” It’s too bad because it’s really hard to get out of that mess once you’re in it. One piece of advice I’d give them…get a roommate. Even if they and the kid(s) have to sleep in the same room. In a year they could save $12,000+. It’s a start on a down payment for a house. In that same year, one or both could get a second job, working so that the other can take care of the child(ren). That’s another $10k. Budget to the bone. No new clothes for them. Second-hand clothes only for any children. No money for coffee or meals out. Live a brutal year all around and they should have $25-30k+ to put a down payment on a house. If they want to continue being smart, they should buy a two-family home and use the rent on the other half to help with their mortgage payment and still save money toward the goal of buying themselves a single family home and renting both parts of the multi-family. Good luck to them!
Not that easy. It depends on where you live. I know someone paying $2,000 a month for a fourth floor walk up studio apartment. That is what it costs and it is a modest apartment in a modest neighborhood.
Deborah Treschitta, people aren't a number on a paper. So your plan sounds so simple but it is lifeless. It takes nothing into account of their myriad of personal and family challenges, responsibilities, or deficits. It's numbers on a paper-centered not people-centered. It reeks of rationalization of superiority and of continuuing billionaire exploitation.
In my home town, $2700/mo gets them a mansion. Location, location. https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1606-Atkinson-St_New-Castle_PA_16101_M30356-29577?from=srp-list-card
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1415-Wilson-Ave_New-Castle_PA_16101_M39952-01704?from=srp-list-card
Sadly Deborah common sense ain't common. I agree with you,but people have unlimited problems for every simple solution .
When I retired as a financial analyst it was the best day of my life.No longer did I have to put up with people that denied that 2x1 is 2
2x2 is 4......2x4 is 8..This has many names,exponential growth,compounding etc..This comes into play with two common names,Coca Cola and Wal Mart,and many others.Coke starting in 1919 @ $40 a share,I forget now how many 2 for 1 splits they have had but you now have ~ 10,000 shares in Coke at approx $60 each.Nobody could afford $40 back then. Nobody could possibly pay back a loan of $40 over a period of 105 years..
Wal Mart I know better, 11 X 2 for 1 splits and a recent 3 for 1. 2x1 is 2
2x2 is 4. 2x4 is 8.Every time they look in the mirror the fool that stares back at them is the problem.
Wal Mart you can count on your fingers,people would rather deny it for an entire life time and more if they could .Started at $16.50 in 1971,nobody bought it,nobody had $16.50 to spare,nobody could possibly pay back a loan of $16.50 over decades and decades. People will tell you that every day of their lives and longer if they could..You now have just over 6,000 shares in Wal Mart at ~ $60 each a simple idea,I'll employ some rich people to work for me by becoming a part owner ( shareholder )of that company .
This brings us to the latest goose that lays the golden eggs.They are always determined to kill that goose,jealousy,stupidity,who knows..I think Bezos is back to being the richest man in the world, the goose that lays the golden eggs.He owns 9% of himself,down from 10% as he has been donating shares/money to charity.. So in round numbers he has 1 billion shares in Amazon at whatever the share price is..Anybody can feed the goose that lays the golden eggs,buy the bird seed ( shares in the goose ) and the goose will lay as many golden eggs as possible for as long as it can,to thankyou for having faith in it .
The person looking back from the mirror of course has a lot of self delusional nonsense.
Reds under the bed
They don't pay tax.
They have my share of the " money".
They don't pay tax
They vote for Trump.
They are determined to destroy the world .Etc etc etc.
Shall I kill the goose,or shall I collect the golden eggs.I'm never surprised at how 99% of people think the correct answer is kill the goose.
There are many other simple things cone into it but when they deny that 2x1 is 2 etc why bother.They will deny it .
I started as a welder because " they make a lot of money".I was good at it.I could glue metal together to an extremely high standard.People would fly me to various places around the world to glue al those various and exotic metals together .Looks great,but they wanted their pound of flesh,work 84 hours per week,then perhaps have a day off to recover,or a week off.You get sick of leaving family and friends at the drop of a hat for an undetermined length of time.
I was glad of the career change,until reality strikes. "I'm not paying you for simple answers.I want you to tell me that I'll be rich by next week because you know the secrets"
2x1 is 2
2x2 is 4
2x4 is 8.
Don't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
I think you've nailed
It so far Keep up the good work
This brings us to the
How on earth did you come up with that assumption? I'm just commenting that many people are left behind and feel that the American Dream is out of their reach. I know people who are working 2 and sometimes 3 jobs just to stay afloat.
And calling the orange baboon a billionaire is pretty hilarious these days.
LMFAO. He cares for NO ONE but himself.
@Deborah. You are in good company with a majority of professional political scientists. But there is one other factor which is the effect of global capitalists moving jobs out of the USA to low tax , low regulation nd low labor cost locations in other countries, combined with so many opportunities in the USA are in more urban settings which has tended to hollow out rural areas. I feel the Democrats (I am one) need to pay more attention to jobs and infrastructure in rural areas and set up regulations to limit how corporations can avoid taxes and regulations by moving operations overseas.
OK. But if you know them it's all visceral.
How can someone on say, SSI, vote for any Republican? Republicans want to KILL it. In some red states, virtually all do. https://dailyyonder.com/a-vote-against-self-interest/2015/11/16/
That's why "Trump hates dogs" and "Trump stole from kids with cancer" are more effective.
@Daniel. If I may, I think we are talking about different components of the electorate. I don’t disagree that some former Trump voters may be persuaded by appeals to their emotional values. But I’m concerned that the more their attachment to Trump is visceral the less they can be swayed. I’m addressing the part of that coalition that is more rational, ie more persuadable. But I’ll attest my view is far from scientific - more of a hope than a finding.
Yes - the Trump hates dogs works -
Hello Benjamin, The infrastructure bill has given birth to many, many infrastructure projects in rural areas which also bring jobs to those areas. It has also brought the internet to the rural areas where it wasn’t available before. Finally, the new green energy will be replacing “cleeeeeen coal” (How Trump says “clean coal…ridiculous in more ways than one 🙄) will bring better jobs to more rural areas, not just big cities. Additionally, construction spending on new manufacturing facilities in the US has increased more than any other G7 nation and foreign investment in the US for advanced manufacturing has increased, specifically using 2022 as the basis for data since this is the first full year since Biden’s incentives went into effect.
@Deborah. Yes! The problem is that perception is reality for some people. Their choice of media feeds them a "curated" reality which is part carefully selected fact and part bold lie. Consequently the affected people don't really get the true story, therefor hang on to their resentments. I hope the Biden campaign pushes lots of real stories by real people who are doing better!
They try. Hard to get anything through congress
In Florida, Governor DeSantis just signed bills to loosen child labor laws, prohibit cities and counties from redlining contractors that don't pay a living wage, and prohibits requirements for contractors to provide water breaks and lunch breaks. I would not want to pour hot tar on a road bed all day without shade of any kind under these conditions for a company that was hired by bidding cheap. Governor DeSantis is of the same mind as Trump, so you can sort of get the idea from him about the tenor of things to come if Trump gets elected. In my county, apartment builders wanted to apply for tax relief for offering low income housing. What was their low income cost for an apartment? $2,000/month. And that rate goes up by 8% every year just ...because it can.
It's important to refrain from generalizing. When migrant workers fled Florida because of hell fire from the governor, business "leaders" held a convention to figure out how to get them back because both construction and agriculture came to a dead halt. You can look this up. Maybe you don't understand that these workers PAY TAXES (unlike General Electric which makes billions of dollars a year and doesn't pay any).
Listen, I left California after many years because of my taxes and how utterly unaffordable it is. We paid 2,400 a month for health insurance that covers ZERO. I would watch the benefits allocated to those coming over the boarder, food, shelter, phone, health insurance that made my TAXES worse. It is NOT okay. Look at the top corporations, they pay ZERO in income tax. That is so WRONG yet, we keep doing it because they give $ to politicians. When are we all going to stand up on the streets and say ENOUGH.
Actually there are a lot of people left behind. Truly. I just sat with a group of college grads with HUGE debt, who can't get jobs because the tech sector is allowed to bring in H1Visas without restraint. No, Deborah, there are a lot of angry people in America who feel that Corporations and the billionaires are destroying our country.
Michealene,
Having lived in Seattle area for a few years, witnessing the upper middle class housing available to the Microsoft Visa workers, it was stunning, in light of American Citizen options. Too many have not lived around the US to truly see what has become of the US. As I returned home to New England in 2015, I had also learned we are no longer the United States. States do anything they want and have for some decades with no federal consequences but taking federal monies with rules attached. As the federal government has been defunded of its regulatory arms, so have states gone rogue. Some appear 'Blue' state but act like Red states.
Completely agree with you. I watched the India "mafia" house H1Visa employees in housing like rats, and having no voice. No consequences as the state level, where is the FCC with all of these groups. Don't take away my guns, but you can have a twitter bot, send porn out everywhere.
Michelene, My ex-husband was a senior software engineer and is now in management and his current wife is also a software developer. I’ve known him for about 30 years - through him working for the huge company, Oracle, to working for a startup to now working for a medium-sized company. The percentage of H1Visas to American citizens is, and has always been, small. My ex-husband, when he worked at Oracle (where there were more employees with visas) had a Bachelor’s degree from a small college versus his coworkers who had Master’s from Stanford. When there was a job that was challenging or needed to be done quickly, my husband was the one tasked with it. There was a big presentation in Las Vegas that Larry Ellison was giving personally. The team went out there and something was messed up with the code and they couldn’t fix it so they flew my (then) husband out and he had about 18 hours to fix it before the deadline. He finished in an hour and a half. I’ve known probably about a hundred of his coworkers throughout the years and only a couple were here on a visa. My ex thought all of the ones I knew were talented and I saw them change jobs to get raises often. It’s what they do in software. My ex could write his ticket just about anywhere. My point in all this is that skill plays a factor and not all jobs are taken by foreigners. And, not from him but from me living in a flyover state, if there aren’t jobs where you are, move. There are plenty of jobs here and more are being created every day. And the cost of living is way cheaper.
Thank you for this. I wish we had access to these numbers. I had a friend at APPLE who saw a number of employees jobs taken by H1Visa...so either way, it's not okay.
I heard those cases. If they lost the job to an immigrant but were equally qualified, send them to a lawyer!!!! They may have a case if they can prove it.
I used to take testimony from vocational experts. They can place anybody!
Daniel, these are not just single cases. Google, FB, Tesla, APPLE have whole companies offshore that are doing this, the percentages are HIGH... and it happens all day long.
"Reality" tv and social media fraud " influencers" have a lot to do with the envy and dillusion.
Well, it’s great that things have worked out for you Deborah, but realize that it’s not a level playing field (as growing economic inequality illustrates). The same opportunities are not always available to everyone. If you live in an impoverished community, one where the major employer has left, come from a broken, abusive home, have been told all your life that you’re worthless, have troubled friends, gangs, under-funded schools, etc, etc. it’s a naive fantasy that you can simply pick yourself up by your bootstraps, move to a new context and start a new life. Sure, some can do it, but not everyone. And unfortunately. some in the latter camp get hopeless and angry enough that they’d just like to see the whole system burn — and Trump is the match.
Not everyone cares about or takes advantage of the opportunities that are there and that’s different. I’ve known people from all sorts of backgrounds in my life who overcame all those situations you’re talking about. I’m specifically thinking of one guy whose life was almost a formulaic plot for a sappy movie. Grew up in Harlem in the dangerous days. Absent father, impoverished home; he stepped over drug dealers and homeless on his way to his crappy, underfunded school. He graduated from high school and joined the military and when I met him he was in an upper management position in the FAA. Very successful. Not everyone does that for myriad reasons but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. So if those who don’t do it want to burn down the country, they - once again - want an easy way out. No one can do anything about people who don’t help themselves. And that goes way beyond any political or ideological reasoning. Biden becomes the excuse for their failure and they’re hoping for some “magical” rescue from the circumstances of their own making. Trump plays into that magical thinking and, sadly, they’re not bright enough to see through it even when it’s obvious that by supporting him they’re working against their best interests. You can’t fix stupid.
Deborah Treschitta, I thinketh you see the splinter in someone else's eye but not the log in yours. You are missing the opportunity to go out amongst all sorts of people and listen, ask questions, and observe with an open heart. If you do, you will find the whole truth. What you are currently saying is part truth and is laden with judgment
You have no idea the many, many, many years I’ve gone out among all *sorts* of people and done exactly what you’re advocating - and more! I tutored the woman who helped me around the house so she could get her GED. She and the guy who helped her went back on drugs and stole from me. I currently have five other people who are former drug users who help me with things and who I help with getting their lives into some kind of manageable place. I’ve had more but two more stole from me. The people I have now have been in prison and been homeless and were hard-core drug users and (sometimes) alcoholics for years - decades, sometimes. So you take people like that and run the gamut from coworkers in office jobs and factories to students when I worked as a teacher aide for a few years and a substitute teacher, to my coworkers who were very successful in our aviation field and almost all of whom came from a blue collar background and I can literally say that I’ve been around and interacted very closely with a greater number and wider variety of people than most people have. I’ve always been a talker - I love getting to know people - and, importantly, an excellent listener. And I don’t judge people for past mistakes. Do I judge them for being weak and stealing my grandmother’s engagement and wedding rings? You bet I do. And those rings are a perfect example of why I judge them. My grandparents moved from Massachusetts to Connecticut - away from their families and all they had known - for better job opportunities. They had four children when the Depression hit and they pawned those rings to pay for food for their children. My grandfather worked three jobs to get them back on their feet and get those rings back. He worked until he was well into his 60’s. My grandmother worked until she was 74 years old. They couldn’t buy a house until they were in their 50’s but they finally did. They were the poster children for hard work. And my parents and aunts and uncles and my siblings and cousins and I all learned that you don’t get anything without working hard for it. And that you make your own opportunities. And you create your own failures. There’s your log and splinter right there.
Deborah, this is a sad story. Thank you for sharing it. One of the things that comes across is that geographic mobility has destroyed personal connections and entire communities. The socio-psychological costs of "progress" are staggering and the political consequences are frightening.
Deborah Treschitta, you have a good heart and have talked with and helped people in need. Some betrayed you. I'd be angry too.
Bullshit! This country is amazing and you can choose to kill your self if you want or stop acting like a whiny baby and get up off your ass and be grateful for what you have! I’m sick of this doom and gloom attitude. Biden has done more for this country than anyone in years! Look at the numbers. Stop complaining and realize if you vote for a nut job like the orange sociopath you’re going to be living under a dictatorship. I’m sure you’ll be really happy with absolutely NO FREEDOM whatsoever. Left behind my ass. Move to Haiti or any of Trump’s shithole countries if you want to know what left behind really means!
Betty, I have worked in many parts of the world, and sorry our country has left a TON of people behind. I am not whining, I am speaking about the African Americans in Chicago that haven been begging for help for YEARS, and than suddenly we found 3 billion to help immigrants. Sorry, as a woman I have seen and watched my rights erode.
Democrats didn't eliminate affirmative action, underfund the EEOC, oppose the voting right act, ship jobs to Mejico and China etc. BLAME IT ON THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
Totally agree AND they allowed it to happen. How come Reproductive rights were not worked on earlier? They create GREAT donations. The whole system sucks.
Right on!
So have I and I’m mad as hell! I fought for them in the 70’s, but I know I have two choices… only two. Biden or Trump and I’m not an idiot. I can see that Biden is going to do a hell of a lot more for me than a rapist, narcissistic asshole; so instead of complaining about it I am going to VOTE! And do anything I can to keep that monster from entering the Oval Office again!
Or they are not aware of opportunities available in this country
They support the very people who have "left them behind" (but actually favor them over many of their countrymen).
Bill, I think that Marlo was trying to make the options for voting Trump simpler. While each individual cultist has their reason I have said for a long time that you can really boil it down to just 2 reasons. One Stupid or two, Racist. I'd also like you to clarify if you believe our country has left the Trumpers behind?
For immature males, peer pressure is stronger than faith or family.
Churches are peer pressure centers.
Especially if you're from a broken home, with a single alcoholic or crack-addicted parent.
Well, I don’t believe people are *born* stupid and racist, they have to be made that way by years of fear and neglect.
No, it’s not the fault of our country as a whole. If anything, it’s our socio-economic model that turns around individualism, competition, and “getting ahead” (which can’t help but mean “leaving everyone else behind”). The end result is a dying Middle Class, a destitute Lower Class, and a handful of billionaires (soon to be trillionaries?) building their own kingdom on a Hawaiian island (Zuckerberg), or on planet Mars (Musk).
I respect your right to believe what you will and if your tied to a theology then you've limited your choices right there. That's fine that we believe differently. I'm sure we both agree that Trump is the greatest threat to the future of our nation in my lifetime and yours and must be stopped at each point he tries to raise.
"The Dictator for One Day" says that there will be a bloodbath if he loses the next election. Does he intend to use Russian and Hungarian troops?
Something I didn’t realize until I was in my 50’s is that, yes, people *are* born stupid. I am fortunate that I was born with a relatively high IQ and a kind heart so I just thought that people weren’t as smart as I am and if I could only teach them well enough that they’d be smart too. Smart enough. Nope! People actually are stupid. No one wants to say it bluntly because it sounds elitist and mean. I’m not elitist. I’m the daughter of a plumber and a factory office worker - filing, not management. But both my parents were pretty smart. It was being the son of an immigrant who went through the depression that led my father to the only choice of the trades as a career and my mother being a housewife with children that led her to an office job. But they weren’t stupid. So, my feelings about what people do being a result of their intelligence or lack thereof isn’t a correlation I make. But I kind of threw out the baby with the bath water. My father went on to lead large building crews when he was a relatively young man. And then to being an inspector working for the city, a coveted job in my home town and, once again, achieved at a relatively young age. And along the way he learned how to build houses. Because he was innately pretty smart and a really good worker. Not everyone is. Contrary to what Trump will tell them, I don’t think that makes them someone to look down on and it certainly doesn’t make them “deplorable.” It’s the ridiculous gullibility and refusal to acknowledge facts in order to cling to their “band of hate” brothers and sisters and their racism and xenophobia that I look down on and find deplorable. But, because they’re stupid, they won’t admit the truth. It’s easier to let Trump do their thinking for them. Ugh.
Agreed.
Go to another country and let me know if you like it. Or stay and keep your country on a good track, don't help destroy it, don't light the match.
Yes, that's the problem - MAGAs feel powerless and hopeless in themselves, so turn to Trump - who doesn't give them any hope, but at least they feel aligned with someone who *appears* powerful.
Seems like Biden/Dems at least are starting to get the message that giving hope to the masses is critically important!
They've been left behind since Reagan. Trump is only exploiting that fact.
Probably because of the steady diet of lies from Conservative media
YES on the failures of Merrick Garland. He has been horrible Attorney General. I still believe he would have made a terrific Supreme Court Justice.
Thomas,
Merrick Garland was an Orrin Hatch pick for Obama- a Federalist member, like the FBI head, Chris Wray. You wonder why the Reds have no consequences?
Could not agree with you more. WTF is Garland...? He is too busy hiring HUR, who totally was biased, instead of doing his job. Get the orange jumpsuit behind bars.
Yes! I suspect most of the chaos and strife happening today would not be happening if Garland had aggressively responded to the Jan 6th insurrection on Day 7 — by going after the people at the top (in the suits and ties) instead of merely prosecuting the low-level pawns in order to create the appearance that he was doing something.
Garland may have made a great judge but he’s the wrong man for the AG job. Jack Smith probably would have been better!
Love that logo!
Marlo, I don't know about you but if that little orange man threatened my family, I sure as hell would not give in then!! If he threatened my political career that would be all the more reason for not supporting him because you see what has happened to a lot of political careers by those that chose to follow him and constantly exposing yourself to right-wing propaganda 24/7 will definitely screw up your head!! These people need to open their eyes and come out into the light!! Wake up, America!! Vote Blue in November!!
So I am voting blue, but am TERRIFIED it will not be enough. I am terrified that the strung out right wing, will say it was rigged AGAIN and we will have an outright war.
Michealene, I will admit to you that I was worried and nervous about this. My sister retired from the military assured me that if it becomes necessary, the President can work with the military (they defend America from terrorists at home as well as abroad) and quell the unrest pretty quickly. She also said that inciting violence against other Americans to obtain power (like January 6) is an insurrection and unlawful. She put my mind at ease. The majority of Americans stand for Democracy and will not surrender it to the likes of the little orange man and his cult.
I agree with you. It seems the Republicans that support Trump have no integrity.
None whatsoever!!
Republican leaders are COWARDS. Look at McConnell, he endorsed TRUMP!
But if you were an otherwise sane Republican Congressman, like my Representative Juan Ciscomani (R), you might keep quiet to protect your wife and six kids.
Oh Diane, my heart hurts for these Congressmen who fear for their families safety! It is absolutely insane that those vicious, vile threats and intimidation are happening here in our country!! I don't know Rep. Juan Ciscomani but I do know and understand the importance of keeping your family safe. Who would have ever thought our country would reach this point?
Agree with all you said and you need to add racist to the reasons for voting tRump.
If you run scared of a bully - then you’ll be his target always - you have to stand up and call him what he is- even if you can’t keep your job - a toadie for Trump is just as bad as the bully himself
@ Marlo -- like real estate: Racism, racism, racism.
Yes, Trump was indoctrinated by his father back in the 70’s, both sued for RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
https://www.newsweek.com/fair-housing-acts-50th-anniversary-look-back-investigation-trump-familys-879437
Hey I liked “The Goonies!”
Summed it up nicely!
"Greed, fear and stupidity are the reasons people support . . . Genocide."
How's everything in Vladivostok?
Marlo, I don't think that your description of the people that support Trump is accurate.
America is not free, Trump said: I'm giving the country back to YOU the people of America. That is how this plays out. If YOU get to govern your affairs wouldn't that be freedom? Do you really want a government corporation to tell you what you must do?
The funniest thing to me? The supreme court CONTINUES to support him when, if he steals a second election, they will be looking through the classified ads DAY ONE! HE TOLD THEM SO! Who needs courts when he's "Bigly Fuehrer 4 Lyfe???" [sic]
I agree. The judiciary has much to fear from sturmfuehrer.
I don’t understand. If the Supreme Court is supporting Trump (and they seem to be) wouldn’t he want to keep them?
They don’t. Typical lying Republican. Are you from Russia perhaps? You keep espousing MISINFORMATION
I have lived here all my life and I still do not understand it.
Media helps a lot by reporting without analysis, interpretation, or context. And by NOT reporting his more vile & unhinged statements. Between normalizing & both-siding MSM keeps him front & center while sidelining the President.
That's true, Jan. I encourage a lot of the people who parrot the media to study up on Yellow Journalism. It has been around as long as newspapers have been circulated. Using lurid features and sensationalized news to get more people to click or read their publications. Many people did not read yellow journalist (back in my younger days it was usually National Enquirer or the Star) and knew that what they wrote was NOT factual representation.
We have an online news site called YellowHammer in Alabama. Are they proud of their yellow journalism or did they miss the irony?
I’d almost forgotten about the Enq & Star. “Inquiring minds want to know.” I didn’t think of them as yellow journ because I didn’t think journalism was involved. But that would certainly be the right genre. Yellow journ on steroids.
I kind of miss their lurid headlines. And I always wondered whether anyone believed that a woman in Papua New Guinea had given birth to Siamese sextuplets joined at the feet so they looked like a sweet 6-pointed star. 🙂
Hahahahahaha!! I know! Those headlines were attention grabbers, weren't they?
Republicans have historically kept their constituents as illiterate and pliable as possible, malleable, so they believe what is told to them. Better if they are hyper religious which means you question little. One only needs to look at the metrics for health, longevity, higher education, and yes crime ( higher in cities in red states) to be convinced. Their relative lack of education makes them easy prey for conspiracy theories, fear mongering, mob mentality. When they have very limited knowledge they think as one. It’s sad and scary but not surprising at all.
Yes indeed its difficult having never been in a cult it's impossible to have a frame of reference. I guess its like a fan club gone very wrong. Plus he is a master con man.
He is no master. Just his fans are celebrity worshipers & easily manipulated
I agree. Some watched “The Apprentice” and were enthralled. I never liked that show. I saw him for what he was back then. The show was actually losing money towards the end.
I absolutely hate reality shows!! I never watched his show. I couldn't stand his voice or the way he looked back then and it's even worse now!!
I only watched a couple of times, and “something” about him made me uncomfortable even though the silver screen.
Reality shows just look "unscripted." tRump was just playing a business man on tv. He didn't even write the Art of the Deal. Anthony Schwartz did. Donald cannot and does not write.
As an insider, an American, it is hard for me to understand why people are supporting a traitor and someone who is actively trying to destroy our constitution and our democracy!
Conditioning is powerful. North American society evolved an ethos ideally suited to and likely to produce human beings with similar characteristics as Trump and who aspire to the many false and harmful notions of what it is to be 'successful', i.e. Wealth, Materialism, Status, Fame, Influence, Power.
Conditioning is difficult to resist because it is insidious. The result is that it becomes the 'norm' and often, even usually, becomes lauded and seen as desirable. Because it is insidious and evolves over time and because it is spread by institutions generally seen as respectable, valuable, honest and protective of fundamentally agreed values, it is readily insinuated into the social mindset, both individual and collective.
The problem is that because it is so, most don't even recognise it for what it really is and many will even strongly oppose those who try to show its reality and its failings, as well as the risk it poses to harmony, equity, reason, justice and morality in society.
The result is virtually an acceptance that people such as Epstein and Trump and other such insults to caring humanity will exist and simply have to be tolerated or, even worse, emulated. Thus we have the deluded, misled, ignorant MAGA supporters of Trump and the cowardly GOP members who have allowed him to destroy the very principles on which the Party was founded.
Those people, in the main, are not 'bad' people, but as one notable is reported once to have said: 'Forgive them for they know not what they do.'
Unfortunately, if those people are allowed to have their way, despite the reality that most of them will come to regret it, the damage will be done and the true values that most US citizens hold in high regard - even if they can't always live up to them - will be destroyed and replaced by a narrow-minded, unforgiving, vengeful and dictatorial society such as one would never have thought possible for a nation such as the USA.
Brilliantly said.
non sibi cunctis - Well said, but your last paragraph descends into the sort of hyperbole that Trump is so infamous of. And yet, there is a grain of truth in it, too. Ordinary people will adopt his hyperbolic language and use it in untimely fashion - as he does. They will think it's "cool". They will hang on to his words and interpret them literally, knowing on reflection that Trump is very good at upping the heat and animating his followers but can't be taken literally.
Thank you for your view but I can't agree with it. There is no hyperbole about my last paragraph or, indeed, anything I wrote. If, as it seems, you think that there is, I suggest you look up its meaning in a dictionary.
Take care. Stay safe. ☮️
I completely agree with your last paragraph. I wish I didn't.
That was most excellent, non sibi cunctis!!
It was explored by Nietzsche; it was alluded to in the remarkable book “Democracy in America” by de Tocqueville in the chapter on how democracies fail. There is rampant immaturity in America coupled with ressentiment towards those seen as unfairly prospering. “Hillbilly Elegy” took a swing at resentment based on self-pity before JD Vance got stupid. The anger of the immature, who feel downtrodden and oppressed in the country with one of the best standards of living in the world, drives them. They believe that their prosperity has been stolen by a shadowy enemy, and that it can be recovered by erasing that part of the country’s population. To do so, they trust in the most wicked and nefarious, who promise to treat their favored children to riches. It has not worked before, and so many have suffered in making remedy.
I’m aware of de Tocqueville and his writing, especially the “dictatorship of the majority”. Just because there is a majority does not make a decision ethically acceptable or even truely democratic. Here we are seeing millions support him and voting for him. I think that you have to go back to Germany and the elections that brought Hitler and NSDAP to power to find something similar.
@Mohammad. You clearly know history. But the parallels are more contemporary; Orban in Hungary, Putin in Russia, Xi in China (as always a special flavor in China) Kim in North Korea and the little dictators in some of the former Soviet countries...
But he's right about Germany. I really wish he weren't.
You wrote: "....There is rampant immaturity in America coupled with ressentiment towards those seen as unfairly prospering," Yet tRump is the person who favors the prosperous rich with more grift, lower taxes. He does nothing to support the poor and yet they love him. It's counterintuitive. And stupid.
They’re irrational Peggy Jo. Also, we should keep in mind that Fox not-the-news reflects the false reality
Trump describes practically every day.
Republicans have engaged in a form of mass brainwashing for at least a couple of decades.
By repeating words and phrases incessantly, such
that at some point in the future, a republican only has to speak a word or phrase of the previously
established “code” they created to evoke the desired emotional reaction like, “Lock her up,” and “sleepy Joe.” I agree there’s rampant immaturity
among Americans as well as an unwillingness
to be held accountable. I guess they go hand in hand.
Compared to the generation of Americans who lived through the Great Depression and WWII, our lives are vastly easier and millions of us take it for granted
that it will always be the way it is now or better.
Cognitive dissonance. On steroids.
Most of us don’t support this creep, but the Fox News people sound like we do. Don’t believe it.
It's actually very simple to understand: they're all dumb racists.
Let's stop pretending that there is a dichotomy between freedom loving Democrats and servile, money worshiping Republicans. When Demos have control they ape the Republicans in major ways, not even having the spine to pass social welfare. The SCOTUS would not have been able to reverse Roe v. Wade if the Demos had expressed abortion rights in legislative form when they had the chance. Now Biden is hammering on innocent immigrant applicants just like Trump did. It goes on and on. Both parties worship the RICH who call all the shots here. Bernie and Elizabeth went pretty far in proving that common people can finance politics but that's too hard for most Demos. The riches millions are so much easier to suck up to. When I get in lots of paper pumping some politician, I make a note to vote for his opponent. I don't give my vote to the guy with the most money. But very few voters think that way, so money sails right on, buying votes. It would be easy to lay all the blame at the door of the MAGAs but it isn't that easy. Until we get rid of the right to accumulate as much money as possible, there will be no improvement. It's a legal determination, and it could be changed. Either you have the rich or you have democracy. You can't - CANNOT - have both! Face facts!
Let's stop listening to anyone who spews the false equivalency narrative. There are and will continue to be vast differences between the parties. I don't know when you think Democrats had the time to pass "social welfare" legislation. President Obama was lucky to have a six-week window to pass heath care legislation.
Paul, legislation that neuters Citizen’s United would go a long way. I agree about wealth accumulation, but that’s hard to stop without massive govt control which most would object to imo. But its influence can be controlled. The Dems haven’t really controlled Congress since that decision, & it’s necessary.
Disagree. Taxes on the wealthiest MUST be raised. If that means a wealth tax then so be it.
Sure. That’s a control imo, not a restriction on amassing wealth. If you want to own 11 yachts, fine. But expect to pay for the privilege. Repeatedly.
Jan: I have little objection to one person having 11 yachts (well, not too much) since that doesn't affect or injure the rest of us. But absolutely no one should be able to buy a politician, a representative, a judge or a law. This could be implemented in a straightforward manner. It almost is, in anti-corruption laws which are ignored. Now I am not saying it will be easy - or even practically possible - but the concept is quite conceivable.
There absolutely should be a wealth tax.
Agree. To paraphrase Adam Smith, for capitalism to work, you gotta soak the rich.
As an insider, it's extremely difficult to know half of Americans are undereducated. Got to keep them dumb, to keep them separated!
That number is from a recent research by some government entity, I can't recall it.
It’s been going on for decades. By now it’s almost impossible to reverse imo because the educators are now products of the same system.
That could be because you’re a rational man, Mohammad. Most Trumpeters are not, and those that are (wealthy donors) support him cynically because they believe he’ll give them more ways to keep & increase their own $$ & power.
He’s a conman to the core. A very good one, but still a conman.
Mohammed please read Strongmen:Mussolini to the Present
by Ruth Ben Ghiat
We can't believe it either.
The only Americans who support Trump are white supremacists/Nazis/Facists who want to "make America great again", i.e., white, male, Christian. I am a practicing Catholic and I was never taught in my Catholic grammar school or high school that Jesus said "kill people who don't agree with you".
Many of the supporters feel deprived, but in my opinion, most of them are spoiled brats.
I think there are a lot of us who do not support him. My theory is just that many people, unfortunately, hold the same prejudices that he does.
It appears that the only GQP politicians who will refuse to endorse Trump are those who have decided (or realized) that their political careers are over.
CNN has a report citing all the former Trump lieutenants - Barr, Mulvaney, et. al., denouncing him - basically everyone close enough to see.
But those who need to hear it do not listen, certainly not to CNN.
CNN has been complicit in this as well…
Too bad the Trump supporters don’t watch CNN. If they did they would call it fake news.
they don’t watch CNN and still call it fake news
They have passports, money & have a plan in place to flee. Ironic - they'll be seeking asylum in another country.
We wish! And anyone who took this more than funny post seriously, all I can say is Wow! I personally would LOVE TO SEE ALL MAGA SUPPORTERS DEPORTED AND SENTENCED TO HARD LABOR!
A lot of it is hate speech so I was hoping…
To me this is depressing and a good indicator of why there is so much apathy and lack of urgency pretty much everywhere. Everybody's exhausted, everybody wants to just laugh it off and not get upset. Sometimes you have to feel the uncomfortable feelings
I cope with humor sometimes too. But with "bloodbaths"...no. We've seen what rhetoric 1/100th as extreme as this did before. He's doing it again - but far worse, and in a far more dangerous context.
Smoke less crack buddy. It's getting you all worked up.
Do you work for The Onion?
Please don’t do that. There is enough misinformation as it is. There should be a “sarcasm” and “just kidding” icon.
We need to laugh now and then! Anyone with a functioning brain can see that this is a joke! Laugh a little. . . It will do you good!
Klare, one could also fact check… 🙂
I don't think you have a functioning brain. Leave me alone psycho.
Nobody should be laughing right now. It's not a good joke, and the timing is even worse.
Power corrupts and Betty, some people end such a posting with a “/s”, standing for “snark”.
Stephanie—Thanks for explaining that. I’ve seen it, and didn’t know what it meant!
I almost backed right out of this site when I read that glad you mentioned you were joking.
I was thinking Ukraine and Gaza could certainly use the help lol.
Seriously???
PowerCorrupts, I’ve seen people use “/s” at the end of a joking post to signify it’s snark.
Pity.
Hahahahahahahahaha!! That was a good one PowerCorrupts!! Thanks for the levity!
Dear God! Don't do that! You are too convincing and I was worried about you! LOL
Like Pence. Or, perhaps Pence is hoping to be resurrected if something does happen to Trump. I wouldn’t put anything past the Republican Party.
I'm sorry Robert, I have to disagree with you. You have it all wrong, as I see it Trump is obviously "Desperate and out of his mind." In that order.--
He’s been out of his mind longer. 🙂
Pence's reasons were explained in a Saturday Washington Post article:
"Pence’s stated reasoning is also notable. It’s not that he views Trump as dangerous to democracy, or even so much that he’s upset over Trump’s attacking him for his refusal to try to overturn the 2020 election on Jan. 6, 2021." Is Pence unconcerned about the threat Trump poses to democracy? Or that the mob would have killed him if they could have gotten their hands on him?
The article notes that, "Instead, Pence pitched the current version of Trump as insufficiently conservative on issues such as abortion, the national debt, and China and TikTok," and “Donald Trump is pursuing and articulating an agenda that is at odds with the conservative agenda that we governed on during our four years,” Pence said, “and that is why I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump in this campaign.”
I'm confused. But maybe that's the point.
Well, it means he still thinks Trump “governed,” which means he’s lost his marbles too.
I see him as pathetic and irrelevant.
What a mess of a human being.
It looks like Pence is trying to do some kink of political dualism, by taking a stand based on trivia instead of ethics and backbone. Maybe he thinks he and his family will get fewer "swatting" attacks compared to others who defied Trump? The mobs already threatened to hang him, so it's ridiculous for him to think any of them care about his reasons. He snubbed Dear Leader, so he is considered their enemy.
Tried to edit "kink" to "kind" but realized kink, as in totally kinky rigid insanity isn't too far off!
i think Mother never liked djt and forced pence to make that statement
What's Mitch McConnell's excuse. His words are meaningless. He is an accomplice. One of Trump's biggest enablers, if not the biggest. I don't ever want to hear an ounce of respect ever directed at him again.
Given that he's not popular in Kentucky, I've never been able to figure out how he keeps getting elected.
Those are cowards. They have passports & money & a plan to flee the USA for safety. Ironic - they'll be seeking asylum in another country. They're probably planning now.
Those who care more about power than their duty to serve. Got news for them-they will never get loyalty FROM Trump, only the demand that they vow loyalty to HIM.
Or it's the other way round - anyone in GQP who tries to resist Trump has theirs political career ended.
I thought some people really did try. Those people discovered though that even trying their very best wasn't enough.
That's what I meant by "or realized."
Maybe not. If we can defeat him in November, convict him, and put him in jail, their political careers could soar in the future, especially if they come out and oppose him now.
I dunno: I'd still worry about his crazy MAGAt followers.
Or just beginning as they resist the authoritarian urges
The man is a cancer eating into the soul of America. I don't understand how so many people still support this monster. Just today I was sitting in a diner in the small town I live in and someone asked the waitress why Fox news wasn't on the TV. She replied that they had forgotten to turn the TV on. He thought it was for political reasons and they started talking about Trump and how persecuted he was and what a victim he was. I almost lost my breakfast. What is wrong with these people?
Maybe they hate who he hates?
Spot on!
Maybe she's right because I live in Oregon too.
Bingo! That’s always what it’s been about: hate. Trump verbalizes the hate they feel, but can’t say aloud. Racist, sexist, misogynistic. Prejudice against immigrants, the college educated, and anyone who got a government benefit without working for it. (Didn’t hear about MAGAs refusing their monthly child credit payments.)
Biden is funding new technology so coal miners, steelworkers, and others who have few options when their industries closed, can get retrained for jobs that will pay union-level wages.
Instead of gratitude for the opportunity, they fly Trump flags in their front yards.
When the train in East Palestine, Ohio, derailed and made the area toxic, Biden pumped in millions of dollars of relief. He was involved in brokering a deal for lifetime medical benefits for those affected and holding the railroad accountable. When he visited East Palestine, he was greeted with protesters waving Trump signs and telling local TV reporters how what happened was all Biden’s fault.
You are absolutely correct. They hate the same people and things he hates. Trumps vocal hatred opened the door for them to hate openly. What they don’t understand is he hates them too, but loves the money they donate. He is the epitome of a conman/grifter and their hatred of liberals, immigrants (all of us are from immigrant backgrounds), the list is endless, fuels their support of this conman/grifter and they fell hook, line and sinker for his BS. Hate is a powerful tool.
And isn't shy about saying so out loud.
He’s 1,000 times worse than the pandemic.
I've had those same deeply puzzling reactions. As a retired educational research project manager, my default has been to ask "WHY would people do that?" Knowing that helps me choose actions to hopefully resolve the problems. Reich's last class online from UC Berkley provided lots of facts about policies-real conditions-people's reactions. BUT ALSO... Would recommend the insights that I just got from viewing interview of Tim Alberta, a journalist who was raised in an evangelical pastor's family and has done an extensive analysis of how that brand of Christianity has made bad deals with its integrity. Margaret Hoover interviewed him on recent Firing Line episode. It's only 30 min long and it finally illuminated to me how this tragic twist in thinking became the default mode for stealing people's minds and emotions toward "Trump's goals" for anarchy. Alberta was denounced and harassed by his own long-term family friends at his father's wake because he had written in his column about the desecration of Christian principles that Trump's words and actions continually promote. I'm an extremely 'spiritual' person with a substantial commitment to life practices - but haven't been a church-goer for decades. Hearing his interview inspired me to actually go to a local Lutheran church (my heritage religion) to literally check-out the reality of words vs practices, the intended and the actual. Where or how could I more directly promote the principles of love and respect and integrity? Stepping back from the relentless haranguing within the political realm -- Could it be possible to boost beneficial actions in that arena by building my internal muscles and resiliency via a community institution, like a church. We'll see.
I use those opportunities to educate them.
Don't eat there anymore.
Brainwashing is so sad, Ramona!
Spot on analysis, Az
Been saying that since 2016, Az. Ridicule him publicly & continually. He’ll lose what little control he has left.
#trumpstinks
Are they not concerned what he will do as a wannabe dictator?
No
1984. George Orwell showed us who we are.
Trump is going for broke. It’s all or nothing.
I’m waiting (and waiting, and waiting…) for Trump’s court cases to play out. After Trump loses the election, he will be broke and imprisoned for the rest of his miserable life. Hallelujah!
From your lips to the goddess’s ears!!
And in serious debt.
I hope, I hope!
TFG is going broke. Never mind 'for'. Just plain broke will do.
Thumpet 🎺 has doubled down on his BS the only purpose is to suck all of the Oxygen out Of The TV Coverage of the election .
Trumpet 🎺 will fill the air waves with anything to consume the attention of the public up to November.
🥳🎉👏💃🕺🍾🥂
Six more days to come up with half a billion dollars...
I heard Trump say that today on T.V. on MSNBC. He is terrified! I just hope the Democrats have a plan in case this really does happen! If it does, he needs to be arrested if he causes violence! Any one else would by now!
Anyone else would've been put away a long time ago for making all of these threats while out on bail for 91 felonies.The two-tier justice system must be stopped and it starts with corrupt former presidents as well as bought and paid for SCOTUS justices.
No Rick, most States are like California. Insanity does not lead to incarceration or mental health treatment either. Unless the insane person murders, or intends to murder, no matter how insane that person is, they cannot be sent to a hospital for treatment unless the patient themselves requests it nor can they be treated. And that's not likely to occur because the last person to recognize mental illness is usually the patient themself. That is one of the few really good things Gavin Newsom is trying to accomplish, allowing next of kin, or doctors, to force treatment of the mentally ill who are incapable of seeking treatment on their own.
I wish you out of staters would quit on the California is bad stuff. I live here and would not consider most other states because of their leaders and lack of things we have in California. As for the desperate P O S wish he would disappear.
Penny, I am a Californian, I have lived in Sacramento County since 1961 and wouldn't want to live anywhere else. While I think I live in he most beautiful state in the Union, we are NOT perfect. The 1969 law which emptied the mental hospitals, sending the patients out on the streets was in my mind inhumane. A person with a bad heart, kidney failure, or cancer is perfectly, intellectually, capable of determining whether or not they want to be treated or just die. A patient with mental illness is not capable. They refuse treatment, do not take the prescription drugs offered to them, and deny their illness, lying to doctors, nurses, and family, I know this first hand. My youngest daughter had clinical depression. And she displayed all the above symptoms. She died at the age of 51 when she fell into a swimming pool and drowned.
Like Donald Trump she didn't understand that she was ill with a critical disease. I sincerely doubt trump would admit to mental illness or seek help. And the next of kin,. cannot request treatment for the patient or make them take prescribed drugs if they are over the age of 18. This is not just California it is the law in most States. I know Governor Newsom was trying to change this regulation last fall, he may have succeeded
Fay—As you recall, the republican’s great “saint,” Ronald Reagan, was the one who emptied the mental hospitals.
VickeyB, Reagan was also a puppet and he emptied the mental hospitals in preparation for what we are experiencing right now!! A lot of those released from mental hospitals are now trump's most loyal base!!
I most assuredly do, he was Governor of California from 1969 to 1973, he said their "communities" would take care of them, BUT there was no money in the legislation for the Counties to do anything. Then when he was elected President he gave the same "opportunities" nationwide. Not all our homeless are mentally ill, but for those who are it is a death sentence.
Born and raised 4th gen. California is the best. I'll never leave. 💙💛 So lucky to live here.
Sorry I just left...
☹️
He lives ( mostly ) in Florida. Florida has the "Baker Act" . It places a person who is out of control on a 72 hr hold to be checked by drs re: their mental health. How does he not qualify?
That 72 hour hold is also in most States, including my State, California. Frankly, I think it has more to do with the high cost of treating mental illnesses. Compared to, say, cancer. My daughter was seriously ill for at least 20 years, like a dunce, it took me years to recognize the disease. When I finally did realize how sick she was I was able to pay for 10 days detoxification, and one month of rehabilitation, then I ran out of funds.
Even after the 72 hour hold, if the patient doesn't agree to treatment, and most don't, they are simply released. The Trump family could probably afford the long term treatment, but if trump denies the need they are SOL.
With his increasing mental instability and cognitive decline, it's not likely he'll seek any treatment himself. Half the time he can't even remember who he's running against. Besides the multiple crimes which include rape and treason, his obvious deteriorating condition makes him even more unfit and dangerous to be reelected.
Fay Reid ; I am sorry about your daughter's long illness and death at an early age. I had a brother who lived that situation and died tragically in a snow bank. I had tried to get him into a hospital without success.
My sincere empathy, Laurie. We do not take care of our people with mental health and never have. In really olden days people were frightened by the mental illness and either tried to exile those suffering or locked them away. Their religion told these poor souls were invaded by the devil or some such evil. Today we punish the entire family by costing them their entire savings, sometimes including their homes. I get so frustrated every time I read about the problems families have had trying to find humane treatment for their loved ones. And when the patient self treats with chemicals ranging from alcohol to opioids, we blame the patient not the disease.
https://ufhealth.org/baker-act
When someone who is charged with many crimes on top of that says or does things that stoke violence & lawlessness, like both Trump & Bannon have done many times, they are usually deemed a national security risk, & are imprisoned while awaiting trial. Apparently Trump & Bannon are exempt.
WHY? If you or I would be doing this or even ignoring a subpoena, we would be in jail.
This is beyond scary!
Jaime ; every day when I hear the news about his latest outrageous statements at rallies, I ask "Why is this person not in custody without a megaphone?" He is being used by billionaires with an agenda! His legal cases keep being delayed. He should be taken off the ballot, or the election delayed if he must remain on it. It is wrong for the voters to have to decide on someone so unfit for the presidency! To think that should he 'jam up' the process of election and gain the Whitehouse to stop all prosecutions; Pardon himself, let his 'soldiers' out of prison, and become dictator on day one is sickening! His thugs like Bannon, Stone, Manafort and Flynn on the loose are dangerous, too. And those in Congress who should be out of their seats for treason! or at the least being disqualified!
Yes a million times! What is going on in this country that he's still out there pulling this nonsense?
The Lincoln Project has some psychological warfare ads circulating. One has an AI video of Fred Trump talking about how disappointed he is that Donald is such a screw up and a summary of all his failures. Powerful.
Wouldn't that be something to see? It warms the cockles of my heart to imagine him wearing a fittingly orange jumpsuit until he dies.
I suspect many if not most MAGAs are people who feel excluded from the American "good life" and powerless to do express their rage in a way that has any effect. So of course they're going to align with someone they believe CAN -- terrorize the "elites", create chaos, burn the system down.
The challenge with this, is this will not affect the elites and they are supporting him. Elon Musk for example.
Many MAGA idolize Musk much like they do Trump.
Mostly racism.
They don't think much of women either. of any race or faith. unless they are Stepford wives.
He’s a kneejerk despot
Jon you now know that’s not true
Misinformation is not helpful
tRump has been getting lectured by Victor Orban again, and has fresh ideas of how to end our Democracy.
Jon ; They are a minority that has lost the last few elections. But the threat of a bloodbath makes me wonder how we will be protected from terrorists within our country. Homeland Security apparently is not about protecting US!
In his bending over backward to avoid "looking partisan", he actually IS partisan, for the MAGAs!
AMEN, Prof Reich. It is soul-destroying to see that the judicial system is assisting this vile person in dodging responsibility for his acts.
It seems to me that the justice system needs a major overhaul. There is definitely something wrong with a system that lets someone who's that guilty weasel out of accountability.
it was really the #1 job Biden was tasked with & elected for: to bring justice to Trump & the many other lawmakers turned lawbreakers, & he's failed at it, at least so far, & he has very little time left.
Yes. But what does he do now? Even if he replaces Garland, then what? As I said in another comment, Trump has now crossed a line. He needs to be arrested and indicted for terrorism.
Jaime,
Respectfully disagree. Biden’s #1 job was to deal with the COVID epidemic. And he did. Making sure vaccine was manufactured, distributed, and administered for free. It was a HUGE public health emergency and his actions saved countless lives. Then he spearheaded child benefits that cut child poverty by 50%. This was a huge help to those who had their hours cut because of COVID lockdown. Then getting benefits for veterans affected by the burn piles.
Robert Mueller was tasked with investigating Trump early on. The process of doing things legally takes time.
A broken justice system leads to a broken democracy. We have 1 party actively attacking democracy & the justice system, & the other party letting them get away with it.
Donald Trump went off the rails a long time ago. At least as far back as 2011 after the correspondents dinner. He is a danger to this country and the world. He is the exact domestic terrorist that he goes on about regarding the Democratic Party. In most countries around the world he would have been imprisoned already. Or worse. He could have chosen a much better life for himself and his family but this sometimes happens when you are guided by anger and hatred. Donald Trump is a very disturbed human being.
He’s not human
He is human.
He doesn’t act humanely.
Sad to see such degradation.
Oh, good distinction, Monica!
"this sometimes happens when you are guided by anger and hatred."
It also doesn't help when your handlers and advisors encourage such anger and hatred in order to win you more supporters.
Very true. But, life is about choices and the cold hard truth. Myself, I would never put those type of people and things over family for any reason.
I’m writing 100’s of get out the vote letters, that’s all I can say. If I don’t do something, I will have guilt on my own head if this monster, God forbid, gets back in.
Please tell us which organization you are going through. We may want to join you.
Midwest, Subscribe to Jessica Craven on Substack at Chop Wood Carry Water. She puts out an amazing daily list of how to get out the vote. Also follow Robert Hubbell, who ends every (outstanding) daily post with opportunities for reader engagement.
VoteForward.org is great resource for writing get out the vote letters
So is; indivisible.org.
I've been writing 100s of postcards for months now with Fieldteam6.
I really like Northeast Arizona Native Democrats. They have an outsized impact in a very important state. This isn’t a “hi we want your vote, bye” organization. It’s helping Native organizers on the ground build community power year- round.
Website: https://neaznativedemocrats.org/
link: https://www.mobilize.us/aznativeorganizingcampaign/event/587315/
Vote Forward is a great organization if you want to write letters, Midwest.
I am affiliated with VoteForward.org. Hands down, I believe they do amazing work and are a really good resource for supporting solid letter-writing campaigns.
PostcardsToVoters and ActivateAmerica via Mobilize have targeted lists to swing state voters … handwritten postcards helped Suozzi in New York win the Santos seat and are proven to be effective! I am writing hundreds of postcards too and if everyone who is commenting would do so, we will win in November. We need all the help we can get…join millions of grassroots volunteers to do this. Find your local Indivisible and Swing Left chapters and other opportunities to take action through Jessica Craven’s substack newsletter Chop Wood, Carry Water and Robert Hubbell’s substack newsletter. Another very worthwhile group is Walk the Walk USA…listen to their monthly zoom meeting where they explain their strategy of raising money for grassroots groups who work year round in communities of color in swing states.
Thanks! I will too! I just signed up with Swing Blue.
This Canuck's right with ya, Mitzi!
👌🏻
Letters and postcards!! Vote Blue, America!!
Send a link please, so some of us can join you.
www.voteforward.org
This Megalomanic has nothing to lose. He will do or say anything to get his base whipped up. He belongs in jail and those cases need to be tried. We could have another annual federal holiday when he’s convicted and perp walked into his sentence. Seriously…if any other person in The country did any of these things, they’d be already serving hard time. He should be held to a much higher standard though because he was in a position of public trust and service so he should be dealt with accordingly in the judicial system. On a chain gang,
Any poor person would
Couldn't agree more.
When the election is over on November 5, 2024, will we be hearing Taps being played for the passing of our Democracy or will we be hearing Reveille for the re-awaking and survival of our Democracy?
Let’s keep calm, work hard, and vote BLUE all the way through for the House, the Senate and the Presidency.
Just remember and practice this important advice:
“You can’t wring your hands and roll up your sleeves at the same time.”
Patricia Nell Scott Schroeder (July 30, 1940 – March 13, 2023), Colorado's 1st congressional district in the United States House of Representatives 1973-1997
Together we can make it happen! Roll up those sleeves now! Susan Highfield
Thank you for this. Indeed let’s stop the hand wringing and get to work.
We must take all three branches to really put an end to this. Congress, the Senate and the WH.
💯💯💯 Great message, thank you!
I love that quote!!
I'm also wondering how we'll be celebrating on July 4, 2026.
“Taps” or “Reveille”? I do like how you put that.
There's a T-shirt that says it best:
IF THEY COME FOR YOU IN THE MORNING, THEY WILL COME FOR YOU IN THE NIGHT.
It's something that we must take to heart, now. N'cest ce-pas?
This is on McConnell and the GOP for not voting to impeach him for January 6 , the right wing SCOTUS who are afraid of the Federalist Society, the Heritage Foundation, Fascist Billionaires, plus the slow, scared DOJ It is just another threat from a crazed mentally ill domestic terrorist ! Trump should be in jail. There is no justice system who will take on Trump! Jack Smith, please discuss Trump judge cannon with the 11 th Circuit! Trump needs locked up!
Pence may not endorse Trump but he will vote for him! Once an “R” always an “R” even if he/she is a grifter, liar, mentally ill deranged idiot, conspiracy theorist, thief, rapist, and traitor!
McConnell not only did not impeach him, but has endorsed him!
I wonder if McConnell will have the guts and sense to withdraw his endorsement over this ridiculous rhetoric.
Nope
A turtle has no spine. The Republican Party effectively declared itself a crime syndicate when it endorsed the Mob violence on Jan 6 as normal. At this point anyone who endorses Trump is declaring they are unfit to serve the people, and only will serve the whims of this clearly disturbed and deranged man. Vote Blue.
Not no, but hell no. McConnell is a spineless worm.
He should have been in jail long ago.
We have put up with his shit show for too long.Enough!
McConnell is a pathetic shell.
And even if he loses, the show will go on. He will sue. He will appeal. Back to the Supreme Court again. Heaven forbid another Gore v Bush scenario.
Imo it’s on the voters who put these people in office & kept them there. This is OUR country. Let’s prove it.
I don't think so. There are Republicans like Liz Cheney that will not vote for him.
But they won’t be voting Dem either.
I think Liz Cheney is actually trying to help Biden.
True, they are not intelligent to do the right thing for Democracy!
Hopefully we'll be better prepared for the next fascist takeover attempt. We're certainly getting our share of rehearsal.
Thank you so much. I have been wondering since why is there not a way for the current president to sui nr 45 for defamation repeating the election lie? Why are there no consequences saying it every where if in fact it has been proven wrong?
Perhaps because it is a given that politicians lie? Of course, most try to stay within the bounds of consensus reality.
Not all politicians lie. There are true, decent public servants like Sherrod Brown here in Ohio, Bernie, Warren & many of the younger ones, like AOC, Omar, Cori Bush & Max Frost to name a few.
💯💯💯
Go, Sherrod!
I don’t believe that all politicians lie but when I look at what the repugnantkins are saying I’m led to believe that they as a group have no idea what truth means, alternative realities are way more meaningful to them, than the rest of us. I’m convinced that they really believe that if you repeat a lie enough times, it becomes the truth, that’s not what I was taught, I was taught that a lie is a lie, no matter how many times it’s repeated.
I have said it before and will repeat it now: Trump is our Hitler, and this is a combo of 1923 and 1930/31 — Hitler rose, fell, rose again and because of the idiocy of the German hierarchy and the dementia of Hindenburg, attained the Chancellorship, leading to WWII (although some of Trump’s recent imbecilities seem to indicate that we have yet to fight WWII). Trump is, like Hitler, a sociopath. And, like Hitler, when cornered, he is willing to take colossal risks. Add to the mix the sloth and timidity of Garland, the stupidity of impropriety by Fani Willis, the dumb luck of drawing “Loose” Cannon as the judge in the MAL docs case, and the seeming inanity or incompetence of the SDNY who have just turned over to Alvin Bragg at my old office (which is, ultimately, Garland’s fault), and we have a moment of extreme jeopardy. And to those who say it is inappropriate to compare Trump to Hitler, I say, read a few hundred books on Nazi Germany and get a sense of the man and the time, and then get back to me.
I recently watched the documentary "The Dictators Playbook" and Trump is using the same methods to become one of them.
Very well stated. I have been thinking of this scenario for a very long time. Just read It Can't Happen here - Sinclair Lewis. Followed by It Can Happen Here - Joe Connison.
Trump always tells what he’s going to do through projection. In other words, if he wins “I don’t think you’re going to have another election, or certainly not an election that’s meaningful.” That’s his goal - and that is the goal of his Republican Party. As former VP Cheney said yesterday, “"In our nation's
246-year history, there has never been an individual who was a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump."
Liz Cheney is a patriot. If she were the only candidate available to defeat Trump I would vote for her. Thankfully she has decided to put her weight behind Biden.
When did she do that? Not voting for A doesn’t mean you’re voting for B. I truly doubt she’ll endorse Biden. She’s a conservative Republican m, just not a MAGA RWNJ whacko.
Cheney's father is known as Darth Vader, the criminal and mastermind behind Bushy II's disasters. He also brought more private Defense Contractors into our defense budget, doubling down on the budget, guns, tanks, horrors, criminals, hands in our taxes!
No doubt Dick Cheney did his part to undermine our Democracy and ideals (sanctioning torture, for one example) so when one despicable character claims another is even worse, that shows just how crazy this is!
To Cheney, patriotism & democracy trump party fidelity.
Really?
"The rest of us must do everything in our power to ensure that this monster never again comes close to the Oval Office." EVERYTHING. IN. OUR. POWER. VOTE!
Absolutely! Vote like our lives depend on it, because it does.
They will be stealing and suppressing the votes. 14th Amendment was our best chance. Rememeber, Hitler was elected!
Saying the quiet part out loud. This has been his MO since his 1st Presidential campaign. We are clear on who he is and what he stands for... the problem is with those who follow his lead! I wanted to belive there were those who were being mislead. But when he tells the truth and reveals the quiet part, it becomes difficult to believe anything other than those that follow him are willful participants and align with his rhetoric.
My God the creative spirit in this country is being wasted,we need an entrepreneur who can create a large enough douche bag to flush every single politician out to sea 🌊 and start anew !just a thought!🤔